At least 9 dead, 35 injured as bus overturns in Ranchi
At least nine people died and 35 were injured after a marriage party bus overturned near Pithoria valley, about 20 km from the Ranchi city, on Sunday afternoon, police said.
The injured were admitted to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS) and Kanke General Hospital (KGH).
Five persons reportedly were killed on the spot while two died on way to Kanke hospital. Over 25 injured, some of them critically, were admitted to RIMS, doctors said.
More than 100 people, all going to attend a marriage ceremony, were packed inside a 52 seater school bus that was headed to Gegda village in Patratu from Nagri near Ranchi.
“While women and children were seated inside the bus, the male members were travelling on the rooftop of the bus,” said Roshni Toppo, 20, an injured passenger undergoing treatment at RIMS. She alleged that the driver was drunk so he lost control of the vehicle while negotiating a sharp turn in the valley.
Witnesses said that the bus hit the roadside railing after the driver lost control and it overturned. However, few of the passengers alleged that the driver switched off the ignition while the bus was down hill, which made the vacuum brake ineffective.
Earlier, the Pithoria police had stopped the bus during a vehicle checking drive because it was carrying passengers more than its capacity. Since it was a marriage occasion, police permitted the vehicle to go with a warning to drive carefully.
Pithoria police station in-charge Chunwa Oraon said, “The police reached the place immediately and took the passengers to nearby hospitals through ambulances and police vehicles.”
Meanwhile, chief minister Raghubar Das, announced ₹1 lakh ex-gratia to the next of kin of deceased and ₹20,000 to injured.
Road accidents cases are on rise in Jharkhand. According to the National Crime Bureau Records (NCRB) 2,893 people have died in road accidents in 2015 of the 5,162 cases registered during the year. police station, too, reached the spot and cleared the traffic that was blocked due to the commotion, he said.
“The injured were shifted to the hospital. They suffered simple injuries on face and lips,” the DCP said, adding the PFA members left without filing a complaint.
PFA’s Gupta denied the assault charge. The three men were beaten up by local people who were enraged on seeing the animals being treated cruelly, he told HT.
PFA however denied any association with the incident. Union minister Maneka Gandhi is one of the founding members of People For Animals and its chairperson.
“We have no PFA unit in Delhi. We have 10,000 volunteers across the country. Whoever acted did so in his individual capacity,” Gandhi’s office said.
An animal right activist, Vandana Sharma, called them up and said she was following a minitruck loaded with buffaloes and cows. They made several PCR calls and requested the police to send teams and intercept the vehicle, Gupta said.
Sharma with the help of some locals intercepted the truck in Kalkaji. He and his colleagues reached the spot later.
Three men, who were butchers, fled while the driver and two other occupants were overpow- ered and beaten up by the people and not them, he said.
Gupta said their team had rescued several animals during another raid in south Delhi early on Sunday.
Lately, incidents of self-appointed cow protectors attacking and even killing people on suspicion of smuggling the cattle have been reported from several parts of India. The Opposition has accused the ruling BJP of encouraging the violence largely targeted at Muslims and Dalits.
Cow slaughter and smuggling is banned in most parts of the country but there are no curbs on buffalo meat, consumed widely as it is a cheap source of protein.
Rising cow vigilantism, however, is causing problem as buffalo meat – which goes by different names globally -- is also referred to as beef, a reason enough for the so-called cow protectors to assault people or even force shut down of eateries. lims are required to resist any attempt from any quarter to change the Muslim personal law or dilute or abolish it. Muslims must assert their natural right to follow the religion of their choice,” the JIH chief said.
To question as to how two laws (Islamic and the common Indian law) can be run in the country at the same time, the Jamaat leader said that Muslims in India have constitutional right to practice Muslim Personal Law. “Indian constitution has given us right to practice our religious laws. It is our constitutional right,” he said.
During the campaign, Jamaat plans to reach upto 50 million people all over the country and has set a target of holding 700 public meetings. The organisation claims 8000 Friday sermons will be used to spread the message during the campaign that will cover 20,000 villages.