9 killed as cruiser plunges into Bhakra canal
Chandigarh, Feb 1: Nine people including five women died while three are still missing after a Force Motors Cruiser carrying 14 passengers plunged into the Bhakra canal in Haryana’s Fatehabad district, police said on Saturday. A man and an 11-year-old boy were rescued, police said, adding that a rescue operation is underway. The accident occurred at Sardarewala village in Ratia on Friday night, when dense fog engulfed the area, police said. Nine bodies have been retrieved so far and efforts are ongoing to trace three more missing passengers, Deputy Superintendent of Police (Ratia) Sanjay Kumar said. Among those killed, Five women and an 11-year-old girl were among those killed, the officer said. (PTI)
Eight Naxalites killed in encounter
Bijapur, Feb 1: At least eight Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh’s Bijapur district on Saturday, a senior police official said. Two personnel of the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a unit of the state police, were also injured in the gunfight, he said. An INSAS rifle and a barrel grenade launcher (BGL) were among the weapons recovered from the site afterwards, the official said. (PTI)
Couple held for running fake marriage racket
New Delhi, Feb 1: A couple who had been absconding for five years for allegedly running a fake marriage racket to extort money has been arrested, police said on Saturday. The accused, Rahul alias Din Mohammad (38) and his wife (36), were apprehended from Jahangirpuri, officials said. They were wanted in a 2019 case registered at Sultanpuri police station. The couple, along with their associates, allegedly lured people seeking marriage, drugged them, and forcibly conducted fake marriages to extort money, a police officer said. (PTI)
One dead as truck plunges into gorge
Banihal/Jammu, Feb 1: One person was killed and three others injured when a truck loaded with liquor bottles skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge along the Jammu-Srinagar national highway on Saturday, officials said. The accident occurred near Battery Cheshma in Ramban district when its driver Rafaqat Khattana lost control while negotiating a curve. The truck was en route to Srinagar from Jammu, police said. (PTI)
