BJP demands tainted Uttrakhand minister’s resignation
Dehradun: A day after the Delhi police booked Uttarakhand Minister Harak Singh Rawat on charges of molesting a woman here, opposition BJP on Wednesday demanded his resignation from the Cabinet on moral grounds. “Now that an FIR in a molestation case has been lodged against Rawat, he must resign immediately on moral grounds. The longer a tainted minister continues in the cabinet, the worse for the state’s reputation,” Leader of Opposition in the Assembly, Ajay Bhatt, told PTI. Criticizing Chief Minister Harish Rawat for his statement that he was not aware of the facts of the case, Bhatt said this reflects total failure of the state’s administrative machinery. The chief minister had yesterday told reporters that he was not in a position to comment on the development due to lack of knowledge on the case. He had said he could comment only after he studies the FIR lodged in this regard. The Delhi police yesterday lodged an FIR against Harak Singh Rawat, charging him with molesting a 30-year-old woman at a house in south Delhi’s Green Park in September last year when she approached him for a job. Rawat was Uttarakhand’s Agriculture Minister in former Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna’s Cabinet. He again became a cabinet minister when Harish Rawat took over as the new Chief Minister. (PTI)
Cross LOC trade resumes on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route
Srinagar: Cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route resumed on Wednesday after remaining suspended for over five weeks. “The trade between the two sides of Kashmir on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road resumed today following agreement between the two sides on Monday to this effect,” officials said. They said 22 trucks carrying goods from this side of Kashmir left Salamabad ZTrade Facilitation Centre this morning for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). PoK authorities suspended the cross-LoC trade on January 17 after 114 packets of brown sugar were recovered from a truck coming from Muzaffarabad and the driver was arrested. The travel on Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road was also suspended. The PoK side was demanding release of the arrested driver. Although the officials from the two sides agreed to resume travel services after two weeks, the trade remained suspended till today. (PTI)
One more arrested in W Bengal in techie murder case
Chennai: One more person was arrested on Wednesday in West Bengal on a moving train in connection with the murder of a IT woman employee by a CB-CID police team taking the total number of arrested so far to three. “Ujjal Mandal hailing from Malda District [West Bengal] in his twenties was arrested early morning on Wednesday. He was arrested near Kolkata in a train,” a CB-CID official told PTI. Asked if the accused was being brought into the city, he said it would be decided after obtaining a transit remand from a local court. On the basis of information revealed by two already arrested, the CB-CID deputed a team to West Bengal to nab Ujjal Mandal, he said. Uttam Mandal (24) and Ram Mandal (21) of Malda district in West Bengal were arrested here on Tuesday three days after the decomposed body of a 24-year old employee of Tata Consultancy Services was found at the SPICOT IT Park in Siruseri near here. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa on Wednesday directed police to arrest the culprits involved in the murder of a 24-year-old IT woman employee here at the earliest and announced a compensation of Rs three lakh to the family of the victim. (PTI)