Nambala Keshav Rao alias Basavaraju, the powerful general secretary of Communist Party of India-Maoist killed in an encounter along with 26 others on Wednesday, had masterminded several major attacks on security forces in Chhattisgarh and his death is a big blow to the armed movement, said officials.
Punjab police have arrested an Indian-origin transnational drug lord, wanted by the FBI in connection with one of the largest narcotics seizures in the US. Shehnaz Singh, also known as Shawn Bhinder, had been operating under the guise of a transportation business in Canada since 2014 and allegedly facilitated the movement of drugs from Colombia to the US and Canada via Mexico. Bhinder was arrested in Ludhiana, Punjab, after he had managed to give a slip to FBI sleuths and clandestinely landed in India. He was wanted by the FBI in connection with a seizure of 391 kg methamphetamine, 109 kg cocaine, four sophisticated weapons, and vehicles from six of his associates on February 26, 2025.
The Centre has rushed 20 additional Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) companies comprising about 2,000 personnel to Manipur in the wake of fresh attacks and law and order issues in the state, official sources said Wednesday.
The Punjab Police and the BSF have recovered a huge cache of weapons near the India-Pakistan border in the Khemkaran area of Tarn Taran district, an official said on Wednesday.
A massive anti-Naxal operation involving around 10,000 security personnel along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border entered its fifth day on Friday, with the Maoists reportedly issuing a statement calling for a halt to the exercise and initiating "peace talks." The statement, circulating on social media, claims that the government is resorting to repression and violence despite the possibility of resolving the issue through dialogue. The operation, considered one of the largest counter-insurgency actions in the Bastar region, involves personnel from various units including the Chhattisgarh police, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and its elite CoBRA unit. The operation, launched on Monday in the densely forested hills of Karregutta and Durgamgutta along the inter-state border, is aimed at targeting PLGA battalion No. 1, the strongest military formation of the Maoists.
Seven Naxalites, including two women, were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district. The gunfight broke out in the early hours of Thursday in the forest of south Abujhmad, along the border of Narayanpur and Dantewada districts. A large cache of weapons and daily use items were recovered from the spot. This incident brings the total number of Naxalites killed in encounters in the Bastar division this year to 215.
The Superintendent of Police in Manipur's Kangpokpi district was injured after a mob attacked his office on Friday evening over the officer's alleged failure to remove central force from Saibol village bordering Imphal East district. Kuki organisations have been protesting against the alleged baton charge on women by security forces on December 31 in Saibol village. The attackers threw stones and other projectiles towards the office to vent their anger over the continued deployment of central forces, particularly the BSF and the CRPF in the village. Several others, including police personnel and protesters, also suffered injuries during the clash between security forces and attackers.
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has been awarded the highest number of police gallantry medals, 21, including two Shaurya Chakras, on the eve of Republic Day. A total of 95 bravery medals were awarded to personnel from state and central police forces, fire service, home guard, civil defence, and correctional services. The CRPF's medals included 11 for operations in Jammu and Kashmir, seven for anti-Maoist operations, and one for an operation in the northeast. The second-highest number of medals went to Uttar Pradesh (17), followed by Jammu and Kashmir (15), Chhattisgarh (11), and the Border Security Force (5).
A cache of weapons, including an AK-47 rifle, one SLR (self-loading rifle), one INSAS rifle, one LMG rifle and one .303 rifle were also recovered from the encounter spot.
Khamenei captioned the post as 'Victory from God and a near conquest...' In another post, he said, 'The strikes of the resistance front on the worn-out and decaying body of the Zionist regime will be more striking.'
The troops busted a natural hideout in which a large cache of arms, ammunition and other warlike stores was recovered.
In a major arms haul, alert Indian army troops recovered 40 weapons from near the Line of Control in the Farkian Gali area of north Kashmir's Kupwara district on Saturday.
Earlier on Monday, two women Naxalites were killed and one CoBRA jawan was injured in an encounter during the same operation, they said.
In one of the deadliest blows to Naxalites in Chhattisgarh, security forces on Sunday gunned down 31 rebels, including 11 women, in a fierce encounter in the state's Bijapur district, police said.
