FBI searches for Indian national in US drug case
Washington, July 21: The FBI is on the lookout for Indian national Harmanveer Singh for his alleged role in drug trafficking for the Ravinder Dhanda gang based out of Canada. The FBI action followed Operation Hard Ball, a coordinated international enforcement action targeting the gangs run by Lawrence Bishnoi, Jaggu Bhagwanpuria and Ravinder Dhanda. “Harmanveer Singh is wanted for his alleged involvement in a transnational criminal organization engaged in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, and conspiracy to export controlled substances,” the FBI said in a statement. It said the Ravinder Dhanda Organized Crime Group, is based out of Vancouver, Canada, and allegedly smuggled bulk quantities of cocaine and methamphetamine for drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. (PTI)
Bus crash fire in Vietnam kills 7
Hanoi, July 21: Seven people died and five were injured when a bus carrying passengers overnight burst into flames after crashing into roadside embankments near southern Vietnam’s Dong Nai City early Monday, authorities said. The vehicle was a sleeper bus – a long-distance coach fitted with reclining beds instead of seats commonly used for overnight travel in Vietnam. State media VN Express said that the accident took place at around 2:30 a.m., when the bus veered off the road and struck an embankment. It continued moving before hitting a second embankment and coming to a stop. Flames then erupted from underneath the vehicle and quickly engulfed the passenger cabin, it said. The driver, identified as 41-year-old Tran Thanh Hai, said he shouted for passengers to evacuate, but the fire spread too quickly for many to escape. It took half an hour for firefighters to bring the blaze under control. Authorities recovered the bodies of seven victims from the burned-out bus. Five injured passengers were taken to a hospital. The cause of the crash and fire is under investigation. (AP)
German railway to ban alcohol consumption
Berlin, July 21: Germany’s national railway operator said Tuesday that it is banning alcohol consumption at all stations on the network to improve security and cleanliness, though there will be exemptions, including for station bars and restaurants. Deutsche Bahn said that the ban will be introduced step-by-step at all 5,400 stations in Germany by October 15. Bans have already been introduced at 30 stations, among them in Cologne, Hamburg and Munich. Berlin’s central and Gesundbrunnen stations will follow on September 1, along with some others, before the measure is expanded nationwide. “We have observed too often that violence increases where too much alcohol flows,” Deutsche Bahn CEO Evelyn Palla said in a statement. She pointed to a “brutal and senseless attack” last week in which an intoxicated passenger is alleged to have beaten and kicked a member of security staff during a ticket check. The employee fell out of the moving train’s door and was injured. People who flout the ban will be kicked out and multiple offenders could be given a permanent ban from the premises. (AP)
