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Delhi Riots: Court dismisses Brinda Karat’s plea seeking FIR against BJP leaders Anurag Thakur, Parvesh Verma

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On Wednesday, a Delhi court dismissed a petition seeking an FIR against Union Minister Anurag Thakur and BJP Delhi MP Parvesh Verma for allegedly making hate speeches in relation to anti-CAA protest.

According to the reports, a petition was filed by CPI-M leaders Brinda Karat and KM Tiwari had demanding the court to direct the Parliament Street Police Station to file FIRs against the two BJP leaders for allegedly promoting enmity and for committing acts that intended to outrage religious feelings.

The petitioners had sought registration of FIRs under various sections, including 153-A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc.), 153-B (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national integration) and 295-A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) of the IPC.

No requisite sanction obtained, says Delhi court

Reportedly, the Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Vishal Pahuja dismissed the application saying that requisite sanction from the competent authority was not obtained under the law.

Communist leader Brinda Karat had filed a petition in the court after her written complaints to the Commissioner of Police and the SHO, Parliament Street, did not get any response. She informed the court that she had written to the commissioner on January 29 and subsequently on 31, while the letter to the SHO Parliament Street was sent on February 2.

The plea was filed after the BJP leaders had allegedly raised few slogan at a public rally in January in Delhi.

The petitioners had claimed that Anurag Thakur, the Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs, at an election rally in Rithala, had allegedly asked the crowd to raise slogans after lashing out at anti-CAA protesters. Similarly, in the application, Karat had mentioned that Verma had on January 28 had also allegedly made provocative comments against the anti-CAA protesters in Shaheen Bagh.

Sushant Singh Rajput case: Experts were called to destroy data in 8 hard drives before Rhea left, actor’s flatmate tells CBI

A team of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has questioned Siddharth Pithani, friend and flatmate of Sushant Singh Rajput in connection to his death. During the questioning, he told CBI that on 8th June, eight hard drives were destroyed before Rhea Chakraborty left the house.

In a report, Republic TV claimed that experts were called to destroy the data on the eight drives. They said Sushant tried to protest, but he helplessly watched all the data being destroyed from his personal gadgets, including a computer, laptop and phones.

On the other hand, India Today in its report said that they might have decided to delete the personal pictures and videos as a part of “digital breakup”. While the duo never mentioned they were in a relationship, but they were living together and spotted on several occasions.

It is not clear who had called the experts to destroy the data, but Pithani said that both Rhea and Sushant were present in the room along with househelp Dipesh Sawant and his cook Neeraj Singh. CBI will question Pithani further in the case. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of CBI has questioned Siddharth and Neeraj twice till now. They have also questioned Sandeep Sridhar, Sushant’s CA and his former accountant Rajat Mewati.

It earlier reports, it was revealed that Rhea left Sushant’s house after an argument. It has been alleged that Mahesh Bhatt suggested her to leave the house. In the complaint filed by Sushant’s father, it was alleged that she left the house with Rajput’s laptop, cash and jewelry etc. Rhea’s advocate had said in a statement that she left the house on Sushant’s request as his sister was coming to stay with him.

Lawyer or Sushant’s father, Vikas Singh, said that if this information is true, there must be a larger conspiracy behind Sushant’s murder. He said, “I think there’s something very sinister in this entire episode and it appears that there is the involvement of some big people in the case. The first thing that should happen is the suspension of Mumbai Commissioner of Police and DCP of that area.”

The revelation of the drug angle

The Enforcement Directorate is also investigating the case as there were allegations by Sushant’s father that Rhea misappropriated Rajput’s money. During the investigation, ED found evidence of drug dealings in the case. It led to initiation of a new investigation by the Narcotics Control Bureau. The NCB has filed a case in Delhi and booked Rhea Chakraborty, her brother Showik Chakraborty and others under Sections 20, 22, 27 and 29 of the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act.

Hindustan Times quoted NCB director Rakesh Asthana who said, “We received a letter from ED on Tuesday evening, stating that during their probe into the financial aspects, they found that drug was supplied to Rhea and Sushant. An NCB team will now conduct an inquiry, and people involved will be questioned.”

Sushant Singh Rajput’s death

Actor Sushant Singh Rajput was allegedly found hanging in his house on 14th June. After his death, a lot of questions were raised related to his death and involvement of Rhea and her family in Sushant’s alleged emotional and financial exploitation was mentioned in a complaint filed by Sushant’s father KK Singh in Patna. The case eventually got transferred to CBI on Bihar Police request and the Supreme Court’s orders. The case that was intended to be a simple open and shut for Mumbai Police has turned into a much bigger conspiracy that includes drug dealings, money laundering and the alleged murder of the actor.

