Pioneer in short
1 dead as ropeway trolley crashes
A woman was killed, and six other persons were injured when a ropeway trolley crashed while descending from a hilltop temple in Chhattisgarh’s Mahasamund district on Sunday, officials said. The accident occurred shortly after 10 am when the trolley’s cable snapped as it was bringing down seven passengers from the hilltop, Bagbahra SDM Namita Markole said. Earlier, eight people were reported to be in the trolley. Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed grief over the incident and ordered a detailed investigation into it. The trolley plunged from a height of 200 to 300 feet, as per officials. The ropeway service is commonly used by devotees to reach near the temple, located on the hilltop at an elevation of about 1,100 feet. The SDM said the victims had arrived there to offer prayers at the Khallari Mata temple, located on a hill at Khallari (Bhimkhoj) village in the Bagbahra tehsil, during the ongoing nine-day Navratri festival. A woman, identified as Ayushi Satkar (28) from Raipur, died on the spot, while six others, including her husband Rishabh Dhavre (29) and another minor relative Chhayansh Dhavre (16), sustained injuries, she said.
Top LeT commander killed in Muridke
In a major incident reported on the day of Eid, Bilal Arif Salafi (also spelt Sarafi), a senior commander of the Pakistan-based and United Nations Security Council (UNSC) proscribed terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), was shot and stabbed to death inside the group’s main headquarters at Markaz Taiba, in Muridke, Punjab province. The attack took place moments after Eid al-Fitr prayers ended, when the complex was crowded with Lashkar members and leaders, including Maulana Abu Zar and Maulana Abdul Rehman Abid. According to reports, the assailants struck quickly as they fired multiple shots, followed by multiple stabbings. No group has claimed responsibility.
