Latest news with #BajrangDal
Time of India
2 days ago
- Time of India
AIMIM MLC, 3 others booked storming RGI Airport police station in Hyderabad over cattle seizure
HYDERABAD: The RGI Airport police booked AIMIM MLC Rehamath Baig, Shamshabad councillor Taj Baba, Kishanbagh corporator Hussaini Pasha, and Mallepally corporator Zaffer Khan for allegedly storming the police station in the early hours of Tuesday over the seizure of a cattle truck. According to inspector P Balaraju, Bajrang Dal volunteers had intercepted a vehicle carrying 31 bulls from Adilabad to Bahadurpura at around 10:40 pm on Monday in Shamshabad. The police transferred the animals to a nearby goshala and arrested the driver and two assistants under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. The officer said that a counter-case had been filed against the Bajrang Dal activists for wrongful restraint and criminal intimidation. You Can Also Check: Hyderabad AQI | Weather in Hyderabad | Bank Holidays in Hyderabad | Public Holidays in Hyderabad Angered by this, Baig and other AIMIM functionaries allegedly entered the station at around 1 am and questioned police personnel about cattle seizure and demanded police to return them. The AIMIM leaders and their supporters are accused of intimidating staff and obstructing official duties. On Tuesday, the police registered a suo motu case against the AIMIM MLC and others under Sections 132 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging his duty), 221 (obstructing a public servant in the discharge of his public functions), 329(4) (punishment for house trespass) and 351(2) (criminal intimidation), read with 3(5) (common intention), of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
Scroll.in
5 days ago
- Scroll.in
Odisha: Hindutva mob allegedly attacks Christians for refusing to convert, 8 injured
A group of Christians was allegedly attacked by a Hindutva mob in Odisha's Malkangiri district on Saturday for refusing to convert to Hinduism, The Telegraph reported. Eight Christians were injured in the incident. The group was attacked by 'hundreds of people' with weapons such as axes while returning from a church in Kotamateru village, the newspaper quoted Pallab Lima, state general secretary of the Rashtriya Christian Morcha, as saying. Lima said that one person contacted a local pastor, who then informed the Malkangiri Police Station. The police intervened and took the injured to hospital, The Telegraph reported. A case was registered at the police station. After an initial round of investigation, police said that the incident stemmed from a dispute between two brothers, one a Christian and the other a Hindu. 'The Hindu brother was pressuring his Christian sibling to return to the Hindu fold,' the newspaper quoted Inspector Rigan Kinda of Malkangiri Police Station as saying. On the day of the incident, Kinda said, the group of Christians was surrounded by 'many Hindus' who 'questioned their allegiance to Christianity'. 'An argument broke out and was followed by clashes, in which some people suffered injuries,' he added. The local Christian community leaders, including Lima, have alleged that the outfit Bajrang Dal was responsible for the attack. The Bajrang Dal is part of a group of Hindutva outfits led by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the parent organisation of the state's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. Lima claimed that Hindutva activists in the state have been threatening Christians to convert to Hinduism since last year. Sibapada Mirdha, a Bajrang Dal leader in the district, denied the allegations of violence or attempts being made to convert Christians. However, he claimed that Hindus had been 'raising their voice against forcible conversions' by Christians. 'Sometimes there is a spontaneous reaction to this,' The Telegraph quoted him as saying.
Indian Express
7 days ago
- Indian Express
Allegations of ‘religious conversion' against pastor, co-accused yet to be proved: Ghaziabad police
Nearly a week after the Ghaziabad police arrested a pastor and another man for allegedly attempting to convert members of the Scheduled Caste (SC) to Christianity by offering them inducements, the police Saturday said they were 'yet to find anyone to confirm the allegations'. The two accused, Pastor Vinod Kunjumon, 50, and Premchand Jatav, 66, were arrested on Sunday following a complaint by Bajrang Dal member Prabal Gupta. Preeti Garg, Station House Officer, Crossings Republik Police Station, said, 'We do not have anyone to confirm the allegations. We are also looking into what kind of inducements were being used for conversion. If it was just monetary or promising them of curing ailments.' According to the police, Pastor Kunjumon, who hails from Kerala and is currently a resident of Sahibabad, told them during the interrogation that he had only been conducting prayers at the house of another accused, Premchand Jatav, a resident of Rahul Vihar in Ghaziabad. The complainant, Prabal Gupta, a resident of Krishna Nagar Bagu in Ghaziabad, has alleged that Bajrang Dal workers informed him that Kunjumon and Jatav were converting people belonging to the SC category. 'When I reached Premchand's house with my workers, I saw them conducting a program for conversion. When my workers and I protested, they abused, threatened, and assaulted us,' he alleged in the FIR. Following the complaint, the police registered a First Information Report under Sections 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 351(3) (threats involving death), 352 (breach of peace) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and a section of the Uttar Pradesh Prohibition of Unlawful Conversion of Religion Act, 2021. Neetika Jha is a Correspondent with The Indian Express. She covers crime, health, environment as well as stories of human interest, in Noida, Ghaziabad and western UP. When not on the field she is probably working on another story idea. On weekends, she loves to read fiction over a cup of coffee. The Thursday Murder club, Yellow Face and Before the Coffee Gets Cold were her recent favourites. She loves her garden as much as she loves her job. She is an alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. ... Read More
Indian Express
20-06-2025
- Indian Express
‘People tell me I'm Hindu, he's Muslim… just want to be with him': Ghaziabad woman at centre of interfaith marriage speaks out
