Nuh Clashes: Cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi sent to 14-day judicial custody
Gurugram/Nuh, Aug 17: Cow vigilante Bittu Bajrangi, arrested in connection with communal clashes in Nuh earlier in the month, was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Thursday, police said.
Bajrangi was produced in a Nuh court on Thursday from where he was sent to judicial custody in Neemka jail of Faridabad district, a senior police officer said.
Bittu Bajrangi alias Raj Kumar was arrested on Tuesday from Faridabad after a fresh FIR was registered against him at Nuh's Sadar Plice Sation on a complaint of Assistant Superintendent of Police Usha Kundu.
A Nuh Police spokesperson said that eight swords were recovered from Bajrangi's possession.
According to the FIR, Bajrangi, who was identified through social media posts, along with some of his unidentified supporters, had allegedly misbehaved with and threatened an ASP Kundu-led police team which had stopped them while they were carrying swords and 'trishuls' to Nalhar temple.
Bajrangi had been arrested by Faridabad Police two days after the violence in connection with another case related to the communal clashes but was released on bail after he joined the investigation. He was accused of making inflammatory speeches and brandishing weapons in public.
In her complaint, ASP Usha Kundu said, "I was on duty with my team 300 metres away from the Nalhar temple. We saw a mob of around 20 people carrying swords and trishuls marching to Nalhar temple. To maintain law and order my team snatched and seized their weapons."
Kundu said when the mob was challenged to stop, it started raising slogans against the police, manhandled them, and even snatched back their weapons from police vehicles.
"We kept their weapons in our vehicles but they went ahead and squatted in front of vehicles. Soon after they opened the rear gates of our official vehicle and fled with weapons. Bittu and others who had misbehaved with us and threatened to kill us were identified in the footage," ASP Kundu said in her complaint.
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Rupee hits record low of 96.14/USD, settles at fresh closing low of 95.86/USD
Mumbai (PTI): The Indian rupee crashed below the 96/USD mark on Friday before closing at an all-time low of 95.86 (provisional) against the US dollar as elevated crude oil prices and inflation concerns added to the downside pressure on the rupee.
Rupee has registered over 6 per cent losses so far this year, and in the past six trading sessions, it has depreciated nearly 2 per cent as Iran war risk escalation pushed crude oil prices higher. The dollar index moved northwards after strong US retail sales and stable labour market data reduced expectations of aggressive Federal Reserve rate cuts.
Forex traders said global uncertainties, relatively high valuations, and the lack of AI-led investment opportunities have weighed on capital flows.
Moreover, weak net FDI inflows are likely to exert pressure on the balance of payments, while rising crude oil prices stoke inflation worries.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 95.86, then slumped to a record low of 96.14 in intraday trade, registering a fall of 50 paise from its previous close.
The USD/INR pair finally settled at 95.86 (provisional) against the US dollar, registering a fall of 22 paise from its previous close, helped by likely RBI intervention.
On Thursday, the rupee weakened to a fresh record low of 95.96 before closing with a marginal gain of 2 paise at 95.64 against the US dollar.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading at 99.15, higher by 0.34 per cent.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading up 3.14 per cent at USD 109.04 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex fell 160.73 points to settle at 75,237.99, while Nifty declined 46.10 points to 23,643.50.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers, purchasing equities worth Rs 187.46 crore on Thursday, according to exchange data.
Meanwhile, the country's exports in April rose by 13.78 per cent to USD 43.56 billion despite global challenges, Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal said on Friday.
Imports grew 10 per cent year-on-year to USD 71.94 billion in April. The trade deficit during the month stood at USD 28.38 billion.
"We expect the rupee to trade with a negative bias on elevated crude oil prices and inflation concerns. Strong dollar and FII outflows may also weigh on the rupee. However, any intervention by the RBI and hiking of import duty on gold and silver may support the rupee at lower levels. USD-INR spot price is expected to trade in a range of 95.60 to 96.20," said Anuj Choudhary, Research analyst at Mirae Asset ShareKhan.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart Donald Trump on Friday hailed their talks as "historic" and "landmark", as the American leader wrapped up his three-day visit on a high note, but no deals on any contentious issues were announced.
Both Presidents, who held several rounds of talks covering a range of global issues, including the Iran war and bilateral trade frictions, concluded their discussions with a private meeting at Zhongnanhai, the well-guarded compound in Beijing where top leaders reside.
