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DEHRADUN: A mazaar located within the premises of Govt Doon Medical College and Hospital, believed to be at least 50 years old, was demolished late Friday night by civic agency teams and district administration officials amid heavy police presence. The action was part of the Uttarakhand govt’s ongoing crackdown on unregistered structures following CM Pushkar Singh Dhami‘s orders.
Old-timers in the city said they were unaware of how long the mazaar had stood there. “We have been seeing it since childhood. It must be at least 50 years old,” said anthropologist Lokesh Ohri.
Officials said that since the structure was standing on govt land without official papers, a notice was issued to the caretaker, after which the demolition was ordered.

NEW DELHI: In what is being seen as a crude manoeuvre, The Resistance Front (TRF) – a proxy for Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba, has dramatically pedalled back on its publicly declared authorship of Pahalgam terror attack, blaming the earlier claim to a “coordinated cyber intrusion”.
On Saturday, it unequivocally denied any responsibility for the massacre of tourists who were targeted for being non-Muslim. “…The Resistance Front unequivocally denies any involvement in Pahalgam incident. Any attribution of this act to TRF is false, hasty, & part of an orchestrated campaign to malign Kashmiri resistance,” its statement alleged.
“Shortly after the Pahalgam attack, a brief and unauthorised message was posted from one of our digital platforms. After an internal audit, we have reason to believe it was the result of a coordinated cyber intrusion – a familiar tactic in Indian state’s digital warfare arsenal,” it further claimed.
The latest statement came amid indications of the international community accepting India’s stand that the terrorists belonged to LeT, a terrorist organisation supported by Pakistan Army and its intelligence agency, ISI, as part of their proxy war against India.
Security establishment sources, however, said that the retraction was ludicrous and would serve little purpose. They said the move was merely a damage control measure by the ISI to escape accountability.

NEW DELHI: UAE President Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan and his Iranian counterpart Masoud Pezeshkian called PM Narendra Modi on Saturday to condemn the Pahalgam attack, amid efforts by countries in the Gulf region to defuse the situation between India and Pakistan.
In the talks with Al Nahyan, a Gulf leader Modi shares great personal rapport with, the two agreed that terrorism should be rejected in all its forms and manifestations. Modi conveyed India’s strong resolve to bring the perpetrators of the heinous crime and their supporters to justice.
According to the ministry of external affairs, Al Nahyan expressed condolences on the loss of lives in the “barbaric” terror attack. “He strongly condemned the attack and expressed full solidarity and support with India. The PM appreciated his sentiments and words of sympathy and support,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
Pezeshkian too strongly condemned the attack and conveyed his condolences for victims. Both leaders agreed that there could be no justification for such acts of terror and all those who believe in humanity must stand together in the fight against terrorism.
The PM also shared the anger and anguish of the people of India and their resolve to deal with those behind the terror attack and their supporters, firmly and decisively, said the official. The resolve to bring the perpetrators to justice is the common thread running through all conversations and meetings that Indian leaders have had with their foreign counterparts in the past few days.
“PM also conveyed his condolences for the loss of lives in the explosion in Bandar Abbas and wished speedy recovery for the injured,” said Jaiswal.
While Saudi Arabia has engaged with both India and Pakistan in the past few days, Iran has publicly said it’s ready to use its good offices with the “brotherly neighbours” to forge greater understanding. India remains steadfastly opposed to mediation by any foreign country but has briefed almost the entire diplomatic community about possible Pakistan links with the attack to drive home its point about Pakistan’s support to cross-border terrorism.
Egypt is another Arab country that is talking to both India and Pakistan and its foreign minister Badr Abdelatty spoke to counterpart S Jaishankar about the attack. “Appreciate his support and solidarity in regard to Pahalgam attack. Discussed the importance of countering terrorism resolutely,” said EAM S Jaishankar in a post on X.

