A special NIA court in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district has reserved its order on a bail application filed by three persons, including two nuns from Kerala, arrested on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion.
According to the police, some Bajrang Dal members had visited the gym, located in the Ayodhya Nagar area of Bhopal, and raised questions over the presence of Muslim trainers at the facility.
Tension prevailed in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district after a group of women clashed with the police while allegedly trying to perform puja at a disputed mausoleum site in the Abunagar area on the occasion of Kartik Purnima, officials said on Thursday.
According to a police officer, the arrest was made following complaints by the public that the juice seller had been serving fruit juice to the customers after mixing human urine in it.
Accusing Congress of 'abuse culture', Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday urged the people of Karnataka to punish those indulging in abuse, while casting their vote in polling booths on May 10.
Opposition MPs are criticising Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, alleging bias and suppression of their voices in parliamentary proceedings, raising concerns about democratic rights and impartiality.
Sharma told PTI that dozens of members from right-wing organisations, including the Bajrang Dal and the VHP, participated in the demonstration, chanting the Hanuman Chalisa.
Kanhaiya Lal's gruesome murder leads to protests in many towns and cities.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has voiced his opposition to the demand for demolition of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's grave in Maharashtra's Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district, saying its removal will not serve any purpose. Athawale said that since Aurangzeb was buried there, his tomb should remain undisturbed. The Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar administration has barred Hindutva leader Milind Ekbote from entering the district from March 16 to April 5 amid calls from some outfits to remove Aurangzeb's grave. Security has been heightened around the site and visitors are being checked thoroughly.
A Bangladeshi national, Azizul Nizanul Rahman, was arrested in Mumbai for staying illegally in India. Police are investigating if he was involved in the March 17 violence in Nagpur. Rahman, a daily wage labourer, admitted to obtaining an Aadhaar card using forged documents. Police are analyzing his mobile phone location and have shared information with Nagpur authorities.
The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) has stated that only Hindus should be allowed to participate in 'garba' events during Navratri and advised organizers to check Aadhaar cards for identification. This has sparked debate, with some supporting the right of organizers to set entry conditions and others criticizing the VHP for promoting division.
Police escorted the rally all the way, at one point standing in a row to prevent the rallyists from entering a side road where stood a huge mosque. Across the road, an old Muslim woman asked her Hindu neighbour what the rally was all about. The latter shrugged her ignorance, looking on in bewilderment at the young men with their saffron flags, all of them wearing Bajrang Dal T-shirts.
According to police, the alleged stone pelters came on two bikes and sped off. Following the incident, heavy police deployment has been put in place.
The Kerala BJP has contradicted the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister's justification of the arrest of two Keralite Catholic nuns, stating they were not involved in human trafficking or forced conversion attempts and promising to help them.
The arrest of two Catholic nuns from Kerala in Chhattisgarh on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion has ignited a political controversy, with opposition parties criticizing the arrest and the Chief Minister defending the police action.
Couples -- young and old -- celebrated Valentine's Day on Tuesday with flowers and gifts even as a few right-wing outfits played spoilsport in some parts of the country.
"Raj Kumar alias Bittu Bajrangi, who is said to be a Bajrang Dal worker, has never had any relation with Bajrang Dal. The Vishva Hindu Parishad also does not consider the content of the video allegedly released by him to be appropriate," the right-wing outfit said in a statement.
A special investigation team will be formed to probe all cases of violence. If there was any conspiracy, it will also be investigated and the guilty will not be spared. The role of Bajrang Dal's Monu Manesar is also being investigated, Agrawal said.
Despite his apology, the Bajrang Dal sought his arrest, while Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said action would be taken against him as per law.
The Hindu-right group carried out its demonstration despite the imposition of CrPC Section 144 in the city.
'The new Waqf bill sows the seed for conflict in every town and village of India.'
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.
