Radicalisation has become one of the biggest threats facing India. The agencies warn that radicalisation camps can come up at unassuming locations as they largely remain off the radar. The TCS case is one such example where the police found that professional seniority was used as a leverage to allegedly radicalise and also convert vulnerable junior employees between 2021 and 2026. While the probe is ongoing, the agencies are set to look into a larger pattern. More such modules may be in the works in various other places and firms, and the agencies will study the patterns and possible links to the Nashik case, an official said. Another official said that it is becoming increasingly clear that the larger design is to set up more such radicalisation centres. The focus is more on radicalisation and changing the mindset of society rather than going in for conventional terror attacks. Outfits such as the Popular Front of India (PFI), Islamic State and Al-Qaeda have long focused largely on radicalisation. The PFI, before its ban, had set up several radicalisation camps and centres with the intention of changing the way people think. In the Nashik case, the modus operandi resembles the Popular Front of India’s Vision 2047 document titled, “India 2047: Towards Rule of Islam in India". This document speaks about increasing radicalisation drives. The focus is largely on radicalisation rather than attacks. The vision of the PFI was to have a radicalised Islamic state by 2047. The outfit was, however, banned by the Narendra Modi government in 2022. The TCS radicalisation case busted by the Nashik Police will be probed by the central agencies, such as the National Investigation Agency (NIA), which would look into the wider ramifications of this case. Officials say that the agencies would probe to find out if this is an isolated case or if there are many such white-collar modules in other parts of the country. The possible role of the PFI will also be probed in-depth, the official said. The outfit has been accused by the NIA of promoting radicalisation by trapping Hindu women. In the Nashik case, the police have accused IT engineers and an HR manager of attempting to radicalise and forcibly convert Hindu women employees and gain ideological control over them. The accused are team leaders -- Tausif Attar, Danish Sheikh, Asif Ansari, Shafi Sheikh and HR’s Nida Khan. Nida Khan, who has been accused of allegedly facilitating and introducing the victims to the accused team leaders, is currently absconding. Investigating officials say that she would be able to provide more details, which may eventually lead to other similar networks, the official also said. Another official said that the agencies would examine the similarities between the modus operandi in the Nashik case and what the PFI’s vision document states. According to the document, the goal is to establish Islamic rule in India by 20247, which marks India’s 100th year of independence. The document outlines a four-stage programme involving recruitment, training in martial arts, and also creating communal tensions across the country. Further, the PFI has also spoken about creating specialised radicalisation cells within the IT sector. Officials say that the plan was to target all sections of society. It wanted the educated class to be part of this programme so that the ideology could reach a wider audience. The uneducated or less educated were the ones to be used on the streets to incite and carry out violent acts. The PFI kick-started operations in Kerala, but managed to spread far and wide to different parts of the country, including the northeastern states. Although the PFI has been banned, the agencies say that there are many out in the open and continue to spread its so-called vision. Post the ban, the Intelligence agencies had warned that many who were part of the outfit and had not come under the radar of the investigating agencies could push the PFI’s agenda in a hush-hush manner. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
16 April,2026 01:38 PM IST | New Delhi | IANSTwo forest department officers have been arrested in Maharashtra's Thane district for allegedly demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 25,000, news agency PTI reported. The duo was allegedly demanding the sum to issue an NOC for a petrol pump, the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) said on Thursday. The agency also highlighted that the accused have been identified as forester Vilas Shivaji Sanap and forest guard Rekha Gaikwad, both stationed at the forest department office in Kunda, Mamnoli, under Kalyan taluka, PTI reported. According to Deputy Superintendent of Police (ACB) Anil Jaykar, the complainant had received a sanction to open a new petrol pump and required a mandatory no-objection certificate (NOC) from the forest department. When he applied for the certificate, Sanap allegedly demanded Rs 50,000 to process the request. Following negotiations, the bribe amount was reduced to Rs 25,000. After being alerted, the ACB laid a trap at the forest office on Wednesday and caught Gaikwad while accepting the bribe amount on behalf of the forester. The officials further asserted that both the accused Sanap and Gaikwad have been arrested under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and a further probe is underway, as per PTI. Thane medical officer arrested for taking a Rs 2,000 bribe for gun licence certificate A medical officer from Thane district was arrested on Friday for allegedly accepting a Rs 2,000 bribe to issue a medical certificate needed for renewing a gun licence, news agency PTI reported. The accused has been identified as Dr Anil Patil, who was posted at Murbad Rural Hospital, according to the Thane unit of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB). A man had approached the hospital seeking a medical certificate required for the renewal of his father’s revolver licence. “An ambulance driver, Mahendra Hindurao, allegedly demanded Rs 3,000 on behalf of the medical officer for issuing the certificate. The amount was later negotiated down to Rs 2,000,” said Inspector Rupali Pol of the ACB. Unwilling to pay the bribe, the complainant approached the ACB, following which a trap was laid on the hospital premises on Thursday. “Our team caught the medical officer red-handed while accepting the bribe amount. The ambulance driver is currently absconding, and a search is underway to trace him,” Pol said. The ACB has launched an investigation to ascertain whether more persons are involved and to verify if similar illegal demands were made to other applicants. Patil has been booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. (With inputs from PTI)
