Infiltration bid foiled at LoC, 2 terrorists killed

"Two terrorists have been eliminated by the security forces in the ongoing operation," the army's Srinagar-based Chinar Corps said.

The Corps had earlier in a post on X said that a gun battle ensued when troops spotted suspicious activity in Kupwara 's Gugaldhar.

The army said it has discovered war-like stores from the encounter zone which is still being searched. -- PTI

According to the Election Commission data, an overall poll percentage of 9.53 per cent was recorded till 9 am. 

In Jind, the poll percentage was recorded at 12.71 percent, 11.10 in Karnal, 10.76 percent in Rohtak, while in Gurgaon and Panchkula, it was 6.10 percent and 4.08 percent. -- PTI

Voting takes place on Saturday for the 90 seats, with the Congress flagging unemployment and farmers' agitation as key issues and hoping to consolidate its support base among Jats and scheduled castes. 

In the run-up to the elections, the ruling BJP filled government vacancies, sought to retain its support among the state's Other Backward Classes, and announced a slew of welfare measures. 

The trend of smaller parties witnessing a decline in their vote shares has been sharper in the Lok Sabha polls, but it is noticeable in the assembly polls too. In the 2014 assembly polls, the BJP and the Congress cumulatively secured nearly 54 percent of the votes polled, which increased to almost 65 percent in the 2019 state polls. 

In the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the smaller parties were decimated. 

The BJP and the Congress (along with its ally Aam Aadmi Party) cornered almost 94 percent of the votes polled. 

Of the smaller parties, the Dushyant Chautala-led Jannayak Janta Party could manage a meagre 0.87 percent vote share. 

The Indian National Lok Dal and the Bahujan Samaj Party secured 1.74 percent and 1.28 percent vote shares, respectively. 

In the 2019 assembly polls, the JJP had performed creditably, winning 10 seats with a respectable vote share of 14.84 percent. 

However, in the run-up to the 2024 assembly polls, seven of the JJP's 10 legislators quit to join either the BJP or the Congress. For the 2024 assembly polls, the JJP has an alliance with Chandrashekhar Azad-led Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram). 

The INLD has an alliance with the BSP, which has secured 4 to 5 percent vote share in the Lok Sabha and Aassembly polls in the state over the years, but fared poorly in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. 

The two blocs hope that their 'Jat-Scheduled Castes' alliance will find resonance. 

The AAP has fielded candidates on 89 seats after it failed to work out an alliance with the Congress. -- Archis Mohan/Business Standard

According to the police, the incident happened when sub-inspector Madan Kumar Singh of Shivratanganj Police Station was taking possession of the pistol found near a canal track. 

Just when Singh was inspecting the pistol and its magazine, Chandan Verma, the accused, snatched Singh's gun from his holster and fired at him intending to kill him, the police in a statement said. 

In defence, inspector Sachchidanand Rai fired a gunshot which hit Verma in his right leg, they said. 

Verma was arrested near a toll plaza in Noida Friday night while fleeing to Delhi. Sunil Kumar, 35, a government school teacher, his 32-year-old wife Poonam, and the couple's two daughters, Drishti and Suni, aged six and one, were shot dead in the Ahorwa Bhawani area of Amethi. 

Poonam had once accused Verma of harassing her and also filed a police complaint against him. -- PTI

All four telecom operators -- Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea, and state-run BSNL -- have successfully implemented the system, the DoT said on Friday. 

Being deployed in two phases, the system will first prevent calls spoofed with phone numbers of their own subscribers at the level of TSPs, while also stopping calls spoofed with the numbers of subscribers from other TSPs, at a central level. 

These criminals exploit the Calling Line Identity to mask the actual origin of the calls, which has led to a spate of incidents involving threats of mobile number disconnection, fake digital arrests, and even impersonation of government officials or law enforcement agencies. 

Recent cases have included false accusations involving drugs, narcotics, and sex rackets, further intensifying public concern. 

"About one-third of total spoofed calls -- 4.5 million spoofed calls -- are being stopped from entering the Indian telecom network. The next phase, involving a centralized system that will eliminate the remaining spoofed calls across all TSPs, is expected to be commissioned shortly," DoT said. 

Fraudsters, however, continue to adapt and devise new methods to deceive the public. 

"In the age of rapidly evolving technology, DoT has taken multiple measures to make the telecom ecosystem safer and more secure. However, even with these robust safeguards, there may still be instances where fraudsters succeed through other means," DoT said. -- Subhayan Chakraborty/Business Standard

With this, the number of Maoists killed in the gun battle with the security personnel on Friday has risen to 31, they said, adding that a search operation is still underway in the area. 

"Bodies of three more Maoists were recovered this morning from the dense forest where the encounter took place on Friday," inspector general of police (Bastar range) Sundarraj P said. 

"With this, the toll of Maoists in the encounter rose to 31. The identity of the Maoists is yet to be ascertained, but prima facie it appears that they belonged to PLGA (People's Liberation Guerilla Army) company No. 6, Platoon 16 of Maoists and east Bastar division of Maoists," he said. 

On Friday, the gunfight broke out between security forces and Maoists around 1 am in a forest between Nendur and Thulthuli villages on Dantewada and Narayanpur inter-district border, where a joint team of District Reserve Guard and Special Task Force was out on an anti-Maoist operation. -- PTI

"I appeal to all voters to be a part of this sacred festival of democracy and create a new voting record," Modi said in a post on X, wishing young voters who are using their franchise for the first time. 

The electoral fate of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat of the Congress, besides the JJP's Dushyant Chautala and 1,027 other candidates will be decided in the polls on Saturday. 

