ISIS chief recruiter in India Mohammed Shafi Armar named global terrorist by US
Armar has been operating on Facebook and other personal messenger services to contact, brainwash and recruit youths from India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.Mohammed Shafi Armar, the fugitive chief recruiter for the ISIS in the Indian subcontinent, has been named a 'Specially Designated Global Terrorist' by the US on Thursday, becoming the first Indian leader of the terror outfit against whom America has sponsored sanctions. The US State Treasury Department, while updating its list of Specially Designated Global Terrorists (SDGT), has included in it Armar, a native of Bhatkal in Karnataka, clearing the way for sanctions against him.
An Interpol Red Corner notice is also pending against the 30-year-old Armar, who has many aliases like 'Chhote Maula', 'Anjan Bhai' and 'Yousuf al-Hindi'. "Mohammed Shafi Armar is a leader and head recruiter in India for the Foreign Terrorist Organisation (FTO) and Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) group, ISIS," the State Department said.
"He has cultivated a group of dozens of ISIS sympathisers who are involved in terrorist activities across India, such as plotting attacks, procuring weapons, and identifying locations for terrorist training camps," said the statement. Full story
1993 Mumbai blasts case: Verdict against Abu Salem, 6 other accused likely today | Video
A special TADA court is likely to pronounce its judgement today in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case involving seven accused including extradited gangster Abu Salem. The dastardly attacks left 257 people dead, 713 seriously injured and destroyed properties worth Rs 27 crore. Apart from Abu Salem, the other six accused are - Mustafa Dossa, Karimullah Khan, Firoz Abdul Rashid Khan, Riyaz Siddiqui, Tahir Merchant and Abdul Quayyum. The trail of these seven accused was separated from the main case as they were arrested when the main trial was coming to an end. Full story
Woman Raped By Uber Driver In India Sues Firm For Breaching Privacy
A woman who was raped by an Uber driver in India in 2014 on Thursday filed a lawsuit against the ride-hailing company and its embattled chief executive Travis Kalanick for "unlawfully" obtaining and sharing her medical records related to the sexual assault. The woman, identified only as Jane Doe in the lawsuit filed in federal court in California, said in the complaint that she was "violated physically" when she was brutally raped in Delhi by her Uber driver in December 2014.
"Sadly, in the United States, Uber executives violated her a second time by unlawfully obtaining and sharing her medical records from that vicious sexual assault and have failed, as of the date of this filing, to apologise to her for this outrageous conduct," the lawsuit said. The lawsuit has been filed against Uber, Kalanick, Uber's former Vice President for Business in Asia Eric Alexander and the company's then-Senior Vice President for Business Emil Michael.
Jailed Gujarat Sadhvi goes to spa, sees 'Baahubali 2' before escaping
A self-styled sadhvi gave the Ahmedabad police a slip on Thursday. However, she went to a a spa for massage and watched Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, as per a report by NDTV.com.
The report said that four young policemen, who completed their training just a few months earlier, have been arrested for negligence along with her lawyer. The policemen were tasked to guard her during her parole for getting a medical check-up done at a private hospital.
But she persuaded them to let her take a break and walked into a mall. According to the police, Sadhvi Jai Shree Giri as she is known, could be persuasive when she wanted, the report said.
Presidential election 2017: Rajnath Singh, Venkaiah Naidu to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi today
Two senior Union ministers Rajnath Singh and M Venkaiah Naidu will meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi today to discuss upcoming presidential election. The two leaders are likely to seek Congress party’s support for the ruling NDA’s presidential candidate. Ahead of her meeting with Singh and Naidu, Sonia Gandhi on Thursday held discussions with senior Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Ahmed Patel.
Congress leaders believe that the two BJP leaders may seek Sonia Gandhi’s opinion on the presidential election and ask Congress to support NDA’s candidate in the name of respecting people’s mandate. According to sources, Sonia Gandhi is unlikely to give any clear-cut answer to the two Union ministers. The Congress President is likely to tell them that she will take a decision after discussing the matter with other opposition parties. Full story
(With PTI inputs)
