Paneer, pulao and various curries were part of a big spread at a wedding in Uttar Pradesh and lakhs were allegedly paid in dowry, but two things were missing – fish and meat. This incensed a groom and his relatives so much that they rained kicks and punches on the bride’s family and even beat them up with sticks. 

The wedding was also called off and the groom left the venue, after which the bride’s family filed an assault and dowry complaint with the police. 

On Thursday, Abhishek Sharma led a ‘baarat’ (marriage procession) to Anand Nagar village in Deoria district to marry Sushma, daughter of Dinesh Sharma. Everything was going to plan and even the ‘varmala’ (exchange of garlands) ceremony was done when the groom was told that there was no non-vegetarian fare. 

“The groom, his father Surendra Sharma, and others began using abusive language regarding the lack of non-vegetarian food. When I objected, Abhishek Sharma, Surendra Sharma, Rampravesh Sharma, Rajkumar and some unknown people started beating my family with sticks and kicked and punched us,” the bride’s father said in Hindi in his police complaint. 

Videos show a melee, punches being thrown and even chairs being flung as the two families have an argument. 

The complaint also said nearly Rs 5 lakh has been given as dowry.

“I have given Rs 4.5 lakh to Abhishek Sharma, son of Surendra Sharma, for purchasing a car as dowry. A tilak set and two gold rings (worth Rs 20,000) have also been given,” Dinesh Sharma said in the complaint.

(With inputs from Vinod Kumar Dwivedi)

Raebareli:

A class 10 student at a private school in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli suffered multiple injuries, including a broken tooth, when he was brutally thrashed by his teacher over his incomplete homework, the police said.

According to reports, the teacher thrashed the boy so badly that he was knocked unconscious and collapsed on the floor. The teacher then fled the scene.

The students informed the principal, who then rushed the injured boy to the hospital.

Police arrested the teacher, identified as Mohammed Asif, who taught science subjects (Chemistry and Physics) on Wednesday.

Salon Station House Officer (SHO), J.P. Singh, said that the student was given homework in April, when the school closed for summer vacation.

On Tuesday, when the student reached the school, the teacher asked him about it.

“When the boy said he could not complete the homework due to some personal issues, the teacher lost his temper and thrashed him with a stick. As a result, he fell unconscious. He suffered serious injuries on his mouth and face,” said the police based on the complaint by the father of the student.

The SHO added that the school has also initiated an inquiry against the teacher.

The father of the student said his son was brutally thrashed and was taken to the hospital on Tuesday but was discharged a day later.

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

New Delhi:

Devprakash Madhukar, the main accused in the July 2 Hathras stampede which claimed 121 lives, has been taken into custody by Uttar Pradesh Police after he surrendered in Delhi, his lawyer claimed on Friday night.

Madhukar, the ‘mukhya sevadar’ of the ‘satsang’ where the stampede occurred, is the only accused named in the FIR lodged at Sikandra Rao police station in Hathras in connection with the incident.

In a video message, Madhukar’s lawyer A P Singh claimed that his client had surrendered in Delhi, where he was undergoing treatment.

“Today, we have surrendered Devprakash Madhukar, who was called the main organiser in the FIR in the Hathras case, after calling the police, the SIT and the STF in Delhi since he was undergoing treatment here,” Mr Singh said.

“We had promised we would not apply for anticipatory bail since we did no wrong. What is our crime? He is an engineer and a heart patient. Doctors said his condition is stable now and so we surrendered today to join the probe,” the lawyer said.

Mr Singh said police may now record his statement or question him but must take into consideration his health condition and ensure that “nothing wrong happens with him”.

Recently, the Supreme Court lawyer had claimed that he represents Surajpal alias Narayan Sakar Hari alias Bhole Baba, the self-styled godman at whose ‘satsang’ the stampede occurred.

Uttar Pradesh Police had announced a reward of Rs 1 lakh for information leading to Madhukar’s arrest.

Till Thursday, six people, including two women volunteers who were members of the organising committee of Bhole Baba’s ‘satsang’, had been arrested in the case.

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

Hathras, UP:

Vinod, who lost his wife, mother and 16-year-old daughter in the Hathras stampede, expressed his grief over the incident, saying that he lost everything.

Speaking to ANI, Vinod said, “I did not even know that all three had gone to the Satsang because he had gone somewhere outside.

Someone told him that there was a stampede in the satsang after which I reached the spot and found out that my 16-year-old daughter, mother and wife had died. I could not even find my mother’s body.”

“I am left with nothing… everything is gone,” Vinod added.

