Dharmasthala issue: BJP hopes for transparent probe, urges govt to 'stop' attempts to destroy system
Bengaluru (PTI): Hoping for a transparent probe by the SIT into allegations of mass burials in Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka BJP President B Y Vijayendra on Wednesday urged the state government to "stop attempts to destroy the atmosphere and the system" there using the issue.
The government has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Pronab Mohanty, Director General of Police (Internal Security Division), which consists of Deputy Inspector General of Police (Recruitment) M N Anucheth and IPS officers Soumyalatha S K and Jitendra Kumar Dayama.
"The state government has formed an SIT, the investigation has to happen at the earliest. It is the wish of everyone that there has to be a transparent probe and the truth should come out. But the government should also take note and stop the attempts to destroy the atmosphere and the system there, using this issue, and the false propaganda that is happening," Vijayendra told reporters.
"We too are aware of the conspiracies behind it. If any attempts are made to destroy the system there keeping this issue, we will think about what to do further."
The SIT was consituted following claims about alleged mass murder, rape, and mass burials in Dharmasthala, over the past two decades.
A former sanitation worker, whose identity has not been revealed, has alleged that he worked in Dharmasthala between 1995 and 2014, and that he was forced to bury a number of bodies, including those of women and minors, in Dharmasthala.
He had alleged that some of the bodies showed signs of sexual assault. He has also given a statement before a magistrate in this regard.
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Bangladesh court sentences Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in corruption cases
Dhaka (PTI): A Bangladesh court on Monday sentenced deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to 10 years in jail in two separate corruption cases related to alleged irregularities in allocations of land in a government housing project.
Dhaka Special Judge’s Court-4 Judge Rabiul Alam handed down the verdicts, sentencing Hasina to a total of 10 years’ imprisonment — five years in each case, state-run BSS news agency reported.
The court sentenced 78-year-old Hasina, her nephew Radwan Mujib Siddiq, and her nieces, Tulip Rizwana Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq, and others in the cases over alleged irregularities in the allocation of plots under the Rajuk New Town Project in Purbachol.
The judgment was pronounced at around 12.30 pm.
Tulip Siddiq was sentenced to four years’ imprisonment — two years in each case — while Radwan Mujib Siddiq and Azmina Siddiq were each sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in both cases.
Rajuk member Mohammad Khurshid Alam, the only accused to surrender before the court, was sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in each case, totalling two years.
The court also fined all convicted persons Tk1 lakh each and ordered them to serve an additional six months in prison in default of payment.
Hasina has been living in India since she fled Bangladesh on August 5 last year in the face of the massive protests. She was earlier declared a fugitive by the court.
The cases were filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over alleged abuse of power in the allocation of two 10-katha plots.
According to the prosecution, the accused manipulated the allocation process and violated existing rules and regulations of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk).
