Jalna (PTI): Seven persons were killed and three others seriously injured after two cars collided on the Mumbai-Nagpur Expressway, also known as Samruddhi Expressway, in Jalna district of Maharashtra, police said on Saturday.

The incident occurred around 11 pm on Friday near Kadvanchi village, they said.

The victims were residents of Malad (East) in Mumbai and Buldhana district, the police said.

"A multi-utility vehicle (MUV) going from Nagpur to Mumbai and a car heading in the opposite direction collided head-on, resulting in the death of six persons on the spot. One more person succumbed to injuries at a hospital later," a police official said.

The impact of the collision was so severe that the MUV broke through the crash barrier and fell off on the left side of the road. Local villagers and police rushed to the scene to rescue the persons trapped in mangled remains of the vehicles, he said.

Dr Umesh Jadhav, a medical officer at the Government District Hospital in Jalna, said six bodies were brought to the hospital for post-mortem. Three injured persons are being treated here, while one critically injured person who was shifted to the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district died later.

Three of the deceased are from Mumbai, while as many others are from Buldhana district. One person who was shifted to Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar is yet to be identified, he said.

The three injured persons are from Mumbai, he added.

The Samruddhi Highway is a 701-kilometer six-lane expressway connecting Mumbai and Nagpur. The first phase of the highway connecting Nagpur to Shirdi was inaugurated in December 2022.

 

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.



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.