New Delhi: A 31-year-old man accused of stabbing two security guards in Maharashtra’s Thane district is being investigated in what authorities suspect could be a “lone wolf” terror attack.The attack took place in the early hours of April 27 near an under-construction building in the Naya Nagar area of ​​Mumbai suburb Mira Road. According to police, the accused, identified as Jabar Zubair Ansari, approached the guards on duty on the pretext of asking for directions and interrogated them about their religion before returning, news agency ANI reported. Eyewitness accounts cited by investigators claim he allegedly forced one of the guards to recite an Islamic kalma and when that failed, attacked both men with a sharp-edged weapon, ANI reported.The victims, Rajkumar Mishra and Subroto Ramesh Sen, suffered serious injuries and were taken to hospital. Mishra’s condition remains critical, while Sen is undergoing treatment. Police said the attack occurred after an altercation, during which Ansari first stabbed Mishra and then attacked Sen, who was nearby.Ansari was arrested within 90 minutes of the incident after he was identified from CCTV footage. A case has been registered under provisions related to attempt to murder and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) has taken over the investigation, citing the seriousness of the case and the background of the suspect.The search at Ansari’s residence has raised further concerns. Investigators reportedly recovered handwritten notes in which he expressed a desire to join ISIS and described the attack as a “first step” toward that goal. Authorities are also examining material found on his electronic devices, including documents and videos, to determine whether he had any contact with extremist operators or networks.According to officials, Ansari is a science graduate who spent several years in the United States before returning to India in 2019. He was living alone in Mira Road, where he allegedly offered online chemistry coaching. Investigators believe her period of isolation may have contributed to online radicalization, although they are continuing to analyze her digital footprint to establish the extent of any external links.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Sikkim

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra ModiCurrently on a two-day visit to Sikkim, he on Tuesday shared pictures of himself playing football with youngsters in Gangtok.Wearing a blue sports jacket emblazoned with the tricolour, PM Modi is seen walking with a group of young footballers wearing matching kits, each holding a football, in what appears to be a casual morning session on the field.

PM Modi played football with the youth

The Prime Minister shared pictures of the conversation in a post on X, writing, “Nothing like playing football with my young friends in Sikkim on a beautiful morning in Gangtok!”In another post he said, “Clearly, an energetic football session with these youngsters!”The informal sporting moment comes amid PM Modi’s official engagements in the Himalayan state. He is scheduled to attend the concluding ceremony of Sikkim’s 50 years of statehood and launch development projects worth over Rs 4,000 crore.As part of his itinerary, the Prime Minister will also visit the Orchidarium at Swarnjayanti Maitri Manjari Park in Gangtok, which has been developed as a world-class Orchid Experience Centre.Tight security arrangements have been made in the state capital and surrounding areas for the yatra.Later in the day, PM Modi will head to Paljor Stadium to attend the state’s foundation ceremony, where he is also expected to address a gathering. The projects to be launched span across sectors including infrastructure, connectivity, healthcare, education, power, urban development, environment, tourism and agriculture.After reaching the state on Monday, PM Modi had earlier led a road show in Gangtok on Monday evening.Earlier he was supposed to attend the 50th statehood ceremony at Paljor Stadium on May 29 last year, but he could not reach due to bad weather. He had addressed the event through video conferencing at that time and assured that he would personally visit Sikkim in future.

BJP president Nitin Nabin (second, right) welcomes Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, others into BJP

New Delhi: Rajya Sabha Chairman CP Radhakrishnan has officially accepted the merger of seven AAP MPs with the BJP – taking the ruling party’s strength to 113 in the 245-member Upper House.After Raghav Chadha, Sandeep Pathak, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Swati Maliwal, Vikramjit Sahni and Rajinder Gupta left the party, AAP’s strength in the Rajya Sabha has now reduced to three. RS website shows MPs as part of BJP.On Monday, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said that the Chairman has accepted the merger of seven AAP MPs with BJP. “Welcome to the nation-building NDA under the visionary leadership of PM Modi and goodbye to the ‘tukde-tukde’ India alliance,” he said.However, AAP MP Sanjay Singh – who had written to Radhakrishnan on Sunday demanding disqualification of MPs under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution – in another letter on Monday sought clarification from the RS general secretary on on what basis the change in AAP’s party status (number of MPs) in the RS records was made.If this is not made clear, the AAP will approach the court over this “unilateral decision”, Singh said. This was done “without the prior information or consent of AAP or its leader in the House”, he said.In his Monday letter, Singh said any arbitrary change in the party’s status without following due process would have “serious consequences” on the rights of the party and its members. He demanded an investigation.Meanwhile, a section of legal experts highlighted the inability of the 10th Schedule to prevent political defection when the scale of “merger” is achieved. The “merger” exception sub-paragraph 2 under paragraph 4 of the Schedule stipulates that such merger is valid if at least two-thirds of the legislature party agrees to it.On his decision to leave AAP, Chadha alleged in a video message on Monday that the work environment in AAP has become ‘toxic’. It has got stuck in the hands of some corrupt and compromised people, who work for personal gains, he claimed.Congress’s Jairam Ramesh said the only surprise in the Chairman’s decision was that it “took so long”. “Till recently, there were questions over the integrity of the BJP and claimed to have evidence, but now all that has been forgotten. The ED was conducting some raids till recently, but one can bet that they will stop now,” he said. “Kamal has become Lotus”.

