Girl killed, 15 injured in Pakistani shelling on LoC
Jammu: A 6-year old girl was killed and 15 other persons, including nine civilians and six security personnel, were injured on Monday in Pakistani shelling on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir’s Poonch district. Police said the girl was killed and nine civilians were injured in the shelling in Shahpur, Kerni, Mankote, Mendhar and Krishna Ghati sectors. “The girl died after being hit by a splinter fired by the Pakistan Army,” a police officer said. Nine civilians and six security personnel, including two soldiers and four Border Security Force (BSF) troopers, were injured in indiscriminate shelling and firing by Pakistan, police said, adding that all the injured have been shifted to hospital. Reports said that heavy firing exchanges were continuing on the LoC at many places in Poonch district. Authorities have closed all educational institutions close to the LoC following the ceasefire violation by the Pakistan Army that began at 7.45 am. According to Defence Ministry spokesman Lt Col Devender Anand, the Pakistani troops resorted to mortar shelling and firing of small arms. The Indian troops retaliated effectively, the officer said.
Plea to stay release of Modi film dismissed
New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking a stay on the release of the film “PM Narendra Modi”. A bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Anup Jairam Bhambhani dismissed the plea filed by advocate Sujeet Kumar Singh. The film is scheduled to release on April 12. The plea sought a direction from the Election Commission of India to act against the violation of the Model Code of Conduct by the filmmakers. It also sought the postponement of the movie’s release till the declaration of the results of the Lok Sabha polls. The petitioner said that such a film about a politician, who himself is going to contest the upcoming general elections, will definitely provide an undue benefit and leverage to his poll prospects.He added that it would negatively impact the opposition candidates. “Small and regional parties will simply not be able to meet these kind of challenges or commission films that are similarly grand and released simultaneously in so many theatres,” the petition read.
Robert Vadra gets bail
New Delhi: A court here on Monday granted bail to Robert Vadra, the brother-in-law of Congress President Rahul Gandhi, in a money laundering case. Hearing a case related to Vadra’s ownership of overseas assets worth 1.9 million pounds and entities to evade tax, Special Judge Arvind Kumar allowed his anticipatory bail plea. The Enforcement Directorate, which had questioned Vadra several times, opposed the plea, saying his custodial interrogation was necessary for the probe. (IANS)
Army Chief begins visit US today
New Delhi: Indian Army Chief Bipin Rawat will embark on his four-day official visit to the United States, starting April 2. The visit aims at giving impetus to military ties and enhancing strategic engagements between the two countries. During his four-day visit, the Army Chief will interact with the senior military hierarchy of the US Armed Forces with an aim to take forward the military to military cooperation. General Rawat is slated to visit the US Military Academy at West Point and the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. The Army Chief will also interact with General Joseph F Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and General Mark A Milley, Chief of Staff of the US Army to discuss military cooperation issues of mutual interest. The functional experience gained during the visit is expected to further enhance the Indo-US relationship, read a statement issued by the Ministry of Defence on Monday. (ANI)
Dawood kin’s flat auctioned off
Mumbai: The government auctioned a flat belonging to the late Haseena Ismail Parkar, sister of absconder mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, five years after her death in 2014, informed sources said on Monday. The flat – measuring around 600 sq feet in the Gordon Hall Apartments, Wing A, in Nagpada – was auctioned for Rs 18 million (Rs 1.80 crore) under the Smuggling and Foreign Exchange Manipulators Act (SAFEMA). The prime property in south Mumbai was put up for auction after Parkar’s relatives failed to prove that it was purchased with money acquired through legal means. The details of the auction and the identity of the buyer are not available. Originally owned by Dawood, the flat was later taken over by his mother, Amina, and then by Parkar after he fled the country in the mid-1980s. Following the March 12, 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, masterminded by the don, the government had sealed all his properties in 1998. In April 2018, after a Supreme Court order, the authorities attached seven of his properties in south Mumbai and the Parkar flat was the second one belonging to the don that has been auctioned under SAFEMA. Married to Ismail Parkar, Parkar had allegedly taken to active criminal activities after her husband was killed by Shailesh Haldankar and three other sharpshooters of the rival don Arun Gawli gang in July 1992. In September 1992, Dawood avenged his brother-in-law’s murder when he sent a heavily armed 24-strong elimination squad which gunned down Haldankar and two policemen in the state-run Sir J.J. Hospital. (IANS)
Three get life imprisonment
Gurugram: The Gurugram Civil Court on Monday sentenced three persons involved in the brutal murder of a mechanic in 2015 to life imprisonment. The accused, identified as Joginder Singh (35), Sandeep Kumar (25) and Ramesh chand (53), along with 10 more youths confined the victim, Naved, and beat him to death in Chandu village on August 23, 2015. (IANS)