Another Army soldier killed by Pakistani sniper along LoC in J&K
Jammu, Nov 11 : An Army soldier was killed Sunday by a Pakistani sniper along the Line of Control in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir, officials said, the third fatal casualty due to sniping from across the border in three days.
The soldier, manning a forward post in Kalal area of Noushera sector, was shot by a Pakistani sniper, resulting in his death, they said.
Naik Gosavi Keshav Somgir (29), belonged to village Sri Rampur of Nashik district of Maharashtra, a defence spokesman said. Somgir is survived by wife Yashoda Gosavi.
"Pakistan Army resorted to an unprovoked ceasefire violation in Noushera sector on the Line of Control at about 1445 hours resulting in critical injuries to Somgir due to fire from across the border and succumbed to gunshot wound injuries," the spokesman said in a statement.
He said Somgir had served in the Army for 10 years and his death would not "go in vain".
"The nation will always remain indebted to him for the supreme sacrifice and devotion to duty," he said.
He said Indian Army retaliated strongly and effectively on Pakistan Army posts. On Saturday, a soldier was killed after he was hit by a sniper in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district.
Rifleman Varun Kattal, 21, a resident of Mawa-Rajpura area of Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir, was shot dead by a Pakistani sniper in Sunderbani sector of Rajouri district, triggering an exchange of fire between the two sides which also left two BSF personnel injured.
An Army portar lost his life in a similar attack in Akhnoor sector a day earlier.
On October 21, three soldiers of Jammu and Kashmir light infantry regiment and two heavily-armed infiltrators, believed to be members of the Border Action Team (BAT) of the Pakistani army, and terrorists, were killed in Sunderbani sector.
On November 6, a soldier was injured when he was hit by a sniper from across the border at Kalal in Noushera sector of Rajouri, while a BSF jawan was injured in a separate incident of firing by Pakistan along the LoC in the Manjakote area of the Rajouri-Poonch sector Friday.
The number of ceasefire violations this year by Pakistan has been the highest in the past eight years.
The first seven months of this year saw 52 deaths and 232 people getting injured in 1,435 ceasefire violations in the state, according to an RTI reply by the Home Ministry.
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Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
