Noted Writer Ram Puniyani intimidated by men posing as CID
Human Rights organisations demand enquiry
Mumbai: In an incident reported from Mumbai, prominent Human Rights Activist and renowned writer Prof. Ram Puniyani was recently questioned by three men posing as the CID officials. They visited his home in the garb of an inquiry for passport, which neither Prof Ram Puniyani nor anyone from his family had applied for.
According to the reports, Prof Puniyani and his family were asked ‘Objectionable questions’.
Prof Puniyani spoke to Vartha Bhatati about the incident and said “On March 9, a group of 3 people claiming to be from Maharashtra CID came to our house in Mumbai. The team claimed that they were inquiring about a passport request filed by us. But neither I nor anyone from my family had applied for passport. Even after informing them about this , they continued questioning us.
“They asked me about my family members, what they do? Why did I leave IIT? etc. I am not sure if they were from CID . I am thinking about filing a police complaint in this regard”.
Prof Ram Puniyani, who was a professor in biomedical engineering at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology Bombay had taken voluntary retirement in December 2004 to work full-time for communal harmony in India. Author of many books on communal harmony and secularism, he writes regularly in different publications to strengthen voices of sanity and has consistently questioned and challenged divisive forces of various kinds. He has received the prestigious Indira Gandhi Award (2006) and National Communal Harmony Award (2007) apart from many other awards for his work.
Human rights organizations and activists condemned the incident and termed it an attempt to frame Prof Puniyani into legal hassle to silence his voice. They have appealed to the Mumbai Police Commissioner to take action against the forces behind the incident . They have demanded a fair investigation into the matter and those behind this be brought to justice at the earliest.
“We demand that an inquiry be ordered into this whole episode and the guilty be brought to book for their act of intimidating a widely known writer and noted activist” a petition to Mumbai Police Commissioner said.
The website also sought support and endorsements for the cause. Those willing to support Prof Ram can send their endorsements to Ms Shabnam Hashimi at shabnamhashmi@gmail.com latest by 11 am on13 th March.
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.
MP boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 10 with recovery of one more body; 3 tourists still missing
Jabalpur (PTI): The body of a child was retrieved on Saturday evening from Bargi Dam in Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh, raising the death toll in the cruise boat tragedy that took place two days ago to ten, while search continued for three missing tourists.
The boat, operated by the state tourism department, capsized during a storm on Thursday evening with some of the survivors alleging negligence and safety lapses such as life jackets not being distributed in time.
The body recovered on Saturday evening was possibly that of six-year-old Viraj Soni, said Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Anjul Ayank Mishra.
"The identity will be confirmed after family members identify the body," he told PTI.
Kamraj, an employee of the Ordnance Factory at Khamaria, his five-year-old son Tamil, and another child Mayuram (5) who had come from southern India were still missing.
Authorities have arranged equipment to search deep waters of the dam and are getting a generator to facilitate diving operations, Mishra added.
Divers and disaster response teams have expanded the search radius to five km, he said.
Of the 41 identified passengers on board the ill-fated vessel, 28 were rescued, police said.
More than 200 rescuers, including around 20 Army divers airlifted from Agra, joined the search operation that resumed at 5 on Saturday morning. The operation, involving the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and local divers, was briefly affected at around 9 am due to strong winds, officials said.
Post-mortem examinations of nine deceased persons have been completed, Mishra said.
"Our priority is to search for the missing persons. We will also register a First Information Report in the case soon," he said.
Police said CCTV footage near the boarding point showed 43 people heading towards the boat while the identities of 41 passengers have been confirmed so far.
The state government on Friday ordered a probe into the tragedy and dismissed three crew members. It also banned operation of similar vessels in the state.
