Mosque Attacked, Homes Torched at Kolhapur's Vishalgad Fort Over Encroachment
Communal tensions heated up in Kolhapur after a mob allegedly attacked homes of local residents, vandalised a mosque, and thrashed villagers on the foothills of the historic Vishalgad fort while demanding removal of illegal encroachments on Sunday, 14 July.
The clashes erupted after former Rajya Sabha MP Sambhaji Raje called upon his supporters to march to the fort in a bid to protest against the inaction of the authorities over illegal encroachments. The fort is located in Shahuwadi of Kolhapur district, about 75 kms from Kolhapur city.
The clashes erupted ahead of Sambhaji Raje's arrival at the fort on Sunday morning.
While 21 people have been arrested by the Kolhapur police so far, four FIRs have been registered against 500 people.
Calling it 'Vishalgad Anti-Encroachment Movement ,' Sambhaji Raje Chhatrapati and his supporters in Kolhapur have been mounting pressure on authorities to remove illegal encroachments at the Vishalgad fort for the past year.
Sambhaji Raje, who has been a vocal critic of the alleged encroachment, gave a call last week to protest at the fort, following which his supporters and members of Hindutva outfits gathered overnight at the entrance of the fort since Saturday night despite no official permission for the gathering.
On Sunday morning, the clashes flared after some miscreants allegedly pelted stones at the Rehman Malik Dargah on the fort, during which some residents and cops were injured. Some vandals also allegedly chanted 'Jai Shri Ram' outside the mosque and raised objectionable slogans.
Some of the residents then reportedly retaliated, following which the situation went out of control. The police then cordoned off the fort and barred entry, following which the mob allegedly attacked shops and homes in the Gajapur village by the foothills of the fort.
Several homes in Gajapur were allegedly set on fire while several other homes and shops were vandalised and looted, sources said. Several vehicles were also torched in the clashes and thrown of the cliff from the fort. Visuals from the site show miscreants atop the mosque trying to damage the dome structures while chanting slogans.
Along with residents, several cops were also injured in the clashes, the police said.
Sambhaji Raje called off his protest after an assurance by CM Eknath Shinde that action will be taken against illegal encroachments in the fort.
Several local journalists reporting on the incident alleged that they were threatened by people who were a part of the mob with knives and sticks to stop them from reporting omn the incident.
Many claimed that their equipment, mobile phones, and boom mic were snatched by miscreants while brandishing swords and knives. Some also claimed that their vehicles were chased in order to scare them into not coming to the area.
Kolhapur Press Club president Sheetal Dhanwade, addressing journalists on Monday, said that a undertaking will be given to the police and the authorities in this regard.
On Monday, Sambhaji Raje blamed the local authorities and the police for not taking enough measures despite anticipating that the situation may get out of hand.
He also showed up at the local police station to urge officials to book him instead of 'Shivaji bhakts'.
"Several Shiv Bhakts have been booked. Rather than harassing them, the police should book me.I kept asking them if I have been booked but they refused to answer," he said, after a two-hoir long meeting with police officials.
He further said that there is no communal agenda behind his movement but some people with vested interests are trying to portray it so.
"One of the first encroachments to be destroyed belongs to a Prakash Patil. Some of the first action was faced by Hindu families. Some people are trying to do Hindu-Muslim over this, they must not," he said.
"I do not support what happened in Gajapur. The incident must be probed and the police must take appropriate action. If somebody is firing shots with the gun on my shoulder, I will look into it. But my intention was only to protest against encroachment," he said.
Meanwhile, politics peaked on the issue with opposition parties demanding immediate action against Sambhaji Raje.
Nationalist Congress Party - Sharadchandra Pawar (NCPSP) chief Sharad Pawar, Kolhapur MP Shahu Maharaj, NCPSP district president VB Patil, and district Congress president and MLA Satej Patil held a meeting over the unrest.
"Somebody like Sambhaji Raje should have been careful while blaming the authorities for the unrest," Patil said.
Kolhapur Guardian Minister Hasan Mushrif, meanwhile, said: "Such an incident is a blot in the kingdom of Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj. The issue of encroachments on Vishalgad is sub-judice. So, it is for Sambhaji Raje to answer whether his stance on the issue is appropriate."
Several Muslim bodies led by Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind sumbmitted a letter to the Kolhapur authorities to take strict action against those accused and demanded that Sambhaji Raje must be arrested.
Following the clashes, about 35 illegal shops were razed by authorities on Monday on the orders of CM Shinde who arrived in Kolhapur on Sunday night.
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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.
