Two Indian men reach UAE on cycles to visit Makkha
Dubai, May 23: Two Indian men have arrived in the UAE on cycles pedalling 3,800-kilometer across three countries, three months after they set out on a cycling adventure to visit Makkah in Saudi Arabia.
Muhammed Saleem, 53, and his 42-year-old friend Rizwan Ahmad Khan are from Bangalore and have been cycling under the sun while fasting. They even lost their bicycles.
"Our bicycles got lost on our ferry boat ride from Bandar Abbas to the UAE. I was a little frustrated because it was the first day of fasting and it was too hot, But people in Sharjah port went out of their way to help us find our bicycles," Saleem said.
"We experienced many different cultures, ate different foods and prayed in so many places," Saleem told the Khaleej Times.
Saleem and Khan pedalled almost 1,300-kilometer in India, 700 to 800 kilometres in Oman, and 1,700 kilometres in Iran.
Originally, they planned to cycle their way through India, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia with no other means of transportation.
However, getting visas to Pakistan and Iraq was not easy.
"We decided to pedal to Oman, fly to Tehran and pedal all the way to Bandar Abbas, and then go through the UAE to Saudi Arabia", Saleem said.
The duo hopes to reach Makkah by July 25, just in time for Hajj that will start on August 9.
"From here, we will go to the Saudi border. Then, we will go to Riyadh, to Madina, and then to Makkah. My dream is to travel in Ihram cloth to Makkah, that is why we are going to Madina first," Saleem said.
This isn't the first time Saleem has embarked on such an adventure. He has been cycling for 35 years and has been a three-time state champion in India.
"I have cycled around Europe in 1989 and once pedalled from Kuwait to Dubai," he said.
Saleem and Khan have been pedalling 75 to 100 kilometres per day.
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SC seeks ED's response on journalist's bail plea in money laundering case
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to file its response within three days on a bail plea of journalist Mahesh Langa in a money laundering case linked to an alleged financial fraud.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi also asked senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the jailed journalist, to file rejoinder, if needed, to the ED's response within two days of it being filed.
The top court fixed the case for further hearing on December 15.
During the brief hearing on Monday, Sibal said a journalist has been facing as many as six cases.
"The journalist is accused of extortion," the counsel for the ED said and sought a short adjournment on the ground that Solicitor General Tuhar Mehta was unavailable at the moment.
The top court on September 8 sought responses from the Gujarat government and the ED on Langa's bail plea.
While issuing the notices on Langa's bail plea, the bench asked, "What kind of a journalist is he?"
"With due respect, there are some very genuine journalists. But there are also people who on their scooter say we are 'patrakar' (journalists) and what they actually do everybody knows," the bench told Sibal.
Sibal replied that these are all allegations.
"In one FIR, he gets anticipatory bail, then a second FIR is lodged and again anticipatory bail is granted but now he is booked under a third FIR for income tax evasion. There are other things also against him," Sibal submitted.
He added that there is a background to the case also.
On July 31, the Gujarat High Court rejected Langa's bail plea in the money laundering case on the grounds that if released on bail, prejudice would be caused to the prosecution case.
On February 25, the ED said it arrested Langa in a money laundering investigation linked to an alleged financial fraud.
He was first arrested in October 2024 in a GST fraud case.
The money laundering case against Langa stems from two FIRs filed by Ahmedabad police on charges of fraud, criminal misappropriation, criminal breach of trust, cheating and causing wrongful loss of lakhs of rupees to certain people.
