Sri Lanka deports arrested Indian journalist

December 29, 2013

indian_journoChennai/Colombo, Dec 29: Tamil Prabakaran (24), a Tamil Nadu-based journalist arrested in Colombo on Thursday reached Chennai on Saturday after he was deported by the Sri Lankan government.

"I was tortured psychologically by the Lankan army personnel," Prabakaran said soon after landing in Chennai. Speaking to reporters at the airport, Prabhakaran denied violating any rules while visiting Killinochchi. "I will fight for the Tamil cause and will approach the UN Human Rights Council against the abuses by Sri Lanka," he said.

Prabhakaran was arrested by the Lankan army personnel for allegedly filming military installations in Killinochchi, a former LTTE stronghold, without media credentials.

Prabakaran was deported and sent back on a Chennai flight at 6.40pm (local time), police spokesman Ajith Rohana said in Colombo.

Prabakaran was earlier handed over to immigration authorities after being questioned by the police's Terrorism Investigation Division. After the questioning, all the footage shot by Prabakaran was deleted. "As such there was no reason for him to be prosecuted," Rohana said.

Prabakaran, arrested on Wednesday, allegedly filmed a military camp, a road and buildings devastated during the ethnic war. Police said Prabakaran had arrived in Sri Lanka on a tourist visa and violated rules by not informing authorities that he was on an assignment to report from the former war zone.

Local media described him as a LTTE sympathiser. Indian diplomats were granted consular access to Prabakaran before he was deported. There is no official censorship in Sri Lanka but foreign journalists have to submit their passport to the military before entering the erstwhile LTTE stronghold.

Kilinochchi was the administrative centre of the Tamil rebels until January 2009, when Sri Lankan forces recaptured the city.

Political parties and journalist federations in Chennai and other parts of the state had voiced their concern over the arrest of Prabakaran and wanted the Centre to intervene to seek his release.

"Prabakaran was a journalist and had every right to visit any country on a tourist visa and the freedom to meet people," said MDMK chief Vaiko. He said Prabakaran had accompanied Sri Lankan Tamil MP S Sritharan and Pasupathi Pillai, an elected member of the Northern Province council, when they visited Ponnavili, a village in Kilinochchi district. "When Sritharan and Prabhakaran were interacting with a Christian priest, they were surrounded by Sri Lankan armymen and taken into custody. The army released Sritharan in the evening," he claimed.

The Chennai Press Club and Chennai Union of Journalists wrote to the external affairs ministry, explaining that Prabakaran had written a series of articles in a Tamil journal about the plight of Sri Lankan Tamils, which was subsequently published as a book.

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News Network
July 11,2020

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.

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News Network
June 15,2020

Palghar, Jun 15: A 22-year-old man who got married three days ago tested positive for novel coronavirus on Monday leading to the bride and 63 others who attended the function being quarantined in Palghar district in Maharashtra, an official said.

Jawhar Tehsildar Santosh Shinde said the man is a laboratory assistant.

"He got tested before marriage and the report had returned negative. However, his samples tested positive after marriage. The bride and 63 others who attended the ceremony have been quarantined," he said.

Palghar currently has 1,911 COVID-19 cases and 61 people have died of the infection so far.

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News Network
March 21,2020

New Delhi, Mar 21: A couple was deboarded from a Delhi-bound Rajdhani train on Saturday after co-passengers observed a home quarantine seal on the husband's hand, the Railways said Saturday.

Officials said the Delhi-based couple boarded the Bangalore City-New Delhi Rajdhani at Secunderabad on Saturday morning.

When the train reached Kazipet in Telangana at 9:45 am, a co-passenger noticed the quarantine mark authorities are putting on suspected coronavirus cases —on the husband's hand when he was washing his hands. Other co-passengers then informed the TTE onboard.

The train was briefly detained and the couple was taken to a hospital. The coach was completely sanitised in Kazipet and was locked, officials said.

The air conditioning was also switched off.

The train left for its destination at 11.30 am.

People fleeing quarantine has been a common problem reported from different parts of the country.

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