At least 12 personnel are said to be injured in the landmine blast which targeted the armoured vehicle.
The team of security force personnel had been conducting operations in the area.
Earlier, a CRPF jawan and two Maharashtra Police personnel were injured in an exchange of fire with the Maoists.
10:38 After years of abuse, this woman wants to give triple talaq to her husband: After years of alleged torture and abuse by her husband, Amreen Bano (24), has arrived at a decision.
She wants to give triple talaq to her husband before the community, and if it is indeed accept, will probably be the first woman to do so. Islam allows the man to give triple talaq to his wife, but not the other way round.
“I want to give triple talaq to my husband and get rid of him the same way as men do away with women using triple talaq,’ Amreen told ANI.
Amreen and her sister Farheen (22) were married to two brothers in a village near Meerut on the same day in 2012. Both the sisters have filed police complaints alleging inhuman treatment including abuse and beatings by their husbands. According to a Times of India report, in September 2016, when Amreen’s 3-year old son asked his uncle, Farheen’s husband, for Rs 5, he and the sisters were beaten. The sisters were then told to get Rs 5 lakh from their parents. As the argument escalated, Farheen’s husband gave her triple talaq and threw her out of the house.
Amreen told ANI that she suffered a miscarriage due to frequent beatings by her husband. She had approached the police saying she wanted protection but nothing was done. She now says she will give triple talaq to her husband since he has refused to provide for her and her child after the brother beat her and the sister for money.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court allowed former Union Minister Salman Khurshid to assist it in hearing a batch of pleas challenging the constitutional validity of ‘triple talaq’, ‘nikah halala’ and polygamy practices among the Muslims.
Image: Amreen Bano has asked for police protection but says, nothing was done.
10:13 Former RAW chief A S Dulat: We refused to talk invited Pakistan back into Valley: Former Research & Analysis Wing chief A S Dulat’s connection to Kashmir goes back more than three decades. As an Intelligence Bureau officer, he served in Srinagar in the 1980s; as IB special director he supervised the intelligence network there. In the PMO during Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s tenure, he was adviser on Kashmir, work that formed the basis of his book Kashmir: The Vajpayee Years. In this interview, which you can read here, Dulat discusses the current situation in Kashmir.
10:06 UK, India Home Secretaries to discuss Mallya extradition today: Vijay Mallya’s extradition likely to be discussed in talks between Indian, UK Home Secretaries today.
A team of officials from the CBI and the Enforcement Directorate (ED) reached London for discussions on the extradition of the liquor baron, yesterday.
A four-member team led by CBI Additional Director Rakesh Asthana will apprise British authorities about the finer points of the loan default cases against Mallya, CBI sources said. Two senior ED officials are also part of the team, they said.
Mallya’s extradition is now before the British court where neither the CBI nor the ED is a direct party. Indian agencies primarily aid and assist British prosecutors with case material to counter the plea of absconders before the courts, an official explained.
The agencies’ move to send a team to London is aimed at presenting a strong case for the extradition of the liquor baron before the court.
The 61-year-old was arrested by British authorities last month on India’s extradition request in connection with loan default case of IDBI Bank, being investigated by the CBI. He was released on bail within hours by a London court which has fixed May 17 as the next date of hearing.
Vijay Mallya, whose now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines owes more than Rs. 9,000 crore to various banks, had left India on March 2, 2016.
The extradition process from the UK involves a number of steps including a decision by the judge on whether or not to issue a warrant of arrest.
In case of a warrant, the person is arrested and brought before the court for preliminary hearing followed by an extradition hearing before a final decision is taken by the Secretary of State.
The ‘wanted’ person has the right to appeal to higher courts against any decision all the way up to the Supreme Court.
09:47 Experts want punitive action against ‘liar’ Pakistan : The Defence Experts on Thursday exhorted the government to take a severe punitive action against Pakistan which “has been lying over its involvement in the mutilation of two Indian soldiers’ bodies.
Defence Expert PK Sehgal told ANI that Pakistan was in a denial mode over its involvement in Krishna Ghati’s barbaric act despite all the evidences against it.
