MOGA
Probe sought: Members of the state unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union on Saturday demanded a probe into the causes of the fire in which bales of empty gunny bags valued at several lakhs of rupees belonging to Markfed were burnt at Baghapurana town, 15 km from here. Speaking to reporters here on Saturday a spokesman of the union said his party suspected foul play in the incident.

NAWANSHAHR
Charge taken: Mr Pritpal Singh Grewal took over as Assistant Commissioner (General) here on Friday.

Sapling plantation: As part of vanamahotsava programme as many as 70,000 saplings will be planted at Dhussi bundh along sutlej in the district on August 10. The district administration would provide free permits to the panchayats willing to plant saplings. Dr Roshan Sunkaria will inaugurate the programme at Dhangerpur village.

PATIALA
Condolence meeting: Students and teachers of the Department of English, Government Mohindra College, here, held a condolence meeting and mourned the sudden demise of Indian author Nirad Chowdhary.

Operation table: An operation-theatre table worth Rs 30,000 was presented by Mr S. Ahluwalia, Assistant Vice-President Escorts Limited, here to the Military Hospital at a function organised recently. Bank drafts of Rs 25,000 for the Kargil fund were presented to Col G.S. Virk of 1 Armoured Division by the Lions Clubs, Patiala Premier, Classic, Fort and Citizen.

DERA BASSI
Elected: The following have been elected office-bearers of the Maha Panchayat Union: President — Mr Jaspal Singh (Zirakpur); Vice-President — Mr Dharam Singh (Bhabhat); General Secretary — Mr Randhir Singh (Kandala); and Cashier — Mr Jaspal Singh (Alipur).

PANCHKULA
Rally: A cycle rally was organised by a computer centre on Saturday to express support and solidarity with Kargil heroes. Over 250 children, mostly from local schools, participated in the rally.

FATEHABAD
Concern: The CPM has expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. A meeting of the district secretariat of the CPM was held here on Friday. Mr Tejinder Singh Thind, a member of the secretariat presided. The party condemned the incident of misbehaviour by an INLD MLA with the Deputy Commissioner of Rohtak. The party alleged that the ruling party wanted to put mental pressure on the officers involved in the election process.

KURUKSHETRA
Prohibitory orders: To maintain law and order during the forthcoming four-day solar eclipse mela commencing from August 8, the Deputy Commissioner, Kurukshetra, Mr S.N. Roy, has promulgated Section 144 under which prohibitory orders against carrying of weapons have been enforced. The orders will remain in force till August 12 and anyone found disobeying these orders, will be punished under Section 188, IPC.

Counselling: Second counselling for the paid seats lying vacant in the Ayurvedic Colleges affiliated to Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak, for admission to the BAMS (1999-2000) course, will be held at the university auditorium here at 10 a.m. on August 13, according to a university spokesman. Counselling for admission to B.Ed course (1999-2000), in the colleges of education affiliated to this university will be held in the auditorium here from August 17 to 21 at 9.30 a.m.

ROHTAK
Raped: A minor Dalit was allegedly raped by a youth at a nearby village recently. The incident reportedly took place in school building of the village. According to the police, although the incident took place about a fortnight ago but it was reported to the police only on Friday. The suspect has been identified as Dinesh, a resident of Pahrawar village, about 15 km from here. The police has registered a case under Section 376 of the IPC against the accused. No arrest has been made so far.

SIRSA
Electrocuted: Five persons, including a farmer and his minor son, were electrocuted at different places in the district during the past three days. According to informed sources Mohinder Singh, Assistant Lineman of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam had died on the spot while repairing a transformer at Banni village. In another accident Gagtar Singh of Maujukhera was electrocuted while repairing the motor of his tubewell. Jagprevesh, an employee of the HVPN was also electrocuted near Ding village. Krishan Kumar Godara and his 12-year-old son died on spot after coming in contact with live wires.

Complaint: Ashok Arya, a resident of the local Friends Colony, in a complaint to the Deputy Commissioner alleged that he was being harassed and victimised by Junior Engineer and lineman of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam. He alleged that Hawa Singh, an employee of the nigam visited his house and tried to damage his electricity meter on July 27. After that the linesman along with a Junior Engineer again visited his house on August 2 and accused him of theft of power and demanded money to solve the matter.

