Dharwad: Death toll in building collapse touches 3, 56 rescued
Bengaluru, Mar 20: The death toll in the building collapse at Dharwad in north Karnataka touched three Wednesday with one more body being pulled out of the rubble, police said.
Rescuers have so far pulled out 56 people from the debris of the four-storeyed under construction building, which collapsed Tuesday evening at Kumareshwar Nagar in the heart of Dharwad, about 400 km from here.
Police said rescue operations have been intensified to extricate 30 people believed to be still trapped beneath the debris.
In addition to 10 ambulances and five fire tenders deployed for relief and rescue operations, three teams of the National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) have been pressed into service, two from Ghaziabad and one from Bengaluru.
"Two more teams of #NDRF are being airlifted from Ghaziabad in addition to one team which was moved from Bangalore in connection with Dharwad building collapse," the NDRF tweeted.
About 150 police, fire and emergency personnel too have joined the rescue operations.
No arrests have been made so far
Former Karnataka minister and Congress leader from the region Vinay Kulkarni had said Tuesday that one of the partners in the building was his relative and that whoever was involved should face action.
An eye-witness had alleged that the building did not have the capacity to bear four storeys whereas an extra floor was being added.
"The builders had used substandard materials," he told reporters Tuesday.
Most of those trapped were migrant labourers from north India who were engaged in laying tiles.
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2 detained after comment over wedding procession to Dalit house sparks clash in UP's Shahjahanpur
Shahjahanpur (UP) (PTI): Two persons have been detained after a clash broke out allegedly over remarks targeting a Dalit family's wedding procession in Uttar Pradesh's Shahjahanpur district, police said on Saturday.
The incident occurred in Lai Kheda village under Tilhar police station area, where a wedding procession from Bareilly had arrived at a Dalit household on April 20.
According to SP Saurabh Dixit, when the procession was near the house of Rajpal Yadav, he allegedly made a remark saying "Now, Dalits will also take out wedding processions riding a buggy", leading to an argument. Yadav's side allegedly turned aggressive, escalating the conflict further.
Police said a scuffle ensued between the two sides. Upon receiving information, police personnel reached the spot and ensured that the procession was conducted peacefully after the incident.
An FIR was registered on Friday against Rajpal Yadav, Sumit, Amit, Surendra, Avdhesh Yadav and five unidentified persons based on a complaint. Rajpal Yadav and his son Sumit have been taken into custody and are being questioned, Dixit said.
The case has been registered under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, police said.
Dixit said preliminary findings suggest that Yadav, too, was hosting a function and processions from both sides had arrived around the same time. A dispute may have initially arisen due to a narrow passage and attempts to move the processions quickly.
Police have registered the case under relevant sections of the BNS and initiated further probe, officials said.
