A police cavalcade carrying gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed left for the Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat on Tuesday evening, hours after he was sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment in a 2006 kidnapping case by a court in Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, a senior official said.
'The Opposition will continue to be attacked through misuse of agencies, civil society will be force-marched towards extinction and India's plummeting on global indices will continue.' 'Minorities and especially Muslims will continue to have open season declared on them. Institutions will continue their decline,' predicts Aakar Patel.
Temperatures remained above 45 degrees Celsius in large parts of Rajasthan, Haryana, Delhi, Chandigarh and Uttar Pradesh, affecting daily life as many chose to remain indoors in the afternoon.
The EC said polling percentage in the Anantnag-Rajouri seat in Jammu and Kashmir is the highest in 40 years.
Addressing an election meeting on what once was the home turf of slain gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday appeared to invoke nature as a great leveller -- a force that delivers justice.
He said the Uttar Pradesh police in all likelihood will seek his transit remand and also police remand to take him from Ahmedabad to Prayagraj and he "genuinely apprehends that he may be eliminated during this transit period".
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said there are courts to ensure that criminals get the harshest punishment but 'playing with law and order only gives birth to anarchy'.
On March 28, the apex court had dismissed Ahmad's plea for protection and observed that the Uttar Pradesh state machinery would take care of his protection in case of a threat to his life.
The police and administration officials were present in large numbers as the demolition progressed.
Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad, who was shot dead along with his brother at point-blank range, had admitted during questioning by police that he had links with Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence and militant outfit Lashkar-e-Tayiba, according to a first information report (FIR).
A police official said a large number of policemen be deployed during the last rites of Asad to avoid any untoward incident.
The incident took place at Majalgaon in the district on Tuesday following which many locals gathered around the banner. Authorities promptly took it down, the official said.
Former Central Bureau of Investigation joint director Amit Kumar, who is now posted as Chhattisgarh police ADG, led the probe into the coal scam that resulted in convictions in a number of cases.
If the Congress is contesting fewer seats than ever before, the BJP is set to contest its highest-ever number of Lok Sabha seats.
The plea sought the setting up of an independent expert committee to probe the killing of Atiq and Ashraf.
Satellite imagery showed a dense elongated band of fog stretching from Punjab to the northeast.
Ahmad was elected to the assembly as an Independent in 1989, 1991, 1993 and on a Samajwadi Party ticket in 1996. He returned to the House in 2002 on an Apna Dal ticket. He was elected as an MP in 2004.
The AIMIM chief questioned whether the public will have any faith in the Constitution and law and order of the country after this incident.
The authorities in Prayagraj have ordered the demolition of a private hospital where a dengue patient died after being transfused with what the family claimed was sweet lime juice and not blood platelets.
The searches were carried out on June 14-15 at 10 premises in Prayagraj, Lucknow and Delhi, the agency said in a statement.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has decided to cut short his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Uttar Pradesh by skipping western part of the state and saving five days, a party leader said on Monday while citing board exams.
Ahmad and Ashraf alias Khalid Azim will be kept in judicial custody till April 26, said advocate Vikram Singh, the counsel for Umesh Pal's wife Jaya.
Atiq Ahmed is named in more than 100 criminal cases, including the recent Umesh Pal murder case
"A wise exercise of judicial authority, both on and off the Bench, is what sustains the credibility and legitimacy of the judiciary and the confidence which society has in its Judges," the CJI wrote.
Gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad's son Asad, wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh police in Jhansi on Thursday, officials said.
With the surge in tourist footfalls to Varanasi in 2022, it almost rivals the arrivals in Agra and puts it way ahead of Prayagraj and Ayodhya.
General secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Champat Rai on Monday announced that the idol of Lord Ram will be placed at its position at the 'garbh griha' of the temple on January 18 and Pran Pratishtha will take place at 12.20 pm on January 22.
Members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and the forensic team visited the area outside Colvin Hospital to understand the sequence of events leading to the killing of Ahmad and his brother on the night of April 15.
Heatwave conditions continued unabated as temperatures hovered in the range of 40 to 44 degrees Celsius over most parts of the country on Tuesday, April 18, with Hamirpur and Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh sizzling at 44.2 degrees Celsius.
Congress supporters celebrate the Supreme Court's interim order to stay Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case.
A women offers prayers to the Sun God on the occasion of the Chhath Puja in Bhubaneswar.
This visit by the prime minister comes weeks ahead of the 'pran pratishtha' or consecration ceremony of the Ram temple.
The bullet-riddled bodies of Ahmad and Ashraf were taken away from the spot as tension gripped the area after the sensational killing.
While people voted in a fifth round that will set the tone as this election rounds into the straight, and while Modi on the stump chews the cud of personal grievances and hackneyed promises that have long since passed their use-by date, there is a rogue wave rising -- what damage it will do, we will know 16 days from today, observes Prem Panicker.
The gangster-politician was booked in 65 criminal cases ranging from murder to extortion and was elected an MLA five times on the tickets of different political parties.
Additionally, the Haryana police and home guard personnel will be deployed for security during the elections, he said.
Yeh Hai India: Capturing Events And Moods Across Our Incredible Country.
The notable names in the BJP's first list include Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, Hema Malini from Mathura, Ajay Mishra Teni from Kheri, Smriti Irani from Amethi, Lallu Singh from Faizabad (Ayodhya) and Mahendra Nath Pandey from Chandauli among others.
He alleged that an officer told him that he would be taken out of jail after two weeks and killed.
People had also started gathering at Mukhtar Ansari's residence in Ghazipur and there was a large deployment of security personnel around the house.
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