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Jayant Sinha Hits Back at BJP, Says Unjustly Targeted for Party Campaign Absence

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PTI
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Jayant Sinha Hits Back at BJP, Says Unjustly Targeted for Party Campaign Absence 2

BJP MP Jayant Sinha, who was asked by the party to show cause for not taking part in campaigning, on Thursday said he was being ”unjustly targeted” and the public notice amounted to demoralising dedicated workers like him.

Replying to the show cause notice, Sinha said it was issued to him though he had on March 2 communicated to BJP president JP Nadda that he would not be able to shoulder electoral responsibilities as he would focus on combating issues arising from global climate change.

The Hazaribagh MP also said that it was wrong for the party to allege that he did not cast his vote on May 20, since he had exercised his franchise through postal ballot and was not in the country on the polling day. ”Given my contributions to the party and the circumstances, the public issuance of your letter is unseemly. Your approach demoralizes dedicated party workers and undermines the party’s collective efforts. Additionally, despite my loyalty and hard work for the party, it appears that I am being unjustly targeted,” the former Union minister replied on the show cause notice via a post on X.

The BJP on Monday had slapped the notice on Sinha for not taking part in campaigning after Manish Jaiswal was declared candidate from the Hazaribag Lok Sabha seat, thereby ”maligning” the party’s image.

”We could have certainly spoken in person or on the phone at any time to address any of your misgivings. As the party official responsible for the Hazaribagh Lok Sabha elections, you could have reached me at any time. To send me a letter after the elections are over is incomprehensible,” Sinha said.

Sinha is the son of former Union finance minister Yashwant Sinha.

”I left India on 10 May 2024 to attend to some pressing personal commitments overseas. The party had not asked me to participate in any events, so I saw no reason to stay. Before leaving India, I sent my vote through the postal ballot process. Therefore, it is wrong for you to allege that I did not exercise my responsibility to vote,” Sinha said.

In the notice to him, BJP state general secretary Aditya Sahu had said, ”You are not taking any interest in organisational work and election campaigning ever since the party declared Manish Jaiswal as the candidate from Hazaribag LS seat. You did not even feel proper to exercise your right of franchise. The party’s image has been maligned due to your conduct.” The party has sought an explanation from Sinha within two days, following instructions from state BJP president and former Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi.

Hours before the announcement that Jaiswal would be the candidate for Hazaribagh, Sinha had requested party leadership to relieve him from electoral politics.

In a post on X on March 2, the MP said he would continue to work with the party on economic and governance issues and wanted to focus his efforts on ”combating global climate change in Bharat and around the world”.

Hazaribag, a high-profile urban constituency in Jharkhand, was once represented by Yashwant Sinha and later his son, Jayant Sinha.

RBI approves dividend of Rs 2.11 lakh crore to government for FY24

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ANI
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Reserve Bank of India
Reserve Bank of India | Image : ANI

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) board approved the transfer of Rs 2,10,874 crore as surplus to the Central Government for the accounting year 2023–24. The decision was taken at Apex Bank’s 608th meeting of the Central Board of Directors. Presided over by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, the board reviewed the global and domestic economic scenario, including risks to the outlook. The workings of Apex Bank during the year April 2023–March 2024 were also discussed during the meeting.

The transferable surplus funds for the years 2023–24 were determined using the guidelines set by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in August 2019. These guidelines were recommended by a committee led by Dr. Bimal Jalan. The committee suggested that the RBI should keep aside funds for unexpected risks, known as the Contingent Risk Buffer (CRB), which should be between 5.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent of the RBI’s total assets, the release added.”With the revival in economic growth in FY 2022–23, the CRB was increased to 6.00 per cent. As the economy remains robust and resilient, the board has decided to increase the CRB to 6.50 per cent for FY 2023-24,” the apex bank said. The bank underlined, during accounting years 2018–19 to 2021–22, owing to the prevailing macroeconomic conditions and the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic, it had decided to maintain the CRB at 5.50 per cent of the Reserve Bank’s balance sheet size to support growth and overall economic activity.

Deputy Governors Dr. Michael Debabrata Patra, M. Rajeshwar Rao, T. Rabi Sankar, Swaminathan J. and other Directors of the Central Board – Satish K. Marathe, Smt. Revathy Iyer, Shri Anand Gopal Mahindra, Shri Venu Srinivasan, Shri Pankaj Ramanbhai Patel and Dr. Ravindra H. Dholakia – attended the meeting. Shri Ajay Seth, Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs and Dr. Vivek Joshi, Secretary, Department of Financial Services, also attended the meeting.

