R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Nakodar
Shahkot confectioner goes missing at Baltal: Haridev alias Bittu Bhalla (40), a confectioner from Shahkot in Nakodar went missing at Baltal, 15 km from the Amarnath shrine in Jammu and Kashmir, on June 20. He had gone there along with the Shahkot Langar Sewa Samiti as a sweetmeat maker. Charan Das Gaba, president of the samiti, said that they had registered a FIR at the concerned police station and also informed the Amarnath Shrine Board about the incident.
Haridev

CHANDIGARH

Chandigarh
HC Deputy Registrar: Sonepat CJM Major Phalit Sharma has been posted at the Punjab and Haryana HC as Deputy Registrar-cum-OSD. Earlier, he was posted at Chandigarh as senior sub judge (first class) in the UT District Courts. He then joined as Rly Magistrate at Ambala, before moving to Sonepat.

Water samples taken: Taking cognisance of a report published in these columns on Saturday highlighting the supply of dirty tap water in Sector 21, a team of public health department visited the area and collected water samples. Area councillor Anju Beniwala said water samples were taken from houses and sent for the test.

Liquor racket: Prime accused held: The UT Police today arrested the prime accused, liquor contractor Azad Singh, involved in the liquor smuggling racket unearthed on July 4, after he surrendered at the Mani Majra police station. He was later released on bail.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

CHAMBA
Rana is member of JCC: Retired official Hem Singh Rana has been nominated as a non-official member of the state-level Joint Consultative Committee for pensioners, which was re-constituted by the Government of HP, according to a press statement posted on the official website of the state government on Saturday.

PALAMPUR
Mother-in-law held: In the Aruna Kumari suicide case, the Dehara Gopipur police on Saturday arrested Aruna’s mother-in-law from Battwa village and charged her with forcing Aruna to commit suicide. A police team also went to Gurgaon to arrest Vijay Kumar, Aruna’s husband. Sanjiv Gandhi, ASP, said Aruna’s parents alleged that it was a case of murder as she was being tortured by her in-laws for bringing inadequate dowry.

SOLAN
Vice-President's family visits Chail: Salma Ansari, wife of Vice-President of India Hamid Ansari, and their daughters, who had arrived here on Friday evening, visited the popular tourist destination of Chail. The family which is staying at Heritage Palace Hotel also visited other places of tourist interest at Chail on Saturday, including the Sidd Tibba which houses a famous temple. The family will go back on Sunday after halting for lunch at Barog.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

DEHRADUN

Dehradun
Sarak yojana: Garhwal MP Satpal Maharaj has sought the linking of hill villages having a population of 250 under the Pradhan Mantri Sarak Yojana of the Central Government. In a letter to Union Rural Development and Panchayati Raj Minister Vilashrao Deshmukh, the MP said villagers in the hill areas face inconveniences due to a little road connectivity. He said there were several villages in the state that had population less then Rural Development Minister’s stipulated road connectivity population criterion of 500. He said there was a need for the construction of roads sanctioned under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sarak Yojana.

Cheating case: A resident of Basant Vihar alleged that someone had withdrawn Rs 1.27 lakh through his ATM card. He alleged that his the card got exchanged with an unidentified man. The money was allegedly withdrawn from the ATM situated on GMS Road on July 26.

Ornaments stolen: Thieves barged into a house situated on Sahastradhara Road and decamped with cash and ornaments worth Rs 40,000. According to the compliant of Rekha Bansal, the theft took place on Friday. The police has registered a case of theft in the Rajpur Road police station and has started investigations into the matter.

Theft at shop: A theft was committed at a shop in the Rishikesh area. According to the shop owner, Ganga Ram, the incident took place on Friday. A case has been registered.

Kumaon Briefs
Waterlogging: Residents gherao XEN’s office: Agitated over the failure of the administration to take steps to check waterlogging in the town, residents of Kashipur gheraoed the office of the Executive Engineer of the Jal Nigam. They are demanding that the problem of waterlogging on Station Road be solved on a priority basis. They said despite the local legislator having asked the Jal Nigam to prepare a proposal to deal with the problem, there had been no proactive step taken in the direction. They said the problem not only created problems in terms of movement, but was also a health hazard. The residents maintained that even the buildings in which water enters were being damaged on account of this. The people have demanded that immediate steps be taken to deal with the problem failing which they would be forced to launch an agitation.

Teacher found dead in Pithoragarh: A teacher was found dead in his rented accommodation in Pithoragarh. The deceased has been identified as 50-year-old Mrinal Khatri and was a resident of Raipur in Dehradun. He was a teacher at a private school. His room was bolted from outside. Not seeing or hearing any movement from inside, residents of the area brought the matter to the notice of the police, which broke open the door only to find the body. The deceased’s family has been informed about the incident.

Four stolen motorcycles recovered: The Khatima police has nabbed an auto-lifter and claim to have recovered four stolen motorcycles from his possession. According to information, acting on a tip-off, the police cordoned off the area near a temple in Chakarpur. They arrested Lakshman Singh Chauhan while he was driving a motorcycle with no registration number. During the course of interrogation, he led the police to the recovery of three more stolen motorcycles.

Motorcyclist run over by tractor: A motorcyclist was killed when he was run over by a tractor near Bailpadav in Ramnagar on Friday evening. The accident took place near Chunakhan Ki Puliya. The deceased has been identified as 25-year-old Bhupendra Singh Bisht of Bagwalipokhar village in the Someshwar area of Almora district. His brother-in-law who was riding pillion has also sustained injuries in the accident. The police has impounded the tractor and efforts are on to arrest the driver, who is still at large.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)