Himanta Biswa Sarma booked for false claim on social media: Police
Guwahati: A case was registered against powerful Assam minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for allegedly promoting enmity between different groups by making "false statements", days after he claimed on social media that AIUDF supporters raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans at the Silchar airport, police said on Tuesday.
The case was lodged on the basis of a complaint filed by the Congress on Monday at the Bhangagarh police station in Guwahati, they said.
Sarma and a brigade of BJP leaders on November 5 slammed the supporters of AIUDF president Badruddin Ajmal, alleging that they had raised "Pakistan Zindabad" slogans at the Silchar airport, but the opposition party refuted it and said the BJP twisted the "Aziz Khan Zindabad" slogan.
"A case was registered under relevant sections. We will investigate the matter as per the law," a senior police official told PTI.
Another official said that the case has been registered under IPC Sections 153A (promoting enmity between different groups) and 511 (attempting to commit offences punishable with imprisonment for life or other imprisonment).
"These sections will be read with Section 67 (publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of the IT Act," he added.
The slogans were raised as Aziz Ahmed Khan, the AIUDF MLA from Karimganj South constituency, was accompanying Ajmal, a Lok Sabha MP, at the airport in Silchar in the linguistically and religiously sensitive Barak Valley.
"Look at the brazenness of these fundamentalists anti-national people who are shouting PAKISTAN ZINDABAD while they welcome MP Badruddin Ajmal. This thoroughly exposes Indian National Congress which is encouraging such forces by forging an alliance. We shall fight them tooth and nail. Jai Hind," Sarma had said on Facebook.
Sarma, the convenor of the BJP-led North East Democratic Alliance (NEDA), is a powerful politician of the region and holds most of the key portfolios in the Assam government, including Finance, Health, and Education.
In the complaint filed by state Congress general secretary Ranjan Bora, it was alleged that Sarma has the "habit" of making "communally sensitive" remarks, and such a statement was made about the slogans raised at the Silchar airport to create "disharmony between different groups".
"It will be pertinent to mention herein that the said accused person had a habit of making loose and communally sensitive statements and at a time when assembly elections are around the corner, such statement can create communal tension," it added.
The complaint also pointed out that Facebook had flagged the post by Sarma as "false and fake" after getting it verified by third-party fact-checkers.
A day after the video was uploaded by Sarma, Facebook said: "Independent fact-checkers say that this information has no basis in fact." Facebook had also blocked the video from auto-play.
However, Facebook has now withdrawn its note of caution on the video without any explanation.
Meanwhile, Silchar's BJP MP Rajdeep Roy said he had filed a complaint with the police against Ajmal and AIUDF supporters over the slogans.
The AIUDF is part of the 'Grand Alliance' being forged by the Congress against the ruling BJP and its allies for the state assembly elections, likely to be held next year.
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Commercial LPG hike: Delhi restaurant owners warn of higher menu rates, job losses
New Delhi (PTI) A day after a 50 per cent rise in commercial LPG cylinder prices, Delhi's food business, with restaurant owners and street vendors have warned of higher menu rates, financial strain and potential job losses if the trend persists.
The price of commercial LPG was hiked by a steep Rs 993 per 19 kg cylinder, marking the third consecutive monthly hike amid rising global energy prices linked to the West Asia conflict.
For many in the restaurant industry, the spike has been both sudden and steep.
Manpreet Singh, honorary treasurer of the National Restaurant Association of India, said that eateries are already grappling with supply challenges alongside rising costs.
"There is a huge difficulty in getting these cylinders, and black marketing is also increasing in many unregulated sectors," he said, noting that prices that were once around Rs 1,600, often dropping to nearly Rs 1,300 with discounts, have now surged to between Rs 3,000 and Rs 4,000 per cylinder.
He further added that a medium-sized restaurant typically uses between two and five cylinders daily, making the increase particularly burdensome as costs mount.
Singh further said that as costs mount, smaller establishments could struggle to stay afloat. Instead, the association has advised restaurants to shift towards piped natural gas connections through Indraprastha Gas Limited as a more sustainable alternative.
"If this problem continues, PNG is the only long-term solution," he said, adding that temporary measures like coal offer limited relief due to slower cooking times and that it can largely be used only for tandoors.
Echoing similar concerns, Kabir Suri, owner of Mamagoto in Khan Market, said the impact is already visible across the industry. "There has been almost a threefold increase in cylinder prices for restaurants," he said, adding that rising fuel and logistics costs are compounding the pressure.
"If this continues, it will become a significant financial burden, and food prices will inevitably go up. Adding to this burden, higher fuel costs are also affecting logistics and transportation, making a price rise unavoidable. The extent of the impact will vary between small eateries and large chains depending on their scale," he said.
Global oil prices have surged nearly 50 per cent following disruptions in energy supply chains due to the West Asia conflict, pushing up commercial fuel costs and transport expenses.
A West Delhi-based restaurateur said they are trying to manage rising costs while keeping their staff secure. "We are trying to ensure that our staff, from kitchen workers to waiters, are paid on time and do not face immediate hardship," the owner said.
"We are a small restaurant with seating for about 20 to 25 people at a time. But if this continues for long, we will have to take difficult calls. There is only so much we can absorb, and menu prices will have to go up. We hope this does not continue for a longer period," he said.
Another restaurant owner in North Delhi, who did not wish to be named, said operational adjustments alone may not be enough. "We are checking our costs very carefully and trying to cut wherever possible, but if fuel prices remain high, it will eventually affect how we run the business," the owner said.
"Coal helps in tandoor cooking, but it takes more time," the owner further added.
The strain is even more acute among street vendors, many of whom operate on thin margins. A vendor in Saket said he had recently expanded his business, moving from a mobile cart to a rented outlet.
"I have a family to feed and more responsibilities now. Earlier, I managed with a moving cart, but after renting the place, expenses increased," he said. "Whenever cylinders were unavailable, I had to buy them at higher rates in the black market. Now even regular supply is too expensive, and if this continues, we may have to shut down," he added.
In Laxmi Nagar, another vendor said they are struggling to keep the business running. "Sometimes we even used domestic cylinders from home when supply ran out because we had to keep the stall running," he said, adding that rising costs leave little choice but to increase prices or bear losses.
On April 1, the rates of commercial LPG cylinders were hiked by Rs 195.50 per cylinder, followed by a Rs 114.5 hike on March 1, taking the total increase over the past three months to Rs 1,303. With the latest revision, a 19 kg commercial LPG cylinder now costs Rs 3,371.5 in Delhi, up from Rs 2,078.5 earlier.
The prices of domestic LPG cylinders used for household cooking have remained unchanged. They were last increased by Rs 60 per 14.2 kg cylinder on March 7 and currently cost Rs 913 in Delhi.
