Latest news with #Harun
Borneo Post
4 days ago
- General
- Borneo Post
New home, new hope for Pitas fire victim
Afnah (second from right) receiving the keys to her new house from Harun (right), alongside the team of caring individuals. KOTA KINABALU (June 1): The burdens of a woman who lost her husband, daughter, uncle, and home in a fire in Pitas last year were eased with the construction of a new house. Mother of three, Afnah Tundan, 51, beamed with joy after receiving the keys to her new home from Parti Gagasan Rakyat Sabah (Gagasan Rakyat) Pitas deputy chief Datuk Harun Ismail. The house, built next to the site of her original home, was made possible through assistance from the Sabah State Welfare Foundation (YKNS) and several compassionate individuals. Afnah described the support as a great blessing from Allah SWT. 'I am unemployed and rely on my two working daughters to support me and my youngest child who is still in school, so I couldn't afford to build a new house,' she said. 'After the tragedy, I had to stay at a family member's house, but now Allah SWT has answered my prayers through the kindness of noble people who made this new home a reality. I'd like to thank everyone involved, especially Datuk Harun Ismail, for initiating this assistance,' she added during the handover ceremony in Kampung Taka on May 31. Harun, who is also the chief executive officer of the Sabah Oil and Gas Development Corporation (SOGDC), said approximately RM61,000 was spent on constructing the 500-square-foot house, which began in March. He said YKNS allocated RM30,000 for the project, with the remaining cost covered by concerned individuals as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. The new home includes two bedrooms, a kitchen, a bathroom and basic amenities such as water, electricity, lighting and ceiling fans. 'Afnah's house is now fully ready for her and her children. We hope it brings a new ray of hope to their family,' Harun said. In early August last year, a tragic fire in Kampung Taka claimed the lives of the SK Senaja headmaster, his 12-year-old daughter, and another family member, leaving Afnah without her loved ones and home.
Hindustan Times
29-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Pakistani espionage network: UP ATS to bring 3 suspects face to face, grill them over links
Three arrested espionage suspects will be brought face to face during their ongoing police custody remand to ascertain whether they had links with one another while allegedly spying, arranging funds and doing other work for Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), senior U.P. Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) officials said on Wednesday. These three men are Rampur resident Shahzad Wahab, Tufail Maqsood of Varanasi and Delhi resident Mohammad Harun. The trio had initially denied links with one another during preliminary questioning conducted after their arrest during the ongoing crackdown to smash the Pakistani spying network operational across different states, U.P. ATS officials said. U.P. ATS arrested Shahzad from Moradabad on May 18 for allegedly arranging funds for ISI agents and passing on crucial information related to internal security to Pakistani handlers. Tufail and Harun were arrested from Varanasi and Gautam Buddha Nagar respectively, on May 22. 'Shahzad was sent to jail before the arrest of the two others, so we have sought their custody remand to interrogate them face to face to ascertain possible links between them. The local ATS court has granted the police custody remand of 10 days (for Shahzad) since Monday while seven days' custody remand of two others was granted since Wednesday morning,' said a senior police official privy to the development. 'Besides, ATS will also try to extract more information about this espionage network spread across different states,' he said. The official said questionnaires have been prepared for all three accused. Shahzad will be questioned about other people including three women, whom he had allegedly added into the espionage network. He said similarly Harun will be asked about his network spread across Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi and other states. He said Harun was in touch with a Pakistani ISI operative working under diplomatic cover at the Pakistan High Commission. The operative was declared Persona Non Grata on May 21 and asked to leave India within 24 hours. He said the ATS will try to unearth his network and confirm identities of other people working for Pakistan's ISI operatives. Similarly, Tufail Maqsood was in touch with at least 600 Pakistani mobile numbers and sharing sensitive information related to national security of the country, the officials. The trio has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 148 for conspiring to commit offences related to waging, attempting to wage, or abetting the waging of war against the country and section 152 for act that endangers the sovereignty, unity, and integrity of India in three separate FIRs registered with the ATS police station in Gomti Nagar, Lucknow.
