Congress claims special Parliament session being considered on Emergency anniversary
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New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Thursday claimed that a special session of Parliament is being considered next month to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency, and said this will be yet another classic exercise in "diversion and distraction" from real and more urgent issues by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said that at a time when the BJP should be targeting Pakistan and terrorists, it is only interested in attacking the Congress.
Ramesh said that from the night of April 22nd itself, the Indian National Congress has been calling for an all-party meeting on the Pahalgam terror attack and its fallout to be chaired by the PM himself.
That has yet to take place, he said.
"On May 10th, both the LoP in the Lok Sabha and the LoP in the Rajya Sabha wrote to the PM requesting for a special session of Parliament to be convened and to demonstrate the nation's collective resolve through a resolution. The PM has NOT accepted that suggestion as well," Ramesh said in a post on X.
"Now it appears that a special session of Parliament is being considered for June 25-26 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Emergency," Ramesh claimed.
There was no immediate response from the government or the BJP.
The Congress leader said, "This will be yet another classic exercise in diversion and distraction from real and more urgent issues by the PM - the man who has placed the nation under an undeclared Emergency for 11 years and the man who refuses to answer why the Pahalgam terrorists are still absconding, why he allowed President Trump to broker a ceasefire, and why he gave a clean chit to China publicly on June 19th, 2020?"
Later, speaking with PTI, Ramesh said instead of talking about the present issues and challenges, they want to discuss what happened 50 years ago.
He also reiterated the demand that a special session be called and the resolution of February 1994 on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir be reiterated and updated in view of India and Pakistan both becoming nuclear powers and new challenges having emerged, especially the "jugalbandi" that has been formed between Pakistan and China.
He also asked why the terrorists of the Pahalgam terror attack have not been caught.
"When they should be targeting Pakistan and terrorists, the BJP is only interested in targeting and attacking the Congress," Ramesh said.
The Congress has been asking Prime Minister Modi to break his "silence" on the Trump administration's repeated claims on how the India-Pakistan "ceasefire" was brought about.
The US President has been repeatedly claiming that he helped settle the tensions between India and Pakistan.
India carried out precision strikes under Operation Sindoor on terror infrastructure early on May 7 in response to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack that killed 26 people.
Following the Indian action, Pakistan attempted to attack Indian military bases on May 8, 9 and 10. The Indian forces launched a fierce counter-attack on several Pakistani military installations.
India and Pakistan reached an understanding on May 10 to end the military confrontation after four days of intense cross-border drone and missile strikes.
On May 10, US President Donald Trump had claimed that India and Pakistan agreed to a full and immediate ceasefire after a long night of talks "mediated" by Washington.
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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.
