10 dead, 25 injured in Himachal bus accident
Shimla: Ten people, including three women, were killed and 25 injured when a private bus they were travelling in fell into a 200-foot-deep gorge in Himachal Pradesh's Chamba district on Saturday night, the police said.
The accident occurred on the Dalhousie-Pathankot road near Banikhet in Dalhousie sub-division after the driver lost control of the vehicle at 7 pm, district Superintendent of Police Monica Bhutunguru said on Sunday.
The deceased have been identified as Manish Sharma, Rajni (Nurpur, Kangra) Shreshta Devi, Shivani (Dalhousie), Karam Chand (Saluni, Chamba), Ratto (Chamba), Yaru Ingam Shimre (Manipur), Karan Bhat (Delhi), Wasim Mandal (Malda, West Bengal), Manisha (Rajasthan), Bhutunguru said.
Speedy action by quick reaction teams of the Dalhousie cantonment and the civil administration helped in saving the lives of the 25 injured passengers, who were evacuated to nearby hospitals, a Jammu-based defence spokesperson said.
The Army reached the accident site immediately and rescue operation continued till midnight, defence spokesperson Col Davinder Anand said. "The timely help by the Army in the rescue operation saved many precious lives."
The rescue team carried out mustering of locals for rescue work, rope fixing up to the accident site, traffic management, search and evacuation of the injured persons and recovery of fatal casualties, Col Anand added.
In a statement issued in Shimla, Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur has expressed grief over the incident.
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FIR filed after e-commerce platform linked tech firm alleges SMS spoofing fraud
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against unknown people for allegedly sending fraudulent messages in the name of an e-commerce platform with promises of cash rewards, further disrupting its operations, police said on Wednesday.
The offence is said to have taken place between April 23 and April 27, they said.
A representative of city-based technology company Hiveloop Technology Pvt Ltd (HTPL), part of the Udaan group (eB2B platform), has lodged a complaint alleging a large-scale SMS spoofing fraud following which a detailed investigation has been initiated into the matter, a senior police officer said.
According to the FIR, HTPL is a registered entity on the TRAI-mandated DLT platform, which permits only pre-approved SMS templates and whitelisted URLs to be sent through authorised sender IDs.
The issue came to light on April 23, when HTPL received alerts from buyers about fraudulent SMS messages appearing to originate from the company's sender ID "UDAANN". The messages reportedly contained Bitly links and falsely claimed a credit of Rs 10,001, urging recipients to withdraw money, it said.
On April 27, at around 12:49 pm, the DLT platform blacklisted HTPL's SMS templates, citing their alleged use in sending fraudulent messages. Within minutes, the company's sender ID was also blacklisted. Airtel's DLT system subsequently confirmed the action and shared details of the fraudulent messages that were circulated in HTPL's name without its knowledge or consent, the FIR stated.
Following this, the company's messaging operations were affected, and even legitimate communications such as one-time passwords to buyers began failing. Later, the DLT operator suspended HTPL's entire account following complaints raised on TRAI's Chakshu platform, bringing all SMS services of the company to a halt, it further stated.
HTPL has stated that neither it nor its authorised vendors sent the fraudulent messages. The links embedded in the messages reportedly redirected users to an online betting website, the FIR stated.
The company has claimed that the incident has resulted in a complete breakdown of SMS-based services, including buyer authentication, order updates and promotional communication, leading to significant financial losses.
At least 13 victims have been identified so far, with the possibility of more affected users. Victims were allegedly directed to an online betting platform, raising concerns of potential financial fraud, the FIR added.
