The Jammu and Kashmir Police has arrested two people for allegedly stealing narcotics worth crores of rupees and fake currency notes from a high-security court complex in the erstwhile state’s Rajouri district, officials said on Saturday.

A senior official said that four kilograms contraband heroin, fake currency notes and other articles seized by the police were kept inside the ‘Malkhana’ of the Rajouri district court complex.

He said that the seized items were stolen from the ‘Malkhana’ of the court complex on the intervening night of April 3 and 4 which led to the suspension of five police personnel, including an officer during preliminary investigation.

Senior Superintendent of Police (Rajouri) Amritpal Singh said following the theft, a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered, adding that special teams of the J&K Police began an investigation to nail the culprits and recover the stolen items.

He said the police teams during their investigation, analyzed security camera footage at various locations and questioned several suspects and eventually zeroed in on the two main accused who were then arrested along with the stolen items.

The senior officer said that the accused have been identified as Mohd Showket Gujjar and Mohd Taj, both residents of neighbouring Poonch district in the Union Territory, adding that the seized stolen items, including four packets of heroin worth crores of rupees in the international market, fake currency notes with a face value of Rs 1 lakh and a mobile phone were recovered from Showket.

The top cop said that during interrogation, the accused men confessed to their involvement in the theft which led to the recovery of the stolen items, adding that the duo’s involvement in other theft cases is also being investigated.

Further investigation is ongoing, the officer said, adding that further details will follow.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has expressed outrage over the exclusion of Tamil language in a recruitment exam for the Central Reserve Police Forces (CRPF), claiming that the mandate to write the test in only English and Hindi was discriminatory against Tamil speakers.

Stalin, in a letter addressed to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, termed the move as “blatant discrimination” as he claimed the mandating only English and Hindi was “unilateral” and breaches the Constitutional rights of aspirants from Tamil Nadu as it prevents them from taking the examination in their mother tongue in their own native state.

Stalin, in his letter to the Home Minister, pointed out the fact the 25 out of the 100 marks have been allotted for “basic comprehension in Hindi”, which he said can only benefit Hindi-speaking candidates and acts as an obstacle for aspirants from southern states of the country.

In the letter, the Tamil Nadu CM said the CRPF notification, in simple terms, is against the interests of those applying from Tamil Nadu, adding that the decision was not only unilateral but also discriminatory in nature and would prevent Tamil natives aspiring for a job in the CRPF from getting recruited.

The letter quoted Stalin as telling the Home Minister: “To put it simply, this CRPF notification is against the interests of those applying from Tamil Nadu. This is not only unilateral but amounts to being disrcriminatory.”

 MK Stalin in the letter asked Amit Shah to intervene in the matter and reverse the “discriminatory” decision and allow non-Hindi speaking aspirants to write the test in their regional languages, including Tamil.

As per a state government release on Sunday, of the 9,212 vacancies in the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), 579 had to be filled from Tamil Nadu, the exam for which is scheduled to be held in 12 centres.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday launched ‘International Big Cat Alliance’ (IBCA) to commemorate the 50 years of ‘Project Tiger’ and ramp up efforts to protect the tiger population in India and across the world.

Addressing the inaugural session of the commemoration of 50 years of ‘Project Tiger’ in Karnataka, PM Modi said India is home to 3,167 tigers, around 75 percent of the world’s total tiger population, adding that the population of the big cats rose by 200 in the past four years.

As per the census data revealed by the Prime Minister, the tiger population was 1,411 in 2006, 1,706 in 2010, 2,226 in 2014, 2,967 in 2018 and 3,167 in 2022.

On the occasion, PM Modi also released a commemorative coin to celebrate the 50 years of ‘Project Tiger’ and launched the ‘International Big Cat Alliance’ (IBCA), besides releasing the ‘Amrit Kaal Ka Tiger Vision’ booklet that presents the vision for tiger conservation over the next 25 years.

PM Modi said that IBCA was India’s effort to protect and conserve endangered big cats as wildlife protection is a global issue.

Listing some of India’s recent efforts in conservation of big cats, the Prime Minister said cheetahs, who had become extinct in India decades ago, were brought back to the country from Namibia and South Africa in the world’s first successful transcontinental translocation of the big cat.

PM Modi stressed that wildlife can only thrive if ecosystems flourish and this has been achieved in India where protecting nature is a part of culture, adding that Indians believe in the importance of ecology and economy co-existing in harmony and there’s no conflict between the two.

The IBCA will focus on the protection and conservation of seven major big cats of the world — Tiger, Lion, Leopard, Snow Leopard, Puma, Jaguar and Cheetah — with membership of the range countries harbouring these species.

On April 1, 1973, India had launched ‘Project Tiger’ to promote conservation of dwindling tiger population. The ambitious project initially covered tiger reserves spread over 18,278 sq km and at present covers under its ambit, 53 tiger reserves spanning more than 75,000 sq km (approximately 2.4 per cent of the country’s geographical area).

Earlier, PM Modi in the morning went on a wildlife safari at the magnificent Bandipur Tiger Reserve and observed the wildlife and biodiversity at the scenic reserve.