Breaking News February 1

 A crime unit of Sector-31 of Gurugram police has arrested two inter-state wanted criminals having a bounty of Rs 25,000 each, after an exchange of fire in the Manesar area in the early hours of Tuesday. According to the police, one of the criminals suffered a bullet wound in the leg in the cross-fire and was rushed to Safdarjung hospital for further treatment. The arrested persons have been identified as Amit alias Gaanth and Deepak alias Bholu, both involved in an attack on the family of a former sarpanch in Kasan village of Manesar on November 4, in which four people died and two suffered injuries. The Gurugram police had announced a reward of Rs 25,000 each on their head.

Assistant Commissioner of police (crime), Preetpal Sangwan said the police received reliable information that Amit, who was the prime suspect in the attack on Sarpanch's family on Diwali night, was in the Manesar area, following which the crime branch formed a team to nab them. The police said the incident took place around 4.35 a.m. when the criminals spotted the police in village Baslaambi on IMT Manesar road and in an attempt to escape, fired at the police but were overpowered.

Sangwan said, "In the cross-fire, Amit sustained a bullet wound in his leg. He was rushed to a hospital in Manesar and then referred to Safdarjung hospital in Delhi for treatment. His condition is stable. Both the accused have been arrested." The accused were involved in two dozen incidents of murder, attempts to murder, attack on the police team, robbery and theft in Sonipat, Gurugram and Delhi, and were constantly active in executing serious incidents, he said.

A Maharashtra court on Tuesday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of BJP lawmaker Nitesh Rane, the son of Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane, in an attempt to murder case. Observing that Rane's application is "premature", the grant of bail to him would hamper the incomplete investigations, and considering the facts and circumstances of the case, his custodial interrogation is necessary, Sindhudurg Additional Sessions Judge R. B. Rote further said that 11 criminal cases are lodged against Rane, including offence against public servants and 2 other accused in the case are still absconding, necessitating his custodial interrogation.

The order came after the Supreme Court directed Maharashtra Police not to arrest Rane for 10 days in the case and asked him to surrender before the trial court in Sindhudurg and seek regular bail in the matter. On January 17, the Bombay High Court declined to grant anticipatory bail to the two-time legislator Rane on various grounds after which he had moved to the apex court. Rane Jr. is charged for the alleged December 18, 2021, attack on a Shiv Sena activist Santosh M. Parab while campaigning for the Sindhudurg District Cooperative Bank polls on December 31, though the BJP leader has denied his involvement.

A 24-year-old woman faced an acid attack in Srinagar on Tuesday, police said.

Police said unknown persons attacked the woman with acid in Safa Kadal area of old Srinagar in the evening.

"The girl has been shifted to hospital and police has reached the spot to identify the attackers," a police officer said.

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday deferred to Thursday, actor Dileep's anticipatory bail plea hearing in a case relating to conspiracy to do away with the investigating officers in the actress abduction case. It also directed that the six mobile phones used by the actor and his close aides, which was given to the registry of the court on Monday, be handed over to the local magistrate court at Aluva where the FIR is registered. He is alleged to have conspired to do away with the investigating officers in the actress abduction case.

While the prosecution sought the custody of the phones, it was strongly opposed by the counsel of the actor and the court decided to hand it over to the lower court. Alleging that the actor was not cooperating with the probe, the prosecution sought his custody as well as his aides. Last week, the prosecution had argued that there were seven mobile phones -- four of Dileep, two of his brother Anoop, and one used by his brother-in-law.

After Dileep denied having a fourth phone, the court asked him to submit six mobiles. The prosecution pointed out that around 12,000 calls had been made from the mobile phone which was still not handed over, adding that it was in use till a few months back and yet the actor stated that he does not remember about using such a phone.

The probe team had, last week, moved a fresh application, claiming that the actor had conspired to do away with the officials probing the case and this came after the actor, his brother Anoop, brother-in-law Sooraj, aide Appu alias Krishnadas, and close friend Byju Chengamanad were interrogated for 33 hours over three days.

A Special CBI court in Rajasthan has awarded three years rigorous imprisonment to two NCIL officials for misappropriating Rs 1.9 crore. The case against Rakesh Sharma, the former branch Manager and Bhagwati Charan Verma, then senior assistant was registered on a complaint from NICL, Jaipur. Both were working in NICL, Sikar Rajasthan. The court also slapped fines of Rs 1.5 lakh and Rs 2.5 lakh on Sharma and Verma respectively. It was alleged that the two hatched a conspiracy and caused a loss of Rs 1.9 crore to NCIL.

