Four Indians, including a woman, have died in a massive crash involving five vehicles in US’ Texas. The victims had connected through a carpooling app and were on their way to Bentonville in Arkansas on Friday when the tragedy struck. The crash led to a fire in the SUV they were in, and their bodies are charred. Authorities are relying on DNA testing to confirm the identities.

The victims have been identified as Aryan Raghunath Orampati, Farooq Shaik, Lokesh Palacharla, and Darshini Vasudevan. Orampati and his friend Shaik were returning after visiting his cousin in Dallas. Lokesh Palacharla was traveling to Bentonville to meet his wife. And Darshini Vasudevan, a Master’s degree graduate from the University of Texas, was going to visit her uncle in Bentonville. They connected through a carpooling app and this helped authorities identify them.

Orampati’s father Subhash Chandra Reddy owns a Hyderabad-based firm named Max Agri Genetics Private Limited. Aryan completed his engineering degree at Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham in Coimbatore. “His parents were in the US in May for his convocation at the University of Texas. After the convocation, they asked him to return to India, but he said he wanted to work in the US for two more years. Fate has struck like this,” said a relative.

Orampati’s friend Shaik, too, was from Hyderabad and lived in Bentonville. Darshini, from Tamil Nadu, was living in Frisco, Texas.

Farooq Shaik’s father Masthan Vali said he went to the US three years back. “He went to the US to complete his MS degree. He finished it recently.” Mr Vali is a retired private employee and the family lives in BHEL Hyderabad. “My daughter also lives in US and is handling the situation.”

According to reports, five vehicles were involved in the tragic crash. A speeding truck rear-ended the SUV the victims were in. The car burst into flames and all the occupants burnt to death. Authorities are now relying on DNA fingerprinting and teeth and bone remains to confirm the identities. “DNA fingerprinting will be done to identify the bodies, and the samples will be matched with the parents,” a local authority said.

A long weekend in the US has delayed the identification process, prolonging the suffering of the families crushed by the tragedy. Darshini Vasudevan’s parents have appealing to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for help.

The Assam Police on Wednesday unearthed a massive financial scam of Rs 22,000 crore involving brokers who made fraudulent online stock market investments by claiming to double people’s money, sources said.

The police have arrested two men, Vishal Phukan, a 22-year-old online trader from Dibrugarh and Swapnil Das from Guwahati, in the case. However, several more arrests are expected in the scam that allegedly spanned the state.

Police said Phukan, who lured people using his opulent lifestyle, promised his investors a 30% return on their investments in 60 days. He had set up four fake companies, invested in the Assamese film industry and acquired several properties.

The police conducted a raid at his house residence in Dibrugarh and seized documents linked to the mutli-crore scam. Police are now looking for Assamese choreographer Sumi Borah, who is also reportedly connected to Phukan’s network.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma urged people to avoid fraudulent online stock market investments, saying that claims of doubling money with minimal effort are usually fraudulent.

“I want to tell the people that there is no such system of investing money in the stock market through these online trading firms. Fraudsters are misleading the people. I urge the people to stay away from fraudsters. Police have now registered cases against the illegal brokers. We will try to bust the entire racket in the state,” he said, adding that the police have launched a crackdown on illegal online trading in the state.

The chief minister’s statement comes after reports claimed that several online trading firms were doing business in the state without following SEBI or RBI guidelines.
 

A man from Neemuch protested against alleged corruption in his gram panchayat by rolling on the ground and wearing a garland of papers. The district collector has set up a committee to investigate his complaints within three days. The protest video went viral, prompting political reactions.