IT raids at Madurai Adheenam (mutt)

May 5, 2012

mutt

Madurai, May 5: Income tax officials today conducted a raid at the Madurai Adheenam (mutt) which has been in the limelight following the appointment of the controversial self-styled godman Nityananda as head of the 1500-year-old Saivaite Mutt.

Officials, who entered the mutt early this morning, sealed all exit points and started checking the strong room.

Officials said they were conducting the raid on orders from their Delhi counterparts and they had seized some documents and cash but declined to give details.

They assessed the value of the "golden" crown and "golden" throne, which was brought to the mutt before anointment of Nityananda as the 293rd mutt head besides the jewellery in the mutt premises, IT officials said.

Nityananda had claimed recently that he would be spending Rs.five crore,and send five management students to manage the affairs of the mutt which has properties worth Rs.1200 Crore.

The officials also made inquiries with the Adheenam Arunagirinatha Gnanasambandha Desiga Paramacharya Swami.

Mutt officials said rent collected from various shopping complex buildings was nominal,and their accounts were audited both by the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments department and their own auditors. They said the Adheenam (mutt head) would be offered "Padakanikai" (money given by devotees),which was exempted from Income Tax.

Nityananda's appointment as Mutt head on April 27 has triggered a controversy with many religious leaders and political outfits protesting against it.

Nityananda, who is the first person outside the Saiva Velalar community to be appointed as Mutt chief, had landed in a controversy after a video footage showing him in a compromising position with an actress was telecast by local TV channels in March 2010. He was arrested on Apr 21, 2010 from Solan in Himachal Pradesh and granted bail on June 11, 2010 by the Karnataka High Court.

The Madurai Aadheenam has reportedly existed since time immemorial.However, it was revived around 1500 years ago by Tirujnana Sambandar, one of the four visionary saints of South Indian Shaiva Siddhanta philosophy.

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News Network
June 10,2020

Bengaluru, Jun 10: Congress' Rajya Sabha candidate from Karnataka and senior leader Mallikarjun Kharge and his son received threat calls on Sunday, with the latter filing a complaint with the state police chief. Kharge, a former Union Minister, received the call in the wee hours of Sunday on his landline while his son Priyank later got a call from a private number on his mobile phone.

Priyank lodged a complaint with the Director-General of Police Praveen Sood and former MLC Ramesh Babu shared the copy of the complaint on Twitter on Tuesday. In his complaint, Priyank Kharge stated that at about 1.30 am on Sunday, his father received a call on the landline where the caller spoke in Hindi and English and used invective against the Congress veteran.

The caller, according to the complaint, spoke about the Rajya Sabha election and threatened Kharge. Police are looking into the matter. Kharge is the Congress' pick for the June 19 Rajya Sabha election from Karnataka. JD(S) supremo and former Prime Minister Deve Gowda and two BJP candidates have also filed nominations for the election to the upper House.

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Agencies
July 30,2020

Ahead of the grand foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Ram Temple on August 5, Ayodhya priest and 16 police personnel, involved in the mega event on August 5, have tested positive for COVID-19. Priest Pradeep Das is one of the four priests who regularly perform puja at the Ram Temple site in Ayodhya.

Das has been placed under home quarantine and contact tracing is underway, reported.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh police and Sashastra Seema Bal have been put on high alert in the districts bordering Nepal ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Ayodhya on August 5.

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On July 29, Uttar Pradesh reported a record single-day spike of 3,570 COVID-19 cases, taking the infection tally to more than 77,000, while 33 fresh fatalities pushed the death toll to 1,530.

"There are 29,997 active COVID-19 cases in the state and 45,807 patients have been discharged after treatment," Additional Chief Secretary, Medical and Health, Amit Mohan Prasad told reporters. "The death toll due to the disease has reached 1,530," he said.

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News Network
February 26,2020

Feb 26: In a midnight hearing, the Delhi High Court directed police to ensure safe passage to government hospitals and emergency treatment for those injured in the communal violence erupted in northeast Delhi over the amended citizenship law.

The court held a special hearing, which started at 12:30 am, at the residence of Justice S Muralidhar after receiving a call from an advocate explaining the dire circumstances under which the victims were unable to be removed from a small hospital to the GTB Hospital.

A bench of Justices S Muralidhar and Anup J Bhambhani directed the Delhi Police to ensure safe passage of the injured victims by deploying all resources at its command and on the strength of this order as well as to make sure they receive immediate emergency treatment if not at the Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital then at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) or Maulana Azad or any other hospital.

The bench also called for a status report of compliance, including information about the injured victims and the treatment offered to them, and the matter will be heard during the day at 2:15 pm.

It said the order be communicated to the medical superintendents of the GTB and the LNJP Hospitals.

The urgent hearing was conducted after advocate Suroor Mander called the judge and sought urgent orders for safe passage of ambulances for the injured.

The Delhi Police and the government were represented through additional standing counsel Sanjoy Ghose.

During the hearing, the bench spoke over phone to doctor Anwar of the Al-hind Hospital in New Mustafabad who told the court that there were two bodies and 22 injured persons there and he had been trying to seek police assistance since 4 pm on Tuesday without success.

The court then directed the senior officials to reach to the hospital forthwith, following which they started the process of evacuating the injured to the nearest hospitals.

It also said this order be brought to the knowledge of the Delhi Police Commissioner.

Communal violence over the amended citizenship law in northeast Delhi claimed at least 18 lives till Wednesday.

On Tuesday, the violence escalated in northeast Delhi as police struggled to check the rioters who ran amok on streets, burning and looting shops, pelting stones and thrashing people.

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