In a significant crackdown on wildlife smuggling, the Special Task Force (STF) and Dibrugarh district police in Assam seized 11 rare tokay gecko lizards and arrested three individuals who were allegedly attempting to sell the endangered reptiles for ₹60 lakh each.

The accused have been identified as Debashis Dohutia (34), Manash Dohutia (28), and Dipankar Gharphalia (40). According to the police, the trio had sourced the geckos from Arunachal Pradesh and brought them to Dibrugarh, intending to sell them in the illegal wildlife market.

The operation was conducted following a tip-off, leading the STF team to set up a trap at Mohanbari area in Dibrugarh. With assistance from local police and operational support from the Wildlife Justice Commission’s South Asia office, the authorities tracked the suspects to a roadside eatery—Sun Feast Dhaba—located at Mohanbari Tiniali.

As per the official statement, two of the suspects arrived in a white car (registration number AS-23W-5506) and one on a motorcycle (registration AS-06AF-0276). The STF team waited until one of the suspects retrieved a red backpack from the car and entered the dhaba. Acting swiftly, the team apprehended all three individuals and recovered the bag containing the 11 tokay geckos.

These lizards, known for their high value in the Southeast Asian grey market, are listed as highly endangered under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972. The illegal trade of such species can attract up to seven years of rigorous imprisonment upon conviction.

Tokay geckos are native to limited pockets of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in India, making their capture and sale a matter of grave concern for wildlife conservationists.

In a historic move, Georgia has become the first US state to introduce a bill addressing Hinduphobia and anti-Hindu bigotry, aiming to formally recognize and counter hate crimes targeting the Hindu community.

The proposed Senate Bill 375, introduced in the Georgia Senate, aims to amend the state’s penal code to define Hinduphobia as a “set of antagonistic, destructive, and derogatory attitudes and behaviours towards Hinduism.”

The bill, if passed, would also direct state and local law enforcement to factor in Hinduphobia while implementing anti-discrimination and hate crime laws.

The legislation has bipartisan support, with Republican Senators Shawn Still and Clint Dixon, and Democratic Senators Jason Esteves and Emanuel D. Jones sponsoring the proposal.

Indian-American community welcomes move

Indian-origin advocacy group Coalition of Hindus of North America (CoHNA) praised the development, calling it a milestone for the Hindu community in the US. “We are proud to work closely with Senator Shawn Still on this important bill,” CoHNA said, while thanking all supporting lawmakers for “recognizing the needs of the Hindu community in Georgia and the United States.”

The bill is especially significant for the Indian-American population, many of whom identify as Hindu. Georgia alone is home to over 40,000 Hindus, primarily in the Atlanta metropolitan area, while the broader Hindu population in the US is about 2.5 million, according to a Pew Research Center study.

This legislative step builds on Georgia’s 2023 resolution that officially condemned Hinduphobia and acknowledged Hinduism as one of the world’s oldest religions. The resolution, led by Republican Representatives Lauren McDonald and Todd Jones, also celebrated Hindu contributions to American society and condemned hate speech and violence against Hindus.

That resolution was especially relevant to Forsyth County, which has one of the largest Indian-American and Hindu communities in the state.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) announced on Saturday, April 12, 2025, that it has issued notices to take possession of immovable properties valued at ₹661 crore, previously attached in a money laundering investigation involving the Congress-controlled Associated Journals Limited (AJL).

The probe, known as the National Herald case, names former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi among the accused.

The federal agency stated that on Friday, it affixed notices at three key locations: Herald House at ITO in Delhi, an AJL building on Bisheshwar Nath Road in Lucknow, and premises in Mumbai’s Bandra area. The notices demand the vacation of the Delhi and Lucknow properties, while offering the Mumbai property’s occupants the option to transfer rent payments to the ED, according to PTI.

This action follows provisions under Section 8 and Rule 5(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), which outline the process for seizing assets attached by the ED and confirmed by the PMLA Adjudicating Authority. The properties in question were first attached in November 2023 as part of the ongoing investigation.

The ED’s case targets AJL, which publishes the National Herald newspaper, and its holding company, Young Indian Private Limited. Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are majority shareholders in Young Indian, each holding 38 percent of the shares. The agency alleges that these entities were used to generate illicit proceeds, including “bogus donations worth ₹18 crore, bogus advance rent of ₹38 crore, and bogus advertisements amounting to ₹29 crore.”

The National Herald case originated from a complaint filed by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy, who accused Sonia and Rahul Gandhi of “criminal misappropriation.” The allegations center on Young Indian’s acquisition of AJL’s properties, valued at over ₹5,000 crore, in 2010, which Swamy claimed was executed through questionable financial maneuvers.