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Soldier from Andhra Pradesh, 2 civilians killed in Pakistan firing at LoC

Soldier from Andhra Pradesh, 2 civilians killed in Pakistan firing at LoC

Time of India09-05-2025
An Army jawan and two civilians were killed in heavy shelling by Pakistan across the LoC in different sectors of J&K on Thursday night. Armyman M Murali Naik, 23, from Sri Sathya Sai district of Andhra Pradesh, was shot in the cross-border firing and died while being taken to hospital. A woman in Uri sector of Kashmir and a man in Poonch district of Jammu were killed, and at least six other civilians injured.
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After a relatively calm day, Pakistan resumed heavy shelling across the Line of Control (LoC) in different sectors of J&K on Thursday night, killing a woman in Uri sector of Kashmir and a man in Poonch district of Jammu. At least six other civilians were injured and a large number of houses were damaged as Pakistani troops intensified artillery and mortar fire along the LoC. Officials said the firing by Pakistan attracted befitting and effective response from Indian troops.
Three members of a family were injured when a Pakistani artillery shell struck their SUV while they were fleeing home in Rajarwar village of Uri towards Baramulla. The shell tore through the roof of their vehicle when they reached Mohurra, around three km from Rajarwar, fatally injuring 45-year-old Nargis Bano. Her death is the first reported civilian casualty in Kashmir Valley.
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Arms smuggling modules busted in Amritsar: 13 pistols, ammo seized; juvenile among 11 held
Arms smuggling modules busted in Amritsar: 13 pistols, ammo seized; juvenile among 11 held

Hindustan Times

time28 minutes ago

  • Hindustan Times

Arms smuggling modules busted in Amritsar: 13 pistols, ammo seized; juvenile among 11 held

At least 13 pistols and ammunition were recovered as Amritsar police busted three cross-border illegal arms smuggling modules with links to Pakistan on Friday, officials said. The weapons seized by counter- intelligence wing, Amritsar. (HT) Amritsar commissionerate police arrested four operatives of two modules, including a juvenile, and recovered seven sophisticated pistols from their possession, said Punjab director general of police Gaurav Yadav. Those arrested have been identified as Sikanderjeet Singh (19) of Bhagwanpura village in Tarn Taran; Pradeep Singh alias Babbal (43) of Antarjami Colony, Amritsar; Jarnail Singh (34) of New Shaheed Udham Singh Nagar, Amritsar; and a 17-year-old juvenile from Tarn Taran. 'The recovered weapons include two Glock pistols, four .30-bore Star pistols, and one .32-bore pistol, along with six live cartridges. Apart from recovering weapons, police teams have also recovered their motorcycle, which they were using to deliver consignment,' Yadav said, adding that preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused were in touch with Pakistan-based smugglers and retrieved weapon consignments near the international border. The weapons were meant to fuel gang rivalries and disrupt peace in the region, he said. The DGP said that further investigation is underway to trace forward and backwards linkages to unearth the entire smuggling network. Amritsar commissioner of police (CP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said that preliminary investigations revealed that the accused, Sikander, along with a juvenile, was in touch with Pak-based smugglers. 'Their home is close to the international border, and they retrieved the drone-dropped consignments from the locations provided to them,' he said. The other module was busted with the arrest of the accused, identified as Pardeep and Jarnail. 'The weapons were received from Pakistan smugglers and were meant for deceased gangster Ravneet Singh alias Sonu Mota, he said, adding that further investigation is ongoing, and more arrests are likely in the coming days. Two FIRs under relevant sections of the Arms Act have been registered at police station Gate Hakima in Amritsar and police station B-Division in Amritsar. Six pistols seized, 5 arrested In another case, counter-intelligence (CI), Amritsar busted a cross-border illegal arms smuggling module with links to Pakistan and arrested five of its operatives and recovered six sophisticated pistols from their possession, the DGP said. Those arrested have been identified as Jagroop Singh of Dhun in Tarn Taran, Navdeep Singh of Patti Lahian Di in Tarn Taran, Arshdeep Singh of Shaliwal in Amritsar, Gurlal Singh of Rajoke in Tarn Taran and Joban Singh of Patti Mana Ki in Tarn Taran. According to information, the arrested accused Jagroop and Navdeep have criminal backgrounds with several cases pertaining to the Arms Act and the NDPS Act registered against them. The recovered weapons include four 9MM Glock pistols and two .30-bore pistols, along with magazines and live cartridges. Yadav said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the arrested accused persons were acting upon the directions of a Pakistan-based smuggler identified as Rana, who has been sending consignments of illegal weapons from across the border, he said. The DGP said that teams of CI-Amritsar arrested five accused from a bus stop in Panjwar, situated on Amritsar-Bhikhiwind Road. A case under sections 25, 25(1)(A) and 25(1)(B) of the Arms Act and section 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered at the police station, state special operation cell, Amritsar. Man shot dead, 1 assailant killed, 2 hurt in encounter TARN TARAN: A man identified as Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Thathian Mahantan, who was shot at by the gangsters, and one of the assailants, who were injured in a subsequent shootout with police, succumbed to injuries on Friday, police said. On Thursday late evening, three unidentified bike-borne assailants opened fire on Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Thathian Mahantan falling under the jurisdiction of Sarhali police station of Tarn Taran. The victim sustained serious injuries and was admitted to a hospital. 'One ASI and one constable, who were deployed as security personnel with the family, due to a security threat from the Landa Harike and Satta Naushera gang, along with family members of the victim, chased the assailants. All three assailants were injured in the subsequent shootout near Mohanpur village. One of the assailants succumbed to injuries at the hospital today,' said Deepak Pareek, senior superintendent of police (SSP). Three pistols were recovered from the spot of the encounter.

