Sabarimala temple row:Angry Protesters Attack 3 Women Journalists
Pamba: Three women journalists were attacked in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district on Wednesday as protesters continued to demand that women of menstruation age must not enter the Sabarimala temple.
Libi CS, a journalist who had announced some hours ago that she would trek up to Sabarimala along with a few others, was reportedly stopped at the Pathanamthitta bus stand after protesters read her Facebook post.
NDTV reported that protesters had surrounded her and threatened to burn the bus she came in if she was allowed to trek up from the base camp to the Sabarimala temple.
The News Minute reported that police had to surround Libi to keep the protesters from hurting her.
Hours before her trek, Libi had said on Facebook, "We will win, the police are with us, we will climb Sabarimala this afternoon."
Another journalist, The News Minute reporter Saritha S Balan, was surrounded by a mob of over 20 people while she was on a KSRTC bus to Sabarimala to report on the event.
A report on The News Minute said that one of the protesters kicked Balan in the spine, others called her derogatory names even as the police tried to take her out of the bus safely.
Balan, the report said, was currently at the police station, but The News Minutesaid the station was also surrounded by "goons claiming to be devotees".
A few minutes before the attack on Balan, Republic TV South bureau chief Pooja Prasanna and her crew were also attacked.
The news channel published a video showing a huge, angry mob that has surrounded the car Prasanna was in. They can be seen banging on the windshield and the windows of the car while chanting slogans about Ayyappan, the deity at Sabarimala.
At one point, a man is seen waving his finger at Prasanna and violently banging the window.
Another woman, Madhavi from Andhra Pradesh, who was trying to go to the temple with her family was forced to return.
Madhavi and her family claimed that the police asked them to proceed on their own to the temple.
News18 reported that its crew was also attacked in the area.
The Kerala unit of the Shiv Sena had also threatened to commit mass suicide if women were allowed to step into the temple.
Peringammala Aji of Shiv Sena in Kerala had told ANI, "Our women activists will gather near the Pamba river on October 17 and 18 as part of a suicide group. When any young woman tries to enter Sabarimala, our activists will commit suicide."
The Sabarimala shrine will open for the first time on Wednesday evening after the Supreme Court verdict, which allowed women of all age groups to enter. The temple, which is open to men of all ages and religions, opens for devotees on the first five days of every Malayalam month, apart from the 41-day-long Mandala Kalam, beginning mid-November.
On Monday, people protesting against the verdict concluded their 'long march', which lasted days, in Trivandrum.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on Tuesday said that the state would ensure the safety of women who wanted to visit the Sabarimala temple.
courtesy : huffingtonpost.in
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FIR filed after e-commerce platform linked tech firm alleges SMS spoofing fraud
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against unknown people for allegedly sending fraudulent messages in the name of an e-commerce platform with promises of cash rewards, further disrupting its operations, police said on Wednesday.
The offence is said to have taken place between April 23 and April 27, they said.
A representative of city-based technology company Hiveloop Technology Pvt Ltd (HTPL), part of the Udaan group (eB2B platform), has lodged a complaint alleging a large-scale SMS spoofing fraud following which a detailed investigation has been initiated into the matter, a senior police officer said.
According to the FIR, HTPL is a registered entity on the TRAI-mandated DLT platform, which permits only pre-approved SMS templates and whitelisted URLs to be sent through authorised sender IDs.
The issue came to light on April 23, when HTPL received alerts from buyers about fraudulent SMS messages appearing to originate from the company's sender ID "UDAANN". The messages reportedly contained Bitly links and falsely claimed a credit of Rs 10,001, urging recipients to withdraw money, it said.
On April 27, at around 12:49 pm, the DLT platform blacklisted HTPL's SMS templates, citing their alleged use in sending fraudulent messages. Within minutes, the company's sender ID was also blacklisted. Airtel's DLT system subsequently confirmed the action and shared details of the fraudulent messages that were circulated in HTPL's name without its knowledge or consent, the FIR stated.
Following this, the company's messaging operations were affected, and even legitimate communications such as one-time passwords to buyers began failing. Later, the DLT operator suspended HTPL's entire account following complaints raised on TRAI's Chakshu platform, bringing all SMS services of the company to a halt, it further stated.
HTPL has stated that neither it nor its authorised vendors sent the fraudulent messages. The links embedded in the messages reportedly redirected users to an online betting website, the FIR stated.
The company has claimed that the incident has resulted in a complete breakdown of SMS-based services, including buyer authentication, order updates and promotional communication, leading to significant financial losses.
At least 13 victims have been identified so far, with the possibility of more affected users. Victims were allegedly directed to an online betting platform, raising concerns of potential financial fraud, the FIR added.
