
Punya Priya Mitra
He is the bureau-in-charge in Indore looking after administration and crime
Articles by Punya Priya Mitra

Union minister Prahlad Singh Patel’s son, others arrested for rioting, attempted murder in Madhya Pradesh
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON JUN 19, 2019 10:14 AM IST
Police said the clash took place in Gotegaon area of Narsinghpur, some 225km east of Bhopal, in which a home guard sustained bullet injuries after shots were fired during the incident.

EOW gives clean chit to Digvijaya Singh in admission irregularity case
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON JUN 18, 2019 05:14 PM IST
Director General (EOW) K N Tiwari said the EOW has filed a closure report in the case as they could not find any evidence of wrong doing.

Not satisfied with treatment, Indore man kills doctor’s wife
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON JUN 07, 2019 07:15 AM IST
The accused was getting treatment from Dr Ramakrishna for itchy skin for the past six months, but without results

In Indore, patient kills doctor’s wife, injures son
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON JUN 06, 2019 10:07 PM IST
Tukoganj city superintendent of police (CSP), BPS Parihar said, “The accused Rafiq Rasheed (45) was suffering from an itchy skin disease for which he was getting treatment from Dr Ramkrishna Verma for the past six months, but without any results.”

To regain lost ground, MP, Rajasthan govts plan a rights-based approach
By Punya Priya Mitra and Sachin Saini | Hindustan Times, Bhopal/Jaipur
UPDATED ON JUN 05, 2019 07:25 AM IST
The Kamal Nath-led MP government plans to introduce “right to water” to ensure water once a day to all households. Similarly, Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot has announced a “right to health” law that would provide medicines, diagnostics and treatment of some diseases free of cost to the people.

After 4-year gap, STF to probe Vyapam scam again
By Shruti Tomar and Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAY 31, 2019 08:41 AM IST
The STF has also sought the Supreme Court’s guidance in this matter, according to senior STF officials.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: ‘Congress MLAs offered money, posts to defect,’ claims Kamal Nath
By Punya Priya Mitra | Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAY 21, 2019 09:07 PM IST
The chief minister was speaking to the media at the PCC office in Bhopal after a meeting of Congress MLAs and Lok Sabha candidates on Tuesday.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: BJP demands special session in Madhya Pradesh, may put pressure on Congress in House
By Punya Priya Mitra and Ranjan | Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAY 20, 2019 11:43 PM IST
The development comes a day after most exit polls predicted a big win for the BJP in the heartland state that has 29 Lok Sabha seats. The Congress-led coalition government has a majority of six in the 230-member assembly.

Leopard beaten to death in Madhya Pradesh after attack on woman
By Punya Priya Mitra | Bhopal
PUBLISHED ON MAY 20, 2019 11:37 PM IST
Local villagers said that initially, an elderly woman who had gone to her field was attacked by the sub-adult leopard and her mother around 9 am.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Congress, BJP vie for tribal votes in Madhya Pradesh
By Punya Priya Mitra | Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAY 18, 2019 09:14 AM IST
The two constituencies in the state’s eastern and western parts are a world apart in terms of topography, dialects etc. But the problems tribals face across Madhya Pradesh remain the same.

BJP leader calls Mahatma Gandhi ‘Pakistan’s father of nation’, suspended
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAY 17, 2019 05:56 PM IST
In a Facebook post Saumitra said, “He (Mahatma Gandhi) was the father of the nation of Pakistan.”

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Pragya calls Godse ‘patriot’, retracts after BJP steps in
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON AUG 16, 2019 01:36 PM IST
Singh was reacting to Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) president Kamal Haasan’s recent statement calling Godse the first Hindu terrorist of independent India.

Outrage as BJP’s Pragya calls Mahatma killer Godse a patriot
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAY 16, 2019 11:42 PM IST
BJP’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Thakur landed herself in a controversy once again by referring to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a deshbhakt (patriot), provoking outrage from opposition parties.

After backlash on ‘Godse a patriot’ remark, Pragya Thakur apologises to BJP
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAY 13, 2020 08:32 PM IST
Pragya Thakur, who provoked national outrage by calling Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot, has apologised for her comments.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Farm crisis a key issue in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Khandwa
UPDATED ON MAY 14, 2019 08:08 AM IST
This Lok Sabha seat that goes to polls on May 19 is seen as a communally sensitive spot in Madhya Pradesh.

Modi attacks Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka calls PM anti-tribal
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh)
UPDATED ON MAY 13, 2019 11:56 PM IST
At Ratlam, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra exhorted the largely tribal audience to vote carefully and bring a party to power that gives them strength and attacked the BJP for “snatching tribal rights”.

