A Delhi court on Tuesday issued production warrant for January 28 against former Congress leader Sajjan Kumar in a 1984 anti-Sikh riots case.
District Judge Poonam A Bamba issued production warrant against Kumar after Tihar Jail authorities, where he is lodged after conviction in another case related to the riots, could not produce him today.
In the case before the trial court, three persons — Kumar, Brahmanand Gupta and Ved Prakash — are facing trial on charges of murder and rioting pertaining to the killing of Surjit Singh in Sultanpuri.
The riots broke out after the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards on October 31, 1984.
Indian skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday became the first cricketer to make a clean-sweep of individual honours in the ICC annual awards, claiming the Test, ODI and overall Player of the Year trophies besides being named captain of the world body’s all-star teams.
Kohli has become the first player in history to win the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for ICC Cricketer of the Year, his second consecutive, the ICC Test and the ODI Player of the Year awards following an extraordinary 2018.
“Not only is Kohli the first player to win these three major ICC awards together but he has also been named the captain of the ICC Test and ODI teams of the year for a fabulous run in international cricket,” the ICC said in a statement.
Kohli scored 1,322 runs at an average of 55.08 in 13 Tests with five hundreds during the calendar year while in 14 ODIs he amassed 1202 runs at an astonishing average of 133.55 with six centuries. He also scored 211 runs in 10 T20Is.
“It’s a reward for all the hard work that you do throughout the calendar year. Having recognition at the global level from the ICC is something you feel proud of as a cricketer because you understand that there are many players playing the game,” Kohli was quoted as saying by the world body in a release.
“… obviously a very proud moment for me and something that gives you more motivation to keep repeating the same things because you have to keep the standard of cricket up and keep bringing in consistent performances,” he added.
Three players each from India and New Zealand feature in the ICC’s Test team of the year, while four each from India and England are part of the ODI side of the year 2018.
The Test team features Kohli’s compatriots, wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant, in just his breakthrough Test year, and fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah, who is the only player apart from Kohli to feature in both the sides.
The ODI team has opener Rohit Sharma, spinner Kuldeep Yadav and Bumrah from India along with Kohli, while England are represented by Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes.
The 30-year-old, who first came into limelight when he led India to victory at the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup in Malaysia in 2008, finished the year as the top-ranked batsman in Tests and ODIs.
The highest scorer in both forms of the game in 2018, he was one of only two batsmen to score more than 1,000 runs in Tests and only among three to do so in ODI cricket.
Kohli was the unanimous choice of the voting academy for the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy with South Africa fast bowler Kagiso Rabada coming in second to him for both this award and the Test Player of the Year honour.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan was runner up to Kohli for the ICC ODI Player of the Year award.
India won six Tests and lost seven during the voting period that ran from January 1 to December 31, 2018. In ODIs, Kohli led India to nine victories, with four losses and one tied match.
Kohli had won the Sir Garfield Trophy and ICC ODI Player of the Year awards last year and was also the ICC ODI Player of the Year in 2012.
ICC Men’s Test Team of the Year (in batting order): Tom Latham (New Zealand), Dimuth Karunaratne (Sri Lanka), Kane Williamson (New Zealand), Virat Kohli (India) (capt), Henry Nicholls (New Zealand), Rishabh Pant (India) (wk), Jason Holder (Windies), Kagiso Rabada (South Africa), Nathan Lyon (Australia), Jasprit Bumrah (India), Mohammad Abbas (Pakistan)
ICC Men’s ODI team of the year (in batting order): Rohit Sharma (India), Jonny Bairstow (England), Virat Kohli (India) (capt), Joe Root (England), Ross Taylor (New Zealand), Jos Buttler (England) (wk), Ben Stokes (England), Mustafizur Rahman (Bangladesh), Rashid Khan (Afghanistan), Kuldeep Yadav (India), Jasprit Bumrah (India).
