S P O T L I G H T

Bandh against killing
CHINTAMANI (Karnataka), March 13 (UNI) — A total bandh was observed at Chintamani town in Kolar district of Karnataka today in protest against the killing of seven Dalits on Saturday night. The bandh call was given by the Dalit Sangarsh Samithi (DSS) and the CPI (M). All shops and other establishments remained closed. Talking to mediapersons here, state DSS convener Mavalli Shankar and CPI (M) leader Baiya Reddy warned of a agitation if the state government did not recommend for a CBI probe into the incident. They said judicial inquiry was time consuming and it would not serve any purpose.

Trains set afire
VARANASI, March 13 (UNI) — Unruly passengers and students set two trains on fire after a youth was killed in an “accidental” firing near Dildarnagar railway station on the Mughalsarai-Patna main rail route today, the police said. Coaches of the 3134 Upper India Express and the Tadi Ghat-Dildar Nagar local train were set afire this afternoon after Arun Kumar Pandey was killed. He got killed when a gun went off accidentally during a clash between the Railway Protection Special Force (RPSF) and passengers of the Upper India Express, the Gazipur police said.

Chechen warlord
MOSCOW, March 13 (Reuters) — Acting President Vladimir Putin said today that security forces had netted Chechen warlord Salman Raduyev, one of Russia’s most wanted men, and had brought him to Moscow for trial. The seizure of Raduyev, a flamboyant rebel commander best known for a bloody hostage-taking raid at the end of the last Chechen war in 1996, is a major coup for Moscow as it struggles to cement its hold on Chechnya after months of fierce fighting.