"They committed fraud between August 2008 and March 2012. They hatched a conspiracy and misappropriated different amounts of insurance premium collected on behalf of NICL from different customers, by manipulating the entries in the collection register as well as bank accounts and misappropriated Rs 1.09 crore," read the CBI charge sheet. After lodging the FIR, the CBI launched a probe. In 2013, after completing investigation, the CBI filed a charge sheet before the Special Court, Jaipur. During the trial, prosecution examined 32 witnesses. The trial court found both the accused guilty and convicted them.

Sri Lanka has decided to purchase petrol and diesel, 40,000 metric tonnes each, from the Indian Oil Corporation, according to a Cabinet note on Tuesday, as part of the government's bid to tide over the current fuel and energy crisis faced by the island nation. The move came weeks after Power Minister Gamini Lokuge said that Sri Lanka will hold talks with the Indian Oil Corporation’s local entity amidst a severe foreign exchange crisis. The Lanka IOC, the Sri Lankan subsidiary of India's oil major Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), has been in operation in Sri Lanka since 2002. According to the Cabinet statement, the Ministry of Energy has discussed with the IOC to procure 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel and 40,000 metric tonnes of petrol. “Accordingly, the Indian Oil Corporation has agreed to supply a shipment of 40,000 metric tonnes of diesel,” it said.

The Cabinet of Ministers approved the proposal tabled by the Minister of Energy to take further measures to buy the Oil consignment. Sri Lanka in the recent weeks has been mulling different options to facilitate measures to prevent fuel pumps from going dry as the island nation was faced with a severe foreign exchange crisis to pay for its imports. Energy Minister Udaya Gammanpila had predicted fuel shortages in the country due to the inability to pay for imports. When the crisis loomed, the government approached the IOC’s local operation LIOC to import fuel for the government.

A 17-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide after her family members stopped her for using mobile phone frequently in Madhya Pradesh's Betul district, police said on Tuesday. The incident took place on Sunday in Sarni town, located about 50 km from the district headquarters, he said. The girl allegedly hanged herself using a scarf at her home, Sarni police station's assistant sub-inspector Rameshwar Singh said. She was fond of outings and using the mobile phone, he said, adding that she would lock herself in a room whenever her family members stopped her from using the phone and going out. A case has been registered in connection with the incident and further investigation is underway, he said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday hailed the Indian Coast Guard on its Raising Day saying the outstanding team of professionals steadfastly secure the country's coasts and also lead humanitarian efforts. The Indian Coast Guard was formally established on February 1, 1977, by the Coast Guard Act, 1978. “Best wishes to the Indian Coast Guard family on their Raising Day. An organisation of great strategic importance, our Coast Guard is an outstanding team of professionals, who steadfastly secure our coasts and also are at the forefront of humanitarian efforts,” Modi tweeted.

The air quality in the national capital on Tuesday remained in the 'very poor' category, the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR) informed. The overall air quality index in the national capital stood at 321 at 7 AM today morning. In Noida, air quality stood in the 'very poor' category with an overall AQI of 354. In Gurugram, the air quality stood in the 'poor' category with an overall AQI of 232. On Monday, the overall AQI was recorded at 302.

Over 45 lakh devotees were estimated to have taken holy dips in the Ganga river here in Paryagraj on Monday on the occasion of ‘Mauni Amawasya” amid the ongoing fair on the river bank. The fair authorities on Monday said the number of devotees taking dips in the confluence of the Ganga, Yamuna and mythical Saraswati rivers here on Tuesday is expected to cross one crore. The Mauni Amawasya, falling on the moonless day of the Magh month under the Hindu calendar, is considered a pious day with devotees taking dips in the Ganga amid the month-long fair on river banks in Prayagraj. As per the Hindu calendar, this day falls on two days -- on January 31 and February 1 -- this year. Fair authorities said the people had begun arriving at the fair site since Sunday itself.

Three girls, one of whom was two-month-old, died when the roof of a house in a brick kiln collapsed on them late on Monday night, police said. The incident occurred on the Baghpat-Meerut highway. The house was built for the brick kiln labourers. The deceased have been identified as Shahrana (15), her sister Sania (12) and two-month-old Mahira, police said. The bodies have been sent for post mortem, they said.