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‘I lost to a transgender’: Defending champion Swapna Barman says after Telangana’s Nandini Agasara wins bronze medal in Asian Games

India’s champion heptathlete Swapna Barman has leveled grave allegations after losing the bronze medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games to fellow Indian Nandini Agasara.

Swapna Barman has accused Nandini Agasara of being a ‘transgender’. “I have lost my Asian Games bronze medal to a transgender women at the 19th Asian Games held in Hangzhou, China. I want my medal back as it is against the rules of our Athletics. Help me and support me please. #protestforfairplay“, Barman tweeted after losing to Nandini by just 4 points in the women’s heptathlon event to finish fourth.

Telangana’s Nandini Agasara went ahead of Swapna in the 800m race in the women’s heptathlon event. The 20-year-old Nandini finished with an overall total of 5712 points, her personal best so far. Before the 800m race, Nandini had also won the 200m race, which got her 936 points.

Standing on the podium with her bronze medal, an emotional Nandini dedicated her feat to her late father, a tea seller who had nurtured his daughter’s dream through his meager earnings. Nandini stated, “He raised me, he did everything for me. But I lost him last December.”

Nandini finished third in the long jump, sealing the bronze medal.

Swapna Barman, India’s start heptathlete who had won the 2018 Asian Games Gold, finished fourth with 5708 points. She lost the bronze medal by just 4 points. China’s Zheng Ninali claimed the gold medal with a season-best score of 6149 while Uzbekistan’s Ekaterina Voronina placed second with 6056 points.

Swapna Barman made headlines after she clinched the gold medal in the 2018 Asian Games in a stunning performance. She had a pain patch on her face due to a bad toothache and did not have proper shoes to fit her six-toes feet. Despite physical difficulties and a life of struggle through poverty, Barman had overcome all odds to win gold for India in the Jakarta Asian Games.

‘Justin Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada’, says Elon Musk after govt initiates censorship for podcasts

SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk slammed the Justin Trudeau government in Canada for “crushing free speech” in the country. 
His remark came in wake of a recent order of the Canada government which makes it compulsory for online streaming services to formally register with the government for ‘regulatory controls’. 

Musk was responding to a post by journalist and author Glenn Greenwald who was commenting on the ruling. 

“The Canadian government, armed with one of the world’s most repressive online censorship schemes, announces that all “online streaming services that offer podcasts” must formally register with the government to permit regulatory controls,” Greenwald posted on X (formerly Twitter) 

Responding to this, Elon Musk stated, “Trudeau is trying to crush free speech in Canada. Shameful”.

Notably, this is not the first time the Trudeau government is being accused of acting against free speech. 

In February 2022, Trudeau invoked emergency powers — for the first time in country’s history — to arm his government with more power to respond to the trucker protests, who were opposing the vaccine mandates at that time.  

Meanwhile, the Canadian PM created an uproar after he alleged India’s role in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 
However, India has outrightly rejected the claims, calling it ‘absurd’ and ‘motivated’. 

Notably, Canada has yet to provide any public evidence to support the claim about the killing of Hardeep Singh Nijjar. 
India has suspended its visa services in Canada, following Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau’s allegations of Indian involvement in the killing. 

Amid strained ties, India issued an advisory for its citizens and those who are traveling to Canada to exercise “utmost caution in view of growing anti-India activities and politically-condoned hate crimes and criminal violence” in the country.

(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Manipur: Four culprits in the murder case of two Meitei students arrested from Churachandpur district, shifted to Assam

On Sunday (1 October), Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh announced that some of the main culprits responsible for the abduction and killing of two Meitei students from Imphal have been arrested from Churachandpur district. The tragic death of both the students – Phijam Hemjit (20) and Hijam Linthoingambi (17) – rose to prominence only after pictures of them surfaced on social media on 25 September. 

The development comes as a result of a joint operation involving multiple law enforcement agencies and the support of the Indian Army, Paramilitary forces, Assam Rifles, and State Police.

Taking to X, the Manipur Chief Minister made this announcement and said, “I’m pleased to share that some of the main culprits responsible for the abduction and murder of Phijam Hemanjit and Hijam Linthoingambi have been arrested from Churachandpur today.” 

The Chief Minister asserted that the state government would ensure that the culprits responsible for this heinous crime would receive the maximum punishment, including “capital punishment”.

He added, “As the saying goes, one may abscond after committing the crime, but they cannot escape the long hands of the law. We are committed to ensuring maximum punishment, including capital punishment, for the heinous crime they have committed.” 

