Pioneer in short
Bus falls into gorge in Almora; 7 dead
Dehradun: Seven people, including three women, were killed and 12 others injured when a bus fell into a gorge near Vinayak in the Bhikiyasain area of Uttarakhand’s Almora district on Tuesday, a police official said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident. According to the police, the deceased includes an elderly couple. Almora Senior Superintendent of Police Devendra Pincha said the accident occurred when the bus, carrying passengers from Dwarahat in Almora district to Ramnagar in Nainital district, went out of control and plunged into a gorge six kilometres before Bhikiyasain. He said that upon receiving information about the accident, police and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams reached the spot and launched rescue and relief operations. Pincha said that six people died on the spot, while another succumbed to injuries on the way to the hospital. Twelve people, including the driver, were injured in the accident and were rescued from the gorge and admitted to the hospital. A total of 19 passengers were on board the bus at the time of the accident.
SIT formed in Tripura murder case
A Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been formed to probe the recent murder of Tripura student Angel Chakma in Dehradun. In addition, the police have raised the reward money on the one absconding accused from `25,000 to `1 lakh, the Dehradun SSP Ajai Singh informed on Tuesday. The SSP said that the SIT formed to probe the murder case will be headed by SP (Rural) Pankaj Gairola. Singh said the incident took place on the evening of December 9, and the victim died on December 26. Also, the NHRC has directed the Dehradun authorities to investigate the allegations and has sought an action taken report within seven days. The commission has asked for a copy of the case proceedings to be sent to the Uttarakhand chief secretary and the director general of police.
