Two persons have been arrested in Manipur’s Kangpokpi district in connection with the killing of six Naga civilians who had been abducted on May 13. Their bodies were recovered from the vicinity of the Leilon Vaiphei village on June 10.

Days later, Kuki-Zo Council chairman Henlienthang Thanglet said that the community had “made a grave mistake in killing the six Naga civilians” and apologised. The council soon clarified that the remarks had been “misconstrued as an admission of responsibility by the Kuki-Zo community”.

The developments came amid tensions between Kukis and Nagas in Ukhrul that had erupted on February 7. Read on.

Naga-Kuki strife began with a drunken brawl. But five months later, Manipur fault lines run deeper, reports Rokibuz Zaman

E20 petrol is “cleaner and superior” than fuel variants that do not have ethanol blended in them, the Union government said on Friday. The statement came in the wake of vehicle owners complaining that the fuel mix was reducing mileage and damaging cars.

“It is true” that fuel economy in some vehicles may be reduced by 3% to 5%, said the government, but added that “mileage is only one parameter”.

It added that the suggestion that petrol not blended with ethanol and E10 should be available at fuel stations alongside E20 “ignores the realities” of India’s fuel distribution network. Read on.

Former Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that she and senior members of her Awami League plan to return to the country from India around December. Hasina, who fled to Delhi in August 2024 amid widespread protests against her government, said that she will surrender to a court.

“They may arrest me on my return, they may even kill me,” Reuters quoted Hasina as saying. “Still, I have to go.”

Hasina faces a death sentence in Bangladesh. Dhaka has repeatedly demanded that Hasina be extradited. In December, Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said that it was for Hasina to decide whether she wanted to return to Bangladesh. Read on.

On his first visit to Karur since the September stampede that killed 41 persons at his rally, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay blamed the police for neither alerting him about the increasing crowd at the site nor taking steps to cancel the event. “The police have all the right to cancel the meeting,” he added. “Without doing so, the police escorted us on the highway.”

Meanwhile, the Madras High Court allowed the state to give government jobs to the families of those who were killed in the stampede. The appointments would be temporary and subject to judicial review, the bench added.

The first information report into the stampede had alleged that while permission had been granted for 10,000 attendees, more than 25,000 persons gathered at the venue. Read on.

The Calcutta High Court directed Trinamool Congress leader Abhishek Banerjee to provide his voice sample in a case related to the remarks he made during the Assembly elections. While campaigning for the polls, Banerjee had said that after the votes were counted, the DJs would play loud music that would make “ears ring”, in an alleged reference to political violence.

The TMC leader’s counsel submitted in court that Banerjee was not disputing the authenticity of the alleged voice recording. However, the court observed that the admission did not absolve him of the obligation to cooperate with the investigation. Read on.

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