Editors Guild slams BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya for 'offensive' online poll on journalist
New Delhi, Dec 28: The Editors Guild of India slammed BJP's IT cell head Amit Malviya on Saturday for running an "offensive" online poll on journalist Rajdeep Sardesai, calling for its withdrawal and urging the ruling party to strongly caution its functionary over the matter.
Malviya conducted a poll on his Twitter handle on Friday, asking whether "Rajdeep Sardesai should handle PR for ISIS." He gave four options for Twitter users to vote -- agree, strongly agree, disagree and he is irrelevant.
In a statement, the Editors Guild said it had noted with deep dismay the "deplorable act" of Malviya, the head of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) information technology cell, in which he conducted an offensive, McCarthyist social media "poll" on Sardesai.
"The poll on Twitter was not only tasteless, it also questioned the integrity and patriotism of Mr Sardesai, who is a journalist of standing and a former President of the Editors Guild of India," it said.
The Twitter poll by the national head of BJP's IT cell also raised questions on the party's commitment to healthy debates and dissent without allowing disagreement to degenerate into abuse, it added.
The guild urged Malviya to immediately withdraw the so-called Twitter poll and the BJP to caution him strongly.
The Editors Guild of India has issued a statement pic.twitter.com/dFrGYuTYJq
— Editors Guild of India (@IndEditorsGuild) December 28, 2019
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
