Sidhu harming Congress with irresponsible actions: Punjab CM Amarinder
Chandigarh: The simmering tension between Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and his cabinet colleague Navjot Singh Sidhu was out in the open again on Sunday with the former accusing the cricketer-turned-politician of damaging the Congress with his "irresponsible actions" just before polls.
Though Singh stressed that he had no personal differences with the Punjab tourism and cultural affairs minister, yet he said Sidhu was perhaps "ambitious" and "wanted to be the chief minister".
"If he (Sidhu) was a real Congressmen, he should have chosen a better time to air his grievances, instead of just ahead of voting in Punjab," the chief minister said here.
"He is harming the party with such irresponsible actions. It is not his election but that of the entire Congress's," he added.
Singh's statement criticising one of his own ministers came on a day when all the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab went to the polls.
The chief minister was apparently referring to Sidhu's "rebellious" remarks in Bathinda on May 17, when he appeared to corner the Congress government in the state over the issue of desecration of religious scriptures and questioned why no FIR was lodged against the Badals in connection with the 2015 sacrilege and police-firing incidents.
Sidhu, who was campaigning in favour of Congress nominee Amrinder Singh Raja Warring in Bathinda, had even said he would resign if action was not taken against those behind the 2015 desecration incidents.
Singh said it was for the party high-command to decide on any action against Sidhu, but the Congress, as a party, did not tolerate indiscipline.
He, personally, did not have any differences with Sidhu, whom he had known since the latter was a child, the chief minister added. "Perhaps he is ambitious and wants to be the chief minister," Singh said.
Such irritants notwithstanding, the chief minister exuded confidence about a Congress victory in all the 13 seats of the state, saying he was getting very positive reports from all the constituencies.
A few days ago, Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur Sidhu had blamed Singh and the Congress's Punjab affairs in-charge, Asha Kumari, for denying her a poll ticket from the Amritsar parliamentary seat.
Though Singh had refuted the charge, Sidhu had backed his wife's accusation, saying she would "never lie".
"My wife has that much strength and moral authority that she will never lie. This is my answer," Sidhu had said on May 16, when he was told that the chief minister had refuted Kaur's allegations.
Earlier also, the tension between Singh and Sidhu had come out in the public.
Last year, Sidhu had said in Hyderabad, "(Congress chief) Rahul Gandhi is my captain...Rahul Gandhi is the captain of the captain (Singh) also."
Singh had earlier disapproved of Sidhu hugging the Pakistan Army chief during his visit to the neighbouring country.
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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.
