Ships collide in Gulf of Kutch

Ahmedabad (PTI): Two ships collided head-on in the Gulf of Kutch near Sikka port in Jamnagar on Friday. The coast guard rescued all 19 crew members of the smaller vessel which broke into two from the impact of the collision.

The bigger vessel, Apl Pusan, which was heading for Mundra port in Kutch, collided with MV Delta near Kalubar island, about 30 nautical miles west of Sikka, chief nautical officer S.C. Mathur said.

Delta, which was carrying vegetable oil, was coming out of Kandla port and heading towards the UAE, the official said.

“All 19 crew members on the Delta have been rescued and there is no casualty,” he added. “This is the first time that such a collision off the Gujarat coast between ships has been reported.”

“However, the exact reason for the collision is not known immediately,” Mathur said, adding that “another vessel passing near by helped save the Delta crew and the coast guard was immediately informed”.

“We are awaiting more information on the accident,” he said. Coast guard boats are drifting Delta towards Kandla port.

BJP youth leader shot dead

Ahmedabad (PTI): The president of the Rajkot BJP Yuva Morcha was shot dead by two gunmen in Rajkot town on Friday, police said.

he unidentified duo pumped four bullets from a .32 calibre gun into Vinu Shingada around 8:30 am at his home in Shastrinagar while he was reading a newspaper, police commissioner Sanjay Shrivastava said. He said the names of the sitting MLA from Gondal, Jairajsinh Jadeja, and two others were mentioned in the FIR lodged by Shingada’s friend.

“However, we have not made any breakthrough by arresting anyone, including the two unidentified assailants,” Shrivastava said.

This is the second time that Jadeja’s name has figured in a murder. He was allegedly involved in a shootout at Gondal on February 9 in which one person was killed and two injured.

A manhunt has been launched to nab the assailants. A vehicle suspected to have been used by them has been seized, the police commissioner said.

The official said preliminary investigation revealed that the two had scaled a wall to enter the house and shot Shingada dead at point-blank range.

Jeep hits bus head-on, 13 die

Jaipur (PTI): At least 13 people were killed and six injured in a collision between a jeep and a bus at a village in Rajasthan’s Dausa district on Friday, a police official said.

The jeep was on its way from Jaipur to Mehandipur Balaji while the bus was coming from Bharatpur. The mishap occurred between 1 and 2 am, superintendent of police Sunil Mathur told over telephone from Dausa. Ten passengers died on the spot.

Ravine plunge

Nashik (PTI): Six persons, including three children, were killed and seven injured when a jeep in which they were travelling fell into a 200-foot ravine at Chandsaily Ghat in Maharashtra’s Nandurbar district. The accident occurred when the driver of the jeep lost control of the vehicle. It skidded off and fell into the ravine. The driver, however, jumped out of the jeep.

‘Rapist’ teacher

Jammu (PTI): Police have arrested a schoolteacher for allegedly raping and blackmailing a Class XI student for two years at Jammu’s Samba tehsil. Rashpal Singh, who was arrested on Thursday night after a raid at his house, had allegedly been raping and blackmailing the victim since 2002, when he was posted at the higher secondary school at Samba. He had taken the girl’s photographs and used them to blackmail her. The girl underwent abortion after becoming pregnant.

Border arrests

Jammu (PTI): Eighty-two Bangladeshis were arrested by the BSF while they were crossing over to Pakistan at RS Pura, 30 km from here, official sources said. As many as 376 Bangladeshis have been arrested near the border this year.

Dawood aide

Mumbai (PTI): Bombay High Court curtailed the interim bail of municipal engineer Narendra Rajbhar, booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, for helping underworld don Dawood Ibrahim develop shopping plazas violating civic rules. Disposing of a petition filed by Rajbhar, Justices S. Radhakrishna and R.S. Mohite asked him to surrender by March 29.

A German agency, Centre for International Migration, has extended technical assistance to India for helping students to develop designs and manufacture at the Jewellery Product Development Centre in Mumbai in a bid to boost exports from that country.