Villagers in MP pour kerosene in Dalits’ well to take ‘revenge’
A Dalit villager’s decision to hire a band party to welcome the bridegroom at his daughter’s wedding in a village in Madhya Pradesh drew a cruel retribution from upper caste villagers, who allegedly poured kerosene into a well used by the lower castes.
The incident in Mana village in Agar Malwa district, about 200km from the state capital, last week once again underlined caste fault lines in the country.
As the Dalits could not drink the contaminated water, they dug a hole on the banks of the Kalisindh river for an alternate source of water. Simultaneously, they also used a pump to suck out the contaminated water in the well.
On Saturday, district collector DV Singh and superintendent of police RS Meena went to the village, drank water from the well used by Dalits in order to reassure them and also talked to the members of the upper caste.
The collector also announced in the area where the Dalits live. “The contaminated water has been pumped out and the water is potable,” he said.
On April 23, Chander Meghwal, a 45-year-old Dalit had welcomed the groom for his daughter Mamta’s wedding with a band party, despite a warning by the dominant upper castes that he would face social boycott if he hired a band party. According to village tradition, the Dalits are only allowed to use ‘dhol’ to welcome the groom.
Meghwal had informed the administration about the threat and the marriage took place under police protection. But the defiance did not go down well with the upper castes and they
Uttar Pradesh director general of police Sulkhan Singh has constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe a multi-crore petrol pump scam exposed through raids at seven petrol pumps in the state capital.
The raids, conducted by the special task force (STF) on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday, revealed that the petrol pump owners were using a hi-tech chip-based device to dispense lower quantities of petrol to consumers than what they paid for. The police action had followed the arrest of an electric technician — identified as Rajendra — who confessed to installing the “cheat chip” at petrol pumps across UP and beyond.
The raids also led to the arrest of 22 others, including four petrol pumps owners, after seven separate FIRS were registered in this connection. At least 15 electronic chips and 29 remote devices were seized from these stations. The officials sealed the seven petrol pumps, and cancellation of their licences has been recommended.
Singh said the SIT was formed because an exclusive team is required for conducting a proper investigation into the scam.
The team, headed by an Igprank officer, will probe all the seven FIRS registered in the case. More will be filed if required.
Singh has also issued an advisory to all district magistrates and superintendents of police across the state, asking them to form teams comprising officials from the district administration, law enforcement, food and civil supply, and weight and measurement departments, to conduct raids on petrol pumps. They have also been told to organise seminars aimed at sensitising government officials and public on the cheating mechanism.
According to senior superintendent of police (STF) Amit Pathak, initial probe revealed that around 80% petrol pumps
ACCORDING TO VILLAGE TRADITION, DALITS ARE ONLY ALLOWED TO USE ‘DHOL’ TO WELCOME THE GROOM BUT MEGHWAL HIRED A BAND, IRKING THE UPPER CASTES
SS Rajamouli’s magnum opus Baahubali 2: The Conclusion netted over ₹100 crore at the ticket window in the country on the day of its release. Trade sources say it is the biggest-ever opening for an Indian film.
Originally made in Telugu, the second part in the franchise was dubbed in Tamil, Hindi and Malayalam.
Filmmaker Karan Johar, who is presenting the Hindi version of the film, too tweeted his joy over the bumper opening of the film.
“Unthinkable and unimaginable highest ever day 1 ...data being tabulated ..will take a while!!! Watch this space for the number! #Baahubali,” he tweeted.
According to trade analyst Taran Adarsh, the Hindi version of the film collected ₹36.54 crore. “Truly sensational... ₹36.54. Hindi,” Taran tweeted.
The Telugu version of the film netted a whopping ₹53 crore, according to trade analyst Trinath.
“The film has taken a phe and Telangana, the film in Tel ugu minted ₹53 crore, making it the biggest opening ever for any film across language in the two states. The film is expected to collect over ₹100 crore from the two states over the weekend,” he said. In Tamil Nadu, the film col lected around ₹12 crore on the first day.
“If the early morning shows were not cancelled across Tami Nadu on Friday, the film could have collected even more According to early estimates, it has minted around ₹12 crore. It’s going pick up over the week end...,” Trinath added.
In Kerala, the film is believed to have collected around ₹7 crore on Friday.
In the US, from Thursday pre mieres, the film raked in $2.5 mil lion. The film stars Prabhas Rana Daggubati, Anushka Shetty Tamannaah Bhatia