Daily wrap: NIA searches at 3 places in Kerala; Fani to intensify

Pragya’s curse on Masood Azhar could have averted Balakot: Digvijaya Singh

Taking a dig at BJP’s Lok Sabha candidate from Bhopal Pragya Thakur, Congress’ Digvijaya Singh who is fighting the elections from the same constituency said had Pragya ‘cursed’ Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar, there would have been no need for the Balakot surgical strikes, NDTV reported. Singh was alluding to Pragya’s recent statement that former Anti-Terror Squad chief Hemant Karkare died because of her curse on him.

NIA searches at 3 places in Kerala as part of probe into ISIS module

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Sunday (April 28) conducted searches at three places in Kerala as part of its investigation into the ISIS Kasaragod module case. The probe agency said in a statement that it carried out the searches at the houses of three suspects — two in Kasaragod and one in Palakkad. “These persons are suspected to have links with some of the accused persons in the said case who had exited India to join the proscribed terrorist organisation ISIS/Daish,” the NIA said in a statement.

Troubled Jet Airways employee jumps to death

A senior technician from Jet Airways, who was suffering from cancer, committed suicide by jumping off the terrace of his four-storey building at Palghar in Maharashtra, IANS reported on April 27.Shailesh Singh, 45, was suffering from depression due to cancer and had got discharged from the hospital a day before. Reports said that Singh was frustrated due to the unbearable pain in his stomach due to the cancer.

Fani to intensify into severe cyclonic storm but will skip TN, rain likely

Cyclone Fani is very likely to intensify into a ‘severe cyclonic storm’ in the next 12 hours and further soar into a ‘very severe cyclonic storm’ in the next 24 hours, the Cyclone Warning Division of the MeT department said on Sunday (April 28). The Cyclone Warning Division said Fani currently lays over 745 km east-southeast of Trincomalee (Sri Lanka), 1,050 km southeast of Chennai (Tamil Nadu) and 1,230 kilometres south-southeast of Machilipatnam (Andhra Pradesh). Heavy falls at isolated places are very likely over Kerala on April 29 and 30. The system will not make landfall in Tamil Nadu, but may bring light rain in some northern parts, it said.

CBI takes over probe in Pollachi sexual harassment case

The CBI has taken over the investigation into alleged sexual harassment of a woman in Pollachi town of Tamil Nadu’s Coimbatore district by a gang of men who had shot a video of her and blackmailed her demanding money, officials said. The agency has registered two FIRs in the matter – one pertaining to sexual harassment of the woman and second related to assault on her brother – against different sets of the accused, they said.

ISIS claims 3 militants killed in shootout with security forces in SL

The Islamic State has claimed the three militants who blew themselves up during a fierce gun battle with security forces in Sri Lanka’s Eastern province, a media report said on April 28.The shootout occurred on the night of April 26 as security forces continued their hunt for members of the National Thowheeth Jamaath (NTJ), the local terror outfit behind the April 21 coordinated blasts that killed 253 people and injured over 500 others. The special task force and Army troops, following a tip, raided a house in Kalmunai city, about 360 km from Colombo, leading to the heavy exchange of fire with the armed group. As the heavily-armed men opened fire on troops, a civilian caught in the middle got killed. As the clashes intensified, three men are believed to have set off explosives.