Fake post claiming RSS-backed attack on Col Sofiya Qureshi's family deleted after police warning
The fake post comes in the wake of Colonel Sofiya Qureshi gaining widespread attention following the Operation Sindoor briefings.
Belagavi SP Bheemashankar Guled has clarified that the post is fake, and that the police found during an investigation that the X account holder is from British Columbia, Canada.
'The police are standing firmly with Sofiya's family,' he said.
The post was deleted following police intervention, and they have written to X for further assistance in the case, he added.
The SP said that soon after the Social Media Monitoring Cell of Belagavi alerted him about the fake post on X created by @uddinanis867, he responded to the post in his capacity as the SP of Belagavi, declaring it fake news and warning that action would be taken against the user if the post was not removed immediately, after which the post was deleted.
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Hindustan Times
7 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
The ‘Hindu terror' connection to blast
Mumbai: The crowd that had gathered at Malegaon's Shakeel Goods Compound on the night of September 29, 2008, for the 'eesha'—the last namaz of the day, paid scant attention to the LML Freedom motorcycle bearing the registration plate MH 15 P 4572. But as the devotees bowed in prayer, two RDX bombs strapped to the seat of the motorcycle went off at 9.35 pm leaving six dead and 95 injured. The two RDX bombs were strapped to the seat of a bike near a mosque in Malegaon. (HT Photo) This was the second terror attack in Malegaon. On September 8, 2006, on the day of Shab-e-Baraat, four bombs had gone off at the crowded Hamidia mosque complex killing 31 and injuring 312 persons. There was still no clarity on who had set off the explosions on Shab-e-baraat when the blast happened at Shakeel Goods Compound two years on. The Congress and Nationalist Congress Party alliance that governed Maharashtra in 2008 was under immense public pressure to find the perpetrators of these blasts, and handed over the investigation to the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad which was headed by Hemant Karkare. Karkare was killed shortly after in the November 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. The first lead to the possible perpetrators came from the LML Freedom motorcycle left partially undamaged in the blast. The registration number was fake and so was the chassis number but forensic experts managed to retrieve the right chassis number and subsequently the correct registration number-- FJ-5 BR 1920. The motorcycle, they learnt, was registered in the name of a woman from Madhya Pradesh, Pragya Chandrapal Singh Thakur, who had taken sanyas and who wore a mukut (tiara) and moved around with an entourage that carried a throne for her to sit on, said a former ATS investigator. The narrative diverges here. According to the version of the ATS officer, who asked not to be named, Thakur's revelations led Karkare and his team to an obscure organisation called Abhinav Bharat with ambitions of turning India into a land of Hindus alone to be called 'Aryawart.' Its guiding force was a serving lieutenant colonel in the Indian army, Prasad Shrikant Purohit, then posted at Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh. Purohit's arrest led the ATS investigators to several others including a retired major Ramesh Shivaji Upadhyay, and Sudharkar Dwivedi, a self-styled Shankaracharya from Deoria in Uttar Pradesh who had recorded meetings of the Abhinav Bharat on his laptop which formed the basis of the ATS's case. Also involved was Sudhakar Chaturvedi,a resident of Mirzapur who had been seduced by Col. Purohit's call to arms. It was at his house in Deolali near Nashik that the group allegedly assembled the bombs used in Malegon. ATS claimed to have found traces of RDX and ammonium nitrate at his house. The Maharashtra ATS termed Abhinav Bharat an 'organised crime syndicate' and invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act in the case. But the investigator who spoke to HT added: 'They were a rag-tag group of people with certain ideas of a Hindu nation. They were not a big terror outfit.' Coming as they did on the back of the arrest of Swami Aseemanand in the 2007 Samjauta Express blast case, Purohit and his cohort too were dubbed as part of 'saffron terror', a theory that was repeatedly put to test in courtrooms and outside them. According to the version of the accused , who have now been acquitted, and their supporters, the case was built on confessions extracted through torture. In November 2008, senior BJP leader L K Advani also spoke out in Pragya Thakur's defence and sought a judicial inquiry into her allegations of torture at the hands of the Maharashtra ATS. As reported by this newspaper on November 19, 2008, Advani said that the majority community had been linked to terrorism to woo the minorities and that no community should be defamed for the sake of votes. 'Just as it would not be alright to paint all Muslims as terrorists, a bad act by elements in Hindu society should not be termed Hindu terror. Fortunately, the court's decision on Thursday should put an end to that,' said Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Eknath Khadse, earlier with the BJP and who was the leader of a vocal opposition in the Maharashtra legislative assembly in 2008. The case got a 'political colour because of the Congress-NCP government in the centre and the state and a vociferous opposition which was the BJP,' added Khadse. With the formation of the National Investigation Agency after the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008, all terror cases were transferred to the NIA, including the Malegaon 2008 investigations. 