Eight months after self-styled spiritual leader Bhaiyyuji Maharaj committed suicide by shooting himself in the head at his residence on June 12, 2018, the arrests of Vinayak Dhule, Sharad Deshmukh and a woman named Palak Puranik (25) for abetment of suicide by the Indore police has brought a tragic story behind Bhaiyyuji’s demise to light which has given a new direction to the investigations. A detailed chat between Afternoon Voice Editor and Amar Shedge, nephew of Bhaiyyuji Maharaj reveals the mystery behind the unfortunate occurrence in detail.
All three accused have been charged under Section 306 of the IPC which concerns abetment of suicide, Section 120B of IPC which deals with conspiracy and Section 384. The police have also revealed that he was being blackmailed by the arrested woman disciple with a rape complaint and the woman was putting pressure on him to tie the knot with her. She had threatened him to file a police complaint to defame him if he didn’t give in to her demand. The court has sent the all three accused to the judicial custody after they were produced before the Magistrate’s court on Friday.
As per the information received, while Palak Puranik used to work with Bhaiyyuji as his personal secretary, Vinayak Dudhade and Sharad Deshmukh were his close aides. Vinayak was also made the caretaker of Bhayyuji’s properties in his will, Sharad is a driver.
“Bhaiyyuji would write a lot whenever in stress. The diary which was seized by the police was very old and the suicide note is probably written much before his death,”Amar Shedge told to the Editor.
“In his last days, Bhaiyyuji was trying to maintain a distance from Vinayak. However, he was the one who was in charge of Bhaiyyuji’s phone and many other things. Vinayak used to look after Bhaiyyuji’s parents and he completely relied on Vinayak for the same. Bhaiyyuji wouldn’t leave his parents with anyone else except Vinayak,” Shedge added.
When asked about what hampered the relationship between Bhaiyyuji and Vinayak, Shedge asserted, “Vinayak and Ayushi Sharma (Bhaiyyuji Maharaj’s second wife) were not in good terms as Vinayak was never in favour of Bhaiyyuji’s second marriage. Palak had been recruited in Bhaiyyuji’s ashram with full-proof planning by Vinayak. Bhaiyyuji used to say that Palak resembles with Kuhu (Bhaiyyuji’s daughter from the first wife). Vinayak was in a relationship with Palak and she has now admitted that they used to give extra doses of sleeping pills or seductive medicines to Bhaiyyuji, who blindly trusted them and used to consume it. Following that, the accused have also admitted that they used to sedate him and made videos. Bhaiyyuji would hardly use the Mobile phone. Vinayak admitted that he used Bhaiyyuji’s cell phone and sent messages to Palak; later, he used to delete the messages from Bhaiyyuji’s phone, however, asked Palak to save those explicit messages.”
As per the Police department sources, the three accused had asked Bhaiyyuji to marry the woman by June 16 but the spiritual leader committed suicide on June 12. Police says the plan was made by the accused hoping to get a share in Bhaiyyuji’s properties. Moreover, Ayushi Sharma met senior police officials in Indore last week and handed some important documents associated with the case.
BJP MP Dr. Virendra Kumar stated, “Bhaiyyuji Maharaj was a great sant and everyone had huge respect for him. Those who have compelled him to commit suicide, a strict action must be taken against them. At such a young age, he had won many hearts with his works and his untimely death was saddening for the society.”
Bhaiyyuji’s nephew also threw light on how Vinayak tried to mislead the police by promoting clashes between Kuhu and Ayushi which according to the source was ‘very nominal’. He stated, “Vinayak and Palak never wanted Bhaiyyuji to marry Ayushi Sharma and they were plotting to force him to marry Palak to get a hold on the power and properties.”
Bhayyuji Maharaj was one of the five sants to whom the previous Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in Madhya Pradesh had granted the status of Minister of State (MoS) in April 2018. However, Bhayyuji had refused to accept the post, saying it holds no importance for a sant like him.
