In Brief: 70-yr-old woman burnt alive

A tragic fire claimed the life of a 70-year-old woman in Kutara village, Rohru subdivision, Shimla district, on Monday evening. The deceased, Dosari Devi, wife of Diwan Chandigarh, was unable to escape the blaze that engulfed a two-storey house around 8:30 pm. The fire started in the home of Shyam Lal and quickly spread throughout the structure. While other family members managed to escape, Dosari Devi could not. Despite rescue attempts by her family and neighbors, the intensity of the fire made it impossible to save her. Firefighters arrived promptly and, with the help of locals, managed to control the blaze after several hours. However, the damage had already been done. Rohru SDM Vijay Wardhan confirmed the incident and stated that the cause of the fire is under investigation. The district administration has provided an initial relief of Rs 10,000 to the bereaved family. This incident has left the local community in shock as investigations continue to determine the cause of the fire.

35-yr-old held for trafficking opium

Nahan: The Sirmaur police's Special Investigation Unit (SIU) has successfully intercepted a major drug smuggling attempt. Acting on a tip-off, the police arrested a man accused of trafficking opium. A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (ND&PS) Act has been registered at the Rajgarh police station against the suspect. According to police sources, the team was patrolling near Neri Bridge in the region when they received information regarding the smuggling of opium. Acting swiftly, the team set up a checkpoint on the Sanaura-Rajgarh road near Dhanech. A car heading toward Rajgarh was stopped for inspection. During the search, the police recovered 1.035-kg opium from the vehicle. The driver, identified as Khairi village (Solan) resident Sudhir (35), was the only occupant of the car during the inspection.