S P O T L I G H T

Raids at places of 4 DMK ex-ministers
Chennai, March 16
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption today registered cases against four former DMK ministers on allegations of possessing assets disproportionate to their known sources of income even as a spate of raids continued at their residences and business offices besides houses of close relatives and associates. The cases were registered against former ministers Mr K. Ponmudi (transport), Mr Samayanallur Selvaraj, Mr Anthiyur Selvaraj and Mr Suresh Rajan besides former MLA N.K.K. Periasamy and former Madurai Mayor Kolandai Velu of the DMK. UNI

9 girls killed in Dhaka fire
Dhaka, March 16
At least nine female madrasa students were burnt to death at dawn today in a fire that razed their hostel, the police said. At least 22 others were injured in the blaze at the Sontek Mohila madrasa dormitory in Demra thana located on the fringes of the capital at 4 a.m. Six firefighter engines doused the flames engulfing the two-storied dormitory, fenced by bamboo walls. UNI

5 Maoists shot
Kathmandu, March 16
The security forces have gunned down at least five armed Maoists and arrested three others in various districts of western Nepal, the Defence Ministry said today. At least two Maoists were killed in the Shivagadhi forest area of Kapilvastu district, two in Bajhang district and one in Dang district yesterday, according to a Defence Ministry press note. UNI

1 charred to death
Mumbai, March 16
One unidentified person was charred to death in a fire that broke out in a garage's storage place in Mumbai central here, the fire brigade sources said. The fire broke out in the evening opposite the Navjeevan Society premises, the sources said. PTI

Train mishap probe
Hyderabad, March 16
The Railways has ordered a statutory inquiry into yesterday's derailment of seven bogies of the Howrah-Chennai Coromandal Express near Nellore, that had left 20 injured. The Commissioner of Railway Safety (South Central Circle) Mr R.P. Agarwal will hold the inquiry at the Nellore railway station from March 19, a South Central Railway press note said here today. PTI