Breaking News, April 7

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate Thursday in connection with the purchase of a building by the J&K Bank about 12 years ago, officials said. The National Conference leader arrived at the federal probe agency's headquarters this morning where his statement in being recorded, they said.

A woman was killed and her husband injured after their bike was hit by a tractor in the Balrai area, police said on Thursday. The incident took place Wednesday evening when Brijendra Kumar (32) and his wife Renu (30) were returning home from a temple. While Renu died on the spot, Kumar was rushed to a hospital in critical condition, police said.

Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia on Thursday claimed that the BJP was considering replacing Jai Ram Thakur with Union Minister Anurag Thakur as the chief minister of Himachal Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections in the state. Addressing a press conference, he said the BJP wanted to make the big change as it feared defeat in the elections with the growing “popularity” of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal. “We have learnt from very reliable sources that the BJP wants to replace Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur with Anurag Thakur as it is scared of the popularity of Arvind Kejriwal and his model of governance in Delhi,” Sisodia claimed.

A woman strangulated her 18-month-old son to death in Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh after her husband demanded that a DNA test be conducted on the child, saying that he was not the biological father of the minor, police said on Thursday. The incident occurred a few days back in Bijuri area, around 60 kms from the district headquarters, police said. "Shortly after midnight on Sunday, the 26-year-old woman rushed out of a room at her house, saying that her son was unresponsive. The family members noticed blood coming out of the child's nose," Kotma Sub Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) S S Baghel said. The police began investigating the case. After recording of the family members' statements, it came to light that the boy's father suspected the character of his wife and refused to accept the child as his own. He wanted to get a DNA test conducted on the boy, he said.

Two men were killed after their motorcycle collided with a stationary tractor-trolley in Damoh district of Madhya Pradesh, a police official said on Thursday. The accident took place near Chainpura village on Batiyagarh-Narsinghgarh road on Wednesday night when the victims were returning to Chhatarpur, he said. "Their motorcycle collided with a stationary tractor-trolley, killing both of them on the spot," Batiyagarh police station in-charge Manish Mishra said.

A 35-year-old property dealer was stabbed to death by some unidentified people at a village here, police said on Thursday. They said the incident happened Wednesday night at Asmanda village in Fefna area. The police said Umesh Yadav (35) was rushed to a hospital after being stabbed but he was declared brought dead. They said an FIR has been registered against some unidentified person based on a complaint by Yadav’s brother, and a probe is underway. The body of the victim has been sent for a post-mortem examination.

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 494.8 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.16 million and vaccinations to over 11 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University. In its latest update on Thursday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 494,869,118 and 6,165,880, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 11,066,433,437. The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world's highest number of cases and deaths at 80,248,986 and 983,797 respectively, according to the CSSE. India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,030,925.

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Thane district of Maharashtra reported six new coronavirus positive cases, which took its infection count to 7,08,822, an official said on Thursday. These cases were reported on Wednesday. As nobody succumbed to the infection during the day, the death toll in the district remained unchanged at 11,883, the official said, adding that Thane's COVID-19 mortality rate is 1.67 per cent. In neighbouring Palghar district, the caseload stood at 1,63,595, while the death toll is 3,407, another official said.

The civil aviation department of Ladakh airlifted 6,828 passengers between the union territory and Jammu and Srinagar during the last winter, officials said on Wednesday. Of them, 4,468 were ferried by AN-32 planes and 2,360 by helicopters. "During the winter of 2021-22, a total of 4,468 passengers were airlifted in around 90 sorties by AN-32. The AN-32 services are operated in Jammu-Kargil and Srinagar-Kargil sectors," an official of the civil aviation department said. Every year the union territory administration presses the Indian Air Force's An-32 into operation during the winter months, he said.

Police have booked a BJP MLA's son in a robbery and assault case, according to an official. The FIR was lodged in the Kotwali city police station of Faizabad on a complaint filed by Shyam Bahadur Singh, a resident of Ramnagar village in the Khandasa police station area of the district. Singh in his FIR stated that late on Monday night four people came down a vehicle and attacked him. They beat him up brutally and one of them aimed pistol from point blank range at him and threatened to shoot him. The vehicle was being driven by Alok Yadav, son of Rudauli BJP MLA Ram Chandra Yadav, he alleged. They also snatched a bag containing Rs 1 lakh in cash and some documents, he said, adding that when he shouted for help, the public gathered there and the assailants fled.

A 45-year-old married woman and her 11-year-old son were allegedly murdered by her lover when she pressured him to marry her, police said here on Wednesday. Police have arrested the accused, Ram Kumar, and his aide Vinod in connection with the incident. The woman and her son were murdered on March 23. Police began investigation when partially decomposed bodies of the woman and her son were recovered on March 29. Informing about the incident, Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Ashok Kumar Sharma said accused Ram Kumar was having an affair with a married woman of Bharha village under the Rupaideeh police station.

He looked well brought-up and his gait exuded authority. When he posed as an IPS officer, no one suspected anything was amiss. It was only when Prateek Kumar Mishra was arrested from Lucknow's Gomti Nagar of Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday evening that it emerged that he had been running a job racket for long, promising jobs in municipal corporation, police department, among others. The Special Task Force (STF) that arrested him have recovered two mobile phones, a fake IPS ID card, appointment letters for constable post and documents related to Uttar Pradesh Recruitment and Promotion Board. Additional Superintendent of Police, STF, Vishal Vikram Singh, said Mishra used voice changing software or voice-over-internet protocol to trap job seekers.

A 30-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the vandalism at the kitchen in Puri's Jagannath temple, a senior police officer said on Wednesday. J Mohapatra, a resident of Begunia area in Khurda district, was apprehended from Puri-Khurda Road on Tuesday night, the officer said, adding that he did confess to his crime. During preliminary interrogation, the accused revealed that he vandalised the 'chulhas' (earthen ovens) as he "felt uneasy over the commercialisation of mahaprasad" at the temple, Puri Superintendent of Police (SP) K V Singh stated. Mohapatra was produced before a court in Puri, which remanded him in judicial custody for 14 days.

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Wednesday said there is no place for corruption and those who indulge in such activities will not be spared. The chief minister said a high-powered committee headed by the state's chief secretary and comprising other top officials of civil and police administration has been set up to deal with corruption cases more effectively. While saying there is no place for corruption in the state, Khattar asserted "the corrupt will not be spared". Speaking to reporters in Kurukshetra district, Khattar made a mention of the high-powered committee which was set up last month. The committee will meet every month to redress complaints of corruption at the earliest.

Police arrested three persons for allegedly duping people by promising through fake websites helicopter tickets for the visit to the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine, officials said on Wednesday. Police registered three FIRs in Katra on the basis of complaints regarding fake online helicopter ticket booking fraud for the Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrimage, they said. After the registration of cases, special teams were formed and dispatched to various parts of the country for the arrest of the accused involved in the commission of crime, they said. A police team after hectic investigation zeroed in on some places in Bihar and subsequently raided various locations and arrested Ashok Mistri, Santosh Kumar and Lakhpati Paswan, and seized incriminating material from their possession, they said.