Pilibhit (Uttar Pradesh), Dec 23: Three criminals accused of hurling a grenade at police posts in Punjab’s Gurdaspur were killed in an encounter with police in Uttar Pradesh’s Pilibhit early Monday morning, a senior police officer said.

Punjab Police DGP Gaurav Yadav, while sharing details on social media platform X, stated, “In a major breakthrough against a Pak-sponsored Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) terror module, a joint operation by UP Police and Punjab Police led to an encounter with three module members who fired at the police party. This terror module is involved in grenade attacks at police establishments in border areas of Punjab.”

He said that the three suspects were involved in the grenade attack on a police post in Gurdaspur.

Pilibhit Superintendent of Police (SP) Avinash Pandey reported that the gunfight occurred in the Puranpur police station area between the suspected Khalistani terrorists and a joint team of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh Police.

The injured suspects, identified as Gurvinder Singh, Virendra Singh, and Jasanpreet Singh, sustained injuries and were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Authorities recovered two AK-series rifles, two Glock pistols, and a large quantity of ammunition from the scene.

“Early this morning, a team from Punjab Police informed Puranpur police station that suspects in a grenade attack on a police post by alleged Khalistani terrorists might be hiding in the area,” SP Pandey said.

Upon receiving this information, police teams immediately launched a blockade and searched the area. They later received a tip-off about three suspicious young men on a motorcycle, riding dangerously and carrying potentially harmful items, heading toward Pilibhit.

“Both Punjab Police and Puranpur police station staff chased the suspects. Meanwhile, Gajrola and Madhav Thanda police stations were alerted about possible escape routes. At a canal track near an under-construction bridge, the suspects opened fire when challenged by the police. In the retaliatory firing, all three were injured and subsequently sent to CSC Puranpur for treatment,” Pandey said.

However, they later succumbed to the injuries.

Recently, multiple explosions targeted police posts in Gurdaspur. On Thursday, a grenade was hurled at the closed Bakshiwal police post.

A day later, another explosion occurred at the closed Wadala Bangar police post, which had also recently shut down due to staff shortages.

Residents in nearby areas reported being shaken by the blasts. At Wadala Bangar, frightened locals emerged from their homes at night only to discover the sound originated from the police station. Following the explosion, police vehicles patrolled the area throughout the night, with sirens blaring.

Mumbai: The drama of distribution of posts in the three-party ‘Khichdi Sarkar’ of Mahayuti is not ending. First there was a phase of placating the people holding lucrative ministries, then there was the drama of respect and displeasure about who should be included or not in the cabinet and now the tug-of-war has begun over who will be the guardian minister of the districts, i.e. the minister in charge. As long as Eknath Shinde was in the Chief Minister’s chair, he was in power, but as soon as he was promoted from Chief Minister to Deputy Chief Minister, the game of sidelining him on the platform of power has started.

BJP and NCP are trying to fit
their own guardian minister in the districts under Shinde’s influence. Anyway, Shinde’s bargaining power has reduced with the inclusion of Ajit Pawar in the khichdi government. These days the tuning between Shinde and Fadnavis is so good that the Shinde faction is feeling isolated. Shinde’s problem is that even his own MLAs are giving more importance to Fadnavis than him.

BJP stakes claim on the post of guardian minister of Thane district.
However, there are 11 such districts in the state in which there is a cutthroat competition these days among the three parties of the khichdi government for the post of guardian minister. BJP has staked claim on the post of guardian minister of Thane district, where Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has the most influence. BJP MLA Sanjay Kelkar says that in Thane district Shinde’s Shiv Sena has 6 MLAs and BJP has 9 MLAs. BJP wants to make its minister Ganesh Naik the guardian minister of Thane. There is an age-old competition between Eknath Shinde and Ganesh Naik to establish dominance in Thane district. Both of them are basically old Shiv Sainiks of Balasaheb Thackeray.