4-year-old tribal girl raped, murdered in MP’s Indore; 1 arrested: Cops
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAY 08, 2019 10:20 AM IST
Police have zeroed in on one suspect, Nandu(30), who threw girl into a well after raping her in fear that the minor might recognise him later.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: CM’s, ex-CM’s sons to try their luck on 6 seats in MP
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON APR 28, 2019 10:18 PM IST
More than 10 million voters will decide the fate of 108 candidates in the parliamentary constituencies of Sidhi, Shahdol, Mandla, Jabalpur, Balaghat and Chhindwara.

BJP leader’s campaign condition for Pragya Thakur seat is an apology
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON APR 26, 2019 04:45 PM IST
Pragya Thakur had created a political furore with her remarks on Karkare, who died fighting terrorists during the attacks on Mumbai in 2008, saying that she had cursed him just a month before his death.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Hemant Karkare’s junior files papers to take on Pragya from Bhopal
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
PUBLISHED ON APR 25, 2019 11:24 PM IST
Pragya Thakur, the BJP candidate from Bhopal, received a EC notice for her remarks. The Indian Police Service Association wrote a tweet that condemned her statement on the Ashoka Chakra gallantry award winner.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Congress rejigs LS formula, doesn’t field MLAs in MP
By Punya Priya Mitra | Bhopal
PUBLISHED ON APR 24, 2019 11:24 PM IST
The reason appears to be the slim lead that the Congress has in the Assembly, as it fears that giving up MLAs to contest the Lok Sabha elections might cost it the state government, say political observers.

After I-T raids, Madhya Pradesh steps up heat on previous BJP govt
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, New Delhi
PUBLISHED ON APR 13, 2019 08:01 AM IST
On Thursday, the EOW arrested three suspects in connection with alleged irregularities in e-tendering to the tune of of ₹3,000 crore.

Three arrested in Madhya Pradesh’s Rs 3,000 crore e-tendering scam
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
PUBLISHED ON APR 12, 2019 09:55 AM IST
EOW superintendent of police (Bhopal), Arun Mishra, said police have arrested the firm’s directors Vinay Choudhary and Varun Chaturvedi, and its marketing head Sunil Golwalkar.

MP govt books ‘unnamed politicians’ in Rs 3,000 crore e-tendering scam
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON APR 10, 2019 09:45 PM IST
The Economic Offences Wing lodged an FIR against “unnamed politicians and bureaucrats”, employees of five government departments and owners of eight companies for their involvement in an alleged Rs 3000 cr e-tendering scam.

Kamal Nath, son file nomination, have assets over Rs 780 crore
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON APR 10, 2019 01:00 PM IST
Kamal Nath and Nakul Nath had earlier gone to the Shikarpur temple to offer prayers and then took out a rally that reached the collectorate to file their nominations.

Year after village is cleared of people, a tigress moves in with her cubs
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON APR 04, 2019 11:58 PM IST
Senior state forest officials, including principal chief conservator of forests U Prakasham and Ujjain chief conservator of forests Ajay Yadav, have confirmed the development, a first in the sanctuary.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Ending liquor smuggling to Gujarat biggest challenge for poll officials
By Punya Priya Mitra and Shruti Tomar | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON APR 02, 2019 10:20 PM IST
Officials say holding elections in Balaghat and Mandla, the two Naxal affected districts in the state, is also a challenge further compounded by communication dark spots in these districts.

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath likely to take over dad’s mantle
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAR 15, 2019 09:30 PM IST
The Congress leaders said that Nakul Nath has been assisting his father during the elections. However, his political ambition came into focus when he was seated right behind his father Kamal Nath when the latter took over as the Madhya Pradesh Congress chief in May last year.

Six-year-old kidnapped, killed in Madhya Pradesh
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal/Satna
PUBLISHED ON MAR 14, 2019 05:11 AM IST
A missing six-year-old boy, whose parents received a ransom call seeking Rs 2 lakh for their son’s safe return, was found dead on Wednesday near a village drain in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district, police said, adding that two people including the boy’s uncle have been arrested.

Madhya Pradesh governor passes ordinance to hike OBC quota
By Punya Priya Mitra | Hindustan Times, Bhopal
UPDATED ON MAR 10, 2019 07:32 AM IST
Madhya Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel has signed on ordinance to increase the quota for other backward classes (OBCs) in government jobs and university admission from 14% to 27%.