Page 4 - Chhattisgarh

Trafficking-conversion case: Chhattisgarh court grants bail to Kerala nuns

A special court in Chhattisgarh's Bilaspur district on Saturday granted bail to three persons, including two nuns from Kerala, arrested on charges of human trafficking and forced religious conversion, lawyers said. Principal District and Sessions Judge (NIA court) Sirajuddin Qureshi had reserved the order on their bail pleas after a hearing on Friday. The court has granted conditional bail to the trio, defence lawyer Amrito Das said. Catholic nuns Preethi Merry and Vandana Francis, both from Kerala, along with Sukaman Mandavi, were arrested at the Durg railway station on July 25, following a complaint from a local Bajrang Dal functionary, who accused them of forcibly converting three girls from Narayanpur and trafficking them, a railway police official had said. Following the bail hearing on Friday, Das had said that the prosecution had not asked for the trio's custody for interrogation, and the alleged victims had been sent back to their homes.

SAIL-Bhilai URM achieves milestone of 5 mt of prime rail production

The Bhilai Steel Plant is the exclusive supplier of rails to the Indian Railways, and the URM was set up to produce high-quality rails in this capacity

BSNL plans 4K new mobile towers in Naxalite-affected areas of Chhattisgarh

BSNL plans to install 4,000 mobile towers in Naxalite-affected areas of Chhattisgarh to enhance digital connectivity, Minister of State Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar announced

Bhupesh Baghel's son sent to judicial custody till August 4 in liquor scam

He was produced before the court following the completion of his five-day custodial remand with the Enforcement Directorate (ED)

Chhattisgarh passes Jan Vishwas Bill, boosts ease of doing business

The Bill aims to decriminalise minor technical violations by citizens and business owners. Offences committed under newly introduced Bill will attract monetary penalties, instead of criminal charges

ED arrests ex-CM Bhupesh Baghel's son in Chhattisgarh liquor scam

ED alleges a liquor syndicate operated between 2019-2022, causing ₹2,100 crore loss to state exchequer, with proceeds shared by top political figures

Husband can't seek wife's private info or passwords: Chhattisgarh HC

The bench stated that any such compulsion by a husband amounts to a breach of the wife's right to privacy and would invite action under the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act

Chhattisgarh govt gives a breather to small traders, waives VAT dues

The approved GST amendment draft incorporates key changes aligned with the decisions taken in the 55th meeting of the GST Council

23 Naxals with cumulative bounty of ₹1.18 cr surrender in Chhattisgarh

As many as 23 hardcore Naxalites, including three couples, carrying a cumulative bounty of Rs 1.18 crore, surrendered in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district on Saturday, a senior police official said. The surrendered Naxalites include 11 senior cadres, most of them active in the Peoples' Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) battalion no.1, which is considered the strongest military formation of Maoists, the official said. They turned themselves in before senior police and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) officials, citing their disappointment with "hollow" Maoist ideology, atrocities committed by Naxalites on innocent tribals and growing internal differences within the banned outfit, Sukma Superintendent of Police Kiran Chavan said. He said there were nine women among surrendered cadres. The official said Lokesh alias Podiam Bhima (35), Ramesh alias Kalmu Kesa (23), Kawasi Masa (35), Madkam Hunga (23), Nuppo Gangi (28), Punem Deve (30), Paraski Pandey (22), Madvi Joga (20), Nuppo Lachchu

Chhattisgarh liquor 'scam': 22 excise officials suspended by Sai govt

The Chhattisgarh government on Thursday suspended 22 excise officials after they were named as accused in a chargesheet filed in the alleged liquor scam case. Speaking to PTI Videos, Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said his government has a zero tolerance policy against corruption. "The truth about the scams that took place during the previous Congress government is being unearthed layer by layer. Strictest action will be taken against the culprits. No corrupt person will be spared," Sai asserted. These 22 officials comprise 12 assistant commissioners, five deputy commissioners, three district excise officers and two assistant district excise officials, a government official said. "Action was taken against them after they were named as accused in the chargesheet filed on July 7 by the state's Anti Corruption Bureau and Economic Offence Wing (ACB/EOW), he said. The EOW on July 7 filed its fourth supplementary chargesheet in the alleged liquor scam that took place during the previous

Three killed, six injured as bus collides with truck in Raipur

Two men and a woman were killed and six other persons injured after a private bus they were travelling in collided with a truck in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur on Tuesday, police said. The accident took place in the morning near Kendri village under Abhanpur police station limits, located 25 km from here, when the bus was heading to Raipur from Jagdalpur (Bastar district), Senior Superintendent of Police Lal Umed Singh told PTI. The bus hit the rear end of the truck, which was moving in the same direction, apparently in a bid to overtake it, he said. Three bus passengers, identified as Azhar Ali (30), resident of Kondgaon, Balram Patel (46), from Jagdalpur, and Barkha Thakur (31), from Mahasamund, died on the spot and six others suffered injuries, the official said. After being alerted, an ambulance was rushed to the spot. A police team also reached the accident site, he said. The injured passengers were shifted to a hospital and were later discharged after treatment, the officia

Chhattisgarh replaces Urdu-Persian words with Hindi in police functioning

The Chhattisgarh government has replaced Urdu and Persian words used in police official records with Hindi terms that can be easily understood by a layperson, in order to make policing more accessible, transparent and communicative, an official here said on Saturday. Replacing 'halafnama' with 'shapath patra' (affidavit), 'dafa' with 'dhara' (section), 'fariyadi' with 'shikayatkarta' (complainant) and 'chasmdid' with 'pratyakshdarshi' (eyewitness) are some of the examples of this. On the instructions of Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, who also holds the home portfolio, the Director General of Police (DGP) has issued a letter to the district Superintendents of Police (SPs) in this regard stating that difficult and traditional words used in police functioning should be changed with simple and clear Hindi terms, an official statement said. A list of 109 words with their Hindi alternatives have been provided with the letter suggesting to be used in place of old difficult words, it .

