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NTCA to equip Corbett tigers with radio collars
A day after snowfall, heavy traffic jams on Mussoorie road
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Snow leopards sighted at unusual places
Upper age limit for SI posts raised to 45
Memorial to Vivekananda demanded
Three-day international conference begins today
Maha panchayat called off
Nishank writes to PM for justice to rape victim
Conservation fortnight begins
Fill all vacant posts, says teachers assn
Convert Parade Ground into park: Council
Students who excelled in talent search awarded
sports
Rinside
view
Man booked for posing as CM's driver
Four held for trespassing into businessman's house in Doon
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NTCA to equip Corbett tigers with radio collars
Pithoragarh, January 19 “By equipping Corbett tigers with sensitive radio transmitters, we will not only be able to trace their exact location to help in better study of their movements and ensure their protection, but also help the authorities to act in time to reduce attacks on human beings. Besides, the radio collars will also help in controlling the activities of poachers,” said Gopal. He said this idea had mooted after a tigress, reportedly from the Corbett reserve, killed six persons in the adjoining Uttar Pradesh areas but could not be traced in the absence of other methods to locate tigers which had become man-eater or left their main hunting area. “We have done it successfully on the tigers of Ranthambor in Rajasthan and some other sanctuary areas of the country, and have succeeded in reducing man-animal conflicts by timely locating tigers and taming them,” said Gopal. He added the work was not easy as it involved tranquilising a tiger before equipping it with the sensitive radio transmitter. “Mostly, we refrain from making the wild animals unconscious as it sometimes proves fatal for them,” he said. |
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A day after snowfall, heavy traffic jams on Mussoorie road
Mussoorie, January 19 However, the traffic movement at Bhatta village on the Mussoorie-Dehradun road was very slow due to heavy boulders placed on roadsides by contractors involved in the road widening project. The police had opened the Jharipani route after seeing the heavy rush of vehicles but there was no let up in the jam here. Mussoorie had witnessed around 2 to 3 feet of snow after several decades and with the news spreading like a wildfire tourists from northern plains of India flocked to the town in a large number to catch a glimpse of the snow before it melts. However, they were caught in the traffic jam for more than 7 to 8 hours all along the Mussoorie-Dehradun road. The mad rush to the town was such that the police had to stop the traffic at Kothal Gate for a few hours. Jyoti, a tourist from Delhi, said she was caught in the traffic jam just below Bhatta for more than five hours and when she reached Mussoorie, to her dismay she found that there was no electricity and water available in hotels. The power and water supply has remained disrupted for the past 48 hours following heavy snowfall, inconveniencing the tourists who could not use heaters and geysers in their hotel rooms. Senior officials of the UPCL said several electricity poles were uprooted due to the heavy snowfall, disrupting power supply to the town. The work to restore the power supply was still on. On the other hand, the Municipal Council of Mussoorie deployed a JCB machine to clear snow from the road in order to maintain a free flow of traffic here but the rush was so huge that the traffic jam did not ease despite all efforts. Some hotels did make arrangements of power generators for the tourists but many had to close their units due to lack of adequate drinking water supply. A similar situation was witnessed at Dhanaulti where the administration did not make any effort to clear snow using heavy machines, forcing most of the tourists to return halfway. Former Chief Secretary of the state RS Tolia, who was to address a mountain initiative meeting in Mussoorie, was also caught in the traffic jam and had to return without attending it. The roofs of the food court at Company Garden and Luxmi Apartments at Balahisar caved in due to the heavy snowfall. Uprooted trees at many places also contributed to road blockades in Mussoorie. A woman and a policeman fractured their limbs after slipping near Kulri Bazaar and had to be taken to government hospital. Remote districts like Utarkashi, Chamoli and the Gangotri and Yamunotri region remained cut off from the outside world due to the blockage of roads at several places due to the heavy snowfall. The supply of ration, keresone oil, and petrol to the remote areas of the region remained disrupted as many places recorded the heaviest snowfall of the decade. |
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Snow leopards sighted at unusual places
Dehradun, January 19 It all started this winter when the first snow leopard images were recorded in the Gangotri National Park in Uttarakashi district. One snow leopard and another leopardess were captured in camera traps at the Gangotri National Park. While the trap camera captured the leopard on November 18, the snow leopardess image was captured on December 2. It was for the first time that the presence of snow leopards was confirmed through picture proofs in the Gangotri National Park. This was followed by a disclosure of another snow leopard being sighted in the Malari region of the Nanda Devi National Park in Chamoli district on December 27. However, this region has earlier records of camera trapping of snow leopards, one each in 2011 and 2012. And now two snow leopards have been confirmed to have been sighted
