Jammu: The pilgrimage to the Mata Vaishno Devi temple atop Trikuta hills in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district resumed on Sunday after its temporary suspension due to heavy rush, officials said.. Illuminated view of the main gate of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Temple on the first day of Chaitra Navratri, in Reasi on Thursday. (ANI Video Photo) (ANI Video Grab). Authorities on Saturday suspended the pilgrimage to the cave shrine due to a heavy rush at the Bhawan, as 39,000 devotees paid obeisance at the temple till late in the afternoon.. Chaitra Navratri started on March 19 and will end on March 27.. “The yatra has been resumed after temporary suspension due to a heavy rush at the Bhawan,” a shrine board official said. He said that registration for the yatra resumed this morning in Katra.. Nearly one lakh devotees have paid obeisance so far, with authorities ensuring smooth and safe arrangements for the pilgrimage.. On Saturday, more than 39,000 pilgrims visited the holy town of Katra and paid obeisance at the Mata Vaishno Devi temple, officials said.. Officials said that more than 5,000 more pilgrims were on their way to the cave shrine after registration. There was a huge rush of pilgrims at the registration centre.. Hundreds of devotees chanting ‘Jai Mata Di’ were trekking along the serpentine pathway to the Mata Vaishno Devi temple atop Trikuta hills on the third day of Navratri to pay obeisance and seek the deity’s blessings.. Decorated with a variety of fresh flowers filling the air with fragrance and illuminated with multi-coloured lights to provide a spectacular view to devotees, the cave shrine is witnessing a huge rush of pilgrims.. Authorities have put in place multi-tier security arrangements at the Katra base camp and en route to the shrine to ensure a safe and secure yatra.. The sacred Shat Chandi Maha Yagya commenced at the revered Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine on Thursday, heralding the auspicious beginning of Chaitra Navratri 2026. 

 Nearly two years before Ranya Rao was arrested by the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) at the Bengaluru airport for smuggling gold, the Kannada actor and her associate were cheated of ₹2 crore by a Ugandan gold agent, officials have revealed.. Kannada actress Ranya Rao was arrested from the Kempagowda International Airport.. In March 2025, Rao was arrested from the Bengaluru airport after she returned from Dubai allegedly with a consignment of 14-kg of gold worth ₹12.56 crore concealed on her body.. In a chargesheet filed last month, DRI officials said Rao and her associates smuggled 127.28 kg of gold valued at ₹102.55 crore into India between March 2024 and March 2025. The gold was later sold in the domestic market through a network of handlers and jewellers.. Also Read: ED files charge sheet against Ranya Rao, 2 others; says 127 kg gold worth ₹102 crore smuggled to India. Officials have now revealed that Rao and her associate, Tarun Konduru Raju, tried sourcing gold from suppliers, based in African nations, including Uganda, before resorting to smuggling the prized metal from Dubai.. A ‘Ugandan agent’ and ₹2 crore fraud. An official aware of the probe told HT that Rao and Raju tried to source gold from suppliers in African nations, including Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania.. The duo also opened a company called Vira Diamonds Trading LLC in Dubai in 2023 to facilitate the transfer. Dubai was intended to be the transit and trading hub.. “They were advised that African mines were the primary source of gold for Dubai’s markets so they attempted to directly procure it from Africa,” the official said, citing the chargesheet.. Rao and her associate got in touch with a Uganda-based agent, Ben, and the two sides agreed to an initial 5 kg trial, which was to be followed by a 50 kg contract.. The duo also paid ₹25,000 (around 23.5 lakh) upfront, followed by two separate payments of around $10,000 each ( ₹9.39 lakh). However, the Uganda-based agent didn’t deliver any gold.. On January 1, 2024, Raju travelled to Uganda city Kampala to meet the agent. He was shown the gold and asked for an additional payment of ₹1.7 crore to release the consignment.. “Rao was coordinating from Dubai to arrange cash and hand it over to Ben’s associate in Dubai. Raju eventually discovered that it was a scam, resulting in a loss exceeding ₹2 crore,” the official said.. Also Read: ‘Missing simple Bengaluru life’: Resident regrets moving to Bellandur from Basavanagudi. Enforcement Directorate (ED) also claimed to have recovered the WhatsApp chats that showed the ‘proof’ of payments. However, there wasn’t enough “material evidence to substantiate the alleged scam”, a second official said.. Three strategies to smuggle gold. After getting duped of ₹2 crore, Rao and Raju resorted to a similar venture in Kenya, but that too was aborted due to similar fraud, a third official said.. The two even sought help from Kenyan officials on the fraud, but th 

 A fresh controversy has erupted over remarks made by former Pakistan high commissioner to India, Abdul Basit, in which he suggested that Islamabad could target Indian cities in a hypothetical situation if the United States were to attack Pakistan.. Abdul Basit said that if the United States were to attack Pakistan, Islamabad would target several Indian cities. (PTI Photo/File). His remarks come amid already heightened tensions in the region, months after India launched Operation Sindoor targeting terror infrastructure across Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) following the Pahalgam terror attack in Jammu and Kashmir that led to the deaths of 26 civilians.. Row over ex-Pak envoy’s remark. During a discussion on a hypothetical conflict, Basit said that if the United States were to attack Pakistan, Islamabad would target several Indian cities “without a second thought”.. “If America attacks Pakistan, we have to attack India. Our missiles may not reach America, but we will attack Mumbai and New Delhi in India without a second thought. We won’t leave it, we’ll see what happens later,” he said in an interview with a local TV channel.. India is yet to comment on the former Pakistan envoy’s recent statement.. Although he described it as a “worst-case scenario”, the remark sparked a row for its direct reference to possible strikes on major Indian cities.. He added, “We don’t even want that to happen,” and said it was only a hypothetical situation. “India doesn’t want that either,” the news anchor replied to his statement.. The Indian government is yet to make an official statement on these remarks.. Who is Abdul Basit?. Notably, he served as Pakistan’s top diplomat in India from 2014 to 2017, a time when ties between the two countries remained tense.. His role during that period has added to the reaction, given his direct engagement in India-Pakistan relations.. His past role has added weight to the reaction, given his direct engagement with India during his tenure.. The remarks come at a time of continuing strain between the two neighbours, alongside broader geopolitical tensions linked to the ongoing conflict in West Asia involving the United States, backed by Israel and Iran. 