Pune Porsche Accident: Justice Needed for Young Deceased Victims

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Vaidehi Taman
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pune porsche accident, pune accident, victims, minor, motor vehicle act, juvenile
Pune Porsche Accident: Justice Needed for Young Deceased Victims 5

Every year, thousands of accident deaths are reported in India, leaving many accused individuals languishing in jail due to prolonged trials. Despite stringent rules, driving by minors continues to be a significant menace.

In India, a minor driving without a license is an offence, and their parents or guardians can face punishment. The Indian Motor Vehicles Act, specifically Section 199(A), states that if a minor is found driving, it is presumed that the parents or guardians were aware, leading to possible imprisonment of up to three years and a fine of up to Rs 25,000. However, if the minor has a learner’s permit and is accompanied by an adult, this punishment does not apply.

Recently in Pune, the son of a prominent realtor, a minor, was seen drinking with his friends at a bar just hours before he crashed his car, killing two people. The 17-year-old involved in this fatal Porsche crash spent Rs 48,000 within 90 minutes at two pubs—Cosie Restaurant and Hotel Blak Club. These establishments should face consequences for breaking the law and serving alcohol to minors. In Maharashtra, the legal drinking age is 25. Additionally, state transport officials are being punished because the Porsche Taycan’s permanent registration has been pending since March due to an unpaid fee of Rs 1,758, which no RTO office addressed.

Public Outrage and the Role of the Juvenile Justice Board

The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) released the minor within 15 hours on conditions that many found lenient and inappropriate given the gravity of the offence. The minor must work with traffic police for 15 days, write an essay on accidents, undergo treatment for drinking, and attend counselling sessions.

This decision sparked outrage, especially considering the minor’s actions led to the deaths of 24-year-old IT professionals Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta. Witnesses reported that Ashwini was thrown 20 feet into the air, and Aneesh was flung into a parked car.

In response to public outrage, the excise department initiated a special inspection drive to ensure pubs and licenced restaurants do not serve alcohol to underage patrons and adhere to the 1:30 am closing time.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed shock over the JJB’s lenient stance and called for the teenager to be tried as an adult. The Pune police commissioner has also sought to try the minor as an adult, emphasising the heinous nature of the crime.

Read also:

Need for Judicial Inquiry and Compensation

The bar owners who allowed underage drinking have been arrested, and calls for a judicial inquiry into the case are growing. As per the Nirbhaya case precedent, individuals over 16 years old should be considered adults in heinous crime cases. The teen received bail within 15 hours, and his father has been arrested under sections of the Juvenile Justice Act for neglect and supplying alcohol to a minor.

Deputy CM Fadnavis has promised strong action, and the public awaits justice for the two IT professionals who lost their lives. The families of the deceased deserve fair compensation and accountability from those responsible.

Mumbai registers lower voter turnout amid 5th phase polling

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PTI
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Mumbai registers lower voter turnout amid 5th phase polling 7

An average voter turnout of 54.33 per cent has been recorded in 13 Lok Sabha seats of Maharashtra during the fifth phase of polling, as per the latest data available with the office of the state’s Chief Electoral Officer.

The final figures will be declared later, an official from the CEO’s office said on Tuesday.

During the voting held in the 13 seats on Monday, six Lok Sabha constituencies in Mumbai recorded an average turnout of 52.27 per cent, compared to 55.38 per cent in the 2019 general elections.

The ST-reserved Dindori constituency (in Nashik district) recorded the highest turnout at 62.66 per cent while Kalyan saw the lowest polling at 47.08 per cent.

The BJP fielded Union minister Bharati Pawar in Dindori where she was pitted against Bhaskar Bhagare of the NCP (SP). Palghar, another tribal-dominated constituency, recorded the second highest turnout at 61.65 per cent. At many polling stations in various constituencies, people were standing in queues to cast vote even after the scheduled concluding time of 6 pm. ”As a standard procedure, every person standing in the queue is taken inside the premises and its gates are closed. Voting then goes on till the last person in the queue casts vote,” the official said.

During the polling on Monday, Nashik Lok Sabha seat reported 57.10 per cent polling, Dhule at 56.61 per cent, Bhiwandi 56.41 per cent, Mumbai North 55.21 per cent, Mumbai North East 53.75 per cent, Mumbai North West 53.67 per cent, Mumbai South Central 51.88 per cent, Mumbai North Central 51.42 per cent, Thane 49.81 per cent and Mumbai South 47.70 per cent, as per official data.

