Cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi arrested in connection with Nuh violence
Gurugram, Aug 15: Cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi was arrested on Tuesday in connection with communal clashes that erupted in Haryana's Nuh district on July 31, police said.
Bajrangi alias Rajkumar was questioned in connection with a fresh FIR registered him at Nuh's Sadar police station based on a complaint by Assistant Superintendent of Police Usha Kundu, they said.
Police said Bajrangi, the president of an outfit called the Goraksha Bajrang Force, was taken initially detained by the Crime Investigation Agency team of Tauru for questioning.
A spokesperson of Nuh Police said Bittu Bajrangi was arrested after the questioning and will be produced in a city court on Wednesday.
The FIR was registered against Bajrangi under Indian Penal Code sections 148 (riots), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (causing hurt), 353, 186 (obstructing a public servant from discharging duty), 395, 397 (armed robbery), and 506 (criminal intimidation) and provisions of the Arms Act, police said.
A senior police officer said Bajrangi and his associates wielded weapons during the VHP procession that came under attack in Muslim-majority Nuh on July 31.
During the violence that ensued, Bajrangi and his associates were waving their weapons in the air and ASP Kundu confiscated the weapons, but they snatched them from a police vehicle, the official said, adding they also allegedly threatened the police.
Earlier, Bajrangi was accused of posting inflammatory remarks on social media.
Six people, including two home guards and a cleric, had died in the recent clashes that erupted in Nuh over an attempt to stop a Vishva Hindu Parishad procession and spread to Gurugram.
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Private bus operators in Karnataka to hike fares by 20-30 pc after fuel price rise
Bengaluru (PTI): In the wake of the hike in fuel prices, private bus operators have decided to increase fares by 20-30 per cent, depending on the route, effective from Friday midnight.
They have also called for government subsidies, a reduction in cess, and lower road taxes to improve the situation.
"The situation for bus owners in the state is already distressing due to high road tax and the impact of the Shakti scheme (free bus travel for women in government buses). On top of this, fuel prices have increased," Karnataka State Bus Owners’ Association President S Nataraj Sharma said.
"This will impose a burden of Rs 15,000 per vehicle per month on bus owners. If an owner has three buses, the burden will be Rs 45,000 to Rs 50,000 per month," he added.
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Speaking to reporters, he said the situation has made it inevitable for owners to increase fares by 20-30 per cent, depending on the route, under current conditions.
The increase may be roughly Rs 200 per seat, he added.
"For example, the current bus fare from Bengaluru to Belagavi is around Rs 1,000–Rs 1,200, which is likely to rise to Rs 1,350–Rs 1,400. Similarly, fares from Bengaluru to Mangaluru or Udupi currently range from Rs 900–Rs 1,000 and are expected to go up to Rs 1,100–Rs 1,200," he said.
Petrol and diesel prices were each hiked by Rs 3 per litre on Friday, the first rate increase in more than four years, amid mounting losses for fuel retailers due to surging global crude prices in the wake of the West Asia conflict.
The increase comes a couple of weeks after the Assembly elections concluded in Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Puducherry.