Inaugurated: Dr Avtar Singh, Deputy Commissioner-cum-Chairman, District Red Cross Society here inaugurated the Handicapped Centre -cum-Physiotherapy Unit at the local Red Cross Bhavan on Friday. The unit has been set up at the cost of Rs 2.4 lakh. While speaking on the occasion the Deputy Commissioner said the centre had latest facilities which had been provided on no profit basis.

Body found: The body of an unidentified middle-aged sadhu was found by the police here on Friday near water works at Ghukanwali village. The sadhu had allegedly consumed excess liquor.

SONEPAT
Murdered: Rameshwar (52), a farmer was murdered allegedly with sharp-edged weapons by some unknown persons while he was sleeping near a tubewell at Ghasauli village, about 25 km from here, on Friday. The assistants, however, managed to escape after committing the murder. The police has registered a case and launched a massive hunt to apprehend the culprits.

Suicide cases: Two cases of suicide were reported in the city and a nearby village on Friday. The deceased were identified as Suman (25) of Qumashpur village and Bachu Ram of Ram Nagar area in the city. Both of them consumed some poisonous substance.

Two held: The police has arrested two persons, Gopi Kant Jha and Ramesh, both shopkeepers of Uttam Nagar (Delhi), on a charge of possessing stolen goods. According to a report, the police recovered leather sheets and jackets worth Rs 80,000 from their possession. These goods were stolen from the premises of a leather unit in the industrial estate at Murthal.

Arms seized: In a special campaign against anti-social elements the police seized unlicenced arms from three persons arrested in this connection. According to the SSP, the arms included a countrymade pistol, two live cartridges and two knives. The arrested youths have been identified as Raj Kumar, Sandeep and Suresh, all residents of Rathdhanna village.

Road mishaps: Three persons were killed and one injured in separate road accidents on the GT Road near here on Friday. Mr Tara Chand, an aged man belonging to Kurar village was knocked down and killed by a jeep while he was crossing the GT Road near his village. In another accident Sri Krishan, a resident of Rasoi village, fell down from the truck and was killed on the spot near the village on the GT Road. The victim was working as a helper on the truck. The third accident occurred near Gohana town when a jeep and Tata 407 collided with each other resulting in the death of one person and another person was injured.

Burglary: A group of burglars broke into a house at Garhi Kesri village, about 25 km from here, on Friday night and stole ornaments worth Rs 70,000 from there. The burglars were allegedly members of a gang operating in the area. The police has registered a case.

Arrested: The Kharkhauda police has arrested Rajpal, a tractor driver of Sisana village in connection with the alleged murder of a woman, Muni Devi, and injuring her son (20) on Wednesday. The woman along with her son was returning to her house from a temple when they were hit by Rajpal's tractor. She was crushed to death by the tractor and when her son came to her rescue he was assaulted and injured badly. A large number of villagers witnessed the incident and handed the accused over to the police later on. Old enmity was reported to be the cause of the murder.

DHARAMSALA
Demand: The Himachal Pradesh PWD, Assistant Engineers Association has demanded the release of the four-tier pay-scale system. They threatened to go to court if their demand was not accepted immediately.

HAMIRPUR
Red Cross Society: The district administration has decided to streamline the functioning of the Red Cross Society in the district and to take it to the Subdivisional level. This was decided at a meeting of the society held here on Saturday. Mr Kamlesh Kumar Pant, Deputy Commissioner, was the chairman at the meeting. Dr S.S. Guleria, CMO was also present on the occasion. The meeting decided to provide relief to poor patients.

Defence pensioners adalat: A defence pensioners adalat will be held here next month. Pensioners getting pensions through the office of the DPDO and other nationalised banks and facing any problems have been asked to send their problems to the DPDO by august 31. The director of the HP Sainik Welfare Board said the exact date for the adalat would be announced later.

Raids: The Department of Food and Supplies conducted as many as 1,472 raids in district till July 31 this year. An official spokesman said here on Saturday that while 210 traders had been served show cause notices and 60 others were given warnings, 42 had been fined for violating various provisions of the HP Essential Commodities Act.