Jalandhar, June 10
Five persons, including three of a family, died in three separate accidents, whereas one girl committed suicide in the district during the past 24 hours.

Two brothers and their two-year-old niece died in a road accident near Nakodar last night. Residents of Ugi village Ranjit Kumar, his brother Pradeep Kumar and their niece Jaspreet were riding a motorcycle when it collided with a tractor-trailer approaching from the opposite direction on the Nakodar-Ugi road.

Ranjit and Jaspreet died on the spot while Pradeep succumbed to the injuries in the Nakodar Civil Hospital. The police has arrested the driver of the 
tractor-trailer in a case of rash driving. The bodies have been handed over to the family after post-mortem examinations.

In another accident, Awant Ram was run over by a train near Ada Hoshiarpur level crossing early this morning. The Railway Police said the man was strolling along 
the track when the accident occurred.

Jyoti, a resident of Garh Idgah Mohalla, who had sustained serious burn injuries in a stove blast case early this morning, succumbed to her injuries in the local Civil Hospital. Her husband, Vijay Kumar also sustained 10 per cent burns in the accident.

In another incident, a teenage girl of Nahla village committed suicide after consuming poison 
this morning. The girl took the step after a scuffle with her brothers and sisters at her house

TARN TARAN: Four persons were killed and the equal number injured in three different road accidents in the area during the past 24 hours.

According to information received here on Wednesday, Shamsher Singh (18) of Takhuchak village and Manjinder Singh (19) of Timmowal village died when their motorcycles collided head-on with each other near Ekalgadda village, 30 km from here. The Verowal police has registered a report under section 174 of the CrPC.

In another accident near Doburji, 7 km from here, Army man Charanjit Singh (45) died while his wife Sarabjit Kaur was seriously injured in a collision between two motorcycles. The second motorcyclist, who has not been identified, received serious injuries and was admitted to the local Civil Hospital. His wife and daughter, who were riding pillion, too received injuries in the accident. A case under sections 304-A, 279, 337, 427 and 338 of the IPC has been registered against the unidentified driver of the motorcycle who has been admitted to the hospital.In the third accident, a mentally challenged person, Kewal Singh (55), resident of Kakka Kandiala village, was killed when some vehicle hit him at Doburji village here last night. The police has registered a case under sections 304-A and 279 of the IPC.

BATALA: Buta Ram, former Congress councillor, was killed in a road accident after the motorcycle he was riding was hit by a truck at Gurdaspur bypass here on Wednesday. The former councillor was travelling with a friend, Ram Lubhaya, who sustained injuries. The injured had been admitted to the local Civil Hospital. 

Jalandhar, June 10
The Election Commission has ordered an enquiry into the acts of omission and commission by the ruling alliance in the run up to the Nurmahal poll.

This was disclosed by former MP Charanjit Singh Channi and election in charge Lakhwinder Kaur Garcha of the Congress here today. They said they had complained to the commission that the government was bribing voters by releasing power and water connections. Besides, the General Manager of the Mehatpur Cooperative Sugar Mills was asking farmers to vote for the ruling alliance or face the consequences. Similarly, the mill workers and other staff had been promised increments and other cash concessions with a view to securing their votes, they alleged.

Taking serious view of the revelations, the commission has sought a report from the state election commissioner, they claimed.

Channi said 21 companies of the paramilitary forces would be deployed in the constituency to maintain law and order. He said they would win the seat with a huge margin.

Amritsar, June 10
Fire broke out in eight kiosks at Ram Bagh and gutted its material worth lakhs on the night of June 9. It took over two hours for four fire engines to control the flames. Fire Brigade Officer Ravinder Kumar said the reason of fire could not be ascertained.

The kiosks were of fruits, confectionery, electric appliances repair shop, etc.

Owners of kiosks alleged foul play behind the fire and demanded an inquiry. They claimed that they had stuffed their shops with material procured on loan.

Attari, June 10
An 11-member delegation of Pakistan Rangers, led by Brig Shafqat Nawaz Khan, Deputy Director-General, Pakistan Rangers, Punjab (Pakistan), arrived here for quarterly coordination meeting to discuss various border-related problems, including air violation, narcotics and arms smuggling, inadvertent crossings by people, repatriation of prisoners, joint patrolling at the border, etc. Mohammad Aquil, DIG, Border Security Force (BSF), along with other senior BSF authorities welcomed the delegation.

Talking to media, Brig Shafqat Nawaz Khan expressed hope that various irritant border issues would be resolved in the meeting. However, he strongly objected to the charges of smuggling from the Pakistan side saying that Pakistan Rangers were on high alert and they did not allow such illegal activities from their side of the border.

He added that in fact barbed border fencing was on the Indian side, which was controlled by the BSF and Indian authorities. He said the Pakistan Rangers held nakas and arrested many smugglers.

When asked about various terrorist attacks in Pakistan, especially in Lahore, he said it was political issue and dealt at the government level. He said they were here only to discuss border-related issues.

Mohammad Aquil said many issues, which could not be resolved during the commandant-level meeting, would be taken up in this meeting, besides discussing various other border-related problems. When The Tribune correspondent asked him about any air violation, he said whatever was the issue would be taken in the meeting.

The other members of the Pakistani delegation are Brig Ghazanfar Ali, Brig Masud Ahmed, Col Hamid Mehmood Tayyab, Col Ghulam Raza, Lt-Col Mohammad Salim Qadir, Lt-Col Sajjad Sabir, Lt-Col Akhbar Ali Bhat, Lt-Col Iftikar Ali, Major Mohammad Zafarullah Khan and Major Faisal Haroon Malik.

Besides DIG, BSF, the Indian BSF officials participating in the meeting include B. K. Singh, Jagir Singh Sran, R.K. Bhargava, C. Vasudevan, J.B. Sangwan, R.C. Dhiyani, Ashiwini Jaggi and V.P. Singh.

Nawanshahr, June 10
With the arrest of Kashmir Singh, resident of Bajurag Bamuri village, Guna (Madhya Pradesh), and Jasbir Singh, resident of Nasirabad village in Kapurthala, the police claims to have busted an inter-state gang of drug smugglers.

Acting on a tip-off, the police parties, led by DSP (D) Satinderpal Singh and CIA in charge Inderjit Singh, put up special nakas on the Jadla-Rahon road and at Kanaun village, near the Rahon-Machhiwara bridge, said the SSP, adding that a police party intercepted a motorcycle coming from Machhiwara side around 6 pm and nabbed Kashmir Singh and Jasvir Singh and seized 10 kg of opium worth Rs 10 lakh from their possession.

Their accomplice Amrik Singh, resident of Patti village in Hoshiarpur, however, escaped. Kashmir Singh, originally hails from Sur Singh village in Amritsar. He has been residing in Madhya Pradesh for the past four decades and has been running a dhaba there.

Jasvir Singh and Amrik Singh, cousins, are new recruits in drug peddling in various district of Punjab. The gang has reportedly been procuring opium from Rajashtan and Madhya Pradesh for supplying in Punjab, said the SSP, adding that the police has registered a case against them under sections 18, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act.