At least 8 killed, over 40 injured as bus falls into valley in AP's Chittoor
Tirupati (PTI): At least eight people were killed and over 40 injured in a ghastly road accident in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, police said on Sunday.
The incident happened late on Saturday night when the private bus they were travelling in fell into a valley on the Ghat road near Bhakarpet while negotiating a steep curve, the police added.
The victims belonged to Anantapuramu district and were on their way to a wedding engagement scheduled for Sunday morning. Over-speeding resulted in the accident, a senior police official said.
As it was pitch-dark, the rescue operation took a lot of time.
Tirupati Urban Superintendent of Police Ch V Appala Naidu and a team of police personnel rushed to the spot and pulled out the injured persons using ropes and shifted them to RUIA hospital in Tirupati.
Later, the bodies of the deceased were extricated from the accident site.
The Andhra Pradesh government announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, Telugu Desam Party president N Chandrababu Naidu and others expressed grief over the accident.
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Paper leak mafia thriving under BJP's double-engine governments: Bhagwant Mann
Shimla (PTI): Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday slammed the Centre over the alleged NEET paper leak and said that such incidents are surfacing in regions governed by the BJP's 'double-engine' and 'triple-engine' governments.
He said the leak and cancellation of the National Eligibility cum Entrance test (NEET) 2026 examination is a major failure on the part of the Union government.
"This is not the first time that a paper leak has happened. Such incidents have surfaced in 2017, 2021, 2024, and now even in 2026 and every time, a CBI inquiry is initiated, arrests are made, yet after a short while, the accused are released on bail," he said.
Mann, who arrived at the Dharamshala Cricket Stadium to boost the morale of the Punjab Kings team ahead of their upcoming IPL match, told the media that lakhs of students toil day and night, harbouring dreams of transforming their families' fortunes, but when exams are cancelled due to paper leaks, these students are left heartbroken.
The NEET 2026 paper held on May 3 was cancelled on May 12 after reports of a paper leak in Rajasthan.
He said that the paper leak mafia is predominantly surfacing in regions governed by the BJP's 'double-engine' and 'triple-engine' governments. "Paper leaked, dreams shattered, the country's administrative system is unable to conduct even a single examination properly", he added.
Taking a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mann said that while Modi imposes various restrictions on the public, he himself continues to embark on foreign tours.
He asserted that the public deserves to know the country's true economic situation.
"The prime minister must disclose the current status of the country's oil reserves, the extent of our gold reserves, and fundamentally why restrictions are being imposed on every single commodity", he said.
No other nation has imposed such restrictions and the ongoing war is being used as a pretext, even though the country's economy is already in a precarious state, Mann added.
Regarding the ongoing campaign against drugs in Punjab, Mann said that the state government is continuously taking action against drug traffickers and asserted that a large number of traffickers are being sent to jail and that Punjab will soon move towards becoming drug-free.
Speaking about the upcoming IPL match between Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians to be held in Dharamshala, Mann said that he also holds the portfolio of Punjab's sports minister and has arrived in Dharamshala to cheer the team.
