Hyderabad, Jan 27: Search was on for a youth who went missing after Sunday night’s fire on two boats in Hussain Sagar Lake in Hyderabad. Four persons sustained injuries when fireworks were set off from two boats in the lake as part of the ‘Bharat Mata Maha Harati’ programme at People’s Plaza on Necklace Road abutting the lake.

The injured were admitted to hospitals and the condition of one of them was critical.

The family of a youth approached police in the early hours of Monday that he went missing from Hussain Sagar last night.

The youth was identified as Ajay. His mother and other family members reached the lake on Monday morning and demanded that the authorities launch a search operation to trace him.

Expert swimmers from the Disaster Response Force were deployed for the search operation. Ajay, an engineering student from Nagaram on the city outskirts, had told her mother that he was at Tank Bund with his friends.

His mother said she spoke to him over the phone around 8.30 p.m. and he informed her that he would return home after midnight.

She said she called him over the phone around 11 p.m. but it was switched off. She tried again around midnight. One of Ajay’s friends contacted the family at 2 a.m. to inform them he was missing.

The family members along with Ajay’s friends visited the hospitals to confirm if he was among the injured. When they did not find him, they approached the police. They suspect that Ajay might have jumped into the lake after a fire broke out.

Police registered a case and continued the investigation into the fire which broke out due to the explosion of firecrackers.

The injured were identified as Ganapati (22), K. Sai Chand (20), Chinatala Krishna (47) and Praneet. Ganapati was admitted to Yashoda Hospital in critical condition. Three others sustained minor injuries and were shifted to Gandhi Hospital.

Telangana Governor Jishnu Dev Varma and Union Minister G. Kishan Reddy attended the ‘Bharat Mata Maha Harati’ programme. They had left the venue after a cultural performance by artists and speeches.

Kolkata, Jan 27: Two parallel and crucial hearings are scheduled at a division bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Monday, on similar pleas filed by two different parties challenging the order by the special court in Kolkata last week sentencing civic volunteer Sanjay Roy, the sole convict in the rape and murder of a woman doctor of state-run R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata.

Incidentally, both the parties challenging the plea have demanded the death sentence for Roy.

On the one hand, the division bench of Justice Debangshu Basak and Justice Shabbar Rashidi will hear the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) plea challenging the special court order and seeking a death sentence for Roy. On the other hand, the same division bench will hear a similar plea by the West Bengal government also seeking capital punishment for Roy.

The second case is interesting in the sense that while CBI had itself moved the Calcutta High with the plea for a death sentence for Roy, it opposed the state government’s authority for filing such a similar plea.

The CBI questioned the grounds on which the state government could make such an appeal.

According to the counsel for the central agency, only the CBI, which is investigating the case, and the victim’s parents can move such a plea to a higher court, not the state government, as it is not a party to the case.

The hearing in the first case is expected to start after 10.30 a.m. on Monday.

To recall, the doctor was found dead on the hospital premises in August 2024. After the body of the victim was recovered from a seminar hall within the R.G. Kar premises on the morning of August 9 last year, the initial investigation was carried out by the Kolkata Police, whose sleuths also arrested Roy. However, after five days of initial investigation by the city police, the charge of the probe was handed over to the CBI by the Calcutta High Court.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has described the special court order as a failure on the part of the CBI in ensuring the death sentence for the convict. According to her, had the charge of the investigation been with the Kolkata Police, a death sentence would have been ensured for Roy much before as was done in three other cases of rape & murder in the state.

Amritsar, Jan 27: Members of Dalit bodies have given a call for Amritsar shutdown on Monday to protest the vandalising of the iconic statue of B.R. Ambedkar on Heritage Street near the Golden Temple complex on the evening of Republic Day.

They have demanded strict action against the accused, who was arrested by the police.

According to the police, the accused, Akashdeep Singh, belongs to the Scheduled Caste community. The accused used a hammer to deface the statue and burnt the stone-carved Constitution book in front of the statue by lighting inflammable material on it. He used a ladder to reach the statue’s top.

The police said the motive behind the incident is yet to be ascertained. Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said a first information report (FIR) has been registered and the accused was arrested.

Further investigation is underway.

Appealing people to maintain calm, Shiromani Akal Dal Member of Parliament Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the attempt to vandalise the statue of Babasaheb Ambedkar at Heritage Street in Amritsar is deplorable and part of a conspiracy to divide “our society and cause disturbance in Punjab. Such acts should be dealt with sternly. I appeal to Punjabis to maintain calm”.

Former Deputy Chief Minister and Akali leader Sukhbir Badal said, “This heinous act has hurt the sentiments of millions. I demand stern action against the culprit and a thorough inquiry to unravel the conspiracy behind this shameful incident. Let’s stand united against such vile attempts to create divisions in our society.”

Responding to the incident, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema said, “This act is an attack on the values of our Constitution and equality. The accused has been arrested, and the Punjab government will ensure strict action against him.”

Local Member of Parliament and Congress leader Gurjeet Singh Aujla urged the government and the administration to take swift action against the miscreants. “His (Ambedkar’s) legacy is the foundation of our democracy and it is our duty to protect and honour it.”

BJP national General Secretary Tarun Chugh blamed the AAP government in the state for deteriorating law and order. “Punjab AAP’s Bhagwant Mann government is in deep sleep. Punjab’s law and order has deteriorated. The CM is busy with tourism while BR Ambedkar’s statue is tampered with and the Constitution is insulted. That too outside the police station,” he told the media.