Bahraich (UP) (PTI): The half-eaten body of a 10-month-old girl, who was taken away by an unidentified wild animal while she was sleeping with her mother in a hut outside their house, was found from a field in this Uttar Pradesh district on Saturday, officials said.

The incident took place on Friday night in Khiriya Sharif village under the Kotwali Dehat police station area of Bahraich district, they added.

On Saturday, the girl's half-eaten body was found from a field in the village. One arm and a leg of the girl were eaten by the animal and her face had severe injury marks, the officials said.

This was the second incident of a young child being killed by a wild animal in the district within a few hours.

"Rama Devi was sleeping with her 10-month-old daughter, Sunita, in a hut outside her house in Khiriya Sharif village. When she woke up at midnight, the child was missing. Villagers began searching for the girl and several hours later, her mutilated body was found from a field," Forest Range Officer Vinod Kumar Nayak told PTI.

He said the girl's face bore severe wounds, suggesting that an animal might have grabbed her by the mouth. "One of the girl's arms and one of her legs were also missing," the official said.

He said the pugmarks spotted at the site where the body was found were small, making it difficult to ascertain which animal was responsible for the incident.

"A wolf's pugmarks are not that small. It could be a jackal or a wild dog or even a rabies-infected dog," Nayak said.

The ranger said the girl's post-mortem has been conducted and experts are looking into the incident.

Four forest department teams are combing the sugarcane fields in the area in search of the animal. Drones will be used on Sunday. Cages may also be installed based on expert advice, the officials said.

A five-year-old boy playing outside his house was injured in a wolf attack on Friday evening in Mallahan Purva village of Kaiserganj tehsil, about 40 kilometres from the scene where the girl was taken by the wild animal. The child died late at night while being taken to Lucknow for treatment. The forest department has launched a search for the wolves with the help of drones. Three cages have been installed in the area, the officials said.

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New Delhi: In a striking turn that surprised even his regular viewers, Arnab Goswami spent the evening of December 4 taking direct aim at the central government over the ongoing crisis in the domestic aviation sector. The debate, aired on Republic, focused entirely on the severe disruption caused by IndiGo flight cancellations and the state of air travel in the country. The tone was sharp, emotional, and openly critical, raising the larger question of whether this marks a homecoming of sorts for the anchor long accused by critics of being soft on the government.

Goswami began the show by saying the central government had “completely let down” air passengers. He pointed to chaotic visuals from airports in Pune, Ahmedabad and Mumbai, describing passengers packed into crowded spaces, long queues, and travellers lying on the floor with little access to basic facilities. He said anyone travelling with children or elderly parents would understand the distress such situations cause.

According to him, the government often claims to have improved the aviation sector, but the day-to-day experience of passengers tells a different story. He argued that whatever help the government may have extended has benefited individuals and individual companies, not the sector as a whole.

Goswami highlighted data from the last three days, saying IndiGo had canceled 1,232 flights in November. He broke down the reasons for the cancellations: 755 linked to crew and FDTL constraints, 258 due to airspace and airport restrictions, 92 because of failures in air traffic control systems, 127 for other reasons.

He said passengers in India are often “taken for granted” and that only in this country can such large-scale cancellations take place without consequences.

Throughout the debate, Goswami repeatedly returned to the theme of duopoly. He said Air India and IndiGo together control 91.5 percent of the aviation market, leaving only a small share for others like Akasa and SpiceJet. This, he said, gives the two big players the power to decide prices and escape accountability.

“They can set the prices. They can torture passengers. They can be not answerable for air crashes.” He added.

Goswami also questioned why such a structure is allowed to exist if the government claims it opposes monopolies. He asked whether the government has made Air India accountable after the recent air crash, and said he did not believe so.

“We are told that the Modi government does not like monopolies. First of all, I don't agree with that. There are too many monopolies happening.” He said.

The anchor accused Air India of operating aircraft that were not airworthy and said no serious action followed. According to him, any other minister in charge of civil aviation would have been removed after such incidents, but nothing happened.

“He is not answerable. And why is the central government not bothered about it? Because he comes from the TDP, an alliance party. So let him do,” he said.


He added that Air India continues to seek government support, including compensation for losses after the Sindhur episode. Goswami questioned why public money should be used to support the airline, drawing a comparison with the earlier controversy involving Vijay Mallya seeking help from the Manmohan Singh government a move that was labelled as scam.

Goswami said passengers are suffering because of delayed flights, sudden cancellations, and lack of compensation. He criticised the DGCA, saying it was not enforcing safety and operational norms. He also questioned why the Prime Minister’s Office had not intervened.

He noted that Republic had carried multiple exposés on these issues and claimed that Air India chooses to give interviews and advertisements only to other channels.

He also called for Parliament to debate the aviation mess and examine whether monopolies or duopolies should be allowed in a nation of India’s size.

“I'm sure the government's not going to be happy with us saying this, but someone's got to speak up for the people of this country.” He added.

Known by his critics as the “Godi Media Chief”, Goswami’s direct attack on the Modi government over civil aviation raised eyebrows across media circles.

Whether this is a one-off outburst or a sign of a new editorial direction is something viewers will be watching closely.