R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Abohar robbery mastermind held: Baljinder Kaur, the sister-in-law of Major Singh at whose place in Baba Deep Singh Nagar here three miscreants had committed robbery on December 5 last year, has been held under Sections 382 and 120-B of the IPC. Meanwhile, within a day of her arrest, another accused Veerpal Kaur of Gobindgarh village was discharged on the basis of the investigation conducted by SSP Amar Singh Chahal, sources said.

Chandigarh
Govt constitutes panel for inquiries: The Punjab Government has constituted a panel to conduct inquiries against government officials. A spokesman said the new panel, comprising government officials, was constituted to conduct probes under the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rule 1970. The panel comprises Sukhpal Singh Gill, CS Talwar, Surinderjit Singh Sandhu, BR Bansal, BC Gupta, MG Acharia and HR Gangar. 

Fazilka
Three-month-old crushed to death: A three-month-old baby boy was run over by a tractor-trailer at a brick kiln near Mandi Arniwala here. A migrant labourer Ram Karan, who belongs to Alwar district of Rajasthan and presently residing in Mandi Arniwala, said he and his wife Arjana were working at the brick kiln while their son Shauky, who was wrapped in a cloth, was sleeping on the ground near the site. A tractor-trailer driver working at the brick kiln could not notice the boy and ran over him. The infant died on the spot. The post-mortem examination of the body was conducted in the local Civil Hospital. 

Jalandhar
Heroin worth Rs 10-cr recovered: The BSF on Thursday recovered 2 kg of heroin from an area along the India-Pakistan border here. The contraband is estimated to be around Rs 10 crore in the international market, officials said. BSF personnel patrolling the border along the Ferozpur sector found two packets thrown into the Indian side from Pakistan, BSF Inspector-General Aditya Mishra said. On investigation, it found the packets contained heroin. 

Ludhiana
Purse snatched from woman: Two motorcycle-borne youngsters snatched a purse containing Rs 6,600 from a woman in the Model Town Extension area here on Thursday. According to Kailash Rani (52), she was walking on the Model Town Extension road in the evening when two youngsters riding a motorcycle came from the opposite side and snatched her purse.

ADGP (Jails) visits city:  Day after a massive search operation in the Ludhiana Central Jail, the ADGP (Jails), RP Meena, today visited the city and convened a special meeting with the jail officials. While issuing stringent guidelines to the jail officials, the ADGP told them to strengthen frisking of visitors who arrive at the jail to meet their relative. He told the jail officials to curb the use of mobile phones by criminals inside the jail. He said the 0jail officials would also lay special emphasis on checking the tossing of drugs inside jail. He was all praise to the meditation programme for the inmates being run at the jail. He said on the lines on the Tihar Jail in Delhi, a biscuit and namkin factory would be set up in the jail.

High drama outside mall: High drama took place outside a shopping mall on the Ferozepur road here on Thursday after a security guard of the mall thrashed an auto-rickshaw driver, who was entering the mall from the wrong side. It is learnt that during the fight, the turban of the auto-rickshaw driver fell on the ground. However, the police reached the spot on time and prevented the situation from getting worse. Later, the auto-rickshaw driver's supporters raised slogans against the mall authorities. 

Experts to dwell on paediatric emergency today: The Indian Academy of Paediatrics (lAP), in association with the Society of Trauma and Emergency Pediatrics is organising the 5th National Assembly on Pediatric Emergency Medicine (NAPEM-2013) in Ludhiana from February 15 to 17 at Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan. 

Villager arrested with 1.5 kg of opium: The police has arrested Akhtiar Singh, a resident of Khalra village situated near the border, with 1.5 kg of opium. The accused was nabbed during routine checking at a naka. A case has been registered. 

JAMMU & KASHMIR

Batote
House gutted in fire:A double-storey house caught fire at Panthial in Ramsu on Wednesday night. According to the police, four rooms and a verandah on the upper storey of the house belonging to Mohd Sharief were burnt in the fire reportedly caused due to the electric short circuit. The loss is yet to be calculated.