Thailand gears up for second day of cave rescue
Bangkok, July 9 : Thai authorities on Monday were preparing for the second day of the rescue of the remaining nine boys trapped for more than two weeks in a cave in northern Thailand following a successful first operation in which four were taken out alive.
Narongsak Osottanakorn, official spokesperson for the operations, said on Sunday night in a press conference that the rescue teams would resume their tasks between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., on Monday, reports Efe news.
Rescue personnel needed to replace the compressed air cylinders used for the more than 4 km route and re-evaluate conditions in the partially flooded cave located in the northern province of Chiang Rai.
Four of the 13 schoolboys and their coach were rescued on Sunday and taken to the Chiang Rai provincial hospital where they are under evaluation.
The first boy came out at 5.40 p.m. and the second followed 10 minutes later while the other two came out after more than two hours.
The other eight boys and their coach remain in the cave where they were found on June 2 after a search and rescue mission that began 16 days ago.
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Mumbai police summon Raipur lawyer over death threat to Shah Rukh Khan
Mumbai/Raipur, Nov 7: The Mumbai police have registered an extortion case and summoned a lawyer from Chhattisgarh in connection with a death threat to Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and a demand for Rs 50 lakh, officials said on Thursday.
The lawyer from Raipur has been summoned as the threat call was made from a phone number registered in his name, a senior police official from the Chhattisgarh capital said. The lawyer told the police that he lost his phone last week and had filed a police complaint, the official said.
The threat to Shah Rukh Khan follows a series of threats issued to fellow actor Salman Khan, allegedly from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
“The Bandra police station received a call threatening Shah Rukh Khan and asking for Rs 50 lakh. An offence has been registered. No arrest has been made yet,” a senior Mumbai police official said.
A case has been registered by the Bandra police under sections 308(4) (extortion involving threats of death or serious injury) and 351(3)(4) (criminal intimidation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the caller who threatened Shah Rukh Khan, the official said.
Police teams have been dispatched to various places for further investigation, he said.
While there was no confirmation from Mumbai police on reports that the call was made from Chhattisgarh, a Raipur police official said their counterparts from the Maharashtra capital on Thursday served a notice to a man from the city in connection with it.
As part of their investigation into the threat to Shah Rukh Khan, Mumbai police visited Raipur and summoned a lawyer, identified as Faizan Khan, who lives within the limits of Pandri police station here, Raipur Senior Superintendent of Police Santosh Singh told PTI.
Police had earlier identified the man as Faiyaz Khan.
As per preliminary information, the threat call to the actor was made from a phone number registered in the name of Faizan, he said.
Faizan has been asked to appear for questioning at Bandra police station, Singh said.
A Mumbai police team arrived at Pandri police station in the morning and informed the officials about the case following which Faizan was called for questioning, City Superintendent of Police (CSP- Civil Lines) Ajay Kumar told PTI.
Faizan told the cops that he had lost his phone last week and lodged a complaint at Khamardih police station here, he said. Mumbai police have served a notice to Faizan and summoned him for further questioning, the official added.
Later, talking to reporters in Raipur, Faizan claimed that his phone was stolen and termed the threat call made from his number a conspiracy against him.
“My phone was stolen on November 2 and I lodged a complaint. I told Mumbai police about it. They interrogated me for about two hours,” he said.
He, however, said he had earlier complained to Mumbai police against Shah Rukh Khan over a dialogue in his movie ‘Anjaam’ (1994) referring to deer hunting.
“I hail from Rajasthan. The Bishnoi community (which is from Rajasthan) is my friend. It is in their religion to protect deer. So, if a Muslim says something like this about deer, it is condemnable. Therefore, I raised an objection,” he said.
Faizan added, “Whoever has made a call from my phone, it seems intentional. I think it is a conspiracy against me.”
