Indian duo held on Bangla border

Dhaka (PTI): Two Indian nationals are among three persons arrested by Bangladesh's paramilitary troops in the north-east of the country for allegedly possessing explosives. The third was a Bangladeshi.

The three were arrested after illegally crossing into Bangladesh's Sylhet district, Bangladesh Rifles officials were quoted as saying. The arrested persons were carrying four packets of Indian-made plastic explosives and five fuses marked ?Bharat Explosives Limited?, they claimed.

The three were arrested near the Bangladesh-India border pillar number 1246 when they boarded a boat on way to the Chhatak area of the district, reports said.

The two Indians, from Meghalaya, were identified as Chandan Hajang (35) and Suresh Hajang (32) while their Bangladeshi accomplice was 18-year-old Kalgunjo of the Compnayganj area in Sylhet.

The Indian nationals claimed they were ?only carriers? and were to hand over the explosives to two unidentified people in Chhatak, according to reports.

The arrests come as two Interpol ballistic experts arrived in Dhaka to help the government investigation into the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally that killed 20 people and injured more than 300.

Court respite for Salman

Mumbai (PTI): A local court exempted actor Salman Khan from personally appearing in a hit-and-run case and deferred the trial to October 14 as case papers had not been transferred from a sessions court.

On a plea made by Salman?s lawyer Dipesh Mehta , saying the actor was busy shooting, a Bandra magistrate exempted Salman from appearance. The court also called for the case papers from the sessions court and deferred the matter to October 14 for trial.

Salman is charged with ramming his vehicle into a shop in suburban Bandra, killing one person and injuring four, on September 28, 2002. Police alleged that he was under the influence of liquor at the time of the mishap.

Principal sessions judge R.R. Vachha, hearing the Maharashtra government's plea on June 9, had transferred the case from the court of magistrate S.Y. Sishode to the court of additional chief magistrate J.B. Pankhe.

The state had challenged a lower court order allowing Sishode to conduct Salman?s trial.

Bedi to return for father

New Delhi (PTI): IPS officer Kiran Bedi, on a special assignment to the
UN since 2003, has requested the world body not to extend her contract expiring
in February.

Bedi, the civilian police adviser in the UN department of peacekeeping operations, wants to return to Delhi to look after her ailing father. ?I requested my seniors in June not to consider my contract for extension as I would like to return to Delhi to look after my ailing father, who is over 86,? the Magsaysay award winner said.

Nigerian jailed

New Delhi (PTI): A Nigerian, arrested for possessing 70g of cocaine last year, has been sentenced to four years' rigorous imprisonment by a city court. Special judge .K. Sharma also imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on Shokambi Anthony alias Frady.

Liquor deaths

Pune (PTI): At least seven persons, including a woman, died and 21 fell ill after consuming spurious liquor at Khanpur village in Satara district, official sources said on Friday. Those who fell ill have been admitted to a hospital, police said. A case was filed but no arrests were made.

Kohli remand

New Delhi: Maninder Pal Singh Kohli, accused of raping and murdering British teenager Hannah Foster, was produced in a Delhi court hearing the UK plea to extradite him, reports our correspondent. Kohli was remanded in judicial custody till September 17.

Firing relief

New Delhi (PTI): Acting on the directives of the National Human Rights Commission, the Uttar Pradesh government has paid a relief of Rs 5 lakh to a woman whose leg had to be amputated after she was fired upon by policemen.

Child raped

Ghaziabad (PTI): A youth kidnapped a seven-year-old girl from her house on Thursday and raped and murdered her in Bahlanpur village in Noida, police said on Friday. The accused managed to escape.

A group of freelance filmmakers from Ahmedabad have participated in the in ?mirco-movie segment? of Berlin Film Festival 2004 with films shot using mobile phone cameras.