JEE-NEET row: Congress IT cell indulges in ridiculous rumour-mongering to coerce the government to postpone the examinations

As the controversy surrounding the postponement of competitive exams JEE and NEET swells, with the central government refusing to defer the exams any longer, IT cell of several opposition political parties, most notably Congress have sprung into action, attempting to corner the government by hijacking the issue concerning students.

A large number of inflammatory social media posts have come up, demanding the deferment of the competitive exams that are scheduled to happen early next month. Through these posts, the rabble-rousers are attempting to whip up anti-government sentiments, piggybacking on the discontent surrounding the government’s denial to adjourn the exams further.

Congress IT cell ran a propaganda campaign to malign the Modi government as anti-student

Congress IT cell seems to be at the forefront of this online campaign to project the Modi government as anti-student. It has brazenly indulged in fear-mongering to stop the examinations from happening. Fake videos and pictures of students allegedly traumatised and distressed by the government’s decision to continue with the examinations are being shared by the members of the Congress IT cell.

Dubious Twitter accounts, some of which were created only recently in August 2020, have indulged in making false claims and sharing old images to contribute towards the Congress IT cell’s campaign against the Modi government. A Twitter user who went by the handle @AnanyaS06358832, with the date of joining Twitter in August 2020, shared an image of a slit wrist to allude that she is committing suicide against the government’s decision to persist with the examinations as per schedule.

Tweet against the government decision to continue JEE NEET exams on schedule

However, on reverse searching the image, one finds that the picture has been on the Internet since aeons and it has been shared multiple times on Twitter itself. When several Twitter users pointed out that the image has been lifted from Google, the Twitter user promptly deleted the tweet.

Another Twitter user shared yet another picture of a hand dripping with blood, alleging that many students have attempted to commit suicide after the government decided against postponing the examinations. The Twitter user also alleged that students are facing depression and mental stress because of the centre’s decision. The presence of #AntiStudentModiGovt hashtag in the tweet indicates that it is a tweet by a Congress IT cell members as the hashtag has been used by several Congress functionaries in their tweet against the Modi government.

However, what is interesting that several other Twitter users have also shared the same image, alleging that their friends had attempted to commit suicide after the government did not budge from its position of postponing the competitive examinations.

Here is another tweet by a Twitter user who has uploaded the same picture of blood dripping from the wrist as shared by the above Twitter user. Interestingly, even the text of this tweet is an exact replication of the previous tweet, indicating that bots may have been employed to promote the propaganda campaign.

In one instance, a student of Political Science has posted a tweet alleging that he could not give the examinations of JEE and NEET because of the raging coronavirus pandemic and floods. It may be noted that JEE is an entrance exam for engineering courses and NEET is the entrance exam for medical courses.

Some of the IT cell members have not even bothered to mask their real agenda in opposing the JEE-NEET examination. One such Twitter user, tweeting with hashtags such as #AntiStudentModiGovt and #PostponeJEE_NEETinCOVID, has called for students to hit the streets and hurl stones on the authorities to register their protest against their decision.

A Twitter user trying to incite students to come on roads against the government decision

With the government resolute on its decision to conduct the examinations as per schedule, the Congress party has tried to tap the incipient resentment among a small section of students and leverage it to force the government to backtrack on its decision. It is to this end that Congress IT cell members have unabashedly employed fear-mongering, peddled old pictures as recent ones, made fake claims and blatantly called for fomenting unrest in the country.

Most article on Scots Wikipedia written in mangled English by an American who can’t speak Scots: Reddit user makes explosive revelation

As if Wikipedia’s editorial shenanigans were not already exposed, an extra-ordinary revelation recently made by a Reddit user once again brings to fore the malpractices carried out by the organisation. According to this disconcerting discovery, almost all the articles on Scots Wikipedia, approximately 60,000 of them, were written, edited or overseen by a single user with a poor understanding of the language.

A Reddit user had alleged that every single article on Scots Wikipedia was written by a single person, presumably an American with little to no knowledge about Scots, a West Germanic language variety spoken in Scotland and parts of Ulster in Ireland. He also said that most articles on Scots Wikipedia are written in the English language with just some Scots words thrown between, and they are not written in native Scots Language.

