The National Investigation Agency (NIA) attached three immovable properties of Kashmiri businessman Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district on June 12, in a terror funding case.

As per the report, officials said lands were seized in the morning on June 12 by a team of NIA at Baghatpora in Handwara tehsil of north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. The NIA put out a notice of attachment near the land and informing people not to enter into any kind of deal on the attached properties.

In May, the NIA had attached Watali’s house in the posh Baghat area of Srinagar following the orders by the special NIA court, Patiala House, New Delhi
Watali was arrested by the team of NIA in 2017 in an alleged connection with terror, later he was moved out of jail on the medical grounds and put under house arrest to facilitate treatment for a terminal disease in last year February.

Earlier, Supreme Court ruled out the Delhi High Court order in which Watali was granted bail. The Supreme Court found that an ample of material has been collected which shows the linkages between the Hurriyat leaders of the Jammu and Kashmir and terrorist organisations and their continuous activities to wage war against Government of India.

Watali was earlier arrested on the suspicion of acting as a channel for the illegal remittance of funds to secessionists, terrorists and stone-pelters in 1990. He was taken into custody along with JKLF chief Yasin Malik and others when some anti-national activists were found at his house in Baghat, Srinagar and was jailed for eight months in Jammu.

The recent action taken by the NIA in attaching his properties serves as another significant development in the ongoing investigation into the terror-funding case.

Last year in May, a trial court framed charges against Watali and other individuals involved in a case of terrorism and secessionist activities in Jammu and Kashmir in 2017.  Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali was arrested by the NIA in 2017 and was charged under various sections of the stringent Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday, began her election campaign for Madhya Pradesh by offering prayers on the banks of river Narmada in Jabalpur along with state Congress Chief Kamal Nath. Addressing the people of Madhya Pradesh she said the list of scams in Madhya Pradesh is longer than the abuses  that Prime Minister Narendra Modi said were used to target him.

She asked the list of works done by BJP in the past three years of its ruling in the state. She asked whether the life of the people improved under the current Shivraj Singh Chouhan government. Pointing out Congress’s recent victory in state polls, Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka, Vadra said the people of the respective states gave a good blow to the BJP.

Jabalpur has a sizable number of tribal voters. It is the cultural capital of Madhya Pradesh. Congress leader Vivek Tankha said Vadra chose Jabalpur to begin the party’s campaign for the state because former Congress President Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra did not pass through the region.

The Congress won the 2018 Madhya Pradesh election but the Kamal Nath government collapsed after two years of rule after Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia, the former Congress loyalist switched to the BJP. More than 20 MLAs favoured his decision and chose to join BJP along with him.

The BJP says that Congress is pursuing soft Hindutva in the upcoming state elections.

Congress leader PC Sharma denied the allegations saying the BJP separated Lord Rama from Goddess Sita as they say Jai Shri Ram. Whereas the Congress takes the name of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita together as they say Jai Siya Ram. He differentiated between the two parties by saying that the BJP does Politics of religion and the Congress does politics by following religion, whether it was Lord Krishna or lord Rama.

Madhya Pradesh is scheduled to go to polls later this year along with Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where the Congress is in power. The election is being watched very closely by both the BJP and the Congress as in the last 2018 elections, Congress made a swift entry into power in all these states and is hoping for a same 2018 like result, the hopes have gone high after its recent performance in the Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh elections.

Personal information of all people, including prominent leaders and journalists, who underwent Covid-19 vaccination have been leaked online, Trinamool Congress leader Saket Gokhale said in a series of tweets today.

Gokhale said details of the persons who underwent inoculation like their mobile numbers, Aadhaar numbers, passport numbers, voter ids and details were freely available online. He shared a screenshot of the leaked data on Twitter to prove his claim.

Among the leaders, whose data was revealed include senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, Congress leader KC Venugopal, Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien and Congress communication in-charge Jairam Ramesh. These were just the tip of the iceberg, claims Gokhale.

Expressing concern about the data breach, Gokhale raised questions about the sensitivity of the data and attacked the Narendra Modi government for its negligenct behaviour in not doing enough to protect such vital data. He said the Information & Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who has already had a horrid June due to the Odisha train collision in Blasore, should be held responsible for the data breach.  

Gokhale said it was a matter of serious concern since the personal details of every Indian who got vaccinated against Covid-19 was freely available on the internet.

Explaining the seriousness of the matter, Gokhale said when a mobile number registered with the CoWIN portal is entered in the Telegram intercom, it will share all details provided during vaccination along with gender, birth year, name of the vaccination centre and doses. He further referred to a report and said that the Aadhaar card, voter ID, and PAN card numbers of Indian citizens are accessible to anyone on Telegram. 

It is to be noted that earlier there were reports that claimed the CoWIN portal was hacked. The reports claimed that a database of 15 crore people was leaked online. However, cyber security researchers denied the claim. The National Health Authority (NHA) denied those claims, saying the platform neither collects the address of people nor RT-PCR test results for vaccination.

The government heavily relied on digital technology for controlling and creating awareness about the Covid-19 pandemic and the subsequent vaccination programme. Several government departments had mandated the use of the Aarogya Setu app for Covid-19 related services and information.

Apart from the politiicans, data of journalists Rajdeep Sardesai, Rahul Shivshankar, Barkha Dutt and Dhanya Rajendran was also available, said Gokhale. Again, the leaked data included Aadhaar card numbers, along with gender, date of birth and vaccination centre and other details.