Smugglers kill anti-drugs activist in Delhi
New Delhi, Oct 1 : An activist who had been fighting drugs smugglers and local criminals in south Delhi's Taimoor Nagar was gunned down by two suspected smugglers who came to buy drugs near his residence, police said on Monday.
The incident occurred on Sunday night at around 9 p.m. when the victim, Rupesh, 28, was playing with his children outside his residence. The attackers first stabbed a drug peddler when they did not get fine quality drugs from him and later attacked Rupesh.
CCTV installed outside Rupesh's residence captured the attackers running away. One who was wearing a white cap opened fire at Rupesh after Rupesh objected to their abusive language, the victim's wife Monica told IANS.
"I was standing at the balcony and witnessed the crime. I raised an alarm and ran to help my husband. He was taken to a hospital but succumbed to his injuries," she said.
"My husband and his elder brother Umesh along with locals launched an anti-drug campaign in Taimoor Nagar. They had earlier sent complaints to the local police station, the DCP's office and also the Police Commissioner but nothing happened. Some drug smugglers had threatened my husband and his brother," she said.
Hundreds of people blocked traffic on the major roads for a couple of hours, demanding the early arrest of the killers. A mob torched a motorcycle and damaged a few vehicles in the area before the police used force to disperse the stone-pelting crowd.
"We have detained some drug smugglers and are trying to identify the accused. We will soon nab the attackers," Deputy Commissioner of Police Chinmoy Biswal said.
The victim's family demanded police protection for Umesh.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
