The Mumbai police has initiated an internal inquiry into the actions of one of its own, who has allegedly been trying to incite an agitation within the ranks of the force in connection with the recent Azad Maidan riots. The matter came to light when an officer with the special branch (SB) learnt about potentially inflammatory text messages doing the rounds, and the cyber crime cell is tracing the source.
According to police sources, the text message say, “We are surely not so impotent as to be mute spectators to the planned attack on policemen and molestation of our sisters in the force. As a protest if nothing else, let us wear black armbands to work on Friday (August 17) without worrying about action. Please spread the word among all policemen if you have any self-respect left.”
The message was brought to the attention of Uday Suryavanshi, senior police inspector (SB, H-branch) on Thursday, who then made some more inquiries. After learning that several policemen had received the message, he contacted the Marine Drive police.
“The cyber crime cell is trying to trace the source of the text message,” said Zunjarrao Gharal, senior police inspector, Marine Drive police.
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Spiti: hundreds stranded due to landslides
Shimla, Aug. 20: Hundreds of people, including a large number of foreign tourists, were stranded near Kaza in Spiti valley of Himachal Pradesh as the road was breached due to a landslide triggered by heavy rains on Saturday night, reports reaching here said on Monday.
A PTI correspondent, who was among the stranded persons, said a large number of people from adjoining Kinnaur district who had come to Kaza to visit a local fair and tourists, including foreigners, were stuck for nearly 40 hours and hopes of an early clearance of the road were dim. Some people managed to cross the breached portion of the road on foot but people travelling by four wheelers were still stranded. The BRO are trying hard to speed up clearance work. The administration had claimed that the road had been cleared but stranded people refuted the claim saying only a few pedestrians have crossed the road. — PTI