Last rites of Madurai train fire victims performed
SITAPUR, Aug 28: Grief-stricken family members and friends Monday performed the last rites of five persons from Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur and Hardoi districts who died in the Madurai train fire tragedy. Nine people were killed and eight more injured when a fire broke out inside a stationary train compartment at the Madurai railway station on August 26. The deceased, bound for Rameswaram in Tamil Nadu, had last week embarked from Lucknow on the pilgrimage with several others in a private party coach booked by their tour operator, it added. On Sunday, their bodies arrived from Chennai at the Chowdhury Charan Singh airport in Lucknow on two separate flights. Minister of State (Prisons) Suresh Rahi and MoS (Urban Development) Rakesh Rathore were present at the crematorium in Sitapur where the last rites of four deceased were performed on Monday. (PTI)
CBI books ED assistant director in Rs 5 cr bribery
NEW DELHI, Aug 28: The CBI has registered an FIR against ED Assistant Director Pawan Khatri in connection with an alleged payment of Rs 5 crore by liquor businessman Amandeep Dhall who wanted help in the Delhi excise policy scam case, officials said. Along with the two, the CBI has also named an assistant general manager of Air India Deepak Sangwan, the CEO of Claridges Hotels and Resorts Vikramaditya, chartered accountant Praveen Kumar Vats and two others — Nitesh Kohar, an UDC in the ED, and Birender Pal Singh, they said. The CBI action was initiated on a complaint from the ED, which during its probe in the Delhi government’s excise policy scam found. (PTI)