School students mistakenly step into Excise office in Kerala to light ganja beedi, caught
Idukki (Kerala), Oct 23: Excise officers in this district were in for a rude shock when a group of school students entered their office accidentally and requested for a matchbox to light a beedi rolled with ganja.
The incident occurred in Adimali in the high range district on Monday, where students of an aided school in Thrissur arrived as part of their school excursion with teachers.
They entered the local excise office to get the matchbox mistaking it to be a workshop.
Immediatley, excise sleuths caught the higher secondary students red-handed and seized banned substances like ganja, hashish oil, and articles to fill the contrabands from them.
A case was also registered against two minor students who were found carrying the banned substances.
After having food at a hotel, a group of students stepped out to smoke ganja beedi and wanted a matchbox to light it.
A senior excise officer said they saw the rear of the excise office here and mistook it for a workshop and asked a matchbox.
"When they saw the officers suddenly, they sensed danger and ran out. But, all of them were caught. When we carried out a check, banned substances were recovered," he told PTI.
A case was registered under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, against two students from whom the substances were seized.
All students were given counselling.
"The rest of the students were sent back with their teachers. But, in the case of those two students, parents were summoned and sent them along with them only," he said.
According to officials, drug abuse was rampant during school and college excursions in the state.
"In this particular case, students were said to have pooled money to buy the substance from some drug peddlers," he said.
The department decided to go ahead with legal proceedings against the students, he added.
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Sanjay Raut demands re-election, alleges irregularities in EVMs during Maharashtra polls
Mumbai, Nov 25: Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut on Monday demanded a re-election in Maharashtra using ballot papers, claiming there were irregularities with the electronic voting machines (EVMs).
Talking to reporters, Raut alleged several complaints about EVMs malfunctioning and questioned the integrity of the recently held elections.
The BJP-led Mahayuti won 230 out of 288 seats in the assembly elections, while the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi managed 46 seats, with Shiv Sena (UBT) winning just 20 out of 95 seats it contested.
"We have received nearly 450 complaints regarding EVMs. Despite raising objections repeatedly, no action has been taken on these issues. How can we say these elections were conducted fairly? Hence, I demand that the results be set aside and elections be held again using ballot papers," Raut said.
Citing some instances, he said a candidate in Nashik reportedly received only four votes despite having 65 votes from his family, while in Dombivli, discrepancies were found in EVM tallies, and election officials refused to acknowledge the objections.
The Sena (UBT) leader also questioned the credibility of the landslide victories of some candidates, saying, "What revolutionary work have they done to receive more than 1.5 lakh votes? Even leaders who recently switched parties have become MLAs. This raises suspicions. For the first time, a senior leader like Sharad Pawar has expressed doubts about EVMs, which cannot be ignored."
Asked about the MVA's poor performance in the elections, Raut rejected the idea of blaming a single individual.
"We fought as a united MVA. Even a leader like Sharad Pawar, who commands immense respect in Maharashtra, faced defeat. This shows that we need to analyse the reasons behind the failure. One of the reasons is EVM irregularities and the misuse of the system, unconstitutional practices, and even judicial decisions left unresolved by Justice Chandrachud," he said.
Raut stressed that though internal differences might have existed within the MVA, the failure was collective.
He also accused the Mahayuti of conducting the elections in an unfair manner.
"I cannot call the elections fair given the numerous reports of discrepancies in EVMs, mismatched numbers, and vote irregularities across the state," Raut said.