The Shiv Sena, a ruling party in Maharashtra, has demanded the removal of the protected monument status from Aurangzeb's tomb in Khultabad. This demand comes after protests and calls for the tomb's demolition from organizations like the Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) protects the tomb as a monument of national importance. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stated that the state government will protect the tomb but will not allow the glorification of Aurangzeb.
Bajrang Dal activists are suspected to be behind the crime, sources said.
Director General of School Education Jharna Kamthan has also asked the chief education officer of Tehri Garhwal district in Uttarakhand to investigate the matter.
The family members of the deceased had named five men linked to the Bajrang Dal in their complaint to the police.
'Mob fury has become very common these days. And these attacks are all planned very well.' 'In all these attacks, you see that they have a very clear cut plan to make the victims as the oppressors and the guilty.' 'The attackers escape and they face no consequences as they have the backing of some political leaders.'
Two Union Ministers visited the family of a 23-year-old woman in Kothamangalam who allegedly took her own life due to harassment by her lover. The family is demanding an NIA probe into the incident, alleging forced religious conversion.
Curfew was lifted from the remaining four areas of Nagpur in Maharashtra on Sunday, six days after violence rocked the city. The violence erupted on March 17 after rumors spread about a chadar with holy inscriptions being burnt during a protest led by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal. The rumors were later found to be baseless.
The VHP on Sunday dismissed as 'fake and baseless' the reports that its activists and those of the Bajrang Dal will participate in an event to be organised by the MNS to play 'Hanuman Chalisa' on loudspeakers outside the mosques in Maharashtra on May 3.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has called the violence in Nagpur a premeditated conspiracy and said the mob had targeted specific houses and establishments. The violence erupted on Monday after a protest against Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's tomb, resulting in several houses and vehicles being vandalised. At least 12 police personnel, including three deputy commissioners of police, were injured in the violence, which erupted in central Nagpur. Fadnavis, who also holds the Home portfolio, said those who attacked police personnel will not be spared.
A United States-based interfaith couple of Indian origin was forced to cancel their wedding reception in Aligarh district of Uttar Pradesh following 'threats of protests' by rightwing organisations, officials said on Monday.
Hindu outfits Bajrang Dal and Vishwa Hindu Parishad are staging protests across the national capital against the Haryana violence.
Ahead of Valentine's Day, some right-wing organisations in Mangaluru have come out against the celebrations which they say are not in tune with India's culture and traditions.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said imprisonment and fine would be ensured against those who violate the law and action taken considering such crimes as cognisable and non-bailable.
The incident happened on Friday at Lajpat Bhavan in Swaroop Nagar when private guards and volunteer staff were checking the visitors' identities to prevent any non-Hindus from entering the venue, they said.
Andhra Pradesh Director General of Police Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao on Tuesday said that the state government constituted Special Investigation Team (SIT) will temporarily stall its probe into the alleged 'adulteration' of Tirupati laddus with animal fats case as the matter is sub judice in the Supreme Court.
Chandrakant Patil also took a swipe at Uddhav for accusing Eknath Shinde of stealing the legacy of Bal Thackeray.
Half a dozen people have been detained for interrogation in connection with the death of two Muslim men whose bodies were found in a car in Haryana after they were allegedly abducted by cow vigilantes, according to police.
Minority Democratic Party (MDP) leader Fahim Khan has been arrested in connection with the violence that erupted in Nagpur on Monday after Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workers staged an agitation for the removal of Aurangzeb's tomb. Khan's name is mentioned in one of six FIRs registered so far, along with 50 others. Police are investigating whether Khan played any role in instigating the riots. Khan, along with eight others, had allegedly gathered outside a police station and submitted a memorandum against the VHP's protest. Subsequently, he went to another area where a large group of people from a minority community had gathered. Police are searching for those named in the FIRs and are investigating whether the accused had any role in planning the violence. The violence erupted amid rumors that a 'chadar' with holy inscriptions was burnt during the VHP's protest.
