ED arrests Al Falah group chairman after day-long raids in Red Fort blast case
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New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday arrested Jawad Ahmed Siddiqui, chairman of the Al Falah group, after it conducted simultaneous searches in Delhi-NCR against the trustees and promoters of Faridabad-based Al Falah University, which has been at the centre of the probe into the Red Fort area car blast case, officials said.
Siddiqui has been taken into custody under the criminal provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is being produced before a competent court for remand, they said.
The agency has also seized Rs 48 lakh in cash during the searches that began around 5:15 am, according to sources.
Multiple teams of the federal probe agency raided at least 25 premises of the Al Falah Trust and the university establishment. Officials of the agency also raided an office in Delhi's Okhla area, with a security cordon being provided by the police and paramilitary forces.
Fifteen persons were killed in the blast that took place on November 10 near the iconic monument in Delhi, and the role of a number of doctors linked to the University and in Kashmir is under the scanner of anti-terror probe agencies.
"The operation forms part of an ongoing investigation into financial irregularities, use of shell companies, accommodation entities and money laundering. The role of Al-Falah Trust and related entities is under investigation," an ED official said.
The official said "key" personnel overseeing finance and administration of the Trust and the university have also been covered in the raids.
The agency has taken cognisance of the first information reports filed by the NIA and the Delhi Police in the case. Till now, the NIA has arrested two persons, stated to be the alleged close aides of "suicide bomber" Dr Umar Nabi.
At least nine shell (dummy) companies linked to the group, all registered at a single address, are under the examination of the ED, according to the officials.
The Al Falah varsity is located in the Dhouj area of Haryana's Faridabad district, and it is a medical college-cum-hospital.
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Odisha: Normalcy returns to violence-hit Malkangiri; internet services fully restored
Malkangiri (PTI): Normalcy returned to Odisha’s Malkangiri district on Monday, nearly a week after around 200 villages were damaged in violent clashes in a village, with the district administration fully restoring internet services, a senior official said.
Additional District Magistrate Bedabar Pradhan said internet services, suspended across the district on December 8 to curb the spread of rumours and misinformation following the clashes, were restored after the situation improved.
The suspension had been extended in phases till 12 noon on Monday.
The administration also withdrew prohibitory orders imposed under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita within a 10-km radius of MV-26 village, where arson incidents were reported on December 7 and December 8.
Though the violence was confined to two villages, tension had gripped the entire district, as the incident took the form of a clash between local tribals and Bengali settlers following the recovery of a headless body of a woman on December 4, officials said.
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The violence broke out after residents of Rakhelguda village allegedly set ablaze several houses belonging to Bengali residents, forcing hundreds to flee. The headless body of Lake Podiami (51), a woman from the Koya tribe, was recovered from the banks of the Poteru river on December 4, while her head was found six days later at a location about 15 km away.
Officials said the district administration held several rounds of discussions with representatives of the tribal and Bengali communities, following which both sides agreed to maintain peace.
Relief and rehabilitation work has since been launched at MV-26 village, with preliminary assessment pegging property damage at around Rs 3.8 crore.
A two-member ministerial team headed by Deputy Chief Minister K V Singh Deo visited the affected village, interacted with officials and locals, and submitted a report to the chief minister.
So far, 18 people have been arrested in connection with the violence, the officials said, adding that despite the withdrawal of prohibitory orders and restoration of internet services, security forces, including BSF and CRPF personnel, continue to be deployed to prevent any untoward incident.
On Sunday, Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi visited MV-26 and neighbouring Rakhelguda villages, and held discussions with members of both communities as part of efforts to rebuild confidence and restore peace.
More than two lakh Bengali-speaking Bangladeshis were rehabilitated by the Centre in Malkangiri and Nabarangpur districts in 1968, and they currently reside in 124 villages of Malkangiri.