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is eyeing a hat-trick of assembly poll wins in the state, while the Congress is hoping to return to power after 10 years. 

The counting of votes will be taken up on October 8. -- PTI

"The main accused Chandan Verma was arrested near a toll plaza in Noida. He was on his way to Delhi," said superintendent of police Anoop Kumar Singh. 

He also said the accused had tried to end his life by shooting himself after killing the family but the gun misfired. According to the officer, the accused has confessed to the killings and said that he had an affair with the teacher's wife for 18 months which went sour later, leading to him shooting the family. 

Singh said Verma had fired 10 shots from a pistol. 

When asked about a social media post by Verma foretelling the death of five people, the SP said, "He intended to shoot himself after killing the family of four. He was the fifth person but his suicide attempt failed."

Sunil Kumar, 35, a government school teacher, his 32-year-old wife Poonam, and the couple's two daughters, Drishti and Suni, were shot dead in the Ahorwa Bhawani area of Amethi on Thursday. -- PTI

The detention was made after members of a religious minority community staged a protest against a controversial statement made by a self-styled godman. 

Senior superintendent of police Shlok Kumar clarified that there was a false report about a station in-charge getting injured in the stone-pelting incident. 

"Earlier in the day, a group of people had gathered in the Sikandrabad police station area and raised slogans. The local police intervened and dispersed the crowd, detaining some individuals," said the SSP. 

"Eight people were arrested following the stone-pelting incident in the evening. CCTV footage is being analysed to identify those involved, and strict action will be taken against anyone who attempts to disrupt the peace," he added. -- PTI

The commander also commended the troops for their professionalism in challenging conditions, the Army said. "Lt Gen M V Suchindra Kumar, Army Commander Northern Command, accompanied by general officer commanding White Knight Corps, visited forward areas along the Line of Control under White Knight Corps to review operational preparedness," the Northern Command said on X late tonight. 

The Army commander also lauded the troops for their unwavering dedication and exhorted them to maintain high standards of professionalism and operational prowess, it said. 

The White Knight Corps is a unit of the Indian Army that looks after the operational control of the area south of Jammu and Kashmir's Pir Panjal. -- PTI

The fate of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Vinesh Phogat, besides the JJP's Dushyant Chautala and 1,027 other candidates, will be decided in the polls in which more than two crore people are eligible to vote. 

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is eyeing a hat-trick of assembly election wins in the state, while the Congress is hoping to return to power after 10 years. 

The counting of votes will be taken up on October 8. 

The voting is being held from 7 am 6 pm. 

Haryana's chief electoral officer Pankaj Agarwal had earlier said 2,03,54,350 voters, including 8,821 centurions, are eligible to exercise their franchise. 

A total of 1,031 candidates are contesting the election, including 101 women and 464 Independent nominees. 

A total of 20,632 polling booths have been set up, Agarwal had said. -- PTI

Udhayanidhi, whose remark last year calling for "eradication" of 'Sanatana Dharma', triggered a political row, responded with "Ok, let's wait and see" when reporters sought his reaction to Kalyan's warning. 

The Janasena party chief on Thursday said that "you cannot wipe out Sanatana Dharma. If anyone tries to wipe out Sanatana Dharma, let me tell you from the feet of Lord Balaji, you will be wiped out." 

While addressing a gathering on "Varahi Declaration" over the Tirupati laddu controversy in Tirupati, Kalyan said, "Don't say that Sanatana Dharma is like a virus, and it will destroy... Whoever said this let me tell you sir. You cannot wipe out Sanatana Dharma. If anyone tries to wipe out Santana Dharma, let me tell you, from the feet of Lord Balaji, you will be wiped out." -- PTI

On Thursday, a boy, around 16 years, was held for allegedly opening fire at Dr Javed Akhtar, a Unani practitioner, they said. 

The incident happened inside the three-bedded Nima Hospital in Khadda Colony at around 1 am on Thursday. 

After committing the crime, he uploaded a post on a social media platform with his photograph and a caption: "Kar diya 2024 mein murder" (Finally committed murder in 2024). Police had recovered the CCTV footage from the spot where they spotted two boys, but later found out the involvement of one more juvenile in the case. 

Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Rajesh Deo said one of the juveniles had visited the nursing home after getting injured in an accident in Faridabad on intervening night of September 20 and 21. -- PTI

Due to the cyberattack, the most important government websites and services of the state have completely shut down, including important platforms like CM Helpline, Land Registry, and e-Office. 

Work in government offices is stalled for the second day today, due to which administrative work has been affected across the state, including the Secretariat. 

Speaking to ANI, about the cyberattack, Nikita Khandelwal, director, ITDA Information Technology Development Agency, said, "During scanning on October 2, it was found that the machine has been affected by malware, so as a precaution we have shut down our data centre, due to which all applications have been shut down and all are being scanned." 

"After testing, efforts are being made to be up by tomorrow morning. 186 government websites have been affected by the cyber-attack," he added. -- ANI 

Top officials of the ministry of finance, (department of economic affairs) and ministry of communications have also been asked to appear before the key parliamentary panel, with sources saying representatives of the Securities and Exchange Board of India chairperson Badhabi Puri Buch and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India chairperson Anil Kumar Lahoti are likely to appear before the panel. 

Sources said the unstated convention in parliamentary practice is that chiefs of institutions have to attend parliamentary panel briefings whenever summoned. 

The meeting of the key parliamentary panel comes amid a major row over allegations made by US research body Hindenburg against SEBI chairperson Madhabi Puri Much and her husband Dhaval Buch over her alleged links with the Adani Group. -- PTI