Raipur:

Three men, who were transporting cattle last month in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur district, died when they jumped off a river bridge after being chased for more than 50km in cars by a group of people and there was no assault on them, police have said in a chargesheet filed in the case.

The chargesheet submitted in a Raipur court on July 8 claimed the trio, who was in a truck, was chased by five accused in cars for about 53km before they jumped off the bridge, police sources said on Wednesday.

In the early monring on June 7, two cattle transporters, Guddu Khan (35) and Chand Miya Khan (23), died under suspicious circumstances after being allegedly chased by a mob in the Arnag police station area of the district, police had earlier said.

Their associate, Saddam Qureshi, suffered injuries in the incident and succumbed in a Raipur hospital on June 18.

The three men, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, were spotted below the bridge on the Mahanadi river in the Arang area, while their truck with buffaloes was found parked on the bridge.

The Arang police had then lodged an FIR in connection with the case under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 307 (attempt to murder), and 34 (common intention) of the IPC against unidentified persons.

After the death of Qureshi, the police said his post-mortem report did not mention homicidal injuries and dropped the murder attempt charge.

The police then constituted a 14-member special team headed by Raipur Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Kirtan Rathore to probe the case. The police later arrested five persons from different places and filed a chargesheet against them under section 304 of the IPC.

The chargesheet stated, “All five accused got information about a vehicle possibly engaged in transportation of cattle. The accused in three cars chased the truck and tried to stop it by throwing iron spikes-embedded wooden strip and pieces of glass on vehicle. The truck driver also drove on the wrong side for about 14 km in a bid to escape but the accused continued chasing them. The truck finally stopped over the bridge on the Mahanadi river after one of its tyres got damaged due to iron spikes and stones pelted by the accused.” Out of fear, the trio got down from the vehicle and jumped off the bridge into the river in a bid to save their lives, it said.

In the entire incident, the accused chased the truck at high speed for about 53km and tried to stop it illegally, which shows the accused knew that by their act, the persons in the truck were likely to die or suffer such bodily injury which would lead to death, said the police document.

Ultimately, frightened by the act of the accused, the trio got down from the truck and jumped into the river from the bridge, due to which one of the three, Chand Khan, died on the spot. Another cattle transporter, Guddu Khan, died while being taken to hospital, it said.

Their associate Qureshi succumbed after being treated for about two weeks. He died as a result of serious injuries he sustained after jumping from the bridge, according to the chargesheet.

The act of the accused falls under the criminal act mentioned in section 304 of the IPC (IPC). After investigation, a chargesheet was submitted under sections 304 and 34 of the IPC, it added.

After the incident, complainant Shoheb Khan, a cousin of Chand Khan and Qureshi, had claimed a mob had chased and attacked the three persons when they, in a truck loaded with cattle (buffaloes), were heading from Mahasamund (neighbouring district) to Arang.

The complainant had claimed he had got a call from Chand Khan, adding that his friend Mohsin was called by Qureshi when they were being attacked.

“Chand told me they were being attacked by a mob. But before he could provide any detail, the call got disconnected,” Shoheb Khan had claimed.

In the second call to Mohsin, which lasted for 47 minutes, Qureshi could be heard saying that his limbs were broken, Shoheb Khan said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

A recent audit has brought to light significant irregularities in the procurement practices of the Chhattisgarh State Medical Services Corporation Limited. The audit, covering the financial years 2022-23 and 2023-24, reveals that medical equipment and reagents worth ₹660 crores were acquired without any corresponding budget allocation. This revelation comes from a letter by the Accountant General to the Health Department, exclusively obtained by NDTV.

Key Findings of the Audit

The audit found that the corporation purchased medical equipment and reagents, distributing them to 776 primary health care (PHC) facilities. Shockingly, more than 350 of these PHCs lacked the necessary technical manpower and storage facilities to effectively utilize the equipment.

Furthermore, the audit highlighted that the Director of Health Services placed orders for these items without conducting essential baseline surveys or gap analyses to assess the specific needs of each facility. The distribution was uniform across all PHCs, ignoring variations in patient load and specific requirements. This indiscriminate procurement has resulted in high-value equipment sitting idle, with the risk of deterioration in the quality of reagents.