in Uzbekistan. In November and December last year, a team of rangers and biologists led by Bakhtiyor Aromov and Yelizaveta Protas, in collaboration with the global wild cat conservation organisation, Panthera, and the WWF Central Asia Programme, conducted a snow leopard camera trap study in the Kizilsu area of the Gissar Nature Reserve, on the border of Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. Images taken through the study confirmed the presence of at least two snow leopards in the region. The confirmed presence of snow leopards in Uzbekistan holds much importance as it is also the western-most part of the species' range, and the availability of prey as confirmed through this study's camera trap images, provides hope for the survival of this endangered wild cat in Uzbekistan and throughout its range. Zoologist Hem Singh Gehlot said it was commendable that conservationists were now focusing on these elusive snow leopards known as "Ghosts of Mountains" as more of them were being sighted. He did not rule out recording of more snow leopard sightings through trap cameras from its distribution range, particularly India, in the near future. As many as 12 Central and South Asian countries, including India, are signatory to the Bishkek Declaration on Snow Leopard
Conservation signed recently. Snow leopard is listed as endangered on the IUCN-World Conservation Union's Red List of threatened species. |
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ITBP, SSB forces alerted after heavy snowfall
Pithoragarh, January 19 According to ITBP sources, the snowfall started last night and was still continuing. It is likely to break all previous records. “We have alerted our personnel considering the sensitive nature of local glaciers which often burst after fresh snowfall,” said Kedar Singh Rawat, an ITBP officer. The sources said Jolingkong in the Darma valley of Dharchula subdivision witnessed the highest snowfall of 82 cm till this afternoon, followed by Nabhidhang (80 cm), Kalapani (60 cm), Kuti (62 cm), Gunji (45 cm), Garbiyang (35 cm) and 15 cm at the Bundi camp of the border force. “Almost all our border outposts are covered by snow at present,” said Rawat. Besides heavy to moderate snowfall in the high Himalayan valleys, continuous heavy rain for 12 hours was witnessed in lower valleys of Pithoragarh, Almora, Champawat, Nainital, Bageshwar and Bhimtal, leading to bone chilling cold conditions. “The adjoining hills of Pithoragarh town and Champawat district headquarters, besides Dhanachuli and Ramgarh forests of Nainital district witnessed the first snowfall of the winter season, triggering a cold wave,” said Chendrek Bisht, a social worker based at
Bhimtal. |
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Upper age limit for SI posts raised to 45
Dehradun, January 19 The serving constables and head constables will be benefited after the decisions, as now they will be have extra 5 years time to appear for the sub-inspector departmental promotion exam. It is to be noted that there has been long-standing demand of constables and head constables to increase the age for departmental recruitment to the post of sub inspector, which was met today in a meeting at police headquarters. Notably, during the meeting, the officers were of the view that by increasing the age limit, the department will get experienced sub inspectors who have given their services to the police as constables or head constables. |
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Hindu Jagran Manch observes black day
Dehradun, January 19 They alleged that the Centre had so far taken little initiative to rehabilitate displaced Kashmiri Pandits in Kashmir. They said even after 24 years cases were still to be registered against
those who attacked Kashmiri Pandits. The protesters also demanded revocation of Article 370 from Kashmir. Ashish Oberoi, Sandeep Singh, Vimal Bisht, Rohit Maurya and Sahil Yadav were the prominent AAP members, who participated in the protest. |
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Discipline, dedication must for success in sports: Indu Puri
Haridwar, January 19 Indu, who had won record eight national table tennis titles, lauded the efforts of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram and its head Swami Chidanand Muni’s drive to clean the Ganga and conserve the environment. Asked about the controversies that arise during nomination and according of sports awards like Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna and Arjuna Awards, Indu who has been associated with the award jury both as the head and a member in the past, said this year the government had initiated various steps to ensure clarity and equality in the selection and nomination procedure. She said today the younger generation was opting for sports at an early age, which was a good sign for Indian sports. On her experience as an international player, Indu said only hard work, dedication, commitment, discipline and learning from one's mistakes paved the way for a longer success tenure in sports. Swami Chidanand urged Indu to be part of the social campaigns of the Parmarth Niketan Ashram. He termed her as an ideal role model for the youths as she had made it to the top list of table tennis players at the Asian Games and the Commonwealth Games. As news of her presence in the city spread, sports aficionados and table tennis players thronged the venue to meet the national champion, who didn’t disappoint her fans. |
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Memorial to Vivekananda demanded
Pithoragarh, January 19 “The entourage of Swami Vivekananda reached Champawat town on January 18, 1901, from the Mayawati ashram and stayed at the district board rest house where the room is still in tact. We want that room should be made a Vivekananda memorial,” said Dinesh Pandey, a local journalist in the town. Pandey said Vivekananda, who was accompanied by Swami Sivananda, Sadananda Gupta, Swami Kalikrishna, Birjananda from Kollata and Govind Lal from Almora, stayed there and discussed the beauty and spirituality of the Himalayas. The next day the entourage left for Diuri village en route to the Tanakpur railway station. The people of Champawat held a meeting yesterday and demanded that the Dak Bungalow where the caravan of Swamiji stayed be made a Vivekananda memorial and spiritual discourses be held there. |
