At least four people drowned while bathing in Uttar Pradesh’s Gomti River post Holi festivities, police said on Thursday.

A report quoting District Magistrate, Sultanpur Jasjit Kaur, said that four people died of drowning near Sitakund Ghat of Gomti river while bathing after Holi celebrations. The senior official said that the deceased—aged between 18-32 years—drowned while trying to save each other.

She said that the bodies of the three deceased were recovered on Wednesday while body of the fourth deceased was recovered on Thursday afternoon, adding that the bodies have been sent for post-mortem and the families of the deceased have been informed.

Kaur said that after getting information about the incident she and other district officials along with the local police reached the spot and took stock of the rescue operation. However, it was too late as the four men had already died due to drowning, she said.

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Kaur further said that Sultanpur district administration is making arrangements for their cremation while also announcing a compensation of Rs 4 lakh will to the kin of each deceased.

In related news a young man was stabbed to death in Baraut area of Uttar Pradesh following an altercation while consuming alcohol on Holi, police said on Thursday.

According to Circle Officer Baraut Saviratna Gautam, the deceased, identified as 22-year-old Vicky got involved in an argument when he and some others were having drinks on Wednesday. The officer said that the scuffle soon turned violent and Vicky was stabbed during the incident.

The victim was a resident of Hilwadi village in Baraut area.

Police received information about the incident, reached the spot and took the body into custody, the officer said, adding that the body has been sent for post-mortem.

A case has been registered and a search has been launched to nab the accused.

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Days after unaccounted cash was seized from his office, Karnataka BJP MLA Madal Virupakshappa’s son Prashanth Madal was, Friday, named in two new FIRs registered by the Lokayukta police in the bribery case.

Prashanth Madal was arrested by the Lokayukta police from the Karnataka Soaps and Detergents Limited (KSDL) office on March 2 after he was allegedly caught taking a bribe of Rs 40 lakh from a contractor. Prasanth Madal is the chief accounts officer of the Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board.

An official said that Prashanth Madal was caught red-handed by Lokayukta officials while accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh at his office. He said that Lokayukta officials received a complaint against Prashanth accusing him of taking bribes.

Accordingly, the Lokayukta officials laid a trap and caught Prashanth red-handed when he was accepting a bribe of Rs 40 lakh.

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His arrest led to further searches in which Rs 8.23 crore in unaccounted currency were recovered from the BJP MLA’s home and the KSDL office, following which Virupakshappa stepped down as KSDL chairman.

The tainted BJP leader is accused of collecting bribes through his son from contractors supplying raw materials for KSDL.

The police in the fresh FIRs, registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act, have named Prashanth as the prime accused, while his MLA father—who after the seizure told reporters that a simple arecanut farmer in his district has Rs 5-6 crore at home—has been named as the second accused in the bribery case.

Virupakshappa, had received anticipatory bail in the corruption case on Tuesday.

In a statement, BJP MLA CT Ravi said that the BJP has “zero tolerance” for corruption and it was only because of the saffron party that the Lokayukta raids happened in the first place while the Siddaramaiah government gave clean chit to everyone. He assured that the BJP will also take required action against Virupakshappa.

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Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur, Friday, slammed the New York Times for its “mischievous and fictitious” opinion piece on the freedom of press in Kashmir, accusing the US-based daily of “spreading lies” about India.

Taking to Twitter, the BJP Minister launched a scathing attack against the NYT, claiming that the newspaper had long ago dropped all pretensions of neutrality while publishing anything about India. He claimed that NYT’s opinion piece on Kashmir press freedom is “mischievous and fictitious”, alleging that it was published with the sole motive of spreading an anti-India propaganda and undermining the country’s democratic institutions and values.

Thakur’s fiery response came after an NYT opinion piece claimed there were alleged curbs on the freedom of press and information flow in Kashmir valley.

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Thakur claimed that this was a continuation of the policy adopted by the NYT and other like-minded foreign media outlets of spreading lies about India and defaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, adding “such lies can’t last long.”

Thakur further accused “some foreign media” outlets of nourishing a grudge against India and PM Modi, alleging that these institutions have “systematically” trying to peddle lies about the Indian democracy and the country’s pluralistic society.

Anurag Thakur stressed that press freedom is a fundamental right in India and thus sacrosanct while also slamming the “agenda driven media” for attempts to preach “grammar of democracy.”

Condemning the “blatant lies” about the freedom of press in Kashmir in the NYT opinion piece, the Minister said that Indians won’t allow such mindsets to run their decisive agenda on the country’s soil.

A New York Times opinion piece by a guest author alleged that freedom of press in the valley has gradually deteriorated under the PM Modi-led BJP regime, especially since the abrogation of Article 370 which accorded formerly special status to the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir.

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