Ground Report

At Bhatgaon Primary Health Center in Raipur, sophisticated equipment like sonography and X-ray machines were procured but remain non-operational due to the absence of specialist doctors. Dr. Harshita Tekam from the PHC noted that while basic services such as first aid and blood pressure monitoring are available, advanced machines cannot be used until specialists are appointed.
At Urla Primary Health Center, numerous chairs are unused due to space constraints. Naresh Sahu, President of the Paramedical Association, criticized the procurement strategy, emphasizing that patient admission should have been prioritized over purchasing expensive equipment. He cited the example of an ₹18 crore PET SCAN Gamma machine purchased in 2018 for the capital’s largest hospital, which remains non-functional.

Official Response

The Principal Accountant General has called for a comprehensive audit involving the Chhattisgarh State Medical Services Corporation, the Director of Health Services, the National Health Mission, and field-level healthcare facilities. The audit aims to uncover the extent of mismanagement and ensure accountability.
This revelation raises serious questions about the efficiency and transparency of the procurement processes in the state’s healthcare system. As the investigation proceeds, the cooperation of all relevant facilities has been requested to facilitate a thorough audit.

New Delhi:

One person was killed and six were injured in a blast at an explosives manufacturing factory in Chhattisgarh’s Bemetara district today, officials said.

The explosion occurred in the unit located near Pirda village in Berla development block, a district administration official said.

Soon after being alerted, police and rescue teams were rushed to the site, he said.

“While six persons injured in the blast were taken to Dr BR Ambedkar Memorial Hospital Raipur for treatment, one person was brought dead,” Public Relations Officer of the hospital Shubhra Singh told PTI.

The injured people are undergoing treatment, she added.

Bemetara collector Ranbir Sharma told reporters fire department teams and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel have been deployed.

Some eyewitnesses told local news channels that 100 people were working in the explosives manufacturing factory when the blast happened. They said several were missing and feared trapped under the debris.

Chhatisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai said orders have been given for a magisterial inquiry into the explosion at the gunpowder factory.

“… And to provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the dead and Rs 50,000 to the injured. The injured are being brought to Raipur for proper treatment. High-level monitoring of relief and rescue operations is being done at the spot,” Mr Sai said.

Chhatisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai tweets “Orders have been given for a magisterial inquiry into the explosion at the gunpowder factory in Borsi village of Bemetara district and to provide financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured…. pic.twitter.com/ryLuoMMz9P

— ANI (@ANI) May 25, 2024

The incident comes days after a blast in a chemical factory in Maharashtra’s Thane district killed nine and injured over 60.

Raipur:

Two passengers and a sanitation staffer were injured after the head of a big drilling machine crashed into a moving train on the outskirts of Chhattisgarh’s capital Raipur on Sunday, officials said.

The incident took place around 10 am when the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (Mumbai)-bound Shalimar-LTT Express was passing through Urkura railway station ahead of the Raipur station, a railway public relations official (PRO) here said.

The railway has ordered a senior administrative grade (SAG) level inquiry into the incident.

Earlier, officials had said that a pole located near the tracks fell on the train. The piece of metal was later found to be a “drill machine reamer” which looks like a pole, the official said.

As the train reached Raipur station, rail personnel, including doctors rushed to the affected coach and administered first aid to the injured passengers, the official said.

Injured passenger Devari Dhivar (30) and sanitation staffer (from on-board housekeeping service) Narayan Chandra Bag (30) were then admitted to a private hospital here. The second injured passenger, Somil Mandal (12), was administered first-aid at the station, he said.

Mandal, who was travelling from Kharagpur to Mumbai, was later sent to his destination along with his family on another train, he said.

After learning about the incident, Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) of Raipur division Sanjeev Kumar and other senior officials reached Raipur station to assess the incident, he said.

The DRM also visited the hospital, spoke to the family of the injured and instructed railway personnel to ensure the best possible medical assistance to the victims.

Assistant Commercial Manager Avinash Kumar Anand handed over a cheque of Rs 50,000 as ex gratia to Dhivar, he said.

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has registered a case in connection with the incident, he said.

As initially thought, the metal was not a pole, the PRO said, citing the investigation.

“Rather, it was a reamer of a horizontal directional drilling (HDD) machine engaged in drilling work by the state-run Chhattisgarh State Power Distribution Company Limited (CSPDCL),” he said.

