Kolkata, Sep 23: Torrential overnight rain left Kolkata paralysed on Tuesday, killing at least seven people due to electrocution and bringing life in the metropolis to a grinding halt as large swathes were submerged, transport services crippled, and traffic movement thrown out of gear.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee described the downpour as “unprecedented”, lashing out at poor dredging of the Farakka barrage and lapses by private power utility CESC, while appealing to people to stay indoors for their own safety. “I have never seen rain like this. I feel so bad for the people who have lost their lives in the cloudburst. I heard 7–8 people have died due to electrocution by open or unattended wires. It is so unfortunate… Their families must all be given jobs by the CESC. I am saying this clearly. We will also do whatever is possible to help,” Banerjee told a Bengali news channel.

Heavy overnight rains brought Kolkata to its knees on Tuesday as the city was preparing for its biggest festival, Durga Puja, which will begin later this week.

Squarely blaming the utility, she said, “Electricity is supplied by CESC, not us. It is their duty to ensure people do not suffer because of this. They will do business here, but not modernise here? They should send people to the field and fix this.”

“Even our houses are submerged; we are all suffering. I am feeling so bad for the Pujo pandals as well. Schools have been asked to declare holidays and office-goers advised to stay home today and tomorrow,” the chief minister said, adding she was in constant touch with the Mayor, Chief Secretary and police. Those who lost their lives were identified as Firoz Ali Khan (50) of Beniapukur, Pranatosh Kundu (62) of Netaji Nagar, and Mumtaz Bibi (70) of Ekbalpur, besides an unidentified person in Gariahat.

Kolkata Mayor and state Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said, “So far, we have received information of four deaths due to electrocution in different places in the city, but later official tallies placed the figure at seven. Hakim said that most parts of the city were waterlogged and teams of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) were working round the clock to drain out water. He said KMC officers are working hard. But the canals and rivers are full of water and every time water is drained out, more is getting inside the city.

“We fear that the high tide which is around 1.30 PM today, may not help in our efforts to drain out the excessive water. It would be around 10 PM when the situation could be expected to improve,” Hakim said. Across the city, vehicles lay stranded on arterial roads, commuters waded through waist-deep water at several intersections, and Metro services were suspended on a long stretch of the Blue Line.

Traffic movement was severely affected at key intersections such as Park Circus, Gariahat, Behala and College Street, while long snarls were reported on EM Bypass, AJC Bose Road and Central Avenue. Several smaller lanes in south and central Kolkata were completely cut off.

Commuters complained of buses breaking down mid-way, while taxis and app cabs either stayed off the roads or charged exorbitant fares. Many schools declared a holiday as students and staff could not make their way through flooded streets. Calcutta University and Jadavpur University also suspended all academic activities for the day.

Office-goers faced severe hardships due to lack of public transport and traffic snarls. Train and Metro Railway services were badly hit. Significant waterlogging was reported in the mid-section of the Blue Line (Dakshineswar–Shahid Khudiram), particularly between Mahanayak Uttam Kumar and Rabindra Sarobar stations, prompting suspension of services on this stretch.

The intensity of the downpour was higher in the southern and eastern parts of Kolkata, the KMC said. Garia Kamdahari recorded 332 mm of rainfall in just a few hours, followed by Jodhpur Park (285 mm), Kalighat (280 mm), Topsia (275 mm) and Ballygunge (264 mm). Thantania in north Kolkata received 195 mm. The weather office warned of heavy rainfall continuing in Purba and Paschim Medinipur, South 24 Parganas, Jhargram and Bankura districts till Wednesday. It added that another fresh low-pressure area is likely to form over the east-central and adjoining north Bay of Bengal around September 25.

New Delhi, Sep 23: Stating that India must move from “Make in India” to “Think in India,” Chief of the Army Staff General Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday said that ‘Operation Sindoor’ demonstrated the positive impact of self-reliant technology, and the need of the hour is to remain ahead of evolving threats.

Addressing the inaugural session of the Tri Services Academia Technology Symposium (T-SATS) at the Manekshaw Centre, the Army Chief, according to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said, “We have to encourage domestic ideation, innovation, and system development by industry, think tanks, and academia.”

He compared technological adaptation in warfare to a game of chess, saying that failing to think ahead would lead to setbacks.

He said, “While indigenous scalability has been shown, further investment in niche technology and enterprise-scale implementation is required.”

He said India’s proposed air defence system, Sudarshan Chakra, would integrate multiple protective layers, starting with counter-drone systems and extending to counter-UAV and counter-hypersonic systems. “Some elements cannot not be discussed publicly for security reasons but I assure you that it’s one of the best systems in the world,” he added.

The Army Chief said the system would combine sensors, missiles, surveillance apparatus, and artificial intelligence tools to provide both defence and offensive capabilities.

According to him, the concept was in the ideation phase but would be comprehensive in scope. He cautioned that adversaries were also improving their capabilities, pointing to the drones encountered during Operation Sindoor, which had shown advanced features including the use of artificial intelligence and visual navigation even after GPS jamming.

