U.S. Elections 2024 results: Suhas Subramanyam wins Congressional race from Virginia
Washington (PTI): Suhas Subramanyam created history by becoming the first Indian American to be elected from Virginia and the entire East Coast.
Running for the US House of Representatives from the 10th Congressional District of Virginia, a Democratic stronghold, Subramanyam defeated Mike Clancy of the Republican Party.
He is currently a Virginia State Senator.
"I am honoured and humbled that the people of Virginia’s 10th District put their trust in me to take on the toughest fights and deliver results in Congress. This district is my home. I got married here, my wife Miranda and I are raising our daughters here, and the issues our community faces are personal to our family. It is an honour to continue serving this district in Washington," Subramanyam said.
He joins the Samosa Caucus in the Congress that currently comprises five Indian Americans – Ami Bera, Raja Krishnamoorthi, Ro Khanna, Pramila Jayapal and Shri Thanedar.
Shri Thanedar was re-elected for the second consecutive term.
He has represented the thirteenth Congressional District of Michigan since 2023.
Raja Krishnamoorthi, representing the seventh Congressional District of Illinois since 2017; was reelected.
Subramanyam’s parents arrived in the US -- through Dulles Airport -- in the late 70s.
“Dulles Airport was like their Ellis Island and when they came here they wanted a better life and we never imagined that someone like me named Suhas Subramanyam could be in the US Congress. But we want to make that a reality, and it starts with people coming out and voting in Virginia in November,” he told PTI in an earlier interview.
"My mom is from Bangalore, and my dad's from Chennai. He spent a lot of time in Secunderabad as well, because his father was in the military, so there was a military base there. They decided to come here to build a good life. My mother in particular really liked the idea of becoming a physician in America,” he said.
“She and my father met in medical school in Bangalore and then came out here in the late 70s. They just taught me a couple of values. One, service is very important, giving back, making a good life. Education is also important. One of the things they also wanted me to do was make sure I stay in touch with my Indian roots as well," he said. "So I would go back to India in the summers all the time. I still have family there. It's very important to me to continue that heritage and really not run just because I'm an Indian American, but I have a lot of ideas I want to do, but run being proud of my background, my heritage,” he had said.
Responding to a question, Subramanian advocated for a strong India-US relationship.
“The US-India relationship is so important because India is one of the most important democracies on earth. And so we want to make sure we have a good relationship with other democracies in the global sphere,” he said.
“The US and India have a naturally strong relationship. A lot of Indian Americans live here. We have a large Indian diaspora. A lot of Indian students come here to study. And a lot of US companies have offices in India. We have a strong economic partnership. I think now we can start to look at what a defence partnership could mean and how we can work together on technology transfer, on just having common strategic defence goals. I think that will be a very important relationship for both countries long term. And it's I think it's something that even setting aside the fact that I'm an American is something that I think will be really good for our country moving forward,” he said.
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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.
