NIA files supplementary charge sheet against 4 in PFI Patna case
New Delhi (PTI): The National Investigation Agency has filed a supplementary charge sheet against four arrested cadres of the Popular Front of India in a case related to the "unlawful and anti-national activities" of the proscribed outfit in Bihar, an official said on Friday.
The fresh charge sheet has been filed in the NIA Special Court, Patna, against Md Tanweer, Md Aabid, Md Belal and Md Irshad Alam, all residents of East Champaran district of Bihar, a spokesperson of the anti-terror federal agency said.
The official said the four accused were operating, along with other accused in planning of "violent criminal acts by arranging arms and ammunition and in propagating the PFIs ideology and agenda of violent extremism".
They have been charged under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and Arms Act on Thursday, the spokesperson said.
The official said a total of 15 accused, including the four chargesheeted, have been arrested so far for promoting the unlawful activities of the PFI and channelising illegal funds from abroad to PFI members/accused in this case.
According to investigations, the agency said Alam is a member of the criminal syndicate which was involved, along with other PFI cadres, in a criminal conspiracy related to attack and kill a youth belonging to a particular community, with the intention to spread terror and communal hatred.
"Tanweer and Abid already had the terror hardware for carrying out the hate crime and handed over the same to one of the arrested accused, Yaqub Khan, who is a PFI master trainer of weapons and tactics and had conducted multiple arms training sessions for furthering the banned outfit's violent and unlawful activities," the spokesperson said.
The case was initially registered on July 12 last year at Phulwarisharif Police Station in Patna against 26 people and was taken over and re-registered by the NIA on 10 days later.
On January 7, the NIA had filed a charge sheet against four people in the case, in which investigations are continuing.
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Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurates Gems and Jewellery Institute campus in Udupi
Udupi (Karnataka) (PTI): Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday inaugurated the premises of the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery here, praising the centre for providing professional training and promoting entrepreneurship among youth.
Speaking at the event, Sitharaman said the centre, established in 2016 with support from the Gems and Jewellery Export Promotion Council and the district administration, has grown steadily despite disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We started in a very small place, unsure of the response. Today, advanced facilities including CAD and 3D printing are available, enabling students to gain industry-relevant skills,” she said.
Sitharaman highlighted the centre’s reach across Karnataka and beyond.
“Students have come from Karwar, Chitradurga, Raichur, and Tamil Nadu. Some had no prior experience but are now running successful jewellery businesses,” she said, citing examples of trainees who returned to their hometowns to start enterprises.
Emphasising affordability, she noted, “Training abroad is expensive, but here the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery offers professional courses at accessible costs, making skill development widely available.”
The minister also underlined the centre’s contribution to India’s jewellery export sector.
“This region, from Ratnagiri to Kerala, has a rich jewellery tradition serving the Indian diaspora. Skilled manpower from such centres strengthens our exports and creates livelihood opportunities,” she said.
Sitharaman commended the collaboration between the government, GJEPC, and local jewellers, noting that around 600 students were trained last year.
She urged greater awareness to attract more youth to the institute, describing it as a model public-private partnership that fosters entrepreneurship and skill development.
The minister also witnessed the signing of an MoU between the Indian Institute of Gems & Jewellery and IIT Madras under the InCent LGD platform for a specialised, industry-oriented certification programme in lab-grown diamond technologies.
The office of the minister said in a post on X that the programme will help bridge critical skill gaps, create job-ready professionals, boost value-added manufacturing, and strengthen India’s position in the global LGD (lab-grown diamond) value chain, aligned with Make in India, Skill India, and the goal of a self-reliant, globally competitive LGD ecosystem.
It further said that the Rs 242 crore grant announced in the Union Budget 2023–24 for lab-grown diamond research at IIT Madras is helping build a world-class ecosystem.
Under the InCent initiative, India’s first indigenously designed scaled prototype of a High Pressure High Temperature (HPHT) LGD machine has been developed and installed at IIT Madras, while imported commercial HPHT machines have also been installed for benchmarking.
Sitharaman also witnessed a demonstration of the ‘Design to Manufacturing’ process by students at IIGJ Udupi and interacted with trainees of the institute and entrepreneurs from the gems and jewellery industry, the minister’s office said in another post.
