Chandigarh (PTI): President Droupadi Murmu's scheduled visit to Jalandhar on Friday for a convocation ceremony was cancelled due to bad weather, an official said.
Murmu, who reached Amritsar on Thursday, where she addressed a convocation function at the Guru Nanak Dev University, was to attend the 21st convocation ceremony of the Dr BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology in Jalandhar as the chief guest on Friday.
“The president's visit was cancelled due to bad weather conditions,” Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal said over the phone.
Notably, many places in Punjab have been blanketed by dense fog during morning hours over the past few days.
The convocation ceremony at the Jalandhar institute was held as per schedule, with Punjab Governor and Chandigarh Administrator, Gulab Chand Kataria, in attendance.
On Thursday evening, the Punjab government hosted a dinner in the president's honour in Amritsar, which was attended by Kataria, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, and some state ministers.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Bidar: A 48-year-old man was killed after a glass-coated Chinese manja slit his throat while he was riding a motorcycle in Karnataka’s Bidar district, police said on Friday.
The deceased was identified as Sanjukumar Gundappa Hosamani, a resident of Bambulgi village in Bidar taluk. The incident occurred on January 14 near the bridge at Talamadagi village in the Chitguppa area.
Police said Hosamani was travelling to Humnabad to bring his daughter home from her hostel for the Sankranti holidays when the accident took place. As he passed through the stretch, a banned nylon kite string coated with glass, reportedly stretched across the road, became entangled around his neck, causing a deep and fatal cut. He collapsed on the road and bled heavily, dying at the spot.
Videos that surfaced on social media showed Hosamani lying injured on the road in a pool of blood, reportedly attempting to make a phone call to his daughter moments before his death. His body was later shifted to a government hospital for a post-mortem examination and was handed over to the family after the procedure.
ALSO READ: ₹70,000 car, ₹1.11 lakh fine: Bengaluru student penalised for illegal modifications
A case has been registered at the Mannaekhelli police station under Section 106(1) for causing death by negligence and Section 281 for rash or negligent riding. Police said further investigation is underway.
The incident led to protests by local residents and relatives of the deceased, who demanded strict action against the sale and use of Chinese manja. Protesters alleged that although an ambulance was called immediately, it arrived late, and the delay led to excessive blood loss, contributing to Hosamani’s death.
Bidar Superintendent of Police Pradeep Gunti said the use of Chinese manja is banned and that special checking drives had been conducted ahead of the festival. He said continuous patrolling was being carried out even after the incident and cases were being registered against those found selling the prohibited kite strings. In response to public anger, gram panchayat authorities issued announcements in the area, warning residents against using nylon and glass-coated kite strings.
