Five arrested in connection with theft of Padma Bhushan medal
New Delhi, Feb 28: Five people, including a woman, were arrested in connection with the theft of the Padma Bhushan medallion of former Panjab University VC G C Chatterjee, Delhi Police said on Wednesday.
The accused have been identified as Shrawan Kumar (33), Hari Singh (45), Rinki Devi (40), Ved Prakash (39), and Prashant Biswas (49), all residents of Madanpur Khadar here, they said.
According to police, Biswas is a jeweller who allegedly bought the medal.
On Tuesday, Hari Singh, Rinki Devi and Ved Prakash went to a jeweller, Dalip, to sell the medallion having two golden embossments on both sides. Dalip did not buy it and alerted police, a senior police officer said.
In the meantime, the accused left the shop, they said.
Police swung into action and a team comprising the SHO Kalindi Kunj and other personnel was formed under the supervision of the ACP Sarita Vihar in order to arrest the accused persons, they said, adding that the CCTV footage of the area was checked.
After a thorough analysis of the CCTV footage and gathering local intelligence, the three accused were identified as Hari Singh, Rinki Devi, and Prakash Biswas, the officer said.
On sustained interrogation, it was found that the medallion was stolen by Shrawan Kumar, who works as a medical attendant to Samaresh Chatterjee, a Saket resident and the grandson of G C Chatterjee, police said.
Samaresh Chatterjee is not in good health and lives alone.
Shrawan Kumar stole the medallion and handed it over to the three accused persons for its disposal, the officer said.
All the accused were nabbed by the staff of Kalindi Kunj police station.
The medallion has been recovered, while efforts are being made to recover the golden Lion Capital embossment and circular brass disk of the medal, the officer said.
The stolen Padam Bhushan was granted to G C Chatterjee who was the vice chancellor of Panjab University, Rajasthan University, member of the Union Public Service Commission, and chairman of National Book Trust, the police said.
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Voting underway for local body elections in Gujarat
Ahmedabad (PTI): Voting got underway on Sunday morning for elections to several local bodies in Gujarat, including 15 municipal corporations and 84 municipalities.
Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, as per the schedule announced by the State Election Commission.
The elections are being held for 15 municipal corporations, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats, making it one of the largest electoral exercises in the state.
A total of 9,992 candidates are in the fray, with more than 4.18 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise.
A three-tier security is in place, aided by CCTV surveillance and deployment of special squads in sensitive areas, police officials said.
The polls are being conducted under revised norms for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations, and required extensive delimitation and restructuring of wards in several districts.
The ruling BJP, Opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have emerged as the key players, while All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is also contesting in several places.
Among notable candidates are former Gujarat-cadre IPS officer M L Ninama, ex-radio jockey Abha Desai, and former AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani.
Ninama is contesting from the Odh seat in Shamlaji taluka for the Arvalli district panchayat elections, while the BJP has nominated Bhayani from the Bhesan seat of the Junagadh district panchayat.
Desai, popularly known as RJ Abha, is contesting as a Congress candidate from ward number 10 of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
Elections are also being held for the first time in nine newly-created municipal corporations, including Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar and Surendranagar.
Counting of votes will take place on April 28.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel campaigned extensively for the BJP.
The AAP had taken the lead over other parties in launching the campaign, with its national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann addressing several rallies across Gujarat.
In a first for AAP, the Kejriwal-led party is contesting around 5,000 seats in local polls.
Other contestants include the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Independents.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi campaigned in the final phase, addressing public meetings in Ahmedabad and Bhuj.
In March 2021, the BJP scored a landslide win in the local polls in Gujarat, winning 6,236 out of 8,470 seats across various municipalities and establishing a wide gap with rival Congress.
The BJP had then dominated all six municipal corporations, besides 81 municipalities, 32 district panchayats, and 231 taluka panchayats.
