Deve Gowda has not phoned assuring support, says Yediyurappa
Bengaluru, Nov 6: Amid some reports that JD(S) patriarch H D Deve Gowda had rung him up recently assuring support, Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa on Wednesday clarified that he has not had any phone conversation with the former Prime Minister.
"There is no truth in this. Deve Gowda as a former Prime Minister has the capacity to decide what is right and what is wrong.
I have never mentioned his name anywhere, will never do it," Yediyurappa told reporters here.
As reports surfaced in a section of the media about the phone conversation, Gowda had last evening issued a statement rejecting it and termed it as "far from truth".
However, in what is being perceived as JD(S) softening of stand on the BJP, Gowda not wanting mid-term polls in Karnataka, on Tuesday had said he wants the Yediyurappa-led government to complete its term as it would give him time to build his party.
Gowda's son and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy too had recently said his party would not try to dislodge the ruling BJP government like the Amit Shah-led party had done to his coalition government and had opined that he did not think that mid-term polls would be held.
On Gowda threatening a protest in front of his residence against the "high-handedness" of the BJP government, referring to a recent incident of police action against JD(S) workers who were protesting against the chief minister during his visit to Yadgir, Yediyurappa said action has been taken against the officer concerned, and he will convince the former prime minister on the issue.
"Already the police officer there has been transferred and has been asked to go on leave. I will convince Deve Gowda. As a former Prime Minister whatever he says, I will take action accordingly," he said.
Gowda on Tuesday had tweeted announcing that he will go on a protest in front of the Chief Minister's residence on November 15, against the "atrocities" on JD(S) workers in Yadgir.
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Bondi Beach shooting suspect conducted firearms training with his father, Australian police say
Melbourne (AP): A man accused of killing 15 people at Sydney's Bondi Beach conducted firearms training in an area of New South Wales state outside of Sydney with his father, Australian police documents released on Monday allege.
The men recorded a video about their justification for the meticulously planned attack, according to a police statement of facts that was made public following Naveed Akram's video court appearance Monday from a Sydney hospital where he has been treated for an abdominal injury.
Officers wounded Akram at the scene of the Dec. 14 shooting and killed his father, 50-year-old Sajid Akram.
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The New South Wales state government confirmed Naveed Akram was transferred on Monday from a hospital to a prison. Neither facility was identified by authorities.
The statement alleges the 24-year-old and his father began their attack by throwing four improvised explosive devices toward a crowd celebrating an annual Jewish event at Bondi Beach, but the devices failed to explode.
Police described the devices as three aluminium pipe bombs and a tennis ball bomb containing an explosive, black powder and steel ball bearings. None detonated, but police described them as “viable” IEDs.
Authorities have charged Akram with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder, 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to the wounded survivors and one count of committing a terrorist act.
The antisemitic attack at the start of the eight-day Hanukkah celebration was Australia's worst mass shooting since a lone gunman killed 35 people in Tasmania state in 1996.
The New South Wales government introduced draft laws to Parliament on Monday that Premier Chris Minns said would become the toughest in Australia.
The new restrictions would include making Australian citizenship a condition of qualifying for a firearms license. That would have excluded Sajid Akram, who was an Indian citizen with a permanent resident visa.
Sajid Akram also legally owned six rifles and shotguns. A new legal limit for recreational shooters would be a maximum of four guns.
Police said a video found on Naveed Akram's phone shows him with his father "reciting their political and religious views and appear to summarise their justification for the Bondi terrorist attack.”
The men are seen in the video “condemning the acts of Zionists” while they also “adhere to a religiously motivated ideology linked to the Islamic State,” police said.
Video shot in October shows them “firing shotguns and moving in a tactical manner” on grassland surrounded by trees, police said.
“There is evidence that the Accused and his father meticulously planned this terrorist attack for many months,” police allege.
