Patna, Oct 31: A sense of shock and fear gripped Belghat village under Mufassil police station in Bihar’s Bhojpur district on Friday after two persons — a father and his son — were found lying murdered on the roadside.

The deceased have been identified as Pramod Kushwaha and his son Priyanshu Kushwaha, residents of Belghat.

According to local sources, the duo had gone out for some work on Thursday afternoon but did not return home until late in the evening.

Their family launched a search, and at around 4 a.m. on Friday, both were discovered unconscious along the road.

Police, upon being informed, reached the spot and seized a motorcycle and three empty cartridges found near the scene.

Pramod Kushwaha is known locally as the owner of the Maurya Sweets shop in Piyania Bazaar and is also an active worker of the Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM).

The incident occurred at a time when the election campaign was underway in Bihar.

Due to his political affiliation, police are probing the case from both personal and political angles.

Mufassil Police Station SHO Deepak Kumar reached the site with a large police force.

A forensic team was called in to collect evidence, and several suspects are currently being questioned.

The local police recovered the dead bodies from the crime scene and sent them for the post-mortem in Sadar Hospital, Ara.

The incident has triggered panic in the area, with residents expressing fear over the brazenness of the attack.

Bhojpur Police suspect that the act could be a well-planned conspiracy and executed with precision, raising suspicions of an old enmity or an organised gang’s involvement.

An FIR has been lodged under relevant sections of the BNS Act against unidentified persons, and a detailed investigation is underway.

This disturbing incident once again highlights the lingering atmosphere of fear and lawlessness in parts of Bihar, where politics and crime often intersect.

Mumbai: A diesel freight locomotive failure between Neral and Vangani early Friday morning caused significant disruption to Mumbai’s Central Railway (CR) services, delaying local and express trains during the peak rush hour.

At 8.13 am, a Sanath Nagar (Secunderabad)–JNPT freight train suffered a diesel locomotive failure and came to a halt at the Vangani Home signal on the Up line. The train blocked the main track, paralysing suburban and long-distance operations on the busy Neral–Vangani section.

Railway officials confirmed that the section was occupied and no train could move until the stranded freight rake was cleared.

The control office was alerted immediately, and on-site efforts to restart the diesel engine were made but proved unsuccessful. A decision was then taken to dispatch an assisting locomotive from the rear to move the failed train.

The relief loco arrived promptly, coupled to the stranded rake, and successfully cleared the section by 9.15 am — restoring normal train movement after one hour and two minutes of disruption.

The incident led to cascading delays across CR’s suburban network. The S-18 local service was among the first to be detained due to the blockage.

Two major long-distance trains — Train No. 11010 (Pune–CSMT) and Train No. 12124 (Pune–CSMT) — were diverted via Panvel to avoid further congestion and ensure minimal inconvenience to long-distance passengers.

Several subsequent suburban trains also faced delays as services were gradually normalised after clearance.

Freight movement in adjoining sections was briefly regulated until the failed locomotive was moved to the nearest station for inspection and repairs. Railway officials have initiated a technical assessment to determine the exact cause of the failure and prevent similar incidents.

Normalcy Restored After One Hour

By 9.15 am, train operations were fully restored on the Neral–Vangani stretch. Officials lauded the prompt coordination between the control room and the field team, which helped contain the disruption within a short span.

New Delhi, Oct 31: India’s fiscal deficit for the first six months of the current financial year (April-September) stood at Rs 5.73 lakh crore, which constitutes 36.5 per cent of the annual estimate in the budget, government data released on Friday showed.

The figures show that the fiscal deficit is well under control, which paves the way for stable growth of the economy.

Total receipts stood at Rs 17.30 lakh crore, while overall expenditure during April to September was at 23.03 lakh crore rupees. These comprised 49.5 per cent and 45.5 per cent, respectively, of the target set in the budget for 2025-26.

Revenue receipts stood at Rs 16.95 lakh crore, of which tax revenue comprised Rs 12.29 lakh crore and non-tax revenue worked out to Rs 4.66 lakh crore.

Non-tax revenue jumped as the Reserve Bank of India approved a dividend of Rs 2.69 lakh crore to the central government, up from Rs 2.11 lakh crore transferred last year. This will help the central government reduce its fiscal deficit further.

The total government expenditure during the April-Sept period went up to Rs 23 lakh crore compared with Rs 21.1 lakh crore during the same period of the previous year.

This reflects higher Government expenditure on big-ticket infrastructure projects in the highways, ports and railways sectors, which play a key role in spurring economic growth in the country amid increasing economic uncertainties triggered by geopolitical developments and the US tariff turmoil.

The central government has pegged its fiscal deficit target at 4.9 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in its latest budget for FY25, compared with 5.6 per cent in the last fiscal year, which was lower than the revised estimates of 5.8 per cent.

A declining fiscal deficit reflects the strengthening of the fundamentals of the economy and paves the way for growth with price stability. It leads to a reduction in borrowing by the government, thus leaving more funds in the banking sector for lending to corporates and consumers, which leads to higher economic growth.

With the strong emerging fiscal position in 2025-26, the government is likely to have some additional headroom to meet unforeseen expenditure on account of defence, according to a recent Bank of Baroda report.

The observation assumes importance in the backdrop of the tensions with Pakistan following the Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor.