Suicide bomber kills 22 at Manchester concert
TERROR ATTACK Islamic State claims responsibility; 23yrold plotter arrested
LONDON: Britain was in anguish on Tuesday after 22 people were killed and nearly 60 injured when a suicide bomber targeted a concert hall in Manchester, described as the worst terrorist attack in the country for more than a decade.
Victims included children – the youngest an 8-year-old girl – and teenagers who had gathered for a sell-out concert in the Manchester Arena (capacity: 21,000) by popular US singer Ariana Grande.
Political parties suspended campaigning for the June 8 election and investigators hunted for accomplices of the bomber, identified as 22-year-old Salman Abedi. BBC said the individual was “British or UK born”.
One 23-year-old man was arrested in Chorlton, south Manchester, in connection with the incident. Hours later, police set off a controlled explosion and raided a house in Elsmore Road, about 6 km from the arena.
The country was struggling to come to terms with the tragedy claimed by the so-called Islamic State, as Britain remained at the threat level of ‘severe’, which officially means a terror attack is ‘highly likely’. In London, Scotland Yard stepped up its presence in public places and reviewed its plans for several public events planned over the summer.
A spokesman of the Indian high commission told Hindustan Times there was no information of any Indian casualty, but added a list of nationalities of the victims was awaited from police.
NEW DELHI: A special court on Tuesday handed over Congress leader Jagdish Tytler’s passport to the Central Bureau of Investigation and directed the agency to take action against him for allegedly giving false information that no criminal case is pending against him during renewal of his passport.
Earlier, Tytler had sought the court’s permission for renewal of his passport and to go abroad. However, Tytler received his renewed passport on May 22.
The matter came to light on Tuesday after Tytler appeared in the court to withdraw his application seeking a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for renewal of his passport. The court asked the CBI to look into the matter after noting that Tytler has already received the renewed passport without producing an NOC.
Later, the agency told the court that the passport was issued to Tytler after he had falsely submitted before the passport office that there was no criminal case pending against him.
CBI officials told the court that action should be initiated against Tytler since rules have been violated as the passport was renewed without clearance from the court.
The court said that it is willing to believe that it was a bonafide mistake while filling the form for renewal of the passport.
But after the passport was received, Tytler should have informed the passport office that he had by mistake tick the ‘No’ box against the query ‘Is there any criminal proceeding pending against you.’
The court said instructed Tytler to hand over his passport to CBI and asked the agency to take appropriate action if any.
“Though, an FIR should be registered, I am leaving it to the agency (CBI) to take any action as it may deem appropriate,” the court said.
Tytler has been given clean chit by the CBI thrice in a case pertaining to riots at Gurudwara Pulbangash in north Delhi which led to the killing of three people on November 1, 1984, a day after the assassination of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Tytler has denied any role in the riots but the agency has been directed by another city court to further investigate the matter.