PRAYAGRAJ: Taking serious note of the inability of a judicial officer to write a judgment, Allahabad high court has directed that additional district judge Amit Verma of Kanpur Nagar be sent to the judicial training institute for three months of training.
Justice Neeraj Tiwari passed the order while allowing a writ petition filed by one Munni Devi of Kanpur Nagar when her plea to add some additional grounds in a tenancy dispute was rejected.
The petitioner assailing the impugned order submitted that the additional district judge arbitrarily dismissed the amendment application in a three-line order without going into the merit of the issue. The petitioner further submitted that not a single line has been written as to why the amendment application was rejected.
The petitioner alleged that earlier too the same judge had committed a similar mistake.
After going through the impugned order, the high court in its order dated April 22 said: “This court is of the firm view that Amit Verma, the additional district judge, Kanpur Nagar, is not competent to write a judgment. Therefore, he must be sent for training for at least three months at the Judicial Training and Research Institute, Lucknow.”

1,024 Bangladesh illegals arrested in Gujarat

AHMEDABAD: In a massive crackdown against illegal Bangladeshi residents in Gujarat in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, police conducted a statewide operation Friday night that ended in the arrests of 890 illegals in Ahmedabad and 134 in Surat. Among those arrested, four were found to have links to criminal activities – two of them suspected to be operatives of al-Qaida sleeper cells. Gujarat DGP Vikas Sahay said these individuals were under thorough interrogation at the joint interrogation centre.
“This is our biggest operation against people living illegally in the state,” junior home minister Harsh Sanghavi told reporters in Surat. He warned all illegal Bangladeshi residents to surrender voluntarily at police stations within two days or face strict action, adding that arrangements had been made “to complete procedures for their deportation at the earliest”.
He said those arrested used fake documents obtained from West Bengal to stay in different parts of India before coming to Gujarat, adding that Bengal would be provided with proof of how the detainees got fake documents made in that state.

SRINAGAR: Pakistan violated the ceasefire for the second consecutive night and resorted to unprovoked firing across several locations along the Line of Control (LoC) in Kashmir late Friday. The Indian Army retaliated effectively, with no injuries to its personnel.
“On the night of April 25-26, unprovoked small (arms) firing was carried out by multiple Pakistan army posts all across the LoC in Kashmir,” the Army said in a statement Saturday.
The fresh breaches of truce follow a slew of measures adopted by India in the aftermath of the Pahalgam attack in which terrorists gunned down 26 civilians — most of them tourists — in Baisaran meadow. The Resistance Front (TRF), an offshoot of the proscribed Pakistan-based outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba, had claimed responsibility for the massacre.
In the wake of the Pahalgam strike, Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi had assessed the security situation in J&K on Friday. The Commander of the Srinagar-based 15 Corps had briefed him about the current security scenario, including Pakistan’s ceasefire violations in north Kashmir and other areas along the LoC, as well as Indian Army’s measured response. The same day, Gen Dwivedi attended a meeting chaired by J&K Lt Guv Manoj Sinha, which reviewed the security mechanisms in place, various short-term and long-term measures, as well as integration and coordination among security agencies.

SRINAGAR: Police have detained 175 suspects in Anantnag district of South Kashmir following the Pahalgam terror attack, law enforcement officers said.
Police said that in the wake of the Pahalgam attack, and as part of intensified efforts to curb terrorism and its ecosystem, police, in close collaboration with the Army, CRPF and other security forces, have launched extensive search-and-cordon operations across the district. Pahalgam falls in Anantnag district.
“As part of these operations, numerous raids were conducted at various locations throughout Anantnag district. Day and night search operations are underway with heightened vigilance. So far, around 175 suspected have been detained for questioning to dismantle support networks aiding terrorist activities,” police said.
Police have enhanced security and additional mobile vehicle checkpoints (MVCPs) have been established across the district to monitor suspicious movements and ensure public safety. Police have also intensified cordon-and-search operations and ambushes, and have intensified patrolling, particularly in high-density forest areas, to flush out any possible terrorist presence and secure the district.
“Anantnag police, along with partner security forces, remain committed to maintaining peace and thwarting any attempt to disrupt normalcy in the district,” the police said, adding that public cooperation was solicited and citizens were advised to report any suspicious activity.
Meanwhile, J&K police conducted extensive searches at the “residences of OGWs and terrorist associates” of proscribed terrorist outfits across Srinagar.