R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

ABOHAR
SUICIDE: Sunita (17) allegedly committed suicide here on Thursday by consuming Sulphos tablets. Her boy friend, Sat Pal, who also consumed tablets along with her, is struggling for life. The couple took the extreme step as the girl’s parents were reportedly against marrying her with Sat Pal.

AMRITSAR
PROTEST: Resentment prevails among members of the Social Welfare Society of Vijay Nagar Lane over inability of the police to make any headway regarding two thefts that took place in the locality in March.

GURDASPUR
CHARAS SEIZED: The police on Thursday arrested Satnam Singh and seized 1 kg charas from his possession. A case under Sections 20, 61 and 85 of the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act has been registered.

HOSHIARPUR
OFFICE-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local unit of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Union: president—Mr Santokh Singh; chairman—Mr R. M. Bhardwaj; senior vice-president—Mr Surjit Singh; general secretary—Mr Mohan Singh Marwaha; and treasurer—Mr Saminder Nath.

KHARAR
PROBE DEMANDED: Mr Mann Singh Manheda, a senior leader of the BSP, Punjab, has demanded that the Punjab Government should order a CBI inquiry into the registration of a murder case against Mr Sharwan Singh and others of Sekhanmajra village, near here, otherwise the BSP would sit in a protest dharna outside the office of the SSP, Ropar, in the first week of May.

UNDERTRIAL ESCAPES: An undertrial ran away from the court of Mr Sanjay Agnihotri, Judicial Magistrate, Kharar on Thursday. The police has registered a case against the undertrial Jaswinder Singh Sadrao, one advocate and another person. Jaswinder had appeared in the court in connection with a case registered against him and others in State Vs Jaswinder Singh under Sections 419/420/465/467/I20 B IPC dated December 4, 1999.

PHONES: Hundreds of telephone subscribers here and in surrounding villages have bean facing a lot of problems due to the non-functioning of phones since Thursday evening. A large number of phones were without dial tone while others are missing it frequently.

MALERKOTLA
MURDER CASE: The local police has arrested Mohd Naseer and Mohd Saiad, residents of Islampura, West Bengal, on charge of murdering a doctor, Mohd Nasirudin. A case under Sections 302, 201 and 34 has been registered against them at Islampura. The West Bengal police has been informed in this regard.

STOLEN: Cash and ornaments worth several thousands were have been looted from a house at Mangiwal village, 3 km from here. The police has registered a case under Sections 454 and 380 of the IPC.

MOGA
KILLED: A labourer was killed on the spot and another injured when they were knocked down by a truck on the Moga-Baghapurana road on Thursday.

PHILLAUR
ARRESTED: The Goraya police has arrested a sadhu Baba Jagir Singh and his accomplice Anil Kumar on the charge of defrauding people by “making” their money 10 times by his spiritual acts. The police has also recovered Rs 1.40 lakh from the accused.

SAMRALA
ELECTED: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Arhtiya Association: president—Mr Harpal Singh Dhillion; vice-president—Mr Bhushan Gupta; secretary—Mr Mohan Lal; and treasurer—Mr Chet Singh.

CHANDIGARH

REHRI WORKERS' PLEA: Rehri workers of Janta Market in Mani Majra on Friday urged the Chandigarh Administration to provide them booths on the pattern of booths in various parts of the city. It may be recalled here that nearly 100 rehris were gutted in the market some days ago. The Administration on Friday disbursed Rs 1,000 each among the fire victims who had been paid Rs 2,000 each earlier. According to Mr Satpal, President of the market, the fire victims include several widows who do not know what to do next and how to look after their families.

HAILED: The Chandigarh Beopar Mandal has hailed the decision of the Chandigarh Administration to implement the Apartment Act in the Union Territory. A Press note of the Mandal said that the Administration should also amend the 50-year-old building byelaws to provide much-needed relief to the trading community of the city.

