Country bombs hurled at police vehicle escorting history-sheeter in TN, three cops injured
Perambalur (PTI): Unidentified assailants hurled country bombs at a police escort vehicle near the Thirumandhurai toll plaza on the Chennai-Trichy National Highway on Saturday in an attempt to attack a history sheeter being transported in it, police said.
Three police personnel sustained injuries in the blast and the ensuing melee, they said.
The attack targeted 'Vellai' Kali, a notorious history-sheeter from Madurai with over 30 criminal cases including nine murders.
According to preliminary reports, as the police van approached the Perambalur district limits, a gang traveling in two cars intercepted the vehicle and hurled multiple country bombs, attempting to neutralise the police escort to reach the history-sheeter.
In self-defense and to prevent the prisoner’s escape or assassination, the police personnel reportedly opened fire at the vehicles, forcing the attackers to flee the scene.
A senior officer said the assailants fled towards Chennai.
The injured were immediately rushed to the Perambalur Government Hospital for treatment.
“They suffered minor injuries and are being treated at the moment,” the officer said.
The condition of 'Vellai' Kali is reported to be stable as the police successfully shielded him from the direct impact of the explosives.
The incident triggered a sharp political reaction.
Leader of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami (EPS) took to X (formerly Twitter) to condemn the DMK government.
He noted that while Chief Minister M K Stalin was “patting his own back” in the State Assembly, the state’s security apparatus was “shattered on the highways”.
EPS further alleged that criminals no longer fear the police under the current administration.
“A situation prevails where there is absolutely no fear of the police, who deal with crimes, or of this government. While the law and order situation is being made a mockery of, I do not know whom Chief Minister Stalin — who is rotating the wheels of administration in a lackadaisical manner — is going to blame for this incident,” wrote Palaniswami in his post.
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Can't say when I'll return to India; legally barred from leaving UK: Mallya to Bombay HC
Mumbai (PTI): Fugitive businessman Vijay Mallya, facing multiple cases of fraud and money laundering, told the Bombay High Court on Wednesday that he cannot say when he will return to India as he is legally barred from leaving the UK.
In a statement submitted through his counsel Amit Desai to the high court, Mallya said he did not have an active passport after it was revoked and hence, he cannot give a definite date of return to India.
The statement was submitted after a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad made it clear last week that it would not hear Mallya's plea against the order declaring a fugitive economic offender until he returns to India.
The court had then asked the former liquor to clarify whether or not he intended to return to India.
Mallya, based in the United Kingdom since 2016, has filed two petitions in the HC -- one challenging an order declaring him a fugitive economic offender and the other questioning the constitutional validity of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act.
The 70-year-old liquor baron is accused of defaulting on multiple loan repayments of several thousand crores and facing money laundering charges.
The businessman, in his statement to HC, said he cannot give a definite date for his return as he does not have his Indian passport, which was revoked by the government in 2016, and also because there are orders of courts in England and Wales that prohibit him from leaving the country.
"Mallya is not permitted to leave or attempt to leave England and Wales or apply for or be in possession of any international travel document. In any event, the petitioner is unable to precisely state when he will return to India," Desai read out the statement in the court.
The senior counsel reiterated that Mallya's presence was not required in the country for the court to hear his pleas against the fugitive tag and the provisions of the Act.
"If he (Mallya) were to appear in India, then all these proceedings would be rendered irrelevant as the statute says that once the offender appears in the concerned court of law, then all these orders would be set aside," Desai told the court.
The bench directed the Union government to file its reply to Mallya's statement and posted the matter for further hearing next month.
Mallya was declared a Fugitive Economic Offender in January 2019 by a special court hearing cases under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
The businessman left India in March 2016.
