Chhattisgarh set for first-phase poll

Kanpur, Jul 11: "The Uttar Pradesh administration has done the right thing by taking action against my son," said an old and feeble Ram Kumar Dubey, father of gangster Vikas Dubey.

The father said his son killed eight police officials and it was an unforgivable sin.

"Had he listened to us, his life would not have ended this way. Vikas never helped us in any way. Due to him, even our ancestral property was razed to the ground. He also killed eight policemen, which is an unforgivable sin. The administration has done the right thing. Had they not done so, tomorrow others would have acted similarly," Ram Kumar said.

"It is the chief minister's duty to protect every individual. The police is an extension of that. He attacked them which cannot be forgiven. I will not even take part in his cremation," he added.

Ram Kumar Dubey said that his only appeal to the government is to allow him entry to his ancestral property now.

Vikas Dubey was cremated at Bhairav Ghat in Kanpur. His wife, younger son and brother-in-law were present and no other member of his family attended the last rites.

Vikas Dubey was arrested by the police in Ujjain on Thursday morning. He was on the run for the last six days and had come to the city to offer prayers at a temple, where he was identified by a security guard.

He was killed in an encounter by the Uttar Pradesh Police earlier today after he "attempted to flee".

The gangster was the main accused in the encounter that took place in Bikru village in Chaubeypur area of Kanpur last week, in which a group of assailants opened fire on a police team, which had gone to arrest him.

Eight police personnel were killed in the encounter.

Vikas Dubey managed to escape after the incident. Uttar Pradesh police had launched a hunt and raised a bounty on him for Rs 5 lakh.

Thiruvananthapuram, Mar 31: Kerala Chief

Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday said the government has collected the details of those who took part from the state in recent religious congregations in Nizamuddin and Malaysia and it needs to be examined if they have any health issues.

"Police have already made detailed examination in this regard. Thelist of participants have been given through respectivedistrictcollectors. Necessary precautions will be made in the concerned districts in this regard," Vijayan told reporters here.

The government has the exact number of participants and thedetails of the districts they are hailing from, he said.

Meanwhile, Pathananthitta police said they have identified 6 persons in the district in connection with the Nizamuddin congregation.

"Three persons had taken part in the congregation, of them one hadalready died. One person is in quarantine in the district while theother is located now in Thiruvananrhapuram," a senior police officialtold PTI.

The others are not participants but had travelled to Delhi along with them, he said.

In the nearby Alappuzha district, three persons have been identified in connection with the congregation, police said.

"They have been in quarantine and under the surveillance of thehealth department since they have reached back the state from Delhi," another official said.

Several people, who had attended the religious congregation at Nizamuddin in the national capital are suspected to be having symptoms of Covid19, even as at least 24 have tested positive.

Feb 2: The Supreme court on Monday decided to hear on March 4 a plea seeking registration of FIRs against politicians for hate speeches which allegedly led to violence in the national capital.

A bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde agreed to hear the plea filed by riots victims.

The petition was mentioned for urgent listing by senior advocate Colin Gonsalves, appearing for the riots victims.

Gonsalves said that the Delhi High Court has deferred for four weeks the matters related to riots in the national capital despite the fact that people are still dying due to the recent violence.