Opposition leaders have criticized Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's remarks about Jawaharlal Nehru's alleged desire to build the Babri Masjid with public funds, accusing him and the BJP of distorting historical facts.
The cleric's arrest on Saturday prompted administrations in neighbouring districts to go on high alert.
The Enforcement Directorate has also taken interest in the case and sought related documents and FIR copies from the local police, they added.
With the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls scheduled for 2027, political experts are observing an increasing trend of temple-mosque disputes in the state, leading to heightened polarization. Recent bypolls saw the use of divisive slogans, and analysts believe this trend will intensify as the 2027 elections approach. The recent surge in claims about the existence of Hindu temples at the sites of mosques in various cities has fueled this polarization. The BJP-led government has been accused of promoting communal polarization, while opposition parties like the SP have criticized the ruling party's actions. The RSS chief has called for restraint in raising new temple-related disputes. Experts predict that communal polarization is likely to escalate in the coming days.
Three people died when their car fell into the Ramganga river from a partially constructed bridge in Bareilly on Sunday, police said, adding that they suspect the driver was misled by its navigation system into taking the unsafe route.
More than 100 people were booked on charges of stone-pelting and rioting on Thursday night while a man belonging to a right-wing outfit was detained for questioning in connection with the vandalism outside the station.
A court in Budaun will decide on December 24 whether to proceed with a hearing in the Jama Masjid Shamsi versus Neelkanth temple case. The dispute arose in 2022 when a Hindu group claimed the temple existed at the mosque site and sought permission to worship. The Supreme Court recently restrained all courts from entertaining and passing any orders on lawsuits seeking surveys of religious places under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Muslim side argues that the lower court should not proceed with the hearing as it cannot pass any orders, while the Hindu side maintains the Supreme Court order does not stop the hearing. The court will now decide whether to continue the proceedings.
A four-member Special Investigating Team has been constituted to probe the shocking gang rape and murder case of two teenaged sisters in Katra Sadatganj village in Badaun, officials said.
The rape of two teenaged cousins who were found dead in mysterious circumstances in Badaun seems "doubtful", indicates the CBI probe in the infamous killings in May which sparked a nationwide outrage.
With the Central Bureau of Investigation ruling out rape and murder in the Badaun case, Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan has demanded that the media apologise to the state chief minister over its "irresponsible" coverage of the incident.
Accusing police of destroying vital evidence, the father of one of the two teenaged cousins, who were found hanging from a mango tree in Badaun, on Saturday threatened that the family members would hang themselves from the same tree if "justice is not done in the case".
Mahant Satya Narayan was hiding in the house of his follower in a village under Ughaiti police station from where he was picked up.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday said the lie-detection test of the five accused arrested in connection with the Badaun gang rape case did not find "any deviation" from their earlier claim of innocence.
Under attack over the rape and murder of two Dalit cousin sisters, the Akhilesh Yadav government on Saturday suspended Badaun superintendent of police and decided to take action against the then district magistrate and undertook a massive rejig involving 66 Indian Administrative Service officials and 42 Indian Police Service officers.
The Central Bureau of Investigation will soon take over the probe in the Badaun rape-and-murder case as the agency on Tuesday received a request from Uttar Pradesh government in this regard and is waiting for a formal notification from Department of Personnel and Training.
The BJP, which romped to power in 2019 on the back of an unequivocal mandate from UP, winning 62 of its 80 seats, was cut to size this time and had to be content with only 33 seats.
Irfan, who represented Bilari assembly seat, was on his way to attend the marriage of son of senior cabinet minister Shivpal Singh Yadav in Saifai in Etawah district when his vehicle overturned and fell into a ditch on Thursday.
One of the two constables on the run after allegedly raping a minor inside a police station premises in Badaun was arrested in Bareilly on Tuesday when he was about to board a Delhi-bound train and subsequently sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
After the CBI found no evidence of murder or sexual assault in its probe into the death of the two Badaun girls, family members of the two teenage cousins on Thursday said they will move the Supreme Court and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for justice.
The Central Bureau of Investigation has found no evidence of murder or sexual assault in its probe into the death of 2 teenage cousins, whose bodies were found hanging from a tree in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district last May, according to agency sources.
The Allahabad high court on Tuesday directed a petitioner to produce the copies of postmortem reports and First Information Report filed by the families of victims of Badaun gangrape and murder case by June 9.
Three minor Dalit girls were allegedly assaulted and gang-raped by seven men for opposing eve-teasing in Singauli village in Badaun, police said on Tuesday.
In concluding that the two teenaged girls who were found hanging from a tree in Badaun were not raped and murdered, the Central Bureau of Investigation has deconstructed a chain of events to support its theory.
According to the complaint filed by the victim's family, she had left her house to use the toilet on Wednesday night. The two accused policemen reportedly dragged her to a car and raped her.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Monday carried out lie detector tests on the fathers of the two cousin sisters from Badaun in Uttar Pradesh who were allegedly raped, killed and their bodies found hanging from a tree even as the victims' family objected to the move of the agency.
Majority of these constituencies are in Uttar Pradesh and the party that is on the third slot even as the counting is still underway on several seats is the Bahujan Samaj Party, a party neither with the National Democratic Alliance nor the opposition INDIA bloc.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday visited the village of the two Dalit sisters, who were gang-raped and murdered in Badaun, and met their family members as they pressed for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe and refused to take any compensation, demanding justice for their girls.
Under attack from opposition parties, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday decided to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the gang rape and murder of two Dalit sisters in Badaun.
Protesting the lack of law and order in the state and the rapes in the state, BJP workers stormed the streets, demanding the ouster of the Akhilesh Yadav government. Sharat Pradhan reports.
Amid outrage over the gang rape and murder of two sisters in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun district, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday assured setting up of a special fast track court to handle the incident.
Coming down hard on the Akhilesh Yadav government for the Badaun gangrape case, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Sunday said transferring and suspending officers will not help and the Samajwadi Party to tighten the noose around its own patymen.
A teenage Dalit girl was raped and her body was later found hanging from a tree.
The Central Bureau of Investigation on Thursday registered a case to probe the alleged gangrape and killing of two teenaged cousins in Uttar Pradesh's Badaun nearly two weeks ago.
In a new turn in the Badaun case, the Central Bureau of Investigation has decided not to file a charge sheet against the five accused arrested by Uttar Pradesh police in connection with alleged rape and murder of two teenage cousins whose bodies were found hanging from a tree in May this year.
Central Bureau of Investigation's efforts to exhume bodies of the Badaun rape victims on Sunday suffered a major jolt as rising levels of Ganga submerged the graves, prompting agency officials to decide on examining the lady doctor who conducted the first autopsy by a medical board.
Civil judge (senior division) Vijay Gupta took up the matter on Friday and directed the Intezamia Committee managing the Shamsi Jama Masjid to present its side on September 15, when the court will next hear the matter.
A 33-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped by three persons, one of them a school teacher, who later left her tied to a tree in naked condition, police said on Monday.
As the two police constables accused of gang-raping a teenage girl in a police station here remained elusive for the third day, the Uttar Pradesh government on Saturday asked Special Task Force of state police to trace the duo and suspended two policemen of the station.
Two minor girls, both cousins, were allegedly kidnapped and gang-raped at gun point by five persons in Jareef Nagar area in Badaun, almost a year after a similar incident in the district had stirred Uttar Pradesh and opposition had attacked the government over law and order.
Exigencies of electoral politics and individual ambitions often stoke family feuds and sibling rivalries.
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