'Initially when NIA took over, it followed the same investigation trajectory as the ATS,' says the ATS investigating officer cited above. 'But investigation trajectory changed after 2014.' That's a charge that has been aired publicly before too. In 2015, special public prosecutor Rohini Salian went public with the alleged pressure on her while prosecuting the case. 'I was told by the NIA to 'go soft' on certain key accused,' she told the media then. Salian who could not be contacted was subsequently denotified by the NIA from its panel of lawyers. In its 2016 chargesheet filed in the case, the NIA dropped the provision of MCOCA, saying the conditions required for invoking the stringent law were not met. The following year the Bombay High Court granted bail to Thakur, almost nine years after she was arrested. Lt. Col. Purohit too got bail from the Supreme Court the same year. Seven other accused, including those arrested later by NIA, were discharged from the case. The two alleged bomb planters, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, were never apprehended. The remaining seven of the 16 accused in the case, including Pragya Thakur and Lt Col. Purohit were acquitted by the trial court on Thursday. Whatever be the narrative, there was just no evidence linking the motorbike to Pragya Thakur and the source of the RDX, its storage and assembling of the bomb to members of the Abhinav Bharat, the court ruled.
Hindustan Times
37 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
Mahayuti leaders welcome Malegaon blast verdict, slam Congress for coining term ‘saffron terror'
Mumbai: Leaders of the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra welcomed a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court's decision on Thursday to acquit all seven accused, including former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur, in the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis slamming the previous Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government for allegedly coining the term 'saffron terrorism'. As soon as the verdict was out, Fadnavis posted his reaction on social media: 'Terrorism was never saffron, is not, and never will be!' (PTI) The Congress, meanwhile, alleged that the investigation was botched due to political pressure. Maharashtra Congress president Harshwardhan Sapkal also asked the Mahayuti government if it would approach a higher court to challenge the Malegaon verdict, just like it did recently when the Bombay High Court acquitted all 12 accused in the 2006 Mumbai train blasts case. Thursday's verdict was delivered nearly 17 years after a bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded near a mosque in the communally sensitive town of Malegaon in Nashik district in September 2008, killing six people and injuring over 100. Seven people were charged in the case, including Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, a serving Army officer at the time. However, the court acquitted them after flagging several loopholes in the prosecution's case, saying there was no 'reliable and cogent' evidence to prove it beyond a reasonable doubt. As soon as the verdict was out, Fadnavis posted his reaction on social media: 'Terrorism was never saffron, is not, and never will be!' Later, speaking to reporters, Fadnavis said the Congress-led UPA government at the time was responsible for the entire case, alleging it was a conspiracy to create the narrative of 'Hindu terrorism' as a counter to Islamic terrorism, which had been globally recognised after the 9/11 terror attacks. 'More than the police, the then UPA government was responsible for the case. They had conspired to appease a certain community and extremist ideology. The court verdict has exposed the conspiracy, and the entire country is now condemning it. Congress leaders must now publicly apologise to Hindus for defaming them by associating them with so-called saffron terrorism and the conspiracy to coin a new term—Hindu or saffron terrorism,' he said. Fadnavis added that his government will look into the details of the verdict, checking what exactly the court has brought on record. A decision over the next course of action would be taken after this, he added. Senior BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar also blamed the previous Congress-led government for the bungled investigation, saying, 'The ruling parties at the time tried to indict innocent people in the case to appease certain communities. There was a political motive behind it, as was said after the case was registered. The verdict has ratified the doubt raised.' Shiv Sena president and deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde alleged that using the term 'saffron terrorism' was part of the Congress's conspiracy to defame the Hindu community. 'Hindus can never engage in anti-national activities, because patriotism is a sacred duty for those who follow Hinduism. The absurd term 'Hindu terrorism' was coined by conspiratorial Congress leaders. What answer do they have now for such blatant falsehoods?' he said. Adding that the court's verdict has ended a dark chapter, he said, 'The stigma on the Hindu community has been wiped off. The slogan 'Garv se kaho hum Hindu hain' (Say with pride we are Hindus) will now resonate across the country with a hundredfold louder voice. Truth may be troubled, but can never be defeated.' The Congress hit back at the Mahayuti, with state party chief Sapkal saying that terrorism has no religion or colour, and the state government should ensure justice is delivered in the case. 