Two die in road accident

Raiganj, July 23: Two persons, including a one-and-a-half-year-old child, were killed and 13 were injured in a head-on collision between a truck and a trekker in Raiganj’s Barduari this evening.

The injured, six of them in critical condition, have been admitted to the district hospital here. The driver of the truck bound for Siliguri is missing. The trekker’s driver is among the injured.

Ganja haul

Siliguri: A businessman travelling from Guwahati to Patna on the Rajdhani Express was arrested at New Jalpaiguri station on Wednesday for carrying 20kg of ganja with him. The GRP personnel picked up Sunil Sha of Dimpur from an AC 2-tier coach.

‘Witch’ hunt

Jalpaiguri: A woman of Telipara Tea Estate in Banarhat was thrashed to death by her neighbour for failing to deliver his wife’s child on Tuesday night. Budhumania, 60, could not deliver the child of Prakash’s wife Lali, despite repeated attempts on Saturday and Sunday. Lali was taken to the Jalpaiguri district hospital in a critical condition and delivered a stillborn baby on Monday. The next day, Prakash tied Budhumania to a lamp post and thrashed her to death, alleging that she was a witch. Budhumania’s sons have lodged a police complaint. Prakash is missing.

Trampled

Alipurduar: Rabin Sangma (28) was trampled to death by an elephant on a river bank in the Damanpur range of Buxa Tiger Reserve (West) on Wednesday. Villagers blocked NH31C for 90 minutes, alleging that the forest department was not doing enough to prevent elephant attacks. The blockade was lifted after an assurance from police officers that the victim’s family would be compensated.