R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Fazilka
BSP’s tusker draped in Fazilka: On the directive of the Election Commission, the government officials have draped the statue of an elephant, a symbol of the BSP, installed in a small park, constructed by the Arya Samaj Gurukul section over a decade back. The park is located opposite the local MR Government College.

Pak national held: A Pakistan national, 55, suspected to be an intruder, was nabbed in an injured condition by the BSF personnel at the BOP Khanpur in Fazilka sector, on Friday evening. The intruder was identified as Mohammad Amin. He entered the Indian territory and had covered about 400 yards.

Ferozepur
Drug courier held: The Ferozepur police has established the links of the cross-border drug peddling network, which was recently unearthed with the militant organisatio Hizbul Mujahideen and has arrested a drug courier in this regard.

Jalandhar
Four hurt in clash: As many as four persons were injured in a group clash last night. The clash took place during the Lohri celebrations at Rehmanpura village near here. A motorcycle was also damaged in the incident. Youths also hurled stones at each other during the clash. The injured have been identified as Ajay Kumar, Pawan Kumar, Narinder Kumar and Sunny.

Women dies: Harvinder Kaur belonging to Phagwara succumbed to burns at local Civil Hospital here this evening. Sources said the victim sustained burns after a kerosene stove exploded at her residence in Dhuda village in Phagwara on Friday afternoon. She was referred then to the Civil Hospital here.

Man thrashed: A labourer was allegedly beaten up by a farmer of Amanpur locality here last night. The victim Dharminder alleged that he worked as a daily wager. He alleged that on Friday night, when he asked for his wages, the latter started beating him up. He also alleged that farmer tied him behind the tractor trailer and drove. He was was later hospitalised.

Tarn Taran
Liquor seized: The police seized 39 cases (468 bottles) of wine, belonging to a wine contractor, from Tharu village, 6 kilometres from here, late last evening. Lovely, a resident of Amritsar, and his associate Vikcy have been arrested. Contractor Anil Kumar managed to escape.

HARYANA

KAITHAL
CM’s visit: The tour programme of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda for Kalayat town in Kaithal district scheduled for January 15 has been postponed due to his busy schedule in view of elections in Punjab, UP, Uttaranchal and other states. Now, Hooda will visit Kalayat on March 10 and dedicate many projects to the public and will lay foundation stones of many other projects.

Two killed: Two persons were killed in a road mishap near Rehrian village of the district on Friday night. The victims, Naesh and Sant Lal, were reportedly going from Pundri to Sajuma on a motorcycle when a tractor-trolley laden with bricks hit their motorcycle. The victims were seriously injuried and they were rushjed to a hospital and later referred to PGI, Chandigarh. The victims succumbed to their injuries on the way to the PGI. A case has been registered.

Kurukshetra
Shopkeeper held: A shopkeeper, Om Prakash, was arrested near Jhansa bus stand for allegedly purchasing stolen transformer copper coils from a gang of coil thieves. About 188 kg transformer copper coils have been recovered from them. Om Prakash was produced in a court here on Friday and was remanded into police custody.

Rewari
Traffic blocked: Rakesh Kumar (22) of Dharuhera, who was riding on a motorcycle, was crushed to death by a truck at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk in Dharuhera on Friday. Infuriated at the tragic demise of the youth, irate residents placed his body near the chowk and blocked traffic on several roads. The protesters demanded stringent action against the truck driver as well as adequate compensation to a kin of the deceased. After strenuous efforts by the police, the body was removed from there and the blockade was also lifted.

Patwari held: Suraj Bhan, a patwari of the Buroli circle of the district, was caught by a Vigilance team while accepting a bribe of Rs 3,000 on Friday from Ajay Kumar of Khaleta village for registration of mutation of his land. District Development and Panchayat Officer Narender Sarwan acted as the Duty Magistrate during the proceedings. While the Vigilance Bureau has registered a case under Sections 7 and 13 of the Prevention of Corruption Act in this regard, Suraj Bhan was produced in a court that remanded him in 14-day judicial custody.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Governor condoles death of Suraj Saraf: Governor NN Vohra has condoled the death of Suraj Saraf, a veteran journalist, who passed away on Friday at Bee Enn Charitable Hospital here. In a condolence message, the Governor recalled Saraf’s contribution to the advancement of journalism in the state.

Srinagar
Three militants arrested: The police on Saturday claimed to have busted a “militant gang” in Bandipora district. “The Bandipora police has arrested three members of a militant gang involved in an attack on an Army man,” the police said. The arrested persons have been identified as Tariq Ahmad Wani, Ghulam Mohammad Wani and Ghulam Hassan. The police said the arrested persons were behind the militant attack on an Army man on November 24, 2011, at the Naidkhai bus stand in Bandipora. Two civilians had also got injured in the incident.

Police holds debate on human rights: The police organised a debate at the District Police Lines here today to acquaint its personnel with human rights issues. The debate was organised under the chairmanship of SSP, Srinagar, Syed Ashiq Hussain Bukhari, a police spokesman said. The topic of the debate was “state violations of human rights escalates violence rather than controlling it” and “state violations of human rights destroys public faith in governance and thus feeds terrorism”.

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Student killed in mishap: Vinod Pant, a resident of MDDA, Kedarpuram, died after he fell from his motorcycle and came under a dumper on the bypass in Deep Nagar here today. Vinod was a Class II student. His father, Ghananand Pant, works in the Forest Corporation.

Kumaon Briefs
Thieves decamp with 16 cases of liquor: Miscreants allegedly break into a liquor vend in the Tikonia area and decamped with 16 cases of liquor. They also took away Rs 22,000 that had been kept in the cash box of the shop. Personnel from the Excise Department and the police carried out an on-the-spot inspection of the vend. Investigations are on in the matter.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)