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Priyanka Gandhi begins UP campaign with blistering attack on BJP

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Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday, kicked off her party’s campaign for the upcoming UP assembly elections by mounting a blistering attack on the ruling BJP.

Addressing a mammoth rally in Varanasi, Priyanka took on the Centre and State governments on the issue of farmers and injustice to the poor.

“In the past two years, I have been working in UP. Two years ago, 13 adivasis were killed in a land dispute in Sonbhadra. Some leaders of the ruling BJP were involved and the people said that they had no hope for justice. I went there and each of the victims’ families said that they wanted justice,” she said.

Priyanka said that then came the pandemic and we saw people dying without oxygen, without medicines. People had hoped that the government would help but no help came and so many died in this hope.

“After this, Hathras happened and the government shielded the accused and there was no justice for the victim’s family. The same has happened in Lakhimpur where farmers were mowed down by a minister’s son and the government is shielding the accused,” she said.

Priyanka Gandhi announced that the Congress would continue to fight on the Lakhimpur issue untill the union minister Ajay Mishra Teni submits his resignation to allow an impartial probe into the incident.

She said that nowhere in the world, does the police send an invitation to the accused to record his statement. “But in Lakhimpur, the minister’s son was invited to give his statement. Is this how justice is done?” she asked.

In an attack on UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, she said that he insulted Dalits who work as safai karamcharis.

“I went to a Valmiki temple in Lucknow and swept the floor. I met the residents of the Dalit basti and every family told me that though their children were educated, they had no employment. Today the Prime Minister’s ‘crorepati’ friends are earning thousands of crores every day but the people of this country are facing unemployment,” she said.

The Congress leader said that the Prime Minister had bought two aircraft for himself, each costing Rs 8,000 crore. “The two aircraft cost the country Rs 16,000 but Air India has been sold for Rs 18,000 crore to benefit his friends,” she stated.

She said that farmers were the real ‘Ganga putra’ of the country but the Prime Minister, who travels across the globe, has not found time to even talk to those who are sitting on Delhi borders.

Priyanka said that it was the sons of farmers who are protecting out borders, who ensure our safety and freedom.

“This country is a hope. Gandhi ji had hope for freedom and justice for the poor but today, justice and hope is only for those who are with the BJP, its leaders and their friends. The country is being destroyed and the media is being used to create a campaign that shows all is well. We will fight against injustice and force them to give us justice just like we fought for Independence,” she said.

Earlier, Priyanka visited the Kashi Vishwanath temple and the Durga temple where she offered prayers. She began her speech with the Sanskrit shlok on Navratri.

Crime

Blaze kills woman in Mumbai’s Lokhandwala; 10-day infant among 6 injured

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Mumbai, April 26: A woman was killed and six people, including a 10-day-old infant, were injured in a fire in an high-rise building in Mumbai’s Lokhandwala in Andheri (West), early on Saturday, said the Mumbai Fire Brigade.

Abhina Kartik Sanjanvalia, 34, died on the way to Cooper Hospital. Her family member Kartik Sanjanvalia, 40, is undergoing treatment for smoke inhalation, said an official.

Five fire tenders fought the blaze, which started at around 2.40 am in Broke Land Building near Ashok Academy Lane, and restricted it to room number 104 on the first floor before extinguishing it at 5.30 a.m, said an official.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Mumbai Fire Brigade suspect that the fire in the eight floor building was sparked by an electric short circuit. However, the exact cause of the blaze is yet to be confirmed.

The blaze burnt down furniture, mattresses, clothes, split and window air-conditioners and electrical installations in the flat on the first floor, said an official.

The other injured residents taken to Kokilaben Hospital were identified as 10-day-old baby boy Pradumna Gupta, Rihan, 3, Daya Gupta, 21, Aparna Gupta, 41 and Polam Gupta, 40.

The incident revived painful memories of another fire incident in a 15-storey building in Lokhandwala last October which claimed the lives of three people, including a visually impaired citizen.

Soon after the fire in Riya Palace building, a 37-year-old building at Cross Road Number 4 of Lokhandwala Complex in Andheri, there were demands for opening a fire station on a plot allotted for the purpose in the area three decades ago.

