15 killed, 16 injured as truck ploughs into crowd in Andhra’s Chittoor

April 22, 2017

Hyderabad, Apr 22: At least 15 people were killed and about 16 injured on Friday when a truck driver lost control and hit an electric pole before ploughing the vehicle into a group of protesters, cars and shops at Yerpedu, about 25 km away from Tirupati in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh.

Drunk

While six persons were crushed to death under the truck’s wheels, others died of electrocution and the resultant fire, triggered by the mishap. Initially, about 20 people were feared dead.

The incident happened at around 1:45pm, when a large number of people had gathered in front of the Yerpedu police station located on the Putalapattu-Nayudupeta state highway to stage a dharna to demand action against illegal sand mining in the area.

Police said the truck with heavy load which was travelling at a high speed, lost control and hit an electric pole before crushing several people under its wheels. The truck came to a halt after destroying several vehicles and roadside shops, which were gutted in a fire that broke out in one of the shops due to impact of the accident.

A local reporter of a regional newspaper who was at the police station lost his legs in the accident. The driver and the cleaner absconded after the accident.

Renigunta deputy superintendent of police K S Nanjndappa said six people were crushed under the wheels of the truck, while the remaining 14 died of electric shock with high tension wires falling on them and fire in the shops. Following the accident, traffic movement on the Yerpedu, Srikalahasti, Renigunta and Tirupati routes was affected.

Some of the injured were shifted to Ruia hospital in Tirupati, while few others were moved to hospitals in Chennai and Vellore. The condition of 10 of the injured is said to be critical.

The Andhra Pradesh government announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh to the families of the deceased.

Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu expressed shock and grief at the loss of lives in the accident in Yerpedu. He directed the district Collector to personally supervise the relief operations.

Meanwhile, tense situation is prevailing near Ruia hospital as relatives of the victims are thronging the hospital and demanding action against the driver.

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News Network
June 22,2020

Kochi, Jun 22: A 54-day-old baby suffered brain damage after she was allegedly slapped and thrown on a cot at home by his father in Angamaly municipality of Ernakulam district, police said.

Doctor Sojan Ipe of MOSC Medical College Hospital at Kolenchery said that the damage caused to the brain is serious. The child was admitted with bleeding in the brain on Friday.

On Saturday, 40-year-old pastor Shaiju Thomas, who is the child's father was arrested by the Angamaly police in connection with the incident. He is currently lodged at the Covid first-line treatment centre at Angamaly.

Shaiju has been charged with IPC Section 307 (attempt to murder) and under the Juvenile Justice Act.

According to Angamaly Police, ''the accused was always doubtful of his wife and raised questions over the parenthood of the child. He had slapped the child on multiple occasions. She fell unconscious on Thursday night after a similar attack and was taken to the hospital. We have so far received enough evidence against the accused.''

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News Network
May 1,2020

Lucknow, May 1: Six members of a family were allegedly hacked to death by another family member over a property dispute in Gudauli village in the Banthra area on the outskirts of the city on Thursday, police said.

The accused, Ajay Singh (26), went to the local police station after committing the crime and surrendered, they added.

Singh allegedly had a heated argument with the family members over a property and attacked them with a sharp-edged weapon, the police said.

The accused allegedly killed his mother, father, elder brother, his wife and two children -- a son and a daughter -- they added.

The victims were identified as Amar (60), Ramsakhi (55), Arun (40), Ramdulari (35), Saurabh (7) and Sarika (2).

When asked, Commissioner of Police Sujeet Pandey said six members of a family were killed and the accused surrendered before the police.

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Agencies
June 5,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 5: One man has been arrested in connection with the death of a pregnant elephant in Palakkad district here, Kerala Forest Minister K Raju said on Friday.

"One accused identified as Wilson has been arrested in connection with the case. More people are involved. The process to arrest all the accused is underway. Strict action will be taken in the matter to ensure such incidents are not repeated in the future," Raju told reporters here.

The elephant had died in Palakkad district on May 27 after it ate a pineapple stuffed with crackers and forest officials said that it died standing in river Velliyar after it suffered an injury in its lower jaw.

Raju said that the forest department has appointed three teams to probe the matter, and added that police are also investigating the incident as explosives were used.

"There may be some type of crackers inside the fruit. In such cases, blast occurs and the animal can not even drink water. The primary post mortem reports said that this case is like that. Let it be investigated," he said.

"Man and animal conflict is natural in our state as people residing close to the forests. The government gives compensation for farmers, Rs 10 lakhs compensation if a person dies in an animal attack," the Minister added.

The death of the pregnant elephant has sparked a controversy, with Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan terming the unfortunate death as "a painful thing" and Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar saying that the Centre has taken a "serious note" of the incident.

According to the preliminary post-mortem report, the immediate cause of the death of the female elephant was drowning followed by inhalation of water leading to lung failure.

The elephant was seen standing in the river with its mouth and trunk in the water for some relief from the pain after the explosive-filled fruit exploded in its mouth.

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