FIR against BJP leader for 'Indo-Pak fight' remark over bypoll
Jhabua/Bhopal: An FIR has been filed against senior BJP leader Gopal Bhargava on orders of the Election Commission for allegedly violating the model code of conduct with his remarks on the October 21 bypoll in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua Assembly seat, officials said on Tuesday.
Bhargava, who is Leader of the Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, on Monday sought to portray the by- election as a "fight between Pakistan and India" and not just a contest between the ruling Congress and the opposition BJP.
He asked the electorate in Jhabua to vote for BJP candidate Bhanu Bhuria as he "represents India" and said his rival Congress nominee "represents Pakistan".
Madhya Pradesh's Chief Electoral Officer V L Kantha Rao told PTI on Tuesday that taking cognisance of the remarks, "we directed the district returning officer and collector to file the First Information Report (FIR) in the matter after finding the controversial statement was violation of the model code of conduct."
The collector sent his report and subsequently the FIR was filed late Monday night, he said, adding that the matter was under investigation.
Jhabua's Superintendent of Police Vineet Jain said based on the report of returning officer Abhay Kharadi, the FIR was lodged against Bhargava at the district's Kotwali police station under relevant sections of the IPC and the Representation of the People Act, for violating the model code of conduct.
Seeking support for the BJP in tribal-dominated Jhabua, Bhargava on Monday said, "I, with faith, can say the country's respect is at stake right now."
"It is not a fight between two parties. This is an election between India and Pakistan," he told a gathering.
The by-election was necessitated after BJP's G S Damor resigned as the Jhabua MLA after winning the Lok Sabha election from the Ratlam-Jhabua seat earlier this year.
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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.
