Indian Youth Congress files police complaint alleging 'rain theft' after Delhi's cloud-seeding trial
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress' youth wing filed a police complaint here on Wednesday, alleging "theft of rain" and claimed that the Delhi government's Rs 1.25-crore cloud-seeding experiment failed to produce showers over the city.
However, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa claimed the cloud-seeding trials were successful and slammed the opposition, saying they are "jealous" of the success of the BJP-led government.
Delhi conducted cloud seeding trials on Tuesday, after a gap of 53 years, to induce artificial rain in the national capital amid surging pollution levels, even as the weather department did not record any traces of rainfall in the city.
The Delhi government, in collaboration with IIT-Kanpur, conducted the trials in parts of Delhi, including Burari, North Karol Bagh, Mayur Vihar, and Badli. The government's report stated that two precipitation events were recorded -- Noida at 4 pm (0.1mm of rain) and Greater Noida at 4 pm (0.2 mm).
According to an official statement of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), its Delhi unit president, Akshay Lakra, submitted a complaint at the Parliament Street Police Station, demanding an FIR and investigation into what he described as "rain theft" following the cloud-seeding trial.
"Planes took off from Kanpur to Delhi in the name of cloud seeding, and the BJP government put out big advertisements promising rain within 15 to 20 minutes to provide relief from pollution. However, no such rain was seen anywhere in Delhi, so we have come to file a complaint against this rain theft," Lakra said.
The complaint calls for an inquiry into whether "unknown persons intercepted or diverted" rain, and seeks accountability for the public funds spent on the operation.
It also urges the police to coordinate with the meteorological department and IIT-Kanpur to trace the cause of the "missing rainfall".
Officials involved in the cloud-seeding project, however, maintained that the process was carried out as per scientific protocol and the results depend on atmospheric conditions, which cannot always guarantee immediate rainfall.
They said the operation was aimed at testing the feasibility and gathering data for future interventions.
Lakra urged Chief Minister Rekha Gupta to "refrain from misleading residents" and focus on effective measures to curb pollution. "The people of Delhi deserve answers and at least a few drops of the rain they were promised," he said.
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NEET student hangs self in Rajasthan's Sikar
Jaipur (PTI): A student preparing for the NEET examination allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself in a rented room in Rajasthan's Sikar on Friday, police said.
According to the police, the student allegedly hanged himself from a ceiling fan using his sister's scarf while one sister was attending coaching classes and the other was in the bathroom.
He had appeared in the NEET UG exam 2026, which was cancelled due to paper leak, they said.
Udyog Nagar SHO Rajesh Kumar said that the deceased, identified as Pradeep Meghwal, was a resident of Kanika ki Dhani village in Jhunjhunu's Gudha Gaudji area.
He had been living in a rented room in Sikar's Jaldhari Nagar area with his two sisters while preparing for NEET over the last three years.
His elder sister later found him hanging and informed the landlord and police after bringing him down, officials said.
The SHO said the body was kept at SK Hospital mortuary, and a postmortem had not been conducted.
The student's father, Rajesh Kumar Meghwal, told police that Pradeep's NEET examination had gone well and the family was expecting him to score around 650 marks.
Former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot expressed grief over the incident and linked it to anxiety among students after reports of irregularities and paper leaks in NEET 2026.
Pilot said repeated paper leak incidents and cancellation of examinations were affecting students' mental health and demanded a time-bound investigation and strict action against those responsible.
