Out on parole, Amritpal Singh, Engineer Rashid take oath as LS members
New Delhi, Jul 5: Jailed radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh and Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdul Rashid, who were granted parole to take oath as members of the Lok Sabha, were sworn in as MPs on Friday, amid heavy deployment of security personnel in and around the Parliament complex.
While Rashid, popularly known as Engineer Rashid, is in Delhi's Tihar jail in a terror funding case registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Singh is lodged in a prison in Assam's Dibrugarh district for offences under the National Security Act.
They were brought to the Parliament complex by security personnel this morning.
Rashid took oath in Kashmiri and Singh in Punjabi at the Speaker's conference room in the Parliament House, a Lok Sabha bulletin said.
Singh, 31, and Rashid, 56, won the recent Lok Sabha elections from Khadoor Sahib in Punjab and Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, respectively, as Independents while being incarcerated.
They could not take oath as members of the 18th Lok Sabha on June 24 and 25 along with the other winning candidates.
For taking oath, Rashid was granted a two-hour custody parole, excluding the travel time from Tihar to Parliament, and Singh a four-day custody parole, beginning July 5, in view of the travel from Assam to Delhi and back.
Singh's lawyer Rajdev Singh Khalsa had said he would be taken to Delhi aboard a "military aircraft".
Their parole orders stated that during their period of temporary release, they can neither speak to or address the media on any issue or make any statements. Their family members also cannot make a statement in any form of media.
While Singh, a Khalistani sympathiser who heads the 'Waris Punjab De' outfit, has been allowed to meet his family in Delhi, Rashid's family had permission only to attend his oath taking.
The parole for Rashid, who has been in jail since 2019 after his arrest in 2017, was granted by a court in Delhi and that of Singh by the district magistrate of Amritsar from where he was arrested in April 2023 for barging into a police station in February and clashing with police personnel in a bid to free one of his aides from custody.
Both Singh and Rashid are to be accompanied by security personnel at all times during their parole periods, the orders stated.
The Delhi Police and Punjab Police were directed to coordinate with the secretary general of the Lok Sabha for procedures inside the Parliament complex.
The name of Rashid, a former MLA, cropped up during the investigation of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Watali, who the NIA had arrested for allegedly funding terrorist groups and separatists in the Kashmir valley.
The NIA had filed a charge sheet against several individuals, including Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik, Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Hizbul Mujahideen chief Syed Salahuddin in the case. Malik was awarded life imprisonment by a trial court in 2022 after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
Singh styled himself after slain Khalistani militant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and is in jail along with nine of his associates under the National Security Act.
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.
Karnataka registers 197 fresh Dengue cases, 1 dead in the last 24 hours
Bengaluru: Karnataka on Monday logged 197 fresh Dengue cases, and on death from Mysuru district in the past 24 hours.
According to the Health Department, 46 people have been admitted to the hospital and are being treated.
In total, 892 people were tested across all districts of the state. Among them, one child aged 0-1 year, 63 children aged 1-18 years, and 133 individuals above 18 years of age developed dengue fever.
On Monday, 115 people were tested under the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) limits and 95 people tested positive for dengue. Ten people are hospitalized. In Bengaluru urban district, which is not covered by BBMP, four people were tested, and all were confirmed to have dengue, with two admitted to the hospital. In Shivamogga, 16 people were tested, all confirmed to have dengue, with nine admitted to the hospital for treatment.
ALSO READ: Present situation doesn't call for declaring dengue a medical emergency in K'taka: Dinesh Gundu Rao
In Vijayapura, 46 people were tested, and three were confirmed to have dengue. In Bagalkot, 18 people were tested, and three were confirmed to have dengue, with one being treated in the hospital. In Uttara Kannada, three people were tested, and all were confirmed to have dengue, with one being treated in the hospital. In Kalaburagi, 178 people were tested, and 15 were confirmed to have dengue, with one being treated in the hospital.
In Koppal, 17 people were tested, and one was confirmed to have dengue. In Chamarajanagar, 147 people were tested, and 33 were diagnosed with dengue, with nine undergoing treatment at the hospital. In Udupi, 68 people were tested, and one person was confirmed to have dengue and hospitalized. In Chikkamagaluru, 236 people were tested, and 17 were diagnosed with dengue, with nine people undergoing treatment in the hospital.
Since January, 55,712 people have been tested in the state, and dengue has been confirmed in 7,362 people. Currently, 303 people are undergoing treatment in the hospital. Seven people have succumbed to dengue disease.