One-third of the total article on Scots Wikipedia written by a single user with no understanding about Scots

The Reddit user had chanced upon the discovery while checking the edit history of one article. The Redditor claims that Wikipedia User with the username AmaryllisGardener has written more than over 23,000 articles on the Scots Wikipedia and done well over 200,000 edits in six years. The Redditor also alleges that since 2013 the Wikipedia user, who lives in North Carolina, has simply written articles that are written in English, throwing around some Scots words here and there haphazardly.

As per Redditor who exposed AmaryllisGardener, an admin of the Scots Wikipedia, the Wikipedia user was responsible for over one-third of Scots Wikipedia articles in 2018, they have since then stopped updating their milestones. The Reddit user suspects that about almost all articles written on Scots Wikipedia in the span of 2018 to 2020 could be attributed to the aforementioned user.

“I find it insulting that you would pass this off as our native language which you clearly don’t speak,” the user wrote. “Again, as a native Scot and native speaker, no one where uses this site as it isn’t close to resembling any Scots language. The language you use here is English with some changes in spelling and passing it off as the real deal harms the already derogatory view of Scots languages.”

The Reddit user went on to allege that even common elements of Scots that are found in Scots English like “syne”, “an aw” have been misused by the Wikipedia admin. The user asserts that sometimes entire English phrases and sentences are copy-pasted without any attempt at “Scottifying” them. Scots Grammar is also hardly used by the Wikipedia admin, with only Scots words randomly inserted in the sentences.

It is interesting to note that the user page of AmaryllisGardener informs that his native language is English, and he has medium level proficiency in Scots.

Reddit user accuses Wikipedia administrator of engaging in cultural vandalism by purveying mangled Scots

“There is almost no difference from standard English and very few Scots words and forms are employed,” the Reddit user lamented. “What they seem to have done is write out the article out in English, then look up each word individually using the Online Scots Dictionary (they mention this dictionary specifically on their talk page), then replace the English word with the first result, and if they couldn’t find a word, they just let it be.”

The Redditor pointed to use of “an aw’ in Scots for the English word “also”. While “an aw” cannot always be used in place of “also” in Scots, the Wikipedia user seemed to have used it uniformly in all their mangled translations. When someone highlighted this error to them on their talk page earlier, the primary administrator for the Scots Language Wikipedia for 7 years responded: “Never thought about that, I’ll keep that in mind”.

Levelling serious allegations against Wikipedia, the Reddit user alleged that the organisation had engaged in “cultural vandalism on a hitherto unprecedented scale”. He added that the Wikipedia page has done more damage to the Scots language than anyone else in history. The sheer volume of the mangled Scots peddled by the Wikipedia admin, the Reddit user alleges, would drown any sincere attempts made by others at uploading content in genuine Scots.

“Potentially tens of millions of people now think that Scots is a horribly mangled rendering of English rather than being a language or dialect of its own, all because they were exposed to a mangled rendering of English being called Scots by this person and by this person alone,” the Reddit user sharply noted.

Wikipedia admin has no problem if controversial edits are removed

The revelation caused a massive outcry on the Scots Wikipedia, with editors taking various stands. Some said that the entire Scots Wikipedia site should be deleted and it should be rebuild from scratch, while others suggested that only the AmaryllisGardener should be deleted. Some others suggested that every edit in the site since 2012 should be deleted, retaining the older ones, and rewriting the deleted articles. One admin on the site warned that if the entire site is deleted, it will be impossible to build it again. Some editors also defended AmaryllisGardener, saying that he made the edits only in good faith, and he had no evil intention.

Replying to the debate, the user at the centre of the controversy said, “Honestly, I don’t mind if you revert all of my edits, delete my articles, and ban me from the wiki for good. I’ve already found out that my “contributions” have angered countless people, and to me that’s all the devastation I can be given, after years of my thinking I was doing good (and yes, obsessively editing). I was only a 12-year-old kid when I started, and sometimes when you start something young, you can’t see that the habit you’ve developed is unhealthy and unhelpful as you get older. I don’t care about defending myself, I only want to stop being harassed on my social medias (and to stop my other friends who have nothing to do with the wiki from being harassed as well). Whether peace can be achieved by scowiki being kept like it is or extensively reformed to wipe my influence from it makes no difference to me now that I know that I’ve done no good anyway.”

