R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Man found dead: A man’s body was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his home at Sunder Nagari here on Friday. The victim, Tejinder Singh, allegedly committed suicide after attending a marriage function of his brother. Later, his family found him hanging from the ceiling fan.

42-yr-old’s body found from canal: The body of a 42-year-old landlord, Om Parkash, was found at the Maseetwala headworks of Indira Gandhi Canal in the neighbouring Rajasthan on Friday. Brother of the deceased Jagdish Chander of Jasana village alleged that Balwant, Arjun and Veeru of Ellenabad had on November 19 snatched their bag containing Rs 3.5 lakh and had thrown them in the canal. While Jagdish was rescued by some passersby, Om could not be saved. A case had been registered the next day but the accused are still absconding.

Amritsar

8 Pak prisoners freed through Attari-Wagah route: The Union Government on Friday repatriated eight Pakistani prisoners, including three terrorists and an advocate, through the Attari-Wagah land route here. Niaz Mohammad (advocate) claimed he illegally crossed over to India through Munabao-Khokhrabad border (Rajasthan) following harassment by various politicians. A resident of Sindh, he said politicians regularly used to threaten him and his family. Most of the freed prisoners were lodged in Rajasthan and Amritsar jails.

Ludhiana

Drive against drugs to be launched: Jagdev Singh Jasowal, chairman of Prof Mohan Singh Yadgiri Foundation, said keeping in view the need of the hour, the foundation would launch a drive against drugs. “Youth is driving towards drugs and to keep them away from this hell we will be launching several programmes,” he said.

Muktsar

2 youth snatch car from driver at gunpoint: Two masked youths snatched a Nissan Sunny car from its driver in broad daylight outside a paper mill in Rupana village on the busy Muktsar-Malout highway. The robbers first entered into a scuffle with the driver and attempted to put some powder in his eyes, but when they failed, they fired three bullets, one of which hit the driver’s foot. Thereafter, the robbers sped away with the car, which is owned by Tejpal Singh of Ludhiana. SHO, Muktsar police station, Iqbal Singh said they were investigating the matter.

Sangrur

3 get 25-yr jail for gang-rape of minor: The court of Additional Sessions Judge on Friday sentenced three youths to 25 years in jail for raping a 14-year-old girl from Ahmedgarh near Malerkotla in May. A fine of Rs 25,000 was also slapped on each of the convicts, Abhi Singh (20) from Ahmedgarh, Malkit Singh (25) from Mini Chhapar village and Surjit Sharma (28) from Ahmedgarh.

Ex-CPS booked under Excise Act: Surinder Singh Dhuri, who remained Chief Parliamentary Secretary during the tenure of former Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala, along with his wife Inderjit Kaur and nephew Aman Singh have been booked under Section 61 of the Excise Act for liquor smuggling. Deputy Superintendent of Police Krishan Kumar Panthey said on a tip-off, they stopped a tempo, which was ferrying 108 bottles of liquor allegedly brought from Dhuri’s house. Two persons, Jaspreet Singh and Manpreet Singh, were arrested from the vehicle.

Tarn Taran

Govt staff holds rally: Members of the Punjab State Ministerial Services Association held a rally at the Deputy Commissioner's office here on the second day of their two-day strike on Friday. Work was suspended in government offices, causing hardship to people. Association District President Sukhwinder Singh Sandhu alleged that anomalies in the Fifth Pay Commission had not been removed in spite of repeated assurances by the Punjab Government. The ministerial staff of Education, Health, Irrigation, Public Health, Excise and Taxation, and Agriculture departments participated in the strike.

HARYANA

Sirsa

Man gets 10-yr jail: Additional District and Sessions Judge RP Goyal today sentenced a person to imprisonment for 10 years for sodomising a seven-year-old child at Vaidwala in Sirsa. A villager had lodged a complaint on April 10 0that Sukhdev had sexually assaulted his son.