An Indian American doctor, who is accused of illegally possessing high-explosive grenades, and his wife face new charges of interfering with the probe into their extensive weapons cache. The new seven-count indictment accuses 51-year-old Dr Randeep Mann and his wife Sangeeta of seeking to obstruct the probe by hiding from federal agents signed, blank cheques. It also alleged that 48-year-old Sangeeta concealed evidence and made a false declaration to a federal grand jury.
A joint operation by the 26 Assam Rifles and the Special Narcotics Police, Mizoram, successfully recovered arms and ammunition on Thursday evening from Km stone four on Lengpui airport road near Aizawl.
Andhra Pradesh police has foiled yet another attempt to supply arms to the Naxalites in the state by seizing a big cache of arms and ammunitions in the Medak district.
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.
Army personnel on Sunday recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunition from a militant hideout in a forest area of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla District.
The frequent use of these assault rifles by terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir, according to experts, is a consequence of the US Army leaving behind arms and ammunition while pulling out from Afghanistan in 2021 and is a cause of concern due to the more lethal nature of the steel bullets used.
The anti-terror operation was part of Indian security forces' counter-offensive Operation Asan, launched after terrorists attacked an Army convoy in the Battal area on October 28.
The Centre has reimposed the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act in Manipur's six police station areas, including the violence-hit Jiribam.
With this incident, 154 Naxalites have been gunned down by the security forces in different encounters in Chhattisgarh so far this year, the police said.
A cache of explosives and weapons was also seized from the encounter site, he added.
As many as 14 Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Chhattisgarh's Bastar region on Friday, a senior police official said. However, ANI has put the toll at 30.
Eight Naxalites and a jawan of the Special Task Force (STF) were killed in an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Narayanpur district on Saturday, police said.
Pakistan dropped weapons and some cash in Indian currency using a drone in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, Director General of Police Dilbag Singh on Saturday said, announcing the arrest of three Lashkar-e-Tayiba terrorists who had picked up the consignment near the Line of Control.
The Israel Defence Forces carried out two 'brigade-level' raids in the West Bank's Jenin refugee camp and Balata refugee camp on Sunday and detained suspects and seized weapons.
The personnel who lost their lives were from the CRPF 128 Battalion deployed at the Naransena area in Bishnupur district in the state.
Three security personnel suffered injuries in the fierce gun-battle and a large quantity of weapons was also recovered from the spot, the state police said.
They were identified as LOS commander Erra and woman cadre Podiyam Bhime, deputy commander of the same squad, Sharma said.
'The cache of arms recovered comprises five AK series rifles (along with six magazines and two sealed boxes with 1,254 rounds of AK ammunition), six pistols (with nine magazines and six rounds), twenty-one grenades, two UBGL grenades and two Kenwood radio-sets with one antenna'
In a major crackdown on the nexus between gangsters, terrorist groups and drug smugglers based in foreign countries including Pakistan and Canada, the National Investigation Agency conducted raids at 76 locations across eight states on Tuesday and seized a large cache of arms and ammunition and cash to tune of Rs 1.5 crores.
The Manipur government on Friday told the Supreme Court that it has filed a status report on the issue of recovery of arms from 'all sources' in the ethnic violence-hit state.
A huge cache of arms and ammunition and 'war-like stores', including AK-74 rifles, Pakistani-origin hand grenades and balloons with 'I Love Pakistan' markings, were recovered along the Line of Control (LoC) in Uri Sector of Jammu and Kashmir's Baramulla district, an Army officer said on Friday.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah arrived in strife-torn Manipur on Monday night to try restore peace by hammering out a solution between the warring communities.
The quantum of punishment will be pronounced by the special NIA court on Monday, a spokesperson of the federal agency said.
The CBI, while seeking custody of extradited gangster Abu Salem on Thursday, told the designated TADA court about Siddiqui's visit to Gujarat and how the arms reached the conspirators.
Armed vigilante groups have been taking the law into their own hands in parts of Manipur, in the wake of ethnic rioting earlier, thus complicating the peace process. At times, militant groups have joined in the fray, creating an even more volatile cocktail of ethnic tension.