Reportedly a total of four persons have been arrested, and two minors have been detained in Imphal by the police in connection with the case. The arrested include two men and two women, while two minors are detained. The arrested persons have been shifted to Assam.

The four accused persons have been identified as Paominlun Haokip, Malsawn Haokip, Lhingneichong Baite and Tinneikhol. Lhingneichong Baite was a friend of Hijam Linthoingambi, the girl student who was murdered. One of the suspects is allegedly the wife of an insurgent group based in Churachandpur, as per sources. The two minors include a nine-year-old girl and a ten-year-old boy.

In a joint operation, a crack unit of the Manipur Police and the Indian Army captured the suspects from Churachandpur district, the epicentre of the ethnic violence in Manipur. Soon after their arrests, they were moved to Imphal airport, from where they were flown to Guwahati by a CBI team.

It is notable that trials for cases related to Manpur violence including crimes against women, which are being probed by CBI, will be held in Assam. The Supreme Court has transferred all such cases to Assam in view of the prevailing situation in Manipur.

Earlier, this year, on 26 September, media reported that the state government had handed over the investigation regarding the disappearance of the two students to the CBI. Media reports added that they were abducted by Kuki militants.

A day later, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team, led by the agency’s Special Director Ajay Bhatnagar, reached Imphal on a special flight to investigate this case.  

Following the tragic news of their murder, fresh protests erupted in the state in which students in large numbers took to the streets demanding justice.

Both the Imphal students had been missing since July 6 but their pictures surfaced on social media a few days after the state government lifted restrictions on Internet services on 23 September. Notably, the Internet services in the state were first suspended in May, when violence first broke out between the Meitei and Kuki communities.

Meanwhile, on Saturday (30 September), the National Investigation Agency (NIA) arrested a man named Seiminlun Gangte from Churachandpur who was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to exploit the current ethnic unrest in the state against the central government. The NIA stated that several terror organisations based in Myanmar and Bangladesh were behind the conspiracy.

On Sunday (1 September), speaking on Gangte’s arrest, Chief Minister N Biren Singh asserted that there was a larger conspiracy at play to wage war against India by foreign militants.  

He said, “People used to say all kinds of things while talking about the crisis in Manipur. That it is an ethnic crisis, a religious crisis, a crisis between the minorities and majorities…even in the UN. However, after the NIA took over the case, it gave a press release yesterday that the clashes in Manipur is…’waging war against the Indian Union’ by the Kuki militants from Myanmar and Bangladesh along with some militants from India. It clearly shows that this is not a small thing.”   

Manipur has been witnessing violence since May 3, following the protests against the High Court’s order asking the state government to consider the inclusion of the Meitei community in the category of Scheduled Tribes (ST).

Delivery boy to fitness influencer: Meet ‘75 Hard Day Challenge’ fame Ankit Baiyanpuria who joined PM Modi in ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was joined by prominent fitness icon and former wrestler Ankit Baiyanpuria from Bayanpur, Sonipat in Haryana in the ‘Shramdaan for cleanliness‘ as part of the ‘Swachhata Hi Seva’ campaign on 1st October. The prime minister also shared the video on social media and wrote, “Beyond just cleanliness, we blended fitness and well-being also into the mix.” They are shown using brooms to sweep up garbage, clean and talk about their daily routines in the clip.

He can be heard asking the social media star how will the cleanliness drive help his fitness to which he replied, “It’s our responsibility to keep our nature clean. If it remains clean, we will stay fit.” He added that the people of Sonipat have started to prioritise cleanliness. He also responded to the post with his famous greeting and thanked the leader.

The 30-year-old expressed his joy at meeting the prime minister. “I felt great after meeting him. I wanted to meet him for a long time. A few days back I messaged the PMO (Prime Minister’s Office) that I wanted to meet PM Modi. They called me back. At first, I wasn’t able to believe it. This morning I met him and for 30 to 40 minutes we performed ‘Shramdaan’ together. He asked me about my workout and diet.”

Besides PM Narendra Modi, a number of other Bharatiya Janata Party leaders, including Union ministers launched cleaning campaigns around the country. The significant drive was adopted at more than 9.20 lakh sites nationwide, according to the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry.

