New Delhi, Aug 31: A case involving the sexual assault of a three-year-old nursery student at a private school in Delhi Bawana has come to light. Police have arrested a school bus driver in connection with the incident, officials said on Monday.

The accused, identified as Vikas, had been working as a bus driver at the school for around eight months. According to police, he allegedly befriended the child by offering her chocolates and subsequently sexually abused her on multiple occasions.

Police arrested Vikas from the school premises after the child’s identity and allegations were established during the investigation.

The case came to light on the night of August 19, when the child’s family noticed injury marks on her body and became concerned about her condition.

When the child’s mother questioned her about what had happened, the girl reportedly spoke about a “bad uncle” at her school who used to give her chocolates. As the three-year-old was unable to identify the man by name, the family approached the school administration and sought its help in finding out who the person was.

On August 24, the child was shown photographs of school staff and CCTV footage from the school premises as part of efforts to identify the person she had mentioned. Police said the girl identified Vikas as the man she had referred to as the “bad uncle”.

Following the identification, the school informed the police about the matter. An FIR was subsequently registered under the relevant provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, following which the accused school bus driver was arrested.

According to the allegations being investigated by police, the accused followed the girl when she was going towards the bathroom. He allegedly offered her chocolates and then touched her inappropriately under the stairs of the school.

During the investigation, police also seized the accused’s mobile phone. Officials said the device contained several videos showing him feeding chocolates to young children.

Police are now working to identify the children seen in those videos. The children are also being counselled as part of the ongoing investigation and to ensure their safety and well-being.

Investigators have also collected and seized CCTV footage from cameras installed at different locations on the school premises. The footage is being examined to establish the sequence of events and determine whether there were any other instances involving the accused.

Mumbai, Aug 31: Mounting a sharp offensive against Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray on Monday said that if the RSS leadership expects its global message of “one humanity” to carry credibility abroad, the tolerant principles articulated on international soil must be actively practised and enforced within India’s domestic socio-political landscape. ​

In an editorial published in the Shiv Sena (UBT)’s mouthpiece ‘Saamana’, the Thackeray camp scrutinised Bhagwat’s recent address in New York, where the RSS Sarsanghchalak invoked ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ and declared that “if a Hindu feels that there should be no Muslims in India, then he is not a Hindu at all.” ​

The editorial characterised Bhagwat’s measured vocabulary in the United States as a carefully calibrated effort to align with Western democratic norms and global human rights frameworks, arguing that these statements stand in sharp contrast to ground-level developments inside India. ​

​The Thackeray faction accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders at the Centre and across various states of fostering an environment where minority communities face systematic exclusion, claiming their actions directly contradict Bhagwat’s public stance on Hindu-Muslim coexistence.

It cited a recent alleged “purification ceremony” conducted by local BJP activists in Haldwani, Uttarakhand, following a public address by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, pointing to it as evidence of a starkly polarised domestic atmosphere driven by political motives.

​”Such is the extreme nature of religion, caste, and inhumane behaviour within the BJP,” the editorial stated. “Do these antics fit into the Krishna Consciousness articulated by Bhagwat in America? Come to India and speak a bit about this as well.” ​

The editorial also drew attention to what it described as the RSS’s selective global posture, criticising its silence on major international humanitarian crises, including civilian casualties in Gaza, as a reflection of changing geopolitical calculations rather than universal human rights. ​

Taking aim at the ideological narratives presented during the American tour, the editorial alleged that the RSS chief deliberately shifted his focus away from Lord Ram to avoid uncomfortable questions regarding domestic governance and financial accountability.

​The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena claimed that the political utility of the Ram Temple movement had been exhausted for the ruling apparatus, accusing supporters tied to the Sangh ecosystem of financial mismanagement surrounding the Ayodhya temple project.

​”The Hindu community in America donated heavily for the construction of the Ram Temple, which was looted in Ayodhya. Neither PM Modi nor the Sarsanghchalak commented on this loot,” the editorial alleged, adding that Bhagwat “escaped accountability on American soil by speaking about Krishna’s ideas instead of Lord Ram”.

The Thackeray camp underscored the striking parallel between political developments abroad, noting that while Prime Minister Narendra Modi engaged in high-level talks in Tashkent to elevate India-Uzbekistan ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, Bhagwat’s US visit — organised as part of the RSS centenary outreach — drew active demonstrations, political pushback, and intense scrutiny over the gap between international rhetoric and domestic reality.

​Concluding with a reference to core tenets of the Bhagavad Gita, the editorial noted that true spiritual authority demands selflessness, equanimity, and the elimination of ego rather than social division or political posturing, urging the RSS leadership to match its global preachings with meaningful action at home.

Tehran, Aug 31: Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) said Monday it had launched a combined missile and drone strike on US air bases in Jordan in retaliation for the US-Israeli aerial attacks on Iran’s Larak Island Sunday night.

The Iranian military targeted “technical and maintenance infrastructure,” as well as areas where “enemy fighter jets” were stationed at the King Hussein and Al-Azraq US bases in Jordan, inflicting heavy damage, Iran’s Fars news agency reported, citing an IRGC statement.

“Aggression and crimes will not solve the enemy’s desperation in attempting to weaken the Islamic Republic’s control over the Strait of Hormuz, and every attack will be met with even more devastating responses,” the statement said.

The reported attack followed a US strike on two IRGC rocket launchers on Larak Island, an Iranian island positioned near the strategic Strait of Hormuz.

US forces on Sunday struck two Iranian launchers on Larak Island, US Central Command spokesperson Tim Hawkins said, marking the first known US strike against Iran since late July.

“Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps forces were observed preparing to launch rockets with sea mines into Strait of Hormuz,” Hawkins said in a statement, adding that the US military was “monitoring the area closely and remains prepared to protect the free flow of commerce” through the strategic waterway.

Larak Island is a small Iranian island located off the coast of Bandar Abbas, east of Qeshm Island and south of Hormuz Island.

IRGC said multiple military personnel and civilians were killed or wounded Sunday night in a “US-Israeli” attack on Iran’s southern Larak Island in Hormozgan province, reports Xinhua news agency.

In a statement published by its official news outlet, Sepah News, the IRGC vowed that the attack would be met with “punishment for the aggressor.”

Citing unofficial reports, Iran’s semi-official Tasnim news agency said that at least two people were killed and two others injured in what it described as a US “drone attack” on the island.