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JAMMU: The recent encounters in J&K’s Kathua district not only exposed the route used by Pakistani terrorists to infiltrate India from across the international border but also averted a massive tragedy by scuttling the plan of terror outfits to carry out a major strike in the Union Territory, Kathua SSP Shobhit Saxena said Wednesday.
The traditional route of infiltration had been plugged and terrorists “will not be able to use this route again”, SSP Saxena said while addressing a press conference in Rajbagh. He added that the recovery of a huge cache of arms and ammunition (including IEDs) and sophisticated gadgets from the slain terrorists had foiled their scheme of executing deadly attacks in J&K. Some quantity of heroin seized also indicated that they had been using drugs.
The recovery included two AK-56 rifles, an M4 rifle, 10 AK-56 magazines, two M4 magazines,⁠ one AAK-IR 640 thermal sight, a Trijicon ACOG sight, eight Chinese grenades, three ⁠VHF helical antennas, and two extendable antennas which can improve radio signal reception in forested areas, sleeping bags, Pakistan-manufactured medicines, beverages and food items. “This showed that they had come with ill intention and were prepared for a long stay,” the SSP said.
Kathua witnessed four encounters between security forces and the infiltrators since March 23, when the terrorists were first engaged in a gun battle in Sanyal village in Hiranagar sector that lasted for over an hour. The terrorists, however, managed to escape the cordon. As multiple agencies continued combing the region and the operation expanded to other locations, another encounter broke out in Safiyan forest on March 27, in which the fugitives killed four policemen. Two terrorists were also shot dead in the firefight.
The SSP told reporters that security forces were tracking the remaining fugitives, believed to be a group of three to four terrorists. “We are confident about tracking and neutralising them soon,” he said. He added that a tight security grid was in place in Kathua district as well as from the border villages to the hinterland. He lauded the committed and joint efforts of security forces engaged in the anti-terror operations while also appreciating the cooperation of locals.
Responding to a question about action against terrorist sympathisers and overground workers, SSP Saxena said that 30 suspects had been booked so far in the district under Public Safety Act for providing logistic support to terrorists.

AS Dulat, former chief of Research and Analysis Wing and the author of the explosive memoir “Chief Minister and the Spy”, said today that the book was laudatory towards the former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah. The book, which is yet to be released, has sparked a massive political row in Jammu and Kashmir with its controversial claim that Mr Abdullah was ready to back the scrapping of the Constitution’s Article 370 five years ago. In the book, Mr Dulat has claimed that the former Chief Minister had spoken on this while they were discussing the matter in 2020.

Mr Abdullah and his party have issued a flat denial, and the former Chief Minister has even accused the author of indulging in sensationalism to sell the book.

“This book is not a critique of Farooq Abdullah. This book is an appreciation of Farooq Abdullah,” the former RAW chief told NDTV in an exclusive interview this evening.

“Most of what I have written is laudatory to Farooq. I don’t know why people have picked up one paragraph and misinterpreted it,” he said.

The controversial paragraph in the book read: “Farooq was terribly hurt. Just as the BJP has never hidden its intention towards Kashmir and as far as Article 370 was concerned, so too had Farooq been extremely open about his willingness to work with Delhi. Maybe, he said, the National Conference could even had the proposal passed in the assembly. We would have helped, he told me when I met him in 2020. Why were we not taken into confidence.”

Asked whether Mr Abdullah said he was willing to work with the BJP to scrap Article 370, Mr Dulat insisted that the context of Mr Abdullah’s comment needs to be understood.

Mr Abdullah was “very distraught, he felt betrayed and he was heartbroken,” that he was not taken into confidence, especially when they had met the Prime Minister days before, Mr Dulat said.

What needs to be understood here is that “Farooq has always worked with Delhi, he has always been with India, he is the ultimate nationalist in Kashmir and if people do not understand that, it is sad,” he added.

Farooq Abdullah, who was the prime mover for the formation of Gupkar Alliance to seek the restoration of Article 370 and statehood for Jammu and Kashmir, has said this anecdote is a “figment of imagination” of Mr Dulat, and accused him of “cheap stunts” to boost the sales of his coming book.

“The claim in the book that the National Conference was planning to pass a resolution on the abrogation of the special status is merely a figment of the imagination of the author who claims to be my friend,” Mr Abdullah said.

“A benchmark of common sense should have been adopted by the author while penning the so-called memoirs. He should have remembered that there was no assembly in 2018,” Mr Abdullah pointed. He also said had the assembly been in session too, he would have never considered passing such a resolution.

