Midnight swoop: Five agitating FTII students arrested

August 19, 2015

Pune, Aug 19: In a post-midnight swoop, Maharashtra police arrested five students of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) from the campus for rioting, damaging properties and other charges.

nbsThe arrests came after a group of striking students confined FTII Director Prashant Pathrabe and other staffers in his office for eight hours, and vandalised office furniture and fittings on Monday.

The students, numbering more than two dozen, were protesting against what they alleged was "irrational and unjustified" pro-rata course project assessment of the 2008 batch.

"The students shouted slogans in his office, physically prevented him and other staffers from leaving the office, snapped communication lines and damaged office computers. They demanded that he should immediately cancel the project assessment or they would not release them," an official said on Wednesday.

The students also formed a human chain to stop Pathrabe from stepping out, threw rapid fire questions at him repeatedly, shouted slogans like "PM Narendra Modi & Arun Jaitley murdabad" and caused mental torture to the officials.

Following the incident, Pathrabe lodged a complaint with Deccan Police Station late Tuesday. The police swung into action by registering a FIR against 15 students and sent teams to the campus at around 12.45 a.m.

In the action, at least five were picked up and arrested on various charges, including rioting under the Indian Penal Code, and other non-bailable offences, around 2 a.m., the police official said.

They will be produced before a magistrate later today.Police teams are on the lookout for the others, including at least three women, who they believe maybe hiding in or around the FTII campus.

The police crackdown caps the 72 day old agitation in which a section of the students are opposing the appointment of BJP member and TV actor Gajendra Chauhan as FTII chairman.

Last week Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi visited the FTII and expressed solidarity with the students. Later, he took a delegation of the FTII students to meet President Pranab Mukherjee.

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Agencies
August 5,2020

Ayodhya, Aug 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday recalled the significance of the path of 'maryada' associated with Lord Ram in the backdrop of the situation created by COVID-19 and emphasised the importance of social distancing and wearing face masks.

He said that the current situation demands 'maryada' should be 'do gaz ki doori, mask hai zaroori' and exhorted everyone to follow it.

In his speech after laying the foundation stone of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, the Prime Minister said the temple of Lord Ram will inspire and guide humans for ages to come.

He said that the path of `maryada' followed by Lord Ram is all the more necessary today in the situation created by COVID-19.

"The `maryada' (need) today is do gaj ki doori, mask hai jaroori (keep distance of two yards, wear mask). The Almighty may keep all the citizens healthy and happy, this is my prayer. The blessings of Mother Sita and Shri Ram be always there on the citizens," he said.

The Prime Minister termed the occasion as historic and said that India is starting a glorious chapter when people across the country are excited and emotional to have finally achieved what they had been waiting for centuries.

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News Network
May 18,2020

New Delhi, May 18: With the highest-ever spike of 5,242 new cases in last 24 hours, the total number of positive COVID-19 cases in India reached 96,169 on Monday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

With 157 deaths reported in the last 24 hours, the death toll has risen to 3,029, as per the latest update by the ministry.

Out of the total number of cases, 36,824 have been cured/discharged/migrated.

This comes a day after the nationwide lockdown, imposed as a precautionary measure to contain the spread of COVID-19, was extended till May 31.

Maharashtra remains the worst-affected state due to the virus with 33,053 cases, including 1,198 deaths. It is followed by Gujarat (11,379), Tamil Nadu (11,224) and Delhi (10,054).

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News Network
January 17,2020

Mumbai, Jan 17: A 68-year-old convict of the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case, Jalees Ansari, went missing on Thursday morning while being on parole, officials said.

Ansari, a resident of Mominpura in Agripada here who is serving a life term, is suspected to be involved in many bomb blast cases across the country, an official said.

He was on parole for 21 days from the Ajmer Central Prison, Rajasthan, and was expected to surrender before prison authorities on Friday, he said.

During the parole period, he was ordered to visit the Agripada Police Station everyday between 10.30 am and 12 pm to mark his attendance, he said.

However, Ansari did not visit the police station on Thursday during the designated time, the official said.

In the afternoon, his 35-year-old son Jaid Ansari approached the police station with a complaint about his “missing” father, he said.

According to the complaint, Jalees Ansari woke up in the early hoursand told family members he is going to offer namaz, but did not return home.

On his complaint, the Agripada Police registered a missing case, he said.

The Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police and the Maharashtra ATS have launched a massive manhunt to trace him, he said.

Jalees, who is known as Doctor Bomb, was allegedly connected with terror outfits like SIMI and Indian Mujahidin and taught terror groups how to make bombs, he said.

He was also questioned by the NIA in 2011 in connection with the 2008 bomb blast in Mumbai, he said.

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