Senior journalist and Social activist Abhijeet Rane expressed, “Bhaiyyuji Maharaj was one of my close friends and I believe he was trapped into this as the medicines given to him were harmful. He was a great sant and was also considered a role model for his personality. Usually, the close aides of such prominent personalities have all their personal information and often they start making traps to blackmail for their benefits. After gaining prominence, somewhere a person gets isolated from within. The government must take strict action and continue proper probe against all the accused.”
The 50-year-old had a huge list of followers that included top politicians and celebrities. The note found in Bhayyuji’s room after his death read him being “stressed out”. After the police started investigating the death, a lawyer associated with Bhaiyyuji Maharaj’s trust received a ransom call of Rs 5 crore. Following that the number was monitored and it led to Bhaiyyuji’s driver (appointed by Vinayak), who gave a new direction to this case with his information. Police on the basis of the driver’s statement questioned 125 people from different places and registered official statements of 28 people. These statements and digital evidence helped police arrest the three accused with charges of financial and psychological exploitation of the deceased. The police also claimed that in a few audio clips, Palak was heard plotting to eliminate Ayushi.
“Driver Patil was supposedly working for Vinayak. Probably when Patil didn’t get anything in return, he called up the advocate asking for extortion money. The advocate is a good person and was loyal to Bhaiyyuji. I don’t think there was any political connection with this case. Any malignity on his image was intolerable for him. Even though he tried to confide to his closed ones that he was in stress, Vinayak would never leave him alone,” Shedge unfolded.
Shiv Sena MLA Sunil Shinde said, “Bhaiyyuji Maharaj was a spiritual leader and whenever he used to visit Bombay, he used to meet me and guide me with his knowledge on many work aspects. He was associated with many political leaders and had good relations with all the political parties. The society suffered a huge loss with the death of Bhaiyyuji Maharaj. Whoever has blackmailed and provoked him to commit suicide should not be spared.”
Bhaiyyuji Maharaj was born as Uday Singh Deshmukh in a family of landowner agriculturists and worked in the past as a professional model. His first wife died in 2015 and he married Dr. Ayushi, who was also his disciple, in 2017, and with whom he has a daughter named Dhara.
Raytecha Raja Sanghatna President Shradhanand D Adav said, “Bhaiyyuji Maharaj was a spiritual leader and also had played a vital role in the various social cause for different caste and creed. People from various levels of the society followed him and he was a role model for the youth. The anti-social people always kill good people and our government should try to punish these cold-blooded murderers. The suicide of such a prominent personality is very harmful to the society especially, when that leader always tried to unite the society.”
Bhaiyyuji Maharaj was born as Uday Singh Deshmukh in a family of landowner agriculturists and worked in the past as a professional model. He tried his hand on glamour to the God’s world. However, one fine day, he shot himself and people made many stories about his death. They called him with names because he got married for the second time. Some media houses even wrote that his second wife and his daughter from the first wife had frequent fights, Maharaj was under stress due to internal conflicts and that led him to commit suicide. His first wife died in 2015 and they have a daughter. In 2017, he married Ayushi Sharma; they also have an eight-month-old daughter named Dhara.
Bhaiyyuji was very close to his aides Vinayak Dudhade and Sharad Deshmukh. Vinayak earned his respect by serving Bhaiyyuji’s parents. In Maharaj’s absence, Vinayak was the one who used to take care of his parents at home. He used to look after many things on personal and professional fronts. Ayushi and Palak were the two girls, back then, working in his Ashram on different portfolios. After Bhaiyyuji’s first wife’s death, he first declared that he is going to take Sanyasa from family life, and on one fine morning, he decided to marry his aide Ayushi. With this news, his other aides got disturbed because Palak Puranik was recruited in ashram through Vinayak and Bhaiyyuji’s so-called closeness was misunderstood as an affair. Vinayak and Sharad Deshmukh wanted Palak to be Bhaiyyuji’s wife so that they can control everything through her. But in the meantime, Bhaiyyuji chose Ayushi as his wife and that has gone into the nerves of his aides. There began the vendetta, Bhaiyyuji was under medication for stress and depression after his father and first wife’s death, Maharaj was given overdose of medicines to keep him dozed off always. Even in such a situation when he managed to marry a woman of his choice, the blackmailing started.