'As soon as the verdict of the 2006 [Mumbai train] bomb blasts was announced, the state government challenged it in the Supreme Court. Will the state government show the same will in this case, as both were acts of terrorism and the perpetrators of the cases should face justice,' he said, adding that the state government should not be double-faced. The 12 acquitted accused in the train blasts case were all Muslims. Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said, 'These people even view terrorism through a political lens. Those associated with the BJP and RSS had, for their political gain, labelled martyr Hemant Karkare a traitor. Wasn't it the same political mindset that led to [special public prosecutor] Rohini Salian being asked to take a lenient stand against the accused and slow down the investigation? Witnesses were enticed with offers. A witness like Randhir Singh was even given a ministerial position in Jharkhand.' Karkare, the former chief of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS), led the team that initially investigated the blast and arrested 11 suspects, including Thakur and Purohit. He was killed in action during the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Sawant also said that the central government should express sorrow that individuals responsible for such a major terrorist incident are now roaming free. 'Honestly, this verdict did not come as a surprise because the NIA had already given them a clean chit. The government should consider renaming this investigative agency the NaMo Investigation Agency,' he said. Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Sawant said the fact that the investigation agencies had failed to gather evidence properly and the real culprits were still not known was a serious matter. 'The remarks by the court, which said there is no evidence, was a serious matter. If there was no evidence against Sadhvi Pragya and others, why did they suffer all these years? It was an injustice to them. But the incident took place, so someone must be involved in it. Who are they? Why can't investigation agencies catch them?' he said. Former MP Imtiyaz Jalil from the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen, meanwhile, maintained that the blast was aimed at 'creating communal division' in the country. 'An Army officer and a religious figure were accused in the case, which was being investigated by one of the finest officers, Hemant Karkare. The BJP has tried to derive political advantage from the case,' he said.
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
Ex-cricketer questions BCCI over India-Pakistan fixtures in Asia Cup: 'Especially after the terrorist attack…'
Despite the two nations having engaged in a four-day military conflict in the aftermath of the terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam, India and Pakistan potentially face each other thrice in the upcoming Asia Cup after being placed in the same group. read more India had last faced arch-rivals Pakistan in the group stage of the ICC Champions Trophy in Dubai in February. AP Former India cricketer Manoj Tiwary slammed the BCCI for giving its nod of approval to Men in Blue being placed in the same group as arch-rivals Pakistan at this year's Asia Cup. The continental event, after all, will be taking place in the UAE in September, months after a terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that preceded a military conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations. The terror attack as well as the subsequent conflict had led to speculations that the Asia Cup, which was scheduled to be hosted by India in the T20 format this year, would ultimately be called off. The event, however, sprung back to life after the Asian Cricket Council meeting in Dhaka last week, which was attended virtually by BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD And with India and Pakistan being placed in Group A along with Oman and UAE, there is a during the course of the event. 'India-Pakistan match should not happen in such an environment' 'I am against it. The India-Pakistan match should not be held. Especially after the terrorist attack in Pahalgam in which civilians have been killed. After that, Operation Sindoor has taken place,' Tiwary, who is a Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sport, told news agency ANI. 'The situation was so bad, how can we think of an India-Pakistan match. I feel that it should be considered again and the India-Pakistan match should not happen in such an environment. Our Prime Minister is saying that the Operation Sindoor is still going on… How can we play a match with Pakistan?' the former Bengal captain added. Also Read | BCCI to take final call on India vs Pakistan clash in Asia Cup 2025: Report India and Pakistan have also been put in the same group by the International Cricket Council in next year's Women's T20 World Cup in England. The two nations were also scheduled to face each other twice in the ongoing World Championship of Legends, a tournament that features retired cricketers in England. However, the Yuvraj Singh-led India Champions boycotted both of their fixtures against Pakistan Champions, including the semi-finals that was scheduled to take place on Thursday. The Pakistanis, thus, progressed to the final for the second consecutive time, at the cost of the defending champions. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD
