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Curfew relaxed in Shillong, situation improves

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Curfew relaxed in Shillong, situation improves

With improved situation on the ground curfew in parts of strife-torn Shillong was relaxed for seven hours on Sunday to enable stranded people in 14 localities to buy their essentials and tourists to exit from Meghalaya capital.

P.S. Dakar, Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi district said on Sunday, “Curfew has been relaxed from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. in view of the improvement in law and order situation since Saturday evening. But night curfew across the city will remain until further orders.”

The senior police official said that the local taxi and private vehicles have been plying while long-distance transport services, particularly to Guwahati, remain affected. “We do not know how many tourists are stranded in Shillong, but we are trying to ensure they can return home safe,” he said.

Most of the tourist hotels are located in Police Bazaar which is close to the trouble-torn area in the city.

Shillong has been a popular tourist destination after the 1990s when communal violence – Bengali and Nepali communities were the worst affected then – had much of Meghalaya burning.

There were hardly any clashes since then. The current clashes were triggered by a row over parking of a State transport bus in the Them Iew Mawlong locality, often called Punjabi or Sweeper Lane as well as Harijan Colony.

About 500 residents of the Harijan Colony, mostly women and children from Dalit Sikhs, who are employed as sanitation workers by the municipality, have taken shelter at Shillong’s Garrison Ground under the jurisdiction of Army’s 101 Area.

“We are not aware of people taking refuge. At least the Army did not inform us,” Mr. Dkhar said.

On Thursday clashes were erupted after rumors spread through social media saying a local tribal man had been killed in Harijan Colony. Though the police had earlier in the day contained a minor clash between the driver and conductor of a State transport bus and women of the locality who had thrown stones at the bus for blocking their way to a water source.

Police said nine motorbikes were burnt around 10:30 p.m. when miscreants attacked a showroom in Mawblei area with petrol bombs. A shop in Punjabi Lane was also damaged earlier.

A report from Nongpoh, a town halfway between Guwahati and Shillong, said a truck with Punjab registration was torched at Umran nearby on Saturday. The truck was carrying CGI sheets from Nepal to Tripura. The highway bypassing Shillong is considered to be the lifeline for southern Assam, Mizoram and Tripura besides parts of Manipur.

The Meghalaya State Development Report, 2008 said most of the slum pockets are located in low-lying and water-logged areas amid poor sanitary conditions and unhygienic surroundings.

In 2011, the State government claimed to have set a target to reduce slum areas by at least 75% within a decade, and said some of the slums should be de-notified by 2021.

On Saturday, the tribal headmen of 12 sensitive localities met Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on the issue of shifting the residents of Harijan Colony. While the headmen wanted the colony to be vacated immediately, Mr. Sangma said a report has been sought from the Urban Affairs and Revenue departments on the status of the rehabilitation policy.

People’s Democratic Party, one of the ruling allies of National People’s Party and BJP, said the government should shift the colony by Tuesday. Paul Lyngdoh, leader of United Democratic Party (UDP) – also in the ruling alliance – accused the previous Congress-led government for failing to resolve the “Punjabi Lane issue because of vote-bank politics”.

On Saturday, the army was asked to be on standby and curfew continued in parts of Meghalaya’s capital Shillong for the third day after night-long violence during which a mob burnt a shop, a house and damaged at least five vehicles besides injuring a senior police officer.

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Rahul Gandhi is right, Gautam Adani should be arrested: RJD president Lalu Yadav

“Rahul Gandhi is right. Adani should be arrested,” said Prasad, who is an old ally of the Congress and a staunch opponent of the BJP, to which Adani is said to be close.

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RJD president Lalu Prasad Yadav on Friday spoke in support of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s demand for immediate arrest of Gautam Adani, after the Industrialist was charged in the US for alleged bribery and fraud.

Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, said on Thursday that Gautam Adani should be arrested immediately, and his protector Madhabi Puri Buch should be investigated

The former Congress chief claimed that the recent developments vindicate his long-standing allegations against Gautam Adani. He took a sharp dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and alleged that Modi is protecting Adani, and is also involved in corruption. 

Yadav, the former chief minister of Bihar, was responding to queries from journalists here about Gandhi’s statement on the previous day, in the backdrop of charges of bribery and fraud against the Adani group in the US.

