‘Monster is Gone’: Bangladesh interim leader Muhammad Yunus hails students revolution; PM Modi extends best wishes

Bengaluru, Aug 28: Amid rumours that he may be the new Chief Minister, Karnataka Home Minister and prominent leader from the Dalit community G. Parameshwara said on Wednesday that he is a disciplined soldier of Congress and whenever the party gave him an opportunity he delivered honestly.

The statement comes amid speculation that he may be made the Chief Minister in case of the growing legal troubles of CM Siddaramaiah. The rumours have gained weight after Parameshwara met Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on August 23.

However, Parameshwara refuted the speculation saying, “The question of me becoming the Chief Minister does not arise at all...That question won’t arise and I will not answer any such question,” he stated. When asked about his separate meeting with Rahul Gandhi, he said, “Rahul Gandhi had spoken to me separately and it is true. However, the media can’t speculate about the subject matter. I am also a Congress’ disciplined soldier. Whenever the party gave me an opportunity to work, I did it with full honesty. Rahul Gandhi has spoken to me about the matters of the party. There was no discussion as such.”

Talking about the pending court’s verdict on the prosecution against CM Siddaramaiah on Thursday, he stated, “We are hoping that the court in any way won’t consider the Governor’s decision because no material is there to substantiate. There is nothing to prove CM Siddaramaiah’s involvement such as his signatures, orders, involvement and his name is not there in the registration. When this is the case, the court will observe all this and give its verdict.”

“We will stand with CM Siddaramaiah as the high command has announced. The development can’t be predicted. The high command is of the opinion that once the court's decision comes, the future course of action would be discussed,” he stated.

When asked about the Congress government approaching the Supreme Court against the Governor for sending back 11 bills, Parameshwara stated, “The legal team is verifying on approaching the Supreme Court regarding the sending back of 11 bills by the Governor. We will have to see about that. We will first send the bills back to the Governor with the clarifications he had sought. If he is not satisfied, we will have to approach the President for that matter as well.”

Asked whether the Governor will heed to the demands of the Congress party, Parameshwara stated, “It is a different matter whether the Governor will oblige the demands of the Congress party. There is a need to organise the agitations ... Tomorrow one might state that if the legislators had to meet and brief him about the situation, he would have taken a different call. We want to explore the opportunity as well.”

Answering a question on BJP planning to stage protests at the national level, he said, “If they are planning a national level agitation, then we will also have to organise the protests at the national level. The high command will decide whether the Congress party alone is going to stage the agitation or it will be staged through the INDIA bloc. If BJP takes it to the national level, we will also certainly do it.”

On the issue of land allotment by the Karnataka Industrial Development Board (KIADB) to Minister for RDPR and IT and BT Priyank Kharge, Parameshwara stated, “Let the Governor examine the complaint and if there is anything against the law, let him take appropriate action. The application was submitted for the land allotment for a project. Anyone can make the submission after coming up with a company, project report and investment. The land will be allotted.”

A 19-year-old boy, studying in Class 12 in Haryana’s Faridabad, was chased in a car and shot dead by a group of five cow vigilantes who allegedly mistook him for a cattle smuggler, police said on Tuesday.

A Duster car in which the boy, Aryan Mishra, and his friends Harshit and Shanky as well as two other women seated in the back of the vehicle, was chased by the members of cow vigilante group on the night of August 23 for about 30 kilometers near Haryana’s Gadhpuri on the Delhi-Agra National Highway.

Police have identified and arrested all the five accused – Saurabh, Anil Kaushik, Varun, Krishna and Adesh. A report by Hindustan Times quoted police sources as saying that the weapon used to kill the victim was illegal.

All the five accused cow vigilantes were grilled by the cops who revealed that they had received information that on the night of August 23, some suspected cattle “smugglers” were carrying out surveillance in the city in Renault Duster and Toyota Fortuner and picking up cattle in the area.  

The accused also claimed they were told that the alleged cattle smugglers had also called their associates  to pick up cows in a truck from isolated areas in the city.  

The cow vigilantes, who were also in a car, spotted a Duster at Patel Chowk in which Aryan Mishra was seated with his friends.  

The vehicle was being driven by Harshit and was stopped by the accused, but they instead accelerated, following which they opened fire and a bullet hit Aryan Mishra, who was seated in the passenger seat, near his neck.  

After Aryan was shot, Harshit pulled over the SUV near the Gadhpuri toll in Palwal, but the attackers approached and fired another shot into Aryan Mishra’s chest, resulting in his death.

The accused saw the women in the car and realised that they had shot a wrong person after which they fled.  

Police said despite being asked to stop, Harshit sped the vehicle as Shanky, who was also in the car, was recently involved in a dispute with a man and a case had been registered against him. They thought goons were sent to kill them.

With the SUV not stopping and instead running away, the cow vigilantes thought the cattle smugglers were in it and they started to chase the vehicle which broke through the barrier at the Palwal toll plaza.  

The accused have been sent to judicial custody after being presented in a city court.

In a shocking development, a doctor, who worked for the mobile medical services of the Isha Foundation in Coimbatore district, has been arrested by the Coimbatore District Police on charges of sexually assaulting many girl students of a government school during a medical camp. 

The incident came to light during a meeting between education officers and the students, held following orders from Chief Secretary N Muruganandam. The meeting was part of a larger investigation after four staff members of a government college in Valparai were recently arrested for sexually harassing students.

The arrested doctor, identified as 33-year-old S Saravanamoorthy, was a native of Tirupattur district and was part of a mobile medical units team, operated by the Isha Foundation of Jaggi Vasudev alias Sadhguru.

These units have reportedly been conducting free medical camps for school students and general public across Coimbatore under their ‘Action for Rural Rejuvenation’ programme. 

During the meeting with the education officers on Wednesday, September 4, around 12 girl students belonging to classes 6 to 10, raised complaints about how they were touched inappropriately by Saravanamoorthy during these camps.

Immediately after this, the school management reached out to the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), who followed an inquiry with the students. Following this, the Perur All Women police were alerted.

The police officials visited the school and inquired with each of the survivors personally. After recording their statements, they registered a case against the doctor under Section 9(e) (whoever being on the management or staff of a hospital, whether government or private, commits sexual assault on a child in that hospital) read with 10 (punishment for aggravated sexual assault) of Pocso Act. The doctor was later arrested and has been remanded to judicial custody. 

The Isha Foundation, meanwhile, has put out a statement stating that they are fully cooperating with the investigation and that they have a zero tolerance policy for crimes against women and children. 

“It has been brought to our notice that a case has been registered against an employee who is a doctor with our outreach mobile medical services in the rural areas of Coimbatore. Isha holds a Zero Tolerance Policy for any crimes against women and children. We are cooperating with the ongoing police investigation and will take necessary actions by the legal,” read the statement.