Sonu Sood stopped from meeting migrants at Bandra Terminus
Mumbai: Actor Sonu Sood, who has been arranging transport for migrant workers stranded in Mumbai and has faced criticism from the Shiv Sena for "enacting a political script written by BJP", was stopped outside the Bandra Terminus here by police from meeting labourers.
A Mumbai Police official said the actor was stopped by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) when he reached the station on Monday night to meet some labourers, and added that they have not received any complaint so far in this connection.
The migrant labourers were supposed to take the Shramik Special train from Bandra Terminus to Uttar Pradesh.
Nirmal Nagar police station's senior inspector Shashikant Bhandare said, "The actor were stopped by the RPF, not by us. He wanted to meet labourers who were going to their native place. We have not received any complaint regarding this till now."
Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday wondered whether the BJP propped up Sood to "offer help" to migrant workers from north India stranded in Maharashtra amidst the lockdown, with the political motive to show the Uddhav Thackeray government in poor light.
In his weekly column 'Rokhthok' in Sena mouthpiece 'Saamana', Raut questioned the sudden rise of "Mahatma" Sood on the social scene of Maharashtra during the lockdown.
Raut also referred to a "sting operation" against Sood ahead of the 2019 general elections, saying he had agreed to promote the BJP-led government at various platforms through his official social media accounts.
However, later that day Chief Minister and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray lauded Sood's initiative to arrange buses for stranded migrant workers.
The actor met Thackeray at the latter's residence 'Matoshree' in suburban Bandra on Sunday night.
On Monday, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh backed Sood for his work for stranded migrant workers, and questioned the Maharashtra government's criticism of the actor.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
