Madhya Pradesh HC adjourns hearing on Bhojshala dispute
Indore (PTI): The Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Monday adjourned the hearing on the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex in Dhar district, a week after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) submitted its scientific survey report on the issue.
A division bench of Justice S A Dharmadhikari and D V Ramana said it would hear the matter once the Supreme Court order comes, ASI's counsel Himanshu Joshi said.
The Supreme Court on July 15 agreed to consider listing a plea against a scientific survey of Bhojshala filed by the Maulana Kamaluddin Welfare Society challenging the high court's March 11 order for a survey to ascertain which community the shrine belonged to.
The high court on Monday said the intervener applications will be considered at the stage of the final argument after the ASI's counsel argued that if such an application was entertained, many more would come, and the case would linger on.
Talking to PTI, Joshi said, "The HC will start hearing on the ASI report once the direction from the Supreme Court comes. It said 'let the order from the Supreme Court come thereafter, we will hear the matter'."
On April 1, the Supreme Court refused to stay the scientific survey of Bhojshala but said no action should be taken without its permission on the outcome of the exercise.
Last week, ASI submitted its scientific survey report, running into more than 2,000 pages.
The HC had ordered the survey on an application by 'Hindu Front for Justice', and had given the premier agency six weeks for the task.
The ASI, which started the survey on March 22, approached the HC twice to seek an extension to complete it.
The Hindu community considers Bhojshala a temple of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim side calls it Kamal Maula Mosque.
The ASI issued an order on April 7, 2003, concerning access to the monument after a controversy erupted.
As per the order, which has been in place for the last 21 years, Hindus are allowed to worship in the Bhojshala on Tuesdays, while Muslims can offer namaz there on Fridays.
The Hindu Front for Justice has challenged this arrangement in its petition.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
