Government didn't leak surgical strike footage: Parrikar
Panaji, June 28: Former Defence Minister and Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Thursday said the media should not probe how sensitive footage of the 2016 surgical strikes was accessed and broadcast on national television, and insisted the Defence Ministry did not leak the footage with an eye on the upcoming general elections.
"I don't think government has released it. Somehow, some people may have managed to get a small bite of it. So that's all. Let it be shown. Why are you going into the issues of how it has come, why it has come? Some people asked me about elections... Elections are quite far...," Parrikar told reporters at the state Secretariat.
"Like you (journalists) get the scoop, the media must have managed to get the scoop from somewhere. It is there," the former Defence Minister said. He, however, refused to certify the leaked footage of the 2016 surgical strikes, which was broadcast on national news channels on Wednesday.
"I have not certified the video, I am only certifying that the surgical strikes took place," Parrikar said.
The Chief Minister said there was no indication that the Defence Ministry had released the footage to the media.
"I am not aware if it is released by the Defence Ministry. As far as I am concerned, I do not see any indication that it is released by the Ministry. Some channels started showing it yesterday (Wednesday)," Parrikar said.
He also said that Pakistan never really questioned the strikes because of the neighbouring country's strategic limitations.
"Pakistan actually never questioned. Pakistan did not comment on our claim on surgical strikes. Either they have to accept it... If they accept it, they have to retaliate against it. So they have their own limitations. Our opposition (parties), some, not all, doubted. This (the footage) is adequate proof for that," Parrikar said.
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6 held for murder of Congress leader in Ludhiana
Ludhiana (PTI): Six persons have been arrested in connection with the murder of Congress leader Parminder Tiwari, who was hacked to death with an axe on Sunday in Machhiwara here.
Tiwari, the block president of the Congress party from Machhiwara in Ludhiana, was murdered on March 29 while sitting outside his rented quarters near Takhran village
Deputy Commissioner of Police Jaskaranjit Singh Teja stated the case is neither linked to politics nor gang rivalry.
The main accused, Vijay Kumar and Lucky, were apprehended in Jamalpura village in Munger district, Bihar, by a special team dispatched there, police said.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the suspects aimed to illegally occupy a piece of panchayat land in the Machiwara area, but Tiwari opposed their plans. The accused allegedly visited Tiwari at his rented quarters on March 29 and attacked him with an axe, resulting in his immediate death, officials said.
The other four individuals arrested are relatives of the main accused and were aware of the murder plot, the DCP added.
Police have recovered the axe used in the crime, as well as the motorcycle the accused used to flee the scene.
