The court has reportedly asked the special investigation team (SIT) to conduct a narcoanalysis test on accused in sensational activist and journalist Gauri Lankesh murder case following different statements from him during questioning.

The officials recently had said that the accused was changing his statements frequently and that the SIT needed to conduct narcoanalysis test on him.

It may be recalled that the probe team had detained KT Naveen Kumar in the Gauri Lankesh murder case on February 18.

During the questioning the Naveen Kumar also revealed their plans to eliminate writer K S Bhagwan which eventually failed. The accused in a statement to the SIT officials said that they had got training to eliminate Bhagwan at the residence of a person named Anil from Srirangapatna. The accused after the training asked for a different revolver to execute the crime. But as they failed to get the weapon on time, their plans of killing Bhagwan failed.

Gauri Lankesh, the editor of the Gauri Lankesh Patrike was shot dead by outside her residence in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017.

Hitting back at Shahid Afridi for his controversial comments on Kashmir, India cricketer Suresh Raina and renowned lyricist Javed Akhtar today asked the former Pakistan batsman to advise the Pakistan Army that it stops supporting extremists for maintaining peace in the Valley.

In a surprise comment, Afridi yesterday expressed concerns about “worrisome” situation in Kashmir and was mocked by Gautam Gambhir.

Today Raina, who has roots in Kashmir, took to twitter to offer advise to Afridi.

“Kashmir is an integral part of India and will remain so always. Kashmir is the pious land where my forefathers were born. I hope @SAfridiOfficial bhai asks Pakistan Army to stop terrorism and proxy war in our Kashmir. We want peace, not bloodshed and violence,” Raina wrote on the social networking site.

Javed Akhtar also expressed the same sentiments.

“Dear Mr Afridi , since you want to see a peaceful JK sans any human rights violations could you please see to it that pak terrorists stop infiltrations n pak army stops supporting the separatists by closing down the training camps. It will greatly help in solving the problem,” wrote the veteran artist.

Meanwhile, India captain Virat Kohli said being an Indian, country’s interest was paramount to him.

“As an Indian you want to express what is best for your nation and my interests are always for the benefit of our nation. If anything opposes it, I would never support it for sure,” Kohli told reporters on the sidelines a training session at Chinnaswamy stadium in Bengaluru.

Former India captain Kapil Dev said that Afridi’s comment does not even deserve a reaction.

“I have no time for him. Who is he? Why are we giving importance to him? We should not be giving importance to such people. If somebody sitting in one corner of the world says something, I think the best thing is not to react to it,” Kapil Dev said in Mumbai.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and other Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu are observing a state-wide bandh today. The Opposition parties have called the bandh to protest against Centre’s failure in setting up the Cauvery Management Board (CMB).

On February 16, a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had directed the Centre to form the CMB within six weeks in a verdict that marginally increased Karnataka’s share of Cauvery water, thus reducing allocation for Tamil Nadu and settling the protracted water dispute between the two southern states.

DMK working president MK Stalin will be attending the bandh at Anna Salai in Chennai.

Tamil Nadu state buses are not operating in neighbouring Karnataka and were stopped at the border.

The DMK has called for a meeting of Opposition parties on the Cauvery issue today evening. The AIADMK has not been extended an invite yet.

Yesterday, the AIADMK members staged a hunger strike to demand the formation of the Cauvery Management Board.

The DMK and other Opposition parties had been protesting on the issue from April 2 in Chennai and other parts of Tamil Nadu.

Amma Makkal Munnetra Kazhagam (AMMK) leader TTV Dhinakaran was detained by Tamil Nadu Police on Tuesday after he and his supporters tried to gherao the Trichy airport.

They were demanding that the Central government form a Cauvery Management Board (CMB) and the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) forthwith, without further delay as per the Supreme Court order.

On February 16, the apex court asked the Centre to form the CMB to implement a formula for sharing of water between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.

In the ruling, the top court had reduced Tamil Nadu’s share in the Cauvery water to 177.25 thousand million cubic feet.

On March 15, the Tamil Nadu Assembly unanimously passed a resolution that urged the Centre to constitute the CMB and the CWRC.

Four members of a Pakistani Christian family were shot dead in Quetta city, the police said on Tuesday.

On Monday night, unidentified armed men intercepted a vehicle the family was travelling in and opened fire, Quetta Police spokesperson Mohamed Ramzan told Efe news.

