NPF to withdraw support to BJP-led coalition govt in Manipur:Newmai
Imphal: The Naga People's Front (NPF) has decided to withdraw support to the BJP-led government in Manipur, a senior party leader said Sunday.
NPF Manipur state unit president Awangbou Newmai Sunday told PTI that "they were forced to take the decision to withdraw support as bigger parties were looking down upon smaller parties."
He, however, said though the decision to withdraw support has been taken, it will be implemented after the entire electioneering process is complete on May 23
A senior BJP leader said on Sunday that if the NPF withdraws support it will not have any effect on the coalition government.
The senior BJP leader told PTI that the BJP has 29 MLAs and has the support of one legislator each of the LJP, AITC and an Independent in the 60-member Manipur Assembly.
The NPF has four MLAs.
The Congress had 29 MLAs after the 2017 Assembly polls, but eight of its legislators defected to the BJP last year, taking its tally from 21 to 29 in the Assembly.
Newmai claimed the NPF was "forced" to take the decision to withdraw support as the "BJP has not honoured some of the agreements that were agreed upon when the coalition government was formed back in 2017."
"We have been patient for some two years" Newmai said, adding the bigger party "looks down on smaller groups."
Still, as representatives of the people, "we desire that respect be given to other parties."
"The BJP has never respected the spirit of alliance since the formation of government in 2017. There have been instances when their leaders have refused to consider our members as alliance partners," he said, without elaborating.
The BJP has denied the allegations made by the NPF leader.
The allegations made by the NPF are "totally baseless and unfounded". All possible cooperation has been extended to our coalition partners for smooth functioning of the government, said a senior BJP leader.
A meeting of senior NPF leaders was held in Kohima on Saturday evening to decide whether to stay in the Manipur coalition government.
The meeting was held at the NPF's central office in Kohima, which was attended by party chief Shurhozelie Liezietsu, opposition leader in Nagaland Assembly T R Zeliang, NPF core committee members and the party MLAs in Manipur.
"We had threadbare deliberations on the attitude of the BJP government in Manipur towards NPF legislators, which dwelled on withdrawing support, but the final decision is yet to be taken," NPF spokesperson Ahcumbemo Kikon told PTI.
He said the NPF central leaders and legislators from Manipur were of the view that their decision should not disturb the electioneering process.
"The final call on withdrawing from the BJP-led government in Manipur will be taken only after the completion of the entire electioneering process," he added.
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FIR filed after e-commerce platform linked tech firm alleges SMS spoofing fraud
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against unknown people for allegedly sending fraudulent messages in the name of an e-commerce platform with promises of cash rewards, further disrupting its operations, police said on Wednesday.
The offence is said to have taken place between April 23 and April 27, they said.
A representative of city-based technology company Hiveloop Technology Pvt Ltd (HTPL), part of the Udaan group (eB2B platform), has lodged a complaint alleging a large-scale SMS spoofing fraud following which a detailed investigation has been initiated into the matter, a senior police officer said.
According to the FIR, HTPL is a registered entity on the TRAI-mandated DLT platform, which permits only pre-approved SMS templates and whitelisted URLs to be sent through authorised sender IDs.
The issue came to light on April 23, when HTPL received alerts from buyers about fraudulent SMS messages appearing to originate from the company's sender ID "UDAANN". The messages reportedly contained Bitly links and falsely claimed a credit of Rs 10,001, urging recipients to withdraw money, it said.
On April 27, at around 12:49 pm, the DLT platform blacklisted HTPL's SMS templates, citing their alleged use in sending fraudulent messages. Within minutes, the company's sender ID was also blacklisted. Airtel's DLT system subsequently confirmed the action and shared details of the fraudulent messages that were circulated in HTPL's name without its knowledge or consent, the FIR stated.
Following this, the company's messaging operations were affected, and even legitimate communications such as one-time passwords to buyers began failing. Later, the DLT operator suspended HTPL's entire account following complaints raised on TRAI's Chakshu platform, bringing all SMS services of the company to a halt, it further stated.
HTPL has stated that neither it nor its authorised vendors sent the fraudulent messages. The links embedded in the messages reportedly redirected users to an online betting website, the FIR stated.
The company has claimed that the incident has resulted in a complete breakdown of SMS-based services, including buyer authentication, order updates and promotional communication, leading to significant financial losses.
At least 13 victims have been identified so far, with the possibility of more affected users. Victims were allegedly directed to an online betting platform, raising concerns of potential financial fraud, the FIR added.
