Modi to return as PM, 'not fair' to view Nitish as claimant for top post: Prashant Kishor
Patna : JD(U) national vice president Prashant Kishor said on Monday that Narendra Modi would return as the Prime Minister after Lok Sabha polls and though Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar was "a big leader in the NDA" it was "unfair" to view him as a claimant for the top post, even in the event of the BJP not getting a clear mandate.
Kishor, who joined the JD(U) in September last year, made the comments in response to queries about his recent visit to Mumbai, where he met Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, fuelling speculations about a strategic alliance between his party and the Maharashtra-based outfit, which, of late, has been critical of Modi's leadership.
A resident of Buxar district in the state, Kishor shot to fame in 2014 when he managed the poll campaign for Narendra Modi, then the prime ministerial candidate of the BJP, which went on to put up its best-ever electoral performance.
A year later, he collaborated with Kumar who returned to power for his third consecutive term after registering a handsome victory in the assembly polls.
"I met the Shiv Sena chief upon his invitation. The party is an NDA constituent and so there is nothing out of place in both of us (Thackeray and Kishor) having discussions. The speculations of my helping them with poll strategy do not have any substance. I am now a member of a party and cannot offer such professional assistance," he told reporters.
Asked about the chances of Nitish Kumar becoming the prime minister and he the deputy PM, in the event of the BJP falling short of adequate numbers, Kishor said, "No discussion of the sort took place. Kumar is a big leader. Anybody who has ruled a major state like Bihar for close to 15 years is bound to have a stature. But it would be unfair to him if we start considering him a claimant for the prime minister's post."
"Narendra Modi is the NDA's prime ministerial candidate and he will return as the Prime Minister again. Nitish Kumar will have a role to play, of course. Among NDA constituents, the JD(U) is the third largest after the BJP and the Shiv Sena. But nothing more should be read into this," he added.
Kishor also said that during his meeting with Thackeray, whose party has often been accused of spreading hatred against the people from Bihar, "the issue of the safety of Biharis living in Maharashtra was taken up. I said that in Bihar, the JD(U) would ensure the well-being of Maharashtrians and expressed hope that his party would respond in kind."
To a query about allegations levelled by opposition parties that law and order had deteriorated in Bihar in the recent times, bringing disrepute to the Nitish Kumar government, Kishor said, "Statistics speak otherwise."
"People often say it is the first term of Kumar, from 2005-2010, when the law and order situation was the best. Perhaps it was because people experienced a welcome change from the days when Bihar, comprising only 10 per cent of the country's total population, witnessed more than 20 per cent of incidents of robberies and other crimes."
"Statistics say that the law and order situation today is even better than what it was during Kumar's first tenure. But with people getting used to peace and order, expectations soar and this is not something we can complain about, but must gear up and face as a challenge," he added.
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Bank account in Ramgarh tracked for fraudulent fund transactions across 24 states, 4 arrested
Ramgarh (Jharkhand) (PTI): Jharkhand police on Thursday said it has unearthed a network of interstate cyber frauds and arrested four miscreants for fraudulent transactions through a bank account in Ramgarh district after complaints of 274 suspected transactions in 24 states.
The states where complaints for fraudulent transactions were registered included Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The action followed inputs received through 'Samanvaya portal', a centralised, web-based platform launched by the Union Home Ministry to curb cybercrime.
"We arrested four cyber miscreants after a current account with Kuju (Ramgarh) branch of the State Bank of India was found to have registered suspected financial transactions in 24 states with the help of the Pratibimba portal of the Home Ministry through the Samanvaya portal," Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.
During the probe, police found that the account was opened under the MSME Udyam Registration scheme in the name of Shree Ganesh Enterprises, he said.
The account had been linked to as many as 274 complaints from different states related to cyber fraud and illegal fund transfers.
The registered proprietors of the enterprise were identified as Rahul Gupta (37), Ravi Kumar Verma (34), and Ajay Sharma (33), all residents of Ramgarh district, a statement from the Ramgarh police said.
During interrogation, Rahul Gupta and Ravi Kumar Verma revealed that they had opened multiple current accounts at the behest of Ritesh Agrawal alias Munna (40) and Sonu Kumar Jha (34).
They admitted receiving Rs 1.2 lakh in exchange for facilitating the opening of these accounts.
"The accused further confessed to sharing OTPs, activating mobile banking services, and handing over control of the accounts to the main operators through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These accounts were then allegedly used to route fraudulent transactions.
Police said mobile data analysis of the accused led to the recovery of crucial digital evidence, including details of SIM cards, bank accounts, passbooks, ATM cards, QR code scanners, Aadhaar cards, and PAN cards shared through messaging platforms.
A total of four accused have been arrested so far and sent to judicial custody.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Further investigation is underway, the police said.
