UP: 6 of family killed in oxygen cylinder blast in Bulandshahr house
Bulandshahr (UP) (PTI): Six people died and three were injured following an oxygen cylinder blast which led to a partial house collapse in the Sikandrabad area of Bulandshahr district, officials said on Tuesday.
District Magistrate of Bulandshahr Chandra Prakash Singh said the incident occurred on Monday evening in the house of one Riyazuddin in which around 19 people, including women and children, were living.
Riyazuddin was involved in shuttering work -- the process of giving support and stability to concrete during construction work before it becomes solid.
The initial death toll was five which increased to six in the early hours of Tuesday. City Magistrate Chandra Prakash Priyadarshi said six bodies -- three male and three female -- were brought to the district hospital.
According to officials, those dead were identified as Riyazuddin alias Raju (50), his wife Rukhsana (45), Salman (16), Tamanna (24), Hivja (3) and Aas Mohammed (26).
DM Singh said, "A cylinder blast occurred in the Ashapuri colony of Sikandrabad between 8.30 pm and 9 pm leading to the collapse of the entire house." He said eight residents were taken to the hospital while others were safe.
Additional Director General of Police, Meerut Zone, Dhruva Kant Thakur said information about the casualties was received, after which rescue and relief operations were launched immediately.
Personnel of the NDRF, fire brigade, police, medical and the local administration were involved in the rescue work, he said.
"Chief Minister (Yogi Adityanath) took immediate cognisance of the incident. We were sent to the spot and directions were issued that good quality treatment should be given to the injured persons," the DM said.
About the rescue operation, he said the iron beams of the roof of the house had to be pried open using gas cutters. At the same time, an excavator was pressed into action to clear the debris.
On Tuesday morning, Senior Superintendent of Police of Bulandshahr Shlok Kumar told PTI that the rescue operation had been completed at the site.
Although the surviving family members have said that no one was trapped under the debris anymore, the rescue teams took all precautions while carrying out their work, he added.
"A total of six persons have died and another three suffered injuries in the blast because of which the front portion of the double-storey house collapsed," Kumar said.
The wife of Riyazuddin was undergoing treatment for an ailment at a hospital and was recently brought back to the home, where the family had brought an oxygen cylinder along with its accessories to help in the post hospitalisation care, the SSP said.
"This oxygen cylinder exploded. The cylinder, its nozzle, etc have been recovered from the debris," the district police chief told PTI.
The bodies have been sent for post-mortem and further legal proceedings in the matter are underway, he added.
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FIR filed after e-commerce platform linked tech firm alleges SMS spoofing fraud
Bengaluru (PTI): An FIR has been registered against unknown people for allegedly sending fraudulent messages in the name of an e-commerce platform with promises of cash rewards, further disrupting its operations, police said on Wednesday.
The offence is said to have taken place between April 23 and April 27, they said.
A representative of city-based technology company Hiveloop Technology Pvt Ltd (HTPL), part of the Udaan group (eB2B platform), has lodged a complaint alleging a large-scale SMS spoofing fraud following which a detailed investigation has been initiated into the matter, a senior police officer said.
According to the FIR, HTPL is a registered entity on the TRAI-mandated DLT platform, which permits only pre-approved SMS templates and whitelisted URLs to be sent through authorised sender IDs.
The issue came to light on April 23, when HTPL received alerts from buyers about fraudulent SMS messages appearing to originate from the company's sender ID "UDAANN". The messages reportedly contained Bitly links and falsely claimed a credit of Rs 10,001, urging recipients to withdraw money, it said.
On April 27, at around 12:49 pm, the DLT platform blacklisted HTPL's SMS templates, citing their alleged use in sending fraudulent messages. Within minutes, the company's sender ID was also blacklisted. Airtel's DLT system subsequently confirmed the action and shared details of the fraudulent messages that were circulated in HTPL's name without its knowledge or consent, the FIR stated.
Following this, the company's messaging operations were affected, and even legitimate communications such as one-time passwords to buyers began failing. Later, the DLT operator suspended HTPL's entire account following complaints raised on TRAI's Chakshu platform, bringing all SMS services of the company to a halt, it further stated.
HTPL has stated that neither it nor its authorised vendors sent the fraudulent messages. The links embedded in the messages reportedly redirected users to an online betting website, the FIR stated.
The company has claimed that the incident has resulted in a complete breakdown of SMS-based services, including buyer authentication, order updates and promotional communication, leading to significant financial losses.
At least 13 victims have been identified so far, with the possibility of more affected users. Victims were allegedly directed to an online betting platform, raising concerns of potential financial fraud, the FIR added.