16 April,2026 01:36 PM IST | Thane | mid-day online correspondentAs the three-day special sitting of Parliament began this morning to debate and discuss three legislations, the Lok Sabha witnessed fireworks and uproar, with Opposition and treasury benches engaging in a war of words over the ‘merits’ of the proposed amendments. Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Constitution (One Hundred and Thirty-First Amendment) Bill and the Delimitation Bill 2026, while Home Minister Amit Shah proposed to introduce the Union Territories Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026. Congress MP K.C. Venugopal voiced strong opposition to the introduction of the bills, claiming that this was an attempt to alter the constitutional fabric of the nation for certain motives. Lok Sabha Speaker intervened, asking them to reserve their arguments during Rule 72 and assured the Opposition of providing ample time to put forth their objections during the full-fledged debate. HM Shah countered Venugopal’s charges, stating that this was the time to raise technical objections to the introduction of the bills, but the latter was questioning the ‘merits’ of the bills. Samajwadi Party fiercely opposed the bills on constitutional grounds, claiming that this would destroy the federal structure and curtail parliamentary democracy. SP MP Dharmendra Yadav demanded that the proposed amendments and bills be withdrawn, while the women’s reservation bill, which was passed in 2023, be brought into force with immediate effect. The SP lawmaker’s scathing criticism, however, sparked controversy as Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju strongly objected to his demands for inclusion of a special quota for Muslim women. Rijiju asserted that the SP leader’s demand for special reservation for Muslim women is totally uncalled for and asked him to refrain from adding communal flavour to the debate. AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi also objected to the introduction of bills, stating that this is against the very basis of federalism and the Constitutional framework. The government and opposition have been at loggerheads over the women's reservation bill and delimitation bill, as the former is seeking to operationalise the quota for women from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections while the latter is calling it an attempt to pass delimitation from the backdoor, using the women’s reservation as a ‘front’. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
16 April,2026 01:32 PM IST | New Delhi | IANSFollowing serious allegations of sexual harassment and religious conversions at its BPO unit in Nashik, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) has asked its employees at the Nashik facility to work from home. "TCS has asked its employees at Nasik station to work from home. The decision has been taken for the convenience and safety of employees," said TCS sources. Maharashtra | "TCS has asked its employees at Nasik station to work from home. The decision has been taken for the convenience and safety of employees," says TCS sources, following allegations of religious conversions and harassment at the Nashik unit of TCS. — ANI (@ANI) April 16, 2026 The move comes after multiple complaints from women employees alleging sexual harassment, coercion, and attempts at religious conversion at the TCS Nashik unit. Police have registered several FIRs in the case and arrested a number of individuals, including senior staff members. Meanwhile, the National Commission for Women (NCW) has constituted a fact-finding committee to conduct a detailed inquiry into the alleged incidents of sexual harassment of women at the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) BPO unit at Nashik in Maharashtra. The committee will submit its report within 10 working days. The committee, which will visit the place of the incident on April 18, comprises Justice Sadhna Jadhav, Retired Judge of Bombay High Court, BK Sinha, former DGP Haryana, Monika Arora, Supreme Court Advocate and Lilabati, Senior Coordinator, NCW, according to an official statement. TCS Nashik Conversion Case: NCW to assess safety lapses and meet stakeholders The committee has been mandated to conduct an on-the-spot inquiry at the TCS facility in Nashik and any other relevant locations; examine the circumstances leading to the incident and assess the response of concerned authorities and interact with victims, police officials, company representatives, and other relevant stakeholders to gather evidence, the statement explained. Besides, the committee will identify lapses, if any, and recommend appropriate action against those found responsible and suggest remedial measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents and to strengthen safety mechanisms for women in workplaces, the statement said. The committee will function in accordance with the provisions of Section 10(1) read with Section 10(4) of the NCW Act, 1990, and is required to submit its report to the Commission within 10 working days. Upon completion of the inquiry, the committee will present its findings to the Commission in person. TCS has maintained that it has a zero-tolerance policy towards any form of harassment or coercion and has suspended the employees under investigation while fully cooperating with the authorities. (With ANI and IANS inputs)
16 April,2026 01:31 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentA few schools in Chandigarh received bomb threat through emails on Thursday, prompting authorities to launch anti-sabotage checks at the educational institutions, officials said. After receiving information about threat emails, bomb disposal squads, dog squads, and other teams, including police, ambulances and fire brigade were rushed to schools, they said. They said search and santisation operations were underway at the schools. The fresh scare comes close on the heels of similar threats in the past few weeks at multiple places in Punjab and Haryana, where such emails later turned out to be hoaxes A few days ago, several schools in Patiala and Moga received bomb threat emails in Punjab but nothing suspicious was found. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever.
16 April,2026 12:38 PM IST | Chandigarh | PTINASSCOM on Tuesday said the sexual harassment case at TCS’s Nashik facility is an isolated incident and does not indicate any systemic issue in the Indian IT industry, amid a wave of social media claims alleging similar workplace concerns. In a statement, Nasscom said, “Any instance of misconduct or harassment in the technology sector is treated with the utmost seriousness, with companies taking swift and appropriate disciplinary action in line with established procedures.” “The Indian technology industry is built on a foundation of respect, dignity, and safety. The industry operates under strict governance frameworks and unequivocal standards for employee safety and workplace conduct,” it added. The industry body reiterated that employee safety remains a non-negotiable priority and that companies maintain a zero-tolerance policy towards inappropriate behaviour. It emphasised that isolated incidents should not be seen as indicative of broader systemic issues across the sector. The clarification comes after allegations by eight employees at the TCS Nashik unit, who claimed mental and sexual harassment by senior colleagues and alleged that the human resources department failed to act on their complaints. Police have arrested seven persons in connection with the case, while TCS has suspended all the accused employees. Meanwhile, several posts on social media platform X alleged similar instances of harassment at other IT firms. Most of these posts have since been deleted, and the companies concerned have denied the claims. Infosys denies harassment claims, reiterates zero-tolerance policy Infosys on Wednesday strongly denied allegations of workplace harassment at its Business Process Management (BPM) facility in Pune, reiterating its zero-tolerance approach. “Infosys maintains a zero-tolerance approach to any form of harassment or discrimination. Any issue reported is treated seriously and investigated by an independent committee. We encourage a ‘speak-up’ culture for employees to report any concern,” the company said in a statement. Infosys added that it has activated its internal processes and multi-channel preventive programmes in line with its global Code of Conduct. Maharashtra minister Nitesh Rane also took note of the social media claims and said the government is monitoring the situation. "We will address this, because so far many people who have come in contact with us, after the Nashik company incident, many have also been reaching out. We are conducting an investigation. Once a complaint is received, it will be examined to understand the situation and what is actually happening there..." said Rane. Mumbai, Maharashtra: Minister Nitesh Rane says, "We will address this, because so far many people who have come in contact with us, after the Nashik company incident, many have also been reaching out. We are conducting an investigation. Once a complaint is received, it will be… pic.twitter.com/u00cno8vm4 — IANS (@ians_india) April 16, 2026 (With IANS and ANI inputs)
16 April,2026 12:18 PM IST | New Delhi | mid-day online correspondentThe investigation into alleged religious conversion and sexual harassment at a Nashik branch of an IT giant suggests that seven male accused operated as an organised gang to target female employees, a senior officer has said. As reported by news agency PTI, police have registered nine cases in connection with the allegations. While seven men and a woman have been arrested, one female accused is on the run. Nashik Police Commissioner Sandeep Karnik, while explaining the role of the two female accused who were arrested earlier, said that the operations and HR head of the unit had allegedly discouraged a victim from submitting a complaint, saying "these things happen" and sided with the accused. Speculation of foreign funding and involvement of an extremist organisation In a related development, the Nashik court on Wednesday remanded the female operations manager in judicial custody till April 28. Responding to reports speculating involvement of any extremist organisation or funding from abroad for the accused, the police commissioner said a thorough investigation is underway, and the police have written to the SID, ATS and NIA. "As and when we get some evidence, we will be able to come to a conclusion about the same," the investigation officer also added. He also highlighted that nine cases registered by the police include a complaint lodged by a male employee of the firm, alleging an attempt at religious conversion and religious harassment at the workplace. Earlier this week, the police formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the complaints lodged by eight female employees, who claimed that senior colleagues mentally and sexually harassed them, while the human resources department ignored their complaints. Police have arrested eight employees of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), including seven men and the female operations manager. Another female employee is absconding, according to investigators. The male accused are identified as Danish Sheikh, Tausif Attar, Raza Memon, Shahrukh Qureshi, Shafi Sheikh, Asif Aftab Ansar, and Shahrukh Sheikh. TCS officials express concern Tata Sons chairman N Chandrasekaran had termed sexual harassment as "gravely concerning and anguishing", and announced that a thorough investigation is underway under TCS's Chief Operating Officer Arathi Subramanian to establish the facts and identify individuals responsible for the situation. (With inputs from PTI)
