New Delhi : The Delhi Police on Monday filed a chargesheet in a court here accusing Congress leader Shashi Tharoor of abetting the suicide of his wife Sunanda Pushkar. Tharoor is the only person who has been arrayed as an accused in the case. The police in its chargesheet, which runs into around 3,000 pages, has also alleged that Tharoor had subjected his wife to cruelty. The police filed the chargesheet in the mysterious death of Pushkar before Metropolitan Magistrate Dharmendra Singh, who will consider it on May 24.

It also urged the court to summon Tharoor as an accused.    

Pushkar was found dead in a luxury hotel room on the night of January 17, 2014.
The Congress leader has been charged under sections 498 A (husband or his relative subjecting a woman to cruelty) and 306 (abetment to suicide) of the Indian Penal Code.

The chargesheet, which includes several annexures, said that Pushkar died within three years, three months and 15 days of her marriage with Tharoor, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Thiruvananthapuram.

The couple had entered into wedlock on August 22, 2010.
Pushkar was found dead in the suite of the South Delhi hotel on January 17, 2014. The suite was sealed that night itself for investigation.

An FIR was registered by the Delhi Police on January 1, 2015 against unknown persons under section 302 of the IPC (murder).

Kurukshetra :
Vice-Chancellor of the AYUSH (Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy) University here, Dr Baldev Kumar Dhiman triggered a row while claiming that Ayurveda can help in gender selection before conception.
While attending a function to mark the birth anniversary of Narad Muni, a religious figure, the VC claimed that ayurvedic medicine could give desired results. When asked for a clarification on his claim about sex selection, Dhiman stated that traditional alternative technique includes medication, dietary and physical regulations and meditation at the pre-conception stage.

“The ancient scripture clearly mentions that it is possible to select gender before pregnancy. But, one has to follow the instructions for two months for desired results,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, the state health officials have expressed shock over the claim and termed the public statement as a gross violation of the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act.

“No medical system has a proven method to determine the gender at the pre-conception stage or after pregnancy. As per the law, anyone found claiming about sex selection in any way is liable for prosecution under Section 6 of the PCPNDT Act,” said a senior health functionary.

Another official said the VC’s claim was shocking as it had challenged the Centre’s flagship programme of gender parity.

“The Haryana Government is also making sincere efforts to improve sex ratio by strict implementation of the PCPNDT Act. The VC should be extra cautious while making claims on a sensitive issue like gender selection,” he said.

An RSS ideologue, Dhiman was associated with the ABVP and other right wing Hindu organisations. He is considered close to the Chief Minister ML Khattar and the RSS leaders.

Before joining as the VC, Dhiman was Director, AYUSH Department, and was reportedly handpicked by Khattar.

Kurukshetra :
A preliminary police investigation has highlighted the role of councillors in endorsing false income certificates prepared by parents for admission of their wards in private schools under the EWS quota.

Prateek Kumar, SHO, City police station, said a legal opinion had been sought on a complaint by a private school.

“The probe has confirmed the charge that seven persons furnished false income certificates in the Education Department to secure seats for their children. In all seven cases, the parents’ claim made in affidavits did not match with their income tax returns,” the SHO said.

On May 4, we had reported the district police had sought records from the civic body, Education Department and tehsil office for attesting and accepting fake income certificates.

According to Rule 134-A of the Haryana School Education Rules, parents with an annual income less than Rs 2 lakh are eligible to get their wards admitted to private schools under the EWS quota.

On May 1, city-based Wisdom World School had lodged a complaint with the Chief Minister, Education Minister and district authorities, claiming that at least seven cases of fake income certificates were detected. In all cases, it was found annual family income of applicants was more than Rs 2 lakh.

The fraud was discovered after the school administration started scrutinising the details of the I-T returns reportedly submitted by parents at the time of admission last month.

The income certificates were approved by the municipal authorities and acknowledged by the Education Department.

The students were admitted on the directions of the district education authorities.
The SHO said the Assistant District Attorney (ADA) would advise on how to fix responsibility for the process of obtaining income certificates, its verification and acceptance by officials.

Kolkata : 
Four people were killed and several others injured in violence during the single phase panchayat elections in West Bengal, which recorded over 41 per cent polling till 1 pm, officials said.

The four were killed in separate incidents of violence in North 24 Parganas, Nadia, South 24 Parganas and Murshidabad districts.

“There are reports of three people being killed in North 24 Parganas, Nadia and South 24 Parganas districts,” a senior official of the State Election Commission (SEC) said.

Baharampore Sub-Divisional Officer Dibyanarayan Chatterjee said one person was shot dead near a booth at Sujapur village in Murshidabad district’s Beldanga police station area.

The victim was a worker of the BJP, a party leader from Murshidabad district, Subhas Mondal, claimed.

“We have also received a report that four people were injured and another was killed at Tapan in South Dinajpur district. But the police are yet to confirm the death,” the SEC official said.

He said 41.5 per cent polling was recorded till 1 pm.
A CPI (M) supporter was killed and another was injured when bombs were hurled outside a polling station in the Amdanga area of North 24 Parganas district, the official said.

At Kultali in South 24 Parganas district, one person was killed when a bomb was hurled outside a polling station, the SEC official said.

In Nadia’s Shantipur area, one person was killed and two others were injured in clashes, he said.

In Coochbehar district, North Bengal Development Minister Rabindranath Ghosh allegedly slapped a person outside a polling booth.

The SEC said it had received a complaint in this regard and asked authorities to take action.

Television channels showed the minister purportedly slapping the person. However, Ghosh claimed he did not do it.

In the Dinhata area of Coochbehar district, at least 15 people, including voters, were injured after clashes broke out between two groups outside a polling station, police sources said. The voters later lodged a police complaint.

Fifteen people were injured in a clash between two groups outside a booth in the Nandigram area of East Midnapore district. One person was hit on the head while another lost a finger, police said.

In Contai in the same district, Independent candidate and four others were injured when chilli powder was thrown at them at a booth, they said.

In North Dinajpur district, three crude bombs were found near a polling booth at Galaisura, around 3 km from district headquarters Raiganj, police said.
Of the three bombs, two were found on railway tracks, affecting movement of trains, RPF sources said, adding that the bomb squad had been informed.

In Birbhum, masked men carrying weapons and sticks were seen intimidating voters outside some of the booths.

Television footage from Basanti block of South 24 Parganas district showed masked gunmen roaming outside polling stations.

In the Bhangar area of the same district, police resorted to lathi-charge and lobbed teargas shells to disperse a mob following clashes there, the SEC official said, adding that the police were asked to submit a report regarding the incident.
In Keshpur area of West Midnapore district, police resorted to lathi-charge and chased people who were allegedly trying to intimidate voters.

After a protracted legal battle in the Kolkata High Court and the Supreme Court involving the SEC, the TMC and the opposition parties, the three-tier panchayat poll is being held in the state.

Sirsa : 
Workers of the INLD and BSP courted arrest here as part of their ‘jail bharo’ agitation. They demanded early completion of the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal.

Addressing a rally before courting arrest, Leader of Opposition Abhay Singh Chautala criticised the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state for failing to follow Supreme Court directions on the issue.

He targeted Manohar Lal Khattar government for shelving the Dadupur-Nalvi canal project, which would have irrigated land and recharged the water table in in Yamunanagar, Ambala and Kurukshetra.
Abhay lashed out at Khattar for failing to secure water from the Agra Canal for Mewat

farmers when it was needed the most.