Kamla, the mother of another 16-year-old victim of the Hathras tragedy, expressed grief over the death of her daughter Roshni. She said, “I have been coming to Baba’s satsang for 20 years. Today, I went to attend satsang with my 16-year-old daughter and a stampede broke out around 2 in the afternoon. I and my daughter were slightly injured. She was fine but as soon as she reached the hospital, she fell unconscious, later the doctors declared her dead.”

Kunwar Pal, uncle of the victim 3.5-year-old child, said, “The child had come here with his mother…His mother is still missing…We are a resident of Aligarh…”

Meanwhile, the husband of the victim Gudiya Devi, Mehtab said, “I tried to stop her from attending the Baba’s Satsang many times but she did not listen. She had come for the Satsang with our daughter & two neighbouring women. The two neighbouring women and my wife died in the incident…My daughter is safe…”

Heera Lal from Aligarh, a family member of a victim, said, “My entire family travelled in a bus to attend Satsang. All his family members are fine except his sister-in-law who got injured in the stampede.”
The stampede occurred at a religious event in Hathras on Tuesday, in which 116 people were killed and 18 people were injured, officials said.

Earlier, police conducted a search operation at Ram Kutir Charitable Trust in Mainpuri district in search of ‘Bhole Baba’, who conducted a Satsang in Hathras where a stampede took place on Tuesday.
“We did not find Baba ji inside the campus…He is not here…” said Deputy SP Sunil Kumar.

The Uttar Pradesh government has announced Rs 2 lakh compensation to the family members of those who died in the incident.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences over the loss of lives in the stampede in Hathras and wished speedy recovery to the injured.PM Modi also spoke with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath following the tragic incident.

“The Uttar Pradesh government is engaged in providing all possible help to the victims. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. I wish for the speedy recovery of the injured,” PM Modi said in a post on X.

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

New Delhi:

Most of the 116 people who died in a stampede during a ‘satsang’ organised in Sikandra Rao area of the Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday have been identified, the Uttar Pradesh government said.

Devotees had come to the ‘satsang’ from various districts of Uttar Pradesh as well as neighbouring states.

Aligarh Zone Inspector General of Police (IG) Shalabh Mathur told PTI, “116 people have died in the stampede incident in Hathras.” Etah and Hathras are adjacent districts and people from Etah had also come to attend the ‘satsang’.

Efforts are being made to identify the remaining bodies, officials said.

Earlier, Chief Secretary Manoj Kumar Singh, while giving details of the casualties to journalists, said that out of the 116 victims, seven are children, one man and the rest are women.

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

T20 World Cup 2024 final: India lifts second T20 WC title after 17 years

The long wait is over. India is world champion again .In a classic ICC Men’s T20 World Cup final sure to be remembered for years to come, India made history with a nail-biting seven-run win over South Africa .And with it came the celebrations. There was an undeniable sense of relief as well, as India finally managed to cross the final hurdle after two heartbreaking falls in just the last year.

Fresh date for NEET-PG to be announced within two days, says Dharmendra Pradhan

Union Minister for Education Dharmendra Pradhan said that the new schedule for NEET-PG will be announced by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) in the next two days. Mr. Pradhan was speaking in Panchkula, Haryana ahead of a BJP event where Union Home Minister Amit Shah addressed party workers. The NEET-PG exams were cancelled last week because of the controversy raging over the question paper leak in NEET-UG.

‘Absent’ officer suspended in Kashmir for ‘sabotaging’ Amarnath yatra

A local officer was suspended in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on allegations of “sabotaging” the Amarnath yatra by remaining absent from duty. Syeed Fakhrudin Hamid, Deputy Commissioner, Anantnag, in an order, suspended Pahalgam Naib Tehsildar Ovais Amir for “leaving the station without permission and sabotaging the ongoing Amarnath yatra”. A Sub-Divisional Magistrate-level officer was appointed to “enquire into the matter of noncompliance of the Naib Tehsildar”. “The suspended officer shall remain attached with his office during the period of his suspension,” the order reads.

Virat Kohli announces T20I retirement after India’s World Cup win over South Africa

Star batter Virat Kohli on Saturday announced his retirement from T20 Internationals after guiding India to their second T20 World Cup win here .Kohli anchored the innings with a match-winning 59-ball 76 with two sixes and six fours to lift India from a precarious 34 for three inside the powerplay, to a formidable 176 for seven, cornerstone of India’s 7-run victory over South Africa. Kohli said after collecting the Man of the Match award that it was his las T20I match for India.

Airport canopy collapse: victim’s family considers legal action

The family of a 45-year-old cab driver, who died after a portion of a canopy at Indira Gandhi International Airport collapsed amid heavy rainfall, said they are planning to file a case against those responsible for the incident. On Friday, six persons had sustained injuries while Ramesh Kumar was killed. He was cremated at the Naharpur crematorium on Saturday. The victim’s son, Ravinder, said, “Criminal negligence is what killed him. Now even airports aren’t safe. My father was at the airport after dropping a person. He was a hardworking man, who ensured there was enough for the family, but this kind of infrastructure at the airport killed him.”

