The Evening Wrap: CBI forms SIT to probe Manipur violence

The CBI has formed a special investigation team under a DIG-rank officer to probe six Manipur violence cases referred to it by the State government, officials said on June 9. During his visit to the northeastern State, Home Minister Amit Shah had announced a CBI probe to investigate six FIRs, five on alleged criminal conspiracy and one on general conspiracy behind the violence in Manipur. Acting on a reference from the State routed through the Centre, the CBI has formed the SIT and taken over the investigation in the cases, they said. Three people, including a woman, were killed while two others were injured in a fresh case of violence in Manipur on the day, after a few days of relative calm. According to a tribal organisation, some gunmen in Army fatigues opened fire on the residents of Khoken village on the boundary between the Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi and the Meitei-majority Imphal East districts at around 4 a.m. The villagers thought the gunmen were soldiers as they had arrived in a vehicle used by the security forces. They scattered as soon as the gunmen opened fire. Meanwhile, a Vacation Bench of the Supreme Court found no reason to step in and urgently entertain a petition challenging the continued internet “ban” in Manipur despite the government’s claim that there has been a “de-escalation” in violence and clashes across the State. Mentioning the petition before the Vacation Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal, advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for the petitioners, said the ban has been continuing for over 35 days. The Vacation Bench said the case would be listed in due course before the Regular Bench after the summer holidays. It told Farasat that the State High Court was already seized of the issue. After Kolhapur, Maharashtra’s Beed tense now after social media post on Aurangzeb A teenage boy’s alleged act of sharing a social media status message glorifying Mughal emperor Aurangzeb has triggered tension in Ashti town of Maharashtra’s Beed district, with some Hindutva organisations giving a bandh call, police said on June 9. The latest incidents came against the backdrop of some youths displaying photos of Aurangzeb in a procession in Ahmednagar and tensions in Kolhapur on June 7 over the alleged use of Tipu Sultan’s image along with an objectionable audio message as social media “status” by some locals. Commercial establishments in the market area of Ashti, located around 80 km from Beed district headquarters, are shut in response to the bandh call, they said. Beed Superintendent of Police (SP) Nandkumar Thakur said, “A 14-year-old boy kept a status message in praise of Aurangzeb on a social media platform on Thursday. A complaint was received in this connection, based on which an offence was registered at Ashti police station.” After that, some local pro-Hindutva organisations gave a bandh call, he said. “The boy is not in Ashti at present. He is in Mumbai on a vacation. He will be asked to return and once he comes back, he will be presented in a juvenile court after investigation,” Thakur said. No untoward incident has been reported so far during the bandh, he said. Central government officials protest outside North Block in the capital asking for promotion Hundreds of Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officials protested at North Block to demand promotion, the lack of which had created around 1,500 vacancies in the middle management ranks. The CSS forum, a representative body of all CSS officers, wrote a letter to Personnel Minister Jitendra Singh on June 8 that if eligible officers were not given promotion before July 1, they would incur a financial loss of more than ₹10,000 per month. The forum said that there would be more than 50% vacancies in Section Officer (SO) grade in Central Secretariat if promotions were not given on time. An official said that even after a directive from the Prime Minister for providing 10 lakh Central government jobs by December, there were more than 1,500 posts in the SO grade that were lying vacant and it adversely affected the smooth functioning of Ministries. International referee Jagbir says he has witnessed Brij Bhushan’s inappropriate behaviour towards female wrestlers International referee Jagbir Singh claimed that he has been a witness to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s inappropriate behaviour towards female grapplers on several occasions since 2013. “I am an UWW referee since 2007 and I have been a referee before the birth of the protesting wrestlers. I also know Mr. Brij Bhushan for a long time,” Jagbir said.. “I couldn’t say much because until the girls register complaints, I could not do anything. But I saw the episode with my own eyes and felt bad,” he added. “After he became the president during his second tour in 2013 in Kazakhstan, the president told us ‘I will feed you Indian food today’ and he arranged a party in the junior wrestlers’ hotel,” he claimed. “Brij Bhushan and his accomplices from Thailand were drunk and they misbehaved with the girls and I was a witness to that. In 2022, I witnessed something. Whenever the president used to travel inside the country for national tournaments, two to three girls were always with him but we could never protest. We have seen that with our eyes,” he said. Jagbir, in fact, has corroborated the protesting wrestler’s allegations in his testimony to the Delhi Police. BJP’s fake factory stands exposed, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh says on the Sengol issue The claim that the Sengol (sceptre) was a symbol of transfer of power from the British to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has been exposed, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said and described the BJP as a “fake factory”. He quoted an interview of the head pontiff of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, which appeared in The Hindu, in which he said that there was no clear documentary evidence that the sceptre was presented to Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, before being handed over to Nehru. “So the BJP’s ‘FakeFactory’ stands