33 killed in truck-bus collision in DR Congo; 11 die as boat sinks

KIKWIT, DR CONGO: At least 33 people died in a collision between a fuel truck and a crowded bus in DR Congo during the weekend, police said on Monday. The inferno occurred near Kibuba along a national route between capital Kinshasa and Kikwit. Also during the weekend, 11 people including seven children died when a boat struck a rock and sank on Lake Tanganyika off the coast of DR Congo. almost 15 months, a phase that witnessed a deadly skirmish in the Galwan Valley and saw tensions spiral between the rival armies on the north and south banks of Pangong Tso last year.

“The two sides also agreed that in the interim they will continue their effective efforts in ensuring stability along the LAC in the Western Sector and jointly maintain peace and tranquility,” the joint statement added.

Expectations of an early breakthrough are not very realistic, said former Northern Army commander Lieutenant General DS Hooda (retd).

“Coming after more than three months, it is good to see that the military commanders are meeting to exchange views. However, the differences between the two sides on the process and terms of disengagement are not going to be quickly reconciled. This will require extensive discussions, not only at the military but also at the diplomatic level,” Hooda added.

The corps commanderranked officers last met on April 9 for the 11th round of talks. At the time, the Indian Army told the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) that disengagement at all friction points on the disputed border was crucial for the de-escalation of the conflict.

The two armies kicked off talks to cool border tensions in June 2020. But the first major breakthrough came only after the ninth round of talks earlier this year. The talks led to the disengagement of front-line troops and weaponry from the Pangong Tso sector in mid-february. Problems at Hot Springs, Gogra and Depsang are yet to be resolved, as previously reported by HT.

Deployments haven’t thinned after the disengagement from Pangong Tso --- both armies have 50,000 to 60,000 troops each in the Ladakh theatre. PLA’S reluctance to pull back its forward troops and restore the status quo ante of April 2020 has hit disengagement. The Indian Army’s patrolling activity has been affected in Hot Springs and Gogra due to the Chinese deployments. The PLA’S forward presence in Depsang has also hindered access to routes including the ones leading to Patrolling Points (PP) 10, 11, 11-A, 12 and 13. The problems at Depsang predate the current standoff.

India got just one penalty corner, and Gurjit Kaur shrugged off her indifferent form to score perhaps the most important goal in Indian women’s hockey thus far, with a drag-flick in the 22nd minute. It was the breakthrough they needed, and India held on to the lead like their lives depended on it. Australia repeatedly made circle penetrations — 17 through the match, compared to India’s nine — but found the path to the goal crowded by Indian players, who ran untiringly up and down the pitch. Deep Grace Ekka was rock solid, holding the defence together and making critical interceptions, stopping shots and winning one-on-one duels. Goalkeeper Savita Punia was always at the right place at the right time, making a number of superb saves.

That the Indian team was unfazed by the attack showed in the poised way in which they made counter-attacks, passing their way out of their danger area with poise and confidence and sprinting up in attack.

Australia, their every attack thwarted, grew more and more frustrated. There were nervous moments towards the end, but still no panic when Australia got a penalty corner via referral with six minutes left.

“We were talking in the dugout that they will not get the PC, just stay calm and we were saying that we are almost there, just five more minutes, to keep the ball upfront,” Rampal said.

That penalty corner saved, Australia immediately got another one. This one resulted in a goalmouth scramble that must have been hair-raising for the Indian coaching staff. As the clock ticked down the final 10 seconds, you could already hear the shrieks of joy from the dugout. The Australian women covered their faces and dropped to the turf. The Indians raced across it, hugged each other, and celebrated with abandon.

“I told the girls that the most important thing is to stay in the moment,” said coach Sjoerd Marijne. “They were very good in defence and won those crucial one-on-one tackles that gave us a lot of confidence.”

India will play Argentina in the semi-final, a team they know well, having toured the country earlier this year. They played three matches against the senior Argentina team there, losing two and drawing one.

The start to the Indian campaign in Tokyo could not have been worse. Three straight losses meant they had to win their final two group stage matches to have a chance of progressing to the quarters. This is when the turnaround started. Victories against Ireland and South Africa kept them afloat. Then they earned a bit of luck when England beat Ireland, allowing for India to finish fourth in the group and qualify for the knockouts.

