R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Hoshiarpur
ARRESTED: The district police has arrested four liquor smugglers, including a woman, and seized 58,500 ML of illicit liquor and 1.17 lakh ML of countrymade liquor from them. According to police sources, a car and a gypsy had also been impounded in which the liquor was being carried. The four were identified as Jhujar Singh alias Kaka of Mansoorpur, Rozy, wife of Harbans Lal, Balwinder Singh, both of Ghasitpur and Rakesh Kumar of Chhapra. All were booked under Section 61, 1, 14 of the Excise Act.

Phagwara
Lovers booked: The police on Monday booked a minor girl and her lover for faking documents for showing the girl to be a major for getting married. The case was registered under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471, and 120-B, IPC. Poonam of Manav Nagar, Hadiabad Road, and Pardeep Kumar of Hadiabad had complained to the Human Rights Commission that police was harassing them for their love marriage. Poonam had shown her date of birth as in 1986. But it was found that the date of birth of the girl was October 11, 1988.

Case of forgery: The police on Monday registered a case of fraud, forgery and criminal conspiracy against Ram Kishen and others under Sections 420, 465, 468, 471 and 120-B IPC. Surinder Mohan Duggal of Katehra chowk had complained to the police that Ram Kishen of Sarafan Bazar had got an electricity connection by faking documents of his shop.

THEFT: Valuables were stolen from the house of Jasbir Singh on the Khothran road on Sunday when the family was away in Jalandhar.

Tarn Taran
SODOMISED: A six-and-a-half-year-old boy Saajan was sodomised by a youth of the same village on Sunday. The city police has registered a case under Section 377 of the IPC against the accused. Police sources told this correspondent that the accused had been identified as Harjit Singh (17).

DHARNA: A large number of residents of Naushehra Pannuan staged a dharna on Monday in front of the police post against the alleged harassment of villagers by employees of wine contractors in the area.

CHANDIGARH

Mohali
VISIT: A six-member Chinese delegation visited the Punjab School Education Board here on Monday. The deledation had come to the board as part of an educational exchange programme. The delegation will stay in the country till May 15 and visit various schools in Punjab. There will be an exchange of ideas on education at meetings held during this period. 

Panchkula
DEMAND: The Residents Welfare Association, Sector 4, has urged the health authorities to check the mosquito menace in their area by fumigation. At the executive body meeting of the association, the residents demanded better street lighting and improved voltage regulation by instaling high-capacity transformers.

VISIT: The Financial Commissioner, Town and Country Planning. Ms Shakuntala Jakhu, on Monday visited the township in order to assess the development works being undertaken by HUDA. Accompanied by Engineer-in Chief K.K. Bhugra and all Superintending Engineers, she visited Sectors 22, 23, 27 and 28 and Mansa Devi Complex to check the development works. She also checked the work on road repairs and the progress in construction of auditorium in Sector 5. 

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
SUSPENDED: Deputy Commissioner Subhasheesh Panda has suspended Chandpur area gram panchayat president Sharwansingh following complaints of members of the gram panchayat about financial irregularities regarding some development works in the panchayat.

Chamba
PROBE DEMANDED: The Himachal Pradesh District Revenue Officers, Tehsildars and Naib Tehsildars Association has condemned the misbehaviour with them at certain places in the state and sought a high-level probe into these incidents. The association also demanded punitive action against the guilty. According to Mr R. Sehgal, state vice-president of the association, a memorandum to this effect had been submitted to the government naming the mischievous elements who had misbehaved with these officers during their official duty at Jhanduta, Jaisinghpur, Palampur and Chamba.

OFFICER-BEARERS: The following have been elected office-bearers of the district unit of the Himachal Pensioners Kalyan Sangh: president — Mr P.C. Oberoy; senior vice-president — Mr Bihari Lal Bedi; vice-Presidents — Mr P.L. Thakur, Dr Arun Mahajan and Mrs Anoopa Pant; general secretary — Mr Kuldeep Singh Jasrotia; organising secretary — Mr D.P. Sharma; press secretary — Mr Khushal Chand Bakshi; finance secretary — Mr T.R. Mahajan, legal adviser — Mr Krishan Chand Verma, and chief adviser — Mr A.P. Bagalwan.

NURPUR
DROWNED: Two brothers, Sushil and Pappu, were drowned in a rivulet in the Trilokpur gram panchayat area under Shahpur police station on Saturday. The deceased had gone for a bath in the Uook khud when they drowned. Both hailed from Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir and were working as labourers with a forest contractor of Bhali in Jawali subdivision.

RAID: The local SDM conducted a raid in the Haryal area to check illegal mining in the Chakki rivulet on Sunday. Drivers of three JCBs and one truck were challaned for quarrying and carrying material extracted illegally from the rivulet.