Man behind IC-814 hijack held in J&K

September 13, 2012
Jammu, September 13: Top militant commander Mehraj-ud-din Dand, wanted for his involvement in the 1999 hijacking of flight IC-814 to Kandahar and other terror attacks, has been arrested from an undisclosed location on the Jammu-Srinagar highway, a senior police official said Thursday.

 

In what is described as a major catch, Mehraj-ud-din, suspected to be involved in many militancy related incidents in India and abroad and amongst the oldest surviving militants, was arrested Wednesday night.

 

Mehraj-ud-din was nabbed after police got inputs that he was on his way back from Nepal and was on his way to Kashmir valley from the national highway connecting Jammu and Srinagar.

 

"We nabbed him at a location we cannot disclose at yet," the official told IANS on condition of anonymity.  It is believed that he was going to Kashmir as militancy was declining and needed to be revived. "His arrest is a severe blow to militancy and efforts to revive it," a police official said.

 

Mehraj-ud-din, who belongs to the north Kashmir town of Sopore, joined militancy in 1990. "He participated in action and wielded gun up to 1995 after which he joined elite ranks, which involved planning, arranging logistics and handling militant activities," the official said.

 

After 1995, he was mostly operating from Pakistan and Nepal. Police describe him as the most wanted and oldest militant, "involved in a number of militancy related activities both in India and outside".

 

"Mehraj-ud-din was main person who arranged for all the logistics for carrying out the Kandahar hijacking. He facilitated the entry of five masked men into the aircraft with guns, knives and grenades and arranged finances for all this," an official said.

 

Mehrajud-din was taking care of planning and finances. "He was like the top boss giving directions and arranging logistics." On Dec 24, 1999, IC-814, with 176 passengers on board, was hijacked by five Pakistani militants and forced to land in three different airports -- Amritsar, Lahore, and Dubai - before being taken to Kandahar, the bastion of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. In Dubai, Rupin Katyal, one of the passengers, was fatally stabbed by the hijackers.

 

The aircraft had to spend a week on the tarmac in Kandahar before terrorists were swapped for the hostages.

IC-814_hijack


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Agencies
June 18,2020

New Delhi, Jun 18: Major General-level talks between India and China, held to resolve the issues related to the violent face-off in Ladakh's Galwan area on June 15-16, lasted for more than six hours on Thursday, sources said.

The talks between the Major Generals of the two countries had remained inconclusive on Wednesday.

Sources also said that all Indian Army personnel who were involved in Galwan valley violent face-off on June 15-16 are accounted for and no soldier is missing in action.

At least 20 Indian Army personnel, including a Colonel rank officer, had lost their lives in the violent face-off which happened in the Galwan valley as a result of an attempt by the Chinese troops to unilaterally change the status quo during the de-escalation in eastern Ladakh.

Indian intercepts have revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash. The commanding officer of the Chinese unit is among those killed, sources confirmed to media persons.

India wants restoration of old status quo along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) prevailing before May 2020 when the first reports of Chinese incursions started appearing.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had on Wednesday conveyed a clear and tough message to his Chinese counterpart Foreign Minister Wang Yi that what happened in Galwan was a "pre-mediated and planned action that was directly responsible for the resulting violence and casualties."

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News Network
February 29,2020

Kollam, Feb 29: Seven-year-old Devananda, whose body was found in a lake, was laid to rest at Kudavattoor in the Kollam district of Kerala on Friday evening.

She was laid to rest near her father Pradeep Kumar's house in Kudavattoor. Earlier, the body was kept at her mother Dhanya's house in Ilavoor and Vakkanadu school, where she studied in Class 1, for the public to pay respect.

Hundreds of people visited to pay their last respects to the child.

An intense social media campaign was launched to trace the child after she was reported missing on Thursday morning.

According to police, an autopsy conducted in Thiruvananthapuram Medical College led to a preliminary conclusion that the cause of death was drowning. Residues of mud and silt have been found in her respiratory tract.

Signs of any kind of violence inflicted on the child have been ruled out. The body was released to the family after the autopsy.

Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan and Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala, BJP state president K Surendran were among many politicians who offered the condolences.

Many celebrities including Mammootty, Dulqar Salman, Kunchako Boban took to Facebook to pay their tribute to Devananda.

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Agencies
July 15,2020

Mumbai, Jul 15: In a mega investment announcement, Reliance Industries (RIL) Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday said that Google will invest ₹ 33,737 crore in Jio Platforms for an equity stake of 7.73%.

Google is investing at an equity valuation of ₹ 4.36 lakh crore, said an RIL regulatory filing.

"Jio Platforms Limited, a subsidiary of the Company, today signed binding agreements with Google International LLC pursuant to which Google would invest ₹ 33,737 crore for a 7.73 % equity stake in Jio Platforms Limited on a fully-diluted basis. Google is investing at an equity valuation of ₹ 4.36 lakh crore," it said.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals.

Speaking at the Annual General Meeting of RIL, Ambani said that he looks forward to working with investors in Jio Platforms in a collaborative way.

Making another major announcement, the RIL Chairman said that Jio has designed a complete 5G solution and it will be available for trials as soon as spectrum is available.

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