A 40-year-old Indian national has been sentenced to five years in prison for selling controlled substances on dark web marketplaces and ordered to forfeit approximately $ 150 million. Banmeet Singh of Haldwani, was arrested in April 2019 in London at the request of the US. He was extradited to the US in March 2023. In January, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to the court documents, Banmeet created vendor marketing sites on dark web marketplaces to sell controlled substances, including fentanyl, LSD, ecstasy, Xanax, ketamine, and tramadol. From 2012 to 2017, Singh controlled at least eight distribution cells within the US, including cells located in Ohio, Florida, North Carolina, Maryland, New York, North Dakota, and Washington, among other locations.
Awaiting deportation Indian dies in US hospital
Indian national Jaspal Singh, 57, awaiting deportation because of his illegal entry into the United States has died at a hospital in Atlanta, federal authorities said. Singh died at a hospital in Atlanta on April 15. An autopsy is pending to determine the official cause of death. Singh, an Indian citizen, first entered the US legally on October 25, 1992. On January 21, 1998, an immigration judge ordered Singh's removal from the US and later Singh returned to India voluntarily. On June 29, 2023, he was arrested by US Customs and Border Protection's Border Patrol officers while illegally reentering the United States at the US-Mexico Border. Border Patrol transferred custody of Singh to Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), Atlanta.
2 Indian students die in US car accident
Two students from Telangana were killed after their car collided head on with another vehicle in US state of Arizona. While the duo - Goutham Kumar Parsi (19) and Mukka Nivesh (20) - died on the spot, the person driving their Kia Forte and the sole occupant of the other vehicle, a Ford F150, escaped with injuries. Cops did not disclose the identity of the two drivers, who have been discharged from hospital. Goutham and Nivesh were pursuing BS in computers at Arizona State University. While Goutham had joined the university in 2022, Nivesh took admission last year. Goutham was planning to visit India and had booked his tickets for next month, according to reports. The families of the two boys are working to repatriate their bodies to India.
5 Japanese nationals escape unhurt in Pak attack
Five Japanese nationals working for Suzuki Motors had a lucky escape when their van was targeted by a suicide bomber and a gunman in a suicide attack in Pakistan’s port city of Karachi, police said, in the latest terrorist attack on foreign nationals in the country. DIG East Azfar Mahesar said the terrorists attempted to hit the vehicle carrying Japanese nationals working with Pakistan Suzuki Motors. “All five Japanese remained safe,” he said. “The Japanese nationals were on the way to the Export Processing Zone from their residence in Zamzama, Clifton,” he said. Jinnah Hospital officials said three people were brought to the facility in critical conditions. One of the injured, a 45-year-old security guard, succumbed to his injuries while another injured was shifted to the ventilator, Geo News quoted the hospital administration as saying.
Suu Kyi moved from prison to house arrest
Myanmar’s jailed former leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest as a health measure due to a heat wave, the military govt said as it freed more than 3,000 prisoners under an amnesty to mark this week’s New Year holiday. Suu Kyi, 78, and Win Myint, the 72-year-old former prez of her ousted govt, were among the elderly and infirm prisoners moved to house arrest because of the severe heat, military spokesperson Maj Gen Zaw Min Tun told foreign media. The move had not yet been publicly announced in Myanmar. Suu Kyi’s transfer comes as the army has suffered a string of major defeats at the hands of pro-democracy resistance fighters and their allies in ethnic minority guerrilla forces.
58 killed after boat capsizes in Central Africa
At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s capital Bangui, the head of civil protection said. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. According to witnesses, the boat was carrying more than 300 people when it overturned on the Mpoko river on Friday.
Bavaria bans smoking cannabis at Oktoberfest
The southern German state of Bavaria will ban smoking cannabis at public festivals, inside beer gardens, and even at the Oktoberfest, the world’s most popular beer festival, the state’s govt announced. Local authorities in Bavaria will also be allowed to prohibit cannabis consumption in public areas such as outdoor swimming pools and leisure parks such as Munich’s Englischer Garten, German news agency DPA reported. “Our aim is to limit cannabis consumption in public spaces,” said Bavarian health minister Judith Gerlach. “That is important for health protection and especially for protecting children and young people.” Bavaria’s move comes after Germany legalised possession of small amounts of cannabis for recreational use.
Indonesia on high alert after volcano erupts
Indonesian authorities closed an airport and residents left homes near an erupting volcano due to the dangers of spreading ash, falling rocks, hot volcanic clouds and the possibility of a tsunami. Mount Ruang on the northern side of Sulawesi Island had at least five large eruptions last week causing the Centre for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation to issue its highest-level alert. The crater emitted smoke continuously during the day, reaching more than 1,600 feet above the peak. The volcanology centre noted the risks from the eruption include the possibility that part of the volcano could collapse into the sea and cause a tsunami.
Woman wheels corpse into bank to sign for loan
A woman brought a 68-year-old man in a wheelchair into a bank branch and tried to get him to sign for a loan, but he had been dead for hours, Brazilian police said. Erika Vieira Nunes wheeled the corpse into the bank in a Rio suburb and told the teller the man wanted a loan for 17,000 reais ($3,250). She held a pen and moved his hand forward to no response. “Uncle, are you listening? You need to sign,” she said, according to the security video, suggesting she sign for him. The bank staff became suspicious and they called the police who arrested the woman on the spot and charged her with fraud.