With Operation Sindoor, even after the Parliament debate, questions linger
With Operation Sindoor, even after the Parliament debate, questions linger

Indian Express

time28 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

With Operation Sindoor, even after the Parliament debate, questions linger

In the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor was executed with admirable precision and purpose. The nation witnessed the readiness of our armed forces, the speed of response, and the confidence with which cross-border strikes were conducted. These are not small achievements. They reflect an India that no longer hesitates to act in defence of its people and territory. Yet, amid the expressions of solidarity and triumph, a set of questions still lingers — questions that were not answered in Parliament, nor addressed in the official statements that followed. As someone who has served within the machinery of the Indian state, I believe these questions deserve not only to be asked, but to be sustained in the national memory. For, a nation's strength is not merely defined by its ability to retaliate, but by its commitment to learning from what precedes the need for retaliation. The first duty of the state is to prevent. That a group of terrorists could infiltrate and carry out a devastating attack in one of Kashmir's most surveilled and strategically vital regions signals a breach not only of physical security, but of institutional coordination. Where was the lapse? Was it a failure of intelligence collection, analysis, or dissemination? Were inter-agency protocols followed — or bypassed? What assessment has been made of the local support structures that enabled such movement? These are not peripheral queries. They go to the core of whether our deterrence posture is genuinely effective or primarily reactive. The recent parliamentary debate was a welcome recognition that national security cannot be left to press briefings alone. But even as it brought key voices to the fore, the tenor of the conversation — on both sides — often veered toward performance rather than policy. The Prime Minister was emphatic in defending the government's response and underlined the support India received globally. Yet, one sensed a reluctance to dwell on the preceding failures that made a response necessary in the first place. That is the space Parliament is meant to occupy — not to second-guess real-time decisions, but to seek clarity about the frameworks that produced those decisions. One is reminded that in parliamentary democracies, asking difficult questions is not defiance; it is duty. The absence of candour in response to such questions may win applause in the moment, but it leaves our systems unexamined and untested. Among the more troubling loose ends is the claim by US President Donald Trump that he played a role in mediating a ceasefire during the standoff. While such assertions may not always be grounded in precise fact, the absence of a firm, official rebuttal has only allowed ambiguity to grow. India has long prided itself on strategic autonomy. Our ability to act — and be seen to act — without external pressure is fundamental to the credibility of our security doctrine. To leave that credibility open to reinterpretation is to invite misperception not only among adversaries but also among allies. Silence, in such cases, is not strategic restraint. It can be construed as tacit consent — or worse, uncertainty. India's deterrence posture has evolved in practice, but it remains largely undefined in principle. Repeatedly, we have responded forcefully to provocations — from Uri to Balakot to Pahalgam — but the absence of a clear, publicly articulated doctrine invites strategic ambiguity. At some stage, ambiguity begins to undercut deterrence. Do we have a threshold doctrine that governs responses? What are the escalatory contours we are prepared to manage? How do we plan for hybrid threats that combine kinetic violence with digital disruption? These questions merit a formal treatment — not in partisan debate, but through institutional policy articulation. There is a growing tendency in our political culture to view national security through a personal lens: The Prime Minister's resolve, the Opposition's tone, the media's narrative. But true national security lies beyond personalities. It lies in systems that function regardless of who is in office, in doctrines that endure, and in institutions that are empowered to question, correct, and reform. To that end, it is concerning that after such a significant breach and the massive deployment of military assets, we have not heard of any institutional accountability being established, any resignations considered, or any operational audits made public. Transparency in such cases is not a sign of weakness; it is the very basis of democratic strength. Operation Sindoor may stand as an example of India's military responsiveness. But it should also serve as a reminder that vigilance, not retaliation, is the first responsibility of the state. When Parliament gathers, when the public listens, and when leaders speak, the goal must not only be to project unity, but to preserve credibility. In the long run, India's greatest strength will not lie in its ability to respond — but in its ability to anticipate, to prepare, and to self-correct without waiting for crisis. And perhaps, most importantly, we must never lose sight of the cost of our lapses. The train of innocent lives lost — stretching back from the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, through the horror of 26/11, to countless attacks in Kashmir, Delhi, and elsewhere — remains an open wound on the national conscience. Each act of terror that slips through the net of prevention leaves behind not just grief but a moral reckoning. The lives lost in Pahalgam are not isolated tragedies. They join the unbroken line of innocents who have paid with their lives for our failures of anticipation. We must allow that reality to haunt us — not in despair, but as a driving force for better vigilance, stronger systems, and an uncompromising pursuit of security. The writer is a former foreign secretary

