10 killed as bus falls into Maharashtra ravine
Raigad (Maharashtra), July 28 : At least 10 passengers were killed when a private bus carrying nearly three dozen university staff plunged into a ravine in Raigad district of Maharashtra on Saturday morning, an official said.
Raigad Police Control official P.D. Patil said that around 35 staff of Konkan Agriculture University in Ratnagiri, including some women, were on way for a weekend picnic to popular tourist destinations of Mahabaleshwar-Panchgani when the bus fell 500 feet down into the ravine around 9 a.m. near Poladpur.
Rescue efforts were severely hampered by heavy rains lashing the Western Ghats, besides poor connectivity in the remote hills in the area.
"As per preliminary information, at least 10 bodies have been recovered and efforts are underway to rescue others or retrieve more bodies," Patil told IANS.
The accident came to notice after one of the injured passengers managed to climb up and alerted the authorities.
National Disaster Relief Fund teams from Pune were en route to help villagers and others involved in search and rescue operation.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Man arrested with Rs 2.54-crore heroin in Mumbai
Mumbai (PTI): Police have arrested a man and seized over 500 grams of heroin worth Rs 2.54 crore in the illicit market from him in Mumbai, officials said on Friday.
The police's Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC) made the drug seizure in Santacruz in the western suburbs. The operation was conducted by the Kandivali unit of the ANC on Thursday as part of a special crackdown against drug trafficking in the area, they said.
Acting on specific inputs, an ANC team conducted a raid in Santacruz (East) and intercepted a man. During a search, the team recovered 508 grams of high-grade heroin from his possession, an official said.
The seized contraband, a highly addictive, opioid drug derived from morphine, is estimated to be worth Rs 2.54 crore in the international market, he informed.
Following the seizure, a case was registered against the man under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, and he was formally placed under arrest in the early hours of Friday.
The police are currently investigating the source of the drug and trying to identify the intended recipients of the consignment, he said.