Palak Puranik, 25, was threatening Bhaiyyuji by putting pressure on him to marry her. Some disciple has claimed that Maharaj was double dating the girls while one of them made some sex videos to use it to her advantage; some say that the videos are morphed. There are many theories about those videos but those videos were the reason behind the suicide. Police have arrested three people on the charges of abetting to suicide and for “secretly” giving Maharaj “high doses of medicines” to “control” him. Palak Puranik was Maharaj’s personal secretary while, Vinayak Dudhade (42) and Sharad Deshmukh (34), were personal aides and all three were arrested. This entire episode got exposed with one ransom call. Those calls gave a new direction to the investigations in the Bhaiyyuji Maharaj’s suicide case. During the investigation, a lawyer associated with Bhaiyyuji Maharaj’s trust received a ransom call of Rs 5 crore. Police started monitoring the number. Within a few days, the phone number led them to the driver of Bhaiyyuji Maharaj. The information he provided was totally different from the ongoing investigation in the suicide case. The driver revealed that days after Bhaiyyuji’s suicide, there was a clash between his family members and volunteers of his trust.
On the basis of the driver’s statement, the Indore Police questioned 125 people from different places and registered official statements of 28 people. Based on those statements and digital evidence (phone call records and old chats), police arrested Vinayak, Sharad, and Palak. Palak threatened Bhaiyyuji Maharaj of slapping police cases against him if he refused to obey her. Palak had some screenshot of some objectionable chats, which she used to blackmail Bhaiyyuji. Being personal secretary, the phones of Bhaiyyuji Maharaj were always with Vinayak and Palak, there is a possibility that these chats are exchanged with an intention to blackmail Godman. If the chats were not by Bhaiyyuji Maharaj, then why such strong man had to get blackmailed by his aide, he could have asked the police to take action against them. In April 2018, he was offered Minister of State (MoS) post by the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government along with four more spiritual leaders after being inducted as members of a committee set up for the conservation of the Narmada River. However, Bhaiyyuji declined the offer and stated that he has no inclination towards any particular party or community. Palak is not the only girl who alleged Bhaiyyuji Maharaj of having illicit relations. Maharaj came in controversy time and again and this time it went beyond his control. Vinayak is the same guy that Bhaiyyuji had mentioned about in his suicide note that he wanted him to be the caretaker of his property.
Palak joined the ashram as a disciple and Maharaj’s right-hand man Vinayak Dhule and driver Sharad Deshmukh were instrumental in her closeness with Maharaj. Soon after Palak joined the ashram as a disciple, she had grown close to the spiritual leader. The chats between Maharaj and the woman suggest some planning and presumably, it could be regarding marriage. However, the knotty case turned even murkier as the family and sevadars levelled allegations against each other.
Maharaj, who had celebrities including noted politicians among his followers, addressed as ‘Rashtrasant’, Uday Singh Deshmukh aka Bhaiyyuji Maharaj, was a native of Shujalpur in MP. He was famous for his luxurious lifestyle marked by branded watches, posh cars, and a plush residence. Besides his sprawling ashram, he ran various educational institutions and was involved in social endeavours in Maharashtra and MP. His death created ripples in every spare of his life, the Congress party then demanded a CBI probe into his death. Finally, the police reached to some conclusion but still, this investigation leaves many questions and that can be answered by only Bhaiyyuji Maharaj.
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Pointing out that Mayawati had been victorious in previous elections with support of BJP, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale on Monday suggested BSP should ally with the BJP for the upcoming Assembly polls instead of partnering with the Samajwadi Party, if she really wanted to work for the Dalits.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and BSP had formed an alliance earlier this month to jointly contest 38 seats each in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections while leaving the other two seats to other parties.