Ankit Baiyanpuria: From ordinary jobs to fitness influencer

Ankit Baiyanpuria gained eminence by reinventing personal development with his ’75 Day Hard Challenge’ along with the promotion of traditional and indigenous workout methods. He catapulted to the limelight on social media a few months ago owing to his exceptional training habits and distinctive routines that not only promote physical health but also encompass mental well-being through sacred Hindu texts like the ‘Shrimad Bhagavad Gita.’ His exercise comprises desi wrestling burpees, rope climbing and running and trains in his village with his coach, Krishan Pahalwan.

He was born to labourers and worked multiple odd jobs such as labourer and Zomato delivery boy, among others to make ends meet. He began wrestling as a result of the local tradition and performed as a professional wrestler for a few years. He had to change course in 2022 due to a dislocated shoulder sustained during mud wrestling.

The social media celebrity started to chronicle his fitness progress on Instagram and first heard about the ’75 Day Hard Challenge’ while he was researching fitness. American entrepreneur and author Andy Frisella came up with it in the year 2020. was one of a handful of people who were able to accomplish the challenge after dedicating himself to the task for a complete 75 days and attracted massive traction online. The challenge requires regular readings, a strict diet, progress selfies, no junk food and outdoor exercise.

Interestingly, he continued the same routine even after 75 days and is already nearing 100 days. His rapid rise to fame was evidenced by the fact that he amassed more than 2.5 million followers in just 28 days and presently the number is at 5 million on his Instagram account.

He exclaimed, “Even I am shocked at gaining 2.7 million followers in less than a month. I’m so grateful. The only message I would like to give to my followers is to not only look for physical strength because mental strength is much more and it only comes through spirituality. So read ‘Bhagwad Gita’ and try to perform meditation.” He has established a strong bond with his followers through his distinctive greeting “Ram Ram Bhai Sarya Ne” which also became very popular among netizens.

Just like Instagram, his YouTube career commenced by posting humorous Haryanvi videos on his channel named Haryanvi Khagad. However, he shifted the primary focus of his content to fitness during the COVID-19 shutdown and began creating videos on diets and exercises after renaming the channel to Ankit Baiyanpuria. Today, his channel has reached almost 2 million subscribers which earned him a silver play button from YouTube.

Ankit Baiyanpuria with his parents and silver play button. (Source: Instagram)

Ankit Baiyanpuria’s take on his impressive journey

While reacting to the tremendous accomplishment in a recent interview with The Tribune Ankit remarked, “My entire journey has been amazing. There are no particular moments as such because the routine was the same every single day for 75 days. However, I have truly enjoyed this process because of the kind of results it has given me. It wasn’t easy at all initially to complete the challenge daily but after a few days it got easier and I found myself pushing my boundaries to do better each day.”

He voiced, “Some days I would feel like giving up but then I kept my determination and tried to do better each day. One of the experiences that I would like to share is when I cramped my thigh during a workout, I was in immense pain and couldn’t do any work. However, I continued with my other daily challenge work and recovered well.”

He expressed his admiration for his supporters and conveyed, “I have a great love for my followers and consider all of them as my friends. They all are like me coming from a rural background and wanting to achieve big in life, that’s why they are with me.”

He emphasised that he wanted to continue to wrestle but was unable to do so because of his injury and that he planned to make a comeback. “I am in my recovery period right now, but do hope to make a comeback and also to play for India in the future, and yes, I do miss the ring a lot. It has been an integral part of my growing-up years.”

He referred to the physical and mental aspects of the challenge as the “most important part of his life.” He credited ‘Shrimad Bhagavad Gita’ for acting as a guiding light and pointed out, “‘The Bhagwad Gita’ showed me the way towards spirituality and it helped me a lot in mental calmness. Physical strength is something that can be achieved but mental strength comes from spirituality only, so that’s why it is the most important factor in my challenge.”

The social media influencer is currently focused on entering the ring once more and competing for India.

Delhi police head constable arrested for killing female constable 2 years ago, had staged an elaborate cover-up to deceive investigators

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A head constable of the Delhi Police has been arrested by Crime Branch police two years after he allegedly killed a woman constable and hid her body in a drain in Alipur area of the national capital, officials said on Sunday. 

The police also dug up the drain and recovered the victim’s skeletons two years after the murder, based on information provided by the accused. 

According to the police, the accused, identified as Surendra, was forcing the victim to marry him, despite being married himself. 

When the victim refused to marry him, he took her to a deserted area in Delhi and strangled her to death. Later, he hid her body in a drain and covered it with rocks, they said. 

Special CP (Crime Branch), Ravindra Yadav said that the accused involved his brother-in-law and a friend in the conspiracy. 

