2 colliery workers die in roof collapse
Burdwan (WB), Oct 8 : Two colliery workers were killed after a portion of the roof fell on them in Pandabeswar in West Burdwan district, police said on Monday.
The deceased - Chandrasekhar Giri (50) and Kaleshwar Mahato (42) - were working at the Khottadih colliery of Eastern Coalfield Ltd when the chunk of the roof collapsed around 4 am on Sunday, a police officer said.
Giri and Mahato had died by the time they were recovered from the rubble, he said.
Fellow colliery workers staged a protest against the incident, demanding compensation for their family, before the ECL management assured them of adequate ex gratia, the officer said.
A member of the workers' union alleged that ECL - a subsidiary of mining major Coal India Ltd - did not follow safety norms at the collieries.
He, however, said that the management will offer employment to one family member of both the deceased and pay Rs 7 lakh each as compensation.
The management of the company could not be contacted for comment.
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Rohit Pawar seeks probe into alleged acts of black magic near Ajit Pawar's residences
Mumbai, Mar 20 (PTI): NCP (SP) leader Rohit Pawar on Friday demanded a thorough probe into the incidents of black magic allegedly carried out near the residences of late Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar last year, and sought to identify the persons who commissioned these acts.
Ajit Pawar was killed in a plane crash in Baramati on January 28 along with four others.
Citing statements made by party colleague Amol Mitkari on X, Pawar said reports of alleged practices outside Ajit Pawar's residence in Sahyog Society on Bhigwan Road in Pune district and near the Devgiri bungalow in Mumbai, allegedly involving an astrologer from Nashik were "deeply disturbing".
"In a progressive state like Maharashtra, there is no place for superstition or such fraudulent practices. Yet, the information coming to light makes the matter appear extremely serious," he said.
The Karjat-Jamkhed MLA, who is the nephew of the Ajit Pawar, urged authorities to probe the sequence of events and identify those who commissioned these acts along with their political motive.
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In a post on X, MLA Mitkari earlier raised serious questions over alleged black magic rituals conducted in November 2025 in Pune district and sought a detailed probe into the matter.
He claimed that these rituals were purportedly linked to a 'Shivlika Ashram' run by self-proclaimed astrologer Ashokkumar Kharat, whom he described as a "fraudulent godman".
Kharat's VSR connection has come to light, Mitkari said, and questioned why Ajit Pawar flew in a VSR-operated plane on January 28, a day after his road travel to Pune by road on January 27 was fixed.
He asked on whose advice the plane travel made and also sought to know if any close associate of Pawar was a follower of Kharat.
Kharat, a retired Merchant Navy officer and self-proclaimed astrologer, was arrested in Nashik on Wednesday for allegedly raping a woman for over three years. He was remanded in police custody till March 24.
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