“Mayawati became Chief Minister three times after receiving support from BJP. She did not see humanism and casteism then. When she wanted to be in power, she took help from BJP… If Mayawati really wants to work for Dalits, then she should think about joining hands with the BJP and Prime Minister Modi,” Athawale told agencies.
The Union Minister termed the SP-BSP alliance as opportunistic.
“BSP is forming an alliance because they did not win any seat in 2014. In Uttar Pradesh elections also, they thought Mayawati will become Chief Minister again but they were restricted to just 19 seats. That is why they have formed an alliance with their enemy (SP). Voters are not accepting this alliance because till now they have only raised voices against each other. SP-BSP alliance is only to get into power and defeat Prime Minister Modi,” he added.
Athawale said that both the SP and BSP feel that Congress is not a “strong party.”
“I think that the SP-BSP alliance on one side and Congress and others parties on other will only help BJP in Uttar Pradesh since votes will get divided. BJP can win over 60 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and NDA won’t face any problem in forming the government at Centre,” he said.
The minister also criticised Congress president Rahul Gandhi for his attacks on the Prime Minister and said that there was “no unity in the Opposition” today as seen in the recent TMC-led rally in Kolkata.
“Time and again Rahul Gandhi attacks Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This shows that the Prime Minister is moving ahead with ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’. He is the powerful leader in the country today. Despite Rahul’s attacks the people are with Prime Minister Modi. He will win the upcoming general election and become the Prime Minister again,” Athawale said.
“There have been talks over Rahul Gandhi versus Narendra Modi but now after conducting a big rally, Mamata Banerjee has challenged Rahul Gandhi making her a bigger leader than him. There is no unity in the Opposition,” he added.
When asked about the Ayodhya land dispute case, Athawale said, “It’s not fair to take the law in hands and construct Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The matter is currently in Supreme Court. We should wait for the court’s order”.
An earthquake of magnitude 3.0 on the Richter scale hit Palghar region in Maharashtra.
This was the second tremor within three hours that struck the region but fortunately, there were no reports of casualties or damages.
The earthquake jolted the state on Sunday around 6:40 pm with magnitude 3.6 and second at 08:59 pm.
According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), it was located at latitude of 20.0 degrees North and longitude of 72.9 degrees East and occurred at a depth of 5 km.
Nepal’s central bank has banned the use of Indian currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 denominations, a move that could affect Indian tourists visiting the Himalayan nation where Indian currency is widely used.
Nepal Rastra Bank on January 20 issued a circular prohibiting Nepali travellers, banks and financial institutions from holding or carrying and trading Indian bank notes higher than Rs 100, the Kathmandu Post reported.
The central bank said that in its circular letter that Indian currency of 200, 500 and 2,000 denominations cannot be carried and used for trading, it said,
Under the new regulation, Nepali citizens cannot carry these denominations to countries other than India. Similarly, Nepalis are also not allowed to bring such notes from other countries. Indian notes of 100 or below, however, are allowed for trading and conversion, the bank’s circular reads.
On December 13, the Cabinet had decided to publish the notification in the Nepal Gazette not to allow people to carry Indian currency notes above 100 denominations in Nepal.
The ban has been criticised by travel traders and entrepreneurs, saying that it would hurt the country’s burgeoning tourism at a time when the government has announced ‘Visit Nepal’ campaign with an objective to draw at least 2 million tourists in 2020.
A police constable was killed while trying to stop a truck carrying bullocks in Chandrapur in Maharashtra, over 800 kilometres from Mumbai, police said on Monday.
The incident happened Sunday night at Khambada Vani Naka on the Nagpur-Chandrapur Road when constable Prakash Meshram, who was deployed on an anti-liquor check, tried to halt a truck carrying 12 bullocks, an official said.
“The driver did not halt and drove ahead, crushing constable Meshram under the vehicle’s wheels. He is survived by his wife and daughter,” he informed.
Two people in the truck, identified as Imtiaz Ahmed Fayyaz Ahmed and Mohammad Raza Abdul Jabbar Qureshi, both 19 years of age, were arrested while two others managed to flee from the vehicle, he added.
