A new railway line from Assam’s Kokrajhar to Gelephu in Bhutan has been proposed to improve cross-border connectivity and strengthen bilateral ties, officials said here on Saturday.

The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said that the Indian Railways is actively advancing towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of the ‘Act East Policy’ and ‘Neighborhood First Policy’.

“Under these policies, several new railway projects are being undertaken to enhance connectivity with neighboring countries,” he said.

The body of the Bangladeshi smuggler, who was killed during a clash with the Border Security Force (BSF) in Tripura’s Sepahijala District on Friday, was handed over to Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) on Saturday, officials said.

A BSF spokesman said that the body of Mohammad Alamin, 25, was handed over to the BGB through the Kamthana village in Sepahijala District along the India-Bangladesh border. Before handing over the body, a post-mortem of the body was done at a Tripura government hospital in Bishalgarh, he said. The spokesman on Friday night said that a group of 20 to 25 Bangladeshi smugglers and miscreants intruded inside Indian territory near the area of BOP (Border Outpost) at Putia in western Tripura’s Sepahijala District and indulged in smuggling in alliance with their Indian counterparts.

“When cautioned by the BSF patrol party, the Bangladeshi smugglers and miscreants attacked the Indian border guarding troops injuring a BSF jawan seriously,” he said. The Bangladeshi smugglers continued their attack on the BSF personnel with sharp cutting materials and threw stones and they even tried to snatch a BSF personnel’s service arms, the spokesman said, adding that in order to protect his own life, the jawan fired one round of non-lethal PAG (Pump Action Gun) in self-defence.

The Bangladeshi smuggler was injured by the PAG shot and was taken to a government hospital in Bishalgarh but succumbed to his injuries on Friday night. The injured BSF jawan was also in the hospital and undergoing treatment.

Five devotees visiting Male Mahadeshwara Hills were killed in a head-on collision between their car and a truck in Chikkindewadi village of Karnataka's Chamarajanagar district on Saturday.

The deceased were yet to be identified. However, based on the car's registration number, police believe the victims are from the Mandya district.

According to police, all five victims, including two women, were travelling to the popular pilgrimage site of Male Mahadeshwara Hills.

Police suspect that the accident was caused due to overspeeding.

At least two Maoists were gunned down in an intense encounter with security forces in the Kistaram police station area of Sukma district, Chhattisgarh, officials said on Saturday.

A joint team of the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and the Cobra battalion had launched a search operation following Intelligence reports of Maoist activity in the region.

The encounter, which began early this morning, is still going on intermittently, with clashes between the Maoists and security forces continuing through the day.

An intensive search operation is underway, with forces combing both the encounter site and the surrounding areas to locate any remaining Maoist insurgents.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Dev Sai, while commenting on the ongoing encounter, expressed confidence in the continuous efforts of the state’s security forces.

At least 60 students of Shri Chandpur Primary School in Harnaut block fell ill on Friday after consuming a mid-day meal.

The students complained of stomach-ache and vomiting around two hours after consuming the mead day meal.

The students suspect that the boiled eggs served during lunch may have caused the illness.

Upon receiving the information, local health officials rushed to the school and transported the affected students to Kalyan Vigha Referral Hospital.

The operation to rescue eight trapped persons in a partially collapsed tunnel continued in Telangana’s Nagarkurnool district, said a top official on Friday while denying reports that rescue teams found dead bodies.

Nagarkurnool district Collector Badavath Santosh told the media that the news on some channels about bodies being found is fake.

He urged the media not to broadcast any such news without confirmation as it creates panic.

Asked about reports that scanning of the tunnel by Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) technology revealed certain points where human bodies may be found, he said the rescue operation was continuing as per the findings of the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI).

Around 25 of the 57 workers engulfed by the snow as a massive avalanche struck Uttarakhand's Chamoli district on Friday remain to be rescued as a multi-agency operation struggles in the harsh climate and terrain to extricate them, officials said.

According to reports, 57 workers were engaged in road construction near Mana village, close to the India-Tibet border, when the avalanche occurred. While 32 have been rescued and rushed to an army camp in critical condition, efforts are underway to locate and bring out the remaining workers.

Rescue operations are being carried out by multiple agencies, including the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Border Roads Organisation (BRO), the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and the Army.

Four Bhopal residents, returning home from the recently concluded Kumbh Mela, met a tragic end on the Kanpur-Sagar Highway on Friday in a collision which even left experienced rescue teams shaken.

The incident occurred at Bara Nala near Srinagar village of Mahoba district of Uttar Pradesh.

A truck, barrelling down the road at breakneck speed, smashed head-on into their car, dragging the wreckage for over 50 meters, police sources said.

In a tragic incident, a woman in Kerala's Kottayam and two of her girl children committed suicide by jumping in front of a speeding train near their home at the district's Ettumanoor area early on Friday, officials said.

The incident, which occurred around 5.30 a.m., came to light after the loco pilot of the Nilambur bound Kottayam–Nilambur Express alerted the local railway authorities and the police.

The loco pilot said that saw three people on the tracks and sounded the horn several times but they did not move away.

A police team arrived at the spot and identified the deceased by visuals from a nearby CCTV.

In a shocking incident, an auto-rickshaw was crushed between two Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses in Bengaluru, resulting in the deaths of two people traveling in the vehicle on Friday.

The deceased have been identified as 50-year-old Vijay Kumar, the auto driver, and 70-year-old passenger Vishnu Bhatia. The incident occurred at Sita Circle near Hosakerehalli Cross in Bengaluru.

Police said that the accident took place when a BMTC bus driver suddenly applied the brakes. The auto driver lost control and crashed into the BMTC bus in front of him. Meanwhile, another BMTC bus coming from behind collided with the auto, crushing it between the two buses.