Teen dead, 200 still in hospital after 'colour' poisoning

March 9, 2012

mumbai


Mumbai, March 9: A 13-year-old boy died and around 200 people, mostly children, continued to be in hospital following an allergic reaction from toxic colours on Holi, police here said Friday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has ordered a high-level probe into the incident.

Vikas Valmiki from Ghatkopar died late Thursday. He was rushed to hospital with severe symptoms of colour allergy but doctors could do little to save him, according to an official at the Dharavi police station.

Police and medical authorities have yet to identify the mystery blue colour that sparked panic and aborted Holi celebrations in the area Thursday afternoon.

Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar visited the victims in Sion Hospital Friday.

Chavan has directed that the report be submitted within a fortnight. The probe panel will be headed by Medical Education Secretary I.S. Chahal, and will include Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) member Milind Mhaiskar, Food & Drugs Authority commissioner Mahesh Zagde, Additional Municipal Commissioner Manisha Mhaiskar and a high-ranking police official.

Holi took a tragic turn Thursday afternoon when scores of children, mainly from Dharavi slums, Sion, Ghatkopar and surrounding areas complained of giddiness, breathlessness, vomiting, burning eyes, dehydration, low oxygen levels and skin rashes after they had played with or unknowingly consumed tiny quantities of some unknown colour.

The condition of most them is reported to be stable, police said. Preliminary investigations by the police have revealed that some poor slum kids reportedly discovered bags of blue colour lying unattended near a garbage dump in Dharavi.

Police and civic officials had issued warnings asking people to stay away from cheap and polluted Holi colours.


Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
February 26,2020

Kota, Feb 26: At least 24 people died and four others sustained injuries as a private bus carrying a wedding party fell into a river on Kota–Dausa highway in Bundi district on Wednesday morning, police said.

The wedding party with 28 persons on board was headed to Sawai Madhopur from Kota early morning when the driver apparently lost balance of the bus while traversing a bridge near Papdi village under Lekhari police station limits, Lakheri Sub-Inspector Rajendra Kumar said.

The bus, subsequently, plunged into Mej river from the bridge that had no wall or railing, Kumar said.

Thirteen people died on the spot while 10 others succumbed to their injuries on way to hospital, he added.

The deaths include 11 men, 10 women and three children.

The injured were rushed to Lekhari government hospital from where the critically injured are being referred to a government hospital in Kota, the SI further said.

Most of the injured people were rescued with the help of locals in the village, he added.

Mej river is a tributary of the Chambal river in Rajasthan.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
May 31,2020

Bareilly, May 31: The Bareilly couple who had made headlines in July last year when they eloped and apprehended a threat to their life from the girl's father who is a BJP MLA in UP, is back in the news.

Ajitesh, now son-in-law of BJP MLA Rajesh Mishra, and his friend were arrested on Saturday for allegedly thrashing a youth and snatching his cell phone after a minor road mishap in Prem Nagar area of Bareilly district.

Ajitesh is married to Sakshi, daughter of the MLA and the couple had eloped last year and got married.

According to police, the youth was on his way home after buying medicines for his friend's father when his bike hit Ajitesh's SUV. Ajitesh and his friend thrashed the youth and snatched his cell phone.

Police said Ajitesh and his friend Vaibhav Gangwar were booked under IPC section 394 (voluntarily causing hurt in committing robbery) and other relevant sections.

Both have been sent to jail.

The complainant Deepanshu Maheshwari said, "When I overtook Ajitesh's car, he chased and waylaid me in the middle of the road. Thereafter, he and his friend thrashed me and snatched my phone. SHO Balbir Singh and his team rescued me."

The SHO told reporters, "We checked CCTV footage and spoke to witnesses only to find that Ajitesh and his friend had thrashed the youth. A case was registered under relevant sections and both were sent to jail after being produced before a magistrate on Saturday. The youth has been admitted to a hospital and his condition is stable."

The BJP MLA, incidentally, had snapped all his ties with his daughter Sakshi after she eloped and married Ajitesh.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
Agencies
January 9,2020

Bareilly, Jan 9: In a bizarre development, a woman has been arrested for inflicting 101 cuts on her sister-in-law in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly district, the police said on Thursday.

The woman was practicing exorcism to cure her father who had been ailing for some time.

The woman, Moni, was helped by her husband Mooli and brother Raju in the act, which happened on Tuesday.

The sister-in-law Renu who suffered the cuts, was given 300 stitches on her face and other parts of the body by the doctors.

Renu has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where her condition is said to be serious.

Moni, 30, has been sent to jail while Mooli and Raju are absconding.

Baradari police station officer inspector Naresh Tyagi said that a complaint had been filed by Renu's brother under section 307 (attempt to murder) of IPC.

"We will record Renu's statements in a day or two once she is stable and in a condition to talk to us. We have sent Moni to jail," the inspector said.

Renu, a resident of Ganghora village in Bareilly, was married to Sanjeev around eight years ago.

Her father-in-law, Jagdish, fell ill a few months ago.

"Accused Moni, who practices exorcism, decided to cure her father by initiating the act. Going by superstitious beliefs, they inflicted as many as 101 cuts on Renu's face and body. It cannot be ruled out that they wanted to sacrifice her to complete the act," police inspector said.

On Tuesday night, the accused had locked Renu's husband and mother-in-law in another room when they tried to stop them from making her a scapegoat.

When the accused trio started inflicting cuts on Renu, she struggled to get out of their clutches and somehow managed to escape from the house.

She had run a short distance when she collapsed and became unconscious. A police constable on patrol reportedly spotted her and she was taken to a district hospital. Once regaining her consciousness, she narrated her ordeal to the police who then informed her parents.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.