Relieved, heartened: Ashoka University on bail granted to professor Mahmudabad
Sonipat (Haryana) (PTI): The Ashoka University on Wednesday said it was "relieved" and "heartened" that the Supreme Court granted interim bail to its professor Ali Khan Mahmudabad.
Mahmudabad was arrested on Sunday by Haryana police for his social media posts related to Operation Sindoor.
"We are relieved and heartened by prof Ali Khan Mahmudabad being granted interim bail by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. It has provided great comfort to his family and all of us at Ashoka University," the university said in a statement.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted interim bail to Mahmudabad but refused to stay the investigation against him.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotisar Singh directed the Haryana DGP to constitute a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by an IG rank officer and including an SP rank woman officer within 24 hours for investigating the case.
The bench restrained the professor from writing any further online posts on the recent India-Pakistan conflict and asked him to cooperate with the SIT investigation.
On Tuesday, a court in Sonipat sent Mahmudabad to judicial custody till May 27.
Haryana police had arrested Mahmudabad on Sunday after two FIRs were registered against him, alleging his social media posts on Operation Sindoor endangered the sovereignty and integrity of the country.
The FIRs were lodged at the Rai police station in Sonipat district -- one based on a complaint by the chairperson of Haryana State Commission for Women, Renu Bhatia, and the other on a complaint by a village sarpanch.
Several political parties and academicians had condemned the arrest.
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South African police arrest suspect in mass shooting that killed 12, including 3 children
Johannesburg (AP): A 32-year-old suspect has been arrested in connection with a mass shooting which claimed the lives of 12 people including three children at an unlicensed pub earlier this month, South African police said on Monday.
The man is suspected of being one of the three people who opened fire on patrons in a pub at Saulsville township, west of South Africa's capital Pretoria, killing 12 people including three children aged 3, 12 and 16.
At least 13 people were also injured during the attack, whose motive remains unknown.
According to the police, the suspect was arrested on Sunday while traveling to Botlokwa in Limpopo province, more than 340 km from where the mass shooting took place on Dec 6.
An unlicensed firearm believed to have been used during the attack was recovered from the suspect's vehicle.
“The 32-year-old suspect was intercepted by Limpopo Tracking Team on the R101 Road in Westenburg precinct. During the arrest, the team recovered an unlicensed firearm, a hand gun, believed to have been used in the commission of the multiple murders. The firearm will be taken to the Forensic Science Laboratory for ballistic analysis,” police said in statement.
The suspect was arrested on the same day that another mass shooting at a pub took place in the Bekkersdal township, west of Johannesburg, in which nine people were killed and 10 wounded when unknown gunmen opened fire on patrons.
Police have since launched a search for the suspects.
South Africa has one of the highest homicide rates in the world and recorded more than 26,000 homicides in 2024 — an average of more than 70 a day. Firearms are by far the leading cause of death in homicides.
The country of 62 million people has relatively strict gun ownership laws, but many killings are committed with illegal guns, according to authorities.
According to police, mass shootings at unlicensed bars are becoming a serious problem. Police shut down more than 11,000 illegal taverns between April and September this year and arrested more than 18,000 people for involvement in illegal liquor sales.