“His brother-in-law, Rovin, kept calling her family from multiple locations for two years on the instructions of the accused, Surendra. Rovin would tell the family that he was on the run with the victim and that there was a life threat to her. He would also make the family listen to her audio recording, making them believe that she was alive,” he said.

However, the accused, Surendra, kept visiting the deceased’s family and even forced the police to search for her to divert suspicion from himself. 

“The incident came to light when the family of the deceased informed the crime branch about the calls. After the crime branch traced the mobile phone of the caller, the brother-in-law of the accused and his friend, identified as Rajpal, were arrested. During interrogation, they confessed to the crime and revealed how they fabricated the entire story on the instructions of Surendra, the main accused,” Special CP Yadav said. 

Subsequently, the police arrested the accused, Surendra, along with his brother-in-law, Rovin, and a friend, Rajpal. 

Special CP Yadav further pointed out that the victim used to consider him (the accused) a father figure. But he trapped her and wanted to marry her. The woman became uncomfortable and threatened to expose him in front of her family. 

“On the day of the murder, he told the woman that he would take her to his home. He took her to an isolated place and strangulated her. Our team did the investigation and traced the number from which he used to make calls,” he said. 

“Unfortunately, the accused is a head constable driver in Delhi Police. He is posted in PCR. The girl was also posted in PCR earlier. He befriended her and then started misguiding her. For many days, he misguided her family as well. He asked his brother-in-law to make fake calls to her family. Our team did a good investigation, and finally, he was arrested. We called the forensic team and recovered the skeletal remains,” he added. 

A case has been registered against the accused trio, and the police were further looking into it. 


(This news report is published from a syndicated feed. Except for the headline, the content has not been written or edited by OpIndia staff)

Seema Haider sequel: Bangladeshi woman Dilruba visits India with 3 children to meet lover Abdul Karim, returns after finding he is married

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Following the fiasco of Pakistani citizen Seema Haider and her PubG love affair Noida resident Sachin, another story of a cross-border Internet affair has come to light from Uttar Pradesh’s Shravasti. Evidently, a Bangladeshi woman named Dilruba Sharmi who is the mother of three children left her country after falling in love with Abdul Karim, a resident of Shravasti, Uttar Pradesh.

According to the reports, the 32-year-old woman came to Shravasti from Bangladesh with her three children. However, their brief love story ended shortly after they met each other as the foundation of their love story was laid on lies. The widowed Bangladeshi woman who had left her country trusting Abdul found out that he was already a married man. After learning about this major revelation, she left for Bangladesh feeling cheated.  

As per media report, 27-year-old Abdul Karim is a resident of Bhartha Roshangarh village in the Shravasti district’s Malhipur area. He worked as a chef in a hotel in Bahrain. While working there, he befriended Dilruba Sharmi, a resident of Chattogram, Bangladesh, through social media platforms. Gradually their friendship turned into a love story. 

Subsequently, on 20 September, Dilruba acquired a tourist visa for herself and her three children to meet her love affair, Abdul Karim. On 26 September, she reached Kolkata airport along with her children from where they left for Amausi Airport, Lucknow on the same day. 

Parallely, Abdul Karim also reached Lucknow from Bahrain. Afterwards, all of them boarded a bus to reach Bahraich where they stayed in a hotel for two days, 27-28 September. A day later, they reached a village named Bhartha, Roshangarh. When they arrived at Abdul’s house, Sharmi found that Abdul is already married and has an 8-year-old son. When Dilruba Sharmi told Abdul’s wife Shakeela Bano about her affair with Abdul, Shakeela started creating a ruckus. Hearing the fights and learning the details, villagers informed SSB and the Police about the incident.

During the investigation, all the documents of the Bangladeshi woman Dilruba were found to be valid. She told the police that Abdul Karim had cheated on her and declared that he was unmarried. But when she reached here, she came to know that he was already married, hence she did not want to live here.

Inspector in-charge Dharmendra Kumar informed that the woman wanted to go back. So, they provided her with security and sent her to a travel agency in Lucknow. “No criminal angle was found in the probe. Her tourist visa was valid. She returned to Lucknow on Saturday and probably left for Bangladesh from there. Kareem also left, saying he was going back to Bahrain,” the police officer said.

Additional Superintendent of Police Praveen Kumar Yadav said officials from the Intelligence Bureau, Sashastra Seema Bal and the Anti Terrorist Squad interrogated both Sharmi and Kareem and found nothing suspicious in the incident.

