PoK belongs to India, we will take it back at any cost: Amit Shah
Sitamarhi (Bihar) (PTI): Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday asserted that Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK) belongs to India and the country will take it back "at any cost".
Addressing an election rally in Sitamarhi Lok Sabha seat in Bihar, the former BJP president slammed the Congress-led opposition for "raising fear about Pakistan's atomic power".
"When Article 370 was scrapped, Rahul Gandhi had said that it would lead to bloodshed. Five years have elapsed and not a pebble has been hurled. But Congress's ally Farooq Abdullah tries scaremongering by saying that we cannot take back PoK as Pakistan has atom bombs," Shah asserted.
"I wish to declare from the birthplace of Goddess Sita that Bharat and its 140 crore people fear no one. Pakistan occupied Kashmir is ours and it will remain so. We will take it back," he said.
Shah said the Modi government will also ensure full security along the India-Nepal border in its third term.
Attacking the INDIA bloc, he said, "Lalu Prasad-led RJD has joined hands with the Congress that opposed the Mandal Commission's recommendations but PM Modi has given respect to lakhs of people from the backward classes. Lalu joined hands with the Congress only to make his son, Tejashwi Yadav, the chief minister of Bihar... but the state needs 'vikasraj, not 'jungelraj'."
"Congress ruled the country for 60 years but did not think about welfare of 60 crore OBCs. Congress and RJD never thought of conferring Bharat Ratna on former Bihar chief minister Karpoori Thakur... it was done by the Modi government," he said.
Shah said that the NDA government has decided to develop 'Punaura Dham Mandir', a temple in Sitamarhi district considered to be the birthplace of Goddess Sita, as an international pilgrimage site.
"After Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, we will construct a massive temple of Sita Mata in Sitamarhi," he said.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's cabinet has approved Rs 72.47 crore for the development of the temple.
Senior JD (U) leader and Bihar Legislative Council chairman Devesh Chandra Thakur is the NDA nominee from Sitamarhi Lok Sabha seat.
Shah will address another election rally in Madhubani Lok Sabha seat later in the day.
Sitamarhi, Madhubani, Muzaffarpur, Saran and Hajipur Lok Sabha seats will go to polls in the fifth phase on May 20.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
