Five passengers including a woman were killed and over two dozen were injured after a private bus fell into a drain in Punjab’s Faridkot district on Tuesday, officials said.

The accident occurred on the Faridkot-Kotkapura road at around 8 am when the bus carrying 36 passengers was going from Muktsar to Amritsar, they said.

The bus plunged into the drain from a 10-feet high bridge after it collided with a truck, officials said.

Five people have died in the incident, Faridkot Senior Superintendent of Police Pragya Jain told PTI over the phone.

Of those killed, four were residents of Muktsar district, said officials.

They said 26 passengers were admitted to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot.

Of the injured, two have been referred to another hospital in Amritsar. One of them lost an arm in the accident.

Punjab Assembly Speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan visited the hospital and inquired about the health of the injured.

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

Further investigation is underway in the matter, the sources said.

A large amount of cash and liquor have been seized from a car with a “Punjab government” sticker in election-bound Delhi, police said yesterday, adding that AAP pamphlets were also found in the car. The BJP soon launched an attack on the Aam Aadmi Party, after which the Punjab government clarified the car had a fake registration plate – that the seized vehicle was different from the registered model.

Sharing details about the seizure, Delhi Police said the vehicle was parked outside Punjab Bhawan on Copernicus Marg. When searched, the cops said they found wads of cash amounting to Rs 8 lakh, liquor bottles with Punjab stamps, and AAP pamphlets inside the car.

As per the model code of conduct in force in Delhi ahead of the polls, people are barred from carrying more than Rs 50,000 in cash.

A case has been registered at the Tilak Marg police station.

The Punjab government said in a statement that as per the official record, the car was registered in the name of Maj. Anubhav Shivpuri, who was posted at the Army Dental College, Pathankot, three years ago. He is a permanent resident of Khadki in Maharashtra, it said.

Moreover, the vehicle registered with the number PB35AE1342 – as seen in visuals of the seized car – was a Ford Eco Sport, but the car seized by Delhi Police belongs to the Hyundai Creta series, said the statement. “This confirms that the vehicle’s number plate is forged and fake,” said the Punjab government, clarifying that no such car is owned or hired by them.

Expressing shock over the incident, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said he can’t recall such a huge recovery of cash and liquor in his 35 years of public life. “Till now, we thought Arvind Kejriwal institutionalised corruption in Delhi government, polluted Yamuna and Delhi’s air but today we understand that he has polluted Delhi’s political system too,” said the BJP leader.

The matter was “totally fake and laughable”, the AAP hit back, stating that the number plate belonged to a different car model than the one seized by the cops. There is no entry record of the car at the Punjab Bhawan, the ruling party added.

“Conveniently (the car was) parked with no driver in sight. Owner details trace back to someone from Pathankot, now in Punjabi Bagh, but originally from Pune. A planted stunt poorly executed and utterly bogus,” said an AAP statement.

AAP leader Priyanka Kakkar said the BJP was making ridiculous and false allegations, and they should stop such activities.

A group of doctors performing a surgery at a government-run hospital in Punjab’s Patiala were forced to halt the procedure after alleged continuous power outages, including the emergency lights in the operation theatre (OT).

A viral video from Rajindra Hospital in Patiala shows the doctors and staff standing around the patient, who was being operated upon, and waiting for the power supply to resume, as the electrical equipment were affected. The video was shot by one of the doctors, who raised concerns over the well being of the patient and the possibility of any adversity.

Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh, however, said the power backup systems at the hospital are “functioning without issue” and that the doctor had simply “panicked and recorded a video”. The hospital staff must stay “focussed on patient care at all times”, he said.

The power backup systems at Rajindra hospital, Patiala are multi level (3 hotlines) & functioning without issue. Today, a local fault led to momentary loss of electricity. The UPS and generator backup functioned seamlessly & the surgery was conducted without issue. Patient is… pic.twitter.com/gPmjJy9R5x

— Dr Balbir Singh (@AAPbalbir) January 24, 2025

In the 56-second clip, the doctor in the OT is heard saying that such cases of power outages tend to recur at the hospital. It could not be immediately ascertained when the video was shot.

