Overview
- Goa officials said preliminary findings point to indoor electronic firecrackers as the cause of the Birch by Romeo Lane blaze that killed 25 and injured at least six.
- Police arrested four managers and registered FIRs against the owners, while the chief minister ordered suspensions of permitting officials and set up a committee to report within a week.
- Compensation was announced with Rs 5 lakh from Goa for each deceased's next of kin and Rs 50,000 for the injured, alongside a national grant of Rs 2 lakh for families of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
- In Rohtak, police registered an FIR over national player Hardik Rathi's death under IPC sections including 304A, citing RTI-backed claims that sanctioned court-repair funds went unused.
- In Maharashtra, six family members died when an Innova plunged about 800 feet near Bhavri waterfall, complicating recovery, while in Punjab a 70-year-old NRI was arrested in a land-dispute shooting with murder and Arms Act charges.