bathinda
Extortion racket: Crime in Bathinda seems to have spiralled after the elections. Days after a firing incident at the city bus stand and a CBI raid at a beauty parlour in connection with an alleged sex scandal in Patiala, an alleged extortion incident came to light on Sunday. Allegedly demanding 'hafta' (money) from a chemist on Ajit road, a group of around 10 youths completely damaged his pharmaceuticals shop in broad daylight. The shop was damaged with sharp-edged weapons, base ball bats and iron rods.

Staff shortage: Due to shortage of assistant directors in the state Department of Youth Services, youth activities are getting affected. Of all the districts in the state, assistant directors are working only in seven districts. Besides performing duties in their own districts, they have also been looking after the work of other districts. For example, the Bathinda assistant director is looking after four districts: Bathinda, Ferozepur, Muktsar and Fazilka.

Ferozepur
Villagers nab robbers: Residents of village Gamewala under the Mamdot police station caught hold of two robbers who were attempting to loot a shop in the village. Lauding their efforts, SSP Hardyal Singh Mann on Sunday presented all of them with commendation certificates.

jalandhar
Probe into land dispute: Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Magistrate, Priyank Bharti, on Sunday constituted a four-member committee to look into the land dispute case in which a clash took place at Partap Pura village, near here, on Saturday. The committee, comprising Additional District Magistrate, Additional Commissioner of Police (Headquarters), District Welfare Officer and District Development and Panchayat Officer, would look into the allegations levelled by villagers in the allotment and lease of the Wakf Board land in the village. The report would be submitted within 15 days. The decision came following the gherao of Deputy Commissioner (DC) Priyank Bharti's residence by agitated villagers of Partap Pura and activists of various Dalit unions in the land dispute case this afternoon.

More parking lots: In order to provide some relief to the residents from regular traffic jams on various roads of the city, the Municipal Corporation (MC) has identified 11 more roadsides to be used as parking lots. MC Joint Commissioner DP Bhardwaj said the 11 roadsides identified as parking lots would soon be auctioned. Currently, there are only three proper parking lots near Narinder Cinema, PNB Chowk and Milap Chowk in the city. Besides the three permanent parking places, as many as seven roadsides have been identified and are being used as parking lots.

ludhiana
Murder accused held: A man of Nepalese origin landed in police net six years after allegedly killing his accomplice. Rohit, alias Ram Bahadur, who was on the run all these years and had perhaps thought that the police might have forgotten about the murder, was nabbed from the Jalandhar bypass here on Saturday. According to Ravinder Kumar, inspector Salem Tabri police station, the incident dates back to July 6, 2006, when Rohit, along with Vijay and their other accomplices, murdered Sonu Kumar at a hotel in the Salem Tabri area. While Vijay was arrested by the police, Rohit and his two accomplices managed to flee from the scene.

Faridabad
Fake documents: The police has arrested two persons for running a racket of making fake mark sheets, ration cards and driving licences. They are Sachin and Amit and they were nabbed by the CIA staff. A computer and other gadgets used by them have been confiscated. Ranveer Singh of the CIA said they were operating from a house in Dabua Colony. He said they used to charge money for the documents depending on the financial status of their clients.

Water crisis in Haldwani:The residents of a large number of colonies in the Panyuli area of Katghariya in Haldwani are facing a water crisis for the past five days. The residents say that the crisis has been triggered off by the burning of the motor of the tube well supplying them the required water. They say that despite complaints, the officials are yet to put the tube well in order. Officials say that it will take some days before the water supply from the tube well is resumed. Till then, efforts are being made to supply water with the help of tankers.

60 hotels given notice:The authorities at the Pollution Control Board have served notices to 60 hotels and restaurants in Nainital, Haldwani and Ramnagar for not adhering to the pollution-control norms and adding to the water and air pollution. These hotels were found to be indulging in improper disposal of their waste. It was found that they were dumping garbage in the open and had not installed proper mechanism for disposal of the water being used by them. The board is also mulling action against those hotels that are using improper generators and contributing to the sound and air pollution by their use.

Residents agitated over illegal mining:The residents of villages around Bazpur are agitated over the failure of the administration to curb illegal mining in the area. They have stated that the illegally mined material is being transported in heavy vehicles with impunity right under the nose of the administration. The farmers have protested that the heavy vehicles have damaged the roads and the dust caused is damaging for the crops. A large number of farmers and students held a demonstration on the issue on the Chhoi road on Saturday. These protestors had come from villages of Keshovala, Bannakheda, Ludhpura, Kosi Kanta, Kosi Bandha, Itavva and Betkhedi.

Man consumes poison:A resident of Kapkot in Bageshwar district ended his life after consuming a poisonous substance. The deceased has been identified as 34-year-old Kailash Singh. He is learnt to have had a spat with his family members. The exact reason that drove him to take the extreme step is yet to be ascertained. The police investigations are on in the matter.