Nawada (Bihar), March 24: Armed Maoists shot at and critically injured two persons at a village in this district, police said today. Around 80 ultras came to Jamunia village late last night and started firing, in which the duo was injured.
They have been admitted to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) and a government hospital here. The attack took place on the second day of the 48-hour Maoist shut-down call in seven states including Bihar.
—PTI
Paralakhemundi, March 24: At least three security personnel were killed and six others injured, four of them critically, in a fierce encounter with Maoists in Orissa’s Gajapati district early Wednesday, police said.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of security personnel including the elite anti-Naxal Special Operation Group (SOG) and state police had launched a combing operation in Ambajari forest near here in the wee hours today.
A group of Maoists suddenly opened fired at the security personnel who retaliated.
Srinagar, March 24: Two separatist guerrillas were killed Wednesday when the army foiled an infiltration bid in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district, an official said.
Alert army troops spotted a group of intruders in Keran sector near the Line of Control (LoC), 140 km from here. The infiltrators were challenged to surrender when they started firing, army spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel J.S. Brar told reporters.
“Two terrorists were killed in this gunfight. Searches are still on in the area,” he said.
The LoC divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan.
-IANS
Washington, March 24: A schoolteacher in a private school in the US allegedly asked several of her students to punch a five-year-old classmate in the face as punishment for hitting another student.
The student, Davarius Williams, and other children from Robindell Private School in Houston had taken a field trip to a restaurant last week, during which, Davarius punched a female classmate. The teacher supervising the trip told other students to hit him back, Davarius’ mother, Barbara Mobley said.
Chandigarh, March 24: Punjabi singer Surjit Khan and his associate had a narrow escape when bullets hit them while they were performing in a Punjab village, police said Wednesday.
The bullets were fired by a drunken man Tuesday evening while the musical troupe was performing at a pre-marriage function in Jameetgarh Bhalla village in Nawanshahar district, 180 km from here.
While Surjit Khan was hit in the foot, Jasbir Singh Mavi sustained injuries on his legs.
Srinagar, March 24: Army today foiled an infiltration bid in which two militants were killed in Kupwara district of Jammu and Kashmir. Troops guarding the border noticed some movement of infiltrators in Keran sector near the Line Of Control, 140 kms from here, a defence spokesman told.
The infiltrators on being challenged by the troops opened fire and in the ensuing gunbattle two ultras were killed, he said.
Search operation is continuing in the area.
—-PTI
Bhubaneswar, March 24: Maoist guerrillas launched an attack on a police patrol party and killed three policemen in Orissa’s Gajapati district early Wednesday, an official said.
The Maoists opened fired on them when about 30 policemen had gone to raid a rebel camp in a forested area near Parlakhemundi town, about 350 km from here, on the basis of a tip-off, Inspector General of Police Sanjeev Marik said.
“We lost two special operation group (SOG) personnel and a local policeman,” he said.
—-IANS
Gaya (Bihar), March 24: Passengers on board the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express had a miraculous escape when ten of its coaches and the engine derailed near Gaya station following an explosion triggered by Maoists, police said.
The accident took place late last night between Kasta and Paraiya stations under Gaya-Mughalsarai section of the East Central Railway, the police said.
Rail traffic was disrupted in the section since midnight last night as cranes were engaged to remove the affected bogies, railway sources said.
Kolkata, March 24: The devastating blaze that swept through three floors of a 150-year-old multi-storeyed building here has claimed at least 16 lives with fire brigade personnel recovering 10 charred bodies from the sixth floor of the ill-fate structure late on Tuesday night, officials said.
While six persons died either by jumping from the burning floors of the building, ‘Stephen Court’, or sustaining burns during the day, 10 charred bodies were found late tonight, fire brigade sources told.
Kottayam, March 23: Nine passengers, including four women and a child, drowned when a private bus with about 40 persons on board plunged into the Meenachil river here today.
One person, who was engaged in rescue operations, also collapsed and died, police said.
The bus was coming from Cherthala in Alappuzha district to Kottayam along the rural route when it fell into the river after hitting an electric pole, they said.
New Delhi, March 23: A woman, who survived a suicide attempt, has been arrested for poisoning her two children, police said Tuesday.
Sonali Sachdev, 31, along with her husband Pramod, a Delhi Jal Board employee, poisoned their two children at their Tilak Nagar home in west Delhi March 20. She survived but her husband and the two children died in a city hospital.
“She has been apprehended on the charge of attempting suicide and murder of her children whom she gave poison and then later consumed it (poison) herself,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (west Delhi) Sharad Aggarwal said.
New Delhi, March 23: With railway property increasingly being targetted by Maoists, the government Tuesday sounded a warning to insurgency-hit states on possible similar strikes, hours after guerrillas targetted railway tracks in two states.
The union home ministry issued the alert to West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa and Chhattisgarh, warning that rebels may target trains and railway infrastructure causing large-scale damage, an official said.
Kottayam, March 23: At least seven people died when the bus they were travelling in fell into the Meenachil river near here Tuesday, officials and witnesses said. A person engaged in rescue operations also collapsed, taking the toll in the incident to eight.
Twenty passengers were rescued by locals but a few were still reported missing.
