Bidar (Karnataka), Jan 16: In a shocking incident, a gang of robbers shot dead a guard, seriously injured another, and looted an ATM cash vehicle in broad daylight in Karnataka’s Bidar city on Thursday.

The incident occurred in front of the State Bank of India (SBI) Main Branch in Bidar city, with the robbers escaping with Rs 93 lakh in cash.

The robbers, who were following the vehicle, attacked the cash van in front of the bank where the ATM was also located. One of the guards in the vehicle, Giri Venkatesh, died on the spot after being shot, while another guard, Shivakumar, sustained critical injuries. the doctors said that Shivakumar’s condition was extremely critical. Before opening fire, the robbers threw chilli powder on the guards. According to police reports, two masked robbers fired five rounds at the ATM vehicle and guards.

Following the attack, they made off with Rs 93 lakh in cash. Bidar Superintendent of Police (SP) Pradeep Gunti rushed to the scene and was overseeing the investigation.

The attack occurred while the ATM was being filled with cash at Shivaji Chowk, located in the heart of Bidar city. The injured guard, Shivakumar, is being treated at the Bidar Institute of Medical Sciences (BIMS).

The robbers, who were riding two motorcycles, carried out the attack, took the cash box, and fled. Although locals raised an alarm, threw stones at them, and attempted to catch them, the robbers managed to dodge and escape.

Sources revealed that both Giri Venkatesh and Shivakumar were employees of CMS Agency, a company that provides ATM cash-filling services.

The robbers, dressed in black jackets and hats, carried backpacks during the attack. Police have obtained CCTV footage of the incident and launched a manhunt to apprehend the culprits.

Panic spread in the area after the attack and loot. More details were awaited.

Kolkata, Jan 16: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday was conducting raid and search operations at two locations in and around Kolkata in connection with bank loan forgery cases worth around Rs 6,000 crore.

Sources aware of the development said that the two places where the ED officials have been conducting marathon raids and search operations since morning are two residences — the first being at Behala in the southern outskirts of Kolkata and the second being at Shibpur in Kolkata-adjacent Howrah district.

One of the two houses where raid and search operations were taking place belongs to a local businessman, Deepak Jain.

Each team of ED officials is being escorted by Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF) personnel.

Sources said that the raids were taking place in continuation of similar raids at the residence of a Kolkata-based businessman at Ballygunge in South Kolkata in December 2024, in relation to a bank loan forgery amounting to Rs 6,000 crore.

Cash worth Rs 2 crore, jewellery worth Rs 4.5 crore and two luxurious vehicles were seized by the ED officials then from his residence.

Sanjay Surekha, the owner of Comcast Steel and Power Limited, was also arrested by the ED sleuths then.

The main charge against Surekha was that after claiming loans worth Rs 6,000 crore from a consortium of commercial banks through multiple accounts, he defaulted when the time for repayment came.

Sources said that currently, the Central agency officials are in the process of tracking the money trail to have a clear idea of how the bank loan taken by the Surekha was misused.

Charges are there that bank accounts registered in the names of the employees and business associates of the said corporate entity were also utilized in securing the loans. In addition, Surekha was also unable to furnish the details of the cash recovered from his residence as well as the sources of funds for purchasing the costly jewellery and the foreign-made luxury cars.

Kolkata, Jan 16: A newborn baby of one of the five women, who fell sick last week at a state-run Midnipore Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) after being allegedly administered with expired Ringer’s Lactate, died on Thursday.

Last week Mamoni Ruidas, one of the five women, died at the same hospital.

On Thursday, the newborn girl of Rekha Shaw, one of the other four surviving women, died at the state-run medical college and hospital in Kolkata.

Three of the four women were shifted to the hospital after their condition worsened.

The baby soon after birth was kept under isolation and on ventilation in the same hospital.

“We were shown the baby just once after the birth and since then was kept under isolation. Now we are told that the baby has expired,” confirmed Rekha’s mother-in-law Pushpa Shaw.

On Wednesday, the leader of opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari demanded that Central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) be involved in the ongoing probe into the case which is being conducted by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of West Bengal Police and a team of the state health department.

Last week, five women had fallen sick at the said state-run medical college and hospital in West Midnapore district allegedly after being administered with expired Ringer’s lactate. While Ruidas died last Friday, the four others then were kept under treatment at the critical care unit and intensive care units of the same hospital. However, later three of them had to be shifted to state-run S.S.K.M Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata following sharp deteriorations in their medical conditions.

The incident raised serious concerns, especially as the expired RL saline allegedly came from Paschim Banga Pharmaceutical Limited, a company earlier banned by the Karnataka government and later by the West Bengal government.

First, the state health department directed the medical superintendents-cum-vice principals of all medical colleges and hospitals and all the chief medical officers of the districts “to ensure total stoppage of existing stock of Compound Sodium Lactate Injection (RL) supplied by Paschim Banga Pharmaceuticals Pvt Ltd in his/her jurisdiction”.

Later, the state government also directed the removal of stocks of all medicines supplied by the said company from all healthcare entities in the state.