Final arguments begin in two murder cases naming Dera chief

Agencies
September 16, 2017

Panchkula, Sept 16: Final arguments in the two murder cases naming jailed Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh began in a special CBI court today with his former driver filing an application to record a fresh statement against him.

The disgraced cult leader, who is lodged in Rohtak's Sunaria jail on charges of rape, appeared via video- conferencing. He has been named as the main conspirator in the cases.

His driver, Khatta Singh, approached the court seeking to record a fresh statement against the sect head, his counsel Navkiran Singh said.

Khatta, a witness in the murder cases, had retracted his statement in 2012. He had turned hostile as he was under pressure from Ram Rahim and his "goons", Navkiran alleged.

The court of Judge Jagdeep Singh posted the next date of hearing on his application for September 22.

The CBI court is hearing the cases of killings of journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati and former Dera manager Ranjit Singh.

Chhatrapati was shot at in October 2002 after a newspaper owned by him, 'Poora Sach', published an anonymous letter narrating how women were being sexually exploited by the sect head at the Dera headquarters.

Ranjit was allegedly shot dead in July 2002. According to the prosecution, he was murdered for his suspected role in circulating the anonymous letter which made the allegations of sexual exploitation.

In February 2011, Khatta had told the court that Ram Rahim had not ordered to kill anyone and had no role to play in Ranjit's murder.

The CBI judge granted permission for video-conferencing yesterday after Panchkula DCP Manbir Singh moved an application, contending that they cannot bring the Dera chief in person due to law and order problem.

Contingents of paramilitary troops and the Haryana Police have been deployed in Panchkula as security arrangements were tightened ahead of the hearing.

On August 25, after the CBI court convicted Ram Rahim for raping two of his female disciples, violence erupted in Panchkula and Sirsa in which 41 people died. The court sentenced him to 20 years in prison on August 28.

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News Network
June 30,2020

New Delhi, Jun 30: Amid calls for boycotting Chinese products after India-China face-off in eastern Ladakh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government claiming that imports from China have increased under the NDA regime.

"Facts don't lie. BJP says: Make in India. BJP does: Buy from China," Gandhi tweeted along with a graphic of the percentage of imports from China during the UPA rule and the NDA government.

The graphic claims that imports from China were at 12-13 per cent when the Congress-led UPA government vacated office in 2014 but now stood at 17-18 per cent in 2020.

The Congress leader has been vehemently targeting the Centre on the India-China border situation after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in violent face-off with Chinese troops in Ladakh's Galwan valley earlier this month.

Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties, including dead and seriously injured, in the face-off.

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Agencies
August 9,2020

New Delhi, Aug 9: Indian on Sunday achieved a grim milestone after recording the highest single-day spike of 64,399 coronavirus cases, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

As many as 861 deaths were reported in the country in the last 24 hours, taking the cumulative toll to 43,379.

With the new cases, the country's coronavirus count has reached 21,53,011 including 6,28,747 active cases and 14,80,885 cured/discharged/migrated.

Maharashtra has 1,47,355 active coronavirus cases, the highest in the country.

According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 7,19,364 samples were tested on August 8 while over 2.41 crores samples so far have been tested in the country.

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News Network
July 20,2020

New Delhi, Jul 20: India's COVID-19 case tally crossed the 11 lakh mark with the highest single-day spike of 40,425 new cases and 681 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry on Monday.

Total cases in the country now stand at 11,18,043 while the death toll is 27,497.
The Health Ministry said the total number of cases includes 3,90,459 active cases and 7,00,087 patients have been cured/discharged/migrated.

Maharashtra remains the worst affected state with 3,10,455 cases reported until Sunday.
Meanwhile, as per the information provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), 1,40,47,908 samples have been tested for COVID-19 till July 19, of these 2,56,039 samples were tested yesterday.

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