Hajj season starts with nearly 2 mn pilgrims
Riyadh, Aug 19 : The Hajj season started on Sunday with the Day of Tarwiyah, the first ritual of the holy pilgrimage, in Mina, a neighbourhood of the Islamic city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia, with 1,966,461 pilgrims.
The General Authority for Statistics announced the figure on Saudi Press Agency, with the total number of pilgrims to be announced on the evening of Arafat Day -- the most important Hajj ritual -- on Monday, Xinhua news agency reported.
To ensure the safety of pilgrims, a comprehensive security and safety plan has been set up to transport people between ritual sites.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry announced another plan to protect the well-being of pilgrims with the allocations of 25 hospitals and 155 health centres at all sites with a capacity of 5,000 beds, 180 ambulances and 100 vehicles which were converted into ICU mobile units.
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Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
