The operation against an international drug cartel was carried out by the Indian Navy, NCB and the Gujarat Police.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s aircraft suffered a technical snag at Deoghar in Jharkhand this afternoon. The aircraft will now have to remain at the airport until the technical fault is fixed and another plane is being sent to Deoghar from New Delhi, causing a delay in the PM’s return to the capital. 

The Prime Minister addressed two rallies in Jharkhand today on the occasion of tribal icon Birsa Munda’s anniversary, which is celebrated as Janjatiya Gaurav Diwas, and ahead of the second round of polling for the Assembly elections in the state on November 20.

Barely 80 km away from Deoghar, in Jharkhand’s Godda, Rahul Gandhi’s helicopter remained grounded for 45 minutes awaiting clearance from the air traffic control, prompting the Congress to claim that the delay was deliberate to disrupt the campaign schedule of the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. 

The Congress had pointed to the PM’s rally near Deoghar, suggesting that his event was being prioritised over Mr Gandhi’s movements. The chopper was allowed to take off 45 minutes later. 

In his rallies earlier in the day, PM Modi hit out at the Congress and Rahul Gandhi. Reiterating his “shehzada” (prince) jibe, the Prime Minister accused Mr Gandhi of conspiring to scrap reservations for people belonging to the Scheduled Caste (SC), Scheduled Tribe (ST) and other backward classes (OBC) communities to “weaken” them.

“The Congress has dangerous intentions. The Congress’ “shehzada” is conspiring to scrap reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs. The prince’s father had declared reservation as slavery, bonded labour but he was later defeated in elections. His father had issued advertisements to remove reservations… We will thwart any such conspiracy,” PM Modi said.

He also claimed that the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, which is in an alliance with the Congress, was helping “infiltrators” become permanent residents in Jharkhand, a charge levelled by several other BJP leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah. 

At the rally in Godda district, Rahul Gandhi pushed for a nationwide caste census, claiming it would change the face of India. 

“Caste census is bound to happen… We will demolish the 50 per cent reservation ceiling, PM Modi can do whatever he can,” he said. 

Polling in the second phase for the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly will take place on November 20 and votes will be counted on November 23. 

(With inputs from PTI)

In Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, a man’s routine trip to buy meat on a quiet Thursday afternoon took a shocking turn as he was stabbed to death outside a shop. Shahzad, a 35-year-old Meerut native living in Noida, and an unidentified customer had arrived at the shop owned by Gulzar. As the two awaited service, a seemingly benign argument over a towel spiralled into a deadly confrontation.

As Shahzad asked the unknown man to lend him a towel he wore, the request provoked the accused, leading to a heated exchange. Eyewitnesses describe how, in the midst of rising tempers, the attacker suddenly seized a butcher’s knife lying on the counter, of the Sector 117 meatshop. Without hesitation, he plunged it into Shahzad’s stomach, cutting it open which sent Shahzad staggering from the shop.

Holding his bleeding stomach, Shahzad ran approximately 40 metres to a nearby intersection. His desperate plea for help, as he collapsed onto a culvert, went unanswered. The accused continued his pursuit, stabbing Shahzad several more times until he collapsed, dead. The killer, as though unaffected, returned calmly to the meat shop, picked up his order and walked away.

Responding to frantic calls, police officers soon arrived at the scene, retrieved Shahzad’s body and sent it for an autopsy. With no initial clues on the killer’s identity, three teams were quickly mobilised to scour the area and examine CCTV footage from nearby shops.

Later that night, police received a tip-off about the accused, identified as Amarjeet Mahato, a resident of Bihar. Around dawn today, they traced Mahato to the jungle bordering Sector 117. When police closed in, Mahato fired at the officers with a pistol. In the ensuing exchange of fire, Mahato was shot in the leg, subdued, and taken to a local hospital for treatment. The police also seized the knife used in Shahzad’s murder, as well as Mahato’s pistol and a stash of live cartridges.

According to the police, Shahzad was the father of three children. His wife Salma works as a cook. Shahzad, who had recently lost his job as a driver, was hoping to secure new work when he was killed.

Though the meat shop was equipped with surveillance cameras, the footage captured only glimpses of the attack: Shahzad is seen fleeing the shop after the initial stab wound, followed by Mahato in quick pursuit. The police have confiscated the CCTV footage from surrounding shops as part of their ongoing investigation.

Gulzar, the meat shop’s owner, vanished immediately after the incident.