60,000 Indian youth detained along US-Mexico border: Tewari
Ludhiana: Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Manish Tewari on Saturday claimed that 60,000 Indian youth, a substantial number of them from Punjab, were detained at the detention camps along the US-Mexico border. He said he had personally visited the border area during his recent US visit and was alarmed by the situation there. Addressing a party workers’ meeting organised by Punjab Congress secretary Satwinder Jawaddi here, Tewari said that he was told during his visit that 60,000 Indians, who had tried to sneak illegally into the US through Mexico, had been detained by the US authorities. “Of these, over ninety percent are Punjabis,” he added. Expressing concern over the plight of these stranded youth, Tewari said their release has to be dealt at the level of the Ministry External Affairs and he had already raised the matter. He added that Punjab also needed to create job avenues for the youth. Speaking about the Congress’ prospects for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the former Ludhiana MP said that the “countdown” of the NDA government had started. “Their despair and frustration were revealed during the Prime Minister’s speech in the Parliament during the no-confidence motion,” he said. “The NDA may have won the confidence of the House, but it has actually lost the confidence of people across India,” he added Tewari asserted that after the general elections next year, a “progressive and secular” government will be in power at the Centre. (PTI)
Chargesheet filed against ex-Himachal CM’s son
New Delhi: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Saturday filed a chargesheet in a Delhi court against Virbhadra Singh’s son Vikramaditya in a money laundering case also involving the former Himachal Pradesh chief minister. Special Judge Arvind Kumar fixed the matter for consideration on July 24, when he will decide on whether to take cognisance of the final report. The chargesheet, filed by special public prosecutors Nitesh Rana and N K Matta, also named Managing Director of Tarani Infrastructure Vakamulla Chandrasekhar and one Ram Prakash Bhatia as an accused. Both Chandrasekhar and Bhatia are also an accused in a CBI case related to the matter, along with Virbhadra Singh, his wife Pratibha Singh and others. Besides 83-year-old Singh and his 62-year-old wife, the others named in the ED chargesheet, filed through advocate A R Aditya, are Universal Apple Associate owner Chunni Lal Chauhan, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) agent Anand Chauhan and two other co-accused Prem Raj and Lawan Kumar Roach. Anand Chauhan, arrested on July 9, 2016 by the ED under relevant provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, was granted bail on January 2 in the case. (PTI)
Self-styled godman held for raping female disciples
Chandigarh: A self-styled godman was nabbed by Fatehabad police for allegedly raping his female disciples. Acting on a tip-off, Amar Puri was arrested from his residence in Shakti Nagar area in Fatehabad district on Thursday night, police said. Video CDs containing the clips of the victims being sexually assaulted were recovered from the accused, they added. “There are videos in which he could be seen sexually abusing different female disciples,” said Deputy Superintendent of Police (Tohana) Joginder Sharma. “A case had been registered… Investigations were under progress,” he added. Puri was produced before the local court on Friday that granted him five-day police remand. (PTI)
Ugandan woman arrested for drug trafficking
Amritsar: A Ugandan woman was arrested from near Chattarpur metro station in New Delhi in connection with the seizure of one kg of heroin by the sleuths of Special Task Force of the Punjab Police. Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Punjab police Rashpal Singh said the accused, Rubia, was arrested on Friday and during interrogation, she revealed that a packet containing one kg of heroin was buried in the ground at some place in Tarn Taran district. The police on Saturday took her to the spot in Tarn Taran and seized the packet of heroin. The AIG said Rubia’s involvement in drug trafficking was disclosed by another alleged drug smuggler Kuldip Singh who was arrested with 250 grams of heroin on June 21. Rubia had already spent eight months in a jail in Fazilka in another drug smuggling case in 2016, he said. Singh said around a dozen people were still working with Rubia for the supply of drugs at various districts in Punjab. Raids were being conducted to arrest them, he said. (PTI)
Newborn dies at govt hospital, family alleges negligence
Ambala: A baby died soon after birth at a hospital in Haryana’s Ambala, following which the family accused the doctors of negligence. Twenty-six-year-old Reena of Kadasan village, experienced labour pain after which her husband took her to Sahjadpur community health centre. She was then referred to a civil hospital in Ambala cantt on Friday. The doctors at the civil hospital further referred her to PGIMER Chandigarh when they assessed there was possibility of miscarriage. Lakhwinder, the husband of the woman, alleged that instead of giving her emergency treatment, the doctor referred her to Chandigarh. When the ambulance was on the way to Chandigarh, she gave birth to a child. The ambulance then returned to civil hospital in Ambala where the doctor declared the child dead, Lakhwinder alleged. When contacted, Principal Medical Officer at civil hospital Satish Kumar said the woman was referred to PGIMER because her condition was serious. He said a probe would be conducted and whosoever found guilty would not be spared. (PTI)
School headmaster held for sexually harassing 2 teenagers
Virudhunagar (TN): Two girls of a local government school were allegedly sexually harassed by their 45-year-old headmaster who has been arrested, police said on Saturday. Police said Murugesan had allegedly sexually harassed the girls, aged 15, on Thursday. The girls had complained about the harassment to their parents who lodged a complaint with police. People at Thiruvalluvar Nagar, where the the school is located, blocked traffic demanding his arrest. They alleged that the headmaster had misbehaved with the girls earlier also. Murugesan was arrested today, police said. (PTI)