Two aides of Gujarat BJP leader arrested for ex-MLA's killing: Police
Ahmedabad, Jan 24: Police Thursday arrested two aides of Gujarat BJP leader and former MLA Chhabil Patel in connection with the killing of ex-party legislator Jayanti Bhanushali, who was shot dead in a moving train.
Chhabil Patel fled to Muscat a week before the murder.
His two aides Nitin Patel and Rahul Patel were arrested by the Gujarat CID, which is probing the case, the police said.
Both played a "key role" in taking care of two "sharp shooters" brought from Maharashtra by Chhabil Patel and a woman suspect, Manisha Goswami, to execute the crime, said Additional Director General of Police, CID-Crime, Ajay Tomar.
Bhanushali, who once represented Abdasa in Kutch district in the assembly, was shot dead in a moving train on January 8. The incident took place when the train was between Bhachau and Samkhiyali stations in Kutch, the police had said.
Investigations till now have revealed that both Chhabil Patel and Manisha Goswami harboured a grudge against Bhanushali and decided to join hands to eliminate their common rival, Tomar told reporters in Gandhinagar.
The sharp-shooters allegedly hired by Chhabil Patel and Manisha Goswami were identified as Shashikant Kamble and Ashraf Shaikh, both dreaded criminals from Pune, he said.
"Both Chhabil and Manisha had a grudge against Bhanushali over some issues, including financial dealings. Last year, Manisha was arrested by the Ahmedabad police for blackmailing Bhanushali's nephew, Sunil.
"She remained behind bars for around two months in that case," Tomar said.
"At that time, Chhabil Patel helped Manisha to come out of jail. Both of them had then decided to eliminate their common enemy Bhanushali.
"To do that, they hired two sharp shooters from Pune and kept them at Chhabil Patel's farmhouse in Kutch in December last year," the officer said.
It is alleged that Nitin Patel and Rahul Patel took care of these sharpshooters at Chhabil Patel's farmhouse, located in Reldi village near Bhuj town of Kutch district.
A meeting between Chhabil Patel, Manisha Goswami and other conspirators was held at the farmhouse on December 31. After finalising the plan, Chhabil Patel fled to Muscat on January 2, a week before the murder, said Tomar.
Bhanushali (53) was attacked when he was travelling in an air-conditioned coupe on the Bhuj-Dadar Express while returning to Ahmedabad from Bhuj.
Chhabil Patel, his son Siddharth Patel and Manisha Goswami were named as "suspects" in an FIR lodged by the Gandhidham railway police on January 9.
As planned by Patel, Goswami and others, the two sharpshooters boarded the train from Bhachau and allegedly shot Bhanushali in the early hours of January 8, said Tomar.
"The sharpshooters fired two rounds on Bhanushali as soon as he opened the door of his coupe upon hearing knocks. Kamble and Shaikh fled from the compartment after pulling the chain near Samakhiali station.
"They then fled to Pune via Radhanpur in a vehicle provided by their aides," said Tomar.
The police were yet to establish the whereabouts of Goswami, who was in Kutch till January 6 to provide support to the shooters in carrying out the murder plan, he said.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani said the police were taking all necessary action in the case and the "guilty will not be spared".
Bhanushali represented the Abdasa assembly seat from 2007 to 2012. Chhabil Patel, as the Congress candidate, had defeated him from Abdasa in the 2012 assembly elections.
Within two years, Chhabil Patel switched sides and joined the BJP, but lost the bypoll for the seat in 2014.
In the 2017 polls, the BJP chose Chhabil Patel over Bhanushali for the Abdasa seat, but he lost to the Congress candidate.
In his complaint to the Gandhidham railway police, Bhanushali's nephew Sunil Bhanushali had alleged Chhabil Patel held his uncle responsible for his defeat in 2014 and 2017 and held a grudge against him.
In the complaint, Sunil Bhanushali had also alleged that to end Jayanti Bhanushali's political career, Chhabil Patel and others made a CD which showed his uncle in a compromising position with a woman.
When Bhanushali refused to retire from politics as allegedly demanded by Chhabil Patel, the latter hatched the murder plan, the complaint said.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
_vb_22.jpeg)
