The death toll in the collapse of a three-storey house in Zakir Nagar here has risen to 10 while the rescue work at the site is still underway, the district administration said on Sunday.

The administration stated that one person is feared to be still trapped under the debris.

Those who have been identified as deceased include: Sajid (40), Saniya (15), Saqib (11), Simra (one-and-half years), Reeza (7), Naffo (63), Farhana (20), Alisa (18), Aliya (6), and Rimsa (5 months). The administration stated that Sofiyan (6) is in stable condition.

Among the injured, Naeem (22), Nadeem (26), Saqib (20), and Saina (38) are receiving treatment at the Lala Lajpat Rai Memorial Medical College.

The collapse of a three-storey house on Saturday afternoon trapped 15 people under the debris.

Meerut District Magistrate Deepak Meena told reporters, “When the rescue operation started, the relatives gave information about 15 persons. Three managed to escape when the building was collapsing.”

Meena added, “The death toll currently stands at 10, while five persons are alive. The rescue operations will continue until all the debris is removed.” He mentioned, “The bodies have been kept at the medical college for a post-mortem examination.”

Senior officials, including Meerut Zone Additional Director General of Police D K Thakur, Divisional Commissioner Selva Kumari J, Inspector General of Police Nachiketa Jha, and Senior Superintendent of Police Vipin Tada, arrived at the scene to monitor the rescue operation.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), fire brigade, and police teams are all involved in the rescue operation.

The Congress Saturday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his statehood to Union Territory only by saffron party possible remarks saying the region has become a bureaucratic fiefdom controlled by the BJP-RSS cabal.

The Grand old party asked when will full statehood return to Jammu and Kashmir.

Earlier today, Prime Minister Modi addressed an election rally in the Doda district of Jammu region in support of BJP candidates and said only his government will grant statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh noted that since the fall of the PDP-BJP government in 2018, Jammu and Kashmir has been administered by Modi government.

In a series of questions to the Prime Minister,  Ramesh asked, “Why has Modi’s government failed to salvage the security situation in J&K and what is his vision to restore normalcy.”

 “Why is the central government consistently lying to the country about the security situation in J&K?” Ramesh said in a post on X.

The Congress leader further asked why has there been a sharp increase in narcotics smuggling under the Union government’s administration.

Ramesh said one fundamental reason for the upsurge in terrorist activity, particularly in Jammu, is the sharp rise in naroctics smuggling over the last few years with the International Border in Jammu rather than the LoC in Kashmir, being the primary area of operation for the smugglers.

He alleged that since 2018, the people of J&K have been denied any avenue to express their grievances.

“The region has become a bureaucratic fiefdom controlled by the BJP-RSS cabal. While claiming to have ended special status for J&K, the government has in fact created an extra-special situation of a new and unique political system: one where the state has been downgraded to a UT, elections have been suspended, and all norms of constitutional morality violated,” he alleged.

In his speech in Parliament on December 11, 2023, Home Minister Amit Shah stated that full statehood to J&K would be restored at an “appropriate time”, Ramesh pointed out.

“Five years after being stripped of their statehood, the people of J&K still lack clarity on what the timeline for this return of statehood is. Based on the experience of the last five years, where the Assembly elections were delayed on one pretext or the other, the people of J&K don’t buy the center’s assurance of restoration of statehood,” he said.

Can the Prime Minister give a straight answer to this key question as to when will full statehood return to Jammu and Kashmir, the Congress leader asked.

He further asked who will take moral responsibility for the loss of two Indian Army personnel to terrorist attacks in Kishtwar on Friday.

“One of the most repeated talking points of the non-biological PM is that the Government’s abrogation of Article 370 has curbed terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir. The mood on the ground in J&K, however, is one of anxiety. At least fifty-three security personnel have been killed to the south of Pir Panjal since 2021, in an area where there were no major incidents of terrorism between 2007 and 2014,” he said.

“In the last few months, it has spread even to neighboring districts that we considered largely peaceful: as evinced by the attack in Reasi on the 9th of June, the attack in Kathua on the 10th of June, in Doda on the 11th of June, in Udhampur on the 19th of August, and in Kishtwar on 13th of September. Infiltration from Pakistan is rising along the International Border, and a palpable sense of insecurity prevails across J&K,” Ramesh said.

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday visited Hanuman Mandir in Delhi’s Connaught Place at noon today to offer thanks and seek blessings, a day after being released from Tihar Jail in Delhi excise policy case.

“In this struggle against injustice, Lord Hanuman’s blessings have always been with us,” Kejriwal said.

In a post on X, Kejriwal said, “Today, along with my wife Sunita Kejriwal and other colleagues, I reached the ancient Hanuman temple in Connaught Place and worshipped Lord Hanuman and received his blessings.” He added, “I prayed to God for everyone’s happiness and prosperity. May God keep this courage in all of us in this fight to save the country.”

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Kejriwal’s visit to the temple comes after the Supreme Court granted him bail on Friday in the Delhi excise policy case.

The Apex Court granted bail with few terms and conditions such as barring him from entering the Chief Minister’s office and signing files.

The Aam Aadmi Party leader visited the temple along with his wife Sunita, former deputy Manish Sisodia and AAP leaders Sanjay Singh and Saurabh Bharadwaj. Kejriwal also visited Rajghat and paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial.

“Today, Arvind Kejriwal and his wife met the country’s senior-most lawyer Abhishek Singhvi at his residence, who is providing legal assistance to Chief Minister Kejriwal in fighting all the conspiracies of the dictator,” APP said.

Sharing a picture with AAP leaders including Chief Minister Kejriwal on X, Singhvi said: “Good to see CM Kejriwal thinner due to weight loss but with none of his fire diminished. And the larger AAP family. Very sweet of them to come collectively.”

Yesterday, the bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan delivered its verdict on two petitions filed by Kejriwal challenging his arrest and seeking bail in the case registered by the CBI under the Prevention of Corruption Act. It allowed the bail petition of Kejriwal on the grounds that the charge sheet had been filed in the case and that the trial was unlikely to be completed in the near future.