1,000 still stranded in Himachal, rescue enters Day 3
Shimla, Sep 27: With the weather clearing up on Thursday search and rescue operation for over 1,000 people, mostly tourists, began early in the Himachal Pradesh hills for the third day.
Two Chetak helicopters additionally deployed along with three the Indian Air Force's sped up the rescue in the Lahaul Valley in the Middle Himalayas. The rescue operation started at 7 a.m., an official said.
Nearly 500 people were still reported to be stuck in Suraj Tal lake and Zingzing Bar areas along Keylong-Leh road.
Over 300 labourers of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), a wing of the Ministry of Defence, involved in construction of roads in forward areas have also been stranded since September 22 following incessant rains that lead to a number of landslides severing road links.
The BRO is making every effort to provide food items and medicines to those still stuck but have somehow been reached.
So far a total of 898 persons have been rescued to safety till Wednesday and they included 12 foreigners, Additional Chief Secretary Manisha Nanda said here.
"Over 700 people have been rescued by road via the Rohtang tunnel in the past two days. We expect to rescue another 200 by road on Thursday," a senior government functionary monitoring the rescue operation told IANS.
Nanda said packets of eatables have been air dropped at Kunzam Pass.
Most people who got stuck at the Baralacha Pass were travelling to and from Manali to Leh in Jammu and Kashmir.
Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Wednesday apprised Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the state suffered losses totalling approximately Rs 1,250 crore due to the heavy rains.
Modi has assured the state of all possible central assistance.
Early snowfall in the higher reaches, cloud burst and heavy rains devastated large parts of the state from September 22 to 24. Kullu and Lahaul-Spiti were the worst affected.
Heavy snowfall on the Rohtang Pass (13,050 ft) has cut off the Lahaul and Spiti Valleys affecting a large number of tourists and hampering water and electricity supply. They have been stranded at number of isolated locations.
The BRO has been clearing the snow from various roads on a war footing. Some stretches had over eight feet of snow.
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Man kills woman lecturer, sets car ablaze; dies by suicide in Karnataka
Bengaluru (PTI): A 46-year-old man allegedly killed a woman lecturer by setting fire to the car with her inside, before dying by suicide; his severed body was found by railway police the next day, police said on Tuesday.
The deceased, identified as Ramanjinappa, a resident of Doddaballapura, was a contract worker in the tahsildar’s office, they said.
Police said the man, who was married and had apparently separated from his wife, was in an illicit relationship with a woman identified as Saroja, whose charred body was found inside a gutted car in an isolated area near the Bashetty Industrial Area in Doddaballapura taluk on the outskirts of Bengaluru.
Saroja was also married and had a son, police said.
According to police, on Saturday, the man allegedly borrowed a car from an acquaintance, claiming he had a medical emergency and needed to visit a hospital.
Citing preliminary investigations, a senior police officer said the man picked up the lecturer from a bus stop in Devanahalli. The two spent a couple of hours driving around Nandi Hills and nearby areas.
Later, they reached a secluded spot in Doddaballapura, where it is suspected that an argument ensued inside the car, following which he allegedly hit her on the head with a hammer, the officer said.
He then set the car on fire, reportedly using petrol, and is believed to have died by suicide thereafter, police said.
Locals who saw the burning car alerted the police and fire department, who rushed to the spot, extinguished the fire, and found the woman’s body completely charred inside the vehicle, the officer added.
His severed body was found near railway tracks in Bidadi by the railway police on Sunday, he said.
The motive and whether the crime was premeditated or impulsive are under investigation, he said.
Saroja’s husband filed a complaint accusing Ramanjinappa of killing her, police said, adding that a detailed investigation is underway to establish the exact sequence of events.
