Techie Ajitabh missing case: HC orders CBI probe
Bengaluru, October 22: The Karnataka High Court has ordered CBI probe into the missing case of software engineer Kumar Ajitabh from Whitefield of Bengaluru.
Hearing a petition filed by Ajitabh’s father Ashok Kumar Sinha from Bihar demanding CBI enquiry into his son’s missing case on November 18, 2017, the Single Judge Bench headed by Justice Aravind Kumar ordered CBI probe into the case.
Ajitabh has been working as a software engineer in the British Telecom Company at Bellandur in the city for the last five years. He went outside of his house to show his car to a person who asked his car for buying in OLX and went missing.
Later, a complaint was lodged at Whitefield police station on Ajithab’s missing. When the police have failed to get any indication about Ajitabh, his father moved the High Court seeking CBI probe into the case. The Single Judge Bench had directed the government to constitute a Special Investigation Team to investigate the case. Though the SIT officials tried in all angles, they have failed to establish a breakthrough in the case as they did not get cooperation from the neighbouring states investigating agencies. Following this, the High Court ordered CBI investigation into the case.
The Bench observed that CBI investigation was necessary to take the case to a logical end. During investigation, some reports should be taken from international agencies. Submit all documents collected by the SIT to the CBI which will not face any problem in communication and coordination as it is a national investigation agency. This decision would help the CBI to get cooperation from state agencies in its investigation, the Court observed.
Already, CID team has collected information through call records, Google check-up and Interpol. But still, there is no information about the missing techie.
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Iran reimposes restrictions on Strait of Hormuz, accusing US of violating deal to reopen it
Cairo (AP): Iran swiftly reversed course on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, reimposing restrictions on the critical waterway on Saturday after the US said it would not end its blockade of Iran-linked shipping.
Iran's joint military command said on Saturday that “control of the Strait of Hormuz has returned to its previous state ... under strict management and control of the armed forces.” It warned that it would continue to block transit through the strait as long as the US blockade of Iranian ports remained in effect.
The announcement came the morning after US President Donald Trump said that even after Iran announced the strait's reopening on Friday, the American blockade “will remain in full force” until Tehran reaches a deal with the US, including on its nuclear programme.
The conflict over the chokepoint threatened to deepen the energy crisis roiling the global economy after oil prices began to fall again on Friday on hopes the US and Iran were drawing closer to an agreement. Roughly one-fifth of the world's oil passes through the strait, and further limits would squeeze already constrained supply, driving prices higher once again.
Control over the strait has proven to be one of Iran's main points of leverage and prompted the United States to deploy forces and initiate a blockade on Iranian ports as part of an effort to force Iran to accept a Pakistan-brokered ceasefire to end almost seven weeks of war that has raged between Israel, the US and Iran.
Iran said it fully reopened the Strait of Hormuz to commercial vessels after a 10-day truce was announced between Israel and the Iranian-backed Hezbollah militant group in Lebanon. But after Trump said the blockade would continue, top Iranian officials said his announcement violated last week's ceasefire agreement between Iran and the US and warned the strait would not stay open if the US blockade remained in effect.
A data firm, Kpler, said movement through the strait remained confined to corridors requiring Iran's approval.
US forces have sent 21 ships back to Iran since the blockade began on Monday, US Central Command said on X.
Truce in Lebanon could help US-Iran peace efforts
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The ceasefire in Lebanon could clear one major obstacle to an agreement. But it was unclear to what extent Hezbollah would abide by a deal it did not play a role in negotiating, and which will leave Israeli troops occupying a stretch of southern Lebanon.
Trump said in another post that Israel is “prohibited” by the US from further strikes on Lebanon and that “enough is enough” in the Israel-Hezbollah war.
The State Department said the prohibition applies only to offensive attacks and not to actions taken in self-defence.
Shortly before Trump's post, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel agreed to the ceasefire in Lebanon “at the request of my friend President Trump,” but that the campaign against Hezbollah is not complete.
He claimed Israel had destroyed about 90 per cent of Hezbollah's missile and rocket stockpiles and added that Israeli forces “have not finished yet” with the dismantling of the group.
In Beirut, displaced families began moving toward southern Lebanon and Beirut's southern suburbs despite warnings by officials not to return to their homes until it became clear whether the ceasefire would hold.
The Lebanese army and UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon reported sporadic artillery shelling in some parts of southern Lebanon in the hours after the ceasefire took effect.
An end to Israel's war with Hezbollah was a key demand of Iranian negotiators, who previously accused Israel of breaking last week's ceasefire with strikes on Lebanon. Israel had said that the deal did not cover Lebanon.
The fighting has killed at least 3,000 people in Iran, more than 2,290 in Lebanon, 23 in Israel and more than a dozen in Gulf Arab states. Thirteen US service members have also been killed.
