Police have scoured places of worship in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain and Khandwa in their hunt for the third shooter wanted in connection with the killing of NCP leader Baba Siddique.

Six rounds were fired on Baba Siddique, two of which hit the former Maharashtra minister on the chest, outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s Nirmal Nagar between 9.15 pm and 9.30 pm on Saturday.

Police have so far arrested three persons – Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters, and “co-conspirator” Pravin Lonkar from Pune.

Another suspected shooter Shivkumar Gautam, who hails from Bahraich in UP and is on the run, took to posting online content in recent months, flaunting his “gangster” status.

“Yaar tera gangster hai jaani (your friend is a gangster)”, Gautam captioned his photo post on his Instagram account on July 24. The photo showed him on a motorcycle as a Haryanvi song played in the background.

Suspected “handler” Mohammad Yasin Akhtar is also wanted in the case.

The Mumbai police’s search for Gautam continued for the second day on Monday in Madhya Pradesh with joint teams focusing on places of worship in Ujjain and Khandwa districts, officials said.

A senior police official in MP’s Khandwa district on Monday said the shooters arrested by Mumbai police have told their interrogators that they had visited some places of worship.

There was a possibility that the accused, while on the run, may visit these places again, he said.

Asked about these two districts having ‘jyotirlingas’ and whether the accused may be a devotee, the official said he would not offer a comment.

Khandwa shares a border with Maharashtra, the official noted, adding that “we have received no inputs about his whereabouts”.

Ujjain and Khandwa are famous for the Mahakal and Omkareshwar temples which attract thousands of people every day.

A top Ujjain police official on Monday evening said the team from Mumbai was still in the district. They have not been able to find any leads so far, he added.

A Mumbai police team reached MP on Sunday, a day after Siddique was shot dead.

Police were also verifying a social media post, attributed to a purported member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, owning up to the murder of Siddique.

The crime branch was probing various angles, including a possible contract killing, business or political rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials said.

The Mumbai police have set up 15 teams which fanned out of Maharashtra in search of individuals linked to the high-profile murder.

Suspected shooter Gautam hails from Gandara village in Bahraich district, where locals and police said he had no criminal history. They said he had gone to work at a scrap shop in Maharashtra’s Pune.

An Instagram post by him on July 8 was captioned “Sharif baap hai # (expletives) hum nahin”.

On May 26, he posted a brief video of a city skyline along with background music from “KGF”, a film about a mercenary, with its dialogue “powerful people make places powerful”.

The third accused in the case – Pravin Lonkar – was produced in a Mumbai court which remanded him in police custody till October 21. He is accused of “enlisting” two of the three alleged shooters who opened fire at Siddique.

As per the police, Pravin Lonkar’s brother Shubham Lonkar, who is yet to be apprehended, is allegedly associated with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

The prosecution claimed Shubham Lonkar and other wanted accused had conspired the shooting and supplied arms to the gunmen who attacked the 66-year-old politician.

Pravin Lonkar has to be taken to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar for further probe and hence his custody was required, police told court.

Meanwhile, the Punjab police said Yasin Akhtar (21), one of the suspects in the killing of Siddique and a resident of Shankar village in Jalandhar district, was facing nine heinous criminal cases, including for murder and attempt to murder.

Akhtar was arrested in a criminal case in June 2022 and has not visited his village after he was released in June 2024, police said.

Akhtar is suspected to have links with gangster Vikram Brar.

Ola founder Bhavish Agarwal and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra

New Delhi A war of words broke out between Ola founder Bhavish Agarwal and stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra on Sunday on social media platform X over the after sales and service quality of the company’s electric scooters. It started when Kamra responded to a post on X by Agarwal, who posted a photo of Ola’s gigafactory, by putting a picture of several Ola Electric scooters parked together seemingly waiting for servicing.

“Do Indian consumers have a voice? Do they deserve this? Two wheelers are many daily wage workers lifeline …,” Kamra wrote along with the photo. He tagged Union Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari, asking: “Is this how Indians will get to using EV’s?” The comedian also tagged the official handle of Department of Consumer Affairs, Government of India @jagograhakjago, seeking an answer saying “any word?” Kamra further wrote, “Anyone who has an issue with OLA electric leave your story below tagging all…”. ‘Will Pay You More Than You Earned For This Paid Tweet’: Bhavish Aggarwal Slams Kunal Kamra After Comedian Criticises Handling of Ola Electric Scooters Outside Dealership Store.

To this Agarwal responded, “Since you care so much @kunalkamra88, come and help us out! I’ll even pay more than you earned for this paid tweet or from your failed comedy career. Or else sit quiet and let us focus on fixing the issues for the real customers.” He further said, “We’re expanding service network fast and backlogs will be cleared soon.”

