Shivshankar Chaurasia, one of the two men, arrested for allegedly raping a teenage girl in Gujarat’s Surat district died in a hospital here after he complained of breathing difficulty in police custody on Thursday.

According to Surat District Superintendent of Police Hitesh Joysar, Chaurasia had complained of difficulty in breathing at around 2.00 pm and was rushed to a health centre in the Kamrej area. He was then referred to the new civil hospital, where he died during treatment,” Joysar added.

The 45-year-old Chaurasia, named in murder and theft cases in the past, and Munna Paswan (40) were arrested on Wednesday for the alleged sexual assault on the minor, PTI reported.

Police will produce Paswan before a court in the evening seeking his remand, the police officer said.

Paswan, Chaurasia and a third person, who is yet to be nabbed, allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl in Mangrol taluka on Tuesday night, according to the police.

The police said that the teenager had gone to the Kim village to meet friends after attending her coaching class. She and her male friend were sitting in a deserted place on their way to a petrol pump along the highway near Mota Borsara village when three men approached them, police added.

While her friend escaped, the trio raped the minor before fleeing with her and her friend’s mobile phones. After being alerted, police registered a case for gang rape and other charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Paswan and Chaurasia were nabbed from a nearby location on Wednesday evening and cops had to open fire while taking the duo into custody, police had said in a release.

Police said several cases had been registered against the two in areas like Ankleshwar, Kadodara, Amirgadh and Karjan.

Chaurasia was booked in a murder case in 2017 in Ankleshwar and for theft in 2023 in Karjan. This year, he was booked under the Arms Act by the Amirgadh police station of Banaskantha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said India-ASEAN friendship was very important at a time when parts of the world were facing conflicts and tensions.

Addressing the 21st India-ASEAN Summit, PM Modi also said he had announced the Act East Policy 10 years ago and in the past decade it had given new energy, direction and momentum to the historic ties between India and ASEAN nations.

“In the past decade, India-ASEAN trade has doubled and now stands at more than USD 130 billion,” he said.

The Prime Minister said he believed that the 21st century, also called the Asian century, is the century of India and ASEAN nations.

“India-ASEAN friendship, coordination dialogue and cooperation is very important at a time when several parts of the world are facing conflicts and tensions,” he said.

Announcing a 10-point plan to strengthen ASEAN-India comprehensive partnership, PM Modi focused on celebrating the year 2025 as “ASEAN-India Year of Tourism” for which India would make available $5 million towards joint activities.

“To celebrate a decade of Act East Policy through several people centric activities including Youth Summit, Start-up Festival, Hackathon, Music Festival, ASEAN-India Network of Think Tanks and Delhi Dialogue,” he said.

He gave a third plan, “To organise ASEAN-India Women Scientists Conclave under ASEAN-India Science and Technology Development Fund.”

The Prime Minister mentioned the doubling the number of scholarships at Nalanda University and provision of new scholarships for ASEAN students at Agricultural Universities in India.

To strengthen ASEAN-India partnership, Modi said, “Review of ASEAN-India Trade in Goods Agreement by 2025.”

Enhancing Disaster Resilience for which India would make available $5 million, he said, would strengthen partnership further. He asked to initiate a new Health Ministers’ track towards building Health Resilience.

He also asked to initiate a regular mechanism of ASEAN-India Cyber Policy Dialogue towards strengthening Digital and Cyber Resilience.

In his 10-point plan, PM Modi suggested a workshop on Green Hydrogen in order to strengthen ASEAN-India comprehensive partnership.

“Invited ASEAN Leaders to join ‘Plant a Tree for Mother’ campaign towards building climate resilience,” PM Modi suggested.

“The India-ASEAN Summit was a productive one. We discussed how to further strengthen the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between India and ASEAN. We look forward to deepening trade ties, cultural linkages and cooperation in technology, connectivity and other such sectors,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

Modi arrived here in Laos on a two-day visit to attend the ASEAN-India and East Asia summits and further deepen engagement with countries in the groupings. 

The Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi on Thursday raised the annual MLA Local Area Development (MLALAD) fund from Rs 10 crore to Rs 15 crore ahead of Assembly elections in the national capital.

Addressing a press conference, Chief Minister Atishi said that the Delhi government has decided to increase the MLA fund. With this, MLAs will be able to get more development work done in their area, she said.

The Chief Minister claimed that the MLALAD fund in Delhi was the highest in the country.

“MLALAD funds are very crucial in democracy through which people can get development work done in their areas. Today, the Delhi Cabinet took a very important decision and has increased the MLA funds from Rs 10 crore per year to 15 crore per year,” she said.

The government under the leadership of Arvind Kejriwal is working for the betterment of the city’s people whether they are living in slums or bungalows, Atishi said.

Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, who also accompanied the CM in a press conference, said, “This year Delhi witnessed a lot of rain, due to which roads got damaged, walls of parks got broken. Apart from this, many other problems have come up. To get all these works done, MLAs would need more money, so the Delhi government has increased the funds for MLAs. This will provide great relief to the general public.”

Meanwhile, Bharadwaj hit out at Delhi LG V K Saxena over his alleged involvement in ordering the Public Works Department (PwD) to get the Chief Minister’s residence sealed, which led Atishi to move with her belongings to the bungalow in North Delhi’s Civil Lines area on Monday.

“Have you ever seen that when an MP becomes a Union Minister and he shifts to the Ministerial residence, his belongings are taken out of the MP residence and kept on the road? This is all nonsense and the Lieutenant Governor should avoid it,” Bharadwaj said.

Delhi Assembly elections are due in February next year.