Organised, brutal riots worse than Gujarat inevitable in West Bengal, says actor Prakash Belawadi
Deletes post later
Bengaluru: Renowned actor Prakash Belawadi on Tuesday courted controversy after he said in a Facebook post that a large-scale Hindu-Muslim riot worse than the Gujarat riots of 2002 was inevitable in West Bengal. He also added that it was already too late to stop it from happening.
In the post, Prakash recalled an incident from 2002 when the Gujarat riots took place and added “On that morning of 27 February, when 59 pilgrims were burnt alive in a train at Godhra, a liberal friend, with whom I am no longer friends, called me from Ahmedabad: That will teach these Sanghis a lesson, he said or something to that effect. I said the retaliation would be swift and terrible. It was…”
Stating that the Gujarat riots were practically one-sided given Muslims made up only 8% of Gujarat’s population, he said it will be different in West Bengal as its 30% population is Muslim. He went on to add that it will not be a factor to stop the riot from happening and that it will come “in the fullness of time”.
“Of course, that riot was practically one-sided since Muslims made up only 8% of the population in Gujarat. In West Bengal, it’s different: the Muslim population is over 30%. The retaliation won’t be swift. But make no mistake, it will come in the fullness of time, a Hindu-Muslim riot. When it does, it will be tragic, brutal, and organized. The state govt which seems cool about it now, and the liberals who seem to think the Sanghis deserve it, will have a reckoning” he said while adding “It’s already too late to stop it. It is sickeningly inevitable”.
The post anguished users who were quick to object to it prompting Prakash to delete the post. “Now that the argument is going ad hominem, I’m going off FB for a few months. Bye,” he wrote before deleting the post.
When Vartha Bharati contacted Prakash on the matter, the actor disconnected the calls saying he will not comment on the issue.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
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.