“It is not the first time such a thing is happening (power outage). It’s been 15 minutes since the power went out. The ventilator has also shut down. If anything happens to the patient, who will be responsible for this? The doctors? All the staff are standing here, the ventilator has turned off,” the doctor says.

Sources said the power supply is often disrupted in the hospital, despite the availability of three back up facilities.

In a post on X, Mr Singh said a local fault led to the “momentary loss of electricity” at the hospital. “The power backup systems at Rajindra hospital, Patiala are multi level (3 hotlines) & functioning without issue. The UPS and generator backup functioned seamlessly & the surgery was conducted without issue,”  he said, adding that the patient was recovering without any issue.

“Unfortunately, a junior doctor panicked and recorded a video. Medical staff must remain focussed on patient care at all times,” he added.

(With inputs from Gurpreet Singh)

A two-year-old girl was killed after she was run over by a vehicle belonging to the management of a private school in Punjab’s Barnala, police said on Tuesday.

The incident, which was captured on CCTV, took place at Sacred Heart Church on Monday, when the child, Zoya, was playing on the premises. Visuals show the girl running in front of the car just as it begins to move. The distraught family said the death was caused by the driver’s negligence. 

Police said the driver has been arrested and a detailed probe is underway. 

Speaking to reporters, Zoya’s father, Suraj Kumar, said he and his wife, Anupama, were visiting the church with their daughter. “My daughter was playing but was run over due to the driver’s negligence. She died on the spot. She was my only child,” he said. 

“The area was small and the driver was at a high speed. How could he do that inside such a small space? He should have been careful. When he first ran over her, you should have stopped the car. The car did not stop and the rear wheels also went over her,” he added.

Mr Kumar alleged that the occupants of the vehicle, believed to be employees of the school, neither apologised for the incident nor helped them rush their daughter to the hospital.

“Couldn’t the driver see my child? The car ran over her entirely. I want justice. I cannot treat this incident as an accident. The driver and the school staff did not even come to me to apologise. Who hired him as a driver? Whom will I feed now? Whom will I play with now? Why has no action been taken so far,” Ms Kumar asked, crying inconsolably.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Satbir Singh said the accused driver, Jaswinder Singh, has been arrested. “He is a resident of Sirsa in Haryana. The vehicle has also been seized. A probe is underway,” the officer said. 

There was no immediate statement from the school on the accident.

Chandigarh:

Punjab recorded a 70 per cent reduction in farm fires this season, said Agriculture Minister Gurmeet Singh Khuddian here on Saturday.

Punjab reported 10,909 stubble-burning incidents from September 15 to November 30 this year, compared to 36,663 such incidents in the corresponding period last year.

The significant reduction in farm fires can be attributed to increased mechanisation in the agricultural sector, he said in a statement here.

Gurmeet Singh Khuddian said 22,582 sanction letters were issued to farmers for subsidised crop residue management machines, with 16,125 machines being procured.

Lauding farmers for the decline in the number of farm fires, he said, “It’s our collective responsibility to save the environment for our future generations. Stubble burning not only causes air pollution but also reduces the fertility of the soil.” Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana after harvesting paddy in October and November is often blamed for the rise in air pollution in Delhi.

As the window for the Rabi crop wheat is very short after paddy harvest, some farmers set their fields on fire to quickly clear the crop residue for the next sowing season.

Punjab recorded a total of 36,663 farm fires in 2023, registering a 26 per cent drop in such incidents.

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

New Delhi:

The Delhi Police has arrested a 23-year-old woman from Ludhiana over her alleged involvement in the rape case of a minor, officials said on Sunday.

The accused was declared a proclaimed offender in the case, which was registered at the Kanjhawala police station here five years ago, they said.

According to a senior police officer, the incident took place in November 2019. The victim, then 15-year-old, was initially reported missing by her family, prompting a search operation.

Upon investigation, it emerged that the minor had been lured by one Geeta. The woman allegedly took the teenager to Surat in Gujarat, where she was allegedly held captive, drugged, and repeatedly raped by two men, said the officer.

The girl’s statement was recorded in 2020 after the woman abandoned her in Delhi. She told the police that two men –” Pintu and Satinder — allegedly raped her repeatedly for around four months, acting on Geeta’s direction.

