प्रेमिका के दरवाजे पर प्रेमी ने खाया जहर

नये साल की पूर्व संध्या पर प्रेमिका के घर शादी का ख्याब लेकर पहुंचे प्रेमी को निराशा हाथ लगी तो उनसे खुद को खत्म करने की ठान ली. उसने प्रेमिका के घर के सामने ही जान देने की कोशिश की. इसके लिए उसने सबके सामने जहरीला पदार्थ निगल लिया. पहले उसे कटरा पीएचसी में भर्ती कराया गया. हालत बिगड़ने पर उसे पीएमसीएच रेफर कर दिया गया. मामला कटरा के यजुआर गांव का है. प्रेमी के पास से मंगलसूत्र व अन्य गहने मिले हैं. माना जा रहा है, इन्हें वह अपनी होनेवाली पत्नी के लिए लेकर आया था.

जानकारी के मुताबिक, कटरा थाना क्षेत्र के  यजुआर गांव निवासी गणेश ठाकुर (27) गांव की ही एक लड़की से प्यार करता है. मंगलवार की देर शाम वह मंगलसूत्र, टीका सहित अन्य आभूषण लेकर उसके दरवाजे पर शादी करने पहुंच गया. वह प्रेमिका के घर पर हंगामा करने लगा. इस पर लड़की के परिजनों ने उसके साथ धक्का-मुक्की भी की. उसके हंगामा करने पर कटरा पुलिस को मामले की जानकारी दी गयी. गणोश ठाकुर बार-बार शादी करने की जिद पर अड़ा था. प्रेमिका के इनकार करने पर उसने झोले से जहरीला पदार्थ निकाल कर मुंह में रख लिया.

थानाध्यक्ष रमण कुमार ने बताया, पुलिस जब मौके पर पहुंची, तो वह बेहोश था. उसके झोला से सिंदूर व आभूषण मिले हैं. उसे इलाज के लिए स्थानीय स्वास्थ्य केंद्र लाया गया. डॉक्टरों ने बताया कि उसने कोई अत्यंत जहरीला पदार्थ खा लिया है. उसके पैर के मोजा से पुलिस ने सल्फास की गोली भी बरामद की है. डॉक्टरों ने उसे बेहतर इलाज के लिए एसकेएमसीएच रेफर कर दिया, जहां उसकी हालत गंभीर बनी हुई थी. इस बात की जानकारी नहीं मिली है, आखिर कब से उक्त युवती से गणोश प्यार करता था. साथ ही युवती भी गणोश से प्यार करती थी या नहीं. पुलिस पूरे मामले की छानबीन कर रही है.

Women auto drivers in Bihar

In a rare first steering towards change and empowerment, women auto drivers are motoring towards empowerment in Patna. Many of them have now become bread earners for their families.

"We wait outside schools and colleges and students are glad to see women auto drivers," an auto driver Sarita Pandey said.

It all began when the Patna auto-rickshaw association began training 35 women of which 15 were selected in the first phase. With a license and bank loans of 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh, they were soon zooming on the streets of Patna. A monthly income of Rs 12,000 to 15,000 leaves enough room to repay the EMIs of Rs 4000.

Straight out from the confines of their homes, it's a daring entry into a male bastion which many females would not dare to take up. "People stop our autos and tell us that this is not a woman's job," auto driver Sarita Pandey said.

However, their presence has given a sense of security to women travelers and has been regarded as a welcome step for women commuters. Only families with women are allowed to uses these autos. "We feel safe leaving our homes in autos and driving on the streets," a passenger Anita said.

The new auto drivers also share the credit of the initiative with their families. "My husband has been very supportive otherwise it wouldn't have been possible," an auto driver Namita said.

Patna auto-drivers association feels elated for having taken the initiative that has given these women a new freedom. "It is challenging for women to drive autos and get on the road. We were certain to implement it." President Patna auto-drivers association Raj Kumar Jha said.

It's a welcome trend and these new fast lane girls on the streets are inspiring many more to join the tribe taking the number of women drivers in the city from 12 to 50 in just a month.

Dozens killed by train

At least 37 people have died after being hit by an express train while crossing the tracks in the Indian state of Bihar.
An angry crowd is said to have beaten the driver and set two coaches on fire after the train came to a stop.
The people killed were mostly Hindu pilgrims on their way to a local temple.

man held for allegedly trying to poison handpump

A man was held on Saturday for allegedly trying to poison handpump in a school in a village under Parasbigha police station area in Bihar's Jehanabad district, a police officer said.

