R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Nakodar
Children rescued: The Labour Department raided various shops in Nakodar, Shahkot and Mehtpur and found four children below 14 years of age engaged in work. Later, these children were handed over to their relatives. Assistant Labour Commissioner Inderjeet Singh said Thakur Bekri Shop in Shahkot was challaned for employing a boy. A girl was also rescued by the labour inspector during a raid at Nakodar. Two more children were rescued from Bhandhari Sweet Shop and Kalra General Store. 

HARYANA

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Srinagar
Two arrested for brother’s murder: The police has arrested two persons for murdering their brother in Shopian. Manzoor Ahmad Dar, 25, was shot dead on June 15 and initially it was suspected to be the handiwork of militants. However, police investigations revealed that the youth was killed by his two brothers, Farooq and Ashiq Hussain Dar. 

DEHRADUN

Gadkari’s chopper force lands: Nitin Gadkari, national President of the BJP was forced to land at Narendra Nagar in Tehri Garhwal district due to inclement weather. Gadkari along with Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank was on his way to the Kedarnath shrine when their helicopter was forced to do an emergency landing at Narendra Nagar due to weather. Gadkari along with members of his family was on the Char Dham pilgrimage in the state. 

Arrest of Ramdev, aide sought: Demanding arrest of yoga guru Ramdev and his close aide Balkrishan, members of newly constituted Bharatiya Loktantrik Manch on Friday staged a dharna at Gandhi Park, here. The members who were led by their president, Navneet Kalra, alleged that both yoga guru Ramdev and his aide Balkrishan had amassed huge wealth, much beyond their known sources of income. He said Ramdev was working on the directions of the BJP and other Hindu organisations. 

Balbir elected: The biannual elections to Sikh Brotherhood Dehradun took place here on Friday. Balbir Singh Sehgal was elected as the new president whereas Rana Jaswant Singh was elected as the general secretary. Earlier, a two-year report was approved by the house. Outgoing President Sewa Singh Matharu expressed gratitude to the members of Sikh Brotherhood Dehradun for the successful conduct of elections.

Judicial remand: The five chain snatchers held by the police in Dehradun on Thursday were sent to 14 days’ judicial remand here on Friday. The accused were presented in the local court where they were sent to judicial custody. 

Kumaon Briefs

District Supplies Officer faces action: District Magistrate of Almora DS Garbyal carried out a surprise visit to the District Supplies Office to find the top officials unavailable at their seats. He made it clear that any laxity with regards to the functioning of the office would not be tolerated. He was also peeved at the casual approach of the officials towards the government directives that the specified quota of food grains released under the Mid Day Meal and Atal Khadyann Yojana schemes should have reached godowns by May 20. He pointed out that it had come to his notice that the officials were not performing their jobs well while complaints regarding several other matters had also come to light. He said he had recommended the transfer and action against the District Supplies Officer KS Bisht.

Commission agent being ‘blackmailed’: The Haldwani police has been approached with a complaint by a representative body of commission agents stating that one of their members is being blackmailed into paying a ransom of Rs 10 lakh. According to the complaint, Sobhraj had intervened to save a truck driver Irfan and a woman from Rampur who had been nabbed in a compromising position on May 31. Irfan used to bring supplies to his shop. The agents have stated that ever since then, Sobhraj has been getting threat calls on his mobile phone asking him to pay Rs 10 lakh or he would be framed in a case of rape.

Youth’s body identified: The youth whose body had been found hanging from a pole in Kahalkwira village on Wednesday has been identified as 16-year-old Akhil. It is being assumed that the boy committed suicide as he did not get the expected marks in his matriculation examination. The members of his family are learnt to have told the police that he had been depressed as his performance in the examination had been below expectation. He had left his house on Wednesday to go to Nainital for getting his marks sheet. The instance of a delay in acting on the case on account of jurisdiction matters between the revenue police and the general police had come to light. The body of the youth was charred since the pole supports high-tension wires.

Close shave for 20 passengers: More than 20 passengers had a miraculous escape when the bus in which they were travelling rolled down the road near Rawainkhal in Bageshwar district. The bus would have gone deep down the gorge had it not stuck in a tree. The bus was going from Haldwani to Bageshwar. Seven passengers were treated at the District Hospital. The accident took place when the driver of the bus lost control over the vehicle while giving pass to another vehicle.

Plan to beautify Nainital parks: The Nagar Palika Parishad in Nainital has drawn up a plan for the beautification of parks located on the Mall Road. Under the plan, not only the parks would be spruced up in terms of planting of flowers but musical fountains would also be installed there. In addition to this there is also a provision to develop a lane for pedestrians to walk. A detailed project report with an estimated cost of Rs 21 crore has been sent by the municipal body to the state government for approval.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)