She claimed the SIM card of her phone was destroyed and she was completely cut off from contacting anyone, the officer said.

Based on the minor’s statement, several Indian Penal Code sections 328 (causing hurt by poison to commit an offence), 376D (gang rape), and 120B (criminal conspiracy), along with Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.

Several police teams were formed to catch the accused, but Geeta managed to evade arrest by frequently changing locations.

She was finally caught on Saturday when the police received a tip-off regarding her location in Janta Nagar, Ludhiana in Punjab from where she was arrested.

The two accused men are still at large, the police said.

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

Chandigarh:

Punjab Police in a joint operation with central agencies have busted a Pakistan-backed arms smuggling module with the arrest of two operatives from Tarn Taran, Director General of Police (DGP), Gaurav Yadav, said on Thursday.

“The operation led to the recovery of four sophisticated Glock-19 pistols, including one with ‘Made for NATO Army’ imprinted on it, along with four magazines and seven cartridges, besides Rs 4.8 lakh hawala money,” the DGP said, adding that police teams have also impounded a Maruti Swift car in which the accused were travelling.

The arrested duo has been identified as Harpreet Singh and Lovepreet Singh. Both have criminal history with cases pertaining to the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act (NDPS) registered against them.

DGP Yadav said Harpreet Singh had links with a Pakistan-based smuggler, who used to influx drugs and weapon consignments from across the border using drones.

Further investigations are underway to establish backward and forward linkages in this case, he added.

Sharing more details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Tarn Taran, Gaurav Toora told the media that the police were carrying out checking of suspected vehicles near Sheron in Taran Taran when a Maruti Swift car being driven rashly was signalled to stop. The occupants tried to flee but rammed the vehicle into the barricade at the check-post.

The two persons in the car were rounded up and weapons and hawala money were recovered upon their search, the SSP said.

He also said that preliminary investigations have revealed that Harpreet had developed some contacts when he was lodged in Faridkot Jail, who got him in touch with the Pakistan-based drug smuggler.

The probe has also revealed that Harpreet had delivered multiple weapon consignments to criminal elements, the SSP said, adding that further investigation is on and more arrests are expected to be made in this case.

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

Chandigarh:

A 30-year-old man was thrashed to death in Punjab’s Gurdaspur district allegedly by a pastor and eight others in an attempt “to get his body rid of the devil”.

Samuel Masih, a resident of Singhpura village in Dhariwal in Gurdaspur, was suffering from seizures and used to scream, police said.

His family invited a local pastor identified as Jacob Masih to their home to hold a prayer for Samuel on Wednesday, they said.

The pastor told the family that he was possessed by the devil. Following this, the pastor along with eight others started beating him up, telling his family that it would “force the devil away” from his body, they added.

He assured the family that nothing would happen to Masih, police said.

Samuel, a daily wager, was badly beaten and died on the spot. The family buried him the next day, police said.

Two days after the incident, Samuel’s mother and his wife filed a complaint against the pastor.

Samuel’s body was exhumed for a post-mortem examination on Saturday. The entire exercise was conducted under the supervision of duty magistrate Inderjit Kaur, police said.

A case has been registered against the pastor and eight others under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, police added.

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

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court has intervened to halt the opening of a road outside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Chandigarh. The decision, made today, comes as a response to concerns raised by both the Centre and the Punjab government regarding security threats associated with the road’s opening.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta noted that both the Centre and Punjab government have opposed the opening of the road, which has been closed since the 1980s, owing to a threat perception.

The road had been closed due to security reasons during height of terrorism in Punjab, and was set to be reopened on a trial basis.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on April 22 ordered opening of the 500-metre road, connecting Sukhna Lake to Nayagaon in Chandigarh, on a trial basis from May 1.

The High Court’s order had included provisions for the Chandigarh Police to engage traffic experts in formulating a comprehensive traffic management plan for the road, which was intended to be open from 7 am to 7 pm on working days.

Since the closure of the road, people moving between Nayagaon and Sukhna Lake were forced to take long detours via adjacent sectors of the city.