4 cops suspended in mob lynching case in Odisha; CB begins probe
Bhubaneswar, May 10: At least four policemen were suspended, and two home guards disengaged from service on Sunday within hours of the Crime Branch (CB) of Odisha Police starting a probe into the lynching of a GRP constable by a mob for allegedly attempting to rape a woman on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on May 7. The CB had taken over the case a day after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi issued such an order to Odisha Police, keeping in view the sensitivity of the matter where a woman alleged to have been sexually assaulted and the victim’s family demanding a ‘polygraph’ test of the woman complainant. According to the Commissionerate of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, the four cops – one sub-inspector, one assistant sub-inspector, one personnel from Odisha Armed Police Force of the Balianata police station and one constable of the PCR (police control room) vehicle staff, were placed under suspension on charge of dereliction in duty. The two home guards, who were in the PCR van, had been served with discontinuance of service and their organisations informed, an official said. Sources said that these personnel were the first to reach the site near Ramachandrapur bridge on Hansapall-Bhingarpur Road, where the mob lynched a 32-year-old GRP constable Soumya Ranjan Swain following an allegation of attempt to rape by a woman. (PTI)
AAP protests over ED action against Punjab minister Arora
Ludhiana/Hoshiarpur, May 10: The AAP held anti-BJP protests across Punjab on Sunday over the ED action against state minister Sanjeev Arora, accusing the Centre of misusing agencies against its leaders, while the saffron party slammed the workers of the ruling outfit for their “unruly behaviour.” Tension prevailed at a few places when workers of the AAP and BJP came face to face, prompting police to intervene. In Ludhiana, a scuffle broke out between AAP and BJP workers during a protest outside the BJP district office near the grain market on Gill Road. AAP’s protests came a day after the ED arrested Punjab Industries Minister Sanjeev Arora in connection with an alleged Rs 100 crore GST fraud-linked money laundering case involving certain entities linked to him. Arora, 62, was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act following raids conducted at his official residence in Chandigarh’s Sector 2 on Saturday morning. (PTI)
Yogi Adityanath 2.0 ministry expanded
Lucknow, May 10: In the second expansion of the Yogi Adityanath 2.0 ministry, two cabinet ministers and four state ministers were inducted into the Uttar Pradesh government, while two state ministers were promoted to independent charge. This expansion comes ahead of the assembly elections, scheduled for early next year in the state. In a swearing-in ceremony held at Jan Bhavan, former BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary and SP rebel Manoj Pandey were appointed as cabinet ministers. State ministers Ajit Pal Singh and Somendra Tomar were elevated to the position of minister of state with independent charge. Four new state ministers – Krishna Paswan, Surendra Diler, Hansraj Vishwakarma, and Kailash Rajput – were sworn in. (PTI)
