1. No Headway in Lankesh's Killing, Karnataka CM Forms SIT
A day after unidentified assailants gunned down journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh outside her house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bengaluru police on Wednesday said they had not made any major breakthrough in the murder.
Chief minister Siddaramaiah said a special investigation team (SIT) would be constituted to probe the murder, which he described as an "organised crime".
Contrary to their earlier claims that three men attacked her, police said there was no clarity on the number of people involved. They said the only confirmation they had was that one of the assailants shot at Gauri. Police commissioner T Suneel Kumar said they had retrieved footage from two CCTV cameras outside Gauri's house.
The footage is not very clear. But it shows a man wearing a black helmet following Gauri after she gets down from her car and entering the compound and opening fire at her. We are collecting footage from all CCTV cameras along the stretch between Basavanagudi, from where Gauri left, and Rajarajeshwari Nagar, before she was shot dead.
Source: Times of India
2. Dabholkar-Pansare Link Comes Under Scanner
Karnataka police are in constant touch with their counterparts in Maharashtra given the similarities between the killings of journalist Gauri Lankesh, rationalist Narendra Dhabolkar and communist Govind Pansare.
All three were vocal in their opposition to rightwing groups and were shot point-blank.
When MM Kalburgi was shot dead in Dharwad in 2015, his wife had seen the assailants from a distance and had helped prepare a sketch of the suspects, which are with the CID and Maharashtra police.
"Dabholkar was killed during a morning walk. His wife had seen the killers. Maharashtra police had prepared sketches of the suspects based on her account. The Karnataka CID, too, has these sketches. We are now looking at whether the physical description of the assailants in Gauri's case matches with that of the assailants in the other three killings," a senior police officer said.
Source: Times of India
3. Bihar Road Rage Case: Ex-JD(U) Leader's Son Rocky Yadav Gets Life Sentence
Rakesh Ranjan Yadav alias Rocky Yadav, son of a suspended JD(U) lawmaker Manorama Devi, and two others were sentenced on Wednesday to life imprisonment by a Bihar court in connection with the murder of a Class 12 student in a 2016 road rage incident.
Rocky’s cousin Tenny Yadav and Devi’s bodyguard Rajesh Kumar were also awarded life term by additional district and sessions judge Sachchidanand Singh. Rocky’s businessman father Bindeshwari Prasad Yadav, better known as Bindi Yadav, was sentenced to five years in jail for harbouring an offender.
The court also slapped a fine of Rs 1 lakh on Rocky, Rs 50,000 each on Tenny and Rajesh and Rs 10,000 on Bindi. The held that Rocky had killed Aditya Sachdeva after the teen overtook his SUV. Rocky allegedly first fired a warning shot, forcing Sachdeva to stop. He then beat the Class 12 student before shooting him dead. He went missing after the murder and was arrested on 10 May in a factory owned by his father.
Source: Hindustan Times
4. SC Asks States to Appoint Cops in Each District to Prevent Cow Vigilantism
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked states to appoint in every district a senior police officer whose job will be to stop violence in the name of cow protection.
Proposing measures to stem what it called growing violence by so-called cow protection groups, the court said the nodal officers would have to ensure that vigilantes did not become a law unto themselves. States have a week to comply with the court’s order.
Focus on cow protection, especially by vigilante groups, has risen since the BJP-led government took power three years ago, and several states ruled by the party made laws to punish cow slaughter.
So-called cow protectors have targeted cattle and meat traders, transporters and even farmers walking their animals – violence that has killed several people, mostly in BJP-ruled states. Critics accuse the vigilantes of using cows as a pretext to target Muslim and Dalits.
Source: Hindustan Times
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5. Army Chief Says China Taking Over Territory Gradually, Warns of Two-Front War
China is gradually taking over territory and testing India’s threshold, army chief General Bipin Rawat said on Wednesday, a little over a week after the countries ended one of their worst military face-offs.