Narcotics Control Bureau registers case in the Sushant Singh Rajput death matter after drugs angle come up in ED probe

After CBI and ED, now another central law enforcement agency has got involved in the Sushant Singh Rajput death case. After a new angle involving use of drugs emerged in the case during the probe, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) registered a case in the matter.

Earlier, it was reported that the Enforcement Directorate had written to NCB to probe the drug angle in the case. It has been found that several people linked to the Sushant Singh case are drug users, and they have regular contacts with drug dealers. That is the reason why the NCB will investigate the matter.

Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) director Rakesh Asthana told media that ED has found evidences that drugs were supplied to the late actor and his girlfriend Rhea Chakraborty, after which ED sent a latter to the NCB. “We received a letter from ED on Tuesday evening stating that during their probe into financial aspects they found that drug was supplied to Rhea and Sushant. An NCB team will now conduct an inquiry and people involved will be questioned,” he said.

The drugs angle came up after WhatsApp messages sent by Sushant’s former girlfriend actor Rhea Chakraborty were recovered by ED, where use of drugs like MDMA, marijuana etc were discussed. The chats were deleted, but they were recovered by the probe agency. One such message, Rhea was advised how to give someone drug mixed with tea. The messages also contained communications with a drug dealer named Gaurav.

Before that, Sushant Singh Rajput’s former housekeeper had also claimed that the late actor used to smoke marijuana. He had said that Sushant used to party once or twice every week with Rhea, Anandi, and Ayush at home, where they  used to consume liquor and marijuana cigarettes.

After the chat messages came to light, Sushant’s father KK Singh alleged that Sushant was administered drug without his knowledge, which ultimately led to his death.

Maharashtra police punch ABVP activists on the face for demanding fee waiver

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The Maharashtra police resorted to attacking student activists belonging to Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad for protesting against the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government demanding a 30 per cent waiver of fees.

According to reports, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena activists staged a protest in Dhule city of Maharashtra in front of Minister Abdul Sattar’s car demanding a 30 per cent waiver of tuition fees. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Sena activists wanted to meet Minister Abdul Sattar for urging a fee waiver and also present other demands.

However, the Maharashtra police launched an all-out attack against the student activists and also punched them in the face in the presence of the Maharashtra minister, who was seen comfortably sitting inside his car.

In the video, it can be seen how the Maharashtra police were seen manhandling students and punching them straight in the face.

The police even started lathi-charging against protesting students and also arrested 12 to 15 activists from the protest site.

Following the attack on ABVP, the activists have accused the government of failing to meet the demands of the students and also demanded that Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Samant should resign.

BJP slams Maharashtra govt for attacking students

The attack on students has now created a political storm in the state of Maharashtra as the opposition BJP launched a scathing attack on the Uddhav Thackeray-led government for using violence against protesting students.

Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis strongly condemned violence by the police officials against ABVP activists. He added that instead of resorting to such manhandling, Minister Abdul Sattar could have discussed issues raised by students and heard their grievances.

The former Chief Minister also demanded strict and strong action against the high handedness of the police officials.

Kumkum Bhagya actor Tripti Shankhdhar alleges her father tried to kill her, case registered by UP police

Kumkum Bhagya fame Tripti Shankhdhar uploaded a video on her Instagram profile in which she alleged that her father threatened to kill her. Police have arrested her father after learning about the video.

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Please help #uppolice

A post shared by Tripti Shankhdhar (@triptishankhdhar) on

In the video, she said that her father Ramratan Shankhdhar threatened to kill her. She alleged that her father had beaten her and he tried to cut her wrist also. She said that her father helped her to go to Mumbai to become an actress. Now he is torturing her and forcing her to get married. According to her statement, her father was forcing her to get married to someone who was ten years older.

She said that her father threatened that if she refuses to get married, he will kill her. She tried to contact police to file a complaint, but allegedly police did not help her. Her mother was sitting with her while recording the video. She said that her father also tortures her mother. Her mother alleged that since her marriage, she was not allowed to go out or meet anyone. If someone comes to meet her, he will create a scene at the house.

Tripti alleged in her video that her father is asking for all the money that he had spent on her for sending her to Mumbai. In another video, she said that they left home to stay away from her father. She further alleged that her father may file a case that they have been kidnapped. Her brother requested that his father should not be believed and their lives are in danger.