Mr Dulat’s claims have raised a storm in Kashmir Valley, with not only his political rival People’s Democratic Party, but also a host of smaller parties also heaping criticism on the 84-year-old leader.

“Dulat sahab an ardent Abdullah supporter has shared how Farooq sahab agreed with Delhi’s illegal move of abrogating Article 370. There were already doubts about what transpired between the Abdullahs & PM days before J&Ks special status was revoked. With this it’s clear that Farooq sahab chose to stay in Kashmir instead of the Parliament to help normalise gutting of J&Ks constitution & subsequent betrayal,” posted PDP’s Iltija Mufti.

The Allahabad High Court has observed that couples who marry of their own will against the wishes of their parents cannot claim police protection as a matter of right unless there is a real threat perception to their life and liberty.

The court gave the ruling while deciding an application filed by a couple seeking protection.

It said the court can provide security to a couple in a deserving case but in the absence of any threat perception, such a couple must “learn to support each other and face the society”.

Justice Saurabh Srivastava made this observation while hearing a writ petition filed by Shreya Kesarwani and her husband seeking police protection and a direction for the private respondents not to interfere in their peaceful marital life.

The court after going through the averments made in their petition, disposed of their writ petition, noting that there was no serious threat perception to the petitioners.

Disposing of the writ petition, the court observed, “There is no requirement of passing any order for providing police protection to them in the light of judgment rendered by the Supreme Court in the case of Lata Singh Vs State of UP and another, wherein it has been held that the courts are not meant to provide protection to such youths who have simply fled to marry according to their own wishes.” 

The court also observed that there was no material or reason to conclude that the petitioners’ life and liberty were in peril.

“There is not even an iota of evidence to evince that private respondents (relatives of either of the petitioners) are likely to cause physical or mental assault to the petitioners,” the court noted.

In addition, the court noted that the petitioners had not submitted a specific application in the form of information to the concerned police authorities to file any FIR against the alleged illegal conduct of the private respondents.

However, noting that the petitioners had already submitted a representation to the superintendent of police (SP), Chitrakoot district, the court said, “In case the concerned police find a real threat perception, they will do the needful in accordance with law.” Against this backdrop, the court stressed that if any person misbehaves or manhandles them, the courts and the police authorities are there to come to their rescue.

In its decision dated April 4, the court disposed of the plea, holding that the petitioners cannot claim security as a matter of course or right.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Iran is dangerously close to developing an atomic weapon, warned the International Atomic Energy Agency, hours before the UN watchdog’s chief is expected to leave for Tehran. During his visit, the top nuclear body chief will hold talks with Iranian government officials over recent developments in its top secret nuclear programme.

Rafael Grossi, who heads the IAEA, likened the development of a nuclear weapon to that of solving a jigsaw puzzle. “Iran has all the pieces now, and could well put them together eventually,” he said.

Speaking about Tehran’s nuclear weapons ambition, Mr Grossi told French newspaper Le Monde that “Iran is not too far from having an atomic bomb”.

IAEA, which is an autonomous UN body, is currently tasked with overseeing Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal that fell apart after Donald Trump withdrew from it during his first term as US President. At the time President Trump had called it a “bad deal”.

‘RADICALS CANNOT HAVE NUCLEAR WEAPONS’

He now wants to completely rid Iran of its military nuclear programme. Just this week, President Trump had asserted that “Iran has to get rid of the concept of a nuclear weapon. These are radicalised people, and they cannot have a nuclear weapon.”

His remark came shortly after the first round of talks between Washington and Tehran which were held in Oman last weekend.

After the first round of negotiations, US’s Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, who represented America, said that the talks were “positive, constructive, and compelling”. Surprisingly, even Iran’s Supreme Leader said the talks are “going well” so far. Iran however, swiftly sent a top delegation headed by the foreign minister to Moscow to consult the Kremlin.

The second round of talks are expected in Rome, though Tehran is pushing for talks to continue in Oman.

Explaining Washington’s outlook and objectives from these talks, Mr Witkoff told Fox News that “This is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponization. That includes missiles, the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there. And it includes the trigger for a bomb.”

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Further explaining his point, Mr Witkoff said that for the first time Iran had been offered a specific level of enrichment by the United States. Today, Tehran enriches uranium to up to 60 per cent – a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels of 90 per cent.

For their limited, peaceful and civilian purpose, “They (Iran) do not need to enrich past 3.67 per cent,” Mr Witkoff told Fox News, adding that “In some circumstances, they’re at 60 per cent, in other circumstances, 20 per cent. That cannot be.”

“You do not need to run, as they claim, a civil nuclear program where you’re enriching past 3.67 per cent. So this is going to be much about verification on the enrichment program, and then ultimately verification on weaponisation.”