This is the second incident of a policeman losing his life while on a vehicle check in the last three months, the official said.
Sub-Inspector Chhatrapati Chide was mowed down in November last year during a police check by a sports utility vehicle driven by suspected liquor smugglers.
Prohibition is in place in Chandrapur district and police routinely set up checks on its streets to nab vehicles involved in transporting liqour.
The Bombay High Court on Monday asked the National Investigating Agency (NIA) how it and the trial court verified the authenticity of photocopies of some documentary evidence relied upon in the 2008 Malegaon blast case.
A bench of justices A S Oka and A S Gadkari asked the NIA to inform the high court about it on Wednesday.
The bench was hearing a bunch of appeals filed by Sameer Kulkarni, one of the accused in the case.
Kulkarni has challenged the decision of the special NIA court permitting the probe agency to bring photocopies of missing statements of witnesses and confessions of the accused on record, and lead evidence in its support.
In January 2017, the special NIA court had permitted the use of photocopies after the probe agency submitted that some files containing original witness statements and confessions of accused under Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) Section 164 had gone missing and could not be traced.
The agency pleaded that since these statements were not traceable and the case proceedings were conducted on a regular basis, the secondary copies of the original statements be taken on record.
The court then permitted the use of such photocopies as secondary evidence.
Kulkarni, however, said in his appeal that the special court should not have permitted the use of photocopies since there was no evidence to prove that the photocopied documents were authentic copies of the original statements.
The bench also asked, “How do you (NIA) or the special court know that these are copies of the original statements? How did you verify that?”
In October last year, the special court had framed charges under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) against Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Lt Col Prasad Purohit and some other accused in the case.
Six people were killed and over 100 injured when an explosive device strapped on a motorcycle went off near a mosque in Malegaon, a town about 200 km from here in North Maharashtra, on September 29, 2008.
Faced with fund crunch, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Monday shot off a letter to Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari, demanding early reimbursement of Rs 3,722 crore for the ongoing Polavaram project on Godavari river.
The state is making available funds for the project from its “meager resources” to ensure the ongoing work does not stop, but this is affecting other flagship state programmes severely, he said.
So far, about Rs 15,380.97 crore has been spent on the project. After the Polavaram irrigation project was declared as national project, the central government reimbursed Rs 6,727.26 crore and is yet to release the balance Rs 3,722 crore to the state, he added.
“The last reimbursement received from Government of India was on June 11, 2018. Since then, there is no reimbursement of expenditure already incurred by the state government so far,” Naidu said in the letter.
Over 64 per cent of the overall project has been completed so far. The state government has been making timely payment for the project “severely restraining” its capacity to fund other development and welfare programmes with its limited revenues and resources, he said.
“Unless the amounts which are due to us are reimbursed immediately by the Government of India, the country is likely to lose a golden opportunity to complete a national project which is benefitting more than five states directly.”
Naidu broke away from the NDA early 2018. He is now spearheading efforts to bring non-BJP parties together to form a third front ahead of the general elections.
Eight months after self-styled spiritual leader Bhaiyyuji Maharaj committed suicide by shooting himself in the head at his residence on June 12, 2018, the arrests of Vinayak Dhule, Sharad Deshmukh and a woman named Palak Puranik (25) for abetment of suicide by the Indore police has brought a tragic story behind Bhaiyyuji’s demise to light which has given a new direction to the investigations. A detailed chat between Afternoon Voice Editor and Amar Shedge, nephew of Bhaiyyuji Maharaj reveals the mystery behind the unfortunate occurrence in detail.
Nepal’s central bank has banned the use of Indian currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200 denominations, a move that could affect Indian tourists visiting the Himalayan nation where Indian currency is widely used.
Faced with fund crunch, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu Monday shot off a letter to Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari, demanding early reimbursement of Rs 3,722 crore for the ongoing Polavaram project on Godavari river.