Cow vigilantes booked for culpable homicide bid after clash with civic staff on cow shelter removal
Indore (PTI): A case has been registered against some cow vigilantes for rioting and culpable homicide attempt after three civic employees were injured in a clash in Madhya Pradesh's Indore during the removal of a cow shelter as part of an anti-encroachment drive, police said.
An employee of the Indore Municipal Corporation (IMC) lodged a complaint, based on which a case was registered against Vijay Kalkhor, Sanjay Mahajan, Tej Singh Rathore and others on Wednesday night, an official said.
Three IMC employees were injured in the brawl while they were removing an illegal cow shelter in Dutt Nagar on Wednesday morning.
Bajrang Dal opposed the civic body's plan to remove the cow shelter.
Some videos of the incident surfaced on social media, in which both sides can be seen arguing while some people are seen breaking the windows of vehicles with sticks in which the cows from the cow shelter were being taken to the municipal corporation's gaushala.
The accused were booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 191(3) (rioting armed with deadly weapons), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 132 (assault to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and other provisions for abusing IMC employees and beating them with sticks, damaging government property by vandalising civic vehicles, the official said.
After the case was registered against the cow protectors, Bajrang Dal's local unit convenor Praveen Darekar claimed that his organisation's workers were not involved in the assault on municipal employees.
While cows from the nearly 30-year-old cow shelter in Dutt Nagar were being taken to the municipal corporation's cowshed, 20-25 cows were put in a vehicle, due to which many of the animals were injured, he alleged.
The Bajrang Dal leader said, "Due to this cruelty towards cows, people of the Hindu community (present at the spot) were enraged."
The cow protectors and a seer operating the cowshed have also lodged a complaint against the civic body staffers against the police on charges of assault and animal cruelty, Darekar said, and demanded that an FIR be registered against them.
Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar Sharma said an investigation is being conducted into these complaints.
Meanwhile, city mayor Pushyamitra Bhargav visited the private hospital, where the injured municipal employees have been admitted, to enquire about the condition.
Terming the clash during the removal of the cowshed as unfortunate, he said, "We are with the municipal workers. I have spoken to the police and administration officials and asked them to ensure that such incidents do not happen in future."
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Nashik TCS case: Accused Nida Khan held in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar
Nashik (PTI): Weeks after she went into hiding, a female employee of the TCS unit in Nashik, accused in a case related to alleged religious conversion and sexual harassment of some women colleagues, has been arrested, police said.
Nida Khan was held on Thursday in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik said.
Khan is an accused in the Deolali Camp police station crime register number 156/26 here, he said.
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Nashik police is probing nine cases of molestation and harassment at the IT major’s Nashik unit.
It had arrested eight persons, including a female operations manager, by registering nine FIRs after allegations of exploitation, attempt of forceful conversion, hurting religious sentiments, molestation and mental harassment of female employees at the TCS unit came to light.
The SIT had launched a search for Khan in different parts of Maharashtra. She is accused of targeting employees in a WhatsApp group, pressuring them to pray and eat non-vegetarian food.
According to the FIR, Khan allegedly advised women employees to dress and behave in accordance with Islamic traditions.
Some complainants have also alleged that they were coerced or pressured into adopting religious practices, including praying, changing dietary habits, and adopting religious symbols.
Besides Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) provisions for sexual harassment and defamation, Khan has also been booked under relevant sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as the complainant belongs to a Scheduled Caste.
On April 18, she had moved the Nashik court seeking anticipatory bail and interim protection from arrest pending the plea hearing, citing her pregnancy. Her anticipatory bail plea was rejected by a court here on May 2.
TCS has clarified that it has adopted a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment and coercion of any form for a long time, and the employees allegedly involved in sexual harassment at the Nashik office have been suspended.
