Missing journalist's charred body found in North Andaman, 4 arrested
Port Blair (PTI): The charred body of a 38-year-old journalist missing since March 29 was found in a field in North Andaman district, police said on Wednesday.
The body of Shahdeb Dey, the owner of a local news channel known as 'Republic Andaman', was found in a field from Deshbandu Nagar in Diglipur on Tuesday, police said.
Superintendent of Police, North and Middle Andaman district, Shweta K Sugathan said, "It is a murder case and we have picked up four people including a woman. The exact motive behind the murder is under investigation but preliminary probe revealed that it happened over personal enmity involving the woman."
The SP said those arrested were identified as Gangaiyya (who runs a bar cum restaurant in Diglipur), his two staff members Rama Subramanian and Ramesh and a local woman Bitika Mallik.
"Our probe is not yet over as we are trying to get more details on the exact motive behind the murder," she said.
The SP said, "During interrogation of the arrested persons it came to know that on March 29, around 8 pm, Bitika called Shahdeb to meet her at Nehru Yuva Kendra in Diglipur. Shahdeb went to the place where Gangaiyya's employee Rama Subramanian (who was waiting along with Bitika for the victim) hit him with a blunt object and he collapsed on the floor. It was then they took the body to a secluded place at Deshbandhu Nagar where they disposed of the body by setting it on fire."
"The statements given by arrested persons are contradictory. We are cross-checking their statements and trying to find out whether they are misleading the police or not. Today, morning a team from the forensic science department from Port Blair arrived here in Diglipur and they have started their investigation. We will share more details after the forensic science report," the SP said.
Shahdeb was vocal against alleged illegal soil cutting, timber smuggling, illegal hooch racket and gambling.
On March 29 at around 7.49 pm, Shahdeb was seen at Diglipur fish market and then around 8.11 pm, he called his wife claiming that he was in Madhupur and that it will take one hour for him to reach the local market.
"He normally returns home around 8.30 pm to 9 pm but on Saturday he didn't return home. Around 8.11 pm he called his wife for the last time and since then there has been no news of him. His cell phone was switched off. We came to know that he was murdered," Shahdeb's relative Alok Barui said.
Investigation revealed that a few months ago Shahdeb was assaulted by some local goons after he went to the market to expose an illegal hooch racket in the area.
"He was running this news channel for the last three years. We want a thorough investigation into the matter," a close friend of Shahdeb said.
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'Last rites' of INDIA bloc: BJP on Cong-DMK fallout in Tamil Nadu
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Wednesday took a swipe at the Congress for extending support to Vijay's TVK in forming the government in Tamil Nadu and breaking away from its long term ally DMK, saying the party has a history of "betraying" its allies.
The saffron party also attacked the opposition INDIA bloc, claiming the alliance is "falling apart like a pack of cards" and lacks any common ideology or vision.
The Tamil Nadu Congress has decided to support TVK leader Vijay in forming a secular government in the state, sources said.
The decision to support the TVK was taken at an urgent meeting of the Political Affairs Committee (PAC) of Tamil Nadu Congress late on Tuesday night.
Reacting to the development, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed the INDIA alliance had effectively come to an end after the declaration of assembly election results on May 4.
"There is nobody whom the Congress has not deceived. Imagine what they will do to the Samajwadi Party if they have done this to the DMK," he wrote in a post on X.
Calling it the "last rites" of the INDIA bloc, Poonawalla, in a video post, said, "It has become a Bharat free of the DMK, TMC and the Left, and now Congress has dumped the DMK for the TVK."
The BJP spokesperson alleged that the opposition bloc was formed solely out of political compulsions and personal ambitions.
"The INDI alliance never had any mission or vision. It was only about ambition for position, corruption, commission and obsession against Modi ji that they came together. But now it is all falling apart like a pack of cards," he said.
Questioning the unity of the opposition parties, Poonawalla said the alliance was absent in several states during the election.
"Where was the INDI alliance in Bengal, in Kerala, in Gujarat, in Punjab, in Delhi, in Haryana, in Karnataka? There is no INDI alliance," he said.
The DMK on Wednesday described the Congress move to extend support to TVK as a "backstab" by its long-time national ally.
Speaking to PTI videos, DMK spokesperson Saravanan Anadurai said, "The Congress party has decided to ally with the TVK, pledging their support to the party. I think they have backstabbed... They have backstabbed the people of Tamil Nadu. They've backstabbed the mandate given by the people of Tamil Nadu."
He said that the decision came even before the electoral process had fully concluded.
"Even before the ink on the returning officer's signature on the victory certificate dried up, they've chosen to go ahead with an alliance," he said.
Vijay's TVK won 108 seats in the 234-member Tamil Nadu Assembly, falling short of the halfway mark. He needs the support of 10 MLAs to form a government with a simple majority. The results were declared only on Monday.
The Congress has won five seats, while the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) has bagged four seats. The CPI and CPI-M have two seats each. The outgoing ruling party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), has won 59 seats while the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) has won 47 seats.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has won only one seat, and so have the Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (DMDK) and the Amma Makkal Munnettra Kazagam (AMMK), while the VCK has won two seats.
The Congress had fought the assembly polls in a pre-poll alliance with the DMK, while the BJP had a tie-up with the AIADMK.
