India name 15-member squad for U-19 World Cup with Priyam Garg as captain
Mumbai: Uttar Pradesh batsman Priyam Garg will lead defending champions India in next year's Under-19 ICC Cricket World Cup after the BCCI on Monday named him captain of a 15-member squad for the tournament to be held in South Africa.
The All-India Junior Selection Committee, which met here on Sunday, picked the squad for the tournament to be held from January 17 to February 9.
The 19-year-old Garg, a right handed top-order batsman, has a first-class double hundred and a List A century to his name. He was a part of the India C team that finished runner-up in the Deodhar Trophy. He hit a 74 in the final against India B last month.
The 13th edition of the U-19 World Cup will be played among 16 teams, split into four groups.
India are placed in Group A with first-time qualifier Japan, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the Super League stage.
India is the most successful team in the tournament, having won four titles till date, including the last edition in 2018, when they beat Australia by eight wickets in the final and remained unbeaten in the tournament.
Ahead of the World Cup, the India U-19 team will travel to South Africa for three one-day matches against the Proteas U-19 side, followed by a Quadrangular Series featuring South Africa U-19, India U-19, Zimbabwe U-19 and New Zealand U-19.
Hyderabad's CTL Rakshan will be the additional player in the squad for the South Africa tour and the Quadrangular Series.
Indian squad for U-19 World Cup: Priyam Garg (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain & wk), Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil.
India U-19 squad for the tour of South Africa: Priyam Garg (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Tilak Varma, Divyaansh Saxena, Dhruv Chand Jurel (vice-captain & wk), Shashwat Rawat, Divyansh Joshi, Shubhang Hegde, Ravi Bishnoi, Akash Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Atharva Ankolekar, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Sushant Mishra, Vidyadhar Patil, CTL Rakshan.
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Kannur dental student death: Case registered against loan app operators, parents allege murder
Kannur (PTI): A case has been registered against unidentified loan app operators in connection with the death of a Kannur Dental College student in Anjarakandy, officials said on Monday.
However, the victim’s parents alleged that their son was murdered and held the college faculty responsible for his death.
The Kannur Cyber Police registered the case on Sunday night based on a complaint by an assistant professor of the college.
According to police, Nithin Raj R L, a first-year BDS student, had taken a loan through an online loan app.
After he defaulted on repayment, the app operators allegedly began contacting the assistant professor.
The FIR stated that the accused contacted the woman faculty member via MMS and WhatsApp, threatening her over repayment and attempting to siphon off money illegally.
Sources said that in cases of default, such loan app operators often send messages to all available contacts of the borrower.
Raj (22), a native of Uzhamalackal, Puthukulangara in Thiruvananthapuram district, was found critically injured near the medical college block after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
The family alleged that Raj was subjected to emotional harassment on caste and complexion grounds by two faculty members, following which a case was registered against Dental Anatomy Department Head M K Ram and Associate Professor K T Sangeetha Nambiar for abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Even though notices were issued to both accused to appear for interrogation, they are yet to respond to the police, officials said.
Police officials said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case is also examining whether Raj’s death was linked to threats from the loan app operators.
The cyber case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 308(3) (extortion), along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating by personation using computer resources).
Police said Raj’s mobile phone will be examined to gather details about the loan app, and a detailed statement will be recorded from the assistant professor who received the threatening messages and calls.
Meanwhile, the SIT has recovered chat details from Raj’s phone, which indicate that he had sought more time to repay the loan.
According to police, Raj had taken a loan of Rs 14,000, and the app operators had demanded immediate repayment of Rs 8,000.
As his family was facing financial difficulties, he had requested a few weeks’ time to settle the dues.
The SIT, led by the Station House Officer of Chakkarakkallu police station, visited Raj’s house on Monday and recorded statements of his parents and sister.
The four-member team also collected digital evidence from them.
The family also met the State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar and filed a petition seeking a detailed probe into the incident.
Raj’s father Rajan said his son had taken the loan for his mother’s treatment.
“We were repaying it. But recently, the repayment defaulted. If the teacher was aggrieved by the loan app’s calls and my son had done anything wrong, they should have informed us. You can check my phone, there is no call from the college,” he said.
Rajan said he had little hope of getting justice.
“They all killed my son. What justice can I expect? I worked hard for his education. We lost everything,” he said.
He also alleged that even three days after Raj’s death, there had been no communication from the college authorities.
“He was a student of that college. Not even a word from the authorities. Students there, fearing for their future, are not speaking out. At least one student should speak out for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests erupted at Kannur Dental College on Monday, with final-year BDS students also joining the agitation.
The college has granted leave to students of other batches following the incident.
Students alleged that the accused faculty member, M K Ram, misbehaved with students by body-shaming and physical assault.
“We were living under severe pressure. Ram was involved in body-shaming. Verbal abuse was frequent. Apart from it, he used to hit students on the head. There were also complaints against him and disciplinary action taken earlier,” a student told reporters.
Political organisations, including KSU of the Congress, SFI and DYFI of the CPI(M), MSF of the IUML and ABVP of the BJP, carried out protest marches.
KSU and SFI activists who entered the college compound were later detained and removed by police.
Kerala SC/ST Commission Chairperson Shekaran Miniyodan visited Raj’s house and interacted with his family.
He said the Commission has registered a case and sought a report from the police.
“We will collect information along with the SIT about the incident. Apart from the preliminary investigation report, we will also examine the postmortem report,” he said.
Similarly, the Kerala Youth Commission has also registered a case and recorded statements of students of the college.
Commission Chairman M Shajar said students have raised serious allegations against M K Ram and that a detailed probe would be conducted with police support.
Earlier, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission had also registered a case and sought a report from the police.
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