TWO KILLED

TWO KILLED

24-JULY-ENG 13

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA-----------------------Two tragic incidents of lightning strikes in various police station areas of Bhojpur district on Wednesday have left the local community shaken. An elderly farmer and a migrant laborer lost their lives in these incidents, plunging their families into deep mourning.

The first incident occurred in the *Garha Badhar* area under the Dhangai police station limits. The deceased has been identified as 68-year-old Molan Chaudhary, a resident of Ward No. 10, Jagdishpur town. A farmer by profession, Chaudhary was working in his field on Wednesday afternoon, constructing a field embankment (*med*), when lightning struck him amidst sudden heavy rain and thunder, killing him instantly. Local villagers immediately informed his family and the police. Upon receiving the information, the police took possession of the body and arranged for a post-mortem examination at Sadar Hospital. Molan Chaudhary is survived by his wife, Bhagirathi Devi, five daughters, and a son.

The second incident took place in Kanaili village under the Shahpur police station area, claiming the life of a middle-aged man from West Champaran. The deceased, 47-year-old Pramod Ram—a resident of Jhakhra Gopalpur village under the Gopalpur police station in Bettiah district—had come to Shahpur for seasonal labor work, as he did every year. He was critically injured after being struck by lightning while working in a field on Wednesday evening. Although he was hurriedly rushed to the Shahpur Referral Hospital, doctors declared him dead on arrival. Pramod Ram is survived by his wife, Tara Devi, two sons, and a daughter. Following these two heart-wrenching incidents, the families of the deceased are inconsolable.