lightning
At least five people were killed and five others injured in separate lightning strikes on Saturday as heavy rains lashed large parts of the district.

Police said a dozen villagers of Shinghpur Pasi Tola locality of ward No 6 in Haveli Kharagpur had taken shelter in a thatched house to protect themselves from heavy rain when lightning struck. Two of them died on the spot, while the third one succumbed to his injuries in the nearby primary health centre.

The deceased have been identified as Mohan Chaudhary, Arvind Chaudhary, and Gaibi Chaudhary. Those injured are Shankar Chaudhry, Kundan Chaudhry, Raja Kumar, Bahadur Chaudhry and Sukhta Pandit, who were later referred to sadar hospital as their conditions were stated to be serious, said police.

In another incident, Priti Kumari, daughter of Naresh Yadav, resident of Durmatta village under Sangrampur block died due to lightning. One Ravi Kumar, son of Arvind Kumar and a resident of Khaira village under Tarapur police station was also hit by lightning and killed.

In Haveli Kharagpur, villagers placed the bodies of the people killed in the lightning on road near Ambedkar Chowk and staged a dharna demanding compensation for the kin of the deceased on Sunday.

The agitation was called off when local officials reached there and persuaded the villagers to allow the police to take the bodies for post mortem after assurance of paying adequate compensation.