“We never lost belief in ourselves. Rio gave us very unhappy memories and we had put in so much work in the last five years, that we believed we could bounce back,” said Rampal. “We wanted to go out there and give it our all.”

In contrast, Australia had enjoyed an irrepressible run to the quarterfinals by topping their Group, winning all five matches, scoring 13 goals and conceding just one. India, in contrast, had conceded 14 and scored seven before the quarterfinal.

None of that mattered.

HT.

The 1,495-page document, which named Kumar as the main accused and 12 others as accomplices, was filed before chief metropolitan magistrate (CMM) Satvir Singh Lamba. The charge sheet also said that police psychologists found him unremorseful.

The 38-year-old wrestler, who won bronze at Beijing 2008 and silver at London 2012, is currently lodged in solitary confinement inside Tihar’s jail number two on charges of murder, abduction, attempt to murder, criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and trespass.

Kumar has also been booked for robbery, dacoity and dishonestly receiving stolen property. Five suspects are yet to be arrested in the case.

FEELING HUMILIATED

The charge sheet said Kumar and Dhankad had a dispute over a flat in Model Town. Dhankad was living as a tenant since December 2019, and was allegedly not vacating it despite Kumar’s repeated intimations.

Though Dhankad vacated the house in March-april this year, Kumar felt humiliated by the tenants. Relations soured further, the document said, after rumours surfaced in Chhatrasal that Kumar, despite being called ‘guru’ by the younger athletes, was scared of them.

The charge sheet said Kumar suspected some of his trainees and students were passing information about him to Dhankad — and this enraged him.

“He started planning to strike them hard to teach them a lesson and re-establishing his supremacy,” said the document.

“When he realised that some of his own students/trainees were passing information about him to Sonu and Dhankad, he felt betrayed and developed deep grudge against Sonu and Sagar for loss of respect in the eyes of his students and further betrayal by them by passing his information,” the charge sheet added.

A notorious criminal, Sandeep alias Kala Jathedi ,who was arrested by the police on Saturday, also told the police that Kumar’s ego was hurt when Dhankad and Sonu refused to vacate his flat.

Kumar and his associates allegedly assaulted Dhankad and two of his friends, Amit Kumar and Sonu Mahal, on the night of May 4 . Dhankad succumbed to the injuries later.

The wrestler was arrested on May 23 after a 19-day run from the law that took him to Haridwar, Rishikesh and Punjab. At the time, the police had also announced a cash reward of ₹1 lakh for any information on him.

“He called his associates with firearms etc. from different parts of Delhi as well as from Haryana and abducted victim/injured from different parts of Delhi i.e., from Shalimar Bagh, Delhi and Model TOWN-III, Delhi and taken them to Chhatrasal Stadium to execute his plan of conspiracy,” the charge sheet said.

Kumar’s legal team rubbished the charge sheet.

“We have come to know that the charge sheet has been filed in the court. However, we have not been supplied the copy of the same. It was through media that we came to know that Sushil Kumar has been chargesheeted by the investigating agency. We will chalk out the defence strategy only after going through the chargesheet along with statements of the witnesses. We are confident that the said chargesheet will not hold ground in the court of law as Sushil Kumar is not involved in the offence as alleged by the investigating agency,” advocate Pradeep Rana, counsel for Kumar, said.

‘NO SIGN OF REMORSE’

In the charge sheet, police told the court that Kumar was counselled by senior forensic assistants (psychology) who observed that he would lock his jaw and shoulders indicating he was withholding information about the brawl .

The analysis also said that he showed no signs of remorse and behaved in an extremely egocentric manner. He thought that he was above the law and was extremely conceited about his name and reputation, the chargesheet said.

The police said Kumar and his associate, Ajay Kumar Sehrawat, hatched a conspiracy to kill Dhankad and Sonu. They called another accused, identified as Kala or Joginder, and asked him to bring more men with arms to Chhatrasal stadium on May 4.

Following this, a gang reached the stadium with Amit Kumar, who they had abducted on the way.

According to the charge sheet, the victims were beaten for around 30-40 minutes with hockey sticks and baseball bats.

“Some of the accused persons were carrying firearms with them and they threatened victims for dire consequences. Meanwhile, the gate of the stadium was also bolted/locked from inside and guards were directed to run away from the spot,” the charge sheet said.

According to the police, the call detail records and the video obtained from the CCTV cameras of the stadium, pointed out that all the accused were actively involved in the crime.