Two persons were killed and six people were severely injured following a horrific road accident at Kulti in West Burdwan district of West Bengal late on Wednesday night after a vehicle carrying passengers to the Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj collided with a truck on the National Highway.

According to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kolkata) of Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate, Jabed Hossain, the accident took place on National Highway (NH)-19 when the passenger vehicle collided with a truck at full speed from behind.

“The passenger vehicle was coming from Bankura and was going to Prayagraj. As far as the latest information available, two passengers travelling by that vehicle have died.

“The speed of the passenger vehicle was quite high. Further investigation is on,” he added.

The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested two persons from the Dadar area and seized a major consignment of MD (Mephedrone) drugs valued at Rs 10.08 crore in the international market.

According to police officials, the operation was carried out based on Intelligence received by a senior police officer and encounter specialist Daya Nayak.

Acting on the tip-off, a team from the Crime Branch Unit 9 raided a guest house near Dadar railway station, leading to the detention of two suspects and the recovery of 5 kg 40 grams of Mephedrone -- a synthetic stimulant classified as a New Psychoactive Substance (NPS).

The arrested individuals have been identified as Jahangir Sheikh (29) and Senual Sheikh (28).

A lawyer of the Secunderabad City Civil & Criminal Court collapsed and died on Wednesday, in the second such incident in the city in two days.

B. Venkata Ramana, collapsed in the premises of the Indian Bank's Marredpally Branch. He is reported to have sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot.

The 58-year-old had come to the bank to pay a challan when he suddenly collapsed and succumbed. It is suspected that the lawyer suffered cardiac arrest.

This is the second such incident in the city in as many days.

In a series of tragic events, several people lost their lives in road accidents in Madhya Pradesh at different locations, an official said on Wednesday.

A speeding bus collided with a tractor-trolley in the Kailaras police station area of Morena, leaving two dead and eight others seriously injured.

The accident occurred near Sant Nagar on the national highway as several people were returning home on a tractor on Wednesday.

A passenger bus coming from Sabalgarh town rammed into a tractor, causing chaos on the road. Passers-by promptly informed the police and helped rescue the passengers. Fortunately, all bus passengers emerged unscathed.

The injured individuals were taken to the government-run Kailaras hospital.

Another body of a labourer trapped inside the coal mine in Assam’s Umrangso was recovered on Wednesday, said Minister Kaushik Rai.

Rai told reporters that the body of another labourer was taken out from the coal mine on Wednesday by the rescue force.

“There were nine labourers trapped inside the mine. Earlier, the bodies of four labourers were rescued by the Army team and disaster response forces,” the minister said.

A total of nine labourers have been trapped while five have been rescued so far after they got trapped inside the mine in Umrangso locality in Assam’s Dima Hasao district in January.

The Assam Rifles and the Mizoram Police in a joint operation have seized over 10 kg of two types of highly addictive methamphetamine tablets valued at over Rs 71.15 crore and arrested a drug peddler, officials said on Wednesday.

A defence spokesman said that the troopers of Assam Rifles and police personnel acting on secret information on Tuesday night seized the methamphetamine tablets, also known as Yaba or party tablets from Vangkai in eastern Mizoram’s Champhai district, which shares an unfenced border with Myanmar.

The security personnel arrested the drug peddler identified as Vanlalruaia, 59, a resident of Aizawl.

The entire consignment and apprehended individual were taken into custody by police in Zokhawthar for further investigation and legal proceedings.

The bodies of three members of a family with their wrists slit were found under mysterious circumstances at their residence in the Tangra area of eastern Kolkata on Wednesday.

The deceased included two women and a girl in her teens. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem purposes and after the autopsy report is available it would be clear whether this was a case of suicide or murder, said the officials here.

The cops of the local police station have started an investigation into the case. They questioned the neighbours whether they noticed any unnatural behaviour on the part of the deceased individuals during the last couple of days.

The police recovered the bodies in the morning after they reached the residence in connection with an investigation of a road accident.

It is learnt that the husband of one of the two deceased women met with an accident near Ruby Crossing on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass early Wednesday morning. From the identity cards of the husband, the cops attached to the traffic department of the city police came to know of the address at Tangra.

In a heart-wrenching incident, a two-year-old boy was crushed to death by a JCB (excavator/bulldozer) in Kadugodi locality on the outskirts of Bengaluru on Wednesday.

The deceased was identified as Thavan Reddy.

According to the police, the incident occurred while the boy was playing in front of his residence.

Preliminary investigations suggest that the tragedy was caused due to overspeeding and negligent driving.

The vehicle ran over the boy, causing a severe head injury. He was immediately rushed to Vaidehi Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead.

Following a "devastating stampede" which broke out at the New Delhi Railway Station during peak evening hours on February 15 leaving 18 dead, the Delhi High Court on Wednesday called for a response from the railway authorities.

A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking guidelines to prevent such accidents in future.

"The unfortunate accident (stampede) that took place on February 15 in the New Delhi Railway Station could have been avoided if railway authorities followed the rules set in Railways Act, 1989; and followed their safety manuals and accident-related guidelines," said the petition filed through advocates Aditya Trivedi and Subhi Pastor.

During the course of the hearing, advocate Trivedi argued that the tragedy that unfolded on Platform No. 16 could have been avoided if railway authorities implemented the rules strictly.

The body of a young man was found hanging from a tree near Jaruadih village in Jharkhand's Dumka district on Wednesday, raising suspicions of foul play.

The deceased has been identified as Aryan, a resident of the village. His house is barely 200 metres from the spot where his body was discovered.

According to family members, Aryan had left home on Tuesday evening but did not return. Concerned about his whereabouts, the family began searching for him late at night but were unable to find him. It was only in the morning that they saw his body hanging from a tree and immediately informed the police.

The family strongly suspects that Aryan was murdered and that the hanging was staged to make it appear as a case of suicide.