Express Tribune
28-05-2025
- General
- Express Tribune
Strangers to home
As a convoy moves in to raze brick houses to the ground, a community of villagers cries out. That's the limit to the brave front they can put up, as long as it doesn't upset their armed oppressors enough to open fire. These uniformed individuals then cite impassive demolition papers to justify bearing down on homes made of love and labour in Masafer Yatta in Palestine. A woman watches her quarters, her belongings, every corner of memory in her precious home being crushed to dust. Not subdued by aloof demands of relocation, she protests, "Where do we go? We have no other land. That's why we suffer for it." This picture might be familiar to you if you're on social media and have scrolled through countless pleas and tears entreating justice, all emerging from one Palestine torn apart by Israel's genocide. In that spirit, Palestinian activist Basel Adra picked up a camera to film his documentary, No Other Land, the moment he believed that the beginning of the end had become unavoidable. It's harrowing enough to watch social media to spell out the atrocities for you within a minute or two. But as I sat for over two hours at the screening for No Other Land organised by The Second Floor (T2F), I was compelled to face the spine-chilling reality with an intimacy that was difficult to evade. And that's exactly the point. Following a non-linear structure, the story of Masafer Yatta through Basel's eyes begins in 2019. In addition, Basel's own memories from 1999 slip into the narrative time and again to put into perspective that Israel's brutality following the October 7, 2023 attack wasn't merely a response but one aided by a veneered pretext. Letting it sink in Be it class debates or close-knit settings discussing the Palestinian struggle, I sit quietly and listen as intently as my twitchy mind allows me to. But when it comes to contributing to the conversation, I often find myself struggling to string together pointers that haven't already been said. Unsurprisingly, the same happened as No Other Land unfolded before my eyes. I was rendered speechless, as the cousin accompanying me would say. Basel's sturdy sense of hope along with the smiles that his people sport as defense are as heart-rending as they are warm, and just as soul-crushing as when Basel himself admits to Yuval that he's losing energy. It felt futile - speaking from a distance, watching from a distance. Then I saw Harun Abu Aram. Mirrored fragments The documentary shows Harun, an unarmed resident of Al-Tuwanah (a village to the south of Hebron), resisting as Israeli troops seize his electric generator. Moments into the heated escalation, the troops shoot Harun, cruelly subjecting him to lifelong paralysis. As time prolongs his suffering, Harun's mother hopes for one of two miracles: for God to take her life and restore her son to full health in exchange, or for death to relieve her son once and for all. Her second prayer is answered. Watching Harun and his family struck me with heart-sinking unease and thoughts that aren't easy to confront or pen down. Even after the screen faded to black, their plight stayed with me, haunted me to some capacity. It followed me back home to my bedridden aunt. For months, I have been struggling to put into words how I feel. When you're informed from the distance of a phone call that a loved one - a particularly lively one — has bled from the inside, the first companion to comfort you is denial. There are no tears, no adrenaline rush, no grief — just restless pacing and sleepless midnights that fade to tomorrows. Over and over again. When you see her again, you can barely recognise her. She looks the same, smooth-skinned and relaxed as she always has. But she's no longer fishing for compliments over an outfit she carefully picked or dissolving flimsy debates with a harmless joke. She just rests. That's all she prefers doing these days. The denial tricks you into thinking it's gone. But then you revisit old texts and send new ones for no real reason. Some days, you surprise yourself at your eagerness to initiate drawn-out conversations despite knowing that she can't respond. Every now and then, you recall a vivid memory because at least in your mind, her verve is eternal. Regularly, you squeeze her hand, fix her scarf, help her move, and cling onto hope. But now, you sit with the reminder that hope is a luxury in a war-torn world — and your smaller world is safely tucked away from it. Denial is not a helpful instrument for Harun's loved ones, who wait with bated breath for both good and bad news. Where they possess a wealth of love, they are robbed of resources. There is no comfort zone for them to retreat to. All they have is hope. And hope can be deceptive. It hurts differently when you watch Harun's family reserve the warmest