Mumbai Nalasopara Explosives Haul: Vaibhav Raut trained in Belgaum, suspects ATS
Mumbai: Investigations into the arrest of Sharad Kalaskar have revealed that all accused in the killings of Dr Narendra Dabholkar, M M Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and journalist Gauri Lankesh had obtained training at a resort in Karnataka’s Chikhale village. The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad, who are probing the Nalasopara explosives haul, are trying to ascertain if Vaibhav Raut and Sudhanva Gondhalekar too received training there.
During the ATS interrogation, Kalaskar confessed of being one of the assailants who shot Dr Dabholkar on August 20, 2013. In a simultaneous investigation conducted by the Karnataka’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) on the farmhouse owned by Bharat Kurne, a key suspect in journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case, found the farmhouse was allegedly used by the conspirators for firearms training.
The farmhouse is situated at Chikhale village in Belagum (Karnataka), where Kalaskar was recruited among others to get firearms training. Kalaskar was arrested by the ATS on August 10, in connection with the explosives found at Nalasopara between August 9-11. The police suspect the arrested accused has received training to fire the 7.65 mm pistols and other country-made revolvers.
The firearm training locations of Gondhalekar and Raut are yet to be ascertained, but the Maharashtra ATS strongly suspects them to have received firearm training at Belgaum. An ATS official said on the condition of anonymity said, “The ATS investigators have questioned Raut, Kalaskar and Gondhalekar regarding the training they received, but the trio did not confirm. Kalaskar leaked the intel on his firearm training only when the police cross-examined his role in Dr Dabholkar murder case and linked him to the Chikhale farmhouse owned by Kurne.”
A source close to the investigations added, the trio had travelled across the country to do a recce of various places, and one of their stops in this tour was Goa, which is close to Belgaum.
courtesy : freepressjournal.in
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Punjab: Counting of votes for local body polls underway; AAP claims victory in 927 zones
Chandigarh (PTI): Counting of votes for the zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections in Punjab was underway on Wednesday even as the ruling AAP claimed it registered victories in more than 900 zones and was leading in many so far. Complete results are expected late evening, officials said.
The counting of ballot papers started at 8 am at 154 centres set up across the state.
Polls were held to elect members of 347 zones of 22 zila parishads and 2,838 zones of 153 panchayat samitis on December 14.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab president and Cabinet Minister Aman Arora said the results of zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections declared so far are in AAP's favour. The results and poll trends so far indicated people's inclination towards the Punjab government's policies, he said.
In zila parishad, the results for 71 zones have been declared so far, with AAP winning in 60 zones, the Congress seven, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the BJP one each and two independents, said Arora.
"Almost 85 per cent results (declared so far) are in favour of AAP," he claimed.
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In case of panchayat samitis, Arora said the results for 1,875 zones have been declared, of which AAP candidates won 867 zones, which works out to be about 68 per cent. The Congress managed to win 216 zones, SAD 129, independents 63 and the BJP 20, he said.
He further said AAP is leading in 113 zones of zila parishads and 257 zones of panchayat samitis. "It shows one-sided atmosphere in the poll. People in villages gave their stamps to AAP's good governance," said Arora.
During the polling for zila parishad and panchayat samiti, a voter turnout of 48 per cent was recorded, with more than 9,000 candidates in the fray.
Earlier in the day in Patiala, SAD workers alleged they were denied entry to a counting centre on the Patiala-Nabha road. SAD leader Jaspal Singh claimed Rahul Saini, son of Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh, was inside the counting centre, while opposition representatives were denied entry.
The opposition leaders demanded immediate intervention by election authorities to ensure transparent and fair counting, saying that "continued interference" would undermine public faith in the democratic process.
At the University College, Ghanaur, during the counting for the Shambhu block, former MLA Madan Lal Jalalpur alleged that sitting MLA Gurlal Singh Ghanaur entered the counting centre without authorisation.
Jalalpur claimed that despite possessing valid passes, he and his counting agents were stopped outside, while the MLA was allowed in.
He alleged that police officers present at the centre did not intervene despite repeated complaints.
Candidates of all major political parties -- AAP, the Congress, SAD, and the BJP -- contested the zila parishad and panchayat samiti polls on party symbols.
On December 14, the Congress and SAD accused AAP of indulging in "blatant electoral malpractices" during the polling. Earlier, they had targeted the Bhagwant Mann government, accusing it of using the government machinery to prevent their candidates from filing nomination papers and getting those rejected.
