Four Naxalites killed in encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur
Bijapur (PTI): Security forces on Saturday gunned down four Naxalites, including senior cadre Dilip Vedja, in an encounter in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district, police said.
The gunfight broke out in the morning in the forested hills of the district’s northwest region, where a joint team of security forces was out on an anti-Naxal operation, Bijapur Superintendent of Police Jitendra Yadav said.
He said that personnel belonging to the Special Task Force and District Reserve Guard, both state police units, and CoBRA (Commando Battalion for Resolute Action) -- an elite unit of CRPF -- were involved in the operation, which was launched based on inputs about the presence of Vedja, a divisional committee member, in the area.
“During the search, the bodies of two Maoists were recovered from the encounter site by noon. Subsequently, bodies of two more Maoist cadres, including a woman, were recovered in the evening,” Yadav said.
Weapons, including AK-47 rifle and .303 rifle, have also been recovered from the spot, he said, adding that a search operation is underway.
One of the neutralised Naxalites has been identified as Dilip Vedja, who was active in the national park area committee of Maoists and had been involved in several attacks, the official said.
Preliminary information suggests the three other killed cadres belonged to the same area committee, though their identity was yet to be ascertained, he added.
On January 3, as many as 14 Naxalites were gunned down in two encounters in the Bastar region, comprising seven districts, including Bijapur.
A total of 285 Naxalites were killed in encounters with security forces in Chhattisgarh last year.
The Centre has set the deadline of March 31, 2026, to eradicate Left-Wing Extremism in the country.
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Screenwriter Salim Khan on ventilator support and stable, say doctors
Mumbai (PTI): Veteran screenwriter Salim Khan suffered a brain haemorrhage which has been tackled, is on ventilator support as a safeguard and stable, doctors treating him said on Wednesday, a day after he was admitted to the Lilavati Hospital here.
The 90-year-old, one half of the celebrated Salim-Javed duo which scripted films such as "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don" with Javed Akhtar, is in the ICU and recovery might take some time given his age.
"His blood pressure was high for which we treated him and we had to put him on a ventilator because we wanted to do certain investigations. Now the ventilator was put as a safeguard so that his situation doesn't get worse. So it is not that he is critical," Dr Jalil Parkar told reporters.
"We did the investigations that were required and today we have done a small procedure on him, I will not go into the details. The procedure done is called DSA (digital subtraction angiography). The procedure has been accomplished, he is fine and stable and shifted back to ICU. By tomorrow, we hope to get him off the ventilator. All in all, he is doing quite well," he added.
Asked whether he suffered a brain haemorrhage, the doctor said, "Unko thoda haemorrhage hua tha, which we’ve tackled. No surgery is required.
As concern over Khan's health mounted, his children, including superstar Salman Khan and Arbaaz Khan, daughter Alvira, and sons-in-law Atul Agnihotri and Aayush Sharma, have been seen outside the hospital along with other well-wishers. His long-time partner Akhtar was also seen coming out of the hospital.
Khan, a household name in the 70s and 80s, turned 90 on November 24 last year. It was the day Dharmendra, the star of many of his films, including "Sholay", "Seeta aur Geeta" and "Yaadon Ki Baraat", passed away.
Hailing from an affluent family in Indore, Khan arrived in Mumbai in his 20s with dreams of stardom. He was good looking and confident he would make a mark in the industry as an actor. But that did not happen. And then, after struggling for close to a decade and getting confined to small roles in films, he changed lanes.
He worked as an assistant to Abrar Alvi and soon met Akhtar to form one of Hindi cinema's most formidable writing partnerships. They worked together on two dozen movies with most of them achieving blockbuster status.
Other than "Sholay", "Deewar" and "Don", Khan and Akhtar also penned "Trishul", "Zanjeer", "Seeta Aur Geeta", "Haathi Mere Saathi", "Yaadon Ki Baarat" and "Mr India".