As per the information received, 32-year-old Dilruba Sharmi runs a beauty parlour in Bangladesh. Her husband died during the COVID pandemic in 2020. Later, in the year 2021, she came in contact with 27-year-old Abdul Karim through the internet. When their conversations evolved, they developed a closeness to each other. 

Karim reached Lucknow directly from Bahrain to meet her and both of them had met for the first time on 26 September. 

Another stray dog attack: 7-year-old boy seriously wounded after being attacked by a dog in Banda in UP

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In another incident of attack by stray dogs, a 7-year-old boy named Harsh playing outside his house was attacked by a stray dog in the Banda district of Uttar Pradesh. The dog grabbed the boy’s head in his jaw. By the time the family members and locals could hear the screams of the boy, the dog had severely injured him. Later, the victim was rushed to a district hospital where he was referred to the Medical College after providing preliminary medical care.

According to reports, the matter pertains to the Parshuram Talab area under Shahar Kotwali in Banda. As 7-year-old Harsh was playing outside his house, a dog attacked him causing severe bite injuries to his body, particularly his head.

According to the doctors at the district hospital, the victim’s wounds required stitches, however, as the boy was in immense pain, they referred him to the Medical College for better treatment. Reportedly, the victim is still in a critical condition.

Dr. Pradeep Kumar, Medical Officer of the District Hospital, stated that a 7-year-old child was taken to the hospital after being attacked by a dog. The dog wounded his head after grabbing it in his jaws. The boy was refusing to cooperate with the treatment. Subsequently, he was referred to a higher care centre for better care.

Meanwhile, the local residents have alleged that despite their complaints, the municipality does not catch the stray dogs. The locals raised concerns that if the administration does not undertake dog-catching drives, many more such incidents will happen in future.

India has a serious problem of stray dogs attacking people. In the month of September alone, several cases of stray dogs attacking people have been reported. In the Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh, 26 dog bite incidents were reported in a single day on September 10. In the last couple of decades, India has become the world leader in Rabies deaths. OpIndia’s detailed report on Rabies can be checked here.

Uttar Pradesh: Police arrest Mohammed Faisal for assaulting a ‘skull cap-wearing’ boy in Kanpur, Islamists give communal colour to the incident

On Saturday (September 30), the official X (formerly Twitter) account of ‘Police Commissionerate Kanpur Nagar’ informed that a man named Mohammed Faisal was taken into custody for assaulting a child on the previous day.

The accused is a resident of Jajmau suburb of Kanpur city of Uttar Pradesh. In a tweet, the police said, “A video from the Jajmau police station area went viral in which a person is seen beating a child.”

“Taking immediate cognizance of the case, the accused Mohammad Faisal, son of Ashraf resident of Jajmau has been taken into custody by the police station Jajmau. FIR has been registered in the case and legal action is being taken,” it further.

The tweet was accompanied by a picture of Mohammed Faisal, kneeling in a jail cell with folded hands. On Saturday (September 30), a video went viral on social media wherein the accused was seen assaulting a boy, wearing a skull cap.

Faisal came to scene on his bike and proceeded to slap the boy. Thereafter, he was seen kicking the victim repeatedly. The footage of the incident, which was caught on CCTV, went viral on social media.

Soon after, Islamists attempted to impart a communal spin to the case by specifying the religion of the boy. This was despite the fact that both the victim and the perpetrator were from the same community.

Screengrab of the tweet

They also insinuated that the accused was a Hindu and that the incident was a ‘hate crime.’ X user ‘The Muslim 786’ wrote, “A Muslim youth was slapped and kicked in the vicinity of a police jeep by a thug.”

‘Journalist’ Ali Sohrab, who has a history of peddling fake news on social media, also remained fixated on the Faith of the victim. “A Muslim youth was slapped and kicked in the presence of police personnel,” he claimed in a tweet (archive).

The dog-whistling by the likes of Ali Sohrab and ‘The Muslim 786’ led to calls for Hindu genocide.

An Islamist named Saleem Khan Rana had warned, “When Muslims will hit the streets, kafirs (a derogatory term for non-Muslims) will die just from the fear of our congregation.”

‘It was no less than an on-road rape’, Archana Gautam opens up about the attack on her while visiting the Congress office with her father in Delhi

On 30th September 2023, model Archana Gautam said that the attack on her while visiting the Congress party office with her father in Delhi was no less than an on-road rape. She made this statement as she gave a reaction to News 18 in this regard. Archana Gautam was attacked by Congress workers at the Congress party’s office in Delhi on 29th September when she went there with her father to congratulate the party president Mallikarjun Kharge over the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill in the parliament.

