R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
Revolver snatched: Two unidentified motorcycle-borne youths snatched the service revolver of an Assistant Sub Inspector, Gulzar Singh, in the Lawrence road area here on Wednesday. The ASI is associated with the security of Mr G S Sahota, IG. The police has registered a case.

11 cops suspended: Mr Balkar Singh, SHO, Dabourji police station and 10 other policemen posted at Vallah police chowki were suspended for negligence on duty after the incident of looting of a petrol station at gun point in the wee hours on Tuesday. Unidentified persons attacked the petrol station and shot at Vijay Kumar, a migrant worker, at the station and looted Rs 22,000. The DIG (Border Range), Mr H S Randhawa said the 10 policemen posted at Vallah police chowki were found absent from duty during a surprise check.

Cheques distributed: MP Navjot Singh Sidhu on Wednesday distributed cheques worth Rs 1.65 crore to various organisations from his MPLADS funds here. The funds were ascribed for 127 different development works in various villages under Ajnala, including Awan Lakha Singh, Kot Razda, Lalla Afghana, Saido Gazi and Terah Kalan to Amb Kotli, Awan Wasau, Balot, Berlas, Charhpur, Dhariwal Bagga, Jasrarur, Kamalpura, Rakh Uthian, Rokey, Talwandi Nahar, Umarpura and Thoba government school.

Training ends : The two-day Customer Service Orientation Training Programme conducted by Consultants of M\S CRISIL and organised by the Punjab State Electricity Board concluded here on Wednesday at Bachat Bhawan. PSEB staff were given training on customer satisfaction.

Batala
Four hurt: Ujjagar Singh, Gurnam Singh, Kuldeep Kaur and Gurpreet Singh were admitted to the Civil Hospital, Batala, on Wednesday by a police patrolling party. They were injured when their car (PB-18H-3633) met with an accident near Ghasitpur village on Batala-Amritsar road.

2 held in dowry case: A case has been registered under Police Station Kotli Surat Malhi against the husband, mother-in-law, father-in-law of Kanwaljeet Kaur, daughter of Kashmir Singh of Lukmania village of Batala, on charges of dowry harassment . Two of the accused have been arrested.

Graft charge: A vigilance team on Wednesday caught a patwari red-handed while he was accepting bribe from a Mansa resident at his residence. The complainant, Amritpal, had sought a copy of jamabandi of his land from Patwari Balwinder Singh, posted at Banwali revenue circle. The patwari reportedly asked for Rs 2000 for the job and the deal was struck in Rs 500. A trap was laid and Vigilance DSP Anil Kumar nabbed the patwari as soon as he received the bribe. A case has been registered.

Ludhiana
meeting: The general body meeting of the Sutlej Club will be held on February 28 on the club lawns. The agenda includes the confirmation of minutes of the last general body meeting, presentation of annual report on the financial position and club activities, adoption of audited balance sheet of club accounts for the financial year 2004-2005, etc. Besides, the date for club elections is also expected to be announced.

Seminar: The University Institute of Laws, Panjab University Regional Centre here, will organise a two-day national seminar on “Relations in Working of the Legislature, Executive and Judiciary — an Introspection and Prospective Vision” on February 24 and 25. Justice Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, Governor of Himachal Pradesh, will inaugurate the seminar and Prof K.N. Pathak, Vice-Chancellor, Panjab University, Chandigarh, will preside over the function.

Rotary Club: Members of the Rotary Club of Ludhiana celebrated founder’s day by organising multi-speciality medical camp at Government Senior Secondary School in Jawahar Camp here. Dr Bindra, Head of the Department of Dentistry, Dayanand Medical College, Ludhiana, and six other doctors from her department examined the teeth of 400 students.

Conclave: The Ludhiana Management Association (LMA) organised a Peter F. Drucker Conclave here on Wednesday. Among institutes and colleges that participated in the conclave were PAU, PCTE, SBS, LCET and GNIMT.

Kisan mela: Over the decades the kisan mela has been institutionalised. This is one event where scientists and farmers freely interact and share their experiments and experiences. The two-day event from March 2 also provides an opportunity to farmers to go around the sprawling campus to visit experimental and demonstration fields, peep into the laboratories and ask searching questions from the subject matter specialists, besides buying farm literature. This year the kisan mela will be inaugurated by the commission on Agricultural Costs and Prices Chairman, Dr T. Haque.

Mandi Ahmedgarh
Tributes to IG: Hundreds of persons, including bureaucrats from Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Punjab, joined the funeral procession of Amarjit Singh, Inspector General of Police, Udeypur (Rajasthan), and paid rich tributes to the departed soul. The body of the cop who expired at a Bombay Hospital on Wednesday was cremated with complete state honour at the Nathumajra village near here on Thursday. A large number of people from all walks of life visited the place of cremation to pay homage to Amarjit Singh. A team of officials led by Mr Mukesh Sharma, Executive Magistrate, and Mr Balwinder Singh Bhikhi, SHO, Sadar, had made elaborate arrangements to accommodate the visitors who had come from far flung villages and town of the area.

HARYANA

Jhajjar 
Peacock dead: The death of a peacock in the nearby Talao village brought the authorities concerned on their toes in the wake of countrywide alert on the bird flu. However, a post mortem of the bird disclosed that it had died due to eating some pesticide-laced stuff and ruled out any threat of bird flu. 

Road blocked: Residents of about six villages near here blocked the Jhajjar- Rewari road on Wednesday in protest agaisnt the prevailing power problem. Hundreds of villagers, including women, gathered in Machharoli village and stage a protest on the national highway no 71 A. Residents hailing from Machharoli, Ghatoli, Chandpur, Amadalpur, Bhatera and Kheri Sultan villages were also present. 

Jind 
SHO held: Data Ram, SHO, Police Station Alewa, in this district, was arrested on the charge of accepting bribe on Tuesday. The SHO had allegedly taken bribe for bringing a compromising between two parties. Mr Kulbir Singh of Neemwala village had complained to the Vigilance Department that Data Ram had demanded Rs 7,000 for settling the case and caughter Data Ram red handed while taking the bribe. The police has registered a case. 

Sirsa
Education centres: With a view to a check the drop out of students from government schools, the Haryana Government is setting up 2,000 Rajiv Gandhi alternative education centres in the state, an official statement said on Wednesday. It said 116 such centres have been established in the district under the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). Mr B.R.Vats, district project coordinator, SSA, said the children of poor, nomadic and bric-kiln labourers’ families would be educated at these centres. “At least 20 children were enrolled at each such centre and education up to the eighth standard was being provided at these centres. Mid-day meals facility will also be available at these centres. As many as 38 such schools are being opened in various villages of the state.

SONEPAT
Theft in shop: Thieves are reported to have broken the shutter of an electronics shop on Gurdwara Road near Shiv Mandir here on Wednesday night and decamped with stolen copper wires, electronics goods and other valuables worth several lakhs of rupees. The owner of the shop has lodged a complaint with the police in this connection.

Eight injured: At least eight persons, including a woman, were injured, three of them seriously, when a Maruti van collided with a mule cart on the Kharkhauda-Barona road, about 20 km from here, on Wednesday evening. The injured persons included Ram Dhan, driver of the mule cart and resident of Matindu village, Sanjeev of Gopalpur village and a youth Vikki and a woman, Ms Shakuntala.