History sheeter shot dead in TN by police
Chennai (PTI): 'Seizing' Raja, a proclaimed offender who was arrested from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, was shot dead here on Monday after he attempted to flee from custody by opening fire on them, police said.
When the accused was taken to a location on the outskirts of the city to recover weapons hidden by him, he tried to escape and shot at the police team.
A police officer fired at him in self-defence and he succumbed to his injuries, a senior official said.
Responding to the incident, Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram said the encounters are a reflection of bad policing.
Many years ago, while working for a loan recovery agent, N Raja (51) used to 'seize' vehicles of defaulters and hence, he came to be known as 'seizing' Raja and later became infamous for his 'involvement' in criminal offences, police sources said.
"In the initial two places where he led the police, there were no weapons and in the third place, there was a country-made pistol. While pretending to hand over it, he fired twice at an inspector and luckily, it missed the target and hit the vehicle." Another inspector, who was on the spot, fired at the accused for self-defence.
Raja, having sustained injuries, fainted, and he was rushed to a hospital where doctors declared him brought dead, the police official told reporters here.
Raja, who has a total of 39 serious criminal cases against him, including six for murder, has been jailed eight times under the Goondas Act. A history sheeter, there are more than 10 warrants pending against him and he is a proclaimed offender.
Special police teams were formed to nab him and based on a tip-off, they arrested him on September 22 from his hideout at Kadapa in Andhra Pradesh. He was handed over by the special teams to Velachery police inspector on September 23 morning and he was taken to Akkarai (East Coast Road) for recovery of weapons.
The body of the accused has been sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for autopsy.
Congress MP Karti P Chidambaram, in a post on X said: "Encounter killings is a reflection of bad & inefficient policing. This is vigilante justice & has no place in a rule of law system."
On Sunday, a video clip, purportedly of Raja's wife expressing apprehensions over the safety of her husband in police custody was shared on social media.
Politicial commentator Sumanth Raman in a social media post said: "Police "encounters" represent a failure of the criminal justice system."
Starting from July this year, this is the third encounter death in Chennai. On July 5, BSP state chief K Armstrong was hacked to death. Thiruvengadam, a key accused in the Armstrong murder case and a history sheeter 'Kakkathoppu' Balaji died in police encounters.
On July 8, senior IPS officer A Arun took over as Chennai police commissioner. Tamil Nadu's principal opposition AIADMK had for long targeted the ruling DMK over its handling of the law and order situation.
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Lok Sabha extends tenure of parliamentary panel on Waqf bill
New Delhi (PTI): The Lok Sabha on Thursday adopted a resolution to extend the tenure of the Joint Committee on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill till the last day of the Budget session of Parliament next year.
Committee Chairman and BJP leader Jagdambika Pal moved the resolution in the Lok Sabha, which approved it with a voice vote.
The parliamentary panel’s meetings have become a virtual battleground between the opposition and the ruling party members, who have been vociferously debating the changes to the Waqf Bill proposed by the government.
On Wednesday, the opposition members of the committee staged a walkout and slammed Pal for asserting that the panel's draft report was ready.
Pal and the BJP members of the committee then reached out to opposition members and indicated their willingness to press for an extension of the committee's deadline of November 29 to submit its report to the Lok Sabha.
The Lok Sabha had constituted the committee on August 8 and asked to submit its report on the last day of the first week of the Winter session, which is on Friday.
Following the last meeting of the committee on November 21, Pal had said its draft report is ready. He indicated that the committee's consultation with stakeholders is over and its members will now discuss the report and suggest changes, if any, before it is adopted.
The opposition members took strong exception to this stand in Wednesday's meeting and soon stormed out. They claimed that Birla had assured them that its tenure would be extended.
Opposition parties have stridently criticised the amendments proposed by the bill in the existing Waqf Act, alleging they violate the religious rights of Muslims.
The ruling BJP has asserted that the amendments will bring transparency in the functioning of the waqf boards and make them accountable.
