Yati Narsinghanand detained in Ghaziabad after FIR over alleged hate speech against Prophet Muhammad
Ghaziabad: Yati Narsinghanand Saraswati, the mahant of Dasna Devi Temple and a controversial Hindu seer, has been detained by the police in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, following a First Information Report (FIR) filed against him for allegedly delivering a blasphemous speech against Prophet Muhammad. The FIR was registered on Thursday, based on a complaint by a police officer from the Sihani Gate police station.
According to the complaint, the seer made inflammatory remarks during an event at Hindi Bhavan in Lohia Nagar, Ghaziabad, on September 29. The police took action after a video of the alleged speech went viral on social media. The FIR has been lodged under s. 302 of the Indian Penal Code for hurting the religious sentiments of the Muslim community.
Following the incident, protests erupted at various places in Ghaziabad and other parts of Western Uttar Pradesh on Friday night. Members of the Muslim community demanded strict action against Narsinghanand. The Uttarakhand unit of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) also called for stringent measures against the seer, with its state president, Nayyer Kazmi, accusing the authorities of shielding him due to political favoritism.
This is not the first time Narsinghanand has come under scrutiny for his controversial statements. He was previously arrested in 2022 for making hate speeches and, in December 2021, urged Hindus to arm themselves during a gathering at the 'Dharm Sansad' in Haridwar.
The police have stated that further action will be taken after a detailed examination of the viral video.
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'Low-quality' catheters supplied to West Bengal govt hospitals at high price, probe ordered
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal health department has launched a probe into the supplies of allegedly low-quality and locally made catheters at a high price to several government hospitals, posing a risk to the lives of patients undergoing treatment in these facilities, officials said.
Such central venous catheters (CVCs) were allegedly supplied to at least five medical colleges and hospitals in the state, defying allocation of international standard-compliant CVCs, they said.
The distribution company, which has been accused of supplying these catheters to government hospitals, admitted to the fault but placed the blame on its employees.
"We started checking stocks some time back and found these locally made CVCs in my hospital store. These catheters are of low quality as compared to those allocated by the state. We have informed the state health department," a senior official of the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital told PTI.
Low-quality catheters were also found in the stores of other hospitals, which indicates "possible involvement of insiders in the scam", a health department official said.
The low-quality CVCs were supplied by a distributor in the Hatibagan area in the northern part of Kolkata for the last three to four months, he said.
"Such kinds of local CVCs are priced around Rs 1,500 but the distributor took Rs 4,177 for each device," the official said.
A CVC is a thin and flexible tube that is inserted into a vein to allow for the administration of fluids, blood, and other treatment. It's also clinically called a central line catheter.
"An initial probe revealed that the distribution company Prakash Surgical had supplied the low-quality and locally manufactured catheters to several government hospitals instead of the CVCs of the government-designated international company.
"All the units will be tested and a proper investigation is on to find out who benefited from these supplies," the health department official said.
The distribution company blamed its employees for the supply of inferior quality catheters.
"I was sick for a few months. Some employees of the organisation made this mistake. We are taking back all those units that have gone to the hospitals. It's all about misunderstanding," an official of the distribution company told PTI.
According to another state health department official, a complaint was lodged with the police in this connection.
Asked about how many patients were affected by the usage of such low-quality CVCs, the official said, "The probe would also try to find that out".
According to sources in the health department, some of the staff of the hospitals' equipment receiving departments and some local officials of international organisations might be involved in the alleged irregularities.
