The North Bengal Border Security Force has lauded the Centre’s decision to enhance the powers of the force. Inspector General of BSF North Bengal Frontier, Ravi Gandhi today said, “As per the three notifications issued by the government of India on October 11, BSF is required to increase its area of the jurisdiction from 15 km to 50 km, under 3 Acts-CRPC 1973, Passport (Entry into India) Act, 1920, and Passports Act, 1967.” “BSF doesn’t have any investigation powers or FIR lodging powers; the police handle investigations and FIRs. We don’t have any problems as we have been doing joint operations with police before and after this notification,” Gandhi said.

Border Security Force (BSF) on Wednesday said that the enhanced jurisdiction will help BSF to strengthen the hands of the police.

“The enhanced jurisdiction will help BSF to strengthen the hands of the police. This is an enabling provision which is aimed at strengthening and complementing the efforts of the State Police. BSF has been acting in close coordination with police to conduct Joint Operations including joint depth area patrolling, deploying joint Nakas etc and establishing of Anti-Human Trafficking Units at different places along the Indo-Bangladesh border,” reads the statement issued by BSF.

It further said that apart from West Bengal and Assam, the other states where BSF is deployed in eastern theatre are Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura the jurisdiction of BSF covers the whole state.

“BSF has no policing powers, as it does not have powers to register FIRs or to carry out investigations. Any seizure or apprehension made have to be handed over to state police or any other law enforcement agency. The state police jurisdiction continues to be till international boundary. Synergy with all state agencies is being maintained by BSF for maintaining security at the international border,” the statement added.

The Centre, earlier in the month of October had empowered the Border Security Force (BSF) to conduct searches, arrest suspects and make seizures up to an area of 50 km inside Indian territory from the International Border (IB) along India-Pakistan and India-Bangladesh borders.

The BSF, which was only empowered to take action up to fifteen kilometres in the states of Punjab, West Bengal, and Assam, has now been authorised to extend its jurisdiction up to 50 km without any hurdle or permission either from central or state governments.

However, its jurisdiction has been cut short by 20 km in the five northeastern states– Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Nagaland, and Meghalaya– where it had jurisdiction up to 80 km. Similarly in Gujarat, the BSF’s jurisdiction has been curtailed from 80 to 50 km. In Rajasthan, the BSF’s area of jurisdiction will remain the same at 50 km. Earlier, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that like Punjab, they are also protesting against the Centre’s decision to increase search and arrest jurisdiction of BSF in border states.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally hand over Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) designed Advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) suite for Naval ships to the Indian Navy at a ceremony in Jhansi on Friday.

The ceremony will be held as part of Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv at Jhansi on 19 November 2021. The Prime Minister will kick start the beginning of the significant project on the concluding three-day ‘Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv’ event being organised by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) along with the government of Uttar Pradesh. Advanced Electronic Warfare (EW) System ‘Shakti’ has been designed and developed by Defence Electronics Research Laboratory (DLRL) Hyderabad a laboratory of Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) for Capital Warships of the Indian Navy for the interception, detection, classification, identification and jamming of conventional and modern radars. The Shakti EW system will provide an electronic layer of defence against modern radars and anti-ship missiles to ensure electronic dominance and survivability in the maritime battlefield. This system will replace the earlier generation EW Systems of the Indian Navy, the Ministry of Defence said in a statement.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi will formally hand over this system to the Indian Navy at a ceremony to be held as part of Rashtra Raksha Samarpan Parv at Jhansi on 19 November 2021,” the statement read. The system has been integrated with the wideband Electronic Support Measures (ESM) and Electronic Counter Measure (ECM) for the defence of Indian Navy Ships against missile attacks.

The ESM of the system helps in finding accurate direction and interception of modern radars. The system has a built-in radar fingerprinting and data recording replay feature for post-mission analysis. First Shakti system has been installed on-board INS Visakhapatnam and is being installed on-board Indigenous Aircraft Carrier, INS Vikrant. Twelve Shakti Systems are under production at Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) supported by more than fifty MSMEs at a total cost of Rs 1805 Crores. These systems are scheduled to be installed on-board capital warships under production, including P-15B, P-17A and Talwar class follow-on ships. Defence Minister Rajnath Singh congratulated DRDO, Indian Navy and Industry Partners for the development of the Shakti EW System. He said that this will enhance the capabilities of the Indian Navy and termed it as a major milestone.

Three Trinamool Congress (TMC) leaders from Nandigram in West Bengal did not appear at the CBI office on Thursday over the alleged murder of BJP leader Debabrata Maiti in Nandigram in the aftermath of the post-poll violence in West Bengal. The three accused TMC leaders were scheduled to appear at the CBI’s temporary camp at the CPT guesthouse in Haldia at 10 am on Thursday. However, they could not be seen even after the deadline had passed.

