In a joint operation, the Punjab Police and Special Operations Group (SOG) of the Jammu and Kashmir Police on Wednesday arrested three students after busting a terror module of Kashmiri terror outfit Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind (AGH) in Punjab’s Jalandhar city.

Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Suresh Arora said in Chandigarh that the students were nabbed from the hostel of CT Institute of Engineering Management and Technology, located in Shahpur on the outskirts of Jalandhar city.

The joint team, which conducted a raid at the hostel early this morning, also recovered two weapons, including an assault rifle, as well as explosives from the hostel room of B. Tech (Civil) Student of second semester Zahid Gulzar of Rajpora. Zahid was detained along with Mohd Idriss Shah and Yusuf Rafiq Bhatt, both of Pulwama, a statement from the DGP said.

The DGP said the arrests followed the development and corroboration of various leads and inputs about the presence and activities of certain militant organisations and individuals operating in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.

A case under sections 121, 121-A and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, the Arms Act and the Explosive Act has been registered, the statement said.

“Further investigations are in progress and the Punjab Police is working closely with J&K Police to unravel the entire conspiracy and network built by these outfits/individuals in Punjab and J&K,” the DGP said.

Arora said the busting of the terror module and the recovery of weapons in Jalandhar was indicative of efforts by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) to expand the arc of militancy on India’s western border.

The Punjab Police had recently picked up a student, Gazi Ahmad Malik of Shopian (in Jammu and Kashmir), from Banur in Patiala district where he was studying in Aryans Group Polytechnic College.

Gazi was closely related to Adil Bashir Sheikh, a J&K Police Special Police Officer (SPO) who had fled with seven rifles from the residence of a PDP MLA in Srinagar and was suspected to have joined the militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen.

Gazi was later handed over to J&K Police for further investigation.

IANS

UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday asked party workers to help the families of those who were killed and injured in the New Farakka Express derailment in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli.

Expressing shock and anguish the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chairperson in whose Lok Sabha constituency the accident occurred, killing six and injuring over 60, Gandhi demanded a thorough inquiry.

She asked the District and Pradesh Congress Committee members and workers to contribute and assist those bereaved as she prayed for them.

Nine coaches and the engine of the New Farakka Express derailed near Harchandpur around 6 a.m.

The government on Wednesday continued to maintain silence on the allegations of sexual misconduct against Union Minister M.J. Akbar even as the Congress sought his resignation.

Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who briefed reporters about cabinet decisions, refused to answer any question other than those pertaining to cabinet decisions, including that on Akbar and the #MeToo campaign.

“Today the issue is cabinet decisions, please concentrate on that,” he said in response to a question about allegations against Akbar.

“The issue is cabinet decisions,” Prasad again said when reporters pressed for an answer from him on the issue.

On Tuesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj did not answer media queries about allegations concerning Akbar. As reporters persisted with their questions and asked if there will be a probe, she walked past them without giving an answer.

At least six women journalists have accused Akbar, a former editor, of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour.

Congress spokesperson S. Jaipal Reddy on Wednesday demanded Akbar’s resignation, saying keeping silent is not good.

People in Jammu division voted with enthusiasm on Wednesday in municipal elections but there was poor voter turnout in the troubled Kashmir Valley — in a repeat of a trend also seen in the first round of the four-phase battle.

Till noon, Bandipora topped the voter turnout at 22.2 per cent in the Valley while in Srinagar, Baramulla, Kupwara and Anantnag districts the voter participation was a feeble 1.4, 3.7, 3.3 and 0.8 per cent respectively.

An overwhelming deployment of security forces ensured that the voting remained peaceful despite militant threats to disrupt the polls being boycotted by the two main parties in the Valley — National Conference and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ramban district at 62.9 per cent topped the voting percentage in the Jammu division.

The turnout was 59.4 per cent in Kathua, 50.8 in Udhampur, 60.8 in Reasi, 57.8 in Doda and 55.9 in Kishtwar districts of Jammu division in the first six hours.

There was visible reluctance among people to join the democratic process in the Valley. Two lone candidates were declared elected unopposed in Kulgam and Badgam districts.

The municipal polls are now effective only in 11 districts of the state in the second phase — six in Jammu division and five in the Valley, where a separatist campaign raging since 1989 has left thousands dead.

Jammu and Kashmir is holding municipal polls after 13 years.

A Bharatiya Janata Party candidate, Azad Singh, died of cardiac arrest in Ramban district after casting his vote, officials said.