exposed today by none other than the revered head Swamigal of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam himself in The Hindu. No Mountbatten, no Rajaji, no part in official transfer of power on August 14, 1947. But yes, the majestic ‘Sengol’ was indeed presented to Nehru as I have been saying all along,” Ramesh tweeted. “Here are some more facts to nail the lies of today’s Raja and his drumbeaters,” he added, and referred to an advertisement on page 10 of The Hindu edition dated August 19, 1947 that mentioned about the presentation of the ceremonial sceptre to Nehru at his residence at 10 p.m. on August 14, 1947. Former U.S. President Donald Trump charged in classified documents probe Former United States President Donald Trump said that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate, igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House. The Justice Department did not immediately publicly confirm the indictment but two people familiar with the situation, who were not authorised to discuss it publicly, said that the indictment included seven criminal counts. One of those people said Trump’s lawyers were contacted by prosecutors shortly before he announced on his Truth Social platform that he had been indicted. The indictment enmeshes the Justice Department in the most politically explosive prosecution in its long history. Its first case against a former president upends a Republican presidential primary that Trump is currently dominating, and any felony charges would raise the prospect of a yearslong prison sentence. The indictment arises from a monthslong investigation by special counsel Jack Smith into whether Trump broke the law by holding onto hundreds of documents marked “classified” at his Palm Beach property, Mar-a-Lago, and whether he took steps to obstruct the government’s efforts to recover the records. Prosecutors have said that Trump took roughly 300 classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, including some 100 that were seized by the FBI last August in a search of the home that underscored the gravity of the Justice Department’s investigation. Trump has insisted that he was entitled to keep the classified documents when he left the White House, and has also claimed without evidence that he had declassified them. In Brief: Navies of India, France and the United Arab Emirates held the maiden trilateral maritime partnership exercise on June 7 and June 8 in the Gulf of Oman. “During the maiden edition of the exercise, a wide spectrum of operations at sea such as surface Warfare involving tactical firing and drills for Missile engagements, close quarter manoeuvres, advanced air defence exercise with French Rafale and UAE Dash-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), Helicopter cross landing operations, drills for replenishment at sea were undertaken by the participating units,” the Navy said. Evening Wrap will return tomorrow. [logo] The Evening Wrap 09 June 2023 [The Hindu logo] Welcome to the Evening Wrap newsletter, your guide to the day’s biggest stories with concise analysis from The Hindu. [[Arrow]Open in browser]( [[Mail icon]More newsletters]( CBI forms SIT to probe Manipur violence, takes over probe The [CBI has formed a special investigation team under a DIG-rank officer to probe six Manipur violence cases]( referred to it by the State government, officials said on June 9. During his visit to the northeastern State, Home Minister Amit Shah had announced a CBI probe to investigate six FIRs, five on alleged criminal conspiracy and one on general conspiracy behind the violence in Manipur. Acting on a reference from the State routed through the Centre, the CBI has formed the SIT and taken over the investigation in the cases, they said. [Three people, including a woman, were killed while two others were injured in a fresh case of violence in Manipur]( on the day, after a few days of relative calm. According to a tribal organisation, some gunmen in Army fatigues opened fire on the residents of Khoken village on the boundary between the Kuki-dominated Kangpokpi and the Meitei-majority Imphal East districts at around 4 a.m. The villagers thought the gunmen were soldiers as they had arrived in a vehicle used by the security forces. They scattered as soon as the gunmen opened fire. Meanwhile, a [Vacation Bench of the Supreme Court found no reason to step in and urgently entertain a petition challenging the continued internet “ban” in Manipur]( despite the government’s claim that there has been a “de-escalation” in violence and clashes across the State. Mentioning the petition before the Vacation Bench of Justices Aniruddha Bose and Rajesh Bindal, advocate Shadan Farasat, appearing for the petitioners, said the ban has been continuing for over 35 days. The Vacation Bench said the case would be listed in due course before the Regular Bench after the summer holidays. It told Farasat that the State High Court was already seized of the issue. After Kolhapur, Maharashtra’s Beed tense now after social media post on Aurangzeb [A teenage boy’s alleged act of sharing a social media status message glorifying Mughal emperor Aurangzeb has triggered tension in Ashti town of Maharashtra’s Beed district]( with some Hindutva organisations giving a bandh call, police said on June 9. The latest incidents came against the backdrop of some youths displaying photos of Aurangzeb in a procession in Ahmednagar and tensions in Kolhapur on June 7 over the alleged use of Tipu Sultan’s image along with an objectionable audio message as social media “status” by some locals. Commercial establishments in the market area of Ashti, located around 80 km from Beed district headquarters, are shut in response to the bandh call, they said. Beed Superintendent of Police (SP) Nandkumar Thakur said, “A 14-year-old boy kept a status message in praise of Aurangzeb on a social media platform on Thursday. A complaint was received in this connection, based on which an offence was registered at Ashti police station.” After that, some local pro-Hindutva organisations gave a bandh call, he said. “The boy is not in Ashti at present. He is in Mumbai on a vacation. He will be asked to return and once he comes back, he will be presented