“Rahul Gandhi is right. Adani should be arrested,” said Prasad, who is an old ally of the Congress and a staunch opponent of the BJP, to which Adani is said to be close.

The RJD supremo, who incidentally has been convicted in several fodder scam cases and is on bail, was also asked about prospects of the INDIA bloc, of which his party is a part, in Jharkhand, where the counting of votes for assembly polls is scheduled on Saturday.

Speaking to PTI, the ailing septuagenarian replied, “I would like to remain focused on my statement that Adani must be arrested. I am not worried much about a new government (in Jharkhand) where we are already in power.” Jharkhand witnessed a straight battle between the INDIA bloc and the BJP-led NDA, which included the JD(U) headed by Nitish Kumar, Prasad’s arch-rival and the current Chief Minister of Bihar.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Gandhi further said that Chief Ministers have been jailed for scams of Rs 10-15 crore, but Adani, who has committed a scam of Rs 2000 crore is walking free.

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Cash for votes row: BJP leader Vinod Tawde sends legal notice to Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, asks them to apologise or face defamation

The BJP leader said the allegations against him were false, baseless and made with malafide intentions.

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Cash for votes row: BJP leader Vinod Tawde sends legal notice to Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, asks them to apologise or face defamation

BJP leader Vinod Tawde, accused of distributing cash to influence voters, has sent a legal notice to Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge, Supriya Shrinate and Rahul Gandhi over the controversy. The BJP leader has demanded their apologies or face a Rs 100-crore defamation case.

Vinod Tawde’s legal notice came after regional party Bahujan Vikas Aghadi (BVA) leader Hitendra Thakur on Tuesday accused him of distributing Rs 5 crore at a hotel in Virar in Palghar district, 60 km from Mumbai, to woo voters.

In the legal notice, the BJP leader said the allegations against him were false, baseless and made with malafide intentions. He claimed that he demanded an apology from the three Congress leaders for their remarks against him in the cash-for-votes row or he would be forced to initiate criminal proceedings against them.

Just a few hours before the Assembly Elections, a video went viral on Tuesday showing BVA workers storming into the hotel in Palghar during a meeting between Vinod Tawde and Rajan Naik, the BJP candidate from the Nalasopara seat. The BVA workers alleged that Tawde was caught red-handed with Rs 5 crore cash.

In the viral video, the BVA workers were seen taking out bundles of cash from a bag, while Tawde was sitting at a distance. The BVA workers also took pictures and videos of him on their phones. Amid these allegations, BVA leaders said that Rs 5 crore cash was distributed, an election official on Tuesday said Rs 9.93 lakh cash was recovered from the hotel rooms.

However, Vinod Tawde denied the allegation, saying he was only providing guidance to party workers on poll procedures and said he was not stupid enough to distribute money at his opponent’s hotel. Speaking to the media, he said that the Vivanta Hotel is owned by the Thakurs, and he is not stupid to go to their hotel and distribute money there.

The Police registered two FIRs against Tawde, BJP candidate Naik and others in connection with the controversy. Additionally, the Election Commission filed three FIRs against Tawde.

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3 dead, 9 hospitalised after gas leak at fertiliser plant in Maharashtra

According to police, the explosion released toxic chemical fumes.

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Three individuals, including two women, lost their lives and nine others were hospitalised following a gas leak caused by an explosion in a reactor at a fertiliser plant in Maharashtra’s Sangli district, an official said on Friday.

The incident occurred at approximately 6:30 PM on Thursday at the Myanmar Chemical Company, located in Shalgaon MIDC within Kadegaon tehsil.

Sangli Superintendent of Police Sandip Ghuge stated that the gas is suspected to be ammonia.

According to police, the explosion released toxic chemical fumes. “Approximately 12 people in the facility were affected and subsequently taken to the hospital. Tragically, two female workers and a security guard have died, while nine others are currently receiving treatment,” stated Sangram Shewale, Senior Inspector at Kadegaon police station.

Seven of the injured individuals have been admitted to Sahyadri Hospital in Karad, with five of them in critical condition in the ICU.

The deceased women have been identified as Suchita Uthale (50) from Yetgaon in Sangli district and Neelam Rethrekar (26) from Masur in Satara district, PTI reported.

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