‘Me Too’ incident: High Court directs police not to arrest Arjun Sarja
Bengaluru, November 2: The Karnataka High Court on Friday gave a big relief to actor Arjun Sarja who was under threat of arrest.
Following a complaint by actress Shruti Hariharan, Cubbon Park police filed an FIR against Arjun Sarja and facing the threat of arrest. But the High Court Single Bench headed by Justice PS Dinesh Kumar heard the petition filed by Arjun Sarja seeking dismissal of the FIR against him and said that the investigation could be conducted against the actor. But he should not be arrested, the Court said.
This has given a big relief to the actor. Against the FIR, Arjun Sarja has filed the petition before the High Court. After hearing the case on Friday, the Single Judge Bench of the HC posted the further hearing to November 14.
During the hearing, senior counsel BV Acharya said that in order to get publicity by participating in the ‘Me Too’ campaign, actress Shruthi Hariharan has misused the name of Arjun Sarja. Moreover, there was a big difference between the post shared in the facebook and the complaint given to the police. She has read the IPC sections and got the help of advocates before filing the complaint against the actor according to her statement. This would clearly indicate that Shruti has conspired to fix actor Arjun Sarja in this case. This incident was not happened in secluded place. It was an incident happened while rehearsing before the director and producer. But purposefully, she has charged the allegation against Arjun Sarja. Because of this case, Arjun Sarja family faced a lot of embarrassment, Acharya argued.
Arjun Sarja has been working in the film industry for the last 37 years and acted in more than 150 films. He was a devotee of Lord Hanuman and he is constructing a big Anjaneya statue in Chennai. He has the personality of getting respect from elders and youngsters. The actress has conspired to malign the character of Arjun Sarja, the advocate told the court.
After listening to the argument of senior counsel Acharya, the Single Judge Bench said that since it was a three-year-old case, there was no urgency. So, the police should not arrest actor Arjun Sarja, but the police could continue their investigation, the judge said posting the further hearing to November 14.
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Israel launches first airstrike on Lebanon since ceasefire, accusing Hezbollah of breaching truce
Beirut, Nov 28: The Israeli military on Thursday said its warplanes fired on southern Lebanon after detecting Hezbollah activity at a rocket storage facility, the first Israeli airstrike a day after a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah took hold.
There was no immediate word on casualties from Israel's aerial attack, which came hours after the Israeli military said it fired on people trying to return to certain areas in southern Lebanon. Israel said they were violating the ceasefire agreement, without providing details. Lebanon's state-run National News Agency said two people were wounded.
The back-to-back incidents stirred unease about the agreement, brokered by the United States and France, which includes an initial two-month ceasefire in which Hezbollah members are to withdraw north of the Litani River and Israeli forces are to return to their side of the border. The buffer zone would be patrolled by Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers.
On Thursday, the second day of a ceasefire after more than a year of bloody conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, Lebanon's state news agency reported that Israeli fire targeted civilians in Markaba, close to the border, without providing further details. Israel said it fired artillery in three other locations near the border. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
An Associated Press reporter in northern Israel near the border heard Israeli drones buzzing overhead and the sound of artillery strikes from the Lebanese side.
The Israeli military said in a statement that “several suspects were identified arriving with vehicles to a number of areas in southern Lebanon, breaching the conditions of the ceasefire.” It said troops “opened fire toward them” and would “actively enforce violations of the ceasefire agreement.”
Israeli officials have said forces will be withdrawn gradually as it ensures that the agreement is being enforced. Israel has warned people not to return to areas where troops are deployed, and says it reserves the right to strike Hezbollah if it violates the terms of the truce.
A Lebanese military official said Lebanese troops would gradually deploy in the south as Israeli troops withdraw. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief media.
The ceasefire agreement announced late Tuesday ended 14 months of conflict between Israel and Hezbollah that began a day after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023 attack out of Gaza, when the Lebanese Hezbollah group began firing rockets, drones and missiles in solidarity.
Israel retaliated with airstrikes, and the conflict steadily intensified for nearly a year before boiling over into all-out war in mid-September. The war in Gaza is still raging with no end in sight.
More than 3,760 people were killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon during the conflict, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The fighting killed more than 70 people in Israel — over half of them civilians — as well as dozens of Israeli soldiers fighting in southern Lebanon.
Some 1.2 million people were displaced in Lebanon, and thousands began streaming back to their homes on Wednesday despite warnings from the Lebanese military and the Israeli army to stay out of certain areas. Some 50,000 people were displaced on the Israeli side, but few have returned and the communities near the northern border are still largely deserted.
In Menara, an Israeli community on the border with views into Lebanon, around three quarters of homes are damaged, some with collapsed roofs and burnt-out interiors. A few residents could be seen gathering their belongings on Thursday before leaving again.
