Cong leader Pradeep Eshwar raises doubts over CJ Roy’s death, asks if he shot himself or was shot
Bengaluru: Congress leader and Chikballapura MLA Pradeep Eshwara raised doubts over the death of Businessman CJ Roy during IT raids at his office in Bengaluru. He was addressing press persons in the city on Saturday.
“Did he really shoot himself using a pistol or did someone shoot him?,” Eshwar stated, raising suspicion.
C.J. Roy allegedly committed suicide on Friday. According to reports, the 57-year-old Confident Group Chairman allegedly shot himself using a pistol during Income Tax Raids at the Confident Group’s headquarters in Langford Town here.
Several media reports have claimed that Roy took the extreme over severe stress following repeated Income Tax raids on companies linked to him.
Speaking after a talent award ceremony for SSLC and PUC students held during the ongoing Kanakotsava celebrations in Kanakapura, he stated that there was no CCTV footage from the scene of the incident and that only Income Tax Department officials were present at the time. “We do not know what happened inside,” he added.
Furthermore, Eshwar alleged that as per his preliminary information, the Bharatiya Janata Party had forced Roy to find crores of rupees for elections. “They (BJP) were targeting Roy for refusing to give money. Our country cannot develop with such a corrupt BJP,” he said.
He also questioned the BJP’s silence over the issue, he asked, “Not only Ashokanna, Sunilanna, Yatnal, but also a monkey from Mysuru who keeps talking about everything. Why is no one speaking out about this?”
“The BJP is not allowing a common man to earn money. Roy has no debt, no problem. Income Tax officials have been harassing him for the past one month. If BJP is at the Centre, this harassment will continue,” he said, demanding an SIT investigation into the case.
SIT formed to probe the case
Meanwhile, Bengaluru Police on Saturday announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the death of C.J. Roy.
In a statement, police said that Bengaluru City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh has ordered a comprehensive and meticulous investigation into the case and transferred the probe to the SIT. The team will be headed by Joint Commissioner of Police (West Zone) C. Vamshi Krishna.
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Environment ministry endorses names of 10-member expert committee set up to define Aravalli hills
New Delhi (PTI): The Union Environment Ministry has told the Supreme Court that it has no objection with the Central Empowered Committee's proposed 10-member high-powered expert committee which has been tasked to come up with a uniform definition for the Aravalli hills and ranges.
In an affidavit filed before the top court, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has endorsed the names suggested for the high-powered expert committee comprising in-service and retired bureaucrats associated with the Forest Survey of India (FSI), Geological Survey of India (GSI) and Survey of India, along with academicians.
"The MoEFCC respectfully submits that it has no objection if this court as the aforesaid suggested names for the constitution of the proposed High Powered Committee. It is further submitted that the Ministry does not have any additional names to propose at this stage for inclusion in the said committee," the affidavit said.
The committee is proposed to be headed by Kanchan Devi, the current director general of the Indian Council of Forestry Research & Education.
The MoEF, in its affidavit, said the aspects relating to the Aravalli Hills and Ranges require a comprehensive and analytical examination, including stakeholder consultation, by a group of domain experts in the relevant fields.
The CEC in its report to the apex court said Devi, a 1991 Indian Forest Service officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, has over three decades of experience in forestry education and research, wildlife and forest policy, and institutional leadership.
The other members include Subhash Ashutosh, former director general of FSI,
former GSI director Rajendra Kumar Sharma, climate and energy policy expert Tejal Kanitkar, senior academician and life sciences researcher Jaya Parkash Yadav, senior geographer and scholar Tejbir Singh Rana, former additional surveyor general of India SV Singh, former Gujarat principal chief conservator of forests CN Pandey, and former Nagaland PCCF Dharmendra Prakash.
The CEC also recommended names of RN Mishra, a noted author and Vijay Dhasmana, an ecological restoration practitioner and conservationist.
On February 26, the top court had asked the environment ministry and other stakeholders to suggest names of domain experts for the panel which would define the Aravalli hills and ranges, and observed that only lawful mining would be allowed in the region.
The top court, on December 29, took note of the outcry over the new definition of the Aravallis and kept in abeyance its November 20 directions that accepted a uniform definition of these hills and ranges. It had also stalled all mining activities.
It remarked that there was a need to resolve "critical ambiguities", including whether the criteria of 100-metre elevation and the 500-metre gap between hills would strip a significant portion of the range of environmental protection.