To the “failed comedy career” remark by Agarwal, Kamra responded by posting a video clip of one of his shows with audience clapping and cheering and called the Ola Electric founder and CMD “arrogant and substandard”. In response, Agarwal said,”Chot lagi? Dard hua? Aaja service center. Bahut kaam Hai. (Did it hurt. It’s very less. Come to service center). I will pay better than your flop shows pay you.”

Kamra then challenged Agarwal to “give a total refund to anyone who wants to return their OLA EV & who’s purchased it in the last four months”, saying he doesn’t need his money but “people not being able to get to their workplace need your accountability”. “Show your customers that you truly care,” Kamra asserted. Agarwal hit back saying,”We have enough programs for our customers if they face service delays. If you were a genuine one, you would have known. Again, don’t try and back out of this. Come and do some real work rather than armchair criticism.” Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal Launches ‘Hyper Service’ for Customers With 1-Day Quick Service Guarantee, AI-Powered Maintenance and More.

Pune : Two pilots and an engineer were killed after a helicopter crashed and caught fire in Maharashtra’s Pune district on Wednesday morning, police said.

The helicopter belonging to the Delhi-based Heritage Aviation, a private firm, took off from the Oxford County Golf Course helipad here and was heading to Juhu in Mumbai when it crashed at 7.40 am, they said.

The incident took place near a hilly terrain in Bavdhan area, which is close to the gold course, according to police

“Three persons have died in the helicopter crash. Our teams along with fire department vehicles have reached the spot,” Pimpri Chinchwad Commissioner of Police Vinaykumar Choubey said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Vishal Gaikwad said the helicopter, belonging to Heritage Aviation, took off from the helipad of Oxford County Golf Course and crashed near Bavdhan in the hilly terrain, killing two pilots and an engineer onboard the chopper.

An official from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) also said the incident took place at 7.40 am and confirmed that the Agusta 109 helicopter which crashed belonged to the Heritage Aviation.

After the crash, the chopper caught fire, police said.

Fire tenders and water tankers were rushed to the spot, according to fire officials.

“The deceased have been identified as Girish Kumar, Pritam Singh Bhardwaj and Paramjeet Singh,” Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation’s fire officer Anil Dimle said.

The helicopter took off from the helipad of the Oxford County Gold Course at around 7.30 am, Pimpri Chinchwad’s Joint Commissioner of Police Shashikant Mahavarkar said.

Primary information suggested that fog in the area led to the accident of the helicopter.

“A detailed investigation will ascertain the exact cause of the crash,” he said.

Kanpur: Indian batting superstar Virat Kohli on Monday became only the fourth player in history to complete 27,000 runs in international cricket across formats, a feat that he achieved on the fourth day of the ongoing second Test against Bangladesh here.

Kohli made a brisk 47 off 35 balls with four fours and a six as he helped India push on further in an aggressive mode to make up for the lost time in the Test due to incessant rains.

He is only the second Indian cricketer to have breached the 27,000-run mark and stands fourth in the list for most international runs across formats, which is headed by the legendary Sachin Tendulkar with 34,357 runs.

In between the two Indian batting greats are Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara with 28,016 runs at the second spot and Australia’s Ricky Ponting at the third, with 27,483 runs.

Kohli, who has a little over 8,870 runs in Tests, has 13,906 runs in 295 ODIs and another 4,188 runs in 125 T20Is — a format from which he retired after helping India win the T20 World Cup in June this year.

BCCI secretary Jay Shah wrote on X, “Another towering milestone in the illustrious career of Virat Kohli as he crosses 27,000 international runs! Your passion, consistency, and hunger to excel are inspiring to the cricketing world. Congratulations @imVkohli, the journey continues to inspire millions!”

In his 24-year-old career for India, Tendulkar scored 15,921 runs in 200 Tests, which is the most for any batter. In 463 ODIs, the Little Master made 18,426 runs while he scored 10 in the only T20I that he ever played.

However, these are tentative figures and may rise after the final reports are received about postal ballots, and from remote pockets like Marwah, Wadwan, Dachhan and Machail in Kishtwar, the officer said.

Briefing mediapersons here after polling ended at 6 pm, Pole said the elections — which covered 24 seats in seven districts — ended peacefully without any untoward incident.

There are reports of some minor incidents of scuffle or argument from a few polling stations but “no serious incident” occurred that could have forced a repoll, he said.

Over 2.3 million voters were eligible to cast the ballot to determine the fate of 219 candidates, including 90 Independents.

“The polling percentage of 59 percent is highest in the past seven elections — four Lok Sabha polls and three assembly elections,” he said, attributing the increase in the voter turnout to various factors including improved security situation, active participation of political parties and candidates and a campaign by the department.

