In a horrific incident, six people died in a car accident in Uttarakhand’s Dehradun earlier this week while returning from a party. The incident occurred around 1.30 am at the ONGC Chowk on November 12 when the car they were in collided with a truck, reducing their vehicle to a mangled wreck.

A video of the incident is doing rounds across social media platforms which shows the impact of the collision was so strong that it tore off the Toyota Innova’s roof and twisted it. Two passengers were left decapitated in the incident. The disturbing video also showed one of the victim’s head ripped off, while another person’s body can be seen twisted inside the crushed car. Multiple other body parts of the victims are also seen scattered around the road.

Reports stated that a group of seven friends were returning from a party that night and were drunk. The police identified the victims as Kumal Kukreja (23), Atul Agrawal (24), Rishabh Jain (24), Navya Goel (23), Kamakshi (20), and Guneet (19). The officials added that the seventh person, Siddhesh Agrawal (25), who had reportedly hosted the party in Dehradun, is the sole survivor but remains in a critical condition.

The officials said that while six victims hailed from Dehradun, Kukreja is from Himachal Pradesh. The police asserted that it was not immediately clear where the group was coming from and an investigation is underway.

Reacting to the incident, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has expressed grief at the loss of lives in the incident. He said that the news of the death of six youths in a road accident in Dehradun is extremely heart-rending. He prayed that God might grant the departed souls a place at his sacred feet and give strength to the bereaved families to bear the immense pain.

To prevent further deterioration of air quality in the national capital region, the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) on Thursday decided to invoke Stage III of the GRAP in Delhi NCR with effect from 8:OO am on November 15 in addition to all actions under Stage I and II.

According to the statement released by CAQM, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (GNCTD) will not permit BS-III and below diesel-operated LCVs (goods carriers) registered outside Delhi, to enter Delhi, except those carrying essential commodities providing essential services.

The construction work, except the projects needed for national security, healthcare, and certain public infrastructure work, will be banned.

The GRAP III measures to mitigate the effects of air pollution in Delhi NCR include intensifying the frequency of mechanised sweeping of roads, daily water sprinkling along with dust suppressants, before peak traffic hours, on roads and right of ways including hotspots, heavy traffic corridors and proper disposal of the collected dust in designated sites/ landfills.

All demolition works, earthwork for excavation and filling including boring and drilling works, and any transportation of demolition waste are banned with the implementation of GRAP III measures to fight air pollution.

With the implementation of Stage 3, the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi may decide on discontinuing physical classes in schools for children up to Class V and conducting classes in an online mode following the implementation of the  GRAP III.

Earlier in the day, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said the third phase of the Graded Response Action (GRAP 3) will not be imposed for now. He said that for the first time, the Air Quality Index has gone above 400 in Delhi.

Pointing out the reason behind severe category air quality after poor and very poor AQI since October 14, the Environment Minister said that meteorologists have reported that due to snowfall in the mountains, a drop in the temperature of Delhi has been recorded. Owing to this, dry conditions have been created in the morning and evening in the entirety of North India, he said. 

Retorting sharply on Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he accused the grand old party of spreading lies, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said Modi’s ideologues praise and worship Godse, the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi.

Addressing a rally in Maharashtra’s Igatpuri, Kharge said Modi accuses the Congress of lying, which has sacrificed for the independence of the country and led the country on the path of development.

He said PM Modi who used to talk about a Congress-free India, about crossing 400 marks in Lok Sabha elections, now even to stand his government he needed two legs – Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister and TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu, and Bihar Chief Minister and J(D)U head Nitish Kumar.

“Hey… Modiji, your people praise and worship Godse, the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi, and you say bad things about Congress?” Kharge said.

He accused BJP of recovering the money from the public it spent to form the Mahayuti government in Maharashtra. “This government could not do anything for the poor for whom it had promised to work. All BJP leaders including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah lie. Therefore, the people of Maharashtra have decided that this time they will form the Maha Vikas Aghadi government here.”

On BJP’s accusition of the guarantees of the Congress government a lie, Kharge said his party is fulfilling its promises everywhere.

Underlining the numbers of promises made by PM Modi including black money, 15 lakh rupees in everyone’s account, 2 crore jobs every year and farmers’ double income, the Congress chief said nothing was done, which means all the promises of Modi were nothing but a lie.

Addressing a press conference in Pune, Kharge said: “What are they going to give to Pune, what will they give to the farmers of the state, the discussion should be on that. The discussion in the elections should be on work. But the BJP government has no focus on controlling inflation, providing employment and investment.”

Kharge alleged that the investment coming to Maharashtra is being shifted to other states, which is not right. “On this, I believe that the projects that should go to Maharashtra should be given here and the projects that are meant for Gujarat should go to them.”