Ex-Minister Akbar Charged in Teacher's Suicide

Senior Congress leader and former Chhattisgarh Minister Mohammad Akbar and three others have been booked for allegedly abetting the suicide of government school teacher Devendra Thakur in Balod district. The police found a suicide note that named Akbar, Madaar Khan, Harendra Netam, and Pradeep Thakur, claiming they took money for job placements they failed to provide or refund. Akbar has denied the allegations, terming them an attempt to implicate him falsely. Additionally, Khan, Netam, and Thakur face separate charges of cheating and common intention related to a job recruitment scam in the forest department during the previous Congress administration. Approximately ₹3.70 crore was collected from around 70 people under the false pretext of securing jobs. Investigations are ongoing in both cases.