NEW DELHI: A 17-year-old boy was shot in East Delhi‘s Geeta Colony by two men seeking revenge. The attackers allegedly held the boy responsible for the murder of their friends, two brothers. Police received a PCR call around 11 pm regarding the shooting of a boy in the Raja Garden area. The victim sustained gunshot injuries.“The boy went to visit his aunt in Rani Garden on his scooter around 8.30 pm.At approximately 9.15 pm, while returning, he was shot—once on the left side of his head and again in the upper abdomen. His friend, who also witnessed the incident, rushed him to the hospital in an auto-rickshaw,” police said.During the investigation, two suspects were apprehended, and the weapon used—a country-made pistol—was recovered. DCP (Shahdara) Prashant Gautam said the attackers were close friends of the two brothers killed by the boy in September 2024 over a property dispute.The double murder was reported last year. On September 14, 2024, at 6.41 pm, police received information that a man was shot and was declared dead upon arrival at the hospital. He was brought in by his elder sister, who told police that local children informed her that her brother was lying in the street, bleeding. She rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.At the crime scene in Rani Garden, police recovered two empty bullet casings and two lead projectiles. While investigating, they discovered that the deceased’s elder brother was also missing. The house of the victims—located just 30–40 metres from the scene—was found locked from the outside.Noticing fresh blood flowing into a nearby drain, police broke the lock and entered the house, where they found the elder brother unconscious with a gunshot wound to the head. Police said during the inquiry, the juvenile suspect was apprehended. He claimed that his family rented the ground and first floors of the Rani Garden property from the victims’ father about 4–5 years ago, paying Rs 4 lakh as a security deposit. According to a written agreement, the family could reside there rent-free until the money was repaid. However, the two brothers later began pressuring them to vacate the property, which allegedly led the boy to commit the murders.

MUMBAI: Sixteen airports in the north and western parts of India are currently closed to civil flights. The unplanned closure was put into force in the early hours of Wednesday, hours after ‘Operation Sindoor‘ targetted terror sites in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan.The list of airports shut include Leh, Thois, Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Pathankot, Chandigarh, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Jamnagar, Bhatinda, Bhuj, Dharamshala, Shimla, Rajkot, and Porbandar, according to aviation sources.A Notice to Airmen (NOTAM) is expected to be issued soon. “There is no information yet on how long these airports will remain shut to civilian flights. Currently, we have rescheduled all flights of the day,” said an airline official.Unlike these unscheduled airport closures, Mumbai airport is scheduled to remain shut for six hours from 11am to 5pm on May 8. The annual pre-monsoon maintenance work on both runways will be carried out during this period. Airlines have been informed about the Mumbai airport closure in advance, so flights won’t be impacted.

The sudden closure of the said 16 airports led airlines to re-route and reschedule their departures and arrivals from these airports, affecting flight movements at other airports as well. Early on Wednesday morning, airlines alerted passengers to the airport closures, changes in routes, and possible delays to flight schedules across India. Passengers booked to fly on Thursday have been advised to check their flight status before leaving for the airport.IndiGo, in an advisory, said: “In continuation to our earlier update and in wake of the prevailing situation, flights to/from Srinagar, Jammu, Amritsar, Leh, Chandigarh, Dharamshala, Bikaner, and Jodhpur stand cancelled for the day.” The airline added that it was anticipating changes in flight schedules across their network and “sincerely advise all customers to stay updated on their flight status before heading to the airport.”Air India Express tweeted that “multiple flights on our network are impacted due to prevailing restrictions. For alerts and notifications on flights, please ensure your contact details are updated on airindiaexpress.com/manage-booking.” “We request our guests to please confirm their flight status on airindiaexpress.com/flight-status or #ChatWithTia for immediate assistance on +91 63600 12345.”Air India tweeted: “In view of the prevailing situation, Air India has cancelled all its flights to/from the following stations – Jammu, Srinagar, Leh, Jodhpur, Amritsar, Bhuj, Jamnagar, Chandigarh, and Rajkot – till 12 noon on May 7 pending further updates from authorities.”In a press conference held in the morning, the Indian govt announced that ‘Operation Sindoor’ was executed through coordinated efforts of the Army, Navy, and Air Force, conducted from Indian territory. The defence ministry described the operation as “focused, measured, and non-escalatory,” deliberately avoiding Pakistani military installations.Following the Pahalgam attack, Pakistan closed its airspace to India, impacting flights flying west from India. Since April 24, over 130 westbound international flights taking off daily from northern and eastern airports such as Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Kolkata are being re-routed south where the Ahmedabad and Mumbai air traffic control assign them altitudes and put them onto L639 or L301 to overfly the Arabian Sea and reach the Muscat airspace. Once there, they turn north to overfly Iran and complete the detour. In normal times, these flights, after taking off, turn west to cross over to Pakistan and show up on the radars of Lahore or Karachi air traffic control before they move into Iran.

BOKARO: As sirens blared across schools in the early hours on Wednesday, students quickly took shelter under their desks, using their school bags as protective shields over their heads. The exercise aimed to prepare students for emergency scenarios, focusing on maintaining calm, discipline, and ensuring personal safety.A district-wide mock drill was conducted in the morning in more than 800 govt and private schools as part of an emergency preparedness initiative nationally.The drill was organised by the district administration in collaboration with the education department and the disaster management authority, amid the escalating tensions between India and Pakistan. Bokaro and Gomia are categorised as one of the 244 Civil Defence Districts where mock drills are being conducted nationwide today.District Education Officer (DEO) Jagarnath Lohra addressed principals of 847 schools, including institutions like DPS, GGPS, Chinmaya Vidyalaya, and Sree Ayyappa Public School, among others, through video conferencing. “I provided comprehensive guidelines on how to conduct blackout drills and ensure that students understand the precautions to be taken during such scenarios,” said Lohra to TOI.“Students were taught that during a blackout, all lights—including those in homes, gardens, and streets—must be turned off. Curtains should be drawn on all windows and doors, and the use of inverters, generators, and vehicle headlights must be avoided,” Lohra said. These steps are designed to minimise visibility during a potential air raid, which could reduce the risk of targeting by enemy forces.The concept of a blackout was also explained to students. In the event of a war or aerial threat, visible lights from cities can become targets for enemy attacks. By plunging an area into darkness, the chances of detection from the air are greatly reduced, potentially saving lives and property.At Guru Gobind Singh Public School (GGPS) Sector 5, Principal Somen Chakraborty said the drill was to create awareness over fear. “The objective is not to alarm students, but to educate them. If they know what to do in a crisis, they’ll act wisely and calmly,” he said. Other school principals said that the overall goal of the drill was to instill a sense of readiness and resilience in the face of any emergency.