Rajasthan Cong alleges Udaipur killing accused, arrested terrorist in J-K had BJP link
urges NIA to widen probe
Jaipur (PTI): Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra has written to NIA chief Dinkar Gupta demanding widening its probe into the killing of a tailor in Udaipur and LeT terrorist's arrest in Kashmir, alleging the accused in both cases were BJP members.
The BJP, however, hit back at Dotasra, accusing him of doing "petty politics" based on "forged photos that are going viral in social media".
In the letter to the NIA chief, Dotasra claimed that going by media reports, Mohammad Riaz Akhtari, one of the accused in the Udaipur incident, "was an active member of the BJP and he used to regularly participate in party programmes".
Akhtari's pictures with BJP MLA from Udaipur Gulab Chand Kataria have also surfaced on social media.
The Rajasthan Congress chief, in his letter to the NIA director-general also claimed that according to media reports, Talib Hussain Shah, one of the two terrorists arrested in Jammu and Kashmir's in Reasi, was also the social media in charge of the BJP's Jammu Minority Front.
"There is restlessness among the people... whether the BJP is supporting anti-national activities in its greed for power. To eliminate this doubt, the NIA should widen its investigation for both the incidents," Dotasra said in the letter.
In a statement, the Congress leader alleged that the BJP leaders in Rajasthan are involved in a blind race to become the party's chief ministerial candidate in next year's Assembly elections and have no concern for people's welfare.
"This is the reason why BJP leaders are going to the victim Kanhaiya Lal's house after seven days of the incident and coming back from Hyderabad after having fun."
The killing of Udaipur tailor Kanhaiya Lal was mentioned in obituary references during the BJP's national executive meeting in Hyderabad.
Hitting back at Dotasra, Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Rajasthan Assembly Rajendra Rathore termed the state Congress chief's letter an attempt at 'petty politics'.
"Dotasra is doing petty politics based on forged photos that are going viral on social media. Before this, he should get the photo of Asif Hasadi, the main accused in the Chhabra communal violence incident, investigated in which he was seen attending the Iftar party held at the chief minister's residence," Rathore tweeted.
BJP leaders in Rajasthan have already refuted the allegation levelled by the Congress that the main accused in the Kanhaiya Lal murder case in Udaipur was a BJP member.
"Anyone can have a photo with any leader. It does not mean that he is a member of the BJP," said Mohammad Sadiq Khan, the state president of the BJP Minority Morcha.
"He might have gone to some party programme to carry out a recce and got photos clicked with local leaders. Since it is a normal trend to upload photos with leaders or celebrities on Facebook and other social media platforms, he might have also uploaded the photo but it does not mean that he is a BJP member," Khan said.
The BJP leader said the murder highlights the state government's failure as it did not provide security to Kanhaiya Lal despite a clear threat.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
