Sachin Pilot in Delhi day after fast seeking action against Vasundhara govt graft
New Delhi (PTI): Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot reached Delhi on Wednesday, a day after he observed a fast in Jaipur demanding action in cases of alleged corruption under the previous Vasundhara Raje-led BJP government in Rajasthan.
There was speculation that he might meet the party's AICC in-charge of Rajasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and other senior leaders, but sources close to Pilot said no meetings were fixed.
On Tuesday, Pilot sat on a daylong fast in Jaipur, urging the Ashok Gehlot government in Rajasthan to act on alleged cases of corruption when the BJP ran the state under Vasundhara Raje.
Defying the Congress central leadership's warning that the move would be considered "anti-party", Pilot went ahead with his fast from 11 am to 4 pm.
As he left the site where he held the fast in Jaipur, Pilot told reporters that Rahul Gandhi, the Congress and other opposition parties have united over corruption and financial irregularities, and claimed that his fast will speed up this movement.
The former deputy chief minister also said that he wrote two letters on this issue to Gehlot last year but received no reply.
"We had assured people that effective action will be taken against corruption by the former BJP government. I wanted the Congress government to take action but it has not happened in over four years," Pilot said.
This struggle against corruption will continue, he added.
Both Gehlot and Pilot were keen on the chief minister's post when the party won in the state assembly elections in 2018. But the Congress high command picked Gehlot for the top post for a third time.
In July 2020, Pilot and a section of Congress MLAs had rebelled openly against Gehlot, demanding a change of leadership in the state. Pilot was then stripped of the posts of deputy chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee president.
The month-long crisis ended after the Congress central leadership's assurance to look into the issues Pilot raised.
Gehlot later used terms like "gaddar" (traitor), "nakara" (failure) and "nikamma" (worthless) for Pilot, and accused him of being involved with BJP leaders in a conspiracy to topple the Congress government.
Last September, MLAs in the Gehlot camp boycotted a Congress Legislature Party (CLP) meeting and held a parallel one to stall what they felt was an attempt to make Pilot the new chief minister. Gehlot was then being considered for the party president's post.
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J-K: Six held with drugs, assets worth Rs 73 lakh attached in Udhampur
Jammu (PTI): Six persons were taken into custody during an intensified anti-narcotics crackdown, with police recovering contraband substances and over Rs 23 lakh in Doda and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Monday.
In a parallel action, properties worth over Rs 73 lakh linked to drug peddlers were also attached in Udhampur district under relevant legal provisions, the police said.
Additional Superintendent of Police, Doda, Mohd Aslam said three persons, including a woman, were detained during a raid on a house at Dak Mohalla in the main town following recovery of 85 grams of suspected brown sugar and over Rs 23 lakh on Sunday evening.
He identified the woman as Zareena Begum, stating that she had been under police surveillance following inputs indicating her involvement in drug peddling.
Besides Zareena, officials said her daughter and son-in-law were also picked up by police during the raid.
“We have taken three individuals into custody. Their roles are being examined, and based on that, arrests will be made. We are continuing raids at other suspected locations,” Aslam said.
Three drug peddlers --Pardeep Singh of Hiranagar, Rahees Butt of Billawar and Ali Sen of Amritsar (Punjab) -- were arrested along with heroin at different places in Kathua district, a police spokesman said.
He said while 2.79 gm of heroin was seized from Singh, 2.66 gm were recovered Butt. Similarly, 303 gm of heroin was seized from Sen who was intercepted near Berrian-Pattan village while moving in a private car from Bhagthali to Maggar Khad on the Jammu-Pathankot highway.
All the three were booked under the NDPS Act and further investigations are on, the spokesman said.
In Udhampur, the spokesman said properties worth Rs 73 lakh were attached in two separate cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.
The attached properties included a newly constructed residential house, a car, a motorcycle and a mobile phone with a total value of Rs 65 Lakh, belonging to accused Saif Ali who was booked under the NDPS case in Majalta area early this year, he said.
In another action, movable property worth Rs 8 lakh comprising a car, belonging to accused Danish Butt of Doda has been attached under Section 68(F) NDPS Act in connection with an FIR registered at Rehambal police station, the spokesman said.
