Breaking News, July 17 | Highlights

Darbhanga Police on Wednesday claimed to have cracked the killing of former Bihar minister Mukesh Sahni’s father, with the arrest of the prime accused after he “confessed” his involvement in the crime. Earlier in the day, police had detained four persons, including the prime accused, for questioning in connection with its probe into the murder of Jitan Sahni, father of Vikassheel Insaan Party (VIP) chief Mukesh Sahni.

“The accused, identified as Qazim Ansari (40), a resident of Supaul Bazar locality where the former minister’s ancestral home is also located, has confessed his involvement in the crime. During interrogation, Ansari told police that he had borrowed a sum of Rs 1.5 lakh from Sahni’s father against a piece of land he owned.

Four people were killed and 26 injured in separate incidents while tazia processions were being taken out on Muharram on Wednesday in Gonda, Pratapgarh, Ballia, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Kannauj districts, police said. In Gonda, a 12-year-old child was electrocuted to death and five others sustained injuries of current in separate processions. Ashraf, 12, died in the Tarabganj area of Gonda when a fixture of the tazia came in contact with a high-tension wire. Another named Riyasat sustained burns in the same incident.

In Pratapgarh, 25-year-old Mohd Wasif died when a tazia touched the high-tension wire at Babuganj Railway Gate, police said. Electrocution also killed Mohammad Ali, 24, and injured three in Bhatpur village in the Khalilabad Police Station area.

A special court in Patna on Wednesday sent the key accused in the NEET-UG paper-leak case, who allegedly stole the exam paper from a trunk of the National Testing Agency (NTA) in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh, to the CBI's custody for 14 days, officials said.

During its custody of accused Pankaj Kumar alias Aditya till July 30, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is likely to question him on his alleged role, his linkages with other gang members, the payments received and his local contacts who were involved in the entire theft process, the officials added.

At least three suspected Hmar militants were killed and several police personnel were injured in a fierce encounter in Cachar district of Assam on Wednesday, officials said. "In an early morning operation, @cacharpolice killed 3 Hmar militants from Assam and neighbouring Manipur. Police also seized 2 AK rifles, 1 other rifle and 1 pistol," Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said in a post on X.

Haryana Police has deployed a heavy police contingent along with barricading on Hisar Road near Ambala after farmers announced to go to the Ambala grain market. Farmer leaders had earlier announced that they would gherao the SP’s office to protest against the arrest of farmer activist Navdeep Singh in March. They, however, changed their plan after Navdeep’s release on bail today and decided to continue with the meeting at the grain market.

In a bid to bolster people-to-people connections, education, research, tourism, and cultural relations with Gujarat, Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel held a courtesy meeting with an 18-member delegation from Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture. The delegation, led by Atsuyuki Rachi, member of the Shizuoka Prefecture Assembly and Secretary General of the India-Japan Friendship Parliament League of the Assembly, expressed eagerness to advance long-term cordial relations with Gujarat.  

During the meeting, CM Patel highlighted the significance of India-Japan relations, which have advanced as trusted friendly nations under the visionary leadership of PM Modi. He expressed confidence that Gujarat will further these bilateral relations, particularly in the fields of commerce, education, research, tourism, and culture.  

Nepal's embassy in Dhaka has issued an advisory for Nepali students to stay indoors and follow the instructions of their respective universities and college administrators after the students' protest intensified over the government jobs quota. The advisory follows Bangladeshi government's decision to shut down all public and private universities after protests by students against a quota system for government jobs. There has been escalation in violence following protests with media reports stating that six people were killed on Tuesday.

Two minor boys and a man drowned in different incidents in Madhya Pradesh's Sheopur and Betul districts, police said on Wednesday. In Sheopur, two cousins, aged 12 and 17, went for a bath in a rain-water filled stone mine in Occhapur village on Wednesday morning, Ochhapur police station in-charge Jai Singh Raghuvanshi said.

The Narcotics Control Bureau has arrested a key member of a drug syndicate it busted last month after seizing mephedrone valued at about Rs 60 crore in Navi Mumbai, an official said on Wednesday. The name of the accused, Sufiyan Khan, emerged during the investigation following the drug seizure at Vashi on June 26, the official said.

Fight services will be shut at the Tezpur airport in Assam in October for one-and-half years for maintenance works, a senior official said on Wednesday. Tezpur Airport Director G Shiva Kumar said passenger flights will be suspended from October 1, 2024, to March 31, 2026. "This is due to the resurfacing works of the runway along with other projects to improve the facilities at the terminal," he said.

An 18-month-old boy died after allegedly being mauled by a pack of stray dogs in Jawahar Nagar near here, police said on Wednesday. The incident occurred on Tuesday night when the boy came out of his house and a dog dragged him to some distance and later some strays bit him resulting in injuries, they said. The boy was initially rushed to a private hospital and from there referred to a state-run hospital where he died last night, a police official at Jawahar Nagar police station said.

An Indian national was among six people killed in a rare shooting attack by Islamic State militant group near a Shia Muslim mosque in Oman's capital. The shooting on Monday night near the Imam Ali Mosque also claimed the lives of one policeman and four Pakistan nationals, while injuring 28 others.

The BJP's Nagaland unit appealed to the Centre and the Naga groups to expedite the process of finalising the Naga political solution for lasting peace and all-round development of the state. A resolution in this regard was adopted on Tuesday at the party's extended state executive meeting held in Dimapur in the presence of Union Shipping Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

The body of former Sikkim minister RC Poudyal was found in a canal near Siliguri in West Bengal nine days after he went missing, police said on Wednesday. The body of Poudyal, 80, was found floating in the Teesta Canal at Fulbari on Tuesday, they said. "Prima facie, it is suspected that the body might have been brought down by the Teesta river from upstream. The identification was made through the watch and the clothes he was wearing," a police officer said.

In a heart-warming gesture, a special single-coach AC train was operated from Bhopal to transport two injured tiger cubs from the Midghat section near Budhni in Madhya Pradesh's Sehore district. The West Central Railway (WCR) operated the train on Tuesday to rescue three tiger cubs injured after they were struck by a train in the forested area in Midghat, located 70 km from Bhopal, on the intervening night of July 14-15, an official said. One of the cubs, a nearly nine-month-old male, succumbed to injuries near the railway track, while the two others remained stranded in a drain near the rail line, the official said.

Another group of pilgrims has departed for the Amarnath Yatra amid tight security from the Pantha Chowk base camp in Jammu and Kashmir. The authorities have implemented stringent security measures to ensure the safety of the devotees as they embark on this significant spiritual journey to the Amarnath Cave Shrine. The annual pilgrimage attracts thousands of pilgrims from across the country, and the enhanced security protocols are in place to address any potential threats and ensure a smooth and safe Yatra for all participants.

In Uttar Pradesh, people gathered to offer prayers and take a holy dip at the Sangam in Prayagraj on the occasion of Devshayani Ekadashi. This significant event saw devotees participating in various rituals and seeking blessings, marking the importance of this auspicious day in the Hindu calendar. The Sangam, the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati rivers, holds great spiritual significance, drawing large numbers of worshippers during such holy occasions.