R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

AMRITSAR
Three killed: Three members of a family were killed when the car they were travelling in was involved in a head-on with a truck at Tangra near Jandiala on the Amritsar-Jalandhar national highway here. According to information, Susheel Bagla (52), his wife Raj Rani (48) and son Amit Bagla (21), residents of Gali Lallanwali in Katra Ahluwalia, were returning to their house after attending a marriage of their relative in Ludhiana when the collision took place. All the three died on the spot. The driver of the truck immediately fled. A case has been registered.

BATALA
Road Accident: Three persons — Ravi (18), Sukhmit and Thomas — died in an accident when Tata Sumo No. HR-36A-9804 dashed against the rear of truck no. PIS-9771 while going from Batala to Dhariwal near Khokhar Faujian village. The injured Mr Pawan Kumar, Sunil Kumar, Stephen, Jagmit Singh, Paramdeep Singh Pamma, Rocky and Amandeep — were brought to the hospital where from some have been referred to Amritsar for further treatment. The police have registered a case U/S 304/279 IPC at police station Sadar Batala.

Jalandhar
Labourer dead: Jaspal (40), a resident of Bariana village, died of reported snakebite in Muktsar, his family members said on Wednesday. They said Jaspal, a labourer, had gone to Muktsar accompanied by a businessman to cut wood. The police said the postmortem would be conducted in Muktsar.

Farewell: Mr R. S. Dalal, Inspector General, Punjab Frontier, Border Security Force, was bid farewell at a function organised at the BSF Senior Secondary School here on Wednesday. Mr Khader, the ADIG (G), when asked, did not confirm Mr Dalal’s transfer, claiming that the function was a routine programme. He said as yet no orders of the sort had come and no new posting had been assigned to the Mr Dalal.

Ludhiana
Tributes: Tributes were paid to Talat Mehmood on his death anniversary by the Asian Club at a function held at the Vocational Rehabilitation Training Centre (VRTC), Haibowal, on Wednesday. The programme was organised under the supervision of Sara Johnson, Director of the VRTC. Mr Kuldeep Singh, DTO, was the chief guest while Mr Darshan Arora, Chairman of the Ludhiana Citizen Council presided.

Mother's Day: Mother's Day was celebrated here on Tuesday by students of Spring Dale Senior Secondary School. Students eulogised mothers in their speeches and recited poems.

Symposium: The Adaara Dastak will hold a symposium to discuss the latest novel of Mitter Sein Mitter. The discussion will be held at Punjabi Bhavan on May Sunday. The novel has generated a lot of interest and is based on the inhuman treatment meted out to prisoners in jails.

Phagwara
Strike by Patwaris: Patwaris in Phagwara, under the banner of the Revenue Patwar Union, would strike work against the “wrong policies of the state government” and in support of their long-pending demands in the Court Complex on May 11 and 12, president of the union, Mr Surinderpal Singh, said in a press release on Wednesday.

Liquor seized: The local police on Wednesday seized 450 bottles of Indian Made Foreign Liquor from a Santro car on the Hoshiarpur road. The cache was seized by a police team headed by ASP Sukhchain Singh Gill at a naka. He said the driver and his accomplice fled the spot after leaving behind the car. The ASP added that police teams had been dispatched to various locations to nab the accused.

HARYANA

JHAJJAR
Poaching case: A local court has directed former Indian cricketer Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi to file reply to its notice by May 13. Pataudi appeared in the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s court on Tuesday and sought further time to file the reply.

Hammered to death: A shopkeeper was hammered to death by some assailant at Jahangirpur village in the district on Tuesday night. The victim, Jagdish (37), was sleeping outside his shop when he was attacked with hammer. He was brought to the PGIMS at Rothak but he succumbed to his injuries on the way. The police has registered a case in this connection.

KARNAL
Welfare schemes: The Haryana Cooperatives Minister, Ms Meena Mandal, apprised the public about different women’s welfare schemes after hearing problems being faced by residents of Beermajra village of the district here on Monday. Ms Mandal said the state government decided to provide 33 per cent reservation to women during recruitment of teachers. Similarly, if a woman got electricity connection in her name, she would get 10 per cent relaxation and the woman would also be provided 2 per cent relaxation in stamp duty for registration of the land or house in her name.

ROHTAK
Lathi-charge: About 100 students protesting against reservation in postgraduate medical and other professional courses was mildly lathicharged near Power House here on Monday evening. As they reached Power House, the police told them to disperse. However, when they refused to do so, the police resorted to a mild canecharge. The students then collected at the Ashoka Complex where Deputy Commissioner R. S. Doon and SP C. S. Rao held talks  with them.

YAMUNANAGAR
Bail granted: The chairman of the Haryana Seeds Corporation on Monday surrendered in a local court in an eight year old case of assault and threat in which a bailable warrant was issued in April 2004. He was granted bail. Mr Roshan Lal Arya, along with others, including a former Haryana MLA, were booked under Sections 166, 323, 342, 341, 352 and 506 for allegedly assaulting and threatening Mr Satpal Kaushik, now secretary, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee. The alleged incident had taken place in October 1998.

HIMACHAL

MANDI
Lightning kills woman: A 35-year-old woman, Rajni, a resident of Mazwar, died when lightning struck her house in Mandi Sadar on Sunday, the police said.