Naxalism came down to eight districts, says Rajnath Mandi, November 28 (IANS): Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday said in the past four years, Naxalism has come down to eight districts and the militancy in the North-East decreased by 80 per cent. Even on Wednesday, top commander of LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba) Naveed Jatt was killed in Kashmir, he said. "In last four years, Naxalism came down from 90 to eight-nine districts," the Home Minister said in this Himachal Pradesh town, some 140 km from the state capital. Singh said the militancy in the North-East has decreased by 80-85 per cent. "In Kashmir, in the last three-four days, our forces killed 18-19 terrorists. Even today (Wednesday) our forces killed the commander of LeT Naveed Jatt." He was here on a day's visit to preside over the meeting of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Panna Pramukh meeting of the Mandi parliamentary constituency. Prominent party leaders like Union Health and Family Welfare Minister J.P. Nadda, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur, state party President Satpal Singh Satti, and former Chief Ministers Prem Kumar Dhumal and Shanta Kumar, among others participated. Slain journalist Shujaat Bukhari's killer Naveed Jatt shot dead Srinagar, November 28 (IANS): A top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) commander, Naveed Jatt, who was wanted for the murder of senior journalist Shujaat Bukhari, was killed on Wednesday in a gunfight in Jammu and Kashmir's Badgam district, police sources said. Although an official confirmation was still awaited, the sources said that Jatt, alias Abu Hanzullah, was among the two militants killed in the gunfight that broke out earlier in the day during a cordon and search operation in Kuthpora village. A Pakistani national belonging to Multan, Jatt, had escaped from police custody on February 6, when he was being taken for a medical check-up to a hospital from the Srinagar Central Jail. Two policeman were also killed during Jatt's escape from the S.M.H.S. hospital here. Jatt was among the top LeT militants wanted by the security forces. He is believed to be involved in the murder of Bukhari, the then Editor-in-chief of Rising Kashmir, an English daily. Bukhari was gunned down along with two of his guards in the Press Enclave area in the city on June 14. The killing of Jatt is seen as a big success for the security forces in their anti-militancy operations. Two get 20 years in jail for raping mentally challenged girl Hisar, November 28 (PTI): A court in Hisar has sentenced two men to 20 years in prison for raping a 17-year-old mentally challenged girl in a village here last year. The minor was gang-raped at a village under Narnaund police station on August 18, 2017. Additional District and Sessions Judge Pankaj passed the orders Tuesday and also slapped a fine of Rs 53,000 on each of the convicts. The convicts, Sanjay (21) and Subhash (34), both residents of Rakhi village in Hisar were ordered to pay the fine and in case of a default, they would have to further undergo an imprisonment of two months. The court also ordered the two convicts to pay Rs 50,000 each to the victim as compensation from the fine. According to prosecution, the victim was raped by the duo when she was alone in the house. She alleged that the two had threatened her of dire consequences if she revealed the matter to anyone. The victim had narrated the incident to her mother on the day of the incident after which a police complaint was lodged. A case under IPC sections 452 (house trespass), 506 (criminal intimidation), 376 (rape) and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered in this connection.