OBAMA DEAL vs TRUMP DEAL

Under then US President Barack Obama, for the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Tehran had agreed to drastically reduce its stockpile of uranium and only enrich up to 3.67 per cent – enough for its nuclear power plant at Bushehr. In exchange, Iran received access to frozen funds around the world, and sanctions were lifted on its crucial oil industry and other sectors.

In 2018, when Donald Trump withdrew from the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, he had highlighted that Iran’s ballistic missile stockpile was one of the main reasons to exit the deal. Adding to that, Mr Witkoff said that “Any deal with Iran would have to include missiles – the type of missiles that they have stockpiled there and it also includes the trigger for a bomb.”

In a post on social media platform X after the first round of US-Iran talks, Mr Witkoff wrote, “A deal with Iran will only be completed if it is a Trump deal.”
 

A mother from Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh grabbed the spotlight last week for all the wrong reasons. She eloped with her daughter’s fiance ten days before the wedding.

Sapna surrendered at a police station today and broke her silence on why she chose to betray her family. She alleged that her husband used to drink and beat her up, and that even her daughter used to fight with her frequently. Which is why, she said, she took the step.

“I will live with Rahul, whatever happens,” a defiant Sapna said, adding she decided to come back after police were involved in the case.

“I will marry him and live with him,” she repeated.

Rahul Kumar, the man Sapna’s daughter was all set to marry today, also surrendered with her.

Sapna and Rahul Kumar – a resident of the Dadon police station area – fled on April 6, shocking both their families. Jitendra Kumar, Sapna’s husband, had then said that his wife used to speak to Mr Kumar for hours every day.

Sapna also denied her family’s allegations that she fled with lakhs of rupees and jewellery. “I was only carrying a mobile and Rs 200 with me when I left”.

Her daughter, Shivani, had accused her of taking away Rs 3.5 lakh in cash from the almirah in the house and jewellery worth over Rs 5 lakh.

Telling his side of the story, Rahul Kumar said that he agreed to elope with Sapna as she threatened to kill herself if he didn’t. “She told me that if I didn’t meet her at Aligarh bus stop, she would die. So, I went. We first went to Lucknow, and from there Muzaffarpur”.

He said they decided to come back when they got to know the police were looking for them. He also claimed that Sapna’s husband and her in-laws used to “torture” her.

But, when he was asked if he would marry Sapna, he seemed caught in two minds: “There’s nothing like that”. Then, after a brief pause, said, “Will do”.

Meanwhile, her family has said that she is not welcome in their homes anymore

“We don’t want her (Sapna) back. We just want the things that she took away with her,” said her brother-in-law Dinesh.

“She needs to return the money and jewellery that she took from her in-laws’ home. Action should be taken against her for what she has done. My brother-in-law and my niece are still in shock,” said her brother Dinesh.

He also denied her allegations that her husband used to beat her up: “I used to stay at her house for months. I have never seen anything like that”.

The police, meanwhile, avoided commenting on the development.

– With inputs from Adnan Khan.

Italy’s PM Giorgia Meloni will fly to Washington to speak with US President Donald Trump regarding tariffs on Europe. The tariffs will potentially be a lethal blow to Italian exporters. 

However, her counterparts from Europe feel she may be the only European leader Trump might be willing to listen to, since Trump had said that she is “a fantastic leader and person”, when he invited her to this inauguration ceremony in January. Other European leaders have tried to change the US President’s mind through various means – flattery, threats or promises to buy more American gas, but the talks reached nowhere.

Currently the European Union has three months to convince Trump not to slap 20 per cent duties on all its exports to the United States, apart from the baseline 10 per cent tariff with another 25 per cent on steel, aluminium and autos.

As Meloni speaks to Trump on Thursday, it is Europe’s opportunity to show that they can still do business with the US. Moreover she herself thinks that Trump can be reasoned with and that his trade threats are just a negotiating tactic, per two Italian officials familiar with the government’s political stance.

“Having Trump’s ear is an asset for the entire European Union,” an Italian official told Politico, underlining Meloni’s “ideological affinities with the world of American conservative right-wing politics.”

It’s worthwhile to note that Italy has the third-largest trade surplus with the US as compared to other EU countries, standing at 40 billion euros. Its top exports are machinery, pharmaceuticals, vehicles, fashion, and food and beverages.

Nevertheless, there is a separate fear brewing in Europe. French President Emmanuel Macron warned that Trump’s ultimate goal is to divide EU countries and force them to make bilateral deals with the US. French Industry Minister Marc Ferracci reacted to Meloni travelling to Washington saying Europe needed to stay united.

