Former President Jiang Zemin, who guided China's rise, dies at 96
Beijing (AP): Former Chinese President Jiang Zemin, who led his country out of isolation after the crushing of pro-democracy protests in Tiananmen Square and supported economic reforms that led to a decade of explosive growth, has died, state TV said. He was 96.
A surprise choice to lead a divided Communist Party after the 1989 Tiananmen crackdown, Jiang saw China through history-making changes including a revival of market-oriented reforms, the return of Hong Kong from British rule in 1997 and Beijing's entry into the World Trade Organization in 2001.
Even as China opened to the outside, Jiang's government stamped out dissent at home. It jailed human rights, labour and pro-democracy activists and banned the Falun Gong spiritual movement, which it viewed as a threat to the Communist Party's monopoly on power.
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Four held for Rs 6.79 cr loot at Mumbai jewellery shop; thermal drones used to scan forest hideouts
Mumbai (PTI): Four persons were arrested after an intense 48-day manhunt deep inside the forests of Rajasthan for allegedly stealing jewellery worth Rs 6.79 crore from a shop in north Mumbai, a police official said on Monday.
The theft of gold, silver and diamonds from the safe of complainant Sanket Porwal's shop in IC Colony in Borival West took place in January, the MHB police station official said.
"Our probe found that shop employees Prabhu Singh and Narayan Singh allegedly used a duplicate key to unlock the safe and flee with the valuables. Technical analysis traced them to Rajasthan, following which a team went there. The trail eventually led investigators to the dense forest regions of Rajsamand district in the western state," he said.
The accused avoided staying in villages and continued to move deeper into the forest to avoid arrest, the official said. They also kept moving from Rajsamand to Chittorgarh, Sardargarh and Pali districts, he added.
"For 48 days, police officers camped in the jungles, relying on human intelligence and advanced surveillance techniques. Thermal drones were used to scan forest zones where the accused were suspected to be hiding. Further probe revealed the involvement of others identified as Ganpat Singh, Kishan Singh and Mod Singh," he said.
One key accused was traced to a temple located deep inside a forest near Muwariya village in Rajsamand district, while two others were picked up from Kuwariya village based on a tip off, the official added.
Three kilograms of gold worth Rs 4.5 crore as well as five kilograms of silver worth Rs 15 lakh have been seized, and efforts are on to recover the remaining loot, he said.
