Attempt to murder RSS worker, 6 held in Bengaluru
Bengaluru, Jan 17: A Bengaluru terror module has been busted with the arrest of six members of the Social Democratic Party of India who had allegedly attempted to kill an RSS worker on December 22 for taking part in a pro-CAA rally, police said on Friday.
The arrested have been identified as Irfan, Syed Akbar, Syed Siddiqui, Akbar Basha, Sanaulla and Sadiq Amin alias 'Sound Amin', all residents of KG Halli in the city, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Bhaskar Rao told reporters here.
BJP Bengaluru south MP Tejasvi Surya and right wing leader Chakravarthy Sulibele were among the prominent speakers at last month's pro-Citizenship Amendment Act rally.
According to Rao, the SDPI members reached the venue on three stolen motorcycles. They wanted to storm into the crowd initially but due to heavy police presence, they could not.
They wanted to create a panic situation by hurling stones so that people will flee deserting their leaders making it easier to eliminate their targets, the commissioner said.
However, the stones missed the target.
They later decided to zero in on RSS worker Varun who was supplying water and taking care of the participants at the rally.When he was on his way home, the SDPI activists waylaid and attacked him, Rao said.
According to the commissioner, Varun survived due to timely medical assistance.
They wanted to carry out the act to create a lot of disturbance in the city, Rao said.
"All of them are from the SDPI and they wanted to carry out the dastardly act to create lot of disturbance in Bengaluru City on December 22," Rao told reporters here.
They were being paid Rs 10,000 per month from their handlers to carry out their agenda, the commissioner said, adding the matter has now been handed over to the Anti-Terror Squad.
In addition to it, a Special Investigation Team will be formed to ensure that such people do not create any disturbance, Rao said.
"We are not going to spare anyone whoever their handlers and financiers are whether inside the country or outside.I am constituting an SIT to see that such people do not create any disturbance," Rao said.
The arrested members were all radicalised and their agenda was to recruit cadres, train and radicalise them, cause destruction and kill prominent people to cause mass disturbance in the city, he said.
"We have named them as the Bengaluru terror module of chapter-1. All of them are in our custody. They wanted to kill the main speakers of the event (pro-Citizenship Amendment Act rally)," Rao said.
After the incident, a special team was formed which examined footage of more than 700 CCTV cameras, identified and nabbed the perpetrators of the crime.
Besides registering a case of attempt to murder, cases have been booked against them for creating enmity between two religious communities and under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, Rao said.
Reacting to the arrest, Tejasvi Surya said "SDPI is an organisation, which has not been banned yet. The SDPI has become strong because the then chief minister Siddaramaiah dropped cases against its members."
He called the arrest only a tip of the iceberg and said he would bring the activities of the SDPI to the notice of Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
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England sticking with Key, McCullum and Stokes despite Ashes humbling
London (AP): England is not sacking anybody following the 4-1 Ashes loss in Australia.
A review of the tour by the England and Wales Cricket Board, announced within hours of the final match in January, was concluded on Monday. Firing people would “be the easy thing to do,” ECB chief executive Richard Gould said but he insisted, "This is not the time to throw everything out."
Managing director Rob Key, coach Brendon McCullum and captain Ben Stokes kept their jobs after the best England side to go to Australia in 14 years lost the Ashes in 11 days with two games to spare.
“Moving people on can sometimes be the easy thing to do. That's not the route that we're going to take,” Gould said. “I've seen the driving ambition and determination that we're lucky enough to have within our leadership group to take the lessons from the Ashes and move forward.”
Gould previously was the chief executive of Bristol City soccer club and said the ECB would not follow the same route as soccer's hire-and-fire culture.
“Cricket is a very unique sport in that it takes a team of leadership ... it's not like football where there's a single point of failure or success with a manager," he said. He added the ECB would not “select or deselect management based on a popularity campaign.”
The main criticisms of England's tour were poor preparation, player misbehavior, and selection mistakes.
At a press conference at Lord's, Gould and Key said McCullum and Stokes have not had a “bust up,” they did not want McCullum to “completely change” but “to evolve,” the behavior of some players was “unprofessional,” there will be more consequences for underperforming, and a commitment to “better long-term planning” ahead of major test series.
Some changes were already implemented for the Twenty20 World Cup, where England reached the semifinals. Gould implied that performance saved McCullum.
Key acknowledged that England supporters would be disappointed to see the management team go unpunished.
“I know people want punishment and that people then should be sacked for that,” Key said. “That doesn't mean we don't feel like we've gone through some serious pain: Brendon, myself, Ben. It's been as tough a time as I think I've had.”