CELEBRATIONS: The Sector 14 Gurdwara Sri Mukatsar Sahib will organise Baisakhi Purb on April 23 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The programme will include a special kirtan darbar, discourses on the birth and rise of Khalsa and a community kitchen, Dr Amrik Singh Ahluwalia and Mr A.S. Patang, President and General Secretary of the Gurdwara said on Friday.

RE-ELECTED: The executive committee of the Sector 39-D Shiv Mandir Parbandhak Committee has unanimously re-elected Mr Bharat Bhushan Sharma as its President and authorised him to nominate his team.

WINNERS: Six students won the final rounds of Reynolds Inter School Quiz. The competition was organised by Year of the Quiz Kids (YQK) at Tagore Theatre Sector 18, here, on Friday. The winner of the quiz in junior category was Hans Raj Public School, Panchkula. The first runners-up was St Johns High School and the second runners-up was Ajit Karam Singh Public School. In the senior category winner was St Johns High School, first runners-up — St Kabir School and second runners-up — Hans Raj Public School.

SAS NAGAR
CLARIFICATION: The President of Gurdwara Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Phase XI, clarified on Friday that his group had not been informed about the meeting held on Thursday in the Tehsildar’s office in connection with the controversy over the gurdwara poll. As such, no member of his group was present at that meeting.

HARYANA

FATEHABAD
ENCROACHMENT DRIVE: Kiosks and rehri owners are up in arms against the anti-encroachment drive launched by the district administration. They have decided to launch an agitation against this under the banner of Jwala Khokha and Rehri Union. On Thursday they staged a demonstration in this regard. The SDM said the administration was willing to provide alternative sites to the kiosks and rehri owners.

HISAR
GANG BUSTED: The local police claimed on Thursday that it had busted a gang involved in a number of crimes with the arrest of five persons. The gang members also confessed their involvement in connection with extortion of Rs 30,000 from a trader. A case under Sections 399 and 400, IPC, has been registered.

ROHTAK
ATROCITIES ALLEGED: Mr Surender Kumar Rohilla has complained to the Inspector-General of Police, Rohtak range, that his brother Raj Kumar Rohilla, a resident of Jhajgarh village, is being harassed by some residents of the village. He has also alleged that those harassing his brother wanted to grab his land in connivance with the police.

SONEPAT
ARRESTED: The Rai police has arrested Khel Singh (32) of Janti Kalan village for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl of the village. According to the police the incident took place on Tuesday.

DHARNA: Members of the Diploma Engineers Association staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner on Thursday in support of their demands.SURPRISE RAID: Mr Jeet Singh Mehra, City Magistrate, conducted a surprise raid on the office of HUDA here on Thursday and found eight employees absent from duty. The raid was conducted following complaints about the working of the office.

SOLVED: The police has arrested five persons in connection with the alleged murder of Yashpal of Gumar village on April 15. The district police chief stated here on Friday that all arrested were members of the same family.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

KUMARHATTI
REPAIR: There is resentment among residents of Bholi panchayat as the 12-km-long Sultanpur-Dhano link road has not been metalled despite their repeated pleas.

ARRESTED: The police has arrested three persons in connection with the murder of Bachan Singh, a chowkidar, at Dadiala village on April 2. In a press note released on Thursday, the district police chief said a case has been registered under Section 460, IPC, in this regard.

KASAULI
TIMBER SLEEPERS: As many as 30 sleepers of deodar were impounded on Wednesday from a truck at the Yash Nagar check-post under Rajgarh police station. A case under Sections 41, 42 and 52-A of the Indian Forest Act, 1927. Th truck has also been impounded.

NURPUR
ROAD REPAIR: The Public Works Department (PWD) has for the first time carried out special repair-cum-maintenance of the Pathankot-Chakki national highway from Raj Ka Bagh to Nurpur according to the new standards laid down by the Ministry of Surface Transport in this regard.

SHIMLA
ASSOCIATION: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Residents Doctors Association: president—Dr D.K.Verma; vice-president—Dr R.K.Abrol; general secretary—Dr J.P.Sharma; joint secretary—Dr R.S.Jaswal; finance secretary—Dr D.D.Sharma; and press secretary—Dr Ramesh Chand.