Holi festivities turned into tragedy for a sleepy little village in Gaya district of Bihar as three people, including a woman, of the same family were killed when a mortar shell exploded in the area.

As per reports, three people died while three others sustained critical injuries when a mortar shell exploded well beyond the Army’s firing range on early Wednesday morning in a village of Bihar’s Gaya district.

According to the police, the mishap took place in Gularved village under the jurisdiction of Barachatti police station area when an Army mortal shell which landed well outside the firing range went off resulting in injuries to six villagers, including three women.

A senior police official said the injured were rushed to the Anugraha Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital in the town where three of the wounded, including a woman, succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment.

He said that three others—all women, including a minor girl—are receiving medical attention at the hospital, where their condition is stated to be critical.

The dead, all residents of Gularved village, include two men and a woman from the same family.

The deceased have been identified as Govind Manjhi (25) son-in-law of Gola Manjhi (resident of Dobhi), Suraj Kumar (18) Gularved and Kanchan Kumari (45), while the injured include Geeta Kumari (11), Rasho Devi (30), Pintu Manjhi (25).

The official said that a police team has been dispatched to the spot to investigate the incident, adding that police is investigating every possible angle as to how the mortar shell landed so far outside the firing range.

Local media reports quoting residents said the people are shocked how the shell landed in the village as the Gularved hamlet is nowhere near the firing range. Recently, a mortar shell had landed in the house in a nearby village, triggering panic.

A Karnataka Congress worker was caught on camera showering money on a female dancer at a wedding ceremony prompting a scathing attack by the BJP who termed the incident as shameful and demanded an apology from the Congress.

In the video which has gone viral on social media sites, Shivshankar Hampanna—a Congress worker from Hubli—is seen dancing along with the woman and hurling currency notes at her while she continues to dance. The video was reportedly taken during a Haldi ceremony of a wedding Dharwad district of Karnataka.

Watch the video here:

Responding to the viral video, Karnataka BJP General Secretary Mahesh Tenginkai termed the incident as “shameful” and said that the way the man was showering money at the dancing girl shows that the Congress don’t know value of hard-earned money. Condemning the act, he claimed that such instances portray the “culture of Congress” as has been witnessed many times.

The BJP leader urged the Congress to look into the incident and take necessary action.

BJP spokesperson Ravi Naik also criticized the Congress over the incident asking what kind of respect is being given to the girl dancing in the video… “it feels like this is a culture that only the Congress possesses. Because only Congress culture can explain throwing money at girls at a wedding.”

Naik said that it was “morally wrong” for a leader of a political party to behave in such a manner with elections near, adding that the Congress worker should immediately apologize to the woman as the incident was disrespectful to all women.

Assembly elections are due in Karnataka this year and the Congress launched a door-to-door campaign in the state last month.

As a part of the campaign, Congress handed over ‘promise cards’ signed by D. K. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah to the people, promising 200 units of free electricity and Rs 2,000 a month to female heads of families once they are elected to power.

Additionally, the Congress also distributed a charge sheet against the Bommai government.

The campaign will be run for over a month to cover all houses in the state.

India on Tuesday slammed Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s remarks on Jammu and Kashmir, terming the comments as “unworthy” to even respond to such “malicious and false propaganda”.

In her reply to Zardari’s comments on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, India’s Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj slammed the Pakistan foreign minister’s statement as “frivolous, baseless and politically motivated”, saying that the Indian delegation considers it “unworthy to even respond to such malicious and false propaganda.”

Kamboj was speaking at the UN Security Council open debate on ‘Women, Peace and Security.’

The diplomat said that she would rather focus on the topic at hand as it was critically important to strengthen our collective efforts to accelerate the full implementation of the Women, Peace and Security agenda…” we respect the topic of the debate and recognise the importance of time. As such, our focus shall remain on the topic.”

Earlier, Pakistan Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari referred to Jammu and Kashmir in his remarks to the Council debate held under Mozambique’s Presidency for this month, on the eve of International Women’s Day.

India-Pakistan ties have been at an all-time low since 2019 when the Centre abolished Article 370 which formerly bestowed special status upon the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Islamabad is seeking its restoration and considers the Kashmir issue, a burning point between the two nations.

Making matters worse, in December last year, Bilawal Bhutto sparked a row when he called PM Modi the “butcher of Gujarat”.

Earlier, before the revoking of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status, the Indian Air Force on February 26, 2019 launched targeted airstrikes inside Pakistan targeting terrorist training camps of terror outfit of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) in Balakot region of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.

India’s response came after 41 CRPF men were killed in a suicide bombing in Kashmir’s Pulwama on February 14, 2019.