blankets for him; it hurts close to home, even. But it can never hurt quite the same because no one can snatch those blankets from you or ruthlessly bury them under rubble. Because many of us didn't grow up surrounded by echoes of the same desperate question: "Why is it only illegal for us?" From the river to the sea At the time of writing this, a video has been circulating on social media: a silhouette of a girl moving hurriedly as she flees a line of flames rising well over her height. Israeli forces bombed her school, Fahmi al-Jargawi School, in Gaza while she was still inside. Earlier, the BBC reported that an Israeli airstrike targeted the home of a doctor in Gaza. While on duty at al-Tahrir hospital, she received the news that nine of 10 children had been killed. The eldest was 12 years old. In 2024, heavy rain poured down on over hundreds of tents of displaced Palestinians in Khan Younis, as per Al Jazeera. Israel still blocked aid to the civilians. In 2023, medics evacuated premature babies from Gaza's al-Shifa Hospital after the Israeli army raided it over claims that Hamas was secretly operating from there. In 2020, Israeli authorities shot down 27 Palestinians, including seven minors, across occupied territories. And the scroll keeps on rolling. Individuals become stories, stories form headlines, and headlines are buried under statistics. It is as Basel said as he accepted the Oscar for his documentary, "No Other Land reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades and still we resist and call on the world to take serious action to stop this injustice." Against the shelling and gunfire, Palestinian resistance — as No Other Land depicts — births a throng fuelled by hope, chants with the ease of an anthem, and marches on. And resistance is the weight they all shoulder. It looks like mothers humouring their children out of despair, fathers stirring up spirits, and children standing up against armed soldiers as their schools are demolished. It exists in one shared sentiment: "They'll never make Palestinians leave this land."
Hindustan Times
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Delhi man arrested on espionage charges had visited Pakistan days before Pahalgam terror attack: Family
Mohammad Harun, a resident of Seelampur in Delhi, visited Pakistan 17 days before the Pahalgam terror attack, his family claimed, news agency ANI reported. The Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) had earlier arrested him on charges of spying and maintaining links with Pakistani agents. The arrest comes amid a broader ATS crackdown on alleged anti-national activities linked to Pakistan. Mohammad Harun has been charged with spying and maintaining links with Pakistani agents, including officials connected to Islamabad's government and military. Harun's family claimed he is innocent and was taken without explanation. Talking to reporters, his brother Md Sahid said Harun went with them, but the family lost contact with him soon after. 'When we called, the phone rang a few times and then switched off,' he added. Also read: YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra was in touch with Pakistan operatives; no links to terror: Police 'Two people came to Harun's house in civilian uniform, but he wasn't home. They met me and said they were from the passport office. They told me that those who had returned from Pakistan were being called for questioning and would be sent back afterwards,' his brother said. Sahid further said Harun had visited Pakistan on April 5, and he returned on the 25th of the same month, as he is 'married' there. The timing of his visit, just before the April 22 terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam that claimed 26 civilian lives, has raised further questions. Also read: How ex-Pakistan high commission staffer Danish targeted YouTuber Jyoti Malhotra 'My husband is innocent,' said Harun's wife, Shabana, claiming that he used to visit his wife in Pakistan and handle visa matters, which were always cleared after proper checks. She alleged that the authorities did not let his family meet before his arrest. The accused's mother, Rukaiya Begum, suggested her son was misled by a contact named Mujammil during visa-related work. 'He used to go to Pakistan once a year because of his second marriage. If he was under watch for three months, why wasn't he stopped at the border?' she asked. 'I have been living here since I was 12. Harun never said anything suspicious,' news agency ANI quoted Begum, as saying. Also read: Uttar Pradesh ATS arrests Varanasi resident for allegedly spying for Pakistan In a separate case, the ATS arrested Tufail, son of Maqsood Alam from Varanasi's Doshipura area. Officials say he was part of a WhatsApp group run by Pakistan-backed networks that promoted extremist views and shared sensitive information.
