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Electoral office to install webcams to watch poll proceedings live
Vijay Goel attacked, BJP complains to EC
SpeakAsia scam: Key conspirator in police net
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RK Puram Cong candidate says development;
voters cry inflation
Civil society clamours for passage of whistleblower's bill
Cop's son held for molestation
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Electoral office to install webcams to watch poll proceedings live
New Delhi, December 2 A total of 630 polling stations have been declared critical and hyper-critical by the Delhi Chief Electoral Office and thus they will have extra deployment of the Central Para-Military Forces. "In all these polling stations we will have micro observers and CCTV cameras. This time, we are also introducing live webcasting by which we will be able to watch proceedings in the polling stations in our control room," Chief Electoral Officer Vijay Dev said. He said that 64,000 of Delhi Police personnel and 107 companies of the Central Para-Military Forces (100 personnel per company) have been deployed. Dev said not only candidates or political parties attempting to bribe voters will face action, but for the first time any person accepting such illegal gratification will be booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Election Commission has intensified vigil in areas which are vulnerable to misuse of money, liquor, etc such as slum clusters and unauthorised colonies, besides the border with UP and Haryana. "The last 72 hours are crucial and thus we have sealed and laid traps in all the clusters of slums, unauthorised colonies and all such areas which are liable for misuse of money, liquor and musclemen," he said detailing the last-minute action plan that his team has chalked out. He said those sections of society which are poor and are in need of money can be easily influenced by political parties. "So, we have ensured that traps are laid down by our teams in all such areas, as there could be attempts to bribe the electors," he said. For the first time, he said, in such cases, action will be taken not only against the candidates or political parties under the Model Code of Conduct and criminal sections, even individuals accepting cash or liquor or taking any kinds of bribe will be also booked under 171 (H) of the IPC as in a way they are also participating in the malpractice. The Chief Electoral Office would also be strengthening the border vigil especially in north-east and south-west districts. "In cooperation with the states of UP and Haryana, a tight vigil is maintained to ensure that there is no movement of liquor, cash and musclemen which have the potential of vitiating the polls," he said. In fact, he said, on the poll day all vehicles entering Delhi would be checked and it is better that the persons carry their identity cards to avoid any trouble. |
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Vijay Goel attacked, BJP complains to EC
New Delhi, December 2 The first attack took place in outer Delhi's Samaypur Badli area on Sunday. According to Goel, his party candidate, Vijay Bhagat was attacked while he was campaigning in the area. Goel claims that his party lodged a complaint with the police in regard to the incident. The police however deny having received such a complaint. The second incident took place at Gur Mandi in Rajpura, where Goel and the Model Town assembly constituency candidate, Ashok Goel, were allegedly attacked, according to a BJP press statement. They were campaigning there. A person identified as Dinesh Kumar along with some persons allegedly abused and attacked the party workers with hockey sticks and iron rods. The statement further read that the attackers allegedly damaged two vehicles in which Vijay Goel and Ashok Goel were travelling. The assailants also attacked one of the drivers of these vehicles, S Vinod Kumar. He was injured. The party stated, "The BJP has already informed the Election Commission of the sensitivity of certain polling booths in this constituency (Model Town). In his complaint filed with the Election Commission, Ashok Goel has said that the attack took place between 11.30 pm and 12.30 pm on Monday." Ashok Goel in his complaint also wrote that the miscreants should be removed from the area to ensure peaceful elections. The northwest district police said that they have received the complaint from the BJP regarding the incident in Rajpura and are verifying the claims. |
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SpeakAsia scam: Key conspirator in police net
New Delhi, December 2 A six-member police team had nabbed Ram on November 30. His brother Ram Sumiran Pal was also arrested from Connaught Place in Delhi for his alleged involvement in the scam. The third accused, Manoj Kumar Sharma, is at large. The crime branch was tipped off that Ram Niwas was staying in Bengaluru and was planning to shift from that city. The police went to Bengaluru on November 25 and located Ram Niwas to a rented house on Whitefield Road. They conducted a raid on November 30 and found Ram Niwas with his wife and eight-month-old son in the house. Ram Niwas was allegedly developing a business plan for a Malaysia-based IT firm. Ram, Sumiran and Manoj were allegedly part of several companies registered in Singapore, Italy and Brazil. One of their companies,
SpeakAsia, an online survey marketing company, was registered in Singapore and introduced in India in 2010. "An investor had to initially pay Rs 11,000 to get a password of account maintained with SpeakAsia and in return the investor would fill in survey forms for certain multi-national firms for a promised annual payment of Rs 52, 000," Yadav said. After paying to few investors, SpeakAsia wrapped up its operation in India around mid-2011 and senior office-bearers went into hiding. During this period, the company had already duped more than 24 lakh investors and the scam crossed Rs 2,276 crore. The police said in the SpeakAsia scam Rs 900 crore was remitted to Singapore. The Mumbai Police have been investigating maximum number of cases of SpeakAsia fraud for the past 28 months. "Over 210 bank accounts containing Rs 142 crore have been frozen so far. Another 150 bank accounts are under investigation," Yadav added. |
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RK Puram Cong candidate says development;
voters cry inflation
New Delhi, December 2 Here the entry of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) which has fielded Shazia Ilmi, a former journalist and social activist as its candidate, could make a difference denting into the Congress' traditional vote bank, Muslims who constitute nearly 4.5 per cent of the constituency's total registered number of voters- 1,33,102. This even as they argue that it is actually a contest between the traditional rivals-the Congress and the BJP. However, insiders of both the parties have admitted to a possible impact of the long campaign of an articulate Shazia who has managed to create ripples in the electoral arena of this south Delhi segment through her extensive road shows, seeking people's support for a safe neighbourhood and corruption-free government. "We have reached out to people on an honest plank and offered solutions to the problems related to drinking water and sanitation," she said today. It has not been easy for Shazia who is faced with an opposition from her family. Her brother Rashid Ilmi is contesting against her on an independent ticket. |
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Civil society clamours for passage of whistleblower's bill
New Delhi, December 2 At the dharna, people also opposed the proposed amendments to the RTI Act. The Congress-led government had in return promised that if elected in Delhi, it will pass a comprehensive law for time-bound grievance redressal. Families and colleagues of whistleblowers who were killed for exposing corruption were present at the protest site. The 33-year-old Shimburam Bishnoi, of Jodhpur, was killed on the 7th of October 2013 for exposing corruption in various welfare schemes of the Panchayat. Shumburam's brother Bhanwar Lal and his colleague Budharam Bishnoi testified that while three of the accused behind his murder have been arrested, the main accused- the Sarpanch and two others are still absconding and have not been arrested. Shimburam is survived by his wife and four young children aged between 5 and 10 years. |
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