Media boycotts Delhi government press briefing
New Delhi: Upset at not being allowed entry to the Delhi secretariat, journalists on Monday boycotted the press conference of the national capital’s new Health Minister Satyendra Jain, who was to brief them on health issues before the fledgling AAP government. Newsmen were taken aback when they were denied entry into the secretariat complex — which they are normally allowed — and instead asked to wait in the designated media room. When Jain arrived for the media conference — two-and-half hours later than scheduled, angry reporters, especially from the electronic media, refused to broadcast the event and asked Jain to explain the government action denying them entry to the secretariat building. (IANS)
KPP leader Nubash Burman arrested in Jalpaiguri bomb case
Siliguri: Police on Monday arrested Kamtapur People’s Party (KPP) central committee member Nubash Burman in Thursday’s Jalpaiguri blast case that killed six people and injured three. Police said former militant Nubash Burman, who joined the KPP, was arrested from his Toofangunge resident in Cooch Behar district this morning. His arrest followed after police nabbed Chandan Roy, a fourth batch Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) rebel from Mainaguri on Sunday. Roy was remanded to 10 days police custody by a Jalpaiguri court. Police will produce Nubash Burman to a Jalpaiguri court later on Monday. KPP president Atul Roy, meanwhile, alleged that Burman’s arrest was a motivated move by the administration to silence democratic movement of the Kamtapur state in north Bengal. Roy said Burman was arrested yesterday from his residence in Cooch Behar as the KPP had planned to launch a Sit-in Demonstration movement in front of Jalpaiguri Divisional office. (UNI)
Parents abandon three minor girls
Patna: Bihar Police on Monday found three minor girls abandoned by their parents in a train and handed them over to an NGO. “Three girls aged between three to seven were spotted travelling alone in Ganga-Sagar Express (train). On inquiring they told us that their parents have abandoned them,” said railway official Pramod Singh at Begusarai district’s Barauni station. Seven-year-old Nandini, the eldest among the three, told police that her father’s name is Rahul Raj, a resident of Patna. Pramod Singh said the girls were handed over to the Patna-based NGO Prayas Bharti. “We are looking after the three girls, who are well and healthy,” a Prayas Bharti official said. “It is an example of society’s prejudiced mindset where girls are considered a burden and a curse,” Kanchan Bala, a woman activist said. An FIR has been lodged. (IANS)
Fire in razes 14 houses
Srinagar: At least 14 residential houses and two boats were damaged in a devastating fire in Hazratbal area in the outskirts of the city on Monday, officials said. Fire broke out in a house at Dhobi Ghat locality in the vicinity of holy Hazratbal shrine on the banks of Dal Lake around 3 am and spread to adjoining residential houses, a spokesman of the Fire and Emergency Services department told PTI. He said fire tenders were immediately rushed to the scene and after several hours of intense efforts managed to put off the blaze. However, 10 single storey houses, four double storey houses, two boats and five wooden structures were damaged in the incident, the spokesman said and put the estimated loss in the fire at Rs 1.5 crore. (PTI)
Cop suspended for shouting slogans
New Delhi: A Delhi Police constable’s over enthusiasm landed him in soup as he was suspended for climbing a barricade and shouting slogans during the swearing-in ceremony of Chief Minster Arvind Kejriwal and his cabinet ministers. The constable, identified as Rajesh Kumar, was posted with the fourth battalion of the Delhi Armed Police and deployed at the Ramlila Ground for crowd management on Saturday. According to eye-witnesses, instead of performing his duty, Kumar allegedly flung his beret cap in the air, climbed the barricade and started shouting slogans supporting Kejriwal. He even demanded that the Delhi Police be brought under the city government. His colleagues had to intervene and bring him down. He was then taken out of the venue, police said. Kumar, who hails from Rajasthan and joined the police force in 2010, has been suspended and a departmental inquiry has been initiated against him for insubordination, they said. A senior police official said that he was wearing uniform and was on duty when he performed this act, which is sheer indiscipline. “If he wanted to express his personal views, he should have done it privately,” he said. (PTI)