Quicktakes

16 officials abducted in TripuraAGARTALA: Militants of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) struck twice today, abducti...

16 officials abducted in Tripura

AGARTALA: Militants of the banned National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT) struck twice today, abducting 16 block development officials (BDOs) and killing a passenger of a bus in an ambush in two districts of Tripura. About 25 militants, armed with sophisticated weapons, stormed the block development office at Manu in the disturbed Dhalai district and fired several rounds before kidnapping the terrorised officials including 13 panchayat secretaries.

Sharad Yadav free

NEW DELHI: Janata Dal (United) president Sharad Yadav was today discharged from the Rs 59 crore Jain hawala case by the Delhi High Court saying his statement to a private TV programme on accepting Rs three lakh for party funds did not amount to a confession’.

Paes-Bhupathi win

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NEW YORK: Top seeds Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi advanced to the quarter-finals of the US Open men’s doubles with a third round win over fifteenth seeds Justin Gimelstob and Richey Reneberg today. TheIndian pair beat the US duo 2-6 6-4 6-3. Paes and Bhupathi will now meet unseeded Australian pair Ben Ellwood and Michael Tebbutt.

Bid on Mubarak

CAIRO: Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak was slightly wounded today when a knife-wielding man made a bid on his life before being shot dead by security guards at Port Said, 180 km from here, an official statement said.

Vyjayanti in BJP

CHENNAI: Former Rajya Sabha member and cine star of yesteryear Vyjayantimala Bali today formally joined the BJP in the presence of Union Home Minister L K Advani after she tendered her resignation from the Congress dismayed and disillusioned’ over its criticism of Vajpayee government’s effective handling of the Kargil conflict.