Maharashtra govt to drop cases against Maratha quota protesters
Mumbai (PTI): Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has announced the withdrawal of police cases filed against pro-Maratha reservation protesters in Jalna district, the epicentre of the latest round of stir on the issue, and urged quota activist Manoj Jarange to end his indefinite fast.
He has also announced the suspension of three police officials involved in lathi-charge on quota agitators in central Maharashtra's Jalna district in the first week of September.
The CM made the announcements on Monday after presiding over an all-party meeting in Mumbai held in the backdrop of the ongoing Maratha quota agitation led by Jarange.
The activist is sitting on an indefinite hunger strike since August 29 at Antarwali Sarati village in Jalna district demanding reservation in government jobs and education under the OBC category for the Maratha community.
Jarange on Monday said he will take a decision on Tuesday afternoon on continuing his hunger strike and asserted he would not succumb to pressure from either the government or the opposition on the quota issue.
CM Shinde told reporters here, "The state government has decided to withdraw police cases filed against Maratha quota protesters. Necessary instructions have been given to officials as well."
"The state government has decided to suspend three police officials who were involved in lathi-charge on Maratha quota protesters," the CM said.
The police baton charged and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse a violent mob at Antarwali Sarati after protesters refused to let authorities shift Jarange to hospital on September 1.
The police had filed cases against more than 360 people for their alleged involvement in the violence.
Shinde said all parties attending the meeting passed a resolution requesting Jarange to withdraw his fast.
"Maharashtra is a progressive state. We want harmony and peace among all communities. All parties passed a resolution requesting Manoj Jarange to withdraw his fast. I personally request him to call off his fast. The state government needs time to complete the procedure to make decisions (on quota issue)," he said.
A five-member panel headed by Judge Sandeep Shinde (retired) has been set up to determine the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), including legal and administrative framework, for giving caste certificates to Maratha community members referred to as Kunbis (part of OBCs now) in Nizam-era documents.
This will allow Marathas from the Marathwada region to avail quota benefits under the OBC category. The committee formed by the state government has got down to work and it needs some time to complete its task, said the CM.
"The Justice Shinde Committee has held its first meeting and has been given one month to submit a report. The government has also agreed to most of the demands made by Jarange. I appeal to the protesting people to end their agitation. Jarange is not making any personal demands...he is doing it for his community, but it will take some time for the (quota) issue to be resolved," Shinde said.
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Bank account in Ramgarh tracked for fraudulent fund transactions across 24 states, 4 arrested
Ramgarh (Jharkhand) (PTI): Jharkhand police on Thursday said it has unearthed a network of interstate cyber frauds and arrested four miscreants for fraudulent transactions through a bank account in Ramgarh district after complaints of 274 suspected transactions in 24 states.
The states where complaints for fraudulent transactions were registered included Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The action followed inputs received through 'Samanvaya portal', a centralised, web-based platform launched by the Union Home Ministry to curb cybercrime.
"We arrested four cyber miscreants after a current account with Kuju (Ramgarh) branch of the State Bank of India was found to have registered suspected financial transactions in 24 states with the help of the Pratibimba portal of the Home Ministry through the Samanvaya portal," Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.
During the probe, police found that the account was opened under the MSME Udyam Registration scheme in the name of Shree Ganesh Enterprises, he said.
The account had been linked to as many as 274 complaints from different states related to cyber fraud and illegal fund transfers.
The registered proprietors of the enterprise were identified as Rahul Gupta (37), Ravi Kumar Verma (34), and Ajay Sharma (33), all residents of Ramgarh district, a statement from the Ramgarh police said.
During interrogation, Rahul Gupta and Ravi Kumar Verma revealed that they had opened multiple current accounts at the behest of Ritesh Agrawal alias Munna (40) and Sonu Kumar Jha (34).
They admitted receiving Rs 1.2 lakh in exchange for facilitating the opening of these accounts.
"The accused further confessed to sharing OTPs, activating mobile banking services, and handing over control of the accounts to the main operators through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These accounts were then allegedly used to route fraudulent transactions.
Police said mobile data analysis of the accused led to the recovery of crucial digital evidence, including details of SIM cards, bank accounts, passbooks, ATM cards, QR code scanners, Aadhaar cards, and PAN cards shared through messaging platforms.
A total of four accused have been arrested so far and sent to judicial custody.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Further investigation is underway, the police said.