Today in Politics: Rahul Gandhi puts EC, BJP on notice. But does he hold a smoking gun?
Today in Politics: Rahul Gandhi puts EC, BJP on notice. But does he hold a smoking gun?

Indian Express

time28 minutes ago

  • Indian Express

Today in Politics: Rahul Gandhi puts EC, BJP on notice. But does he hold a smoking gun?

Back in 2016, as Parliament was set to convene for the Winter Session weeks after the Narendra Modi government's sudden move to demonetise certain currency notes, Rahul Gandhi fired a warning shot. 'The government is running away from debate … if they allow me to speak, then you will see what an earthquake will come,' the then Congress vice-president told reporters. That earthquake never came to pass and the BJP easily weathered the demonetisation storm and subsequent political challenges amid the relentless march of its electoral machinery. Almost nine years down the line, faced with an important Assembly election in Bihar, Gandhi has dropped another teaser: this time, promising an 'atom bomb' of proof about the Election Commission's (EC) involvement in 'stealing votes' for the BJP. 'We will find you,' the Congress leader warned those involved in this alleged conspiracy, including EC officials present and past. While some may be circumspect about the claims of the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), it is nonetheless a matter of curiosity as well as importance for the health of Indian democracy: what is this 'atom bomb'? Have Gandhi and the Congress really dug up a smoking gun? In his remarks, the Congress leader hinted it might have something to do with Maharashtra, something both he and his party have been raising since the elections late last year. In an opinion article in The Indian Express about a couple of months ago, Gandhi penned down some of his concerns, raising questions, among other things, about an 'inflated number of voters' and 'inflated turnout figures'. In short, he suggested that the election was rigged. However, as a scrutiny of his claims revealed, the Congress's own agents on the ground did not raise objections about the supposed jump in the number of voters in the few months separating the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly polls. Plus, Gandhi's concern about the turnout rising by 7.83 percentage points, or 76 lakh voters, also has an explanation. The immediate question then becomes: do the LoP and his party have more? There are also the other bigger questions: what could be the possible endgame for the Congress in suggesting that the electoral system is compromised, and will the party be as vocal on the issue, for instance, if the Mahagathbandhan ends up winning in Bihar later this year? Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence and it is now up to the LoP to ensure this does not turn out to be a case like the 2016 'earthquake' teaser. Given the genuine concerns surrounding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar and the upper hand the Opposition seems to have on this issue, Gandhi and his party's allies cannot afford to have the 'atom bomb' blow up in their face. PM's schedule Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency, on Saturday. He will inaugurate and lay the foundation of projects worth Rs 2,200 crore. Modi is also scheduled to address a public meeting in Banauli (Kalika Dham) village in the Sevapuri Assembly constituency. During the visit, the PM will release the 20th instalment of PM Kisan Samman Nidhi for farmers. He will also announce a four-lane widening of the Varanasi-Bhadohi road, the construction of a railway overbridge, and the installation of advanced medical equipment at cancer hospitals in UP. The PM, according to officials, will lay the foundation stones of a government homoeopathic medical college and hospital, a new district library, a museum at author Munshi Premchand's house in Lamahi, and a Rs 881-crore underground cabling project. Congress conclave On Saturday, the Congress is set to organise a day-long conclave on Constitutional challenges and the way forward. Starting with the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, the Congress has been raising the pitch about the Constitution being under attack from the BJP. According to All India Congress Committee (AICC) Department of Law, Human Rights, and RTI chairman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, top party leaders, including president Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, will address the conclave. Congress Chief Ministers Siddaramaiah (Karnataka), A Revanth Reddy (Telangana), and Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu (Himachal Pradesh) are also among the 41 speakers at the daylong event. — With PTI inputs

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