9 dead in bus accident in Kerala
Palakkad (Ker) (PTI): Nine people, including five students, were killed after a private tourist bus hit a state-run KSRTC bus from behind at Vadakkenchery here, Kerala Road Transport Minister Antony Raju said on Thursday.
The minister said the accident occurred around 11.30 PM on Wednesday when the private bus, which was travelling at a high speed, while attempting to overtake a car, hit the rear end of a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus.
"Both the buses went off the road as a result. Nine persons, including five students and a teacher, were killed in the accident," he told the media.
The minister also said that the preliminary view was that the accident occurred due to the high speed of the private bus and the negligence of its driver.
He said the KSRTC bus was going from Kottarakkara in Kerala to Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu and had 81 passengers, of whom three died in the accident.
The private bus was carrying 42 students and 5 teachers of Baselios Vidyanikethan Senior Secondary School in Ernakulam, who were on a pleasure trip.
State Local Self Government Minister M B Rajesh, who visited the hospital in Palakkad where the injured were admitted, told reporters that four of them were in serious condition, but the rest were fine.
Meanwhile, state Revenue Minister K Rajan told the media that everyone was in shock regarding what happened.
He said there will be an investigation to ascertain how and why the accident happened and strict measures would be needed to be put in place for preventing such incidents in the future.
Rajan said a cabinet meeting will be held to consider providing compensation to the families who lost loved ones in the accident and that counselling may have to be provided to the students who lost close friends and a teacher in the tragic incident.
One of the students told a TV channel that the private bus was going at a very high speed and then rammed into the rear right side of the KSRTC bus and then toppled over.
"There was blood everywhere. We do not know what has happened to some of our friends and teachers who were in bad shape," he said, breaking into tears.
Another student said that she was watching a film when the accident occurred and someone landed on top of her as the bus toppled over.
"Someone pulled me and another girl out from the bus. But the girl sitting close to me could not be pulled out until much later," she said.
Around 40 persons were injured in the accident, police said.
Tragic Road accident in Kerala as tourist bus carrying students collided with Government bus near Walayar - Vadakancheri region. 9 dead. pic.twitter.com/GQMB1AyVjb
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ED arrests Sandeepa Virk, 'cosmetologist' for alleged money laundering
New Delhi, Aug 13 (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate said on Wednesday it has arrested a woman, who claims to be an actor and a cosmetologist, under the anti-money laundering law in a case of alleged fraud and misrepresentation.
The agency said the purported links of the woman, Sandeepa Virk, with a Reliance Group executive, Angarai Natarajan Sethuraman (President, Corporate Affairs), are also under its scanner. Sethuraman, in a statement, denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Virk was taken into custody under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday after searches were conducted against her and her associates in Delhi and Mumbai over the last two days.
A special court sent her to the ED's custody till August 14, the agency said. The woman claims to be the owner of a skin care products selling website named hyboocare.com, which the ED claimed was a "front" for money laundering.
She and her associates are being probed for allegedly exerting undue influence through "misrepresentation" and "defrauding" individuals by soliciting money under false pretences.
According to an Instagram ID of Virk, she is an actor and entrepreneur and the founder of the said website.
The federal agency said in a statement that the woman was also "in touch with" Sethuraman, former director of erstwhile Reliance Capital Limited.
She was communicating with him regarding "illegal liaisoning", the ED claimed, adding that the searches at Sethuraman's residence "confirmed" these allegations.
"Besides, diversion of funds for personal benefit has also been unearthed during the course of the search action," it said.
The ED alleged that public money worth about Rs 18 crore belonging to Reliance Commercial Finance Limited (RCFL) was disbursed to Sethuraman in 2018 by "flouting" prudent lending norms.
The funds were lent under terms that allowed a deferment of the principal amount as well as the interest, with multiple waivers granted and no due diligence conducted, it said.
The ED claimed that besides this, a home loan of Rs 22 crore was provided by Reliance Capital Limited by "violating" the prudential norms. "A large part of these loans are seen to have been eventually siphoned off and remained unpaid," it alleged.
Sethuraman, in a statement, dismissed the allegations as "baseless". He denied any connection with Virk or any transactions related to her.
Detailing about Virk's web portal, the agency said it purportedly sold FDA-approved beauty products. However, the ED said the products listed on the website have been found to be non-existent and the portal lacks a user registration option and is plagued by persistent payment gateway issues.
A scrutiny of the website uncovered minimal social-media engagement, an inactive WhatsApp contact number and an absence of transparent organisational details, all of which reinforce the finding of "non-genuine" commercial activity, the ED claimed.
"These factors, including limited product range, inflated pricing, false claims of FDA approval and technical inconsistencies, indicate that the website serves as a front for laundering funds," it said.
Another social media-hosted bio data of the woman said she is a certified cosmetologist.
The ED said several "incriminating" documents were seized during the searches and the statement of a man named Farrukh Ali, stated to be an associate of Virk, was recorded.
The money-laundering case stems from an FIR lodged by the Punjab Police.
Sethuraman said that the home loan he received from Reliance Capital was granted following due process and was secured by the property offered as collateral.
