Bikaner

Three people, including a railway employee, were injured when the Kathgodam/Ranikhet bound Bikaner-Kathgodam Express train hit a JCB machine crossing the tracks between Napasar and Sita near here yesterday afternoon.

According to Railway and police sources, the JCB engaged in work for construction of a flyover was crossing the tracks, ignoring the fast approaching train.

One injured person was admitted to hospital in Ratangarh while two were brought to the PBM Hospital here, sources said.

The train, however, proceeded on its run to the destination, they added.

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A CBI court in Ahmedabad has convicted Ravjibhai Manubhai Pawar of the murder of his Indian employer and four other members of his family in Dubai in 1992 and sentenced him to death.

A press release from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that its investigations had shown that Pawar, while working as a domestic servant in Dubai, had kileld Mr Ramesh K Sagar and four others of Mr Sagar's family on January 4, 1992.

He was also accused of rape and of stealing household articles, including clothes, ornaments and cash.

Pawar feld from Dubai on January 5 and came to India. On the basis of an Interpol alert, he was nabbed on January 10 by the Gujarat police and a first information report (FIR)was registered.

Since the accused was an Indian national and the offence took place outside India, the case was entrusted to the CBI. The Dubai Police had also registered an FIR and collected evidence, which was used by the CBI during investigation and trial of the case, the release said.

The chargesheet was filed on January 23, 1992 in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate, Chikhli. The trial court found him guilty and convicted him.

The case was registered by the CBI, Ahmedabad (now Gandhinagar) Branch on April 27, 1992 on the basis of the request and consent of the Government of Gujarat for futher investigation of the case filed at the Chikhli Police Station, the release added.

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An Indian Air Force(IAF) MiG-21 fighter aircraft crashed near Naal Airport here today, killing the pilot.

Police and defence sources, quoting initial reports, said the combat plane took off from the airstrip for a routine sortie and crashed soon afterwards near the airport.

IAF and District Administration authorities soon rushed to the spot, the sources said.

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Border Security Force (BSF) personnel shot dead an intruder who tried to sneak into India from Pakistan in the Raisinghnagar sector on the India-Pakistan border in Rajasthan last night.

According to BSF sources, a man tried to scale the border fence near 4-FD border post in the region last night. The security personnel deployed there cautioned him to stop but opened fire when he ignored them and advanced further. Some Pakistan currency was also seized from him.

Later, BSF authorities held a flag meeting with the Pakistan Rangers to hand over the body but the Pakistan officials refused to accept it.

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Five people, including three women, were killed and 12 injured in a collision between a pick-up van and a private bus near Sridungargarh on the Jaipur-Bikaner Highway in Bikaner district today.

The ill-fated van was heading to Bikaner when it rammed into the bus coming from the opposite direction around 1130 hrs police said.

The injured were admitted to PBM Hospital in Bikaner where the condition of four people was stated to be serious, police added.

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The mercury again dropped to one degree below the freezing point at Mount Abu even as desert town of Churu at 2.4 degrees Celsius remained the coldest place in the plains in Rajasthan for the second successive day today.

According to Meteorology Office sources here, in Ganganagar and Bikaner, the mercury settled at 3 and 5.3 degrees this morning.

Udaipur-Dabok recorded 3.9 degrees, Jodhpur 5.6 degrees, Jaisalmer 6.4 degrees and the Pink city 7vdegrees, the sources said.

Cold conditions in parts of the state are likely to continue unabated for a day or two, they said.

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The desert town of Bikaner at minus 2.0 degrees Celsius turned out to be the coldest place with south-westerly winds in lower level restricting the impact of the cold wave in northern Rajasthan and some smaller pockets.

The northern town, where the mercury stayed at zero degrees last morning, recorded a further fall of two degrees today to turn colder than Mount Abu which recorded minus 1.0 degrees, Meteorology office sources said.

The weather conditions in the Pilani town of Jhunjhunu district also remained grim with the mercury touching the mark of 0.4 degrees, almost the same level of 0.5 degrees that it was at yesterday.

Jaisalmer also remained affected with icy winds as the famous tourist resort shivered at 1.2 degrees.

Elsewhere in the state, Churu recorded a minimum temperature of 2.5 degrees, followed by Ganganagar 3.7 degrees, Udaipur-Dabok 4.7 and Jaipur recorded five degrees.

Several stations including Ajmer, Jaipur, Udaipur, Churu and Kota recorded rise in night temperatures under the impact of the south-westerly winds, sources said, adding the change in wind pattern might ease further the cold wave conditions in a day or two.

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The cold wave continued to sweep Rajasthan today as the desert town of Bikaner recorded a minimum temperature of zero degree Celsius, followed by Pilani(0.5) and Jaisalmer(1.1).

In Mount Abu, though the minimum temperature recorded a marginal rise of one degree, the mercury settled at 2 degrees below the freezing point, weather office sources said.

In Jaipur, the mercury rose from 1.4 to 4 degrees but foggy conditions affected road and air traffic. Dense fog till late this morning brought visibility level to 50 metres, causing delay in morning flights at the Sanganer airport here. No flights could take off till around 0900 hrs and and half a dozen of them were delayed, airport sources said.

Besides Jaipur, foggy weather also prevailed in Bikaner, Ganganagar, Jaisalmer and Churu, affecting vehicular movement.

The cold wave conditions were likely to continue unabated for a day or two, the weather office said.

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Villagers warm themselves near a small bonfire in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, on Monday. UNI PHOTO

Rajasthan is reeling under severe cold wave conditions with Mount Abu at -4.0 degrees Celsius minimum temperature and the desert town of Bikaner at 1.2 degrees being the worst affected.

Icy winds sweeping the state for the several days continued unabated and most towns including the state capital of Jaipur recorded temperatures in the range of 1 to 3 degrees Celsius this morning, the Meteorology office said.

The mercury in Pilani town in Jhunjhunu district touched 1.5 degrees today whereas it stayed at 2.2 degrees and 2.4 degrees in nearby Churu and Ganganagar towns respectively. Sikar, another major city in this region, shivered at 2.5 degrees.

In Jaipur, the minimum temperature was recorded at 2.6 degrees. Likewise, Phalodi (3 degrees), Udaipur-Dabok(3.7 degrees) and Dholpur (4.5 degrees) were also in the grip of cold wave conditions.

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