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Punya Priya Mitra

He is the bureau-in-charge in Indore looking after administration and crime

Articles by Punya Priya Mitra

Outrage as BJP’s Pragya calls Mahatma killer Godse a patriot

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.

Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, BJP candidate from Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency.(ANI photo)

elections

Updated on May 16, 2019 11:42 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

After backlash on ‘Godse a patriot’ remark, Pragya Thakur apologises to BJP

Pragya Thakur, who provoked national outrage by calling Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot, has apologised for her comments.

india news

Updated on May 13, 2020 08:32 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Farm crisis a key issue in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa

This Lok Sabha seat that goes to polls on May 19 is seen as a communally sensitive spot in Madhya Pradesh.

Khandwa Lok Sabha seat that goes to polls on May 19 is seen as a communally sensitive spot in Madhya Pradesh.(Mujeeb Faruqui/HT File Photo)

elections

Updated on May 14, 2019 08:08 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Khandwa | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Modi attacks Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka calls PM anti-tribal

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”.

Priyanka Gandhi acknowledging greetings of Congress workers and others at Ujjain on Monday.(HT PHOTO)

elections

Updated on May 13, 2019 11:56 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Ratlam (Madhya Pradesh) | ByPunya Priya Mitra

4-year-old tribal girl raped, murdered in MP’s Indore; 1 arrested: Cops

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.

The accused allegedly took the minor out in the middle of the night and threw her into a well after he raped her.(File Photo)

india news

Updated on May 08, 2019 10:20 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Lok Sabha elections 2019: CM’s, ex-CM’s sons to try their luck on 6 seats in MP

More than 10 million voters will decide the fate of 108 candidates in the parliamentary constituencies of Sidhi, Shahdol, Mandla, Jabalpur, Balaghat and Chhindwara.

More than 10 million voters will decide on APril 29 the fate of 108 candidates in the parliamentary constituencies of Sidhi, Shahdol, Mandla, Jabalpur, Balaghat and Chhindwara.(HT file photo)

elections

Updated on Apr 28, 2019 10:18 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

BJP leader’s campaign condition for Pragya Thakur seat is an apology

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.

Pragya Thakur is contesting against Congress candidate and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh. Bhopal goes to polls in the sixth round of the seven-phased Lok Sabha election on May 12.(PTI)

elections

Updated on Apr 26, 2019 04:45 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Hemant Karkare’s junior files papers to take on Pragya from Bhopal

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.

A retired assistant commissioner of police, Riyazuddin Ghayasuddin Deshmukh (60), who worked as a subordinate of Mumbai former Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare has filed his nomination for the Bhopal.(Hindustan Times)

elections

Published on Apr 25, 2019 11:24 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Congress rejigs LS formula, doesn’t field MLAs in MP

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.

elections

Published on Apr 24, 2019 11:24 PM IST

Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

After I-T raids, Madhya Pradesh steps up heat on previous BJP govt

On Thursday, the EOW arrested three suspects in connection with alleged irregularities in e-tendering to the tune of of ₹3,000 crore.

Income tax office near ITO.(Pradeep Gaur/ Mint file photo)

india news

Published on Apr 13, 2019 08:01 AM IST

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Three arrested in Madhya Pradesh’s ₹3,000 crore e-tendering scam

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.

Madhya Pradesh’s e-tendering scam relates to how some firms allegedly illegally managed to hack the e-procurement portal to see the e-tenders before the bid was to be opened and then make favourable changes in the bid.(PTI / Representative Photo)

india news

Published on Apr 12, 2019 09:55 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

MP govt books ‘unnamed politicians’ in Rs 3,000 crore e-tendering scam

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.

The scam relates to how some firms illegally managed to hack the e-procurement portal hosted by the Madhya Pradesh State Electronic Development Corporation (MPSEDC) to see the e-tenders before the bid was to be opened.(BLOOMBERG PHOTO)

india news

Updated on Apr 10, 2019 09:45 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Kamal Nath, son file nomination, have assets over Rs 780 crore

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.

In his affidavit, Kamal Nath showed that he and his wife Alka Nath had moveable property of Rs 40.5 crore and immovable property of Rs 84 crore.(ANI File)

india news

Updated on Apr 10, 2019 01:00 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Year after village is cleared of people, a tigress moves in with her cubs

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.