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#uppolice #yogi #spcity #bareilly #delhi

A post shared by Tripti Shankhdhar (@triptishankhdhar) on

Her video was shared on Twitter, and UP Police was tagged in the post. The user who shared her video said that they are trying to contact her, but she was unreachable. Bareilly Police took cognizance of the case and took immediate action. According to the police statement, when they reached their house in Bareilly, her father was fighting with Tripti, her mother and brother. They took the family to the police station for further questioning. When police asked her if she wants to file a case, she refused to do so. She said that they do not want to live with their father and said that he should not physically or mentally torture them in future.

Police took action under Section 151 (Arrest to prevent the commission of cognizable offences), 107 (Security for keeping the peace in other cases) and 116 CRPC against the father.

Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger had accused the organisation of hosting paedophilic content

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A decade ago, one of the co-founders of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, made an appalling revelation about the online encyclopaedia’s foray into child pornography.

Sanger, who had quit Wikipedia in 2002, said in an interview eight years later, in 2010, that Wikimedia Commons was replete with videos of underage minors performing sexual acts. Wikimedia Commons is the media library of Wikimedia foundations, which hosts images, video, sound and such media files used in various Wiki products, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikinews and Wikiquote.

Sanger had sent a letter to the FBI, the United States’ premier investigative agency, requesting them to probe into the organisation’s violation of federal obscenity laws. He highlighted two Wikimedia Commons categories that he believed had breached the country’s obscenity laws. 

Wikipedia violated on two categories of the US obscenity laws: Larry Sanger

One of the two categories he pointed out was “Pedophilia” and it had detailed illustrations of children indulging in sexual acts. Sanger asserted that the category was created almost three years ago, around 2007. 

The second category was titled “Lolicon”, which consisted of similar renderings, but in cartoon forms. One of the shockingly bad cartoons depicted a young child performing oral sex on a substantially older man. 

What shocked Sanger was no that such content was available online but that Wikimedia Foundation site appeared to be its reference site. 

Sanger had begun looking for explicit content online after a discussion with educators who had no idea that Wikipedia hosts content that might be inappropriate for students. 

Sanger’s vigorous search led him to graphic images of children and he then read the obscenity law of the United States which said that a person who watches obscene pictures of child abuse is as culpable as the person distributing it. 

“I read, ‘You must report this to the FBI or else you are prosecutable under the same statute’,” Sanger had said then. 

Regarding the inclusion of pornographic content on Wikipedia, Sanger had said, “I don’t think Wikimedia should be censored. If they have decided to include pornography, then that ought to be their legal right. But I think the public ought to know that there’s a lot of that there.”

Another founder had fought against pornography on Wikipedia

Larry Sanger is not the lone co-founder of Wikipedia to oppose pornographic images on Wikipedia. In 2010, Co-founder Jimmy Wales had given up some of his editorial privileges following heated debates over the matter. Wales had to face opposition for a large number of Wikipedia editors who had alleged that he had deleted hundreds of sexually explicit images without consultation. Following the controversy, Jimmy Wales had given up his privileges to delete files, remove administrators, assign projects or edit any content on Wikipedia.

Before that, Wales had called for the removal of pornographic content from Wikimedia Commons. He had advocated the removal of “images that are of little or no educational value but which appeal solely to prurient interests”, 

Larry accuses Wikipedia of no longer adhering to the principle of providing information from a neutral point of view

Following the explosive allegations levelled by Sanger and his request for the FBI to launch an investigation into the paedophilic content hosted by Wikipedia, the Wikimedia Foundation released a statement claiming that they had not been approached by the federal investigation agency. It also assured that its community of volunteer editors take action to edit out illegal material when it is brought to their attention. However, many have contested this claim, saying that the organisation has not been honest with its users about the content that goes on its website.

Earlier, the co-founder of Wikipedia, Larry Sanger, who is no longer involved with Wikipedia, had gone on the record to talk about the bias of the online encyclopaedia. Sanger had written that it has long forgotten its original policy of aiming to present information from a neutral point of view, and nowadays the crowd-sourced online encyclopedia “can be counted on” to cover politics with a “liberal point of view”.

Madhya Pradesh: FIR lodged in Indore against ‘journalist’ Pyare Miyan, 5 others for rape, sexual exploitation of minor girls

The Madhya Pradesh Police has registered three FIRs in Indore against six people, including the 68-year-old owner of a Bhopal newspaper named Pyare Miyan for allegedly raping three minor girls.

According to the reports, the Madhya Pradesh police booked Pyare Miyan aka Abba and five of his accomplices in Indore. The case has been registered under IPC sections including 376 (rape), and provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, said Vinod Dixit, in-charge of Palasia police station.