Referring to China, Rawat said it had started flexing muscles and Pakistan was likely to take advantage of the situation developing along the northern border. He referred to China and Pakistan as India’s northern and western adversaries, and said the country needs to be prepared for a two-front war.
“As far as the northern adversary is concerned, flexing of muscles has started… salami slicing, taking over territory in a very gradual manner, testing our limits of threshold… is something we have to be wary about and remain prepared for situations which could gradually emerge into conflict,” Rawat said at a seminar organised by defence think-tank Centre for Land Warfare Studies.
Source: Hindustan Times
6. Share Myanmar's Concern Over Rakhine Violence, Says PM Modi
India said that it shares Myanmar’s concerns over “extremist violence” in the Rakhine state and asked all stakeholders to preserve the country’s unity and territorial integrity, as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held talks with State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi.
Modi’s first bilateral visit comes at a time when the Myanmarese government led by Nobel laureate Suu Kyi is facing international pressure over the 1,25,000 Rohingya refugees that have poured across the Bangladeshi border in just two weeks after Myanmar’s military launched a crackdown in the Rakhine state.
Modi, in his joint press statement with Suu Kyi after the talks, said India understands the problems being faced by Myanmar. He said India shares Myanmar’s concerns over “extremist violence” in the Rakhine state, especially the loss of innocent lives of the people and the military personnel.
Source: Indian Express
7. Arrest Warrant Issued Against GJM Chief Bimal Gurung, Seven Others
An arrest warrant was on Wednesday issued against absconding GJM chief Bimal Gurung and seven others for their alleged involvement in the arson and violence reported from Darjeeling on 8 June.
“The arrest warrant was issued by the chief judicial magistrate (CJM), Darjeeling on a prayer by the CID. The warrant has been issued against Bimal Gurung and seven others for their involvement in the arson and violence that took place outside the Bhanu Bhawan in Darjeeling on 8 June,” Ajoy Prasad, Special Superintendent, CID said.
The others against whom the warrant was issued were GJM general secretary Roshan Giri, GJM Yuva Morcha president Prakash Gurung, Amrit Yonzon, Ashok Chhetri, DK Pradhan, Tilak Roka and Asha Gurung, the GJM Mahila Morcha chief and wife of Bimal Gurung. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha (GJM) is spearheading the agitation, which has been going on for over two-and-a-half months in the Darjeeling hills over the demand for a separate state of Gorkhaland.
Source: Indian Express
8. BJP Corners Over 55% of Political Donations
Reflecting its current political dominance, Bharatiya Janata Party not only managed to get more political donations than other six national parties put together in 2015-16 but also increased its share, cornering over 55 percent of all funding compared to 51 percent percent in the previous year.
Though the volume of donations to the national parties fell 41 percent from Rs 1,869 crore in 2014-15 to 1,033 crore,
BJP and Congress mopped up over 80 percent of contributions with CPM being the only other national party with more than Rs 100 crore funding, data collated by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) shows.
But as in the past, an analysis of income tax returns of the parties showed that "unknown sources" of income – where the source of donations under Rs 20,000 was not disclosed – accounted for a majority of contributions as BJP and Congress relied on coupon sales, relief fund and contributions from meetings and morchas.
Source: Times of India
9. Govt Should Scrap NEET, Demand Protesting Students
With the Marina being under constant surveillance by the police, students who wanted to protest against NEET entered Jayalalithaa’s memorial to conduct their demonstration on Wednesday.
V Mariappan, president of SFI, said, “The government shows scant regard to the demands of hundreds of students who have been agitating for abolition of NEET. The callous attitude of the government provokes us to intensify our agitation from Thursday. Former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa opposed the NEET tooth and nail. That is why we chose her memorial as the venue for the agitation. Moreover, the government claims that it follows the ideals set by former Chief Minister but failed to follow her in this issue.”
“The police are allowing politicians to meditate near the samadhi but deny us permission to fight for the cause of students,” said Mariappan. The protesters were removed from the spot.
Source: The Hindu
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