The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on May 19 said the Delhi Police has seized the DVR of CCTV cameras installed inside Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s residence in connection with its probe into the alleged assault on AAP Rajya Sabha MP Swati Maliwal, and accused the cops of planting stories to tarnish the party’s image ahead of the elections.
Maliwal has alleged that Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar assaulted her on May 13 when she had gone to the CM’s residence. She has also alleged that the CCTV footage of the CM’s residence was being tampered with.
Bibhav Kumar was arrested on May 18 and produced in a court which remanded him to a five-day police custody. Sources said Kumar is evasive in his replies during his interrogation.
The Delhi Police booked Kumar for molestation and attempted culpable homicide after Maliwal’s complaint.
AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said the police have already seized the DVR of the CCTV cameras.
“Yesterday (Saturday), they seized the DVR of cameras installed at the entry gates, boundary walls and today (Sunday), they seized the DVR of cameras installed in other parts of the house. The police are planting stories that the CCTV (camera) footage has been deleted but they have already seized it,” he claimed.
Bharadwaj said the CCTV cameras and the footage captured are maintained by the Public Works department and are in its custody.
He also raised questions over the sequence of events in the case.
“The call was made by Swati Maliwal on May 13 and, within no time, the image of the daily diary entry in the matter was all over the media. The FIR in the case has been registered under Section 354 (B), which is a sensitive matter that pertains to a woman, but the FIR was circulated everywhere. However, Bibhav Kumar, the accused, and AAP did not have a copy of the FIR,” he added.
“The incident happened in the drawing room. One usually does not install cameras there. I have never seen a CCTV camera. When a camera is not there, how can its footage be deleted? The police have everything with them and if they would have seen anything they would have shared it with the media,” he said.
BJP planning ‘Operation Jhaadu’ to finish AAP by arresting its leaders, freezing party’s bank accounts: Arvind Kejriwal
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on May 19 claimed that the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has launched a campaign — “Operation Jhaadu” — to crush the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as the saffron party sees the AAP as a challenge.
Addressing party workers and leaders ahead of the AAP’s proposed protest march to the BJP headquarters in New Delhi, he said there will be bigger challenges ahead and asked the cadre to be prepared to face them.
“BJP is planning ‘Operation Jhaadu’ which involves trying to finish the AAP by arresting its leaders, freezing the party’s bank accounts and making them vacate the party office,” Kejriwal said, adding, “will March to BJP HQ along with all MLAs despite heavy police presence and will wait for them for half an hour to arrest them.”
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is worried about the rise of the AAP. The party has risen too fast. They have started ‘Operation Jhaadu’ to crush the party. In the coming time, our bank accounts will be frozen and we will be brought on the road since our office will also be taken away,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the Delhi Police beefed up security at the BJP headquarters in view of the protest call. The traffic police also issued an advisory saying, “In view of the proposed protest by a political party at DDU Marg Delhi, Traffic will remain heavy at DDU Marg, IP Marg, Minto Road and Vikas Marg. DDU marg may be closed for traffic movement between 11 am to 2 pm. Kindly avoid these roads and plan your journey accordingly.”
Helicopter carrying Iran’s President suffers a ‘hard landing,’ state TV says, and rescue is under way
A helicopter carrying Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi suffered a “hard landing” on May 19, Iranian state media reported, without elaborating. Some began urging the public to pray for Raisi and the others on board as rescue crews sped through a misty, rural forest where his helicopter was believed to be.
Raisi was travelling in Iran’s East Azerbaijan province. State TV said the incident happened near Jolfa, a city on the border with with the nation of Azerbaijan, some 600km northwest of the Iranian capital, Tehran. Later, the TV put it farther east near the village of Uzi, but details remained contradictory.
Travelling with Raisi were Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian, the Governor of Iran’s East Azerbaijan province and other officials and bodyguards, the state-run IRNA news agency reported. One local government official used the word “crash” to describe the incident but he acknowledged to an Iranian newspaper that he had yet to reach the site himself.
Neither IRNA nor state TV offered any information on Raisi’s condition. However, hard-liners urged the public to pray for him.
“The esteemed president and company were on their way back aboard some helicopters and one of the helicopters was forced to make a hard landing due to the bad weather and fog,” Interior Minister Ahmad Vahidi said in comments aired on state TV. “Various rescue teams are on their way to the region but because of the poor weather and fogginess it might take time for them to reach the helicopter.”
He added, “The region is a bit (rugged) and it’s difficult to make contact. We are waiting for rescue teams to reach the landing site and give us more information.”
Rescuers were attempting to reach the site, state TV said, but had been hampered by poor weather conditions. There had been heavy rain and fog reported with some wind. IRNA called the area a “forest” and the region is known to be mountainous as well. State TV aired images of SUVs racing through a wooded area.
The U.S. State Department said it was “closely following reports of a possible hard landing of a helicopter in Iran carrying the Iranian president and foreign minister.”
No report of violence against Indians in Kyrgyz Republic till now, says official
There has been no report of attacks by local people in Kyrgyz Republic against Indian students over the past three days, official sources informed The Hindu on May 19. The clarification came a day after videos were circulated online that depicted purported attacks by local people in capital Bishkek against Pakistani students.
