Ban on firecrackers flouted in Delhi despite Supreme Court order
New Delhi, Nov 12: The ban on firecrackers was violated in several areas of Delhi as people celebrated Diwali on Sunday.
People burst firecrackers in Shahpur Jat and Hauz Khas area. Several people were seen gathering at the park of the locality for bursting crackers.
The intensity of bursting firecrackers increased after 4 pm, but it was comparatively lesser than the last year.
Not many people were seen venturing out of their houses in and around the locality, except a few.
Speaking to PTI, environmentalist Bhavreen Kandhari said that bursting of firecrackers was reported at her residential area Defence Colony too.
She said that complaints were also registered at the Defence Colony police station, but no change was noticed.
"The Supreme Court's firm stance on firecrackers got blown in the smoke of the firecrackers. Despite warnings and a complete ban...implementing authorities have failed yet again. Wondering what stance will the Supreme Court take now? ...We are allowing our children to choke in the name of celebration," she said.
Till 7.30 pm, the intensity of bursting firecrackers was less in Greater Kailash and Chittaranjan Park area. It is expected that people will burst firecrackers after performing puja, people in the locality said.
In the Chhatarpur locality of south Delhi, sounds of firecrackers being burst could be heard from 6 pm onwards.
Many shopkeepers in the area were seen flouting the ban and selling small firecrackers to children.
Firecrackers were also burst by some people in south Delhi's East of Kailash area.
From 6:30 pm onwards, intermittent noise of firecrackers going off in the distance could be heard from households. While some went off with low intensity, a few other firecrackers produced booming sounds.
Meanwhile, very few firecrackers were burst in the Lalita Park area of Laxmi Nagar till 7:30 pm. Locals said the intensity may go up later in the night.
The effect was moderate in several other areas of east Delhi.
However, the firecrackers being burst this year was reportedly negligible when compared to the last year, according to residents in these localities.
The Supreme Court on November 7 had said that it order banning firecrackers containing barium binds every state and is not just limited to the Delhi-NCR region, which is reeling under severe air pollution.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Gurugram Police arrest BJP Yuva Morcha member for spreading fake murder story on social media
New Delhi: Gurugram Police have arrested BJP Yuva Morcha member Hariom Mishra, for allegedly spreading a fabricated and communally sensitive story on social media about the murder of a college student in Gurugram.
Mishra who is also known as Shaurya Mishra had shared a collage of four photographs on his X handle earlier this month. He claimed that a 24-year-old college student, identified as Nikita Agarwal, had been murdered by her classmate Arif Khan in Gurugram. In the post, he alleged that the woman was blackmailed, forced into prostitution, gangraped, and eventually killed. He also claimed that Arif dumped her body in a forest. The claims were presented as being based on police sources.
The post went viral and garnering over 1.5 lakh views, and was amplified by several right-wing social media handles across X, Facebook and Instagram. A verification of the claims revealed that no such incident had taken place in Gurugram. A search of credible news reports showed no record of any such murder. The police said this news would have inevitably attracted media attention if it were true.
On December 11, Gurugram Police publicly refuted the claims through their official X handle. They stated that the information which was being circulated was completely false. The police warned that legal action would be taken against those spreading misinformation. Despite the warning, Mishra neither deleted the post nor issued any clarification.
Police in Gurugram confirmed Mishra's arrest on December 16. The police said a FIR was filed after he continued to spread false information about the alleged murder of a Hindu woman by Muslim man. Police said Mishra, a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kaushambi district, is now being investigated.
Gurugram Police spokesperson Sandeep Singh told The Print that the accused had deliberately misrepresented facts and used objectionable content to spread hatred along religious lines. “Such posts can create serious disturbances in society, and the police take these matters very seriously,” he said.
A reverse image search conducted by fact-checkers at Alt News, revealed that the photographs used in the viral post were unrelated to the claims, while two of the images were traced to a Pinterest account belonging to influencer Maulik Chopra and another image was sourced from an Instagram post by influencer Shivam Thakur featuring a woman named Deepanshi Rawat. The fourth image was found on an unrelated Instagram page. The images depicted different individuals and had no connection to any crime.
Police said they are also investigating Mishra’s motive behind sharing the false and provocative content.