NIA chargesheets 17 in Chhattisgarh CRPF camp attack, 16 still absconding

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has chargesheeted 17 accused, including 16 absconders, in a 2024 case of attacks on CRPF camps in Chhattisgarh by CPI (Maoist) terror operatives, officials said on Saturday. One of the chargesheeted accused is under arrest, who has been identified as Sodi Baman alias Deval, they said. The absconders include two each central committee members and special zonal/state committee members, and other top cadres of the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army (PLGA) Battalion No. 1, Telangana state committee, and Pamed area committee of CPI (Maoist), the officials said. The PGLA is the armed wing of CPI (Maoist). The chargesheet filed on Friday before an NIA special court in Jagdalpur, Chhattisgarh, has charged all the accused under various sections of Indian Penal Code, Arms Act, Explosive Substances Act, and Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, an official statement said. The case relates to the attack on the Central Reserve Police Force's (CRPF) new c

Naxalism taking last breath: CM Sai pays tribute to cop killed in IED blast

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Tuesday said the end of Naxalism is certain, as he laid wreath at the mortal remains of Additional Superintendent of Police Akash Rao Girepunje killed in an IED blast in Sukma district. The CM said Girepunje's sacrifice will not go in vain. Girepunje was killed and two officers were injured after the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) planted by Naxals exploded on Monday in Sukma. Amid emotional chants of 'Bharat Mata ki Jai' and 'Akash Rao Amar Rahe', wreaths were laid on Tuesday at the police officer's mortal remains at the headquarters of the 4th battalion of Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) in Mana area here. Apart from CM Sai, Deputy CMs Vijay Sharma and Arun Sao, state assembly speaker Raman Singh, ministers, public representatives and senior administration and police officials were present at the wreath laying ceremony. Girepunje's family members, including his parents, his wife and two minor children, were also present. His 7-yea

Naxal leader Bhaskar with ₹45 lakh bounty killed in Chhattisgarh encounter

This is the third major success for security forces in the last two weeks, as they intensify efforts to wipe out Naxal insurgency by March 2026

Chhattisgarh CM to brief PM on anti-Naxal ops, hails top leader's death

While hailing the recent successful anti-Naxal operation, which neutralised Gautam, a Central Committee Member (CCM), the Chief Minister saluted the jawans for their bravery

Vedanta Aluminium partners with PwC India for sustainability initiatives

Vedanta Aluminium on Thursday announced the expansion of its partnership with PwC India to scale up sustainability initiatives across its operations in Odisha and Chhattisgarh. Initially centred on biodiversity projects around Vedanta's Jharsuguda smelter, the partnership will now extend across all its operational regions and will also focus on decarbonisation, water positivity, and biodiversity conservation, marking a major step in integrating sustainability throughout the company's value chain, the company said in a statement. "This collaboration with PwC exemplifies our unwavering dedication to driving sustainable growth and championing environmental stewardship. Anchored in robust ESG principles, we are actively working towards carbon neutrality by 2050 and supporting India's net zero vision for 2070," Vedanta Aluminium Chief Executive Officer Rajiv Kumar said. Kumar further noted that "by addressing critical ecological challenges, improving operational efficiencies, and placing

Gutkha spitting at 100 kmph triggers crash in Chhattisgarh; 1 killed

Driver opened door of speeding Innova to spit gutkha, causing the car to flip multiple times; businessman killed, two others critically injured

Chhattisgarh biggest laggard in mobile ownership by women: NSO data

NSO data shows 92% women in Goa, Ladakh owned a phone, followed by Mizoram, Kerala

SC interim bail for 3 bureaucrats, 3 others in Chhattisgarh coal-levy scam

Two days after being granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the Chhattisgarh coal-levy scam case, two suspended IAS officers and a former deputy secretary in the chief minister's office walked out of jail on Saturday. Defence counsel Faizal Rizvi told reporters that Sameer Vishnoi and Ranu Sahu, both IAS officers, and Saumya Chaurasia, a deputy secretary in the CMO during the previous Bhupesh Baghel government, and three others were released from Raipur central jail. The SC has granted interim bail to eight persons, of whom two individuals Suryakant Tiwari and Nikhil Chandrakar have not been released (due to other pending cases), he said. The Enforcement Directorate (ED), which has been probing the money laundering angle in the alleged coal-levy scam since 2022, had arrested Vishnoi in October 2022 and Chaurasia in December the same year. The central agency had taken Sahu into custody in July 2023. Rizvi said the bureaucrat trio has been granted interim bail in the two case