U.K. court orders extradition of ‘Tiger' Hanif to India

May 4, 2012

tiger_Hanif

London, May 4: After nearly two decades, the law has finally caught up with ‘Tiger' Hanif, an alleged associate of the underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. A British court has ordered his extradition to India, where he is wanted for his role in two terror attacks in Gujarat.

Hanif, 51, whose full name is Mohammed Hanif Umerji Patel, has been charged with involvement in a grenade attack in a crowded market at Surat in January 1993, in which an eight-year-old schoolgirl was killed and more than a dozen people were injured. He has also been accused of leading an attack on a jam-packed railway platform at Surat three months later, in which 12 people were seriously wounded. After the attacks, which followed anti-Muslim riots in the State in 1992, Hanif fled to Pakistan before ending up in Britain. He was arrested in February 2010, after Scotland Yard detectives, acting on an Interpol warrant, found him working in a grocery store at Bolton, a town in north-west England.

Indian authorities sought his extradition on charges of conspiracy to murder and to cause an explosion. He is also accused of helping one of his accomplices escape by giving him cash, a weapon and a passport.

The prosecution told the court that Hanif wanted to “get revenge” for the 1992 anti-Muslim violence and used charitable donations to a Muslim refugee camp to fund the bombing campaign. “This defendant played a prominent role in setting up a … camp for Muslim refugees. The refugee camp had a fund … set up to collect donations, and it was agreed by this defendant and three other witnesses that the fund would be employed to buy weapons,” prosecutor Clare Montgomery said.

Mohmad Ghadliali, a co-conspirator, said in a witness statement that the decision to obtain weapons “for revenge” was taken at a meeting attended by him, Hanif and two others.

Lawyers for Hanif opposed extradition, arguing that he would be tortured by Indian investigators.

But a Westminster magistrate on Wednesday rejected the claims and ordered his extradition, describing him as a “classic fugitive.”

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News Network
April 8,2020

Jamnagar, Apr 7: A 14-month-old baby boy, who had tested positive for coronavirus in Gujarat's Jamnagar district on April 5, died of multiple organ failure on Tuesday, said officials.

The toddler, son of a migrant labourer-couple having no recent travel history, died in the evening at a government hospital in Jamnagar, said an official release.

He was in a critical condition ever since he was admitted to the hospital, it said.

The boy, who tested positive for coronavirus two days ago, was as on ventilator support and eventually died due to multiple organ failure, said the release.

He becomes the youngest patient to succumb to COVID-19 in Gujarat, where the death toll has now gone up to 16.

The baby was the first and the only case of coronavirus infection so far in entire Jamnagar district and the youngest to be diagnosed with the disease in Gujarat.

Ever since he tested coronavirus positive, the authorities had been tracing the source of his infection.

His parents are from Uttar Pradesh and work as casual labourers in factories in the port city.

His parents, who have no travel history in the recent past, are asymptomatic (not showing symptoms) and kept under quarantine, officials said.

The locality where the couple resides in Dared village near Jamnagar city has been put under complete lockdown to check the spread of the virus, they said.

Gujarat has so far recorded 175 coronavirus positive cases and 16 fatalities.

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News Network
June 1,2020

Jun 1: Gold prices rose on Monday as riots in major U.S. cities rattled investors already reeling from strained Sino-U.S. relations and boosted demand for the safe-haven metal, with a weaker dollar lending further support.

Spot gold gained 0.8% to $1,739.75 per ounce by 0242 GMT. U.S. gold futures ticked up 0.1% to $1,752.60.

"Concerns about the unrest in the United States at the moment appear to be weighing on market sentiment," said Michael McCarthy, chief strategist at CMC Markets, adding that rising tensions between the world's top two economies provided further support to gold.

Protesters have flooded the streets in the United States over the death of George Floyd in police custody, in a wave of outrage sweeping a politically and racially divided nation.

The closely packed crowds and demonstrators not wearing masks have sparked fears of a resurgence of COVID-19, which has killed more than 101,000 Americans.

In Asia, China's state media and the government of Hong Kong lashed out on Sunday at U.S. President Donald Trump's pledge to end Hong Kong's special status if Beijing imposes new national security laws on the city.

Gold is often used as a safe store of value during times of political and financial uncertainty.

Indicative of sentiment, holdings of SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, rose 0.3% to 1,123.14 tonnes on Friday, a fresh seven-year high.

Further supporting gold's appeal, the dollar index fell 0.4% against its rivals.

Elsewhere, silver jumped 2% to $18.20 per ounce, its highest since Feb. 26, before retreating slightly to trade 1.8% higher at $18.16.

Speculators cut their bullish positions in COMEX gold and increased them in silver contracts in the week to May 26, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission said on Friday.

Palladium rose 0.7% to $1,958.25 per ounce, while platinum declined 0.3% to $835.56.

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March 19,2020

Attari, Mar 19: At least 29 Indians, who had gone to Dubai to watch a cricket match which was called off later, on Wednesday night returned to India through the land transit route of Attari-Wagah border here.

Earlier, when they entered India after being cleared by the Pakistan Immigration Authority, they were detained at Attari border, as they were not having requisite permission on their passport to return to India through Pakistan.

According to officials, they had earlier flown to Dubai from New Delhi to watch a Pakistan League Cricket match there.

The match, however, was aborted and they decided to return India via Pakistan. They took a flight to Pakistan and after landing there, they took land route to reach Attari-Wagah border.

All were cleared by Indian immigration authority after being allowed by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs.

Amritsar Civil Surgeon Dr Prabdeep Kaur Johal said that by 9.30 PM all the Indian nationals were not handed over to the medical team for checkup.

She said if anyone of them are found with any symptoms of the virus, they would be admitted to Amritsar Government Hospital or else they would be allowed to continue their journey to Delhi or elsewhere.

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