The electricity company’s contractor was conducting drilling operations beneath the tracks without informing the railways. The machine’s reamer was being pulled out when the train was passing through Urkura. But it unexpectedly came out of the ground and hit the train, he said.

The reamer scraped three AC coaches (B4, B5 and B6) damaging window pans, and injuring three persons besides causing scratches on the bogies.

CSPDCL officials were called to the accident site where they admitted that the contractor had ignored safety standards while doing the work, the PRO said.

The railways has ordered a senior administrative grade level probe into the incident and action will be taken against those found guilty, he said, adding that the train left for its destination around noon

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Raipur:

A District Reserve Guard (DRG) constable was killed and another policeman injured due to an accidental discharge of a firearm in Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, officials said on Thursday.

The incident took place at around 11 pm on Wednesday when a joint team of the DRG and Bastar Fighter, both units of state police, was out on an anti-Maoist operation in Barsoor police station limits, a statement issued by the police said.

Acting on input about the presence of armed Maoists in Handawada and Hitawada villages along the Dantewada-Narayanpur districts border, the security personnel had launched the operation, it said.

“During patrolling, two DRG constables – Jograj Karma and Parsuram Alami – suffered bullet injuries in an accidental firing,” the release said.

While being evacuated, Karma succumbed to his injuries due to excessive bleeding. Alami was administered preliminary treatment and then airlifted to Raipur for further medication, the police said.

The statement did not specify whose weapon accidentally went off and said more details will be shared later. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Raipur:

The Enforcement Directorate has arrested retired Chhattisgarh IAS officer Anil Tuteja in connection with an alleged liquor scam linked money laundering case in the state, official sources said on Sunday.

The federal agency had detained the 2003 batch officer from the Economic Offences Wing (EOW)/Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) office in Raipur on Saturday where the bureaucrat and his son Yash Tuteja had gone to record their statement in the same case.

The IAS officer was later taken into custody under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and is expected to be produced before a magistrate seeking his remand, the sources said.

The officer retired from service last year.

The ED had filed a fresh money laundering case in the alleged liquor scam case after the Supreme Court recently quashed its earlier FIR that was based on an Income Tax Department complaint.

The agency shared details of its probe in the case with the state EOW/ACB seeking registration of a FIR and once they filed a FIR, the ED registered a new money laundering case taking cognisance of that complaint.

Money was “illegally” collected from “every” bottle of liquor sold in Chhattisgarh and evidence of “unprecedented” corruption and money laundering of Rs 2,000 crore generated by an alcohol syndicate led by Anwar Dhebar, the elder brother of Raipur Mayor Anwar Dhebar, has been unearthed, the ED had alleged. 

On the night of April 15, a search party from the Border Security Force (BSF) and the District Reserve Guard (DRG) were on patrol in the dense jungles of Hapatola in the Kanker district of Chhattisgarh. The personnel came from different command stations and linked up at a point to execute one of the biggest operations against Maoists in recent times.

A search and cordon operation, including a fierce gun battle, lasted for more than 15 hours, leaving 29 Maoists dead, including their top commander, Shankar Rao, who had a bounty of Rs 25 lakh on his head. Three personnel were injured – Two from the BSF and one from the DRG, and the operation was declared a success.

BSF Sub Inspector Ramesh Chandra Chaudhary told NDTV how his platoon was the first to be shot at by the Maoists and, despite suffering bullet injuries, he kept directing his troops during the gun battle. Sub-Inspector Chaudhary was injured during the operation.

‘The Operation’ – Planning And Execution

“We left for the operation on Monday night, and all the teams came from different posts. By the morning of Tuesday, we laid a cordon. We had intel that Maoists were present in the jungle. We thought the Maoists would be present at the first point, but they were not there. We searched for another spot and found cooking utensils. We had info that 15-20 are present, but around 35 rebels were up on the hill,” the officer said, adding, “We searched to find them, and the person in front of the patrol saw some movement on top of a hill. It was an observation post (OP), and around two Maoists were present.”

The Maoists were armed with Kalashnikovs, Light Machine Guns, rifles like INSAS, and other automatic weapons. In an uphill battle, the ratio is usually 10:1, i.e., if 1 enemy is present, then at least 10 soldiers are needed for an attack. The troops from DRG and BSF meticulously planned their ascent and surrounded them.

“Our team camouflaged with the surroundings and cornered them to lay a cordon. We knew they’d run for cover, and when they ran to protect themselves, they opened fire, and our teams retaliated with a heavy response, and the dense jungle turned into a battleground,” Sub Inspector Chaudhary recalled how the operation panned out. The officer hails from Jaipur, and his family is present with him in the hospital.

The brave soldier twirled his moustache when Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vijay Sharma met him at the hospital. The smile on the officer’s face did not fade despite being injured. 

‘Maoists Used A Dangerous Tactic’

“The gun battle was on, and I took cover behind a tree. They fired back to break the ambush to run away, but a burst of fire from an LMG came and hit my leg. Even after getting hit, I could observe and tell my troops and told them that the Maoists were lying on the ground and using automatic weapons. It’s a very dangerous tactic they used against us as the target becomes small when you lie down.”

Suryakant Shrimali, a personnel from the DRG, was also injured in the encounter. He recalled how his team laid a cordon from two sides to ambush the Maoists.

‘We Ate Fruits’

“We crossed the river and got information that around 25 Maoists were present, climbed the hill and crossed a river stream but couldn’t locate them. We ate fruits on the morning of Tuesday and then moved forward with our search. We received inputs that in Alparas forests around 30 Maoists are present on top of the hill. I was in the Tango company. We laid a cordon and ambushed them and the battle began around noon and went on for almost four hours,” Suryakant told NDTV.

“I was hit in the right leg and it went through and through. We were determined to complete the operation and we finished their party. The operation was a big success for us,” he added.

Raipur:

In a major anti-insurgency operation, eight Maoists were killed in an encounter with security personnel in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh today, the police said.

Bijapur district comes under the Bastar Lok Sabha constituency, which will go to polls in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on April 19.

The gunfight took place at around 6 am in a forest near Lendra village under Gangaloor police station area, when a joint team of security personnel was out on an anti-Maoist operation, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P told PTI.

Personnel belonging to the District Reserve Guard, Special Task Force, Central Reserve Police Force and its elite unit Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) were involved in the operation, he said.

After the exchange of fire stopped, the bodies of four Maoists along with a light machine gun and other weapons were recovered from the spot, he said.

Later, four more bodies were found at the encounter site, the IG said, adding that search operation was still underway in the area.

Notably, Maoists carry out the Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) in the summer season between March and June every year and step up their activities. A large number of attacks on security forces have taken place in the Bastar region during this period.

On March 27, six Maoists were killed in an encounter with security forces in Basaguda area of Bijapur, police earlier said.

With the latest incident, 41 Maoists have been killed so far this year in separate encounters with security forces in Bastar region, comprising seven districts including Bijapur, according to police.

Raipur:

A routine outing turned into a nightmare for a family as their one-and-a-half-year-old child died after slipping from his father’s arms and plummetting to the ground below at a popular shopping mall in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur on Tuesday.

CCTV footage from Raipur’s City Centre Mall showed a man carrying the boy in his arms with another individual and a 5-year-old child accompanying them. The man momentarily paused to prevent the 5-year-old child from ascending an escalator when the toddler in his arms slipped from his grasp and fell to the ground.

The child was rushed to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and died. 

Raipur:

The BJP government in Chhattisgarh on Friday declared the Bollywood film “Article 370” as tax-free in the state.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai declared the film, which centres around the abrogation of provisions of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir, as exempted from tax after watching it at a mall here in the evening.

A day before, the BJP government in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh had decided to give the film the tax-free status.

Sai was accompanied by wife Kaushalya Devi Sai and cabinet colleagues Ramvichar Netam and Kedar Kashyap, a statement issued by the state public relations department said.

The film, directed by Aditya Suhas Jambhale and starring Yami Gautam, was released on February 23.

“The situation in Kashmir has been depicted very well in the film and it tells us how due to Article 370, Kashmir was lagging behind in development and how hard our leaders had to work to eliminate the provision,” the release quoted the CM as saying.

“Our ideology is about one country, one constitution, one symbol. Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir was inconsistent with this basic ideology. Our leaders have strongly opposed it since independence,” Sai said.

“We had resolved to remove Article 370. The resolution was fulfilled under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Today Kashmir is moving towards peace,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)