Shutting of stores had not stopped alcohol sales. On the contrary, it had increased black market operations and peddling of illicit hooch, which could cause death/serious injury.
Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday reiterated that his government is committed to enforce liquor ban or prohibition in the state. M I Khan/ Rediff.com report from Patna.
It said a "sudden rise" in terrorist-financing investigations was seen in 2023 and this was attributed to events arising out of incidents in Manipur that led to such probes in more than 50 cases.
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was 'party to the criminal conspiracy' of the formulation and implementation of the Delhi Excise Policy since the beginning, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has alleged in its latest supplementary charge sheet in the case.
The upcoming Delhi Assembly elections are set to be a thrilling contest between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the resurgent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and the Congress. The BJP is focusing on its "Parivartan" (change) slogan and a targeted campaign against AAP over corruption allegations, while AAP is highlighting the credibility of its leader, Arvind Kejriwal, and his promises to deliver on his promises. The Congress, seeking to reclaim its lost footing in the national capital, is also campaigning with a renewed vigor.
The establishment -- Vice-Global Tapas Bar -- against which the action was being taken, is located in Juhu suburb.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday alleged the BJP-led central government wanted to arrest him and prevent from campaigning for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, saying the ED summons issued to him was aimed at hurting his "biggest asset", honesty, and defaming him..
The Bharatiya Janata Party also slammed Kejriwal's continuation as the chief minister of Delhi despite being under arrest, saying it is the most unfortunate moment in the country's political journey and the worst kind of politics.
The mortal remains of 29 people who died till Thursday were handed over to their relatives and the bodies were either buried or cremated, Kallakurichi District Collector Prasanth M S said.
The 20 persons, who were taken ill after consuming the illicit liquor, have been admitted in the local Civil Hospital, they said.
The Andhra Pradesh Anti-Corruption Bureau on Sunday arrested seven police officials on charges of receiving illegal gratifications in lieu of official favour to liquor mafia, a senior agency official said.
The ED on Wednesday had issued a fresh and the fifth summons to Kejriwal after he skipped four earlier summonses over the last four months.
Around 30 people are still undergoing treatment at various government hospitals in Bhavnagar, Botad, Barvala and Dhandhuka, officials said.
The Bihar government has challenged the high court verdict of September 30 which had quashed the notification banning consumption and sale of liquor in the state.
He has been sent to the ED custody till April 18 by the court, they said.
Liquor sales will obviously be hit. So, will real estate prices at what used to be prime locations, close to major thoroughfares. Food and snack sales close to highways will also, in all probability, be affected.
The CBI on Thursday arrested Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha in connection with a corruption case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, officials said.
The AAP will run a signature campaign from December 1 to 20 to get people's feedback on whether Arvind Kejriwal should resign as Delhi chief minister if he is arrested under a 'conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party', the party's city convener Gopal Rai said Thursday.
'The chief minister has said on the floor of the House that he knows everything (about the criminal-politician mafia).' 'If you know about this nexus, why aren't you acting against them?' 'Ask him why is he so helpless.'
Rattled by the public outcry over illegal liquor sale that claimed 173 lives in South 24-Parganas district a week ago, the hooch-sellers have demanded a financial package as a pre-condition to discarding their trade on the lines of the one announced for the Maoists. The bootleggers have formed a committee for this purpose and pasted posters on the walls of the Joynagar railway station, close to Sangrampur, from where most of the victims hailed, requesting a financial package.
According to officials, this year there has been a three-fold increase in the total seizure, which was Rs 322 crore in 2021, Rs 347 crore in 2022 and Rs 1,021 crore so far in 2023.
The high court said he was a very powerful and influential person within the power corridors of the Delhi government as he had the responsibility of 18 portfolios in the city dispensation.
An unaccounted cash of Rs 12.36 lakh was on Thursday seized from a car registered in the name of a Bharatiya Janata Party MLA's husband in the state capital during a special drive in view of Bihar assembly elections.
Post-mortems of 16 more suspected hooch victims were conducted here in the last two days, raising their number to 87, but authorities on Wednesday kept the official death toll in tragedy pegged at 35.
Of the 11 people allegedly involved, seven are women and four men, including juveniles. While the seven women have been arrested, police are trying to ascertain the age of the two others picked up, officials said.
With poll fever gathering steam, business is booming for New Delhi's detective agencies as politicians, especially aspiring candidates, are hiring private eyes to spy on their rivals and even colleagues.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan noted that Kavitha has been in custody for around five months and the probe against her by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) was complete in these cases.
Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convener Arvind Kejriwal is unlikely to appear before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday for questioning in a money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy, sources in the party said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is expected to press money laundering charges against its two officers and some private individuals who were recently booked by the CBI in a bribery case linked to an accused arrested in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam, official sources said Tuesday.
The Enforcement Directorate has issued fresh summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to appear before it on February 26 for questioning in the excise policy linked money laundering case, official sources said Thursday.
The Bihar assembly plunged into turmoil on Saturday when the opposition sought to raise the issue of alleged involvement of revenue and land reforms minister Ram Surat Rai in illicit liquor trade, forcing adjournment of the House around noon till lunch.
The AAP said that the ED should wait for the court's decision instead of repeatedly sending summonses to Kejriwal.
The agency may also inform the court about its requirement to confront Kejriwal with other arrested accused and witnesses including Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha, arrested last week, once they get his custody.
Of the 59 assembly constituencies, three have been categorised as 'sensitive' and 590 localities marked as 'vulnerable,' according to the police.
Bharat Rashtra Samiti leader K Kavitha is expected to be produced before a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court by the Enforcement Directorate in New Delhi on Saturday for obtaining her remand for custodial interrogation in the money laundering case linked to alleged irregularities in the scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22, officials said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal 'directly used' part of the alleged Rs 100 crore generated from the 'kickbacks' of the Delhi excise policy 'scam' by staying in a luxury hotel in Goa, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed in its charge sheet filed against the Aam Aadmi Party supremo.
A Delhi court on Friday sent Bharat Rasthra Samithi leader K Kavitha to Central Bureau of Investigation custody till April 15 in the alleged Delhi excise policy scam.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued a fresh and the fifth summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal for his questioning in the Delhi excise policy linked money laundering case, official sources said Wednesday.
Kejriwal, who was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the same case and later by the CBI which was probing corruption charges, stepped out after spending 155 days in Tihar jail. The AAP supremo, who was earlier granted three-week interim bail in the ED case, was given a resounding welcome by his party leaders and supporters who were drenched in heavy rain. Addressing party workers from the top of an SUV, Kejriwal, sporting a half-sleeve blue shirt, raised 'Inquilab Zindabad' and 'Vande Mataram' slogans.
Wednesday's Vikravandi by-election has become a referendum on the Stalin government, notes N Sathiya Moorthy.
