Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.
Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. I'm your host, Vishnu, and these are the major news stories of the day:
1. We start with a shocking revelation by the National Investigation Agency that there is proof the Popular Front of India conspired to murder VIPs in Kerala
2. Four UP natives have been arrested in Kozhikode for raping a Ghazipur teenager who had gone missing
3. Vaccine shortage and excess workload of vets hamper anti-rabies vaccination programme in Kerala
4. After Ashok Gehlot and Shashi Tharoor, now Manish Tiwari is likely to contest the Congress presidential poll
5. BJP expels party leader after son arrested in Uttarakhand receptionist murder case
Let's get into the details....
---------------------------------------------
1. The Popular Front of India had planned to murder certain VIPs of Kerala and the proof for the same was seized in the recent raids, claimed the National Investigation Agency in its custody request submitted to the court.
According to NIA, the documents submitted as proof were recovered from the residences of the accused, and said a detailed investigation on the same should be conducted. The custody request also claims PFI tried to bring Islamic rule in India. Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate, in its remand report of faction leader and Kannur native Shefeek Payath, stated that PFI tried to attack Prime Minister Modi on July 12 at a rally in Patna.
A nationwide NIA raid was held on September 22 and around 106 PFI leaders were arrested from 11 states, with the most brought to book from Kerala. It was also dubbed the largest-ever investigation to date and the searches were held in the properties of those allegedly involved in terror funding, organising training camps, and radicalising people to join proscribed organisations.
------------------------------------------------
2. Four Uttar Pradesh natives were arrested from Kerala's Kozhikode district on Saturday on charges of raping a 16-year-old girl whom they met on a train.
The four are Ikarar Alam, Ajaj, Shakeel Shah and Irshad. The last two are accomplices in the crime as per preliminary investigation.
The girl was on her way to Chennai when she met the four. She decided to travel with them to Kozhikode as she became close to one of them. In Kozhikode, she stayed with her new-found lover.
The next day, the four men made their way to the railway station hoping that the girl would continue her journey onward to Chennai, but the girl protested. The quarrel attracted officers of the Railway Protection Force who took them all into custody. During the interrogation that ensued, the details of the crime emerged.
The Force handed the four to Kasaba police.
In her statement, the girl alleged that she was abused on the pretext of marriage.
The police soon learned from their Uttar Pradesh counterparts of a person-missing case lodged at Birno police station in Ghazipur district, near Varanasi, and that it was the survivor.
Further action will be taken after the police has spoken to the girl's relatives as well.
-------------------------------------------
3. The Kerala government's bid to address the threat posed by stray dogs has been hobbled by a shortage of anti-rabies vaccines and a lack of adequate number of veterinary doctors.
The State has commenced Animal Birth Control (ABC) and Mass Dog Vaccination (MDV) programmes on an urgent basis in the wake of the grave menace posed by street dogs. But these initiatives may not find their desired ends as the veterinary doctors are in a standoff with authorities over excess workload. Adding to the problem is a severe shortage of anti-rabies vaccines.
Only the anti-rabies vaccination of pet dogs is progressing at present. The authorities would not be able to complete the drive before September 30, as decided earlier, given the current pace of the project. A major reason for the delay is the transfer of responsibility from the Local Self-Government department to the Animal Husbandry department. Meanwhile, the government is yet to act on a proposal submitted by the Kozhikode Municipal Corporation for starting a state-level centre to train personnel in catching stray dogs and related sterilization activities. The proposal, which can save the high cost of sending employees to Ootty and Goa for training, was submitted in November 2020, but the concerned department is yet to take up the same.
-------------------------------------------------
4. The election for the new president of the All-India Congress Committee may witness an intense triangular contest. Besides Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who announced his candidature for the top party post, and senior leader Shashi Tharoor, Manish Tiwari, part of the G-23 group of dissenters, too may run for the Congress president post.
Sources close to Tiwari said the former union minister is seriously considering throwing his hat in the ring but is yet to take a final call on contesting the poll.
While Gehlot and Tharoor decided on their candidature after consulting with the Gandhi family, Tiwari may pitch himself in the fray as a rebel candidate.Gehlot said that the Congress leaders persuaded former party chief Rahul Gandhi, but he had made it clear that none from the Gandhi family would contest the October 17 presidential election.
The veteran Congress leader added he would file the nomination in the coming days. Gehlot is expected to file his nomination on September 26 and Tharoor on 30th, which is the last day for filing the nomiantion.
-----------------------------------------------
5. The BJP on Saturday expelled Vinod Arya and his son from the party, a day after the leader's other son was arrested in the murder case of a woman receptionist at a resort in Uttarakhand's Pauri.
The brother of the accused was also removed as vice-president of the state OBC commission by the government.
Vinod Arya's son Pulkit -- who owns the resort in Pauri's Yamkeshwar block -- was arrested Friday along with two employees of the facility for allegedly killing the receptionist Ankita Tiwari, who had been missing for the past few days.
The party's media in-charge Manveer Chauhan said on Saturday that action has been taken against Vinod Arya and his son Ankit on the orders of state BJP president Mahendra Bhatt. The three murder accused -- Pulkit Arya, resort manager Saurabh Bhaskar and assistant manager Ankit Gupta -- were sent to 14-day judicial custody by a court on Friday.
------------------------------------------
That brings us to the end of this episode. Be sure to come back tomorrow. As always, thanks for listening to Daily News Dose.