Hijacker of Dubai-bound flight confirmed dead; all passengers safe

News Network
February 25, 2019

Dubai, Feb 25: The gunman who tried to hijack a Dubai-bound flight flying from Dhaka via Chittagong died after Bangladeshi commandos stormed the plane at Chittagong airport, according to senior Bangladeshi officials.

The attacker identified as 25-year-old Mahadi, is considered to be "mentally deranged", and died after he was arrested.

Maj-Gen Motiur Rahman, General Commanding Officer of Chattogram, confirmed at a Press briefing in Dhaka on Sunday evening that the gunman is dead.

"We did not have the chance to negotiate. Our commandoes had to act swiftly. He was initially injured and later died," he told the media.

"He took an attacking position. There was no other way out," said the officer adding that the Bangladeshi Navy tried to negotiate with him.

A senior Bangladeshi official told Khaleej Times earlier that the hijacker was arrested and taken for interrogation.

"He had sustained serious injuries and died," the official said over the phone from Dhaka. However, he did not reveal the exact cause of death.

"All the passengers and the crew are safe. The hijack attempt was successfully foiled by our security personnel," he added.

The flight BG-147 was scheduled to fly from Dhaka to Dubai with 150 passengers aboard when the gunman attempted to hijack the plane.

Local media reports said the hijacker tried to take command of the cockpit, leading to an emergency landing.

The senior official in Dhaka, who does not want to be named, told Khaleej Times that a passenger alerted the crew after he found a fellow passenger carrying "a suspicious object that looked like a pistol".

"The crew alerted the pilot and as soon as the flight landed in Chittagong, our security officials were ready, and cordoned off the plane."

The Dubai-bound plane made an emergency landing at Shah Amanat International Airport at 5.15pm, according to local media reports.

All the passengers will fly to Dubai on Sunday night itself and were scheduled to land in Dubai on Monday early morning, a senior Biman Air official told Khaleej Times.

"We have already allocated a new flight and passengers will be flown tonight itself," said Dillip Kumar, regional manager of the airline.

"All the passengers are safe and they are eagerly waiting at the Chittagong lounge to fly to Dubai. They will take off at 7.15pm Bangladeshi time and land at 4.15am local time on Monday," Kumar said.

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Agencies
June 20,2020

New Delhi, Jun 20: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi said there are no foreign incursions into India, China has once again claimed that Galwan valley of Ladakh union territory is located on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

In an official statement on the step-by-step account of the Galwan face-off where 20 Indian soldiers were killed, China's foreign ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian has said the Galwan valley is located on the Chinese side of the LAC in the west section of the China-India boundary.

"For many years, the Chinese border troops have been patrolling and on duty in this region," Zhao said alleging that since April this year, the Indian border troops have unilaterally and continuously built roads, bridges and other facilities at the LAC in the Galwan Valley.

China has lodged representations and protests on multiple occasions but India has gone even further to cross the LAC and make provocations, Zhao said.

By the early morning of May 6, the Indian border troops, who had crossed the LAC by night and trespassed into China's territory, built fortification and barricades, which impeded the patrol of Chinese border troops, Zhao said adding that they deliberately made provocations in an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo of control and management.

The Chinese border troops, he said, were "forced to take necessary measures to respond to the situation on the ground and strengthen management and control in the border areas."

In order to ease the situation, China and India have stayed in close communication through military and diplomatic channels, he said. "In response to the strong demand of the Chinese side, India agreed to withdraw the personnel who crossed the LAC and demolish the facilities, and so they did.

On June 6, the border troops of both countries held a commander-level meeting and reached consensus on easing the situation. The Indian side, he said, promised that they would not cross the estuary of the Galwan river to patrol and build facilities and the two sides would discuss and decide phased withdrawal of troops through the meetings between commanders on the ground.

"Shockingly, on the evening of June 15, India's front-line troops, in violation of the agreement reached at the commander-level meeting, once again crossed the Line of Actual Control for deliberate provocation when the situation in the Galwan Valley was already easing, and even violently attacked the Chinese officers and soldiers who went there for negotiation, thus triggering fierce physical conflicts and causing casualties."

"The adventurous acts of the Indian army have seriously undermined the stability of the border areas, threatened the lives of Chinese personnel, violated the agreements reached between the two countries on the border issue, and breached the basic norms governing international relations," the spokesperson said.

Beijing, he said, hopes that India will work with China, follow faithfully the important consensus reached between the two leaders, abide by the agreements reached between the two governments, and strengthen communication and coordination on properly managing the current situation through diplomatic and military channels, and jointly uphold peace and stability in the border areas.

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News Network
March 16,2020

New Delhi, Mar 16: A total of 110 cases of coronavirus, including 17 foreign nationals have been confirmed across India, Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Sunday.

The maximum positive cases have been reported from Maharashtra (32), followed by Kerala (22).

The total number of passengers screened at airports is 12,76,046, the ministry said.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared that Europe has become the new 'epicentre' of the coronavirus pandemic that has infected more than 15 lakh people with over 6,000 deaths globally.

The virus had first emerged in China's Wuhan city in December last year.

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News Network
June 3,2020

New Delhi, Jun 3: India registered its highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 8,909 more cases reported in the last 24 hours, taking the country's tally to 2,07,615, while the death toll rose to 5,815 according to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry.

The number of active COVID-19 cases stood to 1,01,497 while 1,00,303 people have been cured/discharged/migrated.

According to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry, out of all the states, Maharashtra has recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases with 72,300 patients followed by Tamil Nadu with 24,586 cases.

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