 The Opposition on Saturday demanded action against Maharashtra leaders, including ministers, linked to Ashok Kharat, the self-styled godman arrested on charges of rape, a day after NCP leader Rupali Chakankar tendered her resignation from her post as chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Women.. A photo showing Rupali Chakankar, chairperson of the state women’s commission, holding an umbrella for Ashok Kharat was shared widely on social media (X/Anjali Damania). The Opposition Shiv Sena (UBT) has demanded that Chakankar, who headed a trust run by Kharat, be made a co-accused in the case, over her links to the accused. Kharat is said to have links with several politicians, businesspeople and celebrities.. Deputy chief minister Sunetra Pawar said she has forwarded Chakankar’s resignation to CM Devendra Fadnavis for acceptance. Chakankar tendered her resignation on Friday.. ALSO READ | Sena ex-minister’s aide on SIT radar, oppn demands action against Mahayuti ministers. Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray slammed the state government over its alleged links with Kharat, saying: “Maharashtra has a law against superstition and now we see that those expected to implement it were involved in Ashok Kharat’s superstitious activities. Action against Kharat is not enough; his political devotees too must not be spare.”. Saying that photos of several ministers with Kharat have emerged, Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray added, “The CM should conduct an inquiry into these ministers. There are around eight or nine such ministers and all of them should be removed from the cabinet.”. ALSO READ | Case of ‘godman’ Kharat a blot on Maharashtra: Minister Shirsat. Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar said Chakankar’s resignation was not enough. The call detail records (CDR) of the ministers and political leaders seen with Kharat should be checked and action should be taken against them. “Kharat amassed massive sums of money and had links with political leaders from the ruling alliance. So there is a possibility the state government will try to bury the matter,” Wadettiwar said.. The case involving the self-styled godman Ashok Kaharat is a taint on Maharashtra, and strict action should be taken in this matter, minister of social justice Sanjay Shirsat said.. The Shiv Sena leader said photographs of Kharat with many prominent leaders have surfaced, but that doesn’t mean those individuals have links with him.The minister said the matter is being probed and the government will take appropriate action. 

 Punjab transport and jails minister Laljit Singh Bhullar on Saturday resigned from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government on Saturday, a day after his name surfaced in a controversy linked to the alleged suicide of a state warehousing corporation official in Amritsar.. Patiala, Feb 11 (ANI): Minister of Transport and Prison Department Laljit Singh Bhullar inspects Patiala Central Jail, in Patiala on Wednesday. (ANI Photo) (Harmeet Sodhi). The minister stepped down after chief minister Bhagwant Mann sought his resignation, with Bhullar saying he took the decision to facilitate a fair inquiry into the case.. On Friday, a district manager of the Punjab State Warehousing Corporation allegedly died by suicide after consuming a poisonous substance at his residence in Amritsar. Prior to his death, a video of the official surfaced on social media, in which he claimed he had taken the step out of fear of Bhullar.. ‘Kha layi poison…’. “Kha layi (poison) thuade yaar ne minister Laljit Bhullar de dar ton, hun ni bachda (Your friend has consumed poison due to fear of minister Laljit Bhullar, I won’t survive now),” the official purportedly said in the video. HT could not independently verify authenticity of the video.. ALSO READ | Patti MLA Laljit Singh Bhullar’s political rise and controversies. In the letters written by the official to his senior officers, that were made public by Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Majithia, the deceased official purportedly accused Bhullar of pressuring him to award a warehousing tender to the minister’s aide Sukhdev Singh Bhullar (minister’s father). In the letters, the official alleged that when he refused, he was summoned to the minister’s residence on March 13 in his office in Patti and was assaulted, and coerced into recording a “confession” claiming he had accepted a ₹10-lakh bribe, which he said was intended to be used to blackmail him. No FIR has been registered in the case yet.. Resignation accepted to ensure fair probe. On Saturday, Bhullar resigned from his post as state minister, even as he termed the allegations “baseless and false”. “Our party has always stood for truth. I request my party and the CM to accept my resignation so that my position does not become an obstacle in ensuring a fair inquiry. I want the truth to come out,” he said.. ALSO READ | DM’s suicide: Opposition targets AAP govt, seeks FIR against ex-minister Laljit Singh Bhullar. CM Mann described the incident as “very sad and painful”.. “Whatever I could do, I have done. I immediately sought the minister’s resignation, and we will give charge of his department to another minister,” he said. “To ensure the investigation into the suicide is not compromised, we have accepted the resignation. We stand with the family in this difficult time.”. Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Partap Singh Bajwa said the case should be handed over to the CBI. “My first demand is that a case of murde