I-T raid at BBC’s Delhi office; phones of employees seized

New Delhi, Sept 21: Stepping up its crackdown on Khalistani terrorists, the NIA on Wednesday announced cash rewards for information leading to the arrest of five Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) operatives, including Harwinder Singh Sandhu alias 'Rinda' and Lakhbir Singh Sandhu alias 'Landa'.

The federal agency announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh each for Rinda and Landa and Rs 5 lakh each for Parminder Singh Kaira alias “Pattu”, Satnam Singh alias “Satbir Singh” alias “Satta” and Yadvinder Singh alias “Yadda”.

A spokesperson of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said these five terrorists are wanted in a case registered early this year related to the BKI's terrorist activities aimed at disturbing India's peace and communal harmony and spreading terror in the state of Punjab.

'The wanted terrorists are accused of commission of terror acts and activities, besides raising funds for the BKI, a banned terror outfit, through smuggling of terrorist hardware and narcotics into Punjab and also through extensive extortion from businessmen and other prominent individuals.

'They are also wanted in cases relating to commissioning of targeted killings as well as targeting of law enforcement agencies in order to create an environment of terror in the state of Punjab,' the spokesperson said.

The official said investigations have shown that the five terrorists have been engaged in recruiting new members of the BKI by promising them monetary benefits.

'They have also established a network of operatives in various countries to further their terror activities in different parts of India,” the official said.

Rinda, originally a resident of Maharashtra, is a Pakistan-based 'listed individual terrorist' and member of the BKI, while Landa, Khaira, Satnam and Yadvinder are residents of Punjab.

'Any specific information leading to the arrest of the five wanted terrorists can be shared with the NIA headquarters in New Delhi or the NIA Branch Office in Chandigarh,' the spokesperson said, sharing the telephone and WhatsApp numbers.

Meanwhile, the NIA released two lists of 54 individuals with their photographs who are wanted in the investigation of two cases, registered last year, to dismantle terror-gangster networks in the country.

The lists, one naming 11 persons and the other 43 persons, were shared by the NIA on its official account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The list included several wanted gangsters, including Goldy Brar, Lawrence Bishnoi, Anmol Bishnoi and Arshdeep Singh Gill.

'If you have any information about properties/assets/business owned by them in their name or in name of their associates, friends and relatives, please WhatsApp,” the agency said, sharing the mobile number. 

A survey has shown that nearly one-third of British female surgeons has experienced sexual assault over the past five years.

The study's results were published by the British Journal of Surgery on Tuesday.

The report said the results "indicate that both sexual harassment and sexual assault may be commonplace in the UK surgical environment, and that rape happens."

The study surveyed more than 1,400 UK surgical workforce members through an anonymous poll.

Twenty-nine percent of the women responding to the poll and 6.9 percent of the men reported being sexually assaulted by a colleague over the last five years.

According to the survey, 63.3 percent of the female participants and 23.7 percent of the males were subjected to sexual harassment during the same period.

"These findings show that women and men in the surgical workforce are living different realities. For women, being around colleagues is more often going to mean witnessing, and being a target of, sexual misconduct," the study said.

Alongside instances of rape at work, the study found that survey participants "reported rape by colleagues in other work-related contexts, including teaching spaces, conferences, and after-work events with colleagues," it reported.

'MeToo moment' for surgery

Tamzin Cuming, chair of the Women in Surgery Forum at the Royal College of Surgeons of England, said this "represents a MeToo moment for surgery."

"Now the real work has to start to bring about a profound change in the culture of healthcare," Cuming wrote in The Times newspaper. 

Bengaluru, Sept 18: In an elaborate dating scam, a woman claiming to be a divorcee trapped a divorced man from Bengaluru and cheated him of Rs 1.05 crore.

CK Baba, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Southeast), said the man, a HR professional at a private company, met the woman on a matrimonial site this year.

The woman, who goes by the name Prakathi Sreedharan on social media, is reportedly based in Kerala. She reached out to the man, aged between 35 and 40, on the matrimonial site after their profiles matched.

In the course of their chats, the woman told him she was divorced. The duo reportedly bonded over discussions on failed marriages and ongoing divorces and became close in three to four months.

Having gained the man’s confidence, the woman said she was investing in an online foreign exchange trading platform. She lured him into sharing his personal and financial details with her, promising big returns after describing how she had earned Rs 12 crore as returns on her investment.

Investing small amounts over time, the victim spent a total of Rs 1.05 crore on the trading platform. However, when he tried to contact her to recover his returns, she threatened him with serious repercussions, holding his personal information as leverage.

Without his knowledge, she had changed his pin and security information, logging him out of his bank account.

The man then lodged a complaint with the southeastern CEN police, who swiftly blocked the bank account and began the process of recovering the lost amount.

Cautioning people against falling victim to online fraud, Baba said, "Awareness is your shield against digital deceit. This is a reminder that trust should be earned and not bought at the cost of losing your hard-earned money."

Police advisory to those using dating/matrimonial platforms: 
1) Don’t share personal & financial information, address, or documents
2) Meet in public spaces a few times and verify their authenticity
3) Avoid intimate chats/calls through virtual platforms
4) Be wary of casual, quick declarations of love or personal details
5) Do not get into hasty investment decisions, especially online
6) Contact 1930 or 112 if you suspect fraud