Assam govt has no info on people excluded from NRC list: minister
Guwahati: Two days after senior BJP leader Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the figure of Hindu Bengalis excluded from the updated final NRC would be tabled in the Assembly, the Assam government on Saturday said it has no information of those left out of the controversial document.
In a written reply to a query by Congress MLA Nurul Huda in the Assembly, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said the Office of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) Coordinator has not shared the data of 19,06,657 excluded people with the state government.
"That is why the government has no information on this issue," the minister said on behalf of Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal who holds the Home portfolio.
Once the information is received from the NRC Coordinator's office, the state government will initiate necessary steps, Patowary said.
Sarma on Thursday told reporters outside the House that the Assam government has decided to table the district- wise figure of Hindu Bengalis excluded from the final NRC list during the ongoing Winter Session of the Assembly which is scheduled to come to an end on December 6.
It has been alleged from various quarters that a large number of Hindus have been excluded from the updated final NRC published on August 31.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had announced in Rajya Sabha on November 20 that the NRC updation process will be carried out afresh in Assam concurrently with the rest of India. On the same day, Sarma said the state government has requested Shah to reject the NRC in the current form.
Patowary on Saturday also said the Assam government has no information that any person from the state has been harassed in other Northeastern states such as Meghalaya, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram over whether his or her name was included in the NRC.
The state government also does not have any information on reports that 223 Assamese people were expelled from Meghalaya for failing to prove that their names were included in the document.
The Supreme Court-monitored NRC updation exercise, aimed at identifying illegal immigrants, mostly from erstwhile East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh), was carried out in Assam which has been facing an influx of people from the neighbouring country since the early 20th century.
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Kannur dental student death: Case registered against loan app operators, parents allege murder
Kannur (PTI): A case has been registered against unidentified loan app operators in connection with the death of a Kannur Dental College student in Anjarakandy, officials said on Monday.
However, the victim’s parents alleged that their son was murdered and held the college faculty responsible for his death.
The Kannur Cyber Police registered the case on Sunday night based on a complaint by an assistant professor of the college.
According to police, Nithin Raj R L, a first-year BDS student, had taken a loan through an online loan app.
After he defaulted on repayment, the app operators allegedly began contacting the assistant professor.
The FIR stated that the accused contacted the woman faculty member via MMS and WhatsApp, threatening her over repayment and attempting to siphon off money illegally.
Sources said that in cases of default, such loan app operators often send messages to all available contacts of the borrower.
Raj (22), a native of Uzhamalackal, Puthukulangara in Thiruvananthapuram district, was found critically injured near the medical college block after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
The family alleged that Raj was subjected to emotional harassment on caste and complexion grounds by two faculty members, following which a case was registered against Dental Anatomy Department Head M K Ram and Associate Professor K T Sangeetha Nambiar for abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Even though notices were issued to both accused to appear for interrogation, they are yet to respond to the police, officials said.
Police officials said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case is also examining whether Raj’s death was linked to threats from the loan app operators.
The cyber case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 308(3) (extortion), along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating by personation using computer resources).
Police said Raj’s mobile phone will be examined to gather details about the loan app, and a detailed statement will be recorded from the assistant professor who received the threatening messages and calls.
Meanwhile, the SIT has recovered chat details from Raj’s phone, which indicate that he had sought more time to repay the loan.
According to police, Raj had taken a loan of Rs 14,000, and the app operators had demanded immediate repayment of Rs 8,000.
As his family was facing financial difficulties, he had requested a few weeks’ time to settle the dues.
The SIT, led by the Station House Officer of Chakkarakkallu police station, visited Raj’s house on Monday and recorded statements of his parents and sister.
The four-member team also collected digital evidence from them.
The family also met the State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar and filed a petition seeking a detailed probe into the incident.
Raj’s father Rajan said his son had taken the loan for his mother’s treatment.
“We were repaying it. But recently, the repayment defaulted. If the teacher was aggrieved by the loan app’s calls and my son had done anything wrong, they should have informed us. You can check my phone, there is no call from the college,” he said.
Rajan said he had little hope of getting justice.
“They all killed my son. What justice can I expect? I worked hard for his education. We lost everything,” he said.
He also alleged that even three days after Raj’s death, there had been no communication from the college authorities.
“He was a student of that college. Not even a word from the authorities. Students there, fearing for their future, are not speaking out. At least one student should speak out for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests erupted at Kannur Dental College on Monday, with final-year BDS students also joining the agitation.
The college has granted leave to students of other batches following the incident.
Students alleged that the accused faculty member, M K Ram, misbehaved with students by body-shaming and physical assault.
“We were living under severe pressure. Ram was involved in body-shaming. Verbal abuse was frequent. Apart from it, he used to hit students on the head. There were also complaints against him and disciplinary action taken earlier,” a student told reporters.
Political organisations, including KSU of the Congress, SFI and DYFI of the CPI(M), MSF of the IUML and ABVP of the BJP, carried out protest marches.
KSU and SFI activists who entered the college compound were later detained and removed by police.
Kerala SC/ST Commission Chairperson Shekaran Miniyodan visited Raj’s house and interacted with his family.
He said the Commission has registered a case and sought a report from the police.
“We will collect information along with the SIT about the incident. Apart from the preliminary investigation report, we will also examine the postmortem report,” he said.
Similarly, the Kerala Youth Commission has also registered a case and recorded statements of students of the college.
Commission Chairman M Shajar said students have raised serious allegations against M K Ram and that a detailed probe would be conducted with police support.
Earlier, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission had also registered a case and sought a report from the police.
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