Economic offenders Bill a face-saving exercise: Congress
New Delhi, July 25 : A day after fugitive diamantaire Mehul Choksi was reportely located in the small Carribean island-nation Antigua, the Congress on Wednesday targeted the government saying the government was "hurriedly" bringing the Ecomonic Offender Fugitive Bill in Parliament as a "face saving exercise."
"Three months after PM Modi meets Antigua's Prime Minister Gaston Browne, Mehul Choksi gets Antigua's passport," said Congress leader Rajeev Gowda at a press conference.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had met Browne in London in April this year on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
"Nirav Modi (another fugitive jeweller in the PNB fraud) i.e. Chhota Modi is globetrotting and Prime Minister Modi's 'our Mehul Bhai' i.e Choksi gets an Antigua passport after Nirav visited China, Belgium, UK, US, UAE and Hong Kong," the Rajya Sabha MP said.
"Investigation agencies such as the Central Bureau of Investigation and Enforcement Directorate (ED) have failed to get a 'red corner notice (RCN)' issued against him (Choksi) till today," Gowda alleged.
The RCN is a request made to Interpol to locate and provisionally arrest a suspect and is usually issued by CBI to the Interpol. "That notice is pending against Choksi," said the Congress leader.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bridge portion collapses on Jammu outskirts; 3-4 labourers feared trapped, 1 rescued
Jammu (PTI): A portion of a small bridge collapsed in the Bantalab area on the outskirts of Jammu city on Friday, trapping at least three to four labourers under the debris, while one injured worker was rescued, official sources said.
Authorities have closed the road link following the collapse of the portion of the bridge.
The incident occurred when labourers were carrying out repair work on a retaining wall near the bridge that was damaged in last year's flash floods, the sources said.
According to the sources, a section of the bridge suddenly gave way, burying workers engaged at the site under the rubble.
Police, Army and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams launched rescue operations to extricate those buried under the debris. They pulled out one injured labourer and shifted him to a hospital, the sources said.
Family members of the labourers present at the site said around six workers engaged at the site at the time of the incident came under the debris when the structure collapsed. The family members said while two of the labourers managed to escape, four got trapped.
The sources said those trapped included the husband of a woman labourer, a mason, an unmarried labourer and a relative of the contractor.
There was no official confirmation on the exact number of persons trapped under the debris till the filing of this report.
The rescue operations are ongoing.