“We have clinching evidence and same has been conveyed to the Pakistan high commissioner, but we must not waste time in focussing in this area as Pakistan will remain in denial mode. The sooner we teach them a lesson it would be better from both Pakistan’s point of view as well as nation’s point of view,” said Sehgal.
He said considering the nation’s mood, the government must take swift and solid action against Pakistan.”The entire nation is looking forward to a very swift and a very solid and punitive response from the Indian army. If the government doesn’t give a go ahead in a meaningful time frame the government’s credibility would be severely degraded,” he added.
Resonating similar sentiments, another Defence Expert Praful Bakshi told ANI that it was obvious that Pakistan will deny mutilating two Indian soldiers’ bodies. “It is obvious that Pakistan will deny carrying out a heinous task of mutilating our soldiers’ bodies”. But, the blood trail is leading across. The matter stands still and Pakistan’s denial is very serious,” he added.
He said India should change its policy of not to attack first as Pakistan was taking advantage of it.”Pakistan is showing aggression all along the border. Pakistan is taking advantage of Indian policy of not attacking first. We have to change our policy from reactive to proactive. Our intelligence tells us where the terrorists are coming from. India need not wait for the attack but should take pre-emptive action,” he said.
Defence Minister Arun Jaitley yesterday said Pakistan’s denial of any cross Line of Control movement by its troops and mutilation of Indian soldiers’ carries no credibility.
08:51 Pathankot on alert after 2 suspicious bags found near military base:
Security alert was sounded in Pathankot early today when two suspicious bags were found lying unattended just a few yards away from the military base.
According to reports, locals spotted two black colour bags near Mamoon Cantt and informed the police.
Cops immediately rushed to the spot. The area has been cordoned off.
The police recovered mobile tower batteries from the bags. Security has been beefed up in the area and a search operation is underway to find the owner of the bags.
On Tuesday, an abandoned Scorpio SUV was found in Gurdaspur district. Security agencies had then launched a manhunt after reports of 5-6 suspicious men being spotted near the vehicle.
Though nobody has been arrested yet, the police claimed the suspects belonged to Jammu and Kashmir.
“We have broadly identified them and we are trying our best to arrest them,” Pathankot SSP Vivek Sheel Soni said.
08:14 Russia ‘greatest threat of any nation on earth’: FBI chief:
Russia presents greatest threat to American national security, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey has told lawmakers.
“Certainly in my view, (Russia presents) the greatest threat of any nation on earth, given their intention and their capability,” Comey said in response to a question during his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, where lawmakers expressed concern over Russian activities in the cyberspace.
Comey said “yes” when Senator Lindsey Graham asked when it comes to Russia, is it fair to say that Russia actively provides safe haven to cyber criminals.
He said “it is a fair statement,” when Senator Lindsey Graham asked if he agreed with him the only way the Russians are going to stop this for them to pay a price for interfering in the US political process.
Comey said that Russians are doing this all over the world.
The FBI chief said that in the last presidential elections, the Russians were not able to change the actual vote tally, but one day they might.
“We found no indication of any change in vote tallies. There was efforts aimed at voter registration systems, but I suppose in theory, part of the US. The beauty of our system is it’s a bit of a hairball. All different kinds of systems,” he said.
“My understanding is they have attempted it in other countries,” Comey said in response to another question from Graham.
00:07 Trump vows to work as ‘mediator’ for Israeli-Palestinian peace:
US President Donald Trump vowed to work as a “mediator, an arbitrator or a facilitator” to help broker peace between the Israelis and Palestinians as he welcomed Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the White House.
“We will get this done,” Trump vowed.
Trump reiterated the need for Israelis and Palestinians to broker a peace through direct negotiations and called on Palestinian leaders to “speak in a unified voice against incitement to violence and hate.”
“There’s such hatred, but hopefully there won’t be such hatred for very long,” Trump said, speaking alongside Abbas in the Roosevelt Room.
Source: Rediff