Activist Trupti Desai detained ahead of PM's Shirdi visit
Pune, Oct 19: Women's rights activist Trupti Desai, who had threatened to block Prime Minister Narendra Modi's convoy at Shirdi town in Maharashtra, was detained by police here Friday morning, an official said.
Desai, president of Bhumata Ranragini Brigade, has been batting for women's entry into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala.
Modi is on a visit to Shirdi on Friday, where he is set to take part in functions to mark the conclusion of the year-long Saibaba Samadhi centenary programme organised by the Sai temple trust. He will also hand over keys of houses to some beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
A few days back, Desai had sought a meeting with the PM in Shirdi to discuss the Sabarimala issue and warned that if she was not allowed to meet him, her outfit would block his convoy.
"Today, before she could leave Pune for Shirdi (in neighbouring Ahmednagar district), officials from Sahakarnagar police station took her into preventive custody," a senior police official said.
"She was taken into police custody early in the morning as she had threatened to disrupt PM's visit in Shirdi," the official said adding that she has been currently kept under detention at Sahakar Nagar police station.
Meanwhile, talking to PTI over phone, Desai said she had written a letter to Superintendent of Police, Ahmednagar and sought a meeting with the PM on the issue of women's entry into Sabarimala temple.
"In the letter, we had warned that if the meeting with PM is not facilitated, we would block the PM's convoy and urge him to hold talks," said Desai.
She said the kind of "alertness" the police showed today in taking action against her, was not shown in acting against those protesting the entry of women into the Kerala temple.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