He said India’s counter-drone and GPS-jamming systems had performed effectively during the operation, minimising damage. However, he added that similar results could not be assumed in the future because adversaries would adapt once they understood India’s current capabilities.

He cited examples from the Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict and the Russia-Ukraine war, where relatively inexpensive drones had caused significant damage to costly military assets. He said this reflected the cycle of innovation and adaptation in warfare, where the side adapting faster gained an advantage.

He said self-reliance provided not only independence but also the ability to surprise an adversary. Such surprises, he added, could only be used once before the other side learned, requiring continuous innovation.

He said the economic dimension of war also needed to be considered. Drones were now both military and commercial assets, and their wider use would affect security as well as the economy.

General Dwivedi said Mission Sudarshan Chakra would aim to integrate multiple defence layers and advanced systems, keeping India ahead of adversaries while remaining economically viable.

A new portal was launched ahead of the symposium to connect researchers and academic institutes across the country, and the response had been substantial.

Sitapur/Lucknow, Sep 23: Samajwadi Party founder member Azam Khan was released on bail from Sitapur jail on Tuesday after nearly two years, with party chief Akhilesh Yadav saying the veteran leader has “finally got justice”.

Shortly after coming out of jail, Khan, a former Uttar Pradesh Cabinet minister, thanked those “who prayed for him”, while the SP chief vowed to withdraw all “false cases” against the senior leader if his party returned to power in Uttar Pradesh.

“I thank all those who prayed for me,” Khan told reporters in Bareilly while en route to Rampur, his hometown.

Asked if he believes that justice had been delivered, Khan said, “I can’t say that”.

The 77-year-old former MP also dismissed speculations about his joining the Bahujan Samaj Party.

“Ask those who are making such claims,” he said when asked about reports of him switching sides.

Welcoming the court’s order, the SP president said Khan is not only a founder member of the SP, but has also played a key role in the country’s socialist movement.

“Today is a moment of great joy… he has finally got justice,” Yadav told reporters in Lucknow.

The former chief minister alleged that “hundreds of fabricated cases” had been filed against Khan and asserted that once the SP comes to power in Uttar Pradesh, “all false cases against Azam Khan and others will be withdrawn.”

“Even journalists who have been targeted with fabricated cases will get relief,” he added.

Without naming anyone, Yadav alleged that the BJP government withdrew cases against its own leaders after coming to power.

“Just like they withdrew their own cases, we will do the same for those who were falsely implicated,” he said, thanking the courts for granting Khan bail.

Meanwhile, SP national general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav rebuffed reports about Khan joining the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), terming them as “rumours”.

“There is no question of Azam Khan sahab joining any other party. He has been and will always remain with the Samajwadi Party. The SP and its leadership have always stood by Khan sahab and will continue to do so,” Shivpal told PTI from Jhansi, adding that he would meet Khan soon.

However, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said even if Khan switched to the BSP, it wouldn’t have any impact on the prospects of the BJP in the 2027 assembly polls.

“Whether Khan stays in the SP or joins the BSP, the defeat of both parties is certain in 2027,” he said on X.

Reacting to Khan getting bail from the court, BJP’s Rampur MLA Akash Saxena, who has filed several cases against the SP leader, said his fight against injustice will continue.

“We have always accorded the highest respect to the judiciary. Whether Azam Khan sahab remains in the SP or sides with the BSP, our fight against injustice would continue unabated,” he told PTI.

Khan’s family has been among the most influential in west Uttar Pradesh’s Rampur district for more than three decades.

Faced with multiple cases over the years, Khan’s release came days after the Allahabad High Court recently granted him bail in the Quality Bar land encroachment case in Rampur district last week.

Justice Samir Jain had reserved the order on August 21 after hearing the counsels.

The case pertained to the alleged illegal occupation of the bar premises, with Khan’s name added during reinvestigation nearly five years after the FIR was lodged.

His counsel argued that there had been undue delay in lodging the case, as the alleged incident dated back to 2013.

Dressed in his trademark white kurta-pyjama and black waistcoat paired with tinted sunglasses, the once influential Khan left the jail premises in a private vehicle on Tuesday afternoon after 23 months behind bars. He did not speak to reporters outside the jail where a large crowd of party workers and supporters had gathered since morning to receive him.

Khan’s sons — Adeeb and Abdullah — were also present, along with several senior leaders, including national secretary and former MLA Anup Gupta, Moradabad MP Ruchi Vira and district president Chatrapati Yadav.

“Azam Khan is the hero of the day. I am here with all his supporters to welcome him. Whatever has to be said, my father will say after coming out of jail,” Adeeb told reporters earlier in the day.

Vira said the party would celebrate “the victory of justice”.

“We had faith in the judiciary and will continue to have it. No other politician has been harassed as much as he has been,” she said.

The district administration had imposed prohibitory orders under Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) to prevent any untoward incident. Despite the restrictions, supporters managed to reach near the jail in large numbers, leading to traffic congestion. Several vehicles were challaned for violating restrictions.

“There was chaos and rush despite Section 163 being in force. Vehicles were not allowed to come close to the jail, but they somehow managed to reach there. Action had to be taken to avoid further complications,” City Circle Officer Vinayak Bhosle said.