‘Secular alliance a must to defeat fascism in India’

Bengaluru, Jan 25: Several women have completed a 24-hour protest here against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and are going strong to stretch it to 48 hours.

"More than a thousand women gathered on the Masjid Road at Frazer Town to denounce the CAA and National Register of Citizens (NRC)," participant and Mount Carmel College student Noor Zahira told IANS.

The women protesters extended their support to the students in Jamia Millia Islamia, the Aligarh Muslim University, the Jawaharlal Nehru University and others who were recently roughed up allegedly by police and masked goons.

Zahira, 20, said the women's protest was planned only for 24 hours but is continuing to touch 48 hours.

Starting 3pm on Thursday, the women, several of them in burqas, niqabs and hijabs, are sitting on the road just outside the Haji Sait mosque in Frazer Town in a flash protest. Though they have informed the police, they did not wait for the permission. Around 11 pm, police arrived and shut off the protesters' loud speakers.

Zahira said already four such women's anti-CAA protests were taken out in Bengaluru. Women from all ages groups have joined the protest and are sloganeering.

As the women are protesting on the road, men are guarding them standing on the opposite road, ensuring all supplies such as food and others to them, she added.

"Muslim women were not alone in denouncing the CAA... we were joined by the transgenders, Hindu women, Christian women, Dalits and others, " she said.

Some of the protesters also indulged in creative work such as composing songs against the CAA and making placards.

Though four anti-CAA women's protests happened at the Town Hall and other landmarks in Bengaluru, they were only a few hours long.

The protesting women are also showing support to women protesters at Shaheen Bagh in Delhi who were accused of demonstrating for Rs 500. However, the protest did not align anti-CAA demonstration with any political party, keeping it apolitical.

Bengaluru, Jun 22: The Central Crime Branch (CCB) of Bengaluru Police has obtained the custody of an associate of gangster Ravi Pujari and is questioning him about his role in several cases against the gangster, the police said on Monday.

According to the police, Khan is convicted in the case related to the murder of a builder named Subba Rao in the year 2017. The accused has been identified as Yousuf Bacha Khan.

"Continuing the investigation of Ravi Poojary, CCB had obtained custody of Yousuf Bacha Khan, who is associate of Pujari. Khan was convicted in the Subba Rao murder case. He is being questioned about his role in other cases," Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sandeep Patil said.

The CCB had recently filed two charge sheets against gangster Ravi Pujari in Shabnam developers double murder case and an extortion case.

Pujari, who was wanted in several cases including ones related to heinous crimes like murder and extortion, was extradited to Bengaluru earlier this year from Senegal.

The gangster, who parted ways with underworld don Chhota Rajan, had jumped bail after he was arrested in Senegal in 2019 and had escaped to South Africa, where he was involved in drug trafficking and extortion.

According to sources in the Indian intelligence, Ravi Pujari was hiding under the false identity of Anthony Fernandes, a Burkina Faso passport holder, in a remote village in South Africa.

Mangaluru, Mar 21: Southern Railway has cancelled some more trains in view of poor patronage due to restrictions in place to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Train No.16565 Yesvantpur-Mangaluru Central Weekly Express has been cancelled on March 22 and March 29.

Train No.16566 Mangaluru Central-Yesvantpur Weekly Express will not run on March 23 and March 30.

Train No.10215 Madgaon-Ernakulam Weekly Superfast Express will not be operated on March 22 and March 29.

Train No. 10216 Ernakulam-Madgaon Weekly Superfast Express will not run on March 23 and March 30.

Train No.16355 Kochuveli-Mangaluru Junction Antyodaya Express, scheduled to leave Kochuveli on March 21, 26 and on March 28 stands cancelled.

Train No.16356 Mangaluru Junction-Kochuveli Antyodaya Express, scheduled to leave Mangaluru Junction on March 22, 27 and March 29 will not be operated, a Southern Railway release said.

Hubballi–KSR Bengaluru–Hubballi Janashatabdi (Daily) Express (12079/12080), Mysuru–Yelahanka–Mysuru Malgudi (Daily Express)

(16023/16024), Yeshwantpur–Pandharpur–Yeshwantpur (Weekly) Express (16541/16542), Mysuru–KSR Bengaluru–Mysuru Rajyarani Express

(16557/16558), Shivamogga–Yeshwantpur –Shivamogga Express Special (06539/06540), Mysuru–Renigunta–Mysuru Weekly Express

(11065/11066), Mysuru–Sainagar Shirdi–Mysuru Weekly Express (16217/16218), Yeshwantpur–Mangaluru–Yeshwantpur Weekly Express (16565/16566), and Belagavi–Mysuru Vishwamanava (Daily) Express (17326).

Mysuru–Belagavi Vishwamanava (Daily) Express (17325) has been cancelled till April 1.

The services of Train No.16023/16024 Mysuru-Yelahanka-Mysuru Malgudi Express has been cancelled from March 20 to March 31.

Similarly, Train No.16557/16558 Mysuru-KSR Bengaluru-Mysuru Rajya Rani Express will not ply from March 20 to March 31, according to a railway release.

Train No. 17325 Belagavi-Mysuru Vishwamanava Express will not operate from March 21 to April 1 and the corresponding service of Train No.17326 from Mysuru to Belagavi will remain cancelled from March 20 to March 31.

The authorities have also cancelled the service of Train No.11065 Mysuru to Renigunta weekly express which was to operate on March 20 and March 27 and the corresponding service from Renigunta to Mysuru on March 21 and March 28.

Likewise, Train No.16217 Mysuru to Sainagar Shirdi weekly express will not operate on March 23 and March 30 and the journey in the return direction of Train No.16218 Sainagar Shirdi to Mysuru weekly express on March 24 and March 31 stands cancelled.

The railway authorities have cancelled the Hubballi-KSR Bengaluru-Hubballi Janshatabdi superfast express from March 20 to March 31 and the services of Train No.06539/06540 Yasvantpur- Shivamogga Town-Yasvantpur express for March 20, 24, 25, 26, 27 and March 31 stands cancelled.

The other trains cancelled for a limited period include Train No.16541 Yasvantpur to Pandharpur weekly express for its journey commencing on March 19 and 26 and the return journey on March 20 and 27.