The villagers found man, later identified as Munna Ansari, moving in a suspicious manner in the primary school premise in Godiha village and beat him up mercilessly by suspecting that he was there allegedly to poison handpump, the superintendent of solice (SP) Shayali Dhurat said.

Dhurat said that she and the District Magistrate Md. Sohail rushed to the village with police force after being informed about the incident and rescued the man from clutches of angry villagers who were refusing to hand him over to cops.

Apparently determined to teach Ansari a lesson, the villagers pelted stones on the police force in which two police officers, identified as Parasbigha SHO Samrat Singh and Shakurabad SHO Vinod Kumar, sustained injuries, she said.

The police lathicharged on the mob before safely rescuing him from the custody of the villagers, Dhurat said.

She said that Ansari, a native of Ghughri village under Jamalpur police station area of Khagaria district, has been taken to a hospital for medical check up and his belongings were being searched to find out whether he was carrying chemicals or related materials with him.

Dhurat confirmed that some eatables like Sattu (floured gram) and guava have been recovered from the suspect's possession.

It may be mentioned that incidents of suspected poisoning of handpumps in schools have taken place in several districts with hundreds of students taking ill in the past fortnight prompting the state government to order a probe.

55 girl students taken ill in Bihar after drinking water in school

Fifty-five girl students were today taken ill after drinking water from hand pump in a government girls' school in Tharhar village in Bihar's Sitamarhi district.

The girls studying in Kasturba Gandhi Vidyalaya fainted soon after drinking water from a hand pump, Block Education Officer (BEO) Shahjanand said.

While 48 sick girls have been taken to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Runnisaidpur block, the remaining seven were rushed to the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) in Muzaffarpur, he said.

The condition of those girls undergoing treatment at the PHC was said to be stable, Shahjanand stated.

It could be a suspected case of poisoning, sources said.

Senior district officials reached the school to probe the matter.

Eleven students of a government school fell ill after drinking contaminated water during their midday meal in Bihar's Saran district yesterday just a day after 150 others reported sick after eating at school in Jamui and Arwal districts.

Twenty three students of Dharmasati Gandaman primary school in Saran district had died after eating poisonous midday meal on July 16.

Bihar midday meal tragedy

The principal of the government school in Saran district where 23 children died after eating contaminated midday meal is on the run.

It has emerged that the free food served to children in the school did not undergo any quality check.

Meena Devi, the principal of the school, is absconding along with her husband and the police are conducting raids at their possible hideouts, Saran district magistrate Abhijit Sinha said.

The grocery from where the items for the midday meal were brought belonged to Meena's husband, it has been stated.

The principal, against whom an FIR has been lodged, has already been suspended by the state administration.

Meanwhile, the death toll in the tragedy rose to 23 after it came to the knowledge of the district administration on Thursday that one child was buried by family members without keeping the authorities informed.

24 children and a woman cook Manju Devi were under treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital.

No arrests have been made two days after the incident, as a mass grave outside the primary school at Dharmasati Gandavan village where the dead were buried bore mute testimony to the tragedy.

"This school will not run ... we will not allow it," said Rakeshwar Mahato who lost his granddaughter in the tragedy. "This is where our children were murdered," he said, defending the decision to bury the children just outside the school premises as a mark of protest by the families.

Amardeep Sinha, principal secretary, Bihar said the case seemed to be one of "poisoning of food" and not "food poisoning."

He said the State Forensic Science Laborotary (SLFL) was conducting investigations and their report would be out by Friday.

State education minister PK Sahi had said on Wednesday a preliminary investigation suggested that the food served to the children contained an organophosphate used as an insecticide on rice and wheat crops. He also alleged there was a political conspiracy to destabilise the Nitish Kuamr government.

Bihar's director of midday meal programme R Lakshamanan said inquiries into the Saran tragedy showed that standing orders like quality check of food and its maintenance by teachers and cooks were not observed at the school.

As the tragedy created a scare, he admitted that in many schools children are refusing to take food packets provided to them under the programme.

The midday meal scheme, a flagship programme of the central government, covers 70,000 schools of Bihar providing food to 1.25 crore children.

