R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
Guru’s photo on masala sachet: The Akal Takht has taken serious notice of a company selling ‘pan masala’ by the name of Giani Gutkha and with a photograph of Guru Nanak Dev on its sachet. Talking to mediapersons , Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh said he had received complaints in this regard from the Sikh Sangat. He directed the SGPC to seek legal opinion and subsequently initiate strict action against the company manufacturing the product. He said the Union government should also ensure stringent norms to check such instances.

Moga
Moga youth held with pistol: The police on Thursday arrested a youth, Sandeep Singh, after recovering a .315 pistol and two live cartridges from his possession. A resident of Dashmesh Nagar, Sandeep was arrested from the Zira road. The police suspects his involvement in robbery and snatching cases in and around the town. A case has been registered under sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act at the City-1 police station.

Muktsar
60-year-old man found dead: Panic gripped Shivpur Kukkrian village near here after a 60-year-old man was found dead in the fields. The police said the deceased, Harbans Singh, was found lying in a pool of blood and a case under section 302 of the IPC has been registered in this connection at the Sadar police station. The deceased’s brother, Hardial Singh, informed the police that Harbans had gone to the fields around 6 am and when he did not return till 10 am, he went to look out for him and found him lying dead.

Muktsar pesticides’ dealer booked: The CIA staff has registered a case against a pesticide dealer of Gidderbaha town and seized “duplicate” goods worth Rs 30 lakh from his possession. Mukstar CIA staff in-charge Raminder Singh said, “Acting on the complaint of a farmer, a raid was conducted at the shop of the accused from where pesticides with fake labels worth Rs 30 lakh were seized.” The dealer, however, was yet to be arrested. The accused has been identified as Rajesh Kumar and a case under section 420 of the IPC has been registered against him at the Gidderbaha police station.

AISSF to hold 'Justice Rally': "Encouraged" by India's move to seek the release of Sarabjit Singh, who is on death row in Pakistan, the All-India Sikh Students Federation (AISSF) and Sikhs for Justice (SFJ) on Friday decided to renew their efforts for commutation of the death sentence of Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar and other Sikhs who are on death row in India. The Federation and SFJ also decided to hold a "Justice Rally" on July 17 in front of Parliament to secure the release of Bhullar and other Sikhs who are on death row in the country.

CHANDIGARH

Woman booked: The police has registered a case of cheating against a woman at Phase VII here. Harvinder of Patran village complained to the police that he had given Rs 5,40,000 to Anjali Sharma, alias, Meena, owner of Gurkirpa Enterprises, Phase VII, for sending him abroad.

HARYANA

Karnal
Post office looted: Three miscreants decamped with Rs 2.25 lakh in cash recently from the main post office at Trawari. The incident occurred when the postman had gone out to distribute mail. Postmaster Ami Lal and his colleague, Romesh, were in the post office. Three miscreants barged into the cabin of the postmaster where Ami Lal and his colleague were counting cash. While two of them held Ami Lal and Romesh hostage at gunpoint, the third collected the money and fled. A case has been registered.

Rohtak
Dalit’s ghurchari stopped: Eight upper-caste persons have been booked in connection with disrupting the marriage ceremony of a Dalit youth at Baniyani village of the district. One of the accused has been arrested. A complaint lodged with the police said the incident took place on Monday night when the kin of the victim, Rajesh, were taking out his horse-riding procession (ghurchari) in the village.The accused told them that they would not allow any Dalit to accomplish such a ritual in their street. A case has been registered against eight persons under the SC/ST Act.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Liquor seized: A police party, led by Suharghat SHO Ram Dass, blocked a truck loaded with bricks at Suharghat at a police naka on National Highway No. 21 on Thursday evening and recovered 273 boxes (3,276 bottles) of various types of English and country liquor. These boxes were kept hidden behind the bricks on the truck. Santosh Patial, SP, said here on Friday that two persons, driver Rajender Singh of Amtar village of Hamirpur and Madan Lal of Bela, Hamirpur, were arrested by the police  from the truck while the contraband and the truck  were also taken into its  possession.

MANDI
Man gets 7-year jail: District and Sessions Judge, Mandi, Virender Singh, on Friday sentenced Kuldip Thakur of Bhuntar, Kullu, to seven-year rigorous imprisonment for abducting and raping a school-going girl. A fine of Rs 20,000 was also imposed on the accused. If the accused did not pay the fine he have to undergo an additional term for six months. The police had recovered the victim along with the accused from Bhuntar bus stand and arrested him.

NURPUR
Baby born in ambulance: Rajani Devi (28), wife of Ashok Deen of nearby Khazian, on Friday delivered a baby in a 108 ambulance. According to information, a 108 ambulance received a call from the woman’s family at 12.01 pm and it reached her place at 12.35 pm to rush the woman to the local civil hospital here, but she successfully delivered the baby on the way to hospital in the ambulance. Later, she was admitted to the civil hospital.

15 hurt in mishap: Fifteen persons, including 13 women, were injured, some of them seriously, when an HRTC bus in which they were traveling in collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction, near Niharkhan Basla, on the national highway near Namhole on Friday. A case has been registered against the bus driver, who is said to have attempted to overtake another vehicle. Reports said the bus was going to Solan and all the injured were from Bilaspur district. Santosh Patial, SP, said all those injured were rushed to the nearby Primary Health Centre and were out of danger.

Body found in Beas: The body of Bachan Singh (67) of Rehatpur village under the Indora police station was recovered from the nearby Beas river on Friday. He has left his house on Thursday for doing work in his fields but did not return in the evening. DSP Rajinder Jaswal said the deceased had been drowned in the river and his body was seen floating in the river by his son on Friday who informed the police. — OC

SHIMLA
Bonus for  employees: The Himachal Pradesh State Civil Supplies Corporation has decided to grant 8.33 per cent bonus to its eligible employees for 2011-12. The decision was taken at the meeting of the Board of Directors held under the chairmanship of Food and Civil Supplies Minister Ramesh Dhawala, here on Friday. The board also decided to provide education loan up to Rs 75,000 to employees whose children were studying in professional educational institutions.

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Jammu
Vyas bereaved: Officials of the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, Planning and Development Department, Directorate of Economics and the Statistics and Directorate of Information condoled the demise of Azad Sharma, elder brother of BB Vyas, Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister. They prayed for peace to the departed soul and conveyed heartfelt sympathies to the bereaved family. A two-minute silence was observed as a token of respect for the departed soul.

Leh
Hemis festival kicks off: The centuries old two-day annual Hemis Tseschu Festival began at the Hemis Monastery in Leh district today. The festival is observed by the largest Drukpa Kagyu Monastery of Ladakh to mark the birth anniversary of Guru Rinpoche on the 10th and 11th day of the fifth month of the Tibetan lunar calendar. The monastery where the festival is being celebrated has been flooded with devotees and tourists.