Uneasiness grows in Shinde’s Shiv Sena
Shiv Sena has always held the post of Guardian Minister of Thane district. This time too Shinde is trying his best to keep it in his possession. But ever since Naik’s name is in discussion, uneasiness has grown in Shinde’s Shiv Sena. If BJP’s Ganesh Naik snatches the post of Guardian Minister from Shiv Sena, then history will be made. The Guardian Minister has the authority to allot development funds. In the coming time, Municipal Corporation elections are going to be held. The post of Guardian Minister is important from that perspective too.

NCP’s Ajit faction wants to capture Raigad
Not only Thane, but also Thane’s neighbouring district Raigad, the NCP’s Ajit faction wants to capture it. The 11 districts where big politics is going on for the post of guardian minister include Thane, Pune, Raigad, Nashik, Beed, Satara, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, are facing a tough situation because one district has two ministers and another has four ministers in the cabinet. In such a situation, there is tough competition for the post of guardian minister, sometimes between two ministers of the same party and sometimes between ministers of alliance parties.

Where and who is the competition between
Thane- Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena), Ganesh Naik (BJP)Raigad- Aditi Tatkare (NCP), Bharat Gogavale (Shiv Sena)Nashik- Girish Mahajan (BJP) Dada Bhuse (Shiv Sena) Narahari Jhirwal (NCP), Manikrao Kokate (NCP)Jalgaon- Gulabrao Patil (Shiv Sena), Sanjay Savkare (BJP)Pune- Ajit Pawar (NCP), Chandrakant Patil (BJP)Beed- Pankaja Munde (BJP), Dhananjay Munde (NCP)Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar- Sanjay Shirsat (Shiv Sena), Atul Save (BJP)Yavatmal- Ashok Uike (BJP) Sanjay Rathod (Shiv Sena), Indranil Naik (NCP)Satara- Shambhuraj Desai (Shiv Sena) Shivendraraje Bhosale (BJP), Jaykumar Gore (BJP), Makarand Patil (NCP)Ratnagiri- Uday Samant (Shiv Sena) Yogesh Kadam (Shiv Sena)Kolhapur- Hasan Mushrif (NCP), Prakash Abitkar (Shiv Sena)

Hyderabad: Despite police permission being denied, top Telugu actor Allu Arjun attended the theatre where ‘Pushpa-2’ was screened on December 4, Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy charged on Saturday.

Even after the death of a woman in a stampede, the actor did not leave the cinema hall, prompting the police to force him out, CM alleged.

Responding to the issue after AIMIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi raised it in the Assembly, Reddy, referring to videos in circulation, found fault with Allu Arjun for holding a roadshow and waving to the crowds in spite of the heavy crowd.

Reddy further said the theatre management gave a letter to the police on December 2 seeking security for the visit of top actors and others on December 4. However, the police rejected the application, citing difficulties in crowd management.

Before entering the theatre and exiting, the actor stood through the sunroof of his car and waved to the crowds leading to thousands of fans jostling to get a glimpse of him, he said.

He slammed film personalities for making a beeline for Allu Arjun’s residence to meet him after his arrest but not showing empathy to visit the boy who is undergoing treatment in hospital after suffering injuries in the incident.

“I appeal to the top film personalities that they should not be inhuman,” he said.

He also said there won’t be any special privileges when untoward incidents like death in a stampede happen and said the government would not spare those who troubled common people.

A 35-year-old woman died and her eight-year-old son was hospitalised on December 4 during a stampede-like situation at the Sandhya Theatre in Hyderabad when thousands of fans jostled to have a glimpse of the actor at the premiere of the blockbuster ‘Pushpa 2,’.

Following the incident, the city police registered a case against Allu Arjun, his security team, and the theatre management under different sections of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the Chikkadpally police station based on the complaint lodged by the deceased woman’s family.

Allu Arjun was arrested by the city police in connection with the death of the woman on December 13. The Telangana High Court granted him a four-week interim bail on the same day and he was released from the prison here on December 14 morning.