“There are no reports of any Indian being affected in the incidents that were circulated by unverified videos on Saturday. The Kyrgyz authorities have clarified and spoken strongly against circulation of these videos. There are 17,000 Indian students and businessmen in Kyrgyz Republic and they are located in various parts of the country,” said an official source, indicating that the situation has returned to normalcy in Bishkek.
Authorities in Bishkek had clarified that the videos were disseminated “deliberately” by “destructive forces” and that “all necessary measures have been taken to ensure security, maintain peace and stability”.
Supreme Court to hear plea against new criminal laws passed by Parliament on May 20
The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on May 20 a petition challenging the enactment of three new laws that seek to overhaul India’s penal codes claiming that they suffer from many “defects and discrepancies”.
A vacation bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal is likely to hear the matter.
The Lok Sabha, on December 21 last year, passed three key legislations — the Bharatiya Nyaya (Second) Sanhita, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha (Second) Sanhita and the Bharatiya Sakshya (Second) Bill. President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the bills on December 25.
These new laws will replace the Indian Penal Code (IPC), the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Indian Evidence Act respectively.
Seeking a stay on the operation of the three new laws, the PIL filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari has said they were enacted without any parliamentary debate as most of the opposition members were under suspension.
The plea has sought directions from the court for the immediately constitution of an expert committee that will assess the viability of the three new criminal laws.
Southwest monsoon makes onset over Nicobar Islands: IMD
Southwest monsoon, the lifeline of India’s farm-based economy, on May 19 made its onset over the Nicobar Islands, the southernmost region of the country, the India Meteorological Department said.
“Southwest monsoon has advanced into some parts of the Maldives, and the Comorin area and some parts of the South Bay of Bengal, Nicobar Islands and South Andaman Sea on Sunday,” the weather office said.
The annual rainfall phenomenon is expected to reach Kerala by May 31.
The date of monsoon onset over Kerala has varied widely over the last 150 years, the earliest being May 11 in 1918, and the most delayed being June 18 in 1972, according to IMD data.
The rain-bearing system arrived in the southern state on June 8 last year, May 29 in 2022, June 3 in 2021 and June 1 in 2020.
Last month, the IMD had forecast above-normal rain in the monsoon season in India with favourable La Nina conditions, cooling of equatorial Pacific Ocean, expected to set in by August-September. La Nina conditions help in a good monsoon season over India.
Large parts of the country are battling a brutal heatwave with maximum temperatures touching 48 degrees Celsius, shattering records in several states and severely impacting health and livelihoods. Southern India experienced heatwave spells in April.
Poll roundup:
- Lashing out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his comments against industrialists, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, at an election rally in Jamshedpur said businessmen would think “50 times” before investing in Congress-ruled States. “From this land of industry, I want to raise a serious issue. I want to challenge the Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled States, such as Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh. This is not my political statement. The media that calls itself neutral should ask them. The Congress’s princes speak against industries, industrialists and investment every day. Which industrialist would want to invest in their States? What will happen to the youth of those States?” Modi said while campaigning for BJP candidate Bidyut Mahato on Sunday.
- Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 19 condemned West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s remarks against Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevashram Sangha and said threats are being issued against these socio-religious organisations to “appease” TMC’s vote bank. Addressing a rally in Purulia, Modi said the TMC has crossed the limits of decency by stooping so low that it is “spreading canards against ISKCON, Ramakrishna Mission and Bharat Sevashram Sangha”.
- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav left a joint poll meeting in Phulpur area in Prayagraj without delivering speech as their supporters broke through barricades trying to reach the dais. According to police sources, scores of Congress and SP supporters had reached the venue to attend the rally. When Yadav arrived at the venue, the crowd standing in front of the stage broke through the barricades to reach it, creating a “stampede-like” situation. People on the stage can be heard asking the supporters to move back. The appeals made from the stage failed to have any effect on the crowd. Then Gandhi and Yadav discussed something for a few minutes before they left the stage while being surrounded by their security staff. The duo later attended another poll rally in Prayagraj.
In Brief:
Thailand Open badminton: Satwik-Chirag win title, beat China’s Chen-Liu
India’s star men’s doubles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty continued its dream run as it secured the Thailand Open Super 500 title by outwitting Chen Bo Yang and Liu Yi of China in the final in Bangkok on May 19. The World number three Indian duo, which had claimed its first major title in Thailand in 2019, prevailed 21-15 21-15 over Liu and Chen, ranked 29th, in 46 minutes to receive a major boost ahead of the Paris Olympics.
IPL-17: SRH vs PBKS | Abhishek explosive fifty powers Sunrisers Hyderabad to easy win against Punjab Kings
Abhishek Sharma bossed Punjab Kings bowlers with yet another explosive half-century as Sunrisers Hyderabad cruised to a four-wicket win in the IPL in Hyderabad on May 19. Opting to bat on a flat track, Punjab Kings posted an imposing 214/5 riding on Prabhsimran Singh’s 45-ball 71 and skipper Jitesh Sharma’s final over heroics. But SRH looked in complete control of the tall chase after losing Travis Head off the first ball and chased down the target with five balls to spare. The win took them second place in the table with 17 points from 14 matches as they would need to wait for the result for the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals. Rajasthan, who have 16 points, can topple SRH for the prized No 2 spot with a win over KKR in Guwahati.
Evening Wrap will return tomorrow.
