3 tribal men stripped naked, beaten in MP
: A transporter along with his friend in Jabalpur have been booked for stripping his three tribal employees naked and beating them for allegedly stealing 120 litres of diesel.
Although the incident happened on July 11 night, no FIR was registered immediately as the victims feared for their lives. Police swung into action after a video of the incident went viral on social media.
The accused have been identified as transporter Guddu Sharma and his friend Sheru, a resident of Jabalpur. Both are absconding and police have launched a hunt for them.
The victims were identified as Suresh Thakur (46), Ashish Gond (24) and Golu Thakur (23), all residents of Mandla district, who were stripped naked and lined up against a shuttered shop along Andhmook bypass road to face action for allegedly stealing 120 litres of diesel.
The two accused have been charged with beating and threatening the victims with dire consequences and also under SC/ST Prevention of Atrocities Act.
A medical examination of the victims was done, police said.
In the video, Guddu is seen showering abuses and mercilessly beating the victims on their hips with a baseball bat. Guddu asks them to raise their hands or he would hit them on their hands with full force and break them.
The victims were asked how much diesel they had stolen. Guddu tells them they will remember their theft when they experience the pain.
His accomplice who was shooting the video of the act is heard saying they would have to suffer as they had committed a crime. When one of the victims feels giddy and almost falls on the ground, the main accused charges him with putting on an act.
The video suggests it was shot at the behest of or in knowledge of the accused. Several people are seen watching the act but nobody came forward to rescue the victims. Sanjeevani Nagar police station in-charge, Bhuvneshwari Chauhan said the victims were initially not willing to lodge the FIR out of fear.
India and the US are likely to hold their first tri-services military drill later this year and talks to finalise the modalities of the exercise are on, a senior defence ministry official has said.
The three wings of the armed forces of India and the US hold separate military exercises, but this will be the first time that the two countries will have a joint drill of their Army, Air Force and the Navy.
The topic is likely to come up for discussion in September during the 2 plus 2 Dialogue involving external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and defence minister Nirmala Sitharaman on one side and US secretary of state Mike Pompeo and defence secretary James Mattis on the other.
Sitharaman and James Mattis, during his visit to India last year, had deliberated on exploring additional specialised military drills between the two countries.
This will be second such international military drill involving all the three services.
Last year, an Indian contingent comprising 350 personnel from Army, 80 from Air Force, two IL 76 aircraft and one Frigate and Corvette each from the Navy participated in a bilateral exercise, ‘Indra 2017’, with the Russian forces in Eastern Military District of Russia.
The armies of India and the US also participated in Exercise Yudh Abhyas - 2017 at Joint Base Lewis McChord, Washington, while the navies of India and the US had last month participated in Malabar 2018, a trilateral exercise involving Japan.
Superstar Rajinikanth, who expressed interest to plunge into politics in December 2017, has said that he is still undecided about contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The actor addressed a press conference at his house in Chennai on Sunday where he said that work is on for strengthening the grass root level organisation of Rajini Makkal Mandram (RMM) which is likely to be converted into a political party.
Rajini, in his media interaction, spoke on a range of issues. Edited excerpts of his responses to media questions:
Although you have announced your political entry in December 2017, will you launch your party ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha Polls? When will we see you as a fulltime politician?
Time will decide such things. I cannot reveal that now. (Laughs loudly).
Will you contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections?
As of now, I have not decided about it. Since there is more time available for the 2019 LS polls, I will inform about this during the time of LS polls.
Several of your fans are claiming that around one crore people have enrolled in your Rajini Makkal Mandram. Is it true or they are exaggerating?
No, we have not enrolled that many people. However, we are moving towards that target. We are strengthening our organisation in the grassroots level.
BHOPAL/JABALPUR NEW DELHI: CHENNAI:
What do you think about BJP national president Amit Shah’s recent allegation that corruption is rooted well in Tamil Nadu?
It could be his view. He could have said this with the information he has. However, I don’t worry about it and don’t want to comment on it.
Will you support the proposal for conducting Lok Sabha and state assembly elections simultaneously?
I support simultaneous polls. If it was implemented, we can save the time and money which we have been spending for two different elections. Politicians are often spending their time and energy in facing elections. So, I