Mumbai: A feast turned tragic on Saturday night when four members of a family – two sisters and their parents – died within hours of eating watermelons. Police said that while five other relatives had eaten biryani-pulao with them at 10.30 pm, and had no symptoms, all four ate fruits at around 1 am on Sunday. The deceased are Abdullah Dodakia (44), a resident of Bhindi Bazaar, who owned a mobile phone accessories shop in Andheri, his wife Nasreen (35) and daughters Ayesha (16) and Zainab (12). Doctors at JJ Hospital, where three victims were treated, are also shocked. He said it was “very unlikely” that a rancid watermelon could cause the deaths of four people at such close intervals and that all medical efforts would fail to save them. The series of deaths began around 10.30 am, with Zainab dying, followed by Nasreen three hours later, Ayesha at 5.15 pm and Abdullah at 10.15 pm.

the doctor was surprised

A doctor attending to them at JJ Hospital said that all three had symptoms of food poisoning and their kidneys were severely affected. JJ Marg police have registered four cases of accidental deaths, the investigation of which is ongoing. He said that Abullah’s brother and other relatives live nearby and everyone had gone to their homes soon after the feast. “The statements of Abdullah and Ayesha were recorded. They said that after eating the watermelon they experienced vomiting and diarrhoea. At present there is no possibility of any disturbance. “Postmortem and forensic reports are awaited,” a police officer said. Watermelon samples have been sent for testing. Both sisters were waiting for their exam results; Police said Ayesha was expected to pass Class 10 with good marks and Zainab was all set to join Class 9. Between 5 and 5.30 am on Sunday morning, all four started showing symptoms of severe restlessness along with vomiting. The family lived on the second floor of the Mughal Building in Ghati Gali. There was commotion on her floor between 9.30 and 10 am on Sunday, forcing neighbors to call fourth-floor homeopath Zaid Qureshi, who said Zainab had foam at the mouth and her pulse was undetectable, and the other three members of the family were semi-conscious. TOI attempted to reach him but to no avail till press time. One by one the neighbors took the family members to the hospital. They were taken to Sabu Siddiqui Hospital where Zainab was declared brought dead. Abdullah and Nasreen were shifted to JJ Hospital, followed by Ayesha. Dr Sanjay Surse, medical superintendent of the hospital, said, “It is very unlikely that stale watermelon could be so fatal. There may be some additive or something else in it. At this point, we are not ruling out any possibility.“ Nasreen died two hours after admission. Ayesha was shifted to the ICU after her father. Their deaths occurred approximately five hours apart. (With inputs from Rachel Varghese)

Violence in Jagaddal before PM Modi’s visit: BJP-TMC clash, MLA’s residence bombed, 3 injured

Kolkata: Hours before PM Modi addressed a rally in Jagaddal in Bengal’s North 24 Parganas district on Monday, a clash broke out between TMC and BJP workers barely 400 meters from the venue, which escalated into firing, stone pelting and crude bomb attacks, in which a CISF jawan was injured by a bullet.Six others were also injured. Jawan Yogesh Sharma has been taken to a private hospital.Police have arrested four people including TMC councilor Gopal Raut. EC has asked for a report.BJP’s Noapara candidate Rajesh Kumar said the unrest started when he went to Jagaddal police station to lodge an FIR against CM Mamata Banerjee. He alleged that the police refused to register it and a mob of around 200 people belonging to TMC stormed the station and attacked them, forcing the police to “flee from the spot”.Trinamool candidate Amit Singh disputed his statement. “We had gone to file a complaint against the BJP for attacking our workers. We were attacked first. Arjun Singh (former BJP MP) reached there and pushed everyone, as seen in the CCTV footage, and violence broke out,” he said.BJP workers alleged that TMC-supported miscreants targeted the residence of Arjun’s son and Bhatpara candidate Pawan Singh with stones and bullets. A CISF jawan who was part of his security squad was shot in the leg.Police said a mob of about 200 people entered the police station and later attacked a candidate’s residence with explosives and firearms.Arjun said Trinamool candidate Somnath Shyam and Barrackpore MP Partha Bhowmik led the miscreants in the planned attack to disrupt the PM’s rally. “Bullets were fired and bombs were thrown at Pawan Singh’s house,” he said. Shyam, in turn, accused Arjun Singh of bringing in “miscreants”.Meanwhile, the Election Commission said that the crowd got agitated due to the visit of a candidate.