R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Hoshiarpur
ARRESTED: On the complaint of Mr Harbhanjan Singh Chohan, Deputy Superintendent of District Jail, Hoshiarpur, the police has registered a case under Sections 8, 16 and 85 of the NDPS Act against Harpinder Singh, a son of Mehar Singh of Akalgarh, on Saturday. According to police sources, Harpinder Singh came to the jail to meet prisoner Nirmal Chand, a son of Chhaju Ram. During his meeting he threw 15 gm of opium towards Nirmal Chand which was noticed by a duty constable. He was arrested and handed over to the police.

LUDHIANA
PAINTING COMPETITION: Bharat Vikas Parishad, (Sukhdev branch) organised an inter-class painting competition at New Senior Secondary School, Sarabha Nagar, here on Saturday. The number of students who took part in the contest was 112.

Marriage of needy girls: The president of the Maa Bhagwati Club, Mr Ashwani Sikka, stated in a press note that the club had decided to conduct the marriages of three needy girls on July 31 in Gurdwara Singh Sabha in Deep Nagar. The club will provide necessary household articles to the newly wed couples.

Phagwara
BRAHMIN CONVENTION: Delegates from as many as 125 countries, including India, would take part in the World Brahmin Convention being held in London from August 18 to 24. It would be organised by the World Brahmin Federation, according to Mr K.K. Sharma, organising secretary, WBF, here on Saturday. Mr Sharma will lead delegates of the Brahmin Sabha, Punjab, and also read a paper on Brahmanical values.

CHEMISTS HELD: A police team headed by SHO Nirmal Singh raided two chemist shops and arrested two persons in connection with sale of prohibited medicines without prescription here on Friday. According to sources, police recovered 390 capsules of proxivon, spasmoproxivon, 20 morphine injections and three bottles of corex syrup from Raj Kumar of Raj Medical Store and Des Raj of K.B. Medical Store, for selling these medicines without the prescription of a qualified doctor. A case under Section 188 of the IPC has been registered against the accused for defying the Deputy Commissioner’s orders.

SNAKES FOUND: Fourteen snakes, including a huge cobra, were found in a factory on the GT Road here on Saturday. Most of the snakes were 6 feet long. An employee of Messrs Singh Autos Spares told owner G.S. Batra that he had been hearing hissing sounds from the office of the factory for the past many days. Mr Batra requisitioned the services of snake charmers who caught 14 snakes.

Phillaur
GIRL RAPED: A young girl was allegedly raped by two villagers near Lohgarh village in Jalandhar district on Friday. The alleged rapists Harjinder Singh and Kashmira Singh, working with a religious jatha, promised to include her in the jatha. They went to her house along with their sister and asked her to come with them in a jeep to attend a function. Their sister alighted from the jeep after travelling some distance and the accused allegedly raped her at a deserted place. The police has arrested them.

Sangrur
DOWRY DEATH: The Bhawanigarh police has registered a case under Section 304-B of the IPC against Gurjinder Singh, Tarminder Kaur, and Kulwant Kaur, following the death of Manjit Kaur at her in-laws’ house at Bharro village on Friday. She was married to Gurjinder Singh about two years ago and had a son. The case was registered on a complaint by Mr Jangir Singh, father of Manjit Kaur, who had alleged that the in-laws of her daughter had been harassing her for more dowry for the past several months.

Tarn Taran
WOMAN KILLED: Karnail Singh (40) a member of a Dalit family facing acute financial problems, allegedly killed his wife, Amarjit Kaur, alias Ambo (37) on Friday here with sharp-edged weapons. The local police has registered a case under Section 302 IPC.

FAKE CURRENCY: The district police has unearthed a five-member gang dealing in fake Indian currency having connections with Paramjit Singh Panjwar, head of the Khalistan Commando Force in Pakistan.

HARYANA

Rewari
CREMATED: The body of Nayak Ram Kishan was cremated with full military honours at his native village, Mamdia Asampur, 12 km from here, on Saturday. A contingent of the Indian Army, which had come from Srinagar, paid homage to the deceased Nayak. He was killed in a powerful bomb explosion targeted by a suicide bomber at a convoy of the security forces in the Sonwar area at Srinagar on Wednesday.

SENTENCED: Mr Inderjit Mehta, Additional District and Sessions Judge, has sentenced six persons, Jagdish, his two brothers, Bhondu and Rattan Singh, all sons of Ganpat Singh, as well as Raja Ram and his brother, Sewa Ram, both sons of Udmi Ram, and Ram Singh, son of Chhelu Ram, all residents of Siha village under Khol police station of Rewari district, to imprisonment for life, holding them guilty of murder of Chand Singh, son of Sheo Sahai, at Siha village on October 21, 1998. However, the remaining six accused have been acquitted as their complicity in the crime could not be established .

VANMAHOTSAV: The Haryana Irrigation and Revenue Minister, Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, inaugurated the 56th district-level Vanmahotsav by planting a sapling in Rao Tula Ram Stadium here on Friday. Enumerating the various advantages accruing from a fully-grown tree during its 50-year long existence, Capt Yadav empahsised the urgency of augmented afforestation to lessen the increasing pollution in the environment. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Mahender Kumar, informed that a target of planting 15 lakh saplings would be achieved to ensure a green and clean environment.

CONTEST: Besides the host school, students of five other schools — Kerala Public School, Jaitrawas; Modern Public School, Bhiwadi; Presidency School, Bhiwadi; Delhi Public School, Joanwas; and Raman Munjal Vidya Mandir, Sidhrawali — participated in an English poem recitation competition held at Somany Vidya Peeth Public School, Masani, on Saturday. Students of Delhi Public School bagged the first prize while the second and the third place went to Raman Munjal Vidya Mandir and Modern Public School, respectively. The Deputy Commissioner’s wife, Ms Shashi Kalia, who was the chief guest, distributed prizes among winners.

Sonepat
FARMER MURDERED: Surinder, a farmer, was murdered and his wife Saroj injured when they were allegedly attacked by a group of men that included a  person named Pradeep, while they were returning to their house at Kharkhauda on Friday. A case has been registered.

RAPE CASE: The Rai police has registered a case against two persons on charges of kidnapping and raping a girl on July 19. The accused, Amit of Purkhas village and Sutpal of Jat Joshi village, took the girl to New Delhi where she was raped.

FAST: Ravinder, a panch of Jatheri village, started an indefinite fast on Saturday outside the office of the Block Development and Panchayat Officer at Rai in support of his demands. The main demands include the dismissal of the sarpanch of the village and a high-level probe into his working.

KILLED: An unidentified youth was run over and killed by a running train between Sonepat and Sandal Kalan railway stations near Shanni Mandir here on Sunday. The body still remains unidentified and the GRP has sent the body for a post-mortem examination.

Yamunanagar
ELECTED: Congress candidate Sunder Lal Batra has been elected Chairman of Yamunanagar Zila Parishad, while the post of vice-chairman went to Mr Khila Ram Narwal, supported by BSP and the INLD. Elections to the posts were held on Friday after being postponed thrice in the past. Mr Batra defeated BSP-supported candidate Rameshwar.