Mallika Pal under treatment at the subdivisional hospital. Picture by Main Uddin Chisti

Cooch Behar, April 18: Lightning and hailstorm lashed Dinhata and Sadar subdivisions of Cooch Behar district last evening, killing one person and injuring six. The gusty wind also flattened over 4,000 huts in Okrabari.

Nirash Barman, 50, and his wife Bulu, 42, of Tiyadaha in Dinhata were struck by lightning. Nirash died on the spot while the woman was injured.

Mallika Pal, 35, a resident of adjoining Chhotophalimari, was also injured by the lightning. Rupbhan Bewa’s hut collapsed at Barophalimari in the storm injuring the 45-year-old woman.

All the three were admitted to the subdivisional hospital, police said.

Three other persons also received minor injuries.

District administration sources said 15 gram panchayat areas in the Dinhata subdivision had been badly affected by the storm and rain accompanied by hailstones. The boro and jute crops were also damaged.

Rajesh Kumar Sinha, the Cooch Behar district magistrate, said he has asked the block development officers (BDOs) to send him reports on the extent of damage.

The extent of damage to crops and property in Dinhata-I Block was estimated to be nearly Rs 1.25 crore, Rajat Kanti Biswas, the BDO, said.

The Congress panchayat pradhan of Okrabari, Nagen Mahanta, said over 4,000 huts had been flattened by the storm in his area. “We have asked the BDO for relief material for the homeless,” he added.