He said Kishtwar district recorded the highest 77 percent turnout, while Pulwama district witnessed the lowest 46 percent.

Doda district recorded a turnout of 69.33 percent, Ramban district 67.71 percent, Kulgam district 61.57 percent, Anantnag district 54.17 percent and Shopian district 53.64 percent.

In the 2014 assembly elections, the district wise poll percentage was: Pulwama 44 percent, Shopian 48 percent, Kulgam 59 percent, Anantnag 60 percent, Ramban 70 percent, Doda 73 percent and Kishtwar 76 percent.

In Kishtwar districts, he said, the Padder-Nagseni segment recorded the highest 80.67 percent voting followed by Inderwal (80.06 percent) and Kishtwar (78.11 percent).

In the nearby Doda district, Doda west segment recorded 75.98 percent, Doda (70.21 percent) and Bhaderwah (65.27 percent).

In Ramban district, Banihal segment recorded 71.28 percent and Ramban 67.34 percent, he said.

Among the seven constituencies of Anantnag district, Pahalgam recorded the highest voter turnout at 67.86 percent, followed by Kokernag (58 percent), Dooru (57.90 percent), Srigufwara-Bijbehara (56.02 percent), Shangus-Anantnag (52.94 percent), Anantnag West (45.93 percent) and Anantnag 41.58 percent, Pole said.

In Pulwama district, the CEO said, the Pulwama segment witnessed 50.42 percent polling, followed by Rajpora 48.07 percent, Pampore 44.74 percent and Tral 43.21 percent.

In Shopian district, the Shopian segment recorded a voter turnout of 54.72 percent and Zainapora 52.64 percent.

In Kulgam district, D H Pora recorded a turnout of 68 percent, Kulgam 62.70 percent and Devsar 57.33 percent, Pole said.

He said seven districts of south Kashmir had been traditionally low poll percentage constituencies and in some of the past elections, the percentage had not even crossed the single digit.

Asked about a social media video purportedly showing a policeman losing temper and aiming his gun before being overpowered by his colleagues outside a polling station in Kishtwar, he said the district election officer and the returning officer concerned have taken note and issue was resolved amicably.

PDP and BJP candidates were involved in an argument at the polling station.

Pole expressed hope that the remaining two phases on September 25 and October 1 will also see high polling percentage.

Meanwhile, the election commission expressed satisfaction over the long queues of voters at the polling stations showcasing the entire world, the deep trust and confidence of the people of J&K in the democratic exercise.

The polling was held across 3,276 Polling Stations in the seven districts and 24 special polling stations set up for migrant pandits in Jammu, Udhampur and Delhi.

According to officials, 31.42 percent of the more than 35,000 eligible kashmiri migrant voters exercised their franchise. While 27 percent cast their votes at 19 polling stations in Jammu, 40 percent at four polling stations in Delhi and 30 percent at one polling station in Udhampur.

In each of the seven districts where voting was held in the first phase, the voter participation exceeded the participation during the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, the election commission said in a release.

The performance builds on the trend witnessed during the Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir which saw a voter turnout of 58.58 percent at polling stations, highest in the last 35 years.

Voting began at 7 am and proceeded steadily through the day. Men and women, the young and old, some too frail to walk and others patiently waiting their turn, queued up outside polling booths across Kashmir Valley and Jammu.

Security forces fanned out to ensure that there was no trouble. The day was largely without incident except for reports of clashes between political workers in some areas of Bijbehara and D H Pora.

Bengaluru: Karnataka’s IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge on wednesday highlighted about the state positioning itself as a key player in the space technology industry, aiming to generate $17 billion in economic value by capturing 40% of the national market share.

Speaking at the inauguration of the Bengaluru Space Expo 2024, held at the Bangalore International Exhibition Center on Wednesday, Minister Priyank Kharge emphasized the state’s commitment to fostering innovation and development in the space sector.

Kharge highlighted the government’s role in building an ecosystem that supports space technology through progressive policies, MSME support, and infrastructure development. “We are creating an environment for future space technology, making Karnataka a hub for this industry,” he said.

The state has already made significant strides in the space sector, with the government working on a dedicated state policy for space technologies. This policy is expected to attract investment, encourage innovation, and establish a center for space technologies. Kharge noted that Karnataka has emerged as a driving force in the space industry, thanks to government support for space technology startups and businesses.

A recent partnership between Bengaluru-based spacetech startup PixCell and NASA, as part of a $476 million commercial program, further reinforces Karnataka’s growing influence in the global space sector. The collaboration showcases the state’s evolution from a hub for ISRO-linked startups to a global leader in space technology.