Archana Gautam said, “They did not allow us to enter the office and did not open the gates. We were told, ‘Upar se aadesh hai aap ki entry bandh hai (We have received orders that you are not allowed)’. I do not know the reason behind it.”

She added, “I escaped from there and somehow saved my life. I just went there to congratulate them. I thought I would be welcomed nicely because ever since Bigg Boss ended, I had not visited the party office. There were women too who misbehaved with me. I wonder how come they did not feel mercy.”

Archana Gautam further said, “My father is injured. My driver was hit on his head. This is not right. I am still fine. I will hold a press conference soon and will reveal the truth. I was banging on cars parked on the road, hoping I could hide in one of those. They pulled my hair. It was no less than an on-road rape. I begged them with folded hands. My father was so scared.”

Archana Gautam has returned to Mumbai, while her father has gone back to their hometown, Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. The model also said, “I am sure Rahul (Gandhi) and Priyanka (Gandhi) do not know about this. I am expecting a call from them. If Didi (Priyanka Gandhi) will not take a stand for me now, I will be broken. I have always supported them. If she doesn’t call me, I will be broken.”

Archana Gautam was manhandled at the Congress party office

On Friday (29th September), Archana Gautam came forward with disturbing allegations. The actress informed that she and her father were physically assaulted during her visit to the Congress headquarters in Delhi. Archana Gautam, known for her appearances on reality shows such as Bigg Boss 16 and Khatron Ke Khiladi, pointed out that the individuals responsible for this violence were affiliated with the Congress party.

A video capturing the incident went viral on social media where she could be seen surrounded by several people yelling at her. Archana Gautam, accompanied by her father, visited the Congress office in Delhi on Friday (29th September). She shared with the media that her purpose of visit to the Congress office was to extend congratulations to the party’s national president, Mallikarjun Kharge, and Priyanka Gandhi, in recognition of the passage of the Women’s Reservation Bill.

Congress confirmed that the model was already suspended from the party

On 30th September, the Congress party confirmed that Archana Gautam was suspended from the party in June this year. The official X (Twitter) handle of Uttar Pradesh Congress reposted a post of a journalist who shared a suspension letter of Archana Gautam from the party.

Gautam was suspended in June 2023 as a disciplinary action, the letter shows. The confirmation of her suspension from the party came to light following viral videos surfaced on social where Archana Gautam and her father were manhandled by Congress workers at the party headquarters. The letter issued in June this year said that she was suspended from the party for six years as she failed to reply to a notice sent to her on 31 May 2023.

Jammu and Kashmir Police apprehend two drug peddlers from Punjab with 30 KG cocaine worth 300 crores

On 30th September, Ramban Police in Jammu and Kashmir intercepted a vehicle at Railway Chowk Banihal and recovered 30 KG of cocaine hidden in an Innova car. The team was led by Superintendent of Police Mohita Sharma. As per the reports, the estimated international market value of narcotics is around Rs 300 crores. Two persons from Punjab, identified as Sarabjeet Singh of Jalandhar and Honey Basra of Phagwara, have been arrested by the police.

As per reports, at around 10:30 PM, the police stopped the vehicle that was travelling from Kashmir to Jammu. When the police signalled them to stop, the accused tried to flee the scene. The police pursued and apprehended the accused and recovered a large cache of drugs hidden in the car. 3 KG of narcotics were stored on the vehicle’s top, while 27 KG was hidden in the luggage. Reports suggest that the drugs had distinctive Afghan markings. This year, it was one of the largest drug hauls recovered from Banihal area along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway.

As per the police officials, the high-grade cocaine was smuggled into the region from across the border via North Kashmir and was scheduled to reach Punjab. The successful operation prevented the illegal circulation of narcotics and put a dent in the drug trafficking network. Initially, it was believed that the seized drugs were heroin, but upon further testing, it was revealed that the drug was cocaine.

The police have registered a case under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act at Banihal police station. Additional Director General of Police (Jammu Zone) Mukesh Singh said in a statement that the Ramban police team has already apprehended many drug paddlers and smugglers.

Reports suggest that a total of 104 cases were registered in the region under the NDPS Act in 2022. In 2023, 36 cases have been registered, leading to recovery of 2,500 KG of poppy straw, 10 KG of charas, 200 grams of heroin and 200 tablets. Furthermore, the police have arrested 158 people in the cases linked to drug smuggling and trafficking under the NDPS Act. Police is investigating Pakistan links in the drug trafficking.