R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

FARIDKOT
Arrested: The local police has arrested six thieves belonging to different parts of Faridkot and Ferozepore districts. They have been identified as Mohinder Singh, Sadhu Singh, Bhan Singh, Swaran Singh, Gurbhej Singh and Jasminder Kumar. Stolen goods worth about Rs 50,000, besides two scooters, have been recovered from them.

Gang busted: The Kotkapura police has busted an inter-state gang of vehicle thieves operating in different cities of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh for the past about three years. Addressing a press conference here on Tuesday, the district police chief, Mr Arun Kumar Araon, said on November 29, 1999, Gurdeep Kumar of Natta village under the Noor Mahal police station, Jalandhar, and his accomplice Baljit Singh of Dana Romana village under the Sadar Faridkot police station, took away a car from Sohan Singh of Kotkapura and fled to Muzaffarnagar in UP. Another of their accomplices, Sarbjeet Singh, was arrested last year by the Jalandhar police.

GURDASPUR
Charas seized: The police has busted an inter-state gang engaged in the smuggling of charas. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, the police on Tuesday arrested Mohammad Qayum and Sanjay, alias Sajju, both of Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir, and seized 15 kg of charas from them. A case under the NDPS Act at the Sadar police station here was registered against them on Monday. The SSP said the accused were arrested by a police naka party at the crossing of Kharal village, 3 km from here.

Revenue records: Mr S.K. Sandhu, Deputy Commissioner, at a function held at Ali Chak, 2 km from here, on Monday said all revenue records in the district would be computerised. The revenue records of the Batala subdivision would be computerised in February, he added.

Resentment: Resentment prevails among PSEB employees at Tibber against an attack on certain employees of the board by a consumer on Monday. According to official sources, Parshotam Lal, JE, Vijay Kumar, Parkash Chand and Paramjit, went to the house of Resham Singh to disconnect his power connection for the non-payment of dues. When Parshotam Lal and Parkash Chand entered his house, he locked the door from inside and attacked the junior engineer with a sharp-edged weapon. He had to be admitted to the local Civil Hospital. The police has rounded up Resham Singh and a case under Section 307, IPC, has been registered against him.

HOSHIARPUR
Sentenced: The District Sessions Judge here has sentenced Sukhwinder Singh, a resident of Kothe Hansian village, for murdering his wife Ravinderjit Kaur in collusion with his father, mother and two sisters on April 5, 1998. Sukhwinder Singh was further sentenced to two years' imprisonment and fined Rs 1,000 under Section 201, IPC. The judge, however, acquitted the father, the mother and the sisters of Sukhwinder Singh.

JALANDHAR
3 held: The district police has arrested three persons from three different parts of the district for possessing poppy husk and heroin. Ramesh Lal of Bundala village was arrested for possessing 35 kg of poppy husk, while Balbir Singh of Ranjitpur Talwar village under Noormahal police station was arrested during a naka with 5 kg of charas. Two different cases under Sections 15/61/85 and 20/61/85 have been registered.

Science exhibition: Ms Kusum Duggal, president, Chetak Army Wives Welfare Association, inaugurated a science exhibition organised by the Army School at the Bathinda military station on Monday. Students had put up working models in the faculties of arts, humanities, science and information technology, according to a defence press note.

KAPURTHALA
Gang busted: The district police claims to have busted an inter-district gang of scooter and car lifters with the arrest of three members of the gang. Mr Iqbal Singh, SSP, identified the arrested persons as Sudesh Kumar and Darshan Lal of Ludhiana and Kulwinder Kumar of Phagwara. Five scooters have been recovered from them. The police arrested the three during a nakabandi on the Kapurthala-Jalandhar road.

KHARAR
Woman booked for false case: The police on Tuesday registered a case against Sunita Devi, of Channalon village under Kurali police station on the charge of lodging a false report of being robbed of Rs 29,000 at pistol point, following the recovery of the amount from her possession. Mr Rupinder Singh, DSP, Kharar, said the accused had lodged a complaint with the police that Rs 29,000 was taken away forcibly at pistol point by two scooter-born persons, including a girl. The police started investigations and found that the woman was changing her statements. The police got suspicions and when the woman was questioned, she told the whole story. She said this money belonged to six labourers and she was going to Bihar in a day or two.

MOGA
Killed: A junior engineer of the PSEB, posted at Baghapurana town in district, was killed when his jeep collided with a tanker coming from the opposite direction near Khote village. The police has registered a case.

PATIALA
Har Surat Singh promoted: Dr Har Surat Singh, Deputy Director, Animal Husbandry, has been promoted as Joint Director, Animal Husbandry, Punjab. He has been posted at Chandigarh.

Interior Decorators’ Association:: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Patiala Interior Decorators Association for the year 2000: President — Mr Rajiv Bansal; General Secretary — Mr Sanjay Seth; and Treasurer — Mr Satpreet Singh.

