Indian delegation to visit Pak for release of seized boats
Vadodara: An Indian delegation will visit Pakistan to inspect 22 Indian boats seized by the neighbouring country and discuss modalities for their release. The date for the visit is yet to be finalised. “The fisheries commisionerate of Gujarat government has already forwarded the names of representatives for the Indian delegation to the Union Home Ministry two days back,” Gujarat Fisheries Commissioner M H Narmawala told PTI over phone on Wednesday. The delegation will comprise of two representatives of boat owners, two mechanics, an official of Gujarat fisheries department and a member from state fishermen association. Some repairs will be required before the 22 boats can be brought back to Gujarat. In this regard, a visit by Indian delegation would take place, the date of which is yet to be finalised, Gujarat Fisherman Association’s senior vice president Veljibhai Masani said. Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani had earlier sought the release of 257 Indian fishermen languishing in Pakistani jails and 837 boats seized by the neighbouring country. Pakistan had in March this year released 57 fishing boats seized from Indian fishermen. (PTI)
Powerful IED seized in Sukma
Raipur: A powerful Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was on Wednesday recovered by security forces at National Highway No. 30 in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district. A joint team of CRPF and district police recovered the explosive, weighing around 5 kgs, while carrying out an anti- Naxal operation on Sukma-Konta road (a patch on NH-30 that connects Jagdalpur (Bastar district headquarters) to Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh under Dornapal police station limits, Sukma Additional Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh told PTI. While security forces were cordoning off the route, around 4 kms away from Dornalpal, they spotted an electric wire connection following which the IED kept in a steel container was found hidden underground, Singh said. The explosive was immediately destroyed by the bomb disposal squad, he said. The IED was planted to harm the security forces during their operations on a strategically important route in the Naxals’ self-proclaimed liberated zone, the ASP said. (PTI)
Efforts on to plug major gas leak at OIL well in Rajasthan
Jaisalmer: Efforts are on to control a major gas leakage at an Oil India Ltd (OIL) well in Rajasthan’s Dandewala region, from where the highly inflammable gas has been oozing out for the last six days. Machines and equipments, brought from Maharashtra and Gujarat, have been deployed by the experts, who will supply chemical into the well to plug the leakage, but the flow wasn’t contained yet, an official said here today. District collector VM Sharma said that the situation was under control and it will take a couple of more days to contain the leakage fully. There is no population in the radius of around 35 kms, he said. Several experts from Oil India, ONGC and other companies are present in the area to monitor the situation. BSF IG BR Meghwal said that the BSF men have been alerted on this issue. The highly inflammable gas started to leak from OIL well Dandewala area of the district near Indo-Pak border more than a week back. OIL produces about 70 lakh cubic meters per day of gas from its field in Jaisalmer. The well in question produces 9,000 cubic meters per day of gas. (PTI)
Woman, her two kids burnt alive for dowry
Gonda (UP): A 28-year-old woman and her two children were allegedly burnt for dowry in Susaila village in Tarabganj area here, police said on Wednesday. The woman Arti and her children Sachin (5) and Chhama (3) were last night asleep when they caught fire “under mysterious circumstances” and died, Circle Officer Vijay Anand said. Arti’s brother Jitendra has lodged an FIR alleging her husband and in-laws for killing them for dowry. The officer said that prima facie appeared that they were set afire by someone. “We have detained victim’s husband and brother-in-law Bhim Singh,” the officer said, adding that probe is underway in the matter. Bodies of victims have been sent for postmortem. (PTI)
13 hurt in blast at ordnance factory in MP
Jabalpur (MP): Thirteen workers of Ordnance Factory Khamaria (OFK) on Wednesday sustained minor injuries after a blast occurred in an explosive waste that was being disposed of on the campus here, an official said. “When the explosive waste was being disposed of with the help of a remote control in a routine exercise, a blast took place in it which blew off some window glasses of an engineering section building around. The glass pieces hit the staffers inside the building injuring 13 of them,” OFK’s Additional General Manager Sanjeev Gupta said. The 13 injured workers were rushed to OFK’s hospital, he said. Four of them were shifted to a private hospital where they received stitches, he said. An inquiry has been ordered into the incident, he said, adding that all the injured persons have been discharged from hospital. (PTI)