The attack comes a day after Pakistani Christians, who are a mere 2 per cent of the population, had celebrated Easter Sunday.

Attacks against the Christians have been frequent in Pakistan.

In December 2017, a week before Christmas, two suicide bombers had stormed into a packed church in Quetta and killed 10 and wounded at least 44, in an attack claimed by the Islamic state.

In March 2016, the Taliban targeted Christians celebrating Easter in a park in Lahore killing 71 people.

With anger sweeping Tamil Nadu over the NDA government’s failure to set up a Cauvery Water Management Board (CMB), the ruling entire AIADMK launched its day-long hunger strike on Tuesday. The protest began at 8 am, will conclude at 5 pm.

The entire AIADMK Cabinet will participate in the strike. Chief Minister K Palaniswamy and his deputy O Panneerselvam launched the hunger strike in Chennai, while other ministers and party leaders led protests in districts across the state.

According to the list released by the party, senior ministers Dindigul C Sreenivasan (Forest), KA Sengottaiyan (School Education), P Thangamani (Electricity), D Jayakumar (Fisheries) and SP Velumani (Municipal Administration) among others will head the fast organised at different locations.

The party has nominated seven functionaries from Puducherry including MLAs to observe fast in the neighbouring union territory on the issue.

Senior party leaders, heads of various wings, MPs and MLAs were also named in the list released by the party.

The AIADMK, which had initially announced that the hunger strike programme will be held on 2 April, subsequently postponed it by a day.

The protest will be held on Tuesday in all 32 districts of Tamil Nadu, besides in Puducherry, urging the Centre to constitute CMB and Central Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC).

AIADMK is reportedly also considering moving a no-trust motion in Parliament against the NDA government. Senior AIADMK leader M Thambidurai said on Monday that his party would consider moving a no-trust motion in Parliament against the NDA government if Congress supported it.

On the rival front, the DMK has demanded that Palaniswamy convene a meeting of his Cabinet and pass a resolution condemning the central government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Cauvery issue.

Meanwhile, the rival TTV Dhinakaran camp has challenged the ruling dispensation to criticise Modi during the hunger strike.

Dhinakaran aide V Pugazhenthi had said last week that the chief minister and his deputy should speak out against the Centre. “The fast should not be a mere eyewash,” he had said.

Amid protests across Tamil Nadu, the Supreme Court has agreed to hear a contempt plea of Tamil Nadu against the Centre on 9 April on the Cauvery issue.

The Supreme Court bench, comprising Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said,”We understand Tamil Nadu’s difficulty of not getting water. We will resolve the issue.”

Tamil Nadu’s stand is that the Centre must constitute the CWMB and CWRC. In its 16 February judgment, the apex court had raised the 270 tmcft share of Karnataka by 14.75 tmcft and reduced Tamil Nadu’s share of Cauvery water.

The apex court granted six weeks’ time to the Centre to formulate a scheme to ensure compliance of its 465-page judgment, which modified the Cauvery Water Dispute Tribunal award. Following the verdict, Tamil Nadu has been urging the Centre to set up the CWMB and CWRC to ensure it received its due share of water from the inter-state river.

The constable, working with Kalbadevi traffic division, has been booked under POCSO Act and remanded to police custody

The Mulund police arrested a 50-year-old constable working with the Kalbadevi traffic division on Sunday for allegedly molesting the 15-year-old son of an assistant sub-inspector attached with the Thane police. Officers said the incident happened on March 31, when the constable, Pramod Thombre, reached his third-floor residence in a Mulund building and sent a girl to the ground-floor residence of the boy, who was alone at home then, asking him to come up to his house.

When the Std X student arrived at Thombre’s house, the constable struck up a normal conversation with him, asking him about his exams and what he planned to do when he grew up. When the teenager told him he wanted to join the Indian Navy, Thombre told the boy that clearing the medical exam for Navy was tough and he (Thombre) could give him tips.

The constable then asked the boy to remove his clothes and touched him inappropriately. Frightened, the boy told the accused that he had not locked his house before coming up and ran away. He later told his mother about the incident, who called up her husband, and an FIR was registered at the Mulund police station under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Thombre was questioned and then put under arrest. He was produced before a city court, which sent him to two-day police custody.

