Tamil Nadu Congress chief allegedly barred from temple ritual, sparks controversy
In this episode Five Live, the focus is on explosive revelations made by 26/11 terror plotter Tahawwur Rana during his custodial interrogation in India. Extradited from the US on April 10, 2025, Rana allegedly confessed to being a trusted agent of the Pakistan Army and admitted to conducting reconnaissance of terror targets in Mumbai.
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NDTV
21 hours ago
- NDTV
Pahalgam Terrorist's Funeral In PoK Takes Unexpected Turn
The funeral of Habib Tahir, one of the terrorists behind the April 22 strike who was killed in Jammu & Kashmir, was held in his village in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) last week - in yet another incident that proves Pakistan's complicity in the Pahalgam terror attack and cross-border terrorism. Earlier, members of the Pakistan Army had attended the funeral of terrorists who were killed in Operation Sindoor that was launched by India to avenge the killing of 26 tourists, including a Nepali citizen, in the Pahalgam strike. The terrorists killed were part of a banned group, the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD) led by terrorist Hafiz Saeed. According to sources, Tahir was reportedly recruited and trained by Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT). The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the LeT, had claimed responsibility for the attack and was recently tagged as a terrorist organisation by the United States for its role. Tahir was among three Pahalgam terrorists shot dead in an encounter by security forces at Harwan in Srinagar on July 28. Srinagar Senior Superintendent Of Police GV Sundeep Chakravarty confirmed the terrorists belonged to LeT and were killed during Operation Mahadev. Videos and photos available on social media showed local residents in PoK's Kuiyaan village gathering for the final prayers for Tahir on July 30. The sources said the funeral, however, turned tense and took an unexpected turn when a local LeT commander, Rizwan Hanif, arrived with armed men despite the terror group being barred by Tahir's family. A confrontation erupted when Hanif's nephew allegedly threatened the mourners with a gun, leading to public outrage. Hanif and his associates were eventually forced to leave the spot. The resistance comes amid signs of a shift in state policy, with the Pakistani police taking action against events organised by terrorists and reduced public activity by such groups. In May, India released the names of top Pakistani officials who attended the funeral of LeT terrorists, who were gunned down during Operation Sindoor. Officials said the funeral of terrorists killed in Muridke in Pakistan's Punjab province was led by Abdul Rauf, a LeT commander who is a specially designated global terrorist by the United States. Muridke is home to the headquarters of the LeT and is known as the "terror nursery" of Pakistan. Reports said the Pahalgam terrorists were trained at this spot. Last month, Pakistan claimed it had "dismantled" the LeT and any effort to link the Pahalgam terror attack with the defunct terrorist network was against reality. Stating that the investigation into the Pahalgam attack is "still inconclusive," it said, "any linkage with LeT, a defunct organisation banned in Pakistan, belies ground realities".
News18
2 days ago
- News18
DU student commits suicide after falling victim to cyber fraud
New Delhi, Aug 2 (PTI) A 19-year-old Delhi University student allegedly committed suicide in the Rohini area here after losing Rs 94,000 in an online fraud while trying to buy a mobile phone, an official said on Saturday. Mahesh Rana went missing from his house in the north Delhi locality on July 14. His body was found near the Begumpur water treatment plant on July 16. According to police, Rana had sent a message to her mother, informing her that he had been duped in a cyber fraud and was leaving home. She then approached the police. Rana was a second-year (Honours) student of DU's School of Open Learning. He had transferred the money to the fraudster through multiple transactions, but never received the phone. Police found his body on July 16 and shared the photo on social media, leading to his identification on July 19. Rana is survived by his father, who works in Darjeeling, his mother, who has a private job, and a 22-year-old sister. A case has been registered and the matter is being investigated, police said. PTI SSJ RHL view comments First Published: August 02, 2025, 20:15 IST Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Hindustan Times
Retired police officer claims he was ordered to arrest RSS chief
MUMBAI: A day after a special National Investigation Agency (NIA) court acquitted former BJP MP Pragya Thakur, Army officer Lt Col Prakash Purohit and five others in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, a retired police officer stirred fresh controversy on Friday, claiming former Mumbai police commissioner Param Bir Singh and his seniors in the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad had asked him to arrest Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat while investigation was underway, to bolster the 'saffron terror' narrative. Mehboob Mujawar Singh, who was then an additional commissioner of police with the Maharashtra ATS, denied the charge and said the officer, Mehboob Mujawar, was never a part of the ATS. On Friday, speaking on the phone from his residence in Solapur, Mujawar told HT that while he was working with the ATS, Singh and his seniors had directed him to arrest the RSS chief and the two wanted accused in the case, Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, who allegedly planted the bomb in Malegaon that killed six people. Both Kalsangra and Dange have been at large since 2008. 'Singh and his seniors had asked me to arrest Bhagwat to create a 'saffron terror' narrative. But I did not obey the order as it was issued orally, and there was no written communication,' he said. Param Bir Singh, however, denied the allegation. 'He (Mujawar) is a disgraced policeman who is being opportunistic,' he told HT. 'Names of RSS leaders never came up in our investigation. The NIA had also examined him (Mujawar) but his claims turned out to be totally bogus.' Singh also claimed that Mujawar was never part of the ATS. 'Mr Hemant Karkare (then ATS chief) got him involved on the recommendation of then Solapur superintendent of police to help with detection (of the bomb blast case). But he never participated in the investigation and indulged in some criminal activities. I remember that some offence was registered against him in Solapur and the commissioner of police, Solapur had sacked him.' Singh added that Karkare was leading the investigation of the 2008 Malegaon bomb blast case, and he was additional CP, ATS, only for Mumbai. 'This investigation was not under my supervision ever. I was only assisting Mr Karkare whenever asked by him,' he said. The NIA court, in its order on Thursday, stated that Mujawar was very much 'a member of ATS team' and he had investigated the Malegaon blast case 'as per the directions of his superior officer'. Mujawar conceded that he was booked under the Arms Act and accused of having disproportionate assets, but said he was implicated in those cases after he refused to obey Singh's instructions. 'Apart from arresting Bhagwat, I was asked to show that Ramchandra Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange, who were both killed by ATS officers and shown among the victims of the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai, were still alive,' he said. In his statement before the NIA, which took over the investigation into the Malegaon blast in 2011, Mujawar had sought a probe into the post-mortem reports of 26/11 victims and suggested that DNA samples from the two dead bodies be obtained for verification. Both Kalsangra and Dange, based in Indore, were aides of former BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur. Ramchandra used to work with his brother Shivnarayan as an electronic contractor while Dange was associated with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and had completed a course in information technology. According to the ATS, they had planted the bomb on the motorcycle parked outside the mosque in Malegaon, which killed six people and injured 95 others. Even as the NIA has got red corner notices issued against the duo, and declared a ₹10 lakh reward for anyone who provided information relating to them, their family members have lost hopes of seeing them again. 'My elder brother Ramchandra (Ramji) Kalsangra and Sandeep Dange were detained by Maharashtra ATS on October 10, 2008. We have no information about them,' said Ramji's brother Shivnarayan Kalsangra, who too was arrested in the Malegaon bomb blast case, but was later discharged. He now works as a real estate agent in Indore. 'It was a completely fabricated case. I was arrested and was behind bars for 34 months. They planted timers at our home claiming that we had supplied timers for the bomb,' said Shivnarayan, who was arrested by ATS along with Pragya Singh Thakur. He got bail in 2011 from the Bombay high court due to lack of sufficient evidence and was discharged by the special NIA court in 2017.
