10 Major Incidents That Rocked the State, Made Headlines in '24

From the recent massive fire crash on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway claiming at least 18 lives to the sudden busting of an interstate illegal organ transplantation racket involving at least a prominent government medical college and also three other premium private hospitals, Rajasthan has hit the national headlines several times in 2024 that rattled the entire desert state.

- HT Correspondent

JAIPUR:

After a major change in power after the state assembly election in December 2023, it was also the biggest challenge for the new BJP-led government to ensure a better law and order situation and curb the crime rates against women that were the key allegations levelled to corner the previous Congress government during elections.

However, a recent data fetched from the Rajasthan police showed that at least 20,3198 major crime cases, including 4,656 rapes and 1,507 murders, were registered in the state till November this year. A report for the December year-end is awaiting.

A look at the 10 major crimes that shook the state this year:

Illegal organ transplantation racket
On March 18, the Jaipur's SMS Hospital's assistant administrative officer Gaurav Singh was caught red-handed by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) while taking a ₹70,000 bribe from Eternal Heart Care Centre transplant co-ordinator Anil Joshi for issuing fake NOCs. Later, the ACB also arrested one more co-ordinator of Fortis Hospital Vinod Singh and Girraj Sharma whose names cropped in during the investigation.

During the investigation the police has found that a total of 184 organ transplantation cases took place in three private hospitals, Fortis, EHCC, and Manipal Hospital, based on fake NOCs last year, of which 52% cases involve Bangladeshi donors and receivers.

Jaipur Ajmer highway fire crash
At least 18 people have so far been killed while many are battling for their lives in hospital with severe burns after a catastrophic chain of events unfolded on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway early on December 20 when a truck crashed into an LPG tanker while trying to take a U-turn, triggering a fireball, which engulfed close to 34 vehicles.

During the preliminary probe, police found that the driver of the exploded LPG tanker fled the spot alive.