Days after its drubbing in the Madhya Pradesh elections, the Congress has replaced senior leader and former chief minister Kamal Nath as the state unit chief with other backward class (OBC) leader Jitu Patwari. 

OBCs account for over 50% of voters in Madhya Pradesh and the selection of Mr Patwari – who lost to a BJP candidate from the Sau Assembly seat with a margin of over 35,000 votes – is being seen as the party’s attempt to make a fresh start in the crucial heartland state ahead of the all-important Lok Sabha elections, which are less than four months away. 

The Congress had managed to secure only 66 seats in the 230-member Assembly and the BJP had won 163 despite being in power in Madhya Pradesh for nearly two decades. 

Despite the loss in Chhattisgarh, however, the Congress has decided to retain Deepak Baij as the state unit chief.

In Madhya Pradesh the party has also appointed Umang Singhar as the Congress Legislative Party leader, which means that he will be the Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, and has picked Hemant Katare as the deputy leader.

The picks are significant as, apart from effecting a generational change, they also reflect the Congress’ attempt at caste balancing. Kamal Nath was a Brahmin leader and has now been replaced with an OBC leader in Jitu Patwari. Umang Singhar is a tribal and the nephew of late Jamuna Devi, who was a former deputy chief minister and represented the state both in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. 
 

The 26-year-old woman who suffered severe injuries after the son of a senior bureaucrat allegedly tried to run her over with a car in Thane has said that she was in a relationship with the man for four-and-a-half years and had been told he was divorced. 

“For one year, he had hid the fact that he was married. When I found out, he said he had no relationship with the woman and that they were separated and divorced. He said he wanted to stay with me and marry me. We were together for four-and-a-half years,” Priya Singh, who was assaulted by her boyfriend Ashwajit Gaikwad near a hotel on Ghodbunder Road at 4.30 am on Monday, said.

Ashwajit is the son of  Anil Gaikwad, the Managing Director of the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation.

Lying on a hospital bed, Ms Singh said Ashwajit called her at 4 am on Monday and she went to meet him at a function, which he was attending with his family and some of their common friends. When she reached the location, she saw him with his wife. 

“I had never seen that and I was shocked. I tried to speak to him and asked him to come talk to me privately. He took out his aggression on me. We had an argument,” she said.

Describing the events that followed, the 26-year-old had said, “My boyfriend and his friend used abusive language to which I asked my boyfriend to defend me and not abuse which led to the start of something beyond my imagination. My boyfriend slapped me, tried to strangle my neck, I tried to push him away he bit my hand, beat me, pulled my hair, and his friend out of nowhere pushed me to the ground”.

She alleged that when she reached into Ashwajit’s car to collect her belongings, he asked his driver to run her over. 

“Three bones were broken in my right leg. A surgery was done and a rod has been inserted in the leg. On the left side of my body, I have suffered deep injuries from my shoulder to my hips. I can’t move my body. I had registered a complaint on the day of the incident itself and a case has now been filed,” Ms Singh said. 

Ashwajit has been charged under sections related to causing hurt and rash driving, among others, of the Indian Penal Code. 

In an Instagram post, Ms Singh wrote, “I’m really terrified. I’m very scared for my family and myself. I don’t feel safe. I have lost all faith in humanity. I don’t know if my life is ever going to be normal.”

He is a neurosurgeon, an army doctor, an officer at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), and also a close associate of top National Investigation Agency (NIA) officials. But is he?

A man hailing from Kashmir’s Kupwara has been arrested in Odisha on charges of cheating people through impersonation. He would change his identity from time to time and has posed as all the professions mentioned above, and then some more.

The Odisha Police Special Task Force (STF) arrested 37-year-old Sayad Ishaan Bukhari alias Ishaan Bukhari alias Dr Ishaan Bukhari yesterday from Neulpur village in Odisha’s Jaipur district for cheating people.

The Conman

The man with several fake identities allegedly had links with several people from Pakistan and some suspicious elements in Kerala, STF Inspector General JN Pankaj said. The top officer said the police did not find his links the Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), a spy agency.

He forged documents to show he has a medical degree certificate from Cornell University, a top Ivy League college in the US, to foolproof his identity as a doctor, the conman forged a medical certificate from the Canadian Health Services Institute and Christian Medical College in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore.

Possessing international degrees, affidavits, bonds, ATM cards, blank cheques, Aadhar Cards and visiting cards was the conman’s plan of action to create a new identity to cheat people. The police recovered over 100 documents and several incriminating material in the raid carried out based on a tip-off the STF team received.

The man with many identities even married at least six women hailing from different parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh,  Maharashtra, Odisha, Kashmir, etc. and was romantically involved with several women, Mr Pankaj said. He was active on several websites and apps and used his identities to cheat people.

The accused had some links with anti-national elements, but his exact role needs a detailed investigation.

“We have ample evidence against the accused being a fraudster. It is too early to say anything regarding his involvement in terror plots, but he had some links with Pakistan and it will be verified. We cannot rule out that he was a Pakistani spy. But as of now, we do not have much evidence. However, we are in touch with the NIA,” Hindustan Times reported quoting Mr Pankaj.

The Kashmir Police was also on a hunt to arrest Bukhari, who was connected to several cases of forgery and cheating and a non-bailable warrant was already issued against him.

The police have filed cases under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and a joint team of Punjab, Kashmir and Odisha will interrogate him, STF Inspector General said.