Kapoor appointed chief: Sat Pal Kapoor, an ex-MP, has been appointed Chairman of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee Freedom Fighters Cell, according to a press note issue by Capt Amarinder Singh, President of the PPCC.

Medical and sales representatives: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Punjab and Chandigarh Medical and Sales Representative Union, Patiala unit, for the year 2000: President — Mr A. Sharma; Vice-President — Mr H.S. Sandhu; Secretary — Mr S.K. Dev; Joint Secretary — Mr Rajesh Dhingra; and Treasurer — Mr Ranjan Sharma.

ROPAR
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Bhai Himmat Singh Memorial Charitable Trust: president — Mr Sarup Singh; senior vice-president — Mr Mehar Singh; vice-president — Mr Hargobind Singh; general secretary — Mr Balbir Singh; and finance secretary — Mr Amar Singh.

Seminar on cancer: The local Rotary Club, in association with the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Medicine and Cancer Research, Rohini, New Delhi, will organise a seminar on cancer awareness on February 5 at Ambedkar Bhavan here. According to Mr Raj Kumar Kapoor, a spokesperson for the club, a cancer clinic too will be held on February 6 at the same venue.

CHANDIGARH

Devotional programme by children: The Shirdi Sai Sharnam Sangathan organised a programme on Sunday, in which children performed. Shweta Sharma anchored the show. Sanjay Gupta and Inderjit Bansal presented devotional songs. Shekhar rendered the life history of Lord Sai. Khushboo and Maduri stressed sadhna and prayer. Prizes were also given to participants.

Literacy camp organised: A literacy camp was organised in Nehru Colony on Tuesday by the Society for Social Health, in collaboration with the Chandigarh Social Welfare Advisory Board, to focus on the theme of the Vikas Parv-2000, which was women’s rights and legal literacy. Police officers from Crime Against Women Cell, Chandigarh Police, highlighted various aspects of crime against women. The function was attended by about 150 participants.

Workshop for adolescent girls: A six-day workshop on family life education for adolescent girls concluded at the YWCA on Tuesday. Dr Rajesh, Head of the Department of Community Health and Medicine, PGI, was the guest of honour at the valedictory function. Dr Inderjit Walia, Principal of the College of Nursing was the chief guest. Dr Rajesh and Dr Walia commended the efforts of the YWCA to spread awareness among the less privileged sections of society and stressed upon girls to feel free to express their problems and ask for advice. The staff and students of the College of Nursing, PGI, also contributed towards holding of this workshop.

PANCHKULA
One killed in accident: An employee of HMT, Pinjore, Madan Lal (34) died in an accident on the premises of the factory on Tuesday. He was sandwiched between a truck parked and another truck which was reversing. He was busy checking the loaded truck when another truck, which had been unloaded, started reversing. He was rushed to the first-aid centre on the premises but was declared dead on arrival.

HARYANA

GURGAON
Khet Divas: The local Krishi Gyan Kendra, in collaboration with the Indian Vanaspati Producers' Association, organised a 'sarson field day' (Khet Divas) at Daula village, about 30 km from here. The objective was to demonstrate the impact of gypsum application on the growth and yield of mustard to the farmers. While addressing a gathering of over 100 farmers, the chief guest, Prof Deepak Bhalla, expressed confidence about the rapid adoption of technology by the farmers transferred by the kendra's specialists.

ROHTAK
Arrested: The police on Monday arrested Mahesh of Malikpur village in the Beri assembly constituency of the district and seized two hand grenades and two pistols from his possession. It is suspected that the arms and ammunition were meant to be used during the Assembly election with a view to create terror among the voters.

SIRSA
Arrested: In a special drive to nab criminals to ensure peace during the Vidhan Sabha elections, the district police has arrested 10 criminals for different crimes. According to the police chief, Mr K.K. Mishra, the police arrested Mohender, Sukhdev, Mohan Lal, Vinod and Hans Raj under Sections 13A, 3 and 67 of the Gambling Act, whereas Bachan Singh, Subhas and Raju have been arrested under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act for possessing illicit liquor. The police also arrested a bail jumper Wariam Singh after four years and Rai Singh under Sections 430 and 511 of the IPC for stealing water after digging a canal.

Held for rape: The Chopta police has arrested a youth for allegedly raping a minor. The district police chief, Mr K.K. Mishra, said here on Monday that the crime was committed on Friday night by Tara Chand. The police arrested him under Sections 451, 376 and 506, IPC, on the complaint of the father of the girl, Ram Kumar. In his complaint, Ram Kumar accused Tara Chand of raping his daughter while he was out.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KANGRA
Challaned: Six private buses in the district were challaned on Monday by Mr G.S.Thakur, RTO, for violating traffic rules and plying without paying the special road tax. Mr Thakur said here on Tuesday that Rs 1,13,12,000 was collected by him till January 31 from private and HRTC buses as tax during a special drive.