Two Kerala tourists drown after slipping into frozen Sela Lake in Arunachal Pradesh
Itanagar (PTI): Two tourists from Kerala drowned in the Sela Lake in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang district on Friday, police said.
The body of one of them was recovered, while a search was underway to trace the other, they said.
"The deceased was identified as Dinu (26), while Mahadev (24) is still missing. They were part of a seven-member tourist group that had arrived in Tawang via Guwahati," Superintendent of Police (SP) DW Thongon said.
"The incident happened in the afternoon when one member of the group slipped into the frozen lake and began to drown. Dinu and Mahadev entered the lake in an attempt to rescue him. While the third tourist managed to come out safely, the two were swept under the icy water," he added.
The SP said the administration received information about the incident around 3 pm, following which a joint rescue operation was launched involving the district police, central forces and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF).
"Despite difficult weather and low visibility, the body of one tourist was recovered. The search for the missing person had to be halted due to darkness and harsh conditions," he said, adding that the operation will resume on Saturday morning.
The recovered body has been kept at Jang Community Health Centre, where a post-mortem examination will be conducted on Saturday.
Thongon said warning signboards have been put up at Sela Lake and other tourist spots, clearly advising visitors not to walk on frozen lakes.
The district administration had issued an advisory in December, cautioning tourists that frozen water bodies are unsafe as the ice may be unstable and unable to support human weight, he said.
Situated at an altitude of over 13,000 feet, Sela Lake is a popular tourist destination but poses significant risks during winter due to extreme cold and fragile ice cover.
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Kejriwal resorting to 'vendetta politics', says BJP after MP Sandeep Pathak booked
New Delhi (PTI): The BJP on Saturday accused Aam Aadmi Party's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal of vendetta politics after Punjab Police booked Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak, who recently defected to the BJP.
In an X post, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Kejriwal is misusing the Punjab Police to settle political scores, and Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has become a party to it.
"Two FIRs have been filed against Sandeep Pathak, who until recently was in the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a Rajya Sabha MP and general secretary (organisation). What is baffling is the shameless, brazen vendetta politics being pursued by Arvind Kejriwal, with Bhagwant Mann complicit in it," Poonawalla said.
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"It is clear this has been done out of vendetta politics by Kejriwal, who is extremely vengeful and vindictive, and misuses the Punjab Police to pursue such political vendetta," he alleged.
Questioning the timing of the FIRs, Poonawalla said, "If these cases existed from the beginning, why were FIRs not filed earlier? If he was corrupt, why was he kept in the party for so long, especially when he was the general secretary (organisation)? Has any new material surfaced in the last few days, or has the alleged corruption occurred only now?"
He alleged that Kejriwal has an "old habit" of targeting political opponents and dissenters.
"We have seen how he has used the police against rivals, including Congress leaders. This is his old habit," Poonawalla said, referring to the withdrawal of Rajya Sabha MP Harbhajan Singh's security.
Poonawalla claimed that several leaders who had left AAP over the years, including Yogendra Yadav, Mayank Gandhi, Ashish Khetan, Ashutosh and Alka Lamba, were "hounded".
He accused the party of failing to introspect.
"Instead of introspecting on how they have changed -- from Anna to Lalu, from Lokpal to corruption -- they are indulging in vendetta politics, trying to victimise people using the strong arm of the law. This reflects an Emergency-like mindset and a dictatorial, Hitlerian mindset," he said.
According to sources, two FIRs have been lodged against Pathak under non-bailable sections.
No further details about the FIRs have been disclosed yet.
On April 24, the AAP suffered a jolt when seven of its 10 Rajya Sabha MPs quit, alleging that Arvind Kejriwal's party has strayed from its principles, values and core morals.
Of the seven MPs -- who were Pathak, Raghav Chadha, Ashok Mittal, Harbhajan Singh, Rajendra Gupta, Vikramjit Sahney and Swati Maliwal -- six were from Punjab.
Later, Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan officially accepted their merger with the BJP, reducing AAP's strength in the Upper House to three.