News18
24-05-2025
- News18
'Visited Pakistan Before Pahalgam Attack': Brother Of Delhi Man Held On Espionage Charge
Last Updated: Mohammad Harun, a scrap dealer from Delhi, was arrested by the UP ATS for allegedly collaborating with a Pakistani High Commission official to share sensitive information. Mohammad Harun, arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad from Seelampur in Delhi on charges of espionage, last visited Pakistan before the Pahalgam terror attack, his family said. His brother also said Harun had a second wife there. Speaking to reporters, Harun's brother Sahid said some people in plain clothes visited Harun's house and inquired about him, saying that were looking for people who had returned from Pakistan in the recent past. Sahid also said that Harun had visited Pakistan on April 5 last and had returned on April 25. 'Two people came to Harun's house in civilian uniform, but he wasn't home. They met me and said that they were from the passport office, and those who came from Pakistan are being called back, made to sign, and then sent back after questioning," Sahid said. 'Then Harun went with them, and when he didn't return, we called him, his phone rang several times, and then it was switched off. When we went to the police station, they said they didn't know anything and sent him to Noida. Then he was presented at the Lucknow in court. By the time we arrived, it was too late, and we couldn't meet him," he was quoted by news agency ANI as saying. Sahid further said Harun used to go to Pakistan as he had been married there. 'He went to Pakistan last time on April 5 and returned on the 25th. During Covid, Harun used to help people in the locality," he added. Speaking on his son's arrest, Rukaiya Begum, mother of Harun, said, 'I have been living here since I was 12 years old. Harun never said anything to suggest there was something going on. I wasn't there when they took him away. He got married a second time in Pakistan, which is why he used to go there once a year." She also named one Mujammil and alleged he trapped his son. 'He (Harun) must have gotten to know Mujammil through visa-related work. That man has trapped my son. If this has been going on for three months, then why didn't you stop him from crossing the border? You could have caught him if he were doing something wrong," she said. Harun's wife, Shabana, confirmed her husband's second marriage in Pakistan and claimed Harun was innocent. 'My husband is innocent. He had a second marriage in Pakistan and used to go there to meet her. He also worked on visa-related matters, and the visa always came after a full inquiry. He hasn't done anything wrong, he is a heart patient. I want to meet him once; they arrested him and didn't even allow us to meet him," she said. Forty-five-year-old Harun worked as a scrap dealer and was suspected of being involved in anti-national activities. He was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Anti-Terrorism Squad from Seelampur in Delhi on Thursday. Harun was also suspected to be having contacts with Pakistani operatives, including officials connected to the Pakistani government and military. According to PTI, Harun was reportedly collaborating with Muzammal Hussain, an employee in the Pakistan High Commission in Delhi, to illegally secure Pakistani visas in exchange for money, while also allegedly transmitting sensitive information deemed harmful to India's national interest. 'Haroon was reportedly in regular contact with Muzammal Hussain. Investigation suggests that Haroon's familial connections in Pakistan facilitated their initial interaction during his visits to the country and the high commission," the report quoted an official statement. Harun allegedly worked with Hussain to collect money from multiple individuals under the pretence of arranging Pakistani visas. These funds were then deposited into various bank accounts, the statement read. In return, Harun reportedly received a commission and delivered cash to specified individuals or locations on Hussain's behalf. Despite knowing Hussain's diplomatic status and Pakistani nationality, Harun 'continued to share crucial information concerning India's internal security", the ATS revealed, adding that the information was allegedly used by Hussain in his efforts to 'destabilise" India. Following the revelations, the Government of India declared Hussain persona non grata and ordered his expulsion from the country. In a parallel operation at Adampur in Varanasi, the ATS on Thursday a rrested another suspect identified as Tufail, son of Maqsood Alam, a resident of Jaitpura. According to the ATS, Tufail was suspected of attempting to undermine India's sovereignty and unity by joining 'anti-national" WhatsApp groups and forming a subversive organisation allegedly backed by Pakistani entities. He is also accused of sharing sensitive information with Pakistani contacts. Watch India Pakistan Breaking News on CNN-News18. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from politics to crime and society. Stay informed with the latest India news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : Espionage case india pakistan conflict Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: May 24, 2025, 09:11 IST
