In a crackdown on associates of gangster Atiq Ahmed named in the sensational Umesh Pal murder case, the Prayagraj Development Authority on Wednesday demolished the house of a close aide of Ahmed.
The DGP clarified that the UP Police has however, not arrested any person from Odisha.
Authorities on Thursday bulldozed the house of an aide of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed here amid heavy police presence, the second such action in two days.
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.
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.
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.
According to the Hindu calendar, Dev Uthani Ekadashi is the day in the month of Kartik, the 11th lunar day (a period between new moon and full moon, also known as shukla paksha).
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.
Additionally, the Haryana police and home guard personnel will be deployed for security during the elections, he said.
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'.
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".
People had also started gathering at Mukhtar Ansari's residence in Ghazipur and there was a large deployment of security personnel around the house.
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.
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.
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.
This visit by the prime minister comes weeks ahead of the 'pran pratishtha' or consecration ceremony of the Ram temple.
The police and administration officials were present in large numbers as the demolition progressed.
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.
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.
IAF's four fighter pilots undergoing rigorous training for the landmark Gaganyaan mission, and who earned the 'astronaut wings' on Tuesday, have a stellar resume. They have a flying experience in the range of nearly 2,000-3,000 hours and two of them are recipients of the prestigious 'Sword of Honour'.
A women offers prayers to the Sun God on the occasion of the Chhath Puja in Bhubaneswar.
The plea sought the setting up of an independent expert committee to probe the killing of Atiq and Ashraf.
"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.
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.
The searches were carried out on June 14-15 at 10 premises in Prayagraj, Lucknow and Delhi, the agency said in a statement.
The AIMIM chief questioned whether the public will have any faith in the Constitution and law and order of the country after this incident.
Congress supporters celebrate the Supreme Court's interim order to stay Rahul Gandhi's conviction in a 2019 criminal defamation case.
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
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.
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.
The case under the Gangsters Act was registered against Ansari at the Karanda police station in 2010 following the murder of Kapildev Singh, a teacher, and an attempt on the life of Meer Hasan, a trader, both in 2009.
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 bullet-riddled bodies of Ahmad and Ashraf were taken away from the spot as tension gripped the area after the sensational killing.
The BJP will enter this election, as it does every election, as if it is fighting to prevent a 2004-style defeat. This is a party that wins big because it always behaves as if its back is to the wall, predicts Mihir S Sharma.
Yeh Hai India: Capturing Events And Moods Across Our Incredible Country.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
He alleged that an officer told him that he would be taken out of jail after two weeks and killed.
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