Days after restricting bar association, J&K High Court recognises new lawyers’ body in Kashmir

The J&K and Ladakh High Court on Saturday recognised a new lawyers’ body in Kashmir, the Kashmir Advocates Association (KAA), by exercising powers under Section 58 of the Bar Council, which was extended to J&K after the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019 .The move came days after the District Magistrate, Srinagar, barred the J&K High Court Bar Association (JKHCBA), a lawyers’ body active for several decades, from holding any elections, citing their “anti-national and pro-secessionist” ideology. The order also highlighted the JKHCBA’s history of “providing free legal aid to anti-nationals”.

Parliament discussion on NEET would “expose” BJP’s links with those involved in exam irregularities, alleges Congress

The Congress on Saturday alleged that the Narendra Modi-led government is not keen on allowing a parliamentary debate on the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical college admissions as it will “expose” the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) links with those involved in the alleged NEET paper leak scam .At a press conference, Gujarat Congress chief and Rajya Sabha member Shaktisinh Gohil claimed that one of the key accused, Arif Vohra, who has now been arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), is an office-bearer of the BJP.

NTA’s plan to add more online exam centres languishes in cold storage

The National Testing Agency (NTA), which is under scrutiny for multiple question paper leak controversies, failed to amp up its infrastructure for conducting tests in online mode in 2024, as its tender to multiply testing centres failed to take off, The Hindu has learnt. The NTA had floated a tender in January this year, in order to increase its capacity of computer labs, which could house ‘nodes’, or seating spaces for candidates, in as many as 378 cities. “The work has not progressed as the tenders haven’t been finalised,” a top NTA official told The Hindu.

SP’s Awadhesh Prasad could be Opposition’s Deputy Speaker candidate

The Opposition is likely to field Faizabad MP and Samajwadi Party leader Awadhesh Prasad, for the post of Deputy Speaker. Learning from their experience during the Speaker’s election, where differences between Congress and Trinamool Congress came to the fore, the Opposition has decided to present a united front to force a contest for the position .Though constitutionally mandated, the 17th Lok Sabha functioned without a Deputy Speaker. Besides speculation, there has been no formal indication from the government that the position will be filled in the 18th Lok Sabha either.

Yogi government refutes Union Minister’s allegation of bias against OBCs, SCs, STs in State jobs

Days after Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Anupriya Patel alleged bias against applicants from Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in government jobs in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath-led State government sent a detailed reply to Ms. Patel, explaining that quota posts remaining vacant after the selection process could not be converted to unreserved posts, as claimed by her .Ms. Patel is the national president of the Apna Dal (Soneylal), an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in U.P.

Supply chain issues delay deliveries of LCA-Mk1A jets

After some delay, the deliveries of the Light Combat Aircraft (LCA)-Mk1A by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) to the Indian Air Force (IAF) are now expected to begin by end of July with officials stating that the delay is due to supply chain issues, including at HAL and General Electric (GE) in delivering the engines. One jet is now expected to be handed over to IAF by end of July, two officials independently confirmed.

BJP demands CBI probe into alleged assault of minority woman leader in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Agnimitra Paul on June 29 demanded an inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged assault of a female leader of the BJP’s Minority Morcha in post-poll violence in the State. She said a team from the National Commission for Women (NCW) will arrive at Cooch Behar later in the day to assess the situation.

Endemic dengue may have helped stem severity of early COVID wave in India: study

Can the dengue virus beat the coronavirus and is it why the early wave of the pandemic in 2020 resulted in fewer COVID deaths or severe infections compared to Europe or North America where dengue is not endemic? Research from the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata hints at these intriguing possibilities following an analysis of antibodies from people infected with dengue and testing them against a kind of coronavirus called murine hepatitis virus (mouse coronavirus). In research settings, this virus — being part of the same family of human coronaviruses — is considered a good surrogate to study the behaviour of the coronavirus strains that infected people during the pandemic..

Bhadohi, UP:

 A case has been registered against two ‘fake’ doctors under various sections of the IPC including culpable homicide in the death of a Dalit woman who was allegedly administered a wrong injection, police and Health department sources said.

The woman was admitted to a private hospital for delivery. Her nine-month-old foetus in the womb also died.

Aurai police station in-charge Sachidanand Pandey, while sharing this information on Thursday, said the two on run accused are being searched.

