Prashant Kishor demands medical bulletin on Nitish Kumar's mental health condition
Sheikhpura (Bihar), Mar 25 (PTI): Jan Suraaj Party leader Prashant Kishor on Tuesday demanded a medical bulletin on the mental health condition of Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar.
He alleged that Kumar was being prevented from addressing functions and press conferences in a bid to shield him from public scrutiny.
Nevertheless, the JD(U) chief keeps making news for odd behaviour, he said, while addressing a press conference in Sheikhpura district.
The former poll strategist, who had a brief stint in the JD(U) headed by Kumar, which ended with his expulsion following a spat with the party supremo, said, "Concerns over the chief minister's mental health were first raised by his close aide, the late Sushil Modi, in 2023. For the last couple of years, the people of Bihar have been observing his behaviour."
There have been attempts to shield Nitish Kumar from public scrutiny by preventing him from interacting with the press and addressing public functions. Nonetheless, he keeps making news for odd behaviour, Kishor alleged.
"Kumar has been forgetting the names of cabinet colleagues. He has also been unable to remember, while on tour, which district he was in. During recent agitations over BPSC exams, I learnt he was not aware of the happenings in the state," claimed the 47-year-old politician.
He added, tongue in cheek, "If a medical bulletin is issued, it will remove from the minds of the people any misgivings about Nitish Kumar's soundness of mind. But I am sure he will not agree to such a thing."
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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.
