B'luru: Woman techie drowns after car gets stuck in water in neck-deep underpass near Vidhana Soudha
Bengaluru, May 21: A woman drowned on Sunday after a car she was travelling in with her family got stuck in neck-deep water at KR Circle underpass, just a stone's throw from Vidhana Soudha, the seat of power of Karnataka.
Fire and emergency services personnel saved five others of the family and the driver, with the help of people who had rushed to save those trapped in the flooded underpass in the heart of the city.
The victim as well as the others were taken to St Martha's Hospital where doctors declared the woman, identified as Bhanurekha, dead.
Learning about the incident, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah rushed to the hospital and took stock of the situation. He announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to the next of kin of the deceased and free treatment for those admitted in the hospital.
"The family from Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh had hired a car and come to see Bengaluru. Bhanurekha works in Infosys. Due to the downpour, the barricade at the underpass fell down and the driver took the risk of crossing the underpass, which he should not have," Siddaramaiah told reporters.
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When reporters who were covering the incident complained that doctors refused to treat Bhanurekha, who was alive when she was taken to the hospital, Siddaramaiah said he will get it investigated and initiate action.
According to those present at the spot, the car driver tried to zoom through the water, but in the middle of the underpass the car almost got submerged. The occupants of the vehicle came out frantically trying to save themselves.
Due to the downpour and hailstorm, the water level started increasing. As the family started crying for help, people nearby rushed to their rescue. They threw sarees and ropes to help them keep afloat.
Those entrapped tried to climb up but failed. While two of them were dragged out by swimmers of the emergency services personnel, others were brought out using a ladder.
The survivors were rushed to the hospital where they found Bhanurekha dead. Loud mourning ensued at the hospital when the survivors saw the lifeless body of their family member.
An autorickshaw was also trapped at KR Circle and a woman passenger saved her life by climbing on the top of the vehicle. The rescuers saved her too.
Meanwhile, several vehicles got trapped at an underpass near Majestic, also in the centre of the city, due to flooding. People struggled hard to come out their vehicles.
People complained that the place gets flooded whenever there is heavy rainfall in the city and no measures have been taken to avoid it.
Several houses were flooded due to the sudden downpour in the city. Many trees came down crashing damaging houses and vehicles.
At Mahalakshmi Layout, a prime area in the city, water gushed into houses, damaging furniture, electronic goods and stored food grains.
Many areas were waterlogged including posh areas such as Malleswaram and Rajaji Nagar, as well as Srirampuram, certain areas in Kengeri, Mysuru Road and several other low-lying areas.
Several trees were uprooted or their branches came crashing down, damaging vehicles and houses. Traffic was thrown out of gear after the tree fell.
"We are getting complaints of water logging, and trees crashing from all over Bengaluru," a Bengaluru civic agency official told PTI.
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US SC rejects 26/11 attack accused Tahawwur Rana’s plea seeking stay on his extradition to India
New York, Apr 7 (PTI): The US Supreme Court has rejected 26/11 Mumbai terror attack accused Tahawwur Rana's appeal seeking a stay on his extradition to India, moving him closer to being handed over to Indian authorities to face justice.
Rana, 64, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin, is currently lodged at a metropolitan detention centre in Los Angeles.
He is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 attacks. Headley conducted a recce of Mumbai before the attacks by posing as an employee of Rana’s immigration consultancy.
Rana had submitted an ‘Emergency Application For Stay Pending Litigation of Petition For Writ of Habeas Corpus' on February 27, 2025, with Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States and Circuit Justice for the Ninth Circuit Elena Kagan.
Kagan had denied the application earlier last month.
Rana had then renewed his ‘Emergency Application for Stay Pending Litigation of Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus previously addressed to Justice Kagan’, and requested that the renewed application be directed to US Chief Justice John Roberts.
An order on the Supreme Court website noted that Rana's renewed application had been “distributed for Conference” on April 4 and the “application” has been “referred to the Court.”
A notice on the Supreme Court website Monday said that “Application denied by the Court.”
Rana was convicted in the US of one count of conspiracy to provide material support to the terrorist plot in Denmark and one count of providing material support to Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Lashker-e-Taiba which was responsible for the attacks in Mumbai.
New York-based Indian-American attorney Ravi Batra had told PTI that Rana had made his application to the Supreme Court to prevent extradition, which Justice Kagan denied on March 6. The application was then submitted before Roberts, “who has shared it with the Court to conference so as to harness the entire Court’s view.”
The Supreme Court justices are Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Elena Kagan, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
In his emergency application, Rana had sought a stay of his extradition and surrender to India pending litigation (including exhaustion of all appeals) on the merits of his February 13.
In that petition, Rana argued that his extradition to India violates US law and the UN Convention Against Torture "because there are substantial grounds for believing that, if extradited to India, the petitioner will be in danger of being subjected to torture."
"The likelihood of torture in this case is even higher though as petitioner faces acute risk as a Muslim of Pakistani origin charged in the Mumbai attacks,” the application said.
The application also said that his “severe medical conditions” render extradition to Indian detention facilities a “de facto" death sentence in this case.
The US Supreme Court denied Rana's petition for a writ of certiorari relating to his original habeas petition on January 21. The application notes that on that same day, newly-confirmed Secretary of State Marco Rubio had met with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Washington on February 12 to meet with Trump, Rana’s counsel received a letter from the Department of State, stating that “on February 11, 2025, the Secretary of State decided to authorise” Rana’s "surrender to India,” pursuant to the “Extradition Treaty between the United States and India”.
Rana’s Counsel requested from the State Department the complete administrative record on which Secretary Rubio based his decision to authorize Rana’s surrender to India.
The Counsel also requested immediate information of any commitment the United States has obtained from India with respect to Rana’s treatment. “The government declined to provide any information in response to these requests,” the application said.
It added that given Rana’s underlying health conditions and the State Department’s findings regarding the treatment of prisoners, it is very likely “Rana will not survive long enough to be tried in India".
During a joint press conference with Prime Minister Modi in the White House in February, President Donald Trump announced that his administration has approved the extradition of "very evil" Rana, wanted by Indian law enforcement agencies for his role in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, "to face justice in India”.
A total of 166 people, including six Americans, were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks in which 10 Pakistani terrorists laid a more than 60-hour siege, attacking and killing people at iconic and vital locations in Mumbai.
