Bomb scare on Gitanjali Express turns out hoax
Kolkata, Sep. 5 (IANS): A search operation was conducted at the Mumbai-bound Gitanjali Express near Howrah on Tuesday after a bomb threat but nothing suspicious was found and the train left for its destination after about half an hour’s delay, a railway official said. The train that departed from Howrah railway station at 1.50 p.m. was stopped for 35 minutes at Santragachi station, nine km from Howrah, to conduct the combing operation by the Railway Protection Force and the West Bengal Police. “The Bombay Police control room received a hoax call on Monday night regarding a bomb being placed in the Gitanjani Express,” Pranav Jyoti Sharma, Chief Public Relation Officer of South Eastern Railway, told IANS. “The train was declared safe to travel to Mumbai after the check,” the official added.
Army ALH with corps commander aboard crashes in Ladakh, all safe
Leh, Sep. 5 (IANS): An Indian Army helicopter crashed in Jammu and Kashmir’s Ladakh on Tuesday but all its crew and passengers which included the Leh Corps commander and a division commander are safe, army officials said. The chopper, an Advanced Light Helicopter of the Indian Army, crashed at Tsogstalu Helipad in eastern Ladakh on Tuesday afternoon. It had on board 14 Corps commander Lt Gen S.K. Upadhyay and 3 Div commander Maj. Gen. Savneet Singh. “All crew members and passengers are safe,” an army official said.
Goa govt mulling ban on serving drinks in glass bottles on beaches
Panaji, Sep.5 (PTI): The Goa Tourism department is contemplating to prohibit supply of drinks in glass bottles on beaches in the state. However, it is not known whether drinks include soft as well hard drinks or either of them. The department had earlier banned consumption of liquor in public places including beaches. Tourism stake-holders, including beach shack owners, have demanded that the state government ban serving of drinks in glass bottles on beaches in order to avoid injuries caused due to broken glasses in the sand. The minister met the Shack Owners Welfare Society (SOWS) to deliberate on various issues ahead of the tourist season, beginning next month. The SOWS raised concerns over beach cleaning and urged the tourism minister to step up measures for effective cleanliness and monitoring. The association also raised issues pertaining to safety and security of tourists on beaches, illegal and unauthorised vending and touting etc.
Two army soldiers die of electrocution in Udhampur
Jammu, Sep. 5 (PTI): Two soldiers have died due to electrocution while working in an army workshop in Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir, the police said today. The soldiers, P Jaypal Reddy of Andhra Pradesh and I Vasudevan of Tamil Nadu, got electrocuted while performing some work in the workshop of the army’s northern command area of the district last evening, police officials said. The bodies have been handed over to the army after post mortem, they added.
Four alleged wildlife smugglers were today arrested along with an endangered red sand boa snake, worth over Rs two crore in the international market, the police said. The smugglers were nabbed this morning and recovered a red sand boa snake, weighing 2.5 kg from them, Additional SP Kamlesh Dixit said. In the international, this endangered species of reptile worth Rs one crore per kg, he said, adding that a case has been registered and further probe was on.
A woman has lodged an FIR at the sector 20 police station here alleging rape by three men, police said today. The resident of Sector 8 here said in her complaint that her neighbour Ramvilas, on the pretext of helping her in the treatment of her husband, started visiting them. Her husband has been ailing for the past few months. She alleged that Ramvilas and two other men came and gave her a sedative-laced drink four months ago and raped her when she fell unconscious. They also recorded the act, she alleged. She said she wanted to file a complaint earlier but they threatened her saying they would kill her children and husband if she went to the police and would also make the video public. Police have started the investigation.
A nonagenarian resident died while two others of the same family got severely injured as part of an old three-storey residential building in Burrabazar area here collapsed on Tuesday. Police and fire department officials rushed to the accident spot and recovered those trapped under the debris. “Three people were recovered from the debris and sent to the Kolkata Medical College Hospital,” an official said. One of them, Taraprasanna Saha, 91, succumbed to his injuries. His wife and their daughter are in critical condition. Local MLA and Trinamool Congress leader Smita Bakshi visited the accident spot and said the residents refused to leave the house even after it was tagged “dangerous” by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation.
