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Indian Express
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Flag march in day, cricket match at night: In run-up to Rath Yatra, how communal harmony events are taking centrestage in Ahmedabad
Even as parts of the 16-km route of the upcoming Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra are seeing heightened vigilance with flag marches and intensive vehicle checking during the day, nightfall is witnessing games, sports and street plays in the walled city area – home to a mixed population of Hindu and Muslim residents. The communal harmony initiatives, entering their fourth edition this year, have become an annual feature ahead of the Rath Yatra. One such event was Ekta (unity) Cricket Cup, which saw the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) winning the inaugural match against the Ahmedabad City Police at the Bombay Housing Ground in Saraspur. While the 16-team cricket tournament, under the aegis of Zone-3 of the City Police, was being inaugurated by Commissioner of Police GS Malik with Mahant Dilipdas Maharaj of Jagannath Temple and Maulana Nurjamil Shaikh of Hussaini Masjid in attendance on Tuesday night, in another part of the old city, a 10-team volleyball tournament kicked off under the aegis of Zone-2 of the city police. On Wednesday night, as the cricket and volleyball tournaments were underway, Zone-3 DCP Vishakha Dabral, speaking to The Indian Express while waiting for a Nukkad Natak to begin on the Jagannath temple premises, said that a local artiste group was performing a play. 'Apart from the street plays, the cricket tournament will go on till June 14. On 15th, we have a blood donation camp at the temple, which will be attended by the Governor of Gujarat. We are also constantly holding shanti samiti (peace committee) meetings to make sure the yatra is a huge success,' she added. Meanwhile, Zone-2 DCP Bharatkumar Rathod, who is hosting the volleyball tournament, said, 'Our tournament was also inaugurated on Tuesday night. We have organised a shooting tournament as well as a passing tournament. A number of personnel of our police stations like Karanj and Madhavpura are also part of the teams participating at the tournament besides mixed teams of locals from various areas. Further, we have a religious harmony function with Gujarati film celebrities Yash Soni and Arjav Trivedi.' In the coming days, street plays and a musical night have been planned in Jamalpur and Teen Darwaza areas. DCP Rathod said the police will conduct a bike rally over the weekend, along with a blood donation drive at the Police Rifle Club. In addition, Zone-4 of the City Police will hold a tug-of-war competition. Inspector MD Chandravadiya of Shaherkotda police station, who has been organising the cricket tournament for the third consecutive year, said that 16 mixed teams are playing in the tournament with local religious and community leaders remaining present and locals participating in the sports. 'There are two teams from Saraspur, one each from Karanj and Khadiya, and others from Gomtipur, Amraiwadi and Rakhiyal. We also had the inaugural match between the City Police and ATS. The final will be played on June 14.' When asked about the purpose of these initiatives, PI Chandravadiya said, 'While the Rath Yatra itself is limited to the eastern part of the city, we want to tell the entire Ahmedabad that Hindus and Muslims celebrate this festival together and there are no bad feelings or conflict between the communities. This will only be further reinforced when the Rath Yatra is carried out without any problems or incident later this month.' On community participation during the Rath Yatra, in its 148th edition this year, the inspector said, 'Volunteers from Hindu and Muslim communities have been standing shoulder-to-shoulder in the areas the yatra is going to cover. The work on organising the yatra begins a month earlier, in May, and does not stop till the end of the yatra. We have no doubt that the Rath Yatra will be conducted without a glitch this year as well.' While Jagannath Temple Trustee Mahendra Jha could not be reached for comment, Maulana Shaikh told the Indian Express, 'The programmes being held before the Rath Yatra are beautiful. In these times of hatred, the message of love is very important. Like every year, the cricket tournament held by the Ahmedabad City Police is an example of maintaining communal harmony. Before being Hindus and Muslims, we are Hindustanis. Muslims will always stand up for our Hindu brethren. We congratulate the Ahmedabad City Police on its initiative.'
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Time of India
Health worker spying for Pak held in Kutch
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has arrested a contractual health worker from Kutch for allegedly sharing sensitive information about and Navy establishments with a Pakistani spy, officials said on Saturday. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now ATS officials identified the accused as Sahdevsinh Gohil, 28, who was apprehended in Lakhpat taluka. According to an ATS release, Gohil was "lured by a Pakistani agent, who identified herself as Aditi Bharadwaj, to share information about under-construction as well as existing military establishments". Superintendent of Police (ATS) K Siddharth said, "Gohil, a resident of Lakhpat, has been sharing photos and videos of various BSF and naval facilities in Kutch district via WhatsApp with the Pakistani spy for money." The ATS official said that the Pakistani agent first contacted Gohil, who worked as a contractual health worker at a govt centre in Mata No Madh village, on his WhatsApp number in June 2023 and became friends with him. "After winning his trust, the agent, using the alias Aditi Bharadwaj, sought photos and videos of offices and ongoing construction of the BSF and Indian Navy. Gohil shared the requested classified information via WhatsApp," said the SP, adding that Gohil knew she was a Pakistani spy. In Jan 2025, Sahdevsinh Gohil used his Aadhaar card to procure a sim and shared the OTP with the Pakistani agent, enabling her to use WhatsApp linked to that number from the neighbouring country. Based on human intelligence, he was brought to the ATS office for questioning, and his phone was sent for forensic analysis. "Forensic analysis revealed that both the numbers on which Gohil used to share the information are currently being operated from Pakistan. We also learnt that he received Rs 40,000 in cash from an unidentified person some time ago for sharing that information," he said. Following an investigation, the ATS arrested Gohil and registered an FIR against him and the Pakistani agent under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 61 (criminal conspiracy) and 148 (waging war against the govt), added the officer.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Time of India
Bangladeshi man, Indian agent held for running immigration racket
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) on Wednesday arrested a Bangladesh national and an Indian agent for allegedly forging documents to help Bangladeshis obtain Indian passports and main accused, Mohamand Didarul Alam alias Rana Sarkar, a native of Kishoreganj district in Bangladesh, illegally entered India in 2012, the ATS officials said. He settled in the Narol area of the city and began operating a shop named VIP Mobile and Money Transfer. Using forged documents , he obtained an Indian passport in 2017. Since 2018, he has been helping other Bangladeshis secure Indian IDs, said an official statement from the Gujarat on a tip-off, a team of the Gujarat ATS raided Alam's shop and found forged Aadhaar cards, PAN cards, voter IDs, a Bangladeshi ID card, a labour card, and a Bank of Baroda ATS statement said that Rana confessed to working with Robiul Islam and the Indian agent Soheb Mohammad Qureshi of Al Quraish Enterprise to forge documents for 17 Bangladesh nationals. The group also submitted online passport applications for nine investigation at Soheb Qureshi's shop uncovered 22 fake certificates used to generate Aadhaar numbers and more than 300 fake document templates, including PAN cards and birth certificates. Cops seized computers and laptops used by the accused to forge documents, according to the ATS to ATS, the fake documents enable fraud and pose significant threats to national security. Such illegal activities could aid terrorism, espionage, smuggling, and unauthorised police stated that this crackdown was part of an ongoing campaign to detect and remove illegal immigrants and their local facilitators. Legal proceedings are underway against Alam and Qureshi under relevant sections of the BNS Act and Passport Act.
