Arrested for filing RTI on Parrikar's health: Businessman
Panaji, April 23 : Arrested and released on bail for uploading a false Facebook post announcing the death of ailing Manohar Parrikar, businessman Kenneth Silveira has said he was arrested two days after he filed an RTI plea with the Goa Chief Minister's Office seeking his health status.
The 35-year-old, arrested and released on bail last week, detailed the police action in a new social media post on Monday. Parrikar is being treated for advanced pancreatic cancer in a New York hospital.
On Monday, Silveira, who unsuccessfully contested the 2017 Panaji Legislative Assembly bypoll against Parrikar, also alleged that the Crime Branch was "instructed by the Chief Minister's Office" to "illegally arrest him".
"BJP government is scared of me and wanted to muzzle me, one of the few reasons for my illegal arrest," Silveira said in his Facebook post.
"This RTI was sent by me directly to the CM office after which I was arrested on flimsy grounds. BJP government stands exposed by me... Only way to silence me is to kill me," said the resident of Vasco port town, 35 km from here.
The application filed under the Right to Information Act, a copy of which has also been uploaded to Facebook, seeks to know among other things issues related to governance in the absence of Parrikar, expenditure incurred by the state government on the treatment of the Chief Minister, copies of his medical bills and Parrikar's expected date of return.
Kenneth was arrested by the Crime Branch of Goa Police on April 18, a day after he put up a post on the social media site claiming Parrikar was dead. He was arrested after a complaint was filed by a Goa Bharatiya Janata Party official.
On April 20, a few dozen members of civil society staged a protest outside the state police headquarters accusing the police of trying to muzzle free speech.
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Four killed, 15 injured in a freak road accident in TN’s Karur
Karur (Tamil Nadu) (PTI): At least four persons were killed and 15 sustained injuries when an omni bus hit a tractor, smashed a median and collided with a tourist van proceeding in the opposite direction near Semmadai in this district on Saturday, police said.
The van driver, too, was among those dead, police said and added the injured were admitted to a nearby government hospital for treatment.
The omni bus proceeding to Nagercoil from Bangalore rammed into a tractor on the Karur-Salem Highway, and due to the impact, the vehicle veered right, smashing the median and collided with the tourist van coming from Thoothukudi in the opposite direction, police said.
The front portions of the omni bus, the tractor, and the van were damaged due to the impact of the collision.
The police have registered a case, and the investigation is on.
