Glare on army in Kashmir rape

Srinagar (PTI): The Jammu and Kashmir government has ordered a probe into a recent gangrape allegedly by seven army personnel in Anantnag district.

The November 4 incident will be probed by the additional deputy commissioner, Baseer Khan, the deputy commissioner of Anantnag said on Sunday.

The probe order comes a day after the state human rights commission asked police to investigate and file a detailed report on the alleged rape. The police have registered a case against the army personnel for their alleged involvement in the rape.

Residents of Mattan demonstrated outside the local police station on Saturday demanding the arrest of the accused soldiers.

The victim?s family said, Rashtriya Rifles personnel, during a patrol at Sonibrah village in Mattan, barged into their house on the night of November 3-4. They raped the woman after forcing all the other inmates out on the pretext of a search.

A defence spokesman terming the charges baseless and said the family had been providing shelter to militants.

Duo held in President prank

Pondicherry (PTI): Two engineering students were arrested on Sunday for sending an anonymous letter to police on November 1, warning that the President would be ?murdered? on his visit here that day.

parcel containing the letter, a battery, a pen cover and a cassette was found in the courtyard of the house of the superintendent of police on the morning of November 1, senior superintendent Sunil Garg said. The message said: ?Abdul Kalam will be murdered at Kamban Kalaiarangam, save him if you can.? The police found that the cassette contained old Tamil songs.

The two students, studying in a private engineering college here, had planned to do ?something thrilling? after watching a Tamil movie and had dropped the parcel in the courtyard of the police official?s house, Garg said.

The investigation, jointly conducted by the Pondicherry police, the Intelligence Bureau and the Research and Analysis Wing, found the students were not linked to any terrorist outfit.

Short-range missile tested

Balasore (PTI): Dhanush, an indigenously developed short-range ballistic missile, was testfired from the Bay of Bengal off the Orissa coast on Sunday, defence sources said.

Mounted on a stabilised launcher, the missile was fired from INS Subhadra, anchored about 30 km from Chandipur-on-Sea around 12.20 pm.

Dhanush is the naval version of the surface-to-surface missile system Prithvi-II. The missile has a striking range of 250 km.

Courier damages

Kochi (PTI): A courier firm has been told to pay a compensation of Rs 500 to a consignor for not delivering his parcel to the addressee. Blazeflash Couriers has also been asked by the consumer disputes redressal forum to pay Rs 250 as litigation costs. The forum dismissed the plea by the firm that the consignor had not declared the value of the parcel and hence it was liable to pay only Rs 100.

?Obscenity? rap

Ajmer (PTI): A Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation in Pushkar will replace a manager after an incident of ?obscene? dancing by Israeli girls at the annual Pushkar fair. The manager, Ajay Saxena, is ?awaiting posting order? and will be replaced by N.L. Verma on Saturday next, an official release said. There were also allegations that liquor and meat, which are prohibited, had been served.

Student suicide

Ahmedabad (PTI): A schoolgirl, who alleged that her boyfriend had raped her, committed suicide in Amraiwadi area here, police said. The 10th standard student hanged herself in her house on Saturday. The police have registered a complaint by the girl?s mother, according to which the girl was lured by her boyfriend to a place where she was allegedly raped.

Crew rescued

Kochi (PTI): Crew members of a Maldivian cargo vessel, which developed a technical snag about 100 nautical miles from the Kochi coast, were rescued and brought here, coast guard sources said on Sunday. The ship was on its way to Kannur from Male when it developed engine trouble.

Hong Kong is being eyed as a backdrop for a Bollywood action epic. Producer Rakesh Roshan wants to film a sequel to the hit Koi Mil Gaya there, the Sunday Morning Post has reported.