Jharkhand HC observes state police raid on ED office 'preplanned'
Ranchi (PTI): The Jharkhand High Court on Friday observed that the recent police raid on the ED office here prima facie appeared to be "preplanned".
Justice Sanjay Kumar Dwivedi, while hearing a writ petition filed by the ED, directed the central agency to make the Union home secretary a party to the case.
The court ordered the Union home secretary to depute CRPF/BSF or any other paramilitary force to provide security to the ED office and its officers.
Justice Dwivedi also directed Ranchi Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rakesh Ranjan to ensure proper security of the ED office.
The court observed that if there is any lapse in the security of the ED office and its officers, the SSP Ranchi will directly be held responsible for that.
The high court also stayed the police investigation against ED officers on the basis of an FIR registered at the Airport police station by a former state government employee, Santosh Kumar.
The ED on Thursday moved the high court seeking a CBI probe into the raid conducted by the state police on its premises, alleging "direct interference" in the functioning of the central agency.
Counsel appearing for the ED told the court that the agency was probing an alleged scam involving Santosh Kumar amounting to Rs 23 crore, of which Rs 9 crore had already been recovered.
Police personnel had visited the ED office on Thursday and collected CCTV footage after Kumar, a former drinking water and sanitation department employee, lodged a complaint on January 12 alleging that he was "thrashed" by ED officials during interrogation in connection with an alleged water supply scam.
The development came close on the heels of a confrontation between the West Bengal Police and ED officials after the central agency conducted searches at the office of political consultancy firm I-PAC and the residence of its director Pratik Jain, amid allegations of interference by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The latest development has triggered a war of words between the opposition BJP and the ruling JMM over the authority of the police force.
Leader of the Opposition in Jharkhand Assembly, Babulal Marandi, alleged that under the guise of police action at the central probe agency's office, attempts could be made to tamper with and destroy crucial evidence pertaining to cases involving Chief Minister Hemant Soren.
BJP MP Nishikant Dubey also expressed apprehension that the state police action may result in arrest of honest officials.
Rejecting the allegations, JMM central spokesperson Supriyo Bhattacharya said police were only performing their duty and demanded that a case be registered against Marandi for "provoking a clash between the central and state forces".
The Congress, a constituent of the ruling coalition, alleged that the BJP was blowing the matter out of proportion, as police had to investigate at the place of occurrence.
"People are convinced that the office of the BJP and that of the ED are the same," senior Congress leader Rajesh Thakur said.
In January 2024, Soren had lodged a police complaint against senior ED personnel at the SC/ST police station here over searches conducted by the agency at his Delhi residence in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam.
Soren claimed that the ED conducted the searches to "harass and malign him and his entire community", according to the FIR.
The CM was questioned by the ED as part of an investigation into a "huge racket of illegal change of land ownership by the mafia" in Jharkhand.
The ED later prayed for a CBI probe before the Jharkhand High Court into allegations levelled by Soren that a section of its officers violated provisions of the SC/ST Act.
"My family members and I have suffered and experienced immense mental, psychological and emotional harm because of the acts committed...," Soren stated in the FIR.
The matter is pending before court.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
