Suspected Khalistani terrorist killed in blast in Amritsar
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Chandigarh (PTI): A suspected Khalistani terrorist died in a blast while retrieving explosive material from a vacant area on the Majitha road bypass in Punjab's Amritsar on Tuesday, police said.
The intensity of the explosion, which took place around 9:30 am, was such that both arms of the man were blown off.
Deputy Inspector General (Border Range) Satinder Singh said the man is suspected to have links with some terror organisation like Babbar Khalsa International (BKI).
The man came here to retrieve the explosive material and thereafter, the blast took place, he said.
"The explosive material was in his hands when the blast took place," Singh told reporters in Amritsar.
"We are investigating his identity and the terror organisation he belonged to," he said.
Replying to a question, the DIG said the man was yet to be identified.
"As per circumstantial evidence, it is clear that this man was a member of some terrorist organisation," Singh said, adding police got some vital clues from the man's pocket which indicated his links with some terror outfit.
A team of Forensic Science Laboratory is investigating to find out whether it was an IED (improvised explosive device) blast or grenade blast.
Amritsar Rural Senior Superintendent of Police Maninder Singh said the man was retrieving some explosive material when the blast happened, possibly due to mishandling.
Locals reported hearing a loud blast followed by a panic in the area, which has since been cordoned off by police.
The DIG appealed to people not to panic, saying "we will soon trace this case".
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
