Daily bulletin: Delhi Police issues alert on two JeM terrorists; Amit Shah to take part in road show in Rajasthan; day's top stories

Two close aides of Muzaffarpur shelter home case prime accused arrested Two close aides of Brajesh Thakur, the prime accused in the Muzaffarpur shelter home sex scandal case, including his associate Shaista Parveen alias Madhu were arrested by the CBI on Tuesday, officials said. The CBI alleged that the girls at the shelter home were taken to Parveen’s residence where they “were taught dance and soliciting men” but she claimed she was not an accused and no warrant had been issued against her. “I have nothing to fear as I was not even associated with the shelter home which is under the scanner. I did work for Thakur but I have no knowledge of what happened there,” Madhu told reporters with her face covered with a dupatta. The CBI officials took her inside their camp office located in the district court premises. She was accompanied by her lawyers. Immediately after her arrest, the CBI nabbed Ashwini Kumar who allegedly used to administer sedative injections to girls. Madhu was a resident of Chaturbhuj Sthan locality in the town and had come in contact with Thakur a few years ago when a drive was launched to rehabilitate girls from a red light area there. [caption id=“attachment_4832951” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File photo of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. PTI[/caption] 2008 Malegaon blast: The Bombay High Court to hear plea of Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit The Bombay High Court will hear a plea of Lt Col Prasad Shrikant Purohit, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast that killed six and injured over 100 hundred, on Wednesday, that he was being prosecuted for terror charges under the stringent UAPA without any valid sanction. The Supreme Court had asked the Bombay High Court to deal with the plea on Monday after Purohit moved a fresh leave petition in the Supreme court after a trial court framed charges against Purohit in the case last month. The apex court had, on 20 April this year, granted Purohit the liberty to raise the issue of grant of sanction to prosecute him under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act before the trial court at the time of framing of charges. However, the trial court had rejected Purohit’s plea on sanction and had framed charges against him. Arvind Kejriwal attacked with chilli powder outside office A man flung chilli powder at Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal outside his office in the Delhi Secretariat on Tuesday, an attack the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) described as “politically motivated” while asserting that the BJP is hatching a conspiracy in collusion with the Delhi Police to attack the chief minister. Even as the AAP alleged that it was the third attack on Kejriwal, Delhi Police, however, issued a statement recounting the incident but did not specify whether the man threw chilli powder or not. The statement mentioned that the man, Anil Kumar Sharma, possessed a pouch which apparently contained chilli powder. Later in the night, the Delhi Police registered a case against Sharma at the IP Estate police station, a senior police officer said. He, however, added that no formal complaint was received from the secretariat. Delhi Police issues alert on two JeM terrorists in Delhi A high alert was sounded in Delhi on Tuesday after Delhi Police was informed by intelligence agencies that two suspected Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terrorists had infiltrated into the capital, according to reports. In an advisory, the police asked the public to remain alert and inform police regarding any suspicious activities. The police also released photographs of the two operatives. Four days earlier, the Punjab Police was put on high alert following a note issued by Counter Intelligence wing. Amit Shah in Rajasthan on Wednesday BJP chief Amit Shah will be in Rajasthan on Wednesday, a spokesperson said. Shah will be addressing youths at an event in the state capital and would take part in a road show in Bikaner. The party chief will address youths at a private school in Jaipur in ‘Yuva ki baat, Amit Shah ke saath’ programme. He will answer questions on national and international issues during the two-hour event, a party spokesperson said. The party will be using social media for allowing people to ask questions from six different locations, he added. Later, Shah will take part in a road show in Bikaner in support of BJP nominees Siddhi Kumari and Gopal Joshi from Bikaner East and West respectively. Actor Akshay Kumar to appear before the SIT probing the police firing incident after the 2015 sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib Actor Akshay Kumar is set to appear before the SIT probing the police firing incident after the 2015 sacrilege of the Guru Granth Sahib. The Special Investigation Team has given Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar the option of appearing before it in Chandigarh instead of Amritsar on Wednesday. The Punjab Police SIT had earlier summoned Kumar to Amritsar circuit house on 21 November. Akshay, whose name figures in the Justice Ranjit Singh Commission report on the desecration incidents, has already denied arranging any meeting between former Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and Dera Sacha Sauda sect head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh. The actor had also denied having ever met Sirsa-headquartered Dera’s chief, who is currently serving a 20-year jail term in two rape cases. President Ram Nath Kovind in Australia for a four-day State visit President Ram Nath Kovind reached Australia for a four-day tour on Wednesday, in the first ever state visit by an Indian president to the country, during which he will discuss ways to strengthen bilateral ties with top Australian leaders. Kovind is going to Australia from Vietnam as part of his two-nation tour. He arrived at Sydney from Hanoi. The president is in Sydney and will visit Melbourne on an invitation from Governor-General Peter Cosgrove, according to a statement issued by the High Commission of India, Canberra. A ceremonial welcome for the President will be held in Sydney. It will be followed by talks between Kovind and Cosgrove, the statement said. During his visit, the president will also meet Australian prime minister Scott Morrison. Both the leaders will jointly unveil a statue of Mahatma Gandhi at Parramatta in New South Wales as a part of the ongoing 150th birth anniversary celebrations of Gandhiji. Sensex drops 300 points Breaking its three-day rising streak, the BSE Sensex on Tuesday fell over 300 points on heavy selling. After starting off lower at 35,730.77, it settled 300.37 points or 0.84 percent down at 35,474.51. The index had risen 633 points in the last two sessions on the back of increased foreign fund inflows. The 50-share NSE Nifty too dropped by 107.20 points, or 1 percent, to 10,656.20. Intra-day, it traded between 10,640.85 and 10,740.85. India vs Australia, 1st T20I in Brisbane The Virat Kohli-led Indian cricket team will look to start their two-month-long Australia tour with the first T20I between the two sides at the Gabba in Brisbane on Wednesday. High on confidence, India will enter the series after hammering the West Indies 3-0 at home. On the other hand, the hosts most recently suffered a 21-run loss at the hands of South Africa in a curtailed encounter, to succumb to their sixth loss in eight games. Australia was also whitewashed 0-3 in the UAE by top-ranked Pakistan. Battlefield V now available for download After months of hype and weeks of delays, EA’s Battlefield V is finally available to everyone for download. The game, which is set in World War II, focuses on the “untold stories” of the war. Available on Origin, the game can be accessed by either subscribing to Origin Access Premiere for Rs 999 a month or by purchasing the game outright for Rs 3,500. Amitabh Bachchan pays off loans of 1,398 Uttar Pradesh farmers Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has helped farmers of Uttar Pradesh by paying off their loans. The 76-year-old actor paid off loans of 1398 farmers from the state, that amounted to over Rs 4.05 crore. He shared the news in his blog where he wrote, “Gratitude leans across to the desire of removing some of the burdens that farmers continue to suffer from…It was Maharashtra first, when over 350 farmers loans were taken care of… now its UP and 1398 of them that had out standings of loans on banks has been done with an outlay of 4.05 crore… and the inner peace it generates when the desired is completed.” Bachchan has also personally arranged for 70 selected farmers to travel to Mumbai and receive their bank letters.