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Prayagraj
The main accused in the murder of journalist Lakshmi Narayan Singh alias Pappu was arrested late on Thursday night after a police encounter in Prayagraj, officials said on Friday. Singh (54), a journalist by profession and nephew of former High Court Bar Association chief Ashok Singh, was hacked to death near the Harsh Hotel on Thursday evening. He was rushed to the Swaroop Rani Nehru Hospital in a critical condition, where doctors declared him dead. Additional Commissioner of Police, Ajay Pal Sharma, said on Friday that evidence from the crime scene and statements of the eyewitnesses revealed that the attack on Singh was carried out by Vishal along with a few others. Vishal purchased a knife from the Machhli Bazaar in Khuldabad, which was later used to attack Singh. During a late-night encounter near the crime scene, the accused was injured after being shot thrice on his legs. He has been admitted to a hospital, Sharma said. Efforts are underway to trace another accused involved
Police have arrested around 50 supporters of Nagina MP Chandrashekhar Azad for resorting to vandalism on Sunday. The angry supporters of the MP, who was stopped by police on Sunday while on his way to meet the family of a person who died of burn injuries at Isota village in Prayagraj, had created a ruckus and damaged two police vehicles. The family of the deceased, Devishankar, had claimed that he was burnt to death after he succumbed on April 13. Chandrashekhar had reached the Circuit House, but was stopped by police due to "security reasons", according to police. According to Yamuna Nagar Deputy Commissioner of Police Vivek Chandra Yadav, 50 people accused of stone pelting and vandalism near Isota village have been arrested so far and the rest are being identified. Cases are being registered against these people under stringent sections. DCP Yadav said that charges under National Security Act will be imposed on these people and the cost of damage will also be recovered. Yadav s
A new report by the Central Pollution Control Board submitted to the National Green Tribunal has said that as per statistical analysis, the water quality during the recently-concluded Maha Kumbh in Prayagraj was fit for bathing. The Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) report said the statistical analysis was necessitated because of "variability of data" in the samples collected from the same locations across different dates and on different locations on the same day, because of which these did not reflect the "overall river water quality throughout the river stretch". The report dated February 28 and uploaded on the tribunal's website on March 7 said the board had conducted water monitoring twice a week from January 12 onwards, including on auspicious bathing days, at five locations on Ganga river and two locations on Yamuna river. "There is a significant variability in the values on various parameters, viz pH, dissolved oxygen (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and fecal ...
More than 50,000 people who were separated from their families amid the massive crowd of devotees at the 45-day Maha Kumbh were successfully reunited with their loved ones, the UP government said on Sunday. According to a statement issued by the government, during the Maha Kumbh Mela, more than 66 crore devotees from every corner of the country and abroad took a holy dip in the Ganga and Sangam. During this time, 54,357 people who were separated from their families were reunited. The number of women among those who got separated was higher. This time, the state government had set up digital lost and found centres to quickly reunite the lost people with their families during Mahakumbh. Through these centres, more than 35,000 devotees were reunited with their families during Mahakumbh. During 'Amrit Snaan' -- 598 devotees on Makar Sankranti, 8,725 people during Mauni Amavasya, and 864 people on Basant Panchami were reunited with their families with the help of digital lost and found
"My uncle had saved his sister by pulling her out of the river waters by her hair as she slipped below amid the commotion," says city-based advocate Niranjan Lal recalling the 1954 Kumbh Mela stampede stories he had heard from his aunt who survived it. This was the first Kumbh in Allahabad after Independence, and the tragic incident took place on February 3 on the occasion of Mauni Amavasya. According to official estimates, several hundred had died in the stampede. Seventy-one years later, a stampede took place on January 29, again on Mauni Amavasya day as a massive crowd sought to enter into the Triveni Sangam waters for the 'amrit snan'. Lal, 67, and his wife were camping in a Swiss cottage in Sector 6 of Mahakukbh Nagar, when they got a call from their son at home late night, cautioning them not to go to the Sangam due to the stampede. "We didn't step out from the camp until the sun came out, and at around 11 am, we went to Dashashwamedh Ghat on Ganga, located near Sector 6. The
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday likened the massive Maha Kumbh congregation to the newly awakened consciousness of a nation breathing freely after breaking the shackles of a slavery mindset. "The Maha Kumbh has concluded. The 'mahayagna' of unity has concluded," he wrote in a blog, a day after the mega religious exercise concluded. Modi said more devotees than were ever imagined took the holy dip in Sangam, asserting that India is now forging ahead with new energy and that this points to a change of era which will write a new future for India. The prime minister offered apology to "Mother Ganga, Mother Yamuna, Mother Saraswati" as well as people, who he said are a form of God to him, for any shortcoming in the services rendered. He noted that making such a massive arrangement was not easy. At least 30 devotees had died during a stampede at the Maha Kumbh, which drew devotees in huge numbers from across the country. The Uttar Pradesh government has said that over 65 crore