The October 2024 blaze that broke out on the 10th floor of the building started around 8 am and was doused around 9 p.m. The victims were identified as Kanta Soni, 74, Chandraprakash Soni, 74, and Pelubeta, 42.

In another fire incident on Saturday in Maharashtra, a plywood godown was gutted in Thane district. The fire started around 3.30 a.m, in a three-storey building in Rahnal village in Bhiwandi and four fire tenders continued to battle the flames for hours.

A firefighter of the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC) got a fracture in his leg during the operation to douse the blaze.

An official said due to a huge pile of plywood the blaze had posed a challenge to fire-fighters.

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Crime

Tahawwur Rana denies role in Mumbai terror attack during interrogation (Ld)

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Mumbai, April 26: Tahawwur Rana, the Pakistani-Canadian national accused of involvement in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack, has denied any role in the conspiracy during his interrogation by the Mumbai Crime Branch.

According to senior officials, Rana, who is currently in the custody of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Delhi, was questioned for over eight hours by a team of Mumbai Police officers.

During the interrogation, Rana distanced himself from the attacks that claimed over 166 lives and injured hundreds on November 26, 2008.

Rana reportedly told investigators that he had “no connection whatsoever” with the planning or execution of the attack.

He also claimed that his childhood friend and co-accused, David Coleman Headley, was solely responsible for the reconnaissance and planning aspects.

Headley, who turned approver in the case, had earlier admitted to conducting recce missions across India, including in Mumbai, on behalf of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT).

During questioning, Rana said that apart from Mumbai and Delhi, he had also travelled to Kerala.

When asked about the purpose of his visit to Kerala, he claimed he had gone there to meet a known acquaintance and had provided the individual’s name and address to the agency.

Following this, sources said a team from the Mumbai Crime Branch may soon travel to Kerala to verify his claims and question the said person.

Officials revealed that Rana was largely uncooperative during the interrogation and frequently gave evasive answers.

He also cited memory lapses, stating that he was unable to recall specific details related to the attack that occurred over 17 years ago.

The interrogation is part of an ongoing probe by the NIA into the extensive three-year groundwork carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) prior to the Mumbai terror attacks.

Rana is also being questioned about his alleged links to several individuals whose names surfaced in intercepted communications, including Abdur Rehman Hashim Syed, Sajid Majid, Ilyas Kashmiri, and Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi — all of whom are believed to have played crucial roles in the 26/11 conspiracy.

Rana, a former officer of the Pakistan Army’s Medical Corps, was extradited to India from the United States recently to face justice in the Mumbai attack case.

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Houses of three LeT terrorists demolished in J&K (Lead)

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Srinagar, April 26: Houses of three active terrorists of the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) outfit were demolished in Jammu and Kashmir’s Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama districts, officials said on Saturday.

Officials said that the house of the terrorist, Ehsan-ul-Haq Sheikh, was destroyed in Muran village of the Pulwama district late Friday evening.

In Kulgam district, in a similar action, the house of terrorist Zakir Ahmad Ganie was demolished in Matalhama village. He has been an active terrorist since 2003.

In the Shopian district, the house of terrorist Shahid Ahmad Kutay was also demolished in Chotipora village. He has been an active terrorist since 2002.

On Friday, the houses of two terrorists, Asif Ahmad Sheikh Tral and Adil Thoker Bijbhera, were demolished after their involvement in the Pahalgam attack surfaced.

In his first reaction to the Pahalgam terror attack, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that the terrorists, their handlers and backers would be given such punishment which they could not even have imagined.

PM Modi said that India will hunt down terrorists responsible for the Pahalgam attack to the ends of the earth.

J&K Lt Governor Manoj Sinha, while reviewing security with Army Chief Upendra Dwivedi, asked the security forces to use whatever force is required to hunt down the killers of innocent civilians in Baisaran meadow of Pahalgam on April 22.

A massive search operation assisted with technology using drones, helicopters, etc has been going on for the last six days to trace and hunt down the terrorists responsible for the killings of innocent civilians.

As the country prepares to take required kinetic and diplomatic steps to ensure that attacks like this do not get repeated, security across Jammu and Kashmir has been tightened following intelligence reports that terrorists could target soft targets like minority Kashmiri Pandits and non-locals working in the Valley, the officials said.

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