A female tiger rests with newborn cubs at a zoo, in Indore, Wednesday, Dec. 19, 2018. Image for representation.(PTI file photo)

india news

Updated on Apr 04, 2019 11:58 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Ending liquor smuggling to Gujarat biggest challenge for poll officials

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.

According to the Election Commission of India figures, with the model code of conduct in place, Gujarat has reported the fifth highest seizure of liquor in the country. (HT file photo)

elections

Updated on Apr 02, 2019 10:20 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra and Shruti Tomar

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Kamal Nath’s son Nakul Nath likely to take over dad’s mantle

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.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath’s elder son Nakul Nath (44) has started campaigning for the Congress.(Photo by Zaheed Khan)

elections

Updated on Mar 15, 2019 09:30 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Six-year-old kidnapped, killed in Madhya Pradesh

A missing six-year-old boy, whose parents received a ransom call seeking ₹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.

The incident comes a month after the kidnapping and killing of the five-year-old twin sons of a businessman in the same region.(AFP/Picture for representation)

cities

Published on Mar 14, 2019 05:11 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal/Satna | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Madhya Pradesh governor passes ordinance to hike OBC quota

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%.

Madhya Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel(Hindustan Times file photo)

cities

Updated on Mar 10, 2019 07:32 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Salman Khan to promote tourism, heritage in MP

Film star Salman Khan has promised that he will help Madhya Pradesh in the field of tourism and heritage, announced chief minister Kamal Nath on Thursday.

cities

Published on Mar 07, 2019 10:16 PM IST

ByPunya Priya Mitra

Panna: A success story of tiger relocation that started a decade ago

Panna National Park was the second tiger reserve in India after Sariska to loose all its native tigers. Though tigers were repopulated in Sarsika before Panna, the latter has three times the number of the tigers in the former.

Panna National Park has three times the number of the tigers in Sarsika.(HT File Photo)

india news

Published on Mar 03, 2019 11:42 AM IST

Hindustan times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Tigers kill their own in Kanha, Sariska reserves, experts say it’s ‘rare’

On Thursday, forest officials confirmed that a male tiger in Kanha national park killed two sub-adults and a tigress in the past month and had also eaten some parts of their bodies.

A tiger in Madhya Pradesh’s Kanha has reportedly cannabalised three other big cats in what wildlife experts describe as “rare” but not “unheard of” instance of cannibalism among the biggest of the big cats.(PTI)

india news

Updated on Mar 01, 2019 06:38 AM IST

Hindustan Times | ByPunya Priya Mitra and Devendra Bhardwaj

MPSBB notice to 500 companies under bio-diversity act

Madhya Pradesh State Biodiversity Board (MPSBB) appears to have got its act together and has given notices to over 500 manufacturing companies who are using forest based bio-resources of the state.

cities

Updated on Aug 19, 2019 01:38 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Top cop keeps father’s body for a month, says being treated by ayurvedic doc

Madhya Pradesh Police said that they were not sure how to respond to the situation as there was no complaint.

The official residence of Additional Director General of Police of Madhya Pradesh Rajendra Kumar Mishra in Bhopal.(HT PHOTO)

india news

Updated on Feb 14, 2019 07:22 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra and Shruti Tomar

Two booked under National Security Act for ‘illegal transportation of cattle’ in Madhya Pradesh

The development came two days after NSA was invoked against three people, including two brothers in Khandwa district — 271km south of Bhopal, accused of cow slaughter.

Police said the accused, both in their 20s, have previous cases of illegal cattle transportation registered against them.(AFP/Picture for representation)

cities

Updated on Feb 08, 2019 09:27 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Agarmalwa/Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh) | ByPramod Carpenter and Punya Priya Mitra

‘Ram Bhakt’ Rahul Gandhi to address farmers’ rally in Bhopal today

Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who will kick off his party’s campaign for the Lok Sabha election in Madhya Pradesh with a farmers’ rally in Bhopal on Friday, is being shown as a Ram Bhakt, who will build the Ram temple in Ayodhya, and the future prime minister in posters put up to welcome him.

This will be Rahul Gandhi’s first visit to the state after the Congress formed the government in Madhya Pradesh in December last year after a gap of 15 years.(Raj K Raj/HT Photo)

elections

Updated on Feb 08, 2019 08:18 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Doctor has affair with driver’s wife, hacks him, dissolves pieces in acid

The accused Dr Sunil Mantri (58), who lives in Anand Nagar, an upscale locality in Hoshangabad, has confessed to killing his servant, Birendra alias Biru Pachauri (30), police said.

cities

Updated on Feb 05, 2019 09:42 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Rishi Kumar Shukla’s journey from MP top cop to CBI chief

A 1983-batch IPS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Shukla was on leave for six weeks from October 15 -- Assembly elections were held in the state at that time -- because of a bypass surgery. He resumed charge as DGP on December 4 under the new Congress government headed by Kamal Nath.

