Patna: Bihar has borrowed a helicopter from Jharkhand for operations against Maoist rebels, a state minister told the state assembly yesterday. “Bihar is taking a helicopter from neighbouring Jharkhand during its combing operations against Maoists because the state has no helicopter of its own,” Water Resources Development Minister Vijay Kumar Choudhary told the house in a reply to a question by a Bharatiya Janata Party member. The minister blamed the central government for delay in finalising the terms and condition for hire of an MI-17 helicopter for operations.
Man arrested for ‘spying for Pakistan’
Jaipur: An Indian man has been arrested on charges of spying for Islamabad on military wargames staged on India’s border with Pakistan, police said yesterday. The 35-year-old man is accused of passing on details of the exercises held by the Indian Air Force on Friday in the western desert state of Rajasthan, senior state police officer D S Dinkar said. Dinkar identified the man as an Indian national called Sumaar Khan and said he was allegedly spying for Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence, “passing information related to Indian defence installations and military activities”.
Three suspicious
bags found in Delhi
New Delhi: Three suspicion-evoking bags were recovered in the capital yesterday — one each from outside an army hospital and two city markets, police said. Officials said the bags seized from two south Delhi markets were harmless. However, they were waiting for forensic reports before concluding if any explosive device was present in the bag found near the Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment around 2.50pm. “We are yet to ascertain if there is any bomb inside the bag,” said Additional Commissioner of Police Anil Kumar Ojha.
Doctor testifies
in gang rape case
NEW DELHI: A Singapore doctor who performed the autopsy on an Indian gang rape victim testified via videolink yesterday in the trial of five men accused of her murder, a defence lawyer said. The 23-year-old student who was raped and attacked with an an iron bar in December died of massive internal injuries after the Indian government airlifted her to a top Singapore hospital in a last-ditch bid to save her life.
Agencies
