The event unfolded under an extensive security deployment, with state police, RAF and central forces stationed across Rejinagar and neighbouring Beldanga.

A 20-year-old man was arrested for raping and assaulting an 85-year-old woman in Thiruvananthapuram. The victim was also brutally beaten with a stick.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar addressed the matter of former Bangladeshi PM Sheikh Hasina’s status in India, suggesting that her continued stay is largely a personal decision influenced by the “circumstances” that led her to the nation.