16 April,2026 12:02 PM IST | Nashik | mid-day online correspondentA delivery worker died after his motorcycle was allegedly hit by a speeding Thar in Sector 49 here, police said on Wednesday. They said a case has been registered in this connection against the driver of the offending vehicle, who fled after the accident. According to the police, the deceased was identified as Praveen Kumar (20), a resident of Jalaun in Uttar Pradesh. He lived with his family in Sector 71 and used to work as a delivery partner at Domino's Pizza in Omaxe Mall, Sector 49. On Tuesday, when he was on duty and returning to the store on his bike around 2.30 pm, a Mahindra Thar vehicle hit his bike near Space I-Tech Park in Sector 49, police said. Praveen was seriously injured in the accident and taken to the civil hospital in Sector 10, where doctors declared him dead. The body was handed over to family members after a post-mortem conducted on Wednesday. The driver of the offending Thar is being identified based on the vehicle's registration number, and the accused will be arrested soon, said Assistant Sub-Inspector Bharat Singh, the investigating officer. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
16 April,2026 09:46 AM IST | Gurugram | PTITamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday announced a state-wide black flag agitation on April 16 against the proposed delimitation exercise and warned the Centre of consequences and a “heavy price” if it did not heed to Tamil Nadu’s voice. Stalin, the president of the ruling DMK, alleged the delimitation amendment was a “massive, historic injustice” against Tamil Nadu and the southern states. Stalin, after chairing an emergency meeting of party MPs and district secretaries through video conference said, “the sword that hung over our heads has now descended upon us.” This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
16 April,2026 09:37 AM IST | Chennai | AgenciesSamrat Choudhary was on Wednesday sworn in as the 24th Chief Minister of Bihar, in the first instance of a BJP member making it to the top post in the state. Governor Lt Gen Syed Ata Hasnain (retd.) administered the oath of office and secrecy to Choudhary, a day after Nitish Kumar resigned after serving in the post for the longest period. JD(U) leaders Bijendra Prasad Yadav and Vijay Kumar Chaudhary were on Wednesday designated as deputy chief ministers of the Choudhary-led government in Bihar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulated Choudhary on becoming the CM and said his energy, dedication to public service and grassroots experience will prove extremely beneficial for the state. Choudhary said that Bihar will be governed on the “Modi-Nitish model”. “I will immediately start working for the prosperity of the state. It should remain clear that Bihar will continue to be governed on the Modi-Nitish model.” Choudhary, who joined the BJP in 2017, was named the legislative party leader on Tuesday. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
16 April,2026 09:32 AM IST | Patna | AgenciesOn the eve of a special three-day sitting of Parliament, top opposition leaders on Wednesday met at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to discuss and evolve a joint strategy on the women’s quota law. Several opposition parties are opposed to the linking of the women’s reservation law with a delimitation exercise and an increase in seats in several state Assemblies as per the 2011 Census. Leaders of the Congress, DMK, Trinamool Congress, Samajwadi Party, RJD, CPI, and CPI-M were present at the meeting at Kharge’s residence. According to the draft bill, Lok Sabha seats will be increased to up to 850 from the current 543 with 33 per cent reservation in the lower house for women in 2029, after a delimitation exercise to be carried out based on the 2011 Census. This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
16 April,2026 09:26 AM IST | New Delhi | AgenciesADVERTISEMENT
-1776326765249_d.png?tr=w-436,h-271 "Police detain a senior TCS employee in connection with a sexual harassment probe. PIC/PTI")
-1776326500634_d.png "Lok Sabha. File Pic")
-1776323287045_d.png "Representational Image")