Minister attacked

Bihar minister Parween Amanullah was attacked and held up for some time by a mob in Vaishali district which was agitating over the midday meal tragedy in the state.

Amanullah, who is the minister for social welfare, was on her way to Muzaffarpur from Patna when the protesters, who had blockaded National Highway 77 near Rai Birendra College, about 5km from Hajipur town, pelted her car with stones, forcing it to halt.

"I was stopped by the mob for nearly 15 minutes before police came and escorted my car to safety ... Stones hit my car while I was sitting inside," Amanullah said.

The minister said she cancelled her programme and returned to Patna after the incident.

Vaishali SP Suresh Chaudhary confirmed the incident. The Bihar government has been under attack by opposition parties over the midday meal tragedy in Saran district which has claimed the lives of 23 children.

RJD, BJP and CPI had separately observed bandh in Saran on Wednesday.

Opposition parties have blamed the state government for the delay in rushing the victims to hospital after they were taken ill upon eating the meal.

Terror strikes Bodh Gaya's Mahabodhi temple

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar was left squirming because the low-intensity blasts, triggered by suspected Indian Mujahideen operatives, occurred despite repeated intelligence alerts from central security agencies.

“It does seem like a terror attack... No (terrorist) outfit has claimed responsibility,” Union minister of state for home RPN Singh said about the string of blasts between 5.30 and 5.58am.
 

Buddhists from all over the world visit the temple, which has the Bodhi tree under which Buddha is said to have attained enlightenment. “The holy Bodhi tree is safe and there is no damage to it,” said Bihar director general of police Abhayanand.

The police said four blasts took place inside the Mahabodhi temple complex and three occurred at the Terega monastery, while one each were triggered near an 80-feet-tall Buddha statue and a vacant tourist bus parked close to the temple complex.

The police said two live bombs were defused in the town and a third in a village nearby. According to intelligence sources, Bodh Gaya has been in the crosshairs of Pakistan-based terrorists who want to avenge the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar.

The improvised explosive devices were set off with timers within a 2 km radius of the 18 sq km town located about 140 km southwest of capital Patna. While IM operations are unknown in these parts, Gaya is the hotbed of Maoist activity in Bihar.

The police said two live bombs were defused in the town and a third in a village nearby. According to intelligence sources, Bodh Gaya has been in the crosshairs of Pakistan-based terrorists who want to avenge the violence against Rohingya Muslims in Buddhist-dominated Myanmar.

The improvised explosive devices were set off with timers within a 2 km radius of the 18 sq km town located about 140 km southwest of capital Patna. While IM operations are unknown in these parts, Gaya is the hotbed of Maoist activity in Bihar.


'Temple, Bodhi Tree safe'

The temple and the Bodhi Tree, under which Lord Buddha is believed to have attained enlightenment, did not suffer any damage in the blasts which shook the holy town frequented by Buddhist pilgrims from Sri Lanka, China, Japan and the whole of southeast Asia.

Security has been beefed at the temple and adjoining areas, Director General of Police Abhayanand told reporters, adding CCTV footage was being examined for leads to the terrorists.

The Intelligence Bureau (IB) had alerted the state that two terrorists, brothers originally from Bihar but based abroad in recent years, had entered the state to carry out terror attacks, according to an official aware about the intelligence input.


'IM mey be behind blast'

Last year, the Delhi Police claimed to have foiled a 'fidayeen' attack in the town with the arrest of suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) elements to avenge "atrocities" against Muslims in Myanmar. Security agencies suspect that IM may be behind today's multiple blasts.

"While four blasts took place inside the Mahabodhi Temple complex, three occurred in Karmapa monastery, one each near near the famous 80-ft Buddha statue and at the bus stand near bypass," DIG Magadh range Nayyer Hussnain Khan said.

Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde said two live bombs were defused in the town. A third bomb, hidden in a cyclinder, was recovered from a village near Body Gaya hours after the blasts and defused.

The Bihar chief minister demanded deployment of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for security of the shrine.

"The serial blasts deserve strongest condemnation in strongest possible words as the perpetrators targeted the place of religious faith of crores of people with an aim to create fear among them," Nitish Kumar said.

Union home secretary Anil Goswami said in New Delhi that serial explosions inside and outside Mahabodhi Temple in Bihar were a terror attack and NIA and NSG teams have been sent for post-blasts investigations.