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23 Jun, 6 tweets, 3 min read
Exclusive: A firm with links to senior BJP leaders and Modi's ministers is at the heart of the Kumbh fake testing scam.

The firm got the work even after being rejected at first. Its wrongdoings were ignored, despite many red flags.
I report for @TheWire

thewire.in/politics/kumbh…
After applying for the work, the firm’s founder-partner Sharat Pant, met with the likes of JP Nadda, Smriti Irani, Anurag Thakur.

Pant’s uncle was a close aide of the late Ananth Kumar and works in the Modi gov.

This proximity helped. Here's how: thewire.in/politics/kumbh…
The company isn’t a lab, nor approved by ICMR. So, the Haridwar collector rejected its application to be allowed to conduct tests during the Kumbh.

But 2 weeks later, when the BJP brought in a new CM, the firm got the contract.

thewire.in/politics/kumbh…
An ongoing probe has found that Max has submitted bills for conducting tests even before they were supposed to start work. Local officials were supposed to supervise these tests, but none did.

thewire.in/politics/kumbh…
There's an ongoing probe in the matter. But a top source tells me that Pant is “highly influential,” and that there had been “numerous attempts to influence and pressurise” the ongoing inquiry into the scam."

thewire.in/politics/kumbh…
The end result is, a super-spreader event of 9 million people, was compromised by tests that were never done, reports that were inauthentic.

A local official told me conducting these tests could have helped limit the 2nd wave.

thewire.in/politics/kumbh…

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More from @kunalpurohit

Kunal Purohit Profile picture
7 Oct 20
Exclusive: How the frenzy around #SushantSinghRajput 's death was created:

Millions of users on Facebook Pages and Groups peddled wild conspiracy theories, conducted parallel investigations and targeted those it believed were "guilty." @Article14live

article-14.com/post/online-gr…
Users posted wild, wild allegations--from how Salman Khan was harvesting children's organs for a chemical that kept him young, to how #SSR was trying to save a trafficked child, when he was killed.

Many said his death was beamed live to Dawood Ibrahim on the dark net. Image
Then, suspicions were stoked by dissecting the crime scene as if the users were forensic experts.

The Mumbai Police was systematically targeted--videos and images alleged a cover-up, said there was ANOTHER body in the room when he died, some said he was shot by a stun gun. Image
Read 7 tweets
Kunal Purohit Profile picture
1 Sep 20
Thread: Last week, I wrote in @Article14live how Facebook has been shielding the BJP for over the year, and the deep, commercial ties between them.
On Monday, I deposed before the Delhi Assembly's committee investigating Facebook's role in fanning hate.
For over 3 years, I have tracked how FB and WhatsApp have normalised hate. This is crucial because hate is a slow-trickling tap and it builds up overtime, solidifying biases and prejudice. FB and WA have played a very damaging role in this.
This slow, everyday hate can then be easily activated in communally tense situations into actionable hate.

So, FB's failure to stop that everyday hate speech on its platforms lays the foundation for hate crimes and clashes.
Read 8 tweets
Kunal Purohit Profile picture
5 Jun 20
Over the last two days, I have seen first-hand the absolute collapse of health infrastructure in Mumbai. My uncle died of COVID-19 and here's what I know--be very scared.

A thread.
Uncle was persistently coughing for 3 days, had breathlessness. For 2 days, he couldn't get a test. Third day, he got a test. Report only in 2 days.

But, 24 hours after the test, he was dead.
When we tried getting a bed just hours before his death, most private hospitals refused. He died on the way to the BMC-run Rajawadi hospital. It only got worse.
Read 8 tweets
Kunal Purohit Profile picture
16 May 20
Spent the day on Mumbai's borders, amidst the unending exodus of migrant workers. Here is why #SelfReliantIndia is not really a choice.
Illyas has been waiting on the highway in Thane for 2 days. He had 100 rupees, borrowed money from 20 people and now has 500. He wants to go back home to West Bengal.
All three, barely out of their teens, used to work at a restaurant in Thane and hail from West Bengal. A truck owner agreed to take them home but is charging them Rs 5,500 EACH.
Read 6 tweets
Kunal Purohit Profile picture
27 Jan 20
I decided to fact-check Piyush Goyal's outburst against Amazon a week ago, and realised that he might have a point or two. A thread about Amazon's trade practices:
scmp.com/week-asia/econ…
Over the last one week, I spoke to numerous traders as well as sellers who sell on Amazon and Flipkart. Flagging major issues they raise: Amazon Global owns 24% stake in two of the biggest sellers on Amazon-Cloudtail and Appario. Here's why this gets problematic:
Each product is sold by multiple sellers at different prices. Sellers claim that Amazon has been manipulating the listings to push products sold by its own sellers right up. So, when you try searching for a product, most chances are the first few will be products sold by Amazon..
Read 7 tweets
Kunal Purohit Profile picture
3 Jun 19
A quick thread into the little-known world of Hindutva Pop Music. I spent a couple of weeks in Jharkhand, investigating hate crimes and polarisation. One big annual event that I found was driving tensions up was the local Ram Navami procession. Here's what would happen.
Typically, armed processions would stop in front of mosques and play communally-charged songs. Songs were the weapon. That's when I discovered this parallel world of Hindutva music. It's what many, many youngsters are listening to, using them as caller tunes, popular ringtones.
This is possibly one of the most popular songs. It's lyrics, "Har Ghar Bhagwa Chhayega." Talks of violence against those who oppose Ram, how Hindus are India's pride, that everyone must say Vande Mataram if they want to live in India. 23 MILLION VIEWS. It even has a sequel now.
Read 5 tweets

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