Police says
Shreepad Kale, senior police inspector, Mulund police station, said, “Constable Pramod Thombre has been booked under relevant sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act. He has been remanded to police custody.”

The 10 out of 13 terrorists who were neutralized in the encounter hailed from the district of Shopian in Southern Kashmir. The terrorists were involved in several attacks against the security forces and civilians and were also responsible for the killing of Lt. Umer Fayaz.

It was a major victory for the defence forces yesterday in Jammu & Kashmir. 13 terrorists were neutralised in counter-insurgency operations in Draghad & Kachdooru in Shopian area and in Anantnag. The encounter was considered to be one of the biggest counter-insurgency operations in the recent years. The killing of 13 terrorists also came as a major setback to the terror groups operating in the valley. However, three jawans were martyred and four other civilians were also killed.

The counter-insurgency operations were carried out jointly by the Indian Army, CRPF and Jammu and Kashmir Police Force. The joint forces which received credible leads about the presence of terrorists started a search operation in Draghad and Kachdoora areas of Shopian on April 1st. The security forces who were carrying out the search operations were shot at by the hiding terrorists, ensuing encounter at both the sites. Ten terrorists were neutralised in Draghad. They have been identified as Adil Ahmed Thoker of Humhuna, Nazin Ahmad Dar of Nagbal, Ubaid Shafi Malla of Trenz, Yawar Itoo of Safanagri, Rayees Ahmed Thoker of Padarpora, Zubair Turay of Shopian and Ashfaq Malik of Pinjura, Ishfaq Ahmad Thoker, alias ‘Abrar’, Aetimad Hussain Malik and Sameer Ahmed Lone . It has been reported that this group of young militants had joined the terrorist group Hizbul Mujahideen in 2007.

The 10 terrorists who were neutralised in the encounter hailed from the district of Shopian in Southern Kashmir. The terrorists were involved in several attacks against the security forces and civilians and were also responsible for the killing of Lt. Umer Fayaz. It was a massive victory for the security forces, speaking to the press, DGP S.P Vaid made a passionate appeal asking the youth of Kashmir to not take up arms and demanded that they shun violence. “It is painful to all of us to see the loss of young lives. I appeal again to the parents of the boys, who have taken the wrong path to convince them to leave the path of violence and come home,” he said at the press conference. The bodies of the terrorists killed in Draghad have been handed over the families for their last rites.

The encounter at Kachdoora resulted in the death of three other terrorists. The identity of the terrorists is yet to be ascertained. Three jawans were also martyred in at Kachdoora were Gunner Nilesh Singh, Gunner Arvinder Kumar and Sepoy Hetram, all three of 34 Rajputana Rifles. Chief of Army Staff General Bipin Rawat saluted the supreme sacrifice of the soldiers and also offered condolences to the families of the martyred soldiers. Zubair Ahmad Bhat, a resident of Gopalpora, a civilian was wounded in the crossfire and succumbed to his injuries subsequently. Other civilians who were injured in the crossfire are being treated at different hospitals in South Kashmir. In the process of finishing the operation, the security forces also recovered many AK-47 assault rifles, grenades and other ammunition.

Inspector General SP Pani told the media that the mobile internet services would be suspended in four South Kashmir districts. Lt Gen A.K. Bhatt also made an appeal to the Kashmiri youth and asked them not be carried away by Pakistani proxies that lead them to the path of violence. Victor Force head B.S. Raju also assured that the security forces were doing everything in their capacity to reduce radicalisation in the valley. In order to maintain peace in the valley, the government authorities also imposed restrictions in Srinagar. Massive security forces were deployed in the valley. Huge contingents of CRPF personnel were also deployed to maintain law and order. Train services, markets, public transport and educational institutions were to be remained closed till Tuesday. Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti expressed condolences to the families of the civilians who were killed in the exchange of fire.

On the other hand, separatists and the Hurriyat leaders have called for a two-day bandh and strike in Kashmir. The bandh was led by Joint Resistance Leadership comprising of Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Yasin Mallik and Mirwaiz Umar Farooq. The separatist leaders lashed out the security forces for the killing of 13 terrorists and four civilians. Pakistan also accused India of launching a brutal crackdown in Shopian. Pakistan Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi asked the international community to urge India to allow United Nations have access in Kashmir to carry out fact-finding missions.