Fire deaths

Patna: Five members of a family were charred to death at Jiya Gachhi village in Purnea district around 11pm on Thursday after a fire broke out in the kitchen of Mohhamed Nazir Hussain's house. Bayasi police station house officer Ram Chitra Prasad said Hussain's daughter-in-law and her four minor children died in the fire.

Leakage of gas from an LPG cylinder is suspected to have caused the fire, which led to the death of the woman and her four children aged between five and 13 years. The SHO said two fire tenders were pressed into service to douse the flames. Purnea superintendent of police Ajit Kumar Satyarthi said a probe had been ordered to ascertain the cause of the incident. A section of people suspected foul play behind the death of the middle-aged woman and her children.

Clash

Patna: Two persons suffered injuries in a clash at Vyapur village under the jurisdiction of Maner police station on Friday.

Bullet injury

Munger: The 40-year-old mukhiya (village body head) of Awgil Rampur panchayat in Lakhisarai district was shot at by a group of armed criminals on Thursday evening. He is undergoing treatment at Patna Medical College and Hospital and is out of danger. The Medni Chowki police station house officer, Baleshwar Roy, told The Telegraph: "Three criminals were passing by Awgil village on a scooter and a verbal duel ensued between them and some children. After a while, they left the spot only to return to the village with more people and started firing indiscriminately. One of the bullets hit the mukhiya's hand. Now, he is out of danger and has been referred to PMCH for treatment. Criminals fired at least 15 rounds to terrorise the villagers." A case has been lodged at the Medni Chowki police station. Investigations are on.

Flu test

Patna: The Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences did not conduct the confirmatory test for swine flu on Friday because of holiday on account of Holi. Till Thursday, the number of positive cases here stood at 78.

Arms seizure

Munger: Police recovered two country-made pistols and two live cartridges from a house at Begumpur village under Haveli Kharagpur police station on Thursday night. Bhuman Singh, the house owner, fled.