Bhadohi Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Santosh Kumar Chak said Ankit Kannaujiya, a resident of Vikrampur under Aurai police station, submitted a complaint alleging that on April 23, he had admitted his sister-in-law Anchal (23) to a private hospital for delivery.

The two doctors, Vinay Kumar Pandey and Shiv Bahadur Yadav, made him deposit Rs 50,000 for the operation and administered an injection which resulted in the death of Anchal and the foetus. Subsequently, both the doctors fled saying there was no oxygen there.

The CMO said an investigation, conducted by Additional Chief Medical Officer A K Maurya, found that the hospital is not registered with the health department.

The CMO said the degrees of both the doctors were also found to be fake.

Along with this, the post mortem report of the the woman and the foetus revealed that the two died due to a wrong injection administered to make them unconscious.

The Aurai police station in-charge said based on the investigation report of the CMO and the complaint of the victim woman’s brother-in-law Ankit Kannaujiya, a case was registered against both the fake doctors.

He said both the fake doctors are on run from the hospital and efforts are being made to arrest them.

New Delhi:

Ravi Atri, the alleged mastermind behind the NEET-UG 2024 exam paper leak, has been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) amid nationwide protests by students seeking a probe into the exam. Atri, from Neemka village in Greater Noida, was implicated in a scheme that has raised questions on the integrity of one of India’s most competitive exams for medical education.

The controversy erupted after 67 students achieved a perfect score of 720 in the NEET-UG exam. The National Testing Agency (NTA) attributed this to the awarding of grace marks due to a faulty question and logistical delays in paper distribution at some centres. However, a probe by Bihar police revealed that the exam paper had been leaked to a select few candidates.

The NEET-UG examination, taken by nearly 24 lakh aspiring medical students, was held on May 5, and results were expedited for early release on June 4. Despite the NTA’s attempts to manage the fallout, accusations of a widespread leak persisted, prompting protests and legal actions across the country. The Supreme Court also intervened, chastising the NTA for its handling of the matter.

Central to the unfolding scandal is Ravi Atri, known for his alleged involvement in previous exam paper leaks across various states. His modus operandi allegedly involved uploading solved question papers on social media platforms through a network known as the ‘solver gang’. Atri’s notoriety stretches back to his arrest in 2012 by the Delhi Police Crime Branch for his alleged role in leaking medical entrance exam papers.

The Bihar Police, which initially arrested several individuals connected to the leak, including a student and accomplices, expanded its investigation beyond state borders. Connections to Atri surfaced during interrogations, leading to his eventual capture by the UP STF.

In 2007, Atri’s family sent him to Kota to prepare for his medical entrance exam. He cleared the exam in 2012 and got admission in PGI Rohtak, but did not appear for the exam in the fourth year. Authorities said that by then he had come in contact with the ‘exam mafia’ and was sitting as a proxy for other candidates. He also started playing a key role in circulating the leaked papers among students. 

Bhadohi, UP:

A 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by three teenage boys who also made a video of the act and posted it on the internet, police here said on Friday.

The three juveniles, aged between 15 to 17 years, have been detained, they said.

On June 1, the girl went to a shop in the neighbourhood when the three boys forcibly dragged her into a room and took turns to rape her, Gopiganj SHO Santosh Kumar Singh said.

They also recorded a video of the act and threatened her, he said.

The juveniles started harassing her to come to the shop again but when the girl did not agree after which the three juveniles posted the video on social media on Thursday, the SHO said.

When the victim’s family got to know about the incident, they moved to the police and filed a complaint against the three teenagers, he said.

Mr Singh said that the girl was sent for a medical examination on Friday while the three boys were sent to a juvenile home in the Mirzapur district.

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

Patna:

Putting their lives at risk to avoid inconvenience to the passengers on their train as well as the rakes behind them, two loco pilots carried out a complex repair on the engine while one of them was practically dangling off the side of a bridge in Uttar Pradesh. 

The Narkatiaganj Gorakhpur Passenger train was trundling along on Friday when a sudden air pressure leak from an unloader valve in the locomotive caused it to stop. The engine and a few coaches were atop a bridge and, knowing that it would take time for technicians to arrive and fix the problem, the loco pilot and assistant loco pilot clambered down to check for themselves.

A video, which is now going viral, shows one of the loco pilots crawling under the engine while another balances himself dangerously close to the edge on the bottom ledge of the bridge. He can be seen below the sleepers placed under the tracks, holding on to areas around them to keep from falling off.

The two daredevils managed to solve the problem between them by plugging the air pressure leak and their courage and ingenuity have also been applauded by the railways. The Samastipur Divisional Railway Manager, Vinay Srivastava, has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for both loco pilots. 

An official said the place where this happened is bridge number 382, between Balmikinagar and Paniyava.