A total of 1,029 candidates are in the fray in 263 wards in Kathua, Udhampur, Kishtwar, Reasi, Doda and Ramban districts of Jammu region and in Anantnag, Kupwara, Srinagar, Baramulla, Bandipora, Badgam and Kulgam districts of the Valley.

The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) is also boycotting the elections.

Separatists have called for a protest shutdown in areas where voting is scheduled in the Valley. Militants have issued threats to the candidates and asked voters to keep away from the balloting that would end at 7 p.m.

Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah raised questions over the rescheduling of election timings.

“Why are polling booths opening at 6 a.m.? If I believed conspiracy theories, I would believe it’s because journalists would not be around to verify the genuineness of voters at that very early hour,” he tweeted.

The total electorate on Wednesday is 346,980: 128,104 in Jammu division and 218,876 in the Valley.

The third and the fourth phases of the municipal polls would be held on October 13 and 16. The vote count will take place on October 20.

IANS

A 34-year-old man died after he accidentally slipped from the second floor of a three-floor residential building at Hulimavu near Bannerghatta Road on Monday night.

The deceased Raghavendra T, a native of Hosur, was residing at Sanjeevini Nagar along with his family.
Police said that around midnight, Raghavendra came out to wash a pressure cooker while he was helping his pregnant wife Jessica.

He was standing near a parapet wall outside the house on the second floor and came to throw the water collected in the cooker. Meanwhile, the cooker slipped from his hand and he tried to catch it.  He, however, lost his balance and fell down. Jessica, who heard the noise, cried for help and neighbours rushed Raghavendra to a nearby hospital where he succumbed.

Jessica, who works in a private hospital as a receptionist, told the police that she was taking rest in the bedroom and their four-year-old daughter was asleep. Jessica is six months pregnant.

The couple had come to the city five years ago. Raghavendra had quit his job recently to help Jessica with her daily chores.

While Sriramulu has picked J Shanta, Congress is yet to finalise its candidate for the Bellari by-polls.

An otherwise low-key bye-election in the three Lok Sabha and two Assembly seats in Karnataka on November 3 will see a clash of two high-profile leaders for the Ballari Lok Sabha seat in the state’s north-west mining heartland.

While the central team of the BJP has given MLA B Sriramulu from Ballari a free hand to pick his candidate in Bellari, Congress has entrusted DK Shivakumar, the district minister-in-charge of Ballari, with the responsibility to ensure a Congress victory in the constituency.

The BJP finalised its candidate for the Lok Sabha seat in Ballari after consulting with Sriramulu, who stepped down as the MP from Ballari when he was elected as an MLA earlier this year. Following a closed-door meeting on Tuesday evening, he has nominated his sister J Shanta for the seat. T Suresh Babu, a close relative of Sriramulu was considered for the seat.

While the Congress is yet to finalise its candidate, it is learnt that Venkatesh Prasad, brother of MLA B Nagendra, and senior leader Ramprasad are among those in the fray. The decision, however, will rest with Shivakumar after he chairs a meeting with state Congress leaders.

On November 3, three Lok Sabha seats in Mandya, Bellari Shivamogga and two State Assembly seats— Ramanagaram and Jankhandi – will go to polls.

With BS Yeddyurappa publicly stating that the Lok Sabha polls are “unnecessary” given that the tenure of the current House will expire in May 2019, the preparations for the elections have been low-key so far.

The BJP also announced that BY Raghavendra, son of BJP leader BS Yeddyurappa, will be the party’s candidate in Shivamogga and Srikant Kulkarni will contest for the Jamkhandi Assembly seat.The Shivamogga seat was vacated by Yeddyurappa himself. It also notified that senior leaders including R Ashok, Govind Karjol and Sadananda Gowda will be part of committees in charge of the by-polls in the three Lok Sabha constituencies.

With the Congress and JD(S) top-brass agreeing to go for an alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it is expected that the parties will agree to divide the five seats based on their local strength.

The JD(S) is expected to project a candidate in Jamkhandi and Ramanagara while the Congress is expected to field candidates in Shivamogga, Mandya and Bellari.

Partners of the state coalition government, Congress and JD(S), have reached an understanding on sharing of seats in respect of three Lok Sabha seats and two assembly constituencies which will face bypoll next month. They also have decided to undertake joint campaigning for the election.

This decision was taken at a meeting organized on Tuesday October 9 night at Kumara Kripa guest house. Leaders of both the parties like former Prime Minister, H D Deve Gowda, state Congress affairs in-charge, K C Venugopal, coordination committee chairman, Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president, Dinesh Gundu Rao and JD(S) chief general secretary, Danish Ali, took part in this meeting.