'Every day, someone new comes and tries to convince me that I have brought disrespect to my family because I married a Muslim man,' said Sonika Chauhan, 25, who is at the centre of a saga that includes an interfaith wedding, allegations of kidnapping, and vandalism. On May 25, Sonika's father, Laxman Singh Chauhan, filed a complaint with the Ghaziabad Police, alleging that his daughter had been kidnapped and wrongfully confined by a man named Akbar. The police registered an FIR, after which the couple surrendered at the Indirapuram police station. Hours earlier, they had shot a video in Akbar's car, stating they were married and requesting that their families not be harmed. Akbar's shop was also vandalised by a group of men belonging to the Bajrang Dal, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Indirapuram Yuva Morcha, and Uttarakhand Samaj Adhikarik, who raised allegations of 'love jihad'. Akbar was arrested on May 26, as were his relatives, including his sisters. He was finally released on bail on June 8. The police are yet to produce Sonika in court to record her statement. Speaking to The Indian Express, she said, 'People keep telling me that I am Hindu and he is Muslim, that I have brought disrespect to my family… I just want to be with him. When will all this end?' Akbar, meanwhile, who spent 14 days in jail before being granted bail by the Ghaziabad district court, said his private life had been turned into a political drama. Dressed in a white shirt and a pair of black jeans, he said, 'People are talking about love jihad, but do they know our story? Do they realise that she is my wife? We are married, I am not a criminal,' he said. Akbar recalled what had led to the FIR and vandalism of his two shops. 'On May 24, I was at my shop, and Sonika was at her salon, which is right next to my shop. Around 1 pm, Sonika's mother called her home,' said Akbar, showing CCTV footage from the cameras installed outside his shop. He said at 1.28 pm, Sonika returned with her mother to meet him, claiming that gold jewellery was missing from the house. 'I told them that I would figure it out. By 4 pm, Sonika returned to her salon, and my friend dropped her mother home. Later that evening, her mother returned to confront us about our marriage,' said Akbar, as he showed a copy of the marriage certificate, dated August 29, 2022, on his phone. Kalpana (25), Sonika's helper at the salon, said it was around 6-7 pm when Sonika's mother came to the salon and asked her to shut it down. 'There weren't many customers in the salon… When Sonika refused, her mother hit her. Soon, her father came as well,' said Kalpana. Akbar said that when Sonika's father confronted him about their marriage, he asked her to tell them the truth. 'She did, and we left for Allahabad, shot a video in the car to ensure that our family does not suffer. But everything was ruined… We were on our way to Kanpur when a police officer called and asked us to surrender. We came back, hoping to get police protection…' Akbar and Sonika, neighbours said, had known each other since they were children but fell in love nine years ago. 'I had known her since childhood, but it was all very formal. She studied at Kendriya Vidyalaya and went to school on the bus… some days, after school, I would stand at the bus stop and look for her. This is how we began talking,' Akbar said. 'Over the next five years, we completed school and college. Sonika wasn't interested in studying and planned to open her salon. So she opted for open school for graduation and joined a VLCC training programme that would last for 1.5 years,' Akbar said. 'In 2019, when her training institute denied her a learning certificate, she introduced me to her father. My brother is a lawyer. Several other girls did not get the certificate. I filed the complaint on behalf of 140 girls, and their certificates were issued — and I became a regular in her family,' said the 29-year-old. In 2022, Akbar said, Sonika opened her salon after many false starts and rejections. 'It was like a dream. We were financially capable of fending for ourselves and decided to get married. I was helping her all along. No friend does that, her parents knew that we were in love,' Akbar said. He reiterated that neither of them abandoned their religion, and they got married under the Special Marriage Act. 'I respected her religion and went to each temple that she wanted to go to. All I knew was that we wanted to be together, and I loved her. We thought that once we get married, our parents will not be able to pressure us,' Akbar said. 'Today, people are threatening those who were witnesses to our marriage. The problem is not the police or her parents, it is society,' he said. When The Indian Express contacted the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Trans-Hindon, Patil Nimish Dasharath over Sonika not being produced before the court for her statement, he said, 'We are trying. We will produce her when she is ready.' Akbar, however, is heartbroken. 'Bring her to court, let her say what she wants,' he said. 'I cannot take this separation. I am suffering, I cannot show the world, but I am breaking apart.' Neetika Jha is a Correspondent with The Indian Express. She covers crime, health, environment as well as stories of human interest, in Noida, Ghaziabad and western UP. When not on the field she is probably working on another story idea. On weekends, she loves to read fiction over a cup of coffee. The Thursday Murder club, Yellow Face and Before the Coffee Gets Cold were her recent favourites. She loves her garden as much as she loves her job. She is an alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, Chennai. ... Read More
India Today
18-06-2025
- India Today
Hindu group forces man to apply tilak, apologise to Lord Ram for insulting post
A man in Uttar Pradesh's Fatehpur district was forced to apologise at a temple after members of the Bajrang Dal accused him of making derogatory comments about Lord Ram on social media. The man, identified as Yasin, was allegedly taken from his home by the group and escorted to a local Hanuman temple, where he was made to apply a tilak on his forehead and seek forgiveness before the incident took place in the Verma Chauraha area of the city. Yasin, a resident of Ahmedganj, reportedly posted an objectionable comment on Instagram targeting Lord Ram, which sparked outrage among Bajrang Dal activists. Upon identifying his residence, a group of members visited his home and demanded he accompany them to a temple to publicly unwilling, Yasin was reportedly persuaded by his wife Nagma to comply. According to Bajrang Dal member Harshit, a confrontation broke out when Yasin allegedly attacked him with a knife concealed in his trousers, injuring him in the thigh. The situation escalated briefly before his wife intervened and convinced Yasin to go to the temple with the group. There, at the Verma Chauraha Hanuman temple, Yasin was made to apologise for his remarks and promised not to repeat such actions. He was released after the apology. Must Watch