Post poll violence erupts in Bihar’s Saran district, leaving one dead and three injured

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ANI
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Post poll violence erupts in Bihar's Saran district, leaving one dead and three injured 9

One person was killed and three others injured in post poll violence in Bihar’s Saran district on Tuesday morning, police said.

The incident happened in the Bada Telma area near Bhikhari Thakur Chowk, they said.

An altercation broke out between two groups, said to be supporters of the BJP and RJD, over allegations of irregularities during polling that happened on Monday in the area, amid which shots were fired.

One person was killed on the spot, and three others were injured, a police officer said.

The deceased was identified as Chandan Yadav (25), he added.

”The injured persons were admitted to the nearest hospital. Later, two of them were sent to Patna for better treatment,” Superintendent of Police Gaurav Mangla said.

”A case has been registered and an investigation is underway. Three persons have been arrested in connection with today’s incident,” he said.

Internet was also suspended in the district to prevent a flare-up, he added.

RJD president Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya was the Mahagathbandhan candidate in Saran against BJP MP Rajiv Pratap Rudy.

London court to decide whether WikiLeaks founder Assange is extradited to the US

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PTI
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London court to decide whether WikiLeaks founder Assange is extradited to the US 11

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange faces a hearing on Monday in the High Court in London that could end with him being sent to the US to face espionage charges or provide him another chance to appeal his extradition.

The outcome will depend on how much weight judges give to assurances US officials have provided that Assange’s rights won’t be trampled if he goes on trial.

In March, two judges rejected the bulk of Assange’s arguments but said he could take his case to the Court of Appeal unless the US guaranteed he would not face the death penalty if extradited and would have the same free speech protections as a US citizen.

The court said that if Assange, who is an Australian citizen, couldn’t rely on the First Amendment, then it was arguable that his extradition would be incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, which also provides free speech and press protections.

The US has provided those reassurances, though Assange’s legal team and supporters argue they are not good enough to rely on to send him to the US federal court system.

The US, for example, said Assange could seek to rely on the rights and protections of the First Amendment but that a decision on that would ultimately be up to a judge. In the past, the US said it would argue at trial that he was not entitled to constitutional protection because he’s not a US citizen.

“The US has limited itself to blatant weasel words claiming that Julian can seek to raise’ the First Amendment if extradited,” his wife, Stella Assange, said. ”The diplomatic note does nothing to relieve our family’s extreme distress about his future—his grim expectation of spending the rest of his life in isolation in US prison for publishing award-winning journalism.” Assange, 52, has been indicted on 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his website’s publication of a trove of classified US documents almost 15 years ago. American prosecutors allege that Assange encouraged and helped US Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning steal diplomatic cables and military files that WikiLeaks published.

His lawyers say he could face up to 175 years in prison if convicted, though American authorities have said any sentence would likely be much shorter.

Assange’s family and supporters say his physical and mental health have suffered during more than a decade of legal battles, including taking refuge in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London from 2012 until 2019. He has spent the last five years in a British high-security prison.

Assange’s lawyers argued in February that he was a journalist who exposed US military wrongdoing in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sending him to the US, they said, would expose him to a politically motivated prosecution and risk a “flagrant denial of justice.” The US government said his actions went way beyond those of a journalist gathering information and put lives at risk in his bid to solicit, steal, and indiscriminately publish classified government documents.

If Assange prevails Monday, it would set the stage for an appeal process likely to extend what has already been a long legal saga.

If the court accepts the word of the US, it would mark the end of Assange’s legal challenges in the UK, though it’s unclear what would immediately follow.

His legal team is prepared to ask the European Court of Human Rights to intervene. But his supporters fear Assange could possibly be transferred before the court in Strasbourg, France, which could halt his removal.

The court could also postpone issuing a decision.

If he loses in court, he still may have another shot at freedom.

President Joe Biden said last month that he was considering a request from Australia to drop the case and let Assange return to his home country.

Officials provided no other details but Stella Assange said it was “a good sign,” and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the comment was encouraging.

2 biker riders killed as drunk teenager ramps speeding car in Pune; released on bail

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Web Team
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2 biker riders killed as drunk teenager ramps speeding car in Pune; released on bail 13

Two people, including a young woman, were killed after a luxury Porsche car hit their motorcycle near Kalyani Nagar in Pune city, police said on Sunday. The duo died on the spot, said the police.

The incident took place at 3.15 am on Sunday. The deceased have been identified as Anis Awadhiya and Ashwini Costa.

According to DCP Vijay Kumar Magar, Pune City Police, “A bike rider and pillion were killed when a speeding Porsche car hit them from behind in the Kalyani Nagar area of Pune City last night. The accused has been arrested. FIR has been registered.”

Police have booked a minor on charges of rash and negligent driving and causing harm by endangering the life or personal safety of others at Yerwaad Police Station of Pune City Police under IPC Section 304A, 279, 337, 337, 338, 427, and relevant sections of the Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Act. According to the FIR, a group of friends were returning home on their bikes from a party in one of the restaurants in Kalyani Nagar.

As per reports, the luxury car was driven by Vedant, the son of Vishal Agarwal, owner of the construction company Brahma Realty and Infrastructure.

According to reports, a group of friends who had been attending a party at a restaurant in Kalyani Nagar were making their way home on their motorbikes. However, upon reaching the Kalyani Nagar junction, tragedy struck as a speeding luxury car collided with one of the motorcycles. Consequently, two riders on the two-wheeler succumbed to their injuries on the spot, as detailed in the First Information Report-(FIR).

Accused granted bail by juvenile court

The Juvenile Justice Board granted bail to the accused involved in a recent car accident in Pune, said the juvenile accused’s advocate, Prashant Patil. The bail comes with several conditions aimed at rehabilitation and awareness.

The conditions include the following: The accused should work with the traffic police of Yerawada for 15 days; accused should write an essay on accident; should get treatment from the concerned doctor to help him quit drinking; and should take psychiatric counselling and submit a report.

“The juvenile accused, who was arrested by Pune Police, has been granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board on certain conditions, including that the accused should work with the traffic police of Yerawada for 15 days, accused should write an essay on accident, should get treatment from the concerned doctor to help him quit drinking and should take psychiatric counselling and submit the report,” Prashant Patil said.

A video went viral on social media depicting bystanders assaulting the car driver. Following the collision, the bystanders intercepted him as he attempted to escape, subjecting him to physical violence before turning him over to the police.

Lot of complaints from voters about facilities outside polling booths: SS (UBT) leader, Aaditya Thackeray

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ANI
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Lot of complaints from voters about facilities outside polling booths: SS (UBT) leader, Aaditya Thackeray 15

Amid voting underway in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray on Monday claimed there were lot of complaints from electors about facilities outside the polling booths.

Voters were trying to beat the heat and exercise their franchise in large numbers, the former state minister said, adding that electors should at least be made to queue up in shade and provided fans.

Polling was underway since 7 am in 13 Lok Sabha constituencies of Maharashtra, including six in Mumbai, and will continue till 6 pm. ”A lot of complaints from voters about the facilities outside the booths @ECISVEEP Atleast having the voter lines in shade/ fans could help. They don’t want much, just basics to stay cool. Please look into it,” Thackeray said in a post on X.

Some of the electors in Mumbai said they went to the polling booths early in the morning to beat the heat.

Altogether 2.46 crore persons are eligible to cast vote to decide the fate of 264 candidates in the 13 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Union ministers Piyush Goyal, Bharati Pawar and Kapil Patil are among the key nominees of the BJP, which has also fielded lawyer Ujjwal Nikam.

Shiv Sena’s Shrikant Shinde and Mumbai Congress chief Varsha Gaikwad are also in the fray.

Goyal, Patil and Gaikwad cast their votes early in the morning.

Various other prominent persons, including RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, industrialist Anil Ambani, Bollywood celebrities Akshay Kumar and Farhan Akhtar, were also among the early voters in Mumbai.

Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, supreme leader’s protégé, dies at 63 in helicopter crash

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PTI
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Iran President Ebrahim Raisi, supreme leader's protégé, dies at 63 in helicopter crash 17

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, a hard-line protégé of the country’s supreme leader who helped oversee the mass executions of thousands in 1988 and later led the country as it enriched uranium near weapons-grade levels and launched a major drone-and-missile attack on Israel, has died. He was 63.

Raisi’s sudden death, along with Iran’s foreign minister and other officials in the helicopter crash Sunday in northwestern Iran, came as Iran struggles with internal dissent and its relations with the wider world. A cleric first, Raisi once kissed the Quran, the Islamic holy book, before the United Nations and spoke more like a preacher than a statesman when addressing the world.

Raisi, who earlier lost a presidential election to the relatively moderate incumbent Hassan Rouhani in 2017, ended up coming to power four years later in a vote carefully managed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei to clear any major opposition candidate.

His arrival came after Rouhani’s signature nuclear deal with world powers remained in tatters after then-President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew America from the accord, setting in motion years of renewed tensions between Tehran and Washington.

But while saying he wanted to rejoin the deal, Raisi’s new administration instead pushed back against international inspections, in part over an ongoing suspected sabotage campaign carried out by Israel targeting its nuclear program. Talks in Vienna at restoring the accord remained stalled in his government’s first months.

“Sanctions are the US’ new way of war with the nations of the world,” Raisi told the United Nations in September 2021.

He added: “The policy of maximum oppression’ is still on. We want nothing more than what is rightfully ours.” Mass protests swept the country in 2022 after the death of Mahsa Amini, a woman who had been detained over allegedly not wearing a hijab, or headscarf, to the liking of authorities. The monthslong security crackdown that followed the demonstrations killed more than 500 people and more than 22,000 others were detained.

In March, a United Nations investigative panel found that Iran was responsible for the “physical violence” that led to Amini’s death.

Then came the 2023 Israel-Hamas war, in which Iranian-backed militias targeted Israel. Tehran launched an extraordinary attack itself on Israel in April, in which hundreds of drones, cruise missiles and ballistic missiles fired. Israel, the US and its allies shot down the projectiles, but it showed just how much the yearslong shadow war between Iran and Israel had boiled.

Khamenei appointed Raisi, a former Iranian attorney general, in 2016 to run the Imam Reza charity foundation, which manages a conglomerate of businesses and endowments in Iran. It is one of many bonyads, or charitable foundations, fuelled by donations or assets seized after Iran’s 1979 Islamic Revolution.

These foundations offer no public accounting of their spending and answer only to Iran’s supreme leader. The Imam Reza charity, known as “Astan-e Quds-e Razavi” in Farsi, is believed to be one of the biggest. Analysts estimate its worth at tens of billions of dollars as it owns almost half the land in Mashhad, Iran’s second-largest city.

At Raisi’s appointment to the foundation, Khamenei called him a “trustworthy person with high-profile experience.” That led to analyst speculation that Khamenei could be grooming Raisi as a possible candidate to be Iran’s third-ever supreme leader, a Shiite cleric who has final say on all state matters and serves as the country’s commander-in-chief.

Though Raisi lost his 2017 campaign, he still garnered nearly 16 million votes. Khamenei installed him as the head of Iran’s internationally criticised judiciary, long known for its closed-door trials of human rights activists and those with Western ties. The US Treasury in 2019 sanctioned Raisi “for his administrative oversight over the executions of individuals who were juveniles at the time of their crime and the torture and other cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment of prisoners in Iran, including amputations.” By 2021, Raisi became the dominant figure in the election after a panel under Khamenei disqualified candidates who posed the greatest challenge to his protege. He swept nearly 62 per cent of the 28.9 million votes in that vote, the lowest turnout by percentage in the Islamic Republic’s history. Millions stayed home and others voided ballots.

Raisi was defiant when asked at a news conference after his election about the 1988 executions, which saw sham retrials of political prisoners, militants and others that would become known as “death commissions.” After Iran’s then-Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini accepted a UN-brokered cease-fire, members of the Iranian opposition group Mujahedeen-e-Khalq, heavily armed by Saddam Hussein, stormed across the Iranian border from Iraq in a surprise attack. Iran blunted their assault.

The trials began around that time, with defendants asked to identify themselves. Those who responded “mujahedeen” were sent to their deaths, while others were questioned about their willingness to “clear minefields for the army of the Islamic Republic,” according to a 1990 Amnesty International report. International rights groups estimate that as many as 5,000 people were executed. Raisi served on the commissions.

“I am proud of being a defender of human rights and of people’s security and comfort as a prosecutor wherever I was,” Raisi said.

Born in Mashhad on December 14, 1960, Raisi was born into a family that traces its lineage to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, marked by the black turban he would later wear. His father died when he was 5. He would go onto the seminary in the Shiite holy city of Qom and later would describe himself as an ayatollah, a high-ranking Shiite cleric.

He is survived by his wife and two daughters.

Maliwal assault case: Kejriwal’s former aide, Bibhav Kumar, arrested; says ready to cooperate in probe

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ANI
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Maliwal assault case: Kejriwal's former aide, Bibhav Kumar, arrested; says ready to cooperate in probe 19

Amid the political free-for-all between the ruling AAP and the BJP over the alleged assault on Rajya Sabha MP and former DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal; the accused former personal secretary of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Bibhav Kumar, was arrested on Friday, Delhi Police confirmed. He is to be produced before Delhi’s Tis Hazari Court later on Saturday, the police informed.

The former aide of the AAP supremo, meanwhile, emailed Delhi Police stating that he was ready to cooperate in the ongoing probe into Maliwal’s assault claim while adding that they should also take cognisance of his complaint. Bibhav, on Friday, lodged a counter-complaint with the police accusing Maliwal of gaining ‘unauthorised entry’ into the CM’s Civil Lines residence and ‘verbally abusing’ him.

In his complaint, Kejriwal’s former PA charged Maliwal with unauthorised entry, verbal abuse, and threats while also claiming the BJP’s involvement in the matter. “It has come to the knowledge of the undersigned through the media that a case F.I.R. No. 27/2024 has been registered at P.S. Civil Lines in which the undersigned has been named as an accused. Though the undersigned has not been served with any notice in the case till now, the undersigned categorically submits that he is willing to cooperate and join the investigation asand when called upon to do so by the Investigating officer,” Bibhav wrote in his email to Delhi Police.

“It may be emphasized here that the undersigned has also made a complaint bringing to light the true facts of the alleged incident that happened on May 13, 2024 vide e-mail dated May 17, 2024 at 3:34 p.m. sent on e-mail ids: sho-civilline-dl@nic.in and dep.north@delhipolice.gov.in. It is requested that the same may be brought on record and investigated in accordance with law,” the accused in the assault case added in the email. Significantly, the Vigilance Department had last month terminated Bibhav’s service as Kejriwal’s top aide over a pending criminal case.

Meanwhile, the details of Maliwal’s medico-legal case report surfaced on Saturday, mentioning bruises over her left leg and her right cheek. The report was filed after Maliwal underwent a detailed medical examination on the night of May 16. The examination was carried out at the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre at AIIMS, Delhi.

Earlier, the Delhi Police filed an FIR on Maliwal’s complaint against the CM’s former aide, alleging that he ‘slapped’ her “atleast seven to eight times” while she “continued screaming” and “brutally dragged” her while “kicking” her in her “chest, stomach and pelvis area.” According to the FIR, Maliwal described the events of May 13 after she visited Kejriwal’s Civil Lines residence in the national capital.

“I went inside the camp office and called CM’s PS Bibhav Kumar but I could not go in. I then sent a message to his mobile number (through WhatsApp). However, there was no response. I then went inside the residential area through the main door as I have always done in the past year since Bibhav Kumar was not present I entered the residence area and informed the staff present there to tell the CM here to meet him,” the FIR read. “I was informed that he was present in the house and I was told to wait in the drawing room. I went into the drawing room sat on the sofa and waited for him to meet me,” Maliwal stated in the complaint.

“One of the staff members came and told me that CM was coming to meet me and suddenly, the PS of CM, Bibhav Kumar barged into the room. He started screaming without any provocation and even started abusing me. I was stunned by this….and I reacted by telling him to stop talking to me like this and to call the CM,” the complaint read further. “He then abused me and asked who are you to not listen to what I say. While saying these words, he came and stood right in front of me. Without any provocation whatsoever on my side, he started slapping me with full force. He slapped me seven to eight times at least while I continued screaming. I felt absolutely shocked and was screaming for help over and over again. In order to protect myself I pushed him away with my legs,” she added.

“At that time, he pounced on me, brutally dragged me and deliberately pulled my shirt up. My shirt buttons opened and my shirt flew up. I landed on the floor while hitting my head on the centre table. I was constantly screaming for help but no one came. After that, Bibhav Kumar did not relent and attacked me by kicking me in my chest, stomach and pelvis area with his legs. I was in extreme pain and kept telling him to stop. My shirt was coming up but he continued to assault me,” the AAP MP said. The FIR was filed under IPC sections 308 (Attempt to commit culpable homicide) /341(Punishment for wrongful restraint)/354B Assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe /(506 Punishment for criminal intimidation/509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).

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