German politicians are also hopeful. “Meloni’s trip to Washington right now is an important signal,” said Johann Wadephul, from the likely next chancellor, Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democrats. “The Italian prime minister has a good connection to U.S. President Trump, which she can now put to the service of Europe.”

“Politics, like life, is built on personal relationships,” said Marco Scurria, an Italian senator from Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party. “It’s better when such a complex negotiation is handled by two people who respect each other and can more easily reach a positive outcome – unlike with von der Leyen (the head of the European Commission).”
 

Rajasthan Royals were dealt a massive blow as Sanju Samson left the field retired hurt during the IPL 2025 match against Delhi Capitals on Wednesday. Samson, who was batting on 31 off 19 balls, suffered a rib injury while trying to play a shot against Vipraj Nigam. Samson looked in a lot of pain and while he did play another delivery after his check-up, the RR captain ultimately decided to leave the field. Samson played the first three matches of IPL 2025 as an Impact Player while he was recovering from injury. While Samson received treatment from the RR physio, one of the commentators said that “a little here and there and it could be grade 1 to 3 muscle tear” for the Indian cricket team star.

Coming to the match, a strong middle-order performance led by skipper Axar Patel and South African Tristan Stubbs propelled the Delhi Capitals (DC) to a solid 188/5 in 20 overs.

After being asked to bat first, the Capitals made a flying start with opener Abhishek Porel taking charge early. He was particularly harsh on Tushar Deshpande, smashing 23 runs in the second over. However, Delhi’s momentum took a hit when Jake Fraser-McGurk fell for 9 to Jofra Archer, and Karun Nair followed soon after without troubling the scorers.

Porel, undeterred, stitched together a valuable 63-run partnership with KL Rahul, who made a composed 38 before falling to Archer–his second scalp of the innings. Porel narrowly missed a half-century, dismissed for 49 off 37 deliveries, including five boundaries and a six, by Wanindu Hasaranga.

The Capitals then found impetus through their captain. Axar Patel smashed 34 off just 14 balls, peppering the boundary with four fours and two sixes, before being dismissed by Maheesh Theekshana. Alongside Stubbs, Axar stitched a 41-run stand that kept the scoreboard ticking.

Stubbs anchored the final flourish, finishing unbeaten on 34 off 18 balls, which included two boundaries and two sixes. He targeted Sandeep Sharma in the final over, collecting 12 runs himself as the pacer leaked 19 in total, helping DC close on a high.

Stubbs also shared an unbeaten 42-run partnership with Ashutosh Sharma (15*) in the death overs, ensuring Delhi finished with a competitive total. For the Royals, Archer stood out with figures of 2/32, while Hasaranga and Theekshana chipped in with a wicket apiece.

(With ANI inputs)

Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot has sent the bill giving 4 per cent reservation to Muslims in government contracts to President Droupadi Murmu for assent, saying that the Constitution doesn’t allow for reservations based on religion.

“The proposed amendment, providing 4 per cent reservation to the Backward Class Category-II(B), which include only Muslim, may be construed as reservation for the community based on the religion,” read a statement from the Raj Bhavan.

The Governor also quoted a Supreme Court judgment That “emphasized that Articles 15 and 16 prohibit reservations on the basis of religion and any affirmative action must be rather based on the socio-economic factors”.

The Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurements (Amendment) Bill, meant to provide 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in public contracts, was passed by the state assembly in March. 

The state’s Opposition BJP and HD Kumaraswamy’s Janata Dal Secular had called the bill “unconstitutional”. The two parties followed it up with a petition to the Governor that said the bill would “polarise society”.

While there is no provision for quota for religious groups, they are included for reservation as members of specific backward communities. Muslim social groups Momin and Julaha ae included in the Central OBC lists. 

The current bill had its genesis during Mr Siddaramaiah’s first term as Chief Minister. 24 per cent quota was proposed for Scheduled Castes and Tribes for civil work contracts. 

In 2025, it was extended to include the Backward Classes. The Congress contends that Muslims have been included as an OBC sub-category.

The BJP claims the bill is unconstitutional as it provides reservation on religious grounds.

In his statement, the Governor said he was sending the bill to the President using his discretionary powers.

The Governor’s statement came on the heels of a landmark Supreme Court judgment that defined the boundaries of the Governors’ powers. The court also criticised Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, who withheld assent to 10 bills for three years. 

The court also presented a timeline for Governors: A one-month deadline to withhold assent to a Bill and reserve it for the President’s review with the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers; when a Bill is reserved without the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, this deadline will be three months; if a Bill is presented to a Governor after reconsideration by the state Assembly, he/she must clear it within a month.