Navy divers detect another body in flooded Meghalaya coal mine
Shillong, Jan 26 : Navy divers Saturday located the body of another miner trapped since December 13 inside the 370-foot-deep coal mine in Meghalaya's East Jaintia Hills district, officials said.
"The Indian Navy has informed us that another body was found at 3am and is located at about 280 feet away from the bottom of the main shaft," District Deputy Commissioner F M Dopth told PTI.
He said the body is decomposed and efforts are on to retrieve it to the top of the mine, using the Navy's remotely operated vehicle (ROV), with the help of the National Disaster Response Force.
The first body, of Amir Hussain from Assam's Chirang district, spotted in the mine was handed over to the family members Saturday morning.
In a joint operation, the Navy and the NDRF pulled Hussain's body out of the mine's shaft on Thursday, after it was first spotted on January 17.
On December 13, water from the nearby Lytein River flooded a network of tunnels in the illegal rat-hole coal mine in Lumthari village of East Jaintia Hills, trapping 15 men and prompting a multiple-agency rescue attempt.
Nearly 200 rescue personnel from the NDRF, the Indian Navy, Odisha Fire Service and state agencies are involved in the search-and-rescue operation.
Efforts to de-water the nearby abandoned mines with the help of high-powered pumps of Coal India Ltd, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd and Odisha Fire Service are still continuing, the officials said
Anxious family members of the trapped miners are camping in the district headquarters and visiting the site frequently for any news of their loved ones, they said.
The owner of the mine, Krip Chullet, was arrested from his home on December 14. His accomplices are on the run.
The Meghalaya government has released Rs 1 lakh interim relief for the families of the trapped miners.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is monitoring the rescue mission and the matter is scheduled to come up for hearing again on Monday.
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UP: Fake IAS officer marries woman, flees with Rs 15 lakh dowry
Gorakhpur (UP) (PTI): A newly married man fled with the Rs 15 lakh given to him as dowry by the bride's family, and it came to light later that he was an alleged serial scammer, police said on Sunday.
The accused, identified as Pritam Kumar Nishad from Etawah, allegedly posed as an IAS officer to deceive the woman into marrying him. He is currently absconding with his sister, and a case has been filed against him for cheating, dowry harassment, and forgery, officials said.
According to the police, the woman's family claimed that they spent nearly Rs 30 lakh for the wedding that was solemnised on March 11.
The match was arranged through a matrimonial group, where the accused introduced himself as an IAS officer, sharing purported interview clips, office visuals, and photographs with politicians to gain the family's trust.
Despite initially claiming he would marry without dowry, the accused allegedly demanded Rs 15 lakh shortly before the engagement. The bride's family paid Rs 10 lakh in cash during the engagement and the remaining Rs 5 lakh on the wedding day, the police said.
The fraud came to light on Saturday after the woman reached Etawah, and a wedding attendee informed the family that the accused was not a civil servant. When her relatives visited the address provided by him, they found her in a small rented room, while the accused and his sister had fled, the police added.
The woman has also alleged that the accused planned to take her to Goa and sell her, and accused him of inappropriate behaviour.
The police suspect that the accused may have been involved in multiple such marriages in the past. Based on a complaint lodged at the cantonment police station, an FIR was registered on Saturday evening.
Senior Superintendent of Police Dr Kaustubh said efforts are underway to arrest the accused.
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