in a juvenile court after investigation,” Thakur said. No untoward incident has been reported so far during the bandh, he said. Central government officials protest outside North Block in the capital asking for promotion [Hundreds of Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officials protested at North Block to demand promotion]( the lack of which had created around 1,500 vacancies in the middle management ranks. The CSS forum, a representative body of all CSS officers, wrote a letter to Personnel Minister Jitendra Singh on June 8 that if eligible officers were not given promotion before July 1, they would incur a financial loss of more than ₹10,000 per month. The forum said that there would be more than 50% vacancies in Section Officer (SO) grade in Central Secretariat if promotions were not given on time. An official said that even after a directive from the Prime Minister for providing 10 lakh Central government jobs by December, there were more than 1,500 posts in the SO grade that were lying vacant and it adversely affected the smooth functioning of Ministries. International referee Jagbir says he has witnessed Brij Bhushan’s inappropriate behaviour towards female wrestlers [International referee Jagbir Singh claimed that he has been a witness to Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s inappropriate behaviour towards female grapplers]( on several occasions since 2013. “I am an UWW referee since 2007 and I have been a referee before the birth of the protesting wrestlers. I also know Mr. Brij Bhushan for a long time,” Jagbir said.. “I couldn’t say much because until the girls register complaints, I could not do anything. But I saw the episode with my own eyes and felt bad,” he added. “After he became the president during his second tour in 2013 in Kazakhstan, the president told us ‘I will feed you Indian food today’ and he arranged a party in the junior wrestlers’ hotel,” he claimed. “Brij Bhushan and his accomplices from Thailand were drunk and they misbehaved with the girls and I was a witness to that. In 2022, I witnessed something. Whenever the president used to travel inside the country for national tournaments, two to three girls were always with him but we could never protest. We have seen that with our eyes,” he said. Jagbir, in fact, has corroborated the protesting wrestler’s allegations in his testimony to the Delhi Police. BJP’s fake factory stands exposed, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh says on the Sengol issue The claim that the [Sengol (sceptre) was a symbol of transfer of power from the British to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru has been exposed, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said]( and described the BJP as a “fake factory”. He quoted an interview of the head pontiff of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, which appeared in The Hindu, in which he said that there was no clear documentary evidence that the sceptre was presented to Lord Mountbatten, the last Viceroy of India, before being handed over to Nehru. “So the BJP’s ‘FakeFactory’ stands exposed today by none other than the revered head Swamigal of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam himself in The Hindu. No Mountbatten, no Rajaji, no part in official transfer of power on August 14, 1947. But yes, the majestic ‘Sengol’ was indeed presented to Nehru as I have been saying all along,” Ramesh tweeted. “Here are some more facts to nail the lies of today’s Raja and his drumbeaters,” he added, and referred to an advertisement on page 10 of The Hindu edition dated August 19, 1947 that mentioned about the presentation of the ceremonial sceptre to Nehru at his residence at 10 p.m. on August 14, 1947. Former U.S. President Donald Trump charged in classified documents probe Former United States President [Donald Trump said that he has been indicted on charges of mishandling classified documents at his Florida estate]( igniting a federal prosecution that is arguably the most perilous of multiple legal threats against the former president as he seeks to reclaim the White House. The Justice Department did not immediately publicly confirm the indictment but two people familiar with the situation, who were not authorised to discuss it publicly, said that the indictment included seven criminal counts. One of those people said Trump’s lawyers were contacted by prosecutors shortly before he announced on his Truth Social platform that he had been indicted. The indictment enmeshes the Justice Department in the most politically explosive prosecution in its long history. Its first case against a former president upends a Republican presidential primary that Trump is currently dominating, and any felony charges would raise the prospect of a yearslong prison sentence. The indictment arises from a monthslong investigation by special counsel Jack Smith into whether Trump broke the law by holding onto hundreds of documents marked “classified” at his Palm Beach property, Mar-a-Lago, and whether he took steps to obstruct the government’s efforts to recover the records. Prosecutors have said that Trump took roughly 300 classified documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving the White House, including some 100 that were seized by the FBI last August in a search of the home that underscored the gravity of the Justice Department’s investigation. Trump has insisted that he was entitled to keep the classified documents when he left the White House, and has also claimed without evidence that he had declassified them. In Brief: [Navies of India, France and the United Arab Emirates held the maiden trilateral maritime partnership exercise]( on June 7 and June 8 in the Gulf of Oman. “During the maiden edition of the exercise, a wide spectrum of operations at sea such as surface Warfare involving tactical firing and drills for Missile engagements, close quarter manoeuvres, advanced air defence exercise with French Rafale and UAE Dash-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA), Helicopter cross landing operations, drills for replenishment at sea were undertaken by the participating units,” the Navy said. 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