Death toll in Punjab spurious liquor tragedy rises to 98
Chandigarh: The death toll in the Punjab hooch tragedy rose to 98 on Sunday with 12 more people reported dead in Tarn Taran district after drinking spurious liquor.
In Tarn Taran, the death toll is now 75, Deputy Commissioner Kulwant Singh said over the phone. He, however, said the administration put the figure at 75 on the basis of the information received from the field as the victims' last rites have already been performed by their families in the past a couple of days. Some of them even didn't come forward for autopsy, he said.
Apart from Tarn Taran, 12 deaths have been reported from Amritsar and 11 from Gurdaspur's Batala, in a tragedy unfolding since Wednesday evening.
Officials said some of the families were not even coming forward to report the death of their kin after drinking spurious liquor. A senior police official said they have been persuading them to report the death of their family members.
Meanwhile, the Opposition AAP held protests at several places, including Patiala, Barnala, Pathankot and Moga, against the Punjab government.
The protesters accused the government of negligence, leading to death of people, mostly belonging to poor families.
Aam Aadmi Party MP Bhagwant Mann also went to Tarn Taran and met families of the deceased. Mann sought a probe by a sitting judge into the matter.
The Punjab government has ordered a magisterial probe into the case. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Saturday had announced the suspension of seven excise and six police officials. He had described the police and excise department failure to check the manufacturing and sale of spurious liquor as shameful".
The state government has announced Rs 2 lakh ex gratia for each of the families of the deceased.
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4 held for sexually assaulting woman, girl on moving bus after social media alert in UP's Agra
Agra (UP) (PTI): Four people were arrested, after a prompt response by police following a social media alert, for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and a girl inside a moving bus here, officials said on Tuesday.
According to an official police statement, at 12:27 am on April 27, information was received on the social media platform X about an incident of sexual assault on a bus travelling from Kanpur to Ahmedabad, which was approaching Namner crossing in Agra.
Acting under the direction of Police Commissioner Deepak Kumar, the Agra Police social media team immediately alerted the Rakabganj police station within minutes and coordinated with the victims to confirm the incident and obtain the exact location, it stated.
Police teams launched intensive checking at Namner crossing and intercepted the bus as it reached the spot. The four accused involved in the incident were apprehended on the spot, and legal action was initiated against them, the statement said.
The police said the swift response and coordination between the social media team and field units ensured timely action, bringing relief to the victims and other passengers, who expressed gratitude towards the police, it added.
