National News Crime
Danish Siddiqui didn’t die in crossfire; was ‘hunted down, brutally executed by Taliban:’ US report
Danish Siddiqui
A US-based magazine, in a report published on Thursday, claimed that Pulitzer Prize winning Indian photojournalist Danish Siddiqui was not simply killed in a crossfire in Afghanistan, nor was he simply collateral damage, but was ‘hunted down’ and ‘brutally murdered’ by the Taliban on July 16.
As per the report published in Washington Examiner, Siddiqui was captured alive by the Taliban and then executed in cold blood along with a few others. According to the report, Siddiqui travelled with an Afghan National Army team to the Spin Boldak region to cover fighting between Afghan forces and the Taliban to control the lucrative border crossing with Pakistan.
When they got to within one-third of a mile of the customs post, a Taliban attack split the team, with the commander and a few men separated from Siddiqui, who remained with three other Afghan troops.
During this assault, shrapnel hit Siddiqui, and so he and his team went to a local mosque where he received first aid. As word spread, however, that a journalist was in the mosque, the Taliban attacked. The local investigation suggests the Taliban attacked the mosque only because of Siddiquis presence there.
The report stated: Siddiqui was alive when the Taliban captured him. The Taliban verified Siddiquis identity and then executed him, as well as those with him. The commander and the remainder of his team died as they tried to rescue him.
Write Michael Rubin, who is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, wrote: “While a widely circulated public photograph shows Siddiquis face recognizable, I reviewed other photographs and a video of Siddiquis body provided to me by a source in the Indian government that show the Taliban beat Siddiqui around the head and then riddled his body with bullets.
Crime
SHOCKER: 4 gang rape monitor lizard in Maharashtra, record act on phone; get arrested

Monitor Lizard (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
In the most unbelievable incident ever, four men were arrested for allegedly raping a Bengal monitor lizard in Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR). The reserve is spread over four districts of Satara, Sangli, Kolhapur and Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.
The gruesome incident took place at Gothane village in Ratnagiri district on March 31 when the four accused illegally entered Chandoli National Park (part of the reserve). One of the four was also carrying a gun for hunting.
The Maharashtra Forest Department checked the mobile phone of one of the accused and that’s when he learnt about the incident. The officials found the recording of the act, which showed the accused allegedly gang-raping the monitor lizard.
A forest official said the four accused were identified as Sandeep Tukaram Pawar, Mangesh Kamtekar, Akshay Kamtekar and Ramesh Ghag.
The official said, “During the investigation, the forest officials found that the accused had allegedly raped a Bengal monitor lizard. Their act was also recorded in a mobile phone of one of the accused persons. We have recovered all the related evidence from the accused and they were granted forest department custody initially, but are out on bail now. They have been asked to mark their presence before the forest officer, who is probing the case, every Monday.”
“The four accused have been booked under various sections of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972,” said field director of Sahyadri Tiger Reserve (STR), Nanasaheb Ladkat.
Crime
ED attaches Sanjay Raut’s properties in ₹1034 crore Patra Chawl land scam case; Raut tweets ‘Asatyamev Jayate’
Sanjay Raut
Enforcement Directorate (ED), on Tuesday, under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), attached Shiv Sena leader and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Raut’s property in ₹1034 crore Patra Chawl land scam case. The ED, in February, had also arrested his close friend Pravin Raut.
The ED attached Raut’s plot in Alibaug and one flat in Mumbai’s Dadar area.
After ED attached Raut’s properties, the latter tweeted, “Asatyamev Jayate (the lies win)”
The attachment is linked to a money laundering probe linked to an alleged scam related to the re-development of a chawl in Mumbai.
More details are awaited.
Crime
Wheelchair-bound Anil Deshmukh hospitalised at JJ Hospital after suffering shoulder injury
Anil Deshmukh
Wheelchair-bound former Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh, who is currently lodged at Arthur Road Jail, was hospitalised at JJ Hospital in Mumbai on Saturday after suffering a shoulder injury. The senior leader would undergo a surgery according to ANI.

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