An undated photo of the former DGP of Madhya Pradesh Rishi Kumar Shukla who was on Saturday, Feb 2, 2019, appointed as new CBI Director.(PTI)

india news

Updated on Feb 03, 2019 08:49 AM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra and Shruti Tomar

MP forest dept take drone route to take on mining mafia, encroachers

In a first, the Madhya Pradesh forest department will deploy drones to take on the mining mafia, illegal loggers and encroachers of forest land

cities

Published on Jan 29, 2019 07:37 PM IST

Bhopal, Hindustan Times | ByPunya Priya Mitra

RSS worker who faked his own death is now a murder suspect, say cops

A desire to claim ₹20 lakh life insurance that RSS activist Himmat Patidar had taken out in his own name in December 2017 appears to be main motive behind the murder, police said.

Police in Madhya Pradesh say that the body of murdered RSS worker has turned out to be that of his alleged murder and the murder was committed for insurance fraud (Representative Photo)(AFP)

india news

Updated on Jan 28, 2019 07:59 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

Two-year-old falls into 70-foot-deep borewell in MP, rescued

A two-year-old boy who fell into a 70-foot-deep borewell in Kerhar village of Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district has been rescued, district collector Anurag Chaudhary said on Sunday.

Officials said the incident took place at around 8am on Sunday when the boy, Tej Pratap Singh, was playing near the borewell. The village is located some 675 km east of Bhopal, bordering Uttar Pradesh.(ANI/Twitter)

cities

Published on Jan 27, 2019 02:04 PM IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | ByPunya Priya Mitra

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Punya Priya Mitra

He is the bureau-in-charge in Indore looking after administration and crime

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.

Pragya Thakur, who provoked national outrage by calling Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse a patriot, has apologised for her comments.

This Lok Sabha seat that goes to polls on May 19 is seen as a communally sensitive spot in Madhya Pradesh.

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”.

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.

More than 10 million voters will decide the fate of 108 candidates in the parliamentary constituencies of Sidhi, Shahdol, Mandla, Jabalpur, Balaghat and Chhindwara.

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.

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.

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.

On Thursday, the EOW arrested three suspects in connection with alleged irregularities in e-tendering to the tune of of ₹3,000 crore.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

A missing six-year-old boy, whose parents received a ransom call seeking ₹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 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%.

Film star Salman Khan has promised that he will help Madhya Pradesh in the field of tourism and heritage, announced chief minister Kamal Nath on Thursday.

Panna National Park was the second tiger reserve in India after Sariska to loose all its native tigers. Though tigers were repopulated in Sarsika before Panna, the latter has three times the number of the tigers in the former.

On Thursday, forest officials confirmed that a male tiger in Kanha national park killed two sub-adults and a tigress in the past month and had also eaten some parts of their bodies.

Madhya Pradesh State Biodiversity Board (MPSBB) appears to have got its act together and has given notices to over 500 manufacturing companies who are using forest based bio-resources of the state.

Madhya Pradesh Police said that they were not sure how to respond to the situation as there was no complaint.

The development came two days after NSA was invoked against three people, including two brothers in Khandwa district — 271km south of Bhopal, accused of cow slaughter.

The accused Dr Sunil Mantri (58), who lives in Anand Nagar, an upscale locality in Hoshangabad, has confessed to killing his servant, Birendra alias Biru Pachauri (30), police said.

A 1983-batch IPS officer from the Madhya Pradesh cadre, Shukla was on leave for six weeks from October 15 -- Assembly elections were held in the state at that time -- because of a bypass surgery. He resumed charge as DGP on December 4 under the new Congress government headed by Kamal Nath.

In a first, the Madhya Pradesh forest department will deploy drones to take on the mining mafia, illegal loggers and encroachers of forest land

A desire to claim ₹20 lakh life insurance that RSS activist Himmat Patidar had taken out in his own name in December 2017 appears to be main motive behind the murder, police said.

A two-year-old boy who fell into a 70-foot-deep borewell in Kerhar village of Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district has been rescued, district collector Anurag Chaudhary said on Sunday.

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