New Delhi, Dec 23: Former Supreme Court judge V Ramasubramanian has been appointed the new chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, the rights panel said on Monday.

The post of NHRC chairperson had been lying vacant since Justice (retd) Arun Kumar Mishra completed his tenure on June 1.

Mishra served as the eighth chairperson of the rights panel and was appointed to its top post in June 2021.

On December 18, a high-powered committee led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a meeting to select the next chairperson of the NHRC, sources earlier said.

A former chief justice of India or a retired judge of the top court are appointed as NHRC chairperson by the president on the recommendation of the selection committee.

Justice (retd) Ramasubramanian, a former judge of the apex court, has been appointed the chairperson of the NHRC, a senior official said, adding "the NHRC received the communication about the appointment today".

Former CJIs H L Dattu and K G Balakrishnan are among those who have headed the rights body in the past.

The NHRC, in a post on X, said, "Hon'ble President of India appoints Shri Justice V. Ramasubramanian (Retd.) as the Chairperson, and Shri Priyank Kanoongo and Dr. Justice Bidyut Ranjan Sarangi (Retd.) as the Members of the National Human Rights Commission(NHRC), India."

Kanoongo earlier served as a chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

"And now as member of the NHRC, I will try to fulfil the responsibilities expected of me," he told on Monday.

Mishra, a former Supreme Court judge, was also the first non-CJI to be appointed to the NHRC chief post since the amendment of the Protection of Human Rights Act in 2019.

He had succeeded former Chief Justice of India H L Dattu.

Vijaya Bharathi Sayani, a member of NHRC, had become its acting chairperson with effect from June 2 after Mishra had demitted office.

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Agra, Dec 23: A truck driver dragged two people for about 300 metres in Agra under his vehicle, police on Monday said.

Some locals forced the driver to stop the truck and extricated the men from under the vehicle.

Police arrested the driver and seized the truck.

The two men, both residents of Nunhai in Agra, were going towards Rambagh from Waterworks when they met with an accident around 11 pm Sunday.

The driver, instead of stopping the truck sped up, trapping both of them underneath, police said.

"In the accident, two youths were dragged by a canter driver for about 300 metres. Later, some residents saved the youths by stopping the driver using force," Chhatta Police Station Inspector Pramod Kumar told PTI.

"The youths were sent for treatment at a nearby hospital and are still being treated, but are in stable condition. The youths were from Agra. The canter driver was arrested and the canter seized after the incident," he said.

A video of the incident that surfaced on social media showed the men shouting for help.

The video was purported to have been shot by a person passing by on a two-wheeler.