Briefing the media persons after the meeting, Venugopal said that Ballari and Shivamogga Lok Sabha seats and Jamkhandi assembly constituency have been allocated to his party while JD(S) will field its candidates in Mandya Lok Sabha and Ramanagara assembly constituencies. He also said that the parties will undertake campaigning jointly. He added that this partnership has been forged with the clear aim of giving a strong message that secular parties have been joining hands at the national level.

Siddaramaiah said that Congress and JD(S) will fight the bypoll together, and their main aim is to defeat BJP.

It is said that before the meeting, Deve Gowda and chief minister, H D Kumaraswamy, held telephonic consultation over reaching an understanding with the Congress for the bypoll. Their discussions also included choice of candidates for Ramanagara assembly seat and Mandya Lok Sabha seat, sources said. It is learnt that candidatures of Anita Kumaraswamy for Ramanagara and either Laxmi Ashwini Gowda or minister, D C Thammanna’s son, Santosh, for Mandya Lok Sabha seat have been finalised.

BJP too held prolonged core committee meeting on Tuesday on the issue of party candidate. It decided to field B Y Raghavendra from Shivamogga, former MP, J Shantha from Ballari, and Srikant Kulkarni from Jamkhandi seat. These names are being sent to the central leaders for approval. Yeddyurappa has been vested with the power to decide on the candidates for Ramanagara assembly seat and Mandya Lok Sabha (LS) seat. Reports say that the BJP is trying to rope in leaders from other parties for being fielded from these two constituencies as it does not have a formidable presence here.

Congress also held meeting presided by K C Venugopal with the participation of deputy chief minister, Dr G Parameshwar, coordination committee chairman, Siddaramaiah, KPCC president, Dinesh Gundu Rao, working president, Ishwar Khandre and minister, D K Shivakumar. It is said that the party has zeroed in on the name of Anand Nyam Gowda for Jamkhandi constituency, former minister, Kimmane Ratnakar, Sundaresh or former MLA, Belur Gopalakrishna, for Shivamogga LS seat. As there are many aspirants for Ballari seat, Shivakumar has been given the authority to choose a candidate through unanimous decision.

PWD minister, H D Revanna, claimed that the decision to collect toll charges on state highways was not taken by the current coalition government. He said that the then BJP government had decided to levy toll charges in the year 2010.

“Tender has been floated for collecting toll charges in respect of 17 state roads. Decision to collect toll pertains to roads like Padubidri – Karkala, Hosakote – Chinthamani and Tumakuru – Pavagada roads. These roads were developed under the grant of Asian Development Bank and World Bank by Karnataka Road Development Corporation Ltd under K-Ship project. The toll collection tender is for three years. Toll charges will increase by ten percent per year with 30 percent hike in the third year. Rules were framed for toll collection in 2015, and tenders were floated in 2017,” he explained.

About the death of an elephant after having been hit by a bus in Bandipur forest area, he said the proposal to erect humps on this road would be considered if the same comes from forest department.

In the meanwhile, Karkala MLA and chief whip in the state assembly, Sunil Kumar, said that collection of toll charges on state highways will put additional burden on the citizens. He urged the government to reverse the decision although this was taken by the previous government, for the benefit of the people.

IANS

Six persons died on Wednesday after nine coaches and the engine of an express train heading to New Delhi from Malda town in West Bengal derailed here in Uttar Pradesh, a railway official said.

Two passengers trapped in the bogies were feared dead, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Anand Kumar said. Heavy duty gas cutters were being used to extricate the bodies and all those still trapped in the damaged coaches.

The senior Railway Ministry official earlier told IANS that five coaches and the engine of the New Farakka Express derailed near Harchandpur in Rae Bareli around 6.05 a.m.

He later put the toll at six and added that four more coaches had derailed. More than 60 people have been inured and rushed the district hospital in Rae Bareli.

The death toll was expected to rise as several have been critically injured.

Rescue operations were being handled by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams from Allahabad and Varanasi, who were rushed to the scene of the accident, the official added. An NDRF team from Lucknow was expected shortly.

At least 13 trains have been diverted or short terminated following the accident.

Addition Chief Secretary (Information) Avaneesh Awasthi said Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was apprised of the situation. He has spoken to the district officials and senior police officers.

The authorities have been directed to ensure prompt relief and rescue operations.

Chairman of the Railway Board Ashwani Lohani would be visiting the accident site.

According to the passengers, the train derailed after a loud noise. People from nearby villages were first responders on the accident site.

IANS