Congress fields Urmila Matondkar from Mumbai North LS seat
Mumbai: The Congress on Friday fielded actress Urmila Matondkar from Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency two days after she joined the party.
Matondkar had joined the Congress after meeting Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday and had later said that she was "here to stay".
"The Congress central election committee has approved the candidature of Urmila Matondkar as party candidate to contest the ensuing general elections from Mumbai North parliamentary constituency in Maharashtra," a party statement said.
After joining the party, Matondkar had said she felt the need to join the Congress party as the freedom to express was under attack in the country and there are numerous examples in this regard in the last five years.
She had said the Congress party has participated in the freedom struggle and it stood for freedom.
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Man held for attempting to encroach on 532 acres of forest, govt land near Bengaluru
Belagavi (Karnataka) (PTI): Karnataka Forest Minister Eshwar Khandre on Tuesday said that police have arrested a man for allegedly attempting to encroach upon 532 acres of forest and government land at B M Kaval near Bengaluru by submitting forged documents and obtaining court orders fraudulently.
He said the accused, M B Manmatha alias M B Nemannagowda, had earlier also attempted to claim ownership over 512 acres and 26 guntas of forest and government land in Chikkamagaluru's Mudigere by producing fake records.
In connection with the case, an Assistant Conservator of Forests had lodged a complaint at the Mudigere Circle police station on November 28, following which the Tahsildar also lodged a separate complaint, the minister said in a statement issued by his office.
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Based on these complaints, police registered an FIR and have now taken Manmatha into custody. "The investigation will reveal who were all involved in this conspiracy to encroach upon forest and government land," he said.
The FIR was registered against the accused at Mudigere police station in Chikkamagaluru district on December 13 under Sections 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 469 (forgery for purpose of harming reputation), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant section of the Karnataka Land Revenue Act.
Khandre further claimed that it had come to his notice that some officials and government advocates were directly or indirectly assisting those attempting to encroach upon government and forest land worth thousands of crores of rupees.
The minister said he has written to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah seeking a CID or Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the matter.
Warning of strict action, the minister said no one attempting to grab forest land using forged documents would be spared and termed the development a "wake-up call".
