Two men allegedly forced to chant 'Jai Shri Ram' in Maharashtra
Aurangabad: Two men were allegedly forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" in Aurangabad city of Maharashtra by some unidentified persons, triggering tension in the area, police said Monday.
This is the second such incident in the city in last few days. Security has been stepped up in the city following the incident, a police official said.
Shaikh Amer, working with food ordering app Zomato, and his friend Shaikh Nasir were waiting to hire an auto-rickshaw in Azad Chowk area on Sunday night when four to five men in a car allegedly intercepted the duo, abused their religious identity and threatened to kill them if they did not say "Jai Shri Ram", he said.
The two men, out of fear, then chanted "Jai Shri Ram", he said. Later, on seeing some passers-by, those in the car fled, he said. The two men then complained to the police about the incident.
Auragabad Commissioner of Police Chiranjeev Prasad said, "A complaint has been received of two youths intercepted and forced to chant 'Jai Shriram' by four to five men in a car. We are trying to identify the vehicle and the accused. Strict action would be taken against them."
The situation is under control, he said, and urged residents to help the police in maintaining law and order.
Last Friday, a hotel employee, Imran Ismail Patel, was allegedly thrashed by a group of unidentified persons and forced to chant "Jai Shri Ram" near Hudco Corner in Begumpura area of the city.
One person was later arrested in connection with that incident.
Incidents of members of the minority community being cornered and forced to say "Jai Shri Ram" or 'hail Lord Ram' have been reported recently from various parts of the country, including Thane in Maharashtra.
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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.
