Indian Sub-continent

Hyderabad, Oct 11 (PTI) The BJP is trying to convert India into "RSS Raj", AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi alleged Thursday and hit out at Amit Shah, the chief of the saffron party, saying he was "frustrated and lost".

The remark of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief came a day after Shah lashed out at Owaisi, a bitter critic of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), and said it was the saffron party alone that could fight people like him and not the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS), Telugu Desam Party (TDP) or the Congress.

Indore, Oct 11 (PTI) The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Madhya Pradesh police on Thursday claimed to have unearthed illegitimate wealth of Rs 15 crore belonging to a civic official here who is local in-charge of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan.

Raids were carried out on Thursday at the properties of Abhay Singh Rathore, an assistant engineer with the Indore Municipal Corporation, and his relatives, an EOW official said.

Rathore was the local in-charge of the Swachh Bharat Mission, the Union government's initiative, he said.

Latehar (Jharkhand), Oct 11 (PTI) An ultra of the banned Jharkhand Janmukti Parishad (JJMP) was Thursday arrested after a brief encounter between the security forces and the extremists in the Jarma jungles of Latehar district.

Latehar Superintendent of Police, Prashant Anand said that after getting information that the extremists were present in the forests, CRPF personnel and police surrounded the area.

Both the sides exchanged about 50 rounds, the SP said, adding there was no casualty in the encounter.

Ghaziabad, Oct 11 (PTI) A minor girl was allegedly raped by five youths in a hotel here, police said Thursday.

Superintendent of Police Shlok Kumar said the girl, 16, was gang-raped when she had gone to attend the birthday party of her friend on September 25.

The youths served her a sedative-laced drink and took her to a hotel in Bazariya market railway road here, where they committed the crime. They threatened her of dire consequences if she disclosed it before parents or police, he said.

Amaravati/Bhubaneswar, Oct 11 (PTI) A very severe cyclonic storm packing winds of up to 150 kmph and widespread rains hit eastern India Thursday, killing eight people in Andhra Pradesh and one in Odisha, damaging homes, uprooting trees and power lines in the two states.

Cyclone 'Titli' made landfall on the eastern coast early Thursday, wreaking havoc mainly in Srikakulam and Vizianagaram districts of Andhra Pradesh and Odisha's Gajapati and Ganjam districts.

New Delhi, Oct 11 (PTI) Strong dusty winds lashed some some parts of the city Thursday, bringing down mercury, a MeT department said.

Weather remained pleasant in the national capital on Thursday with the maximum temperature settling at 32.3 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season's average.

Strong dusty winds lashed some parts of the city which left to a drop of mercury, the official said.

The minimum temperature was recorded at 24.5 degrees Celsius, four notches above the normal, a Met Department official said.

Lucknow, Oct 11 (PTI) The Samajwadi Party will contest the December 7 assembly elections in Telangana, a party spokesperson said Thursday.

The chief of the party's Telangana unit, S Simhadri, met SP president Akhilesh Yadav Thursday and urged him to contest elections in the state, party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said.

Simhadri also submitted a list of probable candidates to Yadav, who after considering the party's organisational details gave his nod for contesting the elections, Chaudhary said.

Raipur, Oct 12 (PTI) One naxal was gunned down in an encounter with security forces in Sukma district of Chhattisgarh, police said Friday.

The gunbattle took place Thursday evening in a forest under Pusnar police station when a team of District Reserve Guard (DRG) was returning after carrying out an anti-naxal operation, Sukma Superintendent of Police Abhishek Meena told PTI over phone.

Muzaffarnagar, Oct 12 (PTI) A 17-year-old Dalit girl was allegedly raped and killed by three persons when she was alone at her house in Uttar Pradesh's Shamli district, police said Friday.

Based on a complaint by a family member of the girl, a case was registered against Sanoj Kumar, Jaivir and Sonu Thursday, Additional Superintendent of Police Ajay Pertap said.

The girl's body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in the house, the officer said.

Srinagar, Oct 12 (PTI) Normal life in Kashmir was affected Friday due to a strike called by separatists after the killing of PhD scholar-turned-Hizbul Mujahideen commander Manaan Bashir Wani in an encounter with security forces.

Schools, higher educational institutions and business establishments remained closed due to the strike called by the Joint Resistance Leadership, a separatist amalgam comprising Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Mohammad Yasin Malik, officials said.