Vasant Vihar wall collapse: 3 bodies found, toll in rain-related incidents in Delhi rises to 8
New Delhi (PTI): The bodies of three labourers were on Saturday pulled from the rubble of a wall that collapsed at a construction site in the Vasant Vihar area here amid heavy rain, officials said.
With this, the number of people killed in rain-related incidents in Delhi has climbed to eight.
The under-construction wall collapsed on Friday and the incident was reported to the Delhi Fire Services (DFS) around 5:30 am.
DFS officials said the bodies of three labourers have been pulled from the rubble. Two of them have been identified as Santosh Kumar Yadav (19) and Santosh (38). The third labourer is yet to be identified.
Cranes were used to clear the debris and water was pumped out of the foundation pit to recover the bodies. The bodies were taken to Safdarjung Hospital, they said.
A search operation is underway to ensure that no one else is trapped under the rubble. Teams of National Disaster Response Force, Delhi Disaster Management Authority and civic agencies are carrying out the operation, the officials said.
Five people died in rain-related incidents on Friday as the monsoon arrived with a fury, lashing the city with its highest rainfall in a single day of June in 88 years.
The deceased included a cab driver who died after a portion of a canopy at the Delhi airport collapsed, a 39-year-old man who was electrocuted in Rohini's Prem Nagar area and three people who drowned in New Usmanpur and Shalimar Bagh.
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NIA court to complete framing of charges against 2010 hand-chopping case accused on May 15
Kochi (PTI): A special court here will complete proceedings for framing charges against the prime accused in the 2010 hand-chopping case involving professor T J Joseph, in which PFI activists were accused of attacking him at Muvattupuzha.
Ernakulam Special Court for NIA cases judge P K Mohandas, on April 30, heard the arguments of counsel for accused Savad and Shafeer C and decided to proceed with framing charges against the duo.
A group chopped off Thodupuzha Newman College professor Joseph's right hand in July 2010, accusing him of religious blasphemy in a question paper he had prepared.
The case, later taken over by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), resulted in the conviction of 19 accused.
The first accused, Savad, who allegedly chopped off Joseph’s palm, was arrested in Berram in Mattannur, Kannur, in January 2024, where he had allegedly been hiding under the pseudonym Shajahan.
The NIA also arrested Shafeer, who allegedly arranged shelter and provided logistical support to Savad at Chakkad and Mattannur in Kannur since 2020.
On April 30, the court heard the counsel for the accused and the NIA prosecutor on framing charges against the duo.
"On going through the documents and evidence in the case and on hearing the counsel for the accused and the prosecutor, I am of the opinion that there are grounds for presuming that the first accused has committed offences punishable under provisions of the IPC, the Explosive Substances Act and the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and that the second accused has committed offences punishable under the IPC and the UAPA, and there are materials for framing charges under these provisions against the accused," the court said.
The court directed that Savad be produced and Shafeer, who is on bail, appear before it on May 15 for recording their pleas as part of the charge-framing process.
After framing the charges, the court will schedule the trial in the case.
