Chhattisgarh: Eight more Naxalites held in connection with Dantewada blast; arrest tally rises to 17
Dantewada (PTI): Eight Naxalites, including a boy, have been held in connection with last month's Aranpur blast in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district wherein 10 police personnel and a civilian lost their lives, police said on Saturday.
With this development, the total number of Naxalites held in the case increased to 17, they said.
Of these eight Naxalites, five were arrested on Wednesday (May 17), while three others, including the minor boy, were held on Friday during search operations by security personnel in Aranpur police station area and adjoining locality, a senior police official said.
Police gave information about it on Friday evening.
Masa Kawasi, Kosa Mandavi, Arjun Kunjam, Deva Madvi and Ganga Madvi, all natives of Pedka village, were produced in a local court after their arrest on Wednesday, which sent them to police remand for three days, he added.
After the expiry of their police remand, the five Naxalites were produced in the court along with two others Bandi Madvi and Muya Kovasi following their arrest on Friday, the officer said, adding that all seven were remanded to judicial custody.
The minor was sent to a juvenile home, he added.
Ten District Reserve Guard (DRG) personnel and a driver were killed after Naxalites blew up an multi-utility vehicle (MUV), which was part of a convoy of vehicles carrying security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Dantewada district on April 26.
Earlier, nine Naxalites, including three minors, were apprehended in connection with the attack and their interrogation helped police for further arrests, he added.
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'Rear-guard action': BJP over Mamata accepting sports minister's resignation after Messi event
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Tuesday alleged that West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's accepting Aroop Biswas' resignation as the state sports minister is nothing but a "rear-guard action" to douse public anger over the mismanagement of football icon Lionel Messi's event last week.
BJP co-in-charge for West Bengal Amit Malviya alleged that this is also an "open confession" that the Messi event fiasco was not accidental but a government-manufactured disaster, borne out of the poor governance of Banerjee, her ministers and the state bureaucracy.
Banerjee on Tuesday accepted Biswas' resignation as the sports minister in the wake of the controversy over the mismanagement of football icon Messi's event last week, a senior leader of the ruling TMC said.
Biswas, who had written to the chief minister seeking to be relieved of his responsibilities as sports minister, will continue as a cabinet minister, retaining charge of the power department.
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Reacting to the development, Malviya said in a post on X, "TMC Sports Minister Aroop Biswas resigns after the Messi fiasco and Mamata Banerjee accepts it in record time."
"Do not mistake this for accountability; this is nothing but a rear-guard action to douse public anger. anger! This is not 'Raj Dharma'," he added.
The BJP leader alleged that the incident was the outcome of "loot" of common people which is "so synonymous" with the TMC.
The incident was also the outcome of the "shameless VIP culture that TMC thrives on and deep-rooted cronyism promoted by Banerjee," he charged.
Malviya further alleged that Biswas' resignation exposes a "collective failure of Mamata Banerjee, her partisan bureaucracy, and her crony cabinet".
"This is a symbolic sacrifice, a political hoax, soon to be buried under layers of bureaucracy, with no justice, no accountability, and no remorse," the BJP leader said, adding, "No resignation will bring back the time lost, the money wasted, or the stolen chance for football lovers to witness Messi in Kolkata."