According to CBI sources, the three TMC leaders—Abu Taher, Kalicharanpur gram panchayat chief Sheikh Sayyum Kazi and Sheikh Khushnabi, the head of forest and land in Block 1 of Nandigram—were also ordered to appear over mail on Wednesday. However, the TMC leaders did not show up at the CBI camp office on Thursday morning and it was not clear why they could not come. The TMC leaders were also repeatedly called over telephone, but they did not pick up the phone.

Earlier, TMC leader Sheikh Sufian had avoided appearing at the CBI office, citing physical illness. The CBI had earlier arrested 11 TMC leaders, including Sheikh Sufian’s son-in-law, in connection with the alleged murder of Debabrata Maiti. The CBI has filed a charge-sheet in the case. The names in that charge-sheet were of Sheikh Fatenur, Sheikh Mizanur and Sheikh Imdulal Islam. The TMC leader’s son-in-law was arrested soon after the interrogation.

However, TMC leader Abu Taher said, “Several Trinamool leaders from Nandigram have to fallen in the trap of CBI due to conspiracy of Nandigram BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari. I have talked about this with the Chief Minister and Firhad Hakim.”

It is learned that Sheikh Baitul Islam, son-in-law of TMC leader Sufian, is the head of area number two of Nandigram. Investigators say Baitul Islam was involved in the murder of BJP activist Debabrata Maiti. Apart from him, nine more TMC activists were arrested, causing tension in the area. The CBI on Friday filed another charge-sheet in the post-poll violence probe. The charge-sheet was against three people in Maiti’s murder case. Notably, the name of Seikh Sufiyan, the TMC leader and chief agent of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the election, has been virtually erased from the case. This “omission” has not escaped the notice of political circles and many questions have been raised.

The situation became more complicated as Sufian did not show up. According to some sources, the TMC leader has submitted his “illness certificate” to avoid questioning. After the announcement of the recent Assembly election results, the TMC had been accused of killing Debabrata Maiti, a resident of Chillogram in Nandigram and a BJP supporter. Sufian’s name was also involved in the murder. Slain Debabrata Maiti’s family had also lodged a complaint with the human rights commission against the TMC leader.

Nandigram BJP MLA Suvendu Adhikari had himself warned at a public meeting that all the “culprits will be found”.

After the investigation was handed over to the CBI, the CBI summoned TMC leader Sheikh Sufian for questioning. Two more TMC leaders, including Sufian, were summoned. After a four-and-a-half-hour marathon interrogation, Sufian himself said he would help the investigators in any way he could. At the same time, he alleged that he had been summoned at the behest of the BJP MLA. The TMC leader even claimed that the slain Debabrata Maiti was a Trinamool Congress supporter.

After investigation, when the charge-sheet was actually submitted, it was seen that Sufian has been dropped from the list of accused and even from the list of suspects. Not only Sufian, but two other TMC leaders who were summoned on the same day as Sufian were also left out. Instead, three new names have come to light—Sheikh Fatenur, Sheikh Mizanur and Sheikh Imdulal Islam. However, their political identity has not come to the fore yet. But, later the picture changed completely. The arrest of the TMC leader’s son-in-law has caused a stir in the area.

In order to check pollution in the Yamuna river, the Delhi government will implement a six-point action plan to clean the river which is expected to be completed by February 2025, said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday.

Briefing reporters here today, the Chief Minister said, “It took 70 years for river Yamuna to become this dirty. It cannot be cleaned within two days. I had promised people in these Delhi polls that it would be cleaned by the next polls. We have started work on war-footing. We have chalked out a six-point action plan to clean the river. I am personally monitoring it. We will be implementing the action plan and are hoping to complete the cleaning work of the river by February 2025.”

He said that the Delhi government was also working on sewer treatment on a war-footing.

Explaining the six-point action plan, Kejriwal said, “First, new sewer treatment plants are being built. Second, the capacity of existing plants is being increased. Third, the technology of old treatment plants is being changed. Fourth, waste from Jhuggi Jhopri clusters that goes into rivers will now be merged into sewers. Fifth, in some areas, people have not taken sewer connections, we have decided to install sewer connections in such areas at nominal charges. And the sixth is desilting and rehabilitation of sewers.”

Days after Delhi’s air quality deteriorated post-Diwali, the Yamuna river in the national capital has been witnessing a thick layer of toxic foam. The capital’s water supply has also remained affected due to a rise in ammonia levels in the river.

A Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HM) district commander was killed in an encounter with the security forces in the Pombai area of Kulgam district in Jammu and Kashmir, Kashmir Inspector General of Police (IGP) Vijay Kumar said on Thursday, even as Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Hyderpora encounter.

Quoting IGP Kashmir, the Kashmir Zone Police tweeted, “Top terrorist and HM’s district commander Shakir Nazar who was active since 2018 killed along with two other terrorists. A big success.” Earlier on Wednesday, the Resistance Front (TRF) commander was killed among five terrorists in twin encounters with the security forces in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district said Jammu and Kashmir Police.

Two of them killed in Pombai were identified as Shakir Najar, Deputy District Commander of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HM) and Sumair Najar affiliated with a proscribed terror outfit HM and TRF respectively.

In Gopalpora area, two terrorists were killed and their bodies were recovered from the site of the encounter. They have been identified as Aafaq Sikander Lone, District commander of TRF, and Irfan Mushtaq Lone. The police also recovered one AK-47 rifle and one pistol.

Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Thursday ordered a magisterial inquiry into the Hyderpora encounter. “A magisterial inquiry by an officer of ADM rank has been ordered in Hyderpora encounter. The government will take suitable action as soon as the report is submitted in a time-bound manner. Jammu and Kashmir administration reiterates the commitment of protecting lives of innocent civilians and it will ensure there is no injustice,” tweeted the Office of Lieutenant Governor. An encounter between security forces and terrorists had broken out in the Hyderpora area of Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir on 15 November after input was received by police regarding the presence of terrorists in an illegal call centre in a private building in the area. The Jammu and Kashmir Police said that two terrorists identified as Haider, a foreign Pakistani terrorist and his associate Amir Ahmad resident of Banihal (a hybrid terrorist), were killed in the encounter. It said the owner of the building, Altaf Ahmad, as well as tenant, Mudasir Ahmad, were also called to accompany the search party. However, in the encounter with terrorists, both received critical gunshot injuries and succumbed to their injuries.

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdullah on Thursday staged a protest in Srinagar and demanded the bodies of two civilians killed in Hyderpora encounter to be returned to the families for their last rites. Speaking to the media, Abdullah said, “I have to stage this protest to express my anger and helplessness.” “We are demanding the bodies of those civilians who were killed in the Hyderpora encounter and have not been returned to their families for the last rites,” he said. “I don’t remember when did I protest like this before, but this situation compelled me to sit in for a demonstration,” Abdullah said.

The National Conference leader said: “I don’t care about inquiries or punishments. I don’t have any other option except to raise my voice for these families,” he added. “Jammu and Kashmir police has also accepted that the civilians were killed in cross-firing. I just want the bodies of civilians to be returned,” he said.

Abdullah said today families were called before SP and control room in hopes of receiving the mortal remains, but they were told to come back after two to three days.

Senior Congress leader and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Ghulam Nabi Azad on Thursday demanded a judicial inquiry into the Hyderpora encounter. “I demand a judicial inquiry into the Hyderpora encounter to find out how and why people were killed. It is a case of police and not of Army. There should be a judicial inquiry under a High Court judge,” the Congress leader told reporters on the sidelines of a public rally held in Kathua today.

“While I respect the police, and I have been a great admirer of the Army and security forces, but at the same time, we should ensure that such things do not happen, that too in Srinagar city. If such thing takes place in the capital then people will raise eyebrows on what must be happening in the hinterland,” he added.

India and China held the 23rd meeting of Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) on Thursday.

The sides discussed the situation in eastern Ladakh. «The two sides had candid and in-depth discussions on the situation along the LAC in Western Sector of India-China Border Areas and also reviewed the developments since the last meeting of the Senior Commanders of both sides which was held on 10 October 2021,» the External Affairs Ministry said in a statement. It said that the two sides recalled the agreement between the External Affairs Minister and the Foreign Minister of China during their meeting in September in Dushanbe that military and diplomatic officials of the two sides should continue their discussions to resolve the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Eastern Ladakh. The Indian delegation was led by Additional Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs. The Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation. Significantly, it was agreed that both sides should hold the next (14th) round of the Senior Commanders’ meeting at an early date to achieve the objective of complete disengagement from all the friction points along the LAC in the Western Sector in accordance with the existing bilateral agreements and protocols.

There is a stalemate on complete disengagement from friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) following the actions of the Chinese Army last year. India has said that the standoff is affecting the bilateral ties. It has also accused China of unilaterally altering the status quo along the LAC. China so far has taken a rigid position over complete disengagement. While areas like Pangong Tso and Gogra have seen a pullback of troops by the two sides after several rounds of talks, Hot Springs is yet to see disengagement.