Passenger extorted for taking a selfie
A train passenger was extorted by four Home Guards for taking a selfie at the Kamakhya Railway Station. The victim, Vijay Kumar, told the police that they took D10,000 by the personnel who told him that it was illegal to take selfies at railway stations. He paid the money as he had to catch the train and the personnel allegedly threatened to take him to the police station. Later, the victim lodged a complaint with the police at Bongaigaon in Lower Assam. Based on his complaint, the police arrested the accused personnel and produced them in a court which sent them to judicial custody. The police managed to recover the extorted money.
Fake call centre busted
A fake call centre was busted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Guwahati recently. The CID arrested the prime accused, Rajesh Khan aka Rajesh Mukherjee, and his close aide Naomi Changsan. Thirty-six employees were also picked up. The call centre, which started its operation in February this year, used to operate only at night. It managed to access a database of social security numbers (SSNs) of 67 lakh people in the US. The employees used to call up the US citizens posing as US government officials and extort them by telling them that their SSNs were found to be linked to illegal activities.
Chef fired for mongoose post
A chef, Bhaskar Jyoti Das, was sacked by the management of Hotel Gateway Grandeur as he had shared a recipe of mongoose meat on the social media. The post, which went viral, had ruffled many feathers. The hotel management condemned his action. They said they do not endorse the killings of wild species of animals or birds. All mongoose species found in India are protected under the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.
Keeping up the tradition
A woman will represent Guwahati in the Lok Sabha for the third time in a row. Keeping up the tradition, BJP’s Queen Ojha defeated Bobbeeta Sarma of the Congress. Ojha said she will work towards women’s empowerment. The seat was held by BJP’s Bijoya Chakraborty since 2009 but she was denied ticket by the party this election apparently due to her age. Barring a gap of five years from 2004-09, Guwahati is being represented by a woman since 1999. In 2004, the BJP has denied a ticket to Chakraborty and fielded Bhupen Hazarika, but he lost.