One killed, 24 hurt as minibus plunges into gorge in Jammu’s Katra

JAMMU:ONE person was killed and at least 21 were injured after the mini-bus in which they were travelling, skidded off the road and fell into a stream near Katra on Friday evening.

Jai Karan Sharma, 40, of Samba, died on the spot and the injured were rushed to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Narayana Superspeciality Hospital in Kakryal.

Jai Karan Sharma was working in the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra.

Police said, the mini-bus on its way from Katra met with an accident on a bridge near Domail around 5pm, after the driver lost control over it.

HOW A FRIENDSHIP GAVE WAY TO ROHTANG TUNNEL

A tribal from Tholang village in Lahual, Tashi Dawa, alias Arjun Gopal, had reportedly persuaded his ‘close friend’ Atal Bihari Vajpayee with the idea of excavating a tunnel under the 13,050-feet Rohtang Pass to provide allweather connectivity to Lahaul and Spiti that remain cut off from the rest of the world for six months a year following heavy snowfall.

Friendship between Dorje and Vajpayee dates back to pre-independence era when both had come to know each other at an RSS convention.

CM, GOVERNOR PAY FLORAL TRIBUTES

Himachal Pradesh governor Acharya Devvrat along with Jai Ram Thakur paid floral tributes to Atal Bihari Vajpayee at BJP’S central office on Friday where his mortal remains were kept.

The governor and CM also participated in Vajpayee’s ‘Antim Yatra’ to Rashtriya Smriti Sthal where his cremation took place.

Himachal Vidhan Sabha speaker Rajeev Bindal and state BJP chief Satpal Singh Satti besides cabinet ministers, members of parliament and members of legislative in Himachal also paid floral tributes to the former prime minister.