The bus was going from Shertallai to Kottayam when, according to a survivor, it hit an electric post and plunged into the river. The accident occurred three kilometres before Kottayam.
Barabanki (UP), March 23: In an act of extreme faith, an ailing 12-year-old boy today offered his tongue to the Goddess at a temple in the district.
Layakram, offered his tongue to the Goddess at the Hanuman temple in Meerapur village this afternoon in a bid to get his wish fulfilled, police said.
The boy, who has been suffering from a kidney ailment for the last two years, was admitted to a local hospital, they said.
–Agencies
Chandigarh, March 23: Jagtar Singh Hawara, who has been sentenced to death for killing former Punjab chief minister Beant Singh, was today awarded 10 years imprisonment by a court here for attempting to kill a policeman.
Additional District and Sessions Judge R K Sondhi found him guilty of attempt to murder after concluding the trial at Burail Jail, where he is presently lodged.
Besides 10 years imprisonment, he was was also convicted under the Arms Act and sentenced to three years imprisonment and Rs 2,000 fine. Both sentences are concurrent.
Tirunelveli (TN), March 23: Eight members of a gang were arrested here for allegedly smuggling two “country pistols” from Madhya Pradesh with the objective of selling them for a “very high profit” in this district, police said today.
Santosh Raj Budh of Hadra district in Madhya Pradesh and seven persons hailing from Tirunelveli district were arrested following a routine vehicle check near Tenkasi.
Bangalore, March 23: A major fire broke out in the Military Canteen Stores Department building here, gutting grocery items and household electronic goods.
However, there was no casualty in the fire that was put out after a three-and-a-half hours battle by two dozen fire tenders, police said.
The blaze broke out in the second floor of the store that mainly contained grocery items and household electronic goods.
Military authorities said they were investigating into the cause of the mishap and the extent of damage.
Kottayam, March 23: Seven passengers, including two women and a child, drowned when private bus with about 40 persons on board plunged into a deep river here today.
A local man collapsed and died on the spot while being engaged in the rescue work.
While 20 persons swam to safety and are undergoing treatment in hospitals, the rescuers, including Naval divers from Kochi, were still searching in the Mennachal river at Thazhathangadi to ascertain if more bodies are trapped in the slush, police said.
New Delhi, March 23: Argument over which school to choose for their child led to the death of a man and his two kids in west Delhi while the wife survived a suicide bid, police said today.
Police have registered a case of murder against the woman for allegedly smoothering her children after the husband committed suicide and she consumed poison on March 19 in Tilak Nagar. She was placed under arrest.
Pramod (35), a Delhi Jal Board employee, and two children — Jia (2) and Jatin (7 months) died in the incident while Sonali (33) survived the suicide bid.
New Delhi, March 23: A Delhi court has sentenced a former armyman from Jharkhand to life term for killing a girl after she spurned his advances and lodged a complaint with his officers.
Additional Sessions Judge Aditi Chaudhary also imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 on Bhagtu Munda, holding him guilty of killing Suman Barla five years ago.
Munda, then a washerman with the army posted in Himachal Pradesh, was apprehended from Ranchi on January 12, 2005. A case was registered with Lahori Gate police station here after a body of a girl was found on January seven in a hotel room.
Jhargram (WB), March 23: A CPI(M) leader was shot dead by Maoists here in West Midnapore district, police said today.
Hemanta Pradhan (45) secretary of the CPI(M)’s local committee at Dhanghori, was forcibly taken out of his house last night by a group of 20-25 armed Maoists and shot dead.
His bullet-riddled body was spotted by the police and local villagers this morning near Kuldiha area.
–PTI
Ranchi/Gaya, March 23: Maoists killed a policeman in Jharkand and triggered two explosions in Orissa early today just hours after they targeted a Rajdhani express blasting the rail tracks in Bihar in which the passengers had a miraculous escape after ten coaches derailed.
As their 48-hour bandh entered the second day today, the Maoists stepped up violence leading to disruption of rail services and cancellation of several trains. There was no casualty or injury in the incident involving Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express late last night.
Mumbai, March 23: A 12-year-old, Std VII student from Saki Naka, who was being repeatedly raped since she was 10, finally registered a police case against her alleged abusers on Monday.
Among the accused is her cousin with whose family she had been living ever since her parents divorced in 2005. Some of the men named in her complaint are from the same locality; one is even a 71-year-old. Others are friends of her cousin and a few people who visited her aunt’s canteen.
Bangalore, March 23: Preliminary investigations into the discovery of a bomb in the Kingfisher Airlines flight IT 4731 from Bangalore to Thiruvananthapuram suggest a hijack attempt that went awry.
Although the terror plot is yet to be confirmed, investigators do not rule out a Kandahar-type hijack to force the release of Indian Mujahideen extremists lodged in Kerala jails.
Patna, March 23: Passengers on board the Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express had a miraculous escape when ten of its coaches and the engine derailed near Gaya station following an explosion triggered by Maoists, police said.
The accident took place late last night between Kasta and Paraiya stations under Gaya-Mughalsarai section of the East Central Railway, the police said.
Rail traffic was disrupted in the section since midnight last night as cranes were engaged to remove the affected bogies, railway sources said.