Rairangpur: 4 students drown in Kharakhai river

By Sipra Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, March 20: At least four school children, all students of Class X at Kerala Public School, on Sunday drowned in a river at Rairangpur in Mayurbhanj district, nearly 400 km from here.

According to police, after playing Holi, the victims along with a few other friends had gone the Kharakhai river to take bath. The boys were carried away in the strong current of the river as they unmindfully swam into the deep water.

“The bodies of the students have been fished out from the water. Their parents and school authorities have been informed about the mishap,” the police said.

Source: www.indusvalleytimes.com

DGM charred to death by agitated workers

By Mahendra Darjee & Debadas Pradhan www.indusvalleytimes.com Bolangir/Bhubaneswar, March 3: In a gruesome incident, agitated employees of a steel plant on Thursday burnt alive their deputy general manager at Orissa’s Titlagarh town, nearly 450 km from here. According to police, some suspended employees of Powmex steel plant who were demonstrating in front of the company’s local office stopped DGM Radheshyam Ray’s vehicle when he was on his way home during the lunch break. Then the mob asked the driver and other accompanying officials to get down, poured kerosene on the vehicle and set it on fire before fleeing the spot. On being informed by Ray’s driver, company’s security personnel immediately rushed to the spot and rescued Ray in critical conditions from the burning vehicle. The DGM was first taken to the local Titlagarh sub-divisional hospital which referred him to Indira Gandhi Hospital, Rourkela. As his condition worsened on the way, he was taken to Bolangir district headquarters hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. “Ray had received 90 per cent burn injury. Despite our serious efforts, we could not save his life. He breathed his last at 5.20pm,” Dr Usharani Das of the Bolangir district headquarters hospital, said. According to Bolangir district superintendent of police Ajay Sarangi, labor unrest was going on in the plant for the past few days after the company authorities suspended some employees a few days ago. “The suspended workers were staging demonstrations for the past few days. Their anger reached the peak when the company officials dismissed some of them on Wednesday. And today, the agitating employees committed the crime by burning alive the DGM,” Mr Sarangi said. The SP said two special squads had been formed to apprehend the accused. “The special squads have been constituted to nab the accused. We are confident that the culprits would be apprehended soon,” SP Mr Sarangi claimed. www.indusvalleytimes.com

Poverty drives mother to sell son

By Sikha Sashirekha

www.indusvalleytimes.com

Bhubaneswar, March 3: In a shocking incident, a woman on Wednesday reportedly sold her six-month-old son at Rs 7000 to fish vendor at Cuttack, nearly 30 km from here.

Padma Behera, a daily wage-earner of Chhatrabazar, sold her child to Gurubari Sahoo, a fish vender of Telisahi in Ranihat area for Rs 7,000.

“Since I am unable to bring up both the child, there was no other way than selling my child for his safe and secured future. I have deposited all the money in a bank,” said Padma.

The sell deed was executed in presence of some local people.

Padma has another son of five years old.

“As I am a divorcee and don’t have any child, I bought the child to bring him up,” said Gurubari sahoo.