Gujarat cops file theft case against jailed scribe Langa after recovery of govt documents from him
Ahmedabad (PTI): The Gujarat police have registered a theft case against senior journalist Mahesh Langa, who is already behind bars in an alleged Goods and Services Tax scam, following the recovery of some documents of the Gujarat Maritime Board from him, an official said.
This is the second First Information Report (FIR) registered against Langa after his arrest earlier this month by the Ahmedabad Crime Branch in the alleged GST scam.
Langa, who worked with a leading newspaper in Gujarat, was sent to judicial custody last week after his remand in the GST case came to an end.
"The second FIR was registered on Tuesday night at Sector 7 police station in Gandhinagar city," District Superintendent of Police Ravi Teja Vasamsetty said on Wednesday.
The online FIR is not accessible to the public as it has been put under "sensitive" category, he said.
Sources said that Langa and an unidentified employee of the Gujarat Maritime Board (GMB) have been booked on the charges of theft and under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
"During the investigation, the Ahmedabad police recovered some official documents of the GMB from his possession. Since these documents are government property, the board officials approached us and lodged a complaint against Langa and an unidentified employee of the GMB (who gave him documents)," the SP added.
Meanwhile, the Ahmedabad crime branch on Tuesday arrested five more persons in connection with its ongoing probe into the GST fraud case, a release by the crime branch said.
With this, the crime branch has so far arrested 14 persons, including Langa, after the registration of an FIR earlier this month.
The crime branch on October 7 registered the FIR against several persons and entities after getting a complaint from central GST over an alleged scam of floating bogus firms with an intent to defraud the government by availing bogus input tax credit through fraudulent transactions, a release by the Crime Branch said.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
