R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Bathinda
J-K resident among 2 held with poppy husk: The police has arrested two persons, including a resident of Baramulla in Jammu and Kashmir, for allegedly smuggling 14.80 quintals of poppy husk worth Rs 18 lakh. Jatinder Jain, IG, said the accused, Gulzar Singh of Noorpur Mand in Machhiwara and Mohd Latif Sheikh of Baramulla, had hid the contraband under bags of China clay powder in a truck. They were intercepted near the thermal plant here.

Chandigarh
Sanawar Everesters meet Dy CM: Seven team members of Lawrence School, Sanawar, who recently completed their Everest expedition, on Thursday met Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal. The team members comprised Prithvi Singh Chahal of Patiala, Hakikat Singh Grewal of Sangrur, Fateh singh Brar of Muktsar, Guribadat Singh of Ropar, Shubham kaushik of Haryana, Raghav Joneja of Uttar Pradesh and Ajai Sohal of Himachal Pradesh.

Hoshiarpur
Ex-sarpanch commits suicide: A former sarpanch of Kukran village, Tajinder Singh Ladoo, allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with his licensed pistol at Garhshankar on Thursday. Sources said Tajinder, a Congress activist, along with a few of his friends came out from a patwari’s office near Garhshankar Tehsil Complex and allegedly shot himself after sitting in a car. He was rushed to the nearby Civil Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. A land dispute is reportedly said to be the reason behind his taking the extreme step.

Muktsar
Sonia told of ‘fake’ cases: Jagmeet Brar, CWC member, met party chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in Delhi on Wednesday and apprised them of the "fake" cases registered against Congress workers in Mann village.

Phagwara
Robbers’ gang busted; 3 held: With the arrest of three persons, the Nurmahal police claims to have busted a gang of robbers involved in crime incidents across the state. The accused have been identified as Prem Lal alias Kalu, Anoop Kumar alias Rupi and Jagtar Ram, all residents of Pattal Kalan village. Eight snatched mobile phones, two gas cylinders and a gold chain, besides weapons, were recovered from their possession. The police claimed the accused confessed to their involvement in robbery cases in different districts.

HARYANA

Rewari
Man robbed of Rs 1 lakh: Two motorcycle-borne miscreants snatched a bag containing Rs 1 lakh from Babu Lal of the TP Scheme Colony here on Tuesday. The incident took place when Babu Lal, who withdrew the amount from a bank here, was returning home on foot. The police registered a case of assault and theft on the basis of the victim's complaint.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Bilaspur
Woman dies of snake bite: Kalawati (58) of Berry Dadollan village near here was bitten by a poisonous snake and later died at a hospital. Kalawati was bitten by a snake during the night while she was sleeping in her room. She was rushed to the Regional Hospital here and then to the IGMC, Shimla. She died at a Shimla hospital immediately after reaching there.

Body found from Gobind Sagar: The police took into its possession the body of an unidentified youth aged around 30 to 40 years found floating in the Gobind Sagar by some villagers near Sughat, 85 km from here, yesterday. The body had the initials "RP" and words "Om Namah Shivaaye" tattooed on its right arm.