Kharge underscored that the Bengaluru Space Expo 2024 serves as a platform to showcase the state’s advancements in space technology, while also reaffirming its commitment to contributing to India’s ambitious space goals.

 A teacher of a coaching centre was knifed to death allegedly by one of his students inside a classroom in Assam’s Sivsagar district on Saturday, a police officer said.

The student, who is a minor, has been taken to the local police station in Sivsagar town, he added.

It is claimed that the teacher had scolded the class 11 student earlier in the day over some issue.

“We reached the coaching centre on receiving information of a stabbing incident. According to preliminary information, a student stabbed his teacher. There is a lot of blood in the classroom. The knife was also found there,” the officer said.

He said the teacher was taken to the hospital in a critical condition, where he was declared dead.

The officer said the incident happened in the last period of the day, when other teachers had already left.

“We have picked up the student. We don’t know yet what led to the incident. We are in the process of collecting the CCTV footage,” the officer added.

A classmate of the accused claimed that the teacher had scolded him over some matter earlier in the day.

The accused had left school and returned later, and when he entered the classroom, the teacher accosted him again. The student then attacked the teacher with a knife, the classmate claimed.

Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi congratulates Team India for their triumphant T20 World Cup final win against South Africa in Barbados. Taking to X soon after India’s nail-biting victory on Saturday night, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi praised the team’s phenomenal performance throughout the tournament.

“Surya, what a brilliant catch! Rohit, this win is a testament to your leadership. Rahul, I know Team India will miss your guidance. The spectacular Men in Blue have made our country proud,” Gandhi stated on X, referring to coach Rahul Dravid, captain Rohit Sharma, and cricketer Surya Kumar Yadav.

Congratulations to Team India on a spectacular World Cup Victory and a phenomenal performance throughout the tournament!

Surya, what a brilliant catch! Rohit, this win is a testament to your leadership. Rahul, I know team India will miss your guidance.

Gandhi also congratulated Virat Kohli on his outstanding T20 career. “You truly are signing off in grand style!” he said. Virat Kohli announced his retirement from T20 internationals following the World Cup final

Other Congress leaders joined in the celebration. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge congratulated the Men in Blue for their impressive talent and dedication, singling out Virat Kohli, Axar Patel, and Arshdeep Singh for their standout performances. He expressed pride in every Indian for this remarkable victory, promising continued support and cheers for future matches.

Balasore: Curfew has been clamped in Odisha’s Balasore town following a clash between two groups, police said on Tuesday.

The district administration has also suspended internet service in certain sensitive areas of the town and urged people to stay in their homes and not to step out.

Curfew was clamped from midnight of June 17 to midnight of June 18, the police said.

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi spoke to Balasore Collector Ashish Thakare on Monday and asked him to take immediate measures to bring the situation under control, officials said.

Protesting the blood of animal sacrifice on the road, a group of people sat on dharna in the Bhujakhia Pir area of the town on Monday. The other group allegedly hurled stones at them, following which the clash broke out, police said.

Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order) Sanjay Kumar has been camping in the town. Police conducted flag march in Balasore. About 30 persons have been arrested so far, police said.

“All entry points to the OT Road closed,” police said, adding that “No person shall leave their homes or shall move on foot, or by vehicle or travel except for emergency medical aid.”

Balasore SP Sagarika Nath said, “Curfew has been clamped in Balasore municipality area. All commercial establishments and shops to remain closed.”

“Adequate police arrangements in the sensitive areas have been made and the situation is getting under control though some sporadic violence was reported in some places yesterday,” said a senior police officer.

MANGALURU: Mangaluru city police on Sunday took six Bajrang Dal workers into custody after they allegedly tried to create a nuisance and disrupt a Holi party at Maroli in the city.

The quick intervention by the police brought the situation under control, City Police Commissioner Kuldeep Kumar R Jain said.

He told reporters that six people had been taken into custody, in a preventive measure.

Kuldeep Kumar said that six Bajrang Dal members had been to the Surya Foods venue that falls under the Kankanady Station limits and disrupted the event.

The police are yet to receive any complaint about damage to property at the venue and are investigating the motive behind creating the nuisance, he said, adding that a non-cognisable offence had been filed.

Sources said some workers of the Bajrang Dal had barged into the Holi event, ‘Rang De Barsa,’ organised at Maroli on Sunday and vandalised the premises.

Young girls and boys were enjoying the Holi party, spraying colours on one another, when the right-wing outfit’s members disrupted the programme saying the youths were exhibiting indecent behaviour.

They also alleged that Holi was being celebrated there by youths from other religions as well.

The vandals tore the banners of the Holi party put up on the premises, sources said.