According to the police officials, three FIRs have been registered against Pyare Miyan and five others in connection with the allegations of sexual exploitation of three teenaged girls in Indore in the past by luring them to provide jobs.

“Separate FIRs were registered earlier in Bhopal for sexual exploitation of minor girls. Now three cases have been sent to Indore police for local investigation, which is why FIRs were formally registered here,” a police officer said.

The accused Miyan, who is currently lodged in a jail in Jabalpur under judicial custody, will be questioned in Indore in connection with the charges.

Police conducts search at Miyan’s bungalow

On Tuesday, the Bhopal police team carried out a search at Miyan”s bungalow in Indore, where the girls were allegedly raped. The police had earlier sealed the premises 15 days ago.

The horrific incident had come to light after five girls, including four minors, were found in Bhopal’s Ratibad area in an inebriated state on July 12. When interrogated, it was revealed that they were returning after attending a party where one of them was alleged raped.

After the initial investigation, it was revealed that the 68-year-old man Pyare Miyan had allegedly raped a 13-year-old girl who he had claimed as ‘adopted daughter’ and also was accused of running a sex-trafficking racket. The preliminary investigations into the Bhopal sex racket case had also revealed that Pyare Miyan was involved in the trafficking of minor girls.

Miyan was arrested from Srinagar on 15 July.

The girls trapped in the racket used to call Miyan as ‘Abbu’, which means ‘father’. The man claimed that he was the owner of a newspaper. Four people, including two women, were taken into custody in this case before Pyare Mian’s arrest. These include broker Sweety Vishwakarma (21), Uwais, Anas and Rabia. Uwais and Anas are relatives of the main accused Pyare Miyan.

Uwais, Pyare Miyan’s driver’s brother also accused of rape

According to the reports, Uwais, brother of Anas, the driver and relative of the accused Pyare Miyan, had also raped the 13-year-old minor girl. Uwais had apparently impregnated the girl in Indore after which she was shifted to a hospital in Shahjahanabad area of Bhopal for abortion.

At the time of abortion, the 21-year-old Sweety Vishwakarma was present in the hospital as a relative of the accused Pyare Miyan. The Childline officials and the police came to know about other cases of Pyare Miyan after recording the statement of the victim. Miyan is currently under arrest on the charges of sexual exploitation of several minors.

Four terrorists of Palestinian Islamic Jihad group blow themselves up accidentally while preparing to bomb Israel

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Four terrorists of the Palestinian Islamic terror groups were reportedly killed after they blew themselves up while preparing bombs at one of the camps of Gaza City near Shejaiya on Monday.

According to the reports, the four terrorists are identified as members of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad armed wing, who blew themselves accidentally while loading a rocket targeting the Israeli population.

In another similar incident, four members of the Islamic Jihad group had died in April 2018 near the southern Gaza Strip, following an ‘accident’ while preparing to attack Israel.

As bombs exploded near the terrorist camps in the northern Gaza City, Palestian media had claimed that the explosions were due to Israeli Air Force strikes. However, Israeli security officials denied carrying out strikes against the terror groups in that area, adding that it appeared to have been a “work accident”.

The terror group later announced that four terrorists – Iyad Jamal al-Jidi, Muataz Amir al-Mubid, Yahya Fareed al-Mubid and Yaaqoub Zaydieh were killed in the blast during “preparations to remove the criminal entity from our occupied land”.

Meanwhile, a Hamas member speaking to the media on Monday that they will continue to inflict violence against the Jewish homeland until their demands were met. “It is our right to break this siege,” Hamas leader Ismail Radwan said.

Israel responds to terror attacks

Recently, responding to the constant rocket firing and arson-balloon attacks from Gaza, the Israel Defence Forces have been bombing underground infrastructure, weapons production facilities, cement factories.

On Sunday, Israeli fighter jets and tanks had bombed Hamas terror targets in southern Gaza after terror groups had launched hundreds of explosive devices and firebombs towards southern Israel.

The IDF said it attacked “military posts and underground infrastructure of the Hamas terror group in southern Gaza”.

Following the attacks, Israel has also closed its only commercial crossing into the Gaza Strip, allowing only food, medication and humanitarian aid. In addition, Israel has also closed the fishing zone around the coastal enclave.

It is notable here that the Gaza Strip has been under a blockade imposed by Israel and Egypt following the ouster of the Palestinian Authority in 2007.