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Three-day international conference begins today
Dehradun, January 19 Addressing a press conference in Dehradun today, Dr Ashish Kumar Sen, President of the Association of Carbohydrate Chemists and Technologists India (ACCTI), said the conference was aimed to bring together scientists, industrialists and technologists on a common platform and discuss about the use of carbohydrate research in the country. Dr Ashish Kumar Sen said apart from being a source of energy and food, carbohydrates were becoming a relevant subject for modern bio-medical research. He said carbohydrates play a vital role in controlling various diseases such as cancer, diabetes, neuro-degenerative diseases and parasitic infections. “Carbohydrates keep immense industrial applications and are much in demand in food, pharmaceutical, paper and textile industry,” he added. He said the conference will witness talks on subjects by international and national authorities about contemporary research. Renowned scientists and academicians from USA, Australia, Canada, Germany, Russia, France, Britain, Portugal and Italy will attend the event. Dr PP Bhojvaid, Director of Forest Research Institute, will inaugurate the conference in the presence of Prof Ghanshyam Chauhan from Himachal Pradesh University,
Shimla. |
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Maha panchayat called off
Haridwar, January 19 The maha panchayat was scheduled to be held today at Roorkee. Meanwhile, the family members of both the
girl and the boy have also discontinued their relationship with them. Chaudhary Rajendra Singh, a community leader, said there was no need of the meeting as the young couple did not want to listen to their family members and the community heads. Superintendent of Rural Police Ajay Singh said adequate security has been provided to the couple
who want to stay together and as both are legally married, no one will be allowed to pressurise them to get separated. |
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Nishank writes to PM for justice to rape victim
Dehradun, January 19 Besides writing to the Prime Minister, Nishank also met the family members of the victim in New Delhi and participated in a dharna to press for the arrest of the culprits. The incident took place in 2011 when the woman was returning from her office in Gurgaon. She was sexually assaulted and brutally murdered near Chawla Colony. Though an FIR was registered at Dwarka police
station, the police had failed to nab the culprits till date. — TNS |
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Man, paramour held for killing wife, daughter
Haridwar, January 19 Two days ago, Sanjeev had committed the crime by throwing his wife, Rinku (26), and his daughter, Shruti, in the Ganga near Har-ki-Pauri. SHO MS Negi said the accused accompanied by Ruby had taken an accommodation at two hotels, one at Jwalapur and other
near Har-ki-Pauri. He laced the tea with sleeping pills and offered it to his wife. After having tea, Rinku fell unconscious. Sanjeev then threw Rinku and
his daughter into the Ganga. After committing the crime, he along with Ruby left
for Faridabad. Rinku’s relatives couldn’t digest Sanjeev's version of the deaths that the mother and the daughter died after slipping into the Ganga while taking a bath. The SHO said Rinku's family members got suspicious and arrived in Haridwar with Sanjeev. They were shocked when they found that Sanjeev had not lodged any complaint regarding the incident with the police. “We interrogated Sanjeev and came to know from
the hotel register details that another woman (Ruby) was also present with him,” said Negi. Sanjeev told the police that he was in love with Ruby but his wife used to oppose their extra-marital affair and hence they decided to kill her. Circle Officer JR Joshi said as one of the
hotels didn’t have CCTV cameras on its premises, action would be taken against its owner. — TNS |
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Conservation fortnight begins
Dehradun, January 19 SS Tolia, Deputy Secretary of Technical Education, inaugurated the fortnight. He said the fortnight was an important tool to spread the message of energy conservation among the masses. He added energy scarcity was a big challenge world over and India was no exception. India withstood the economic recession firmly due to the saving habits of the countrymen. He appreciated the IIP’s initiative towards organising the fortnight in a big way. Dr MO Garg, Director, IIP, said energy and environment held much
importance in the present day scenario. He asserted that conserving energy was the need of the hour. Large scale awareness programmes like poster making, poem and essay writing competitions will also be organised.
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Programme organised for
specially-abled
Dehradun, January 19 Over 30 volunteers reached Raphael Home in the morning and decorated the hall with balloons and ribbons. A painting competition was organised, which witnessed active participation from all residents of Raphael Home. Yashika, Jenny and Nishtha were declared the winners of the painting competition. “The specially-abled persons need our company and true affection,” said, Syed Manzer Imam, a third year student of the Dehradun Institute of Technology (DIT) and a member of the MAD. The members of MAD reached Gandhi Park to extend their support to ‘Save Gandhi Park’,
an initiative taken by the Citizens For Green Doon (CFGD) organisation against felling of trees
in the park. |
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Fill all vacant posts, says teachers assn
Dehradun, January 19 The members of the association claimed that the government was
planning to issue a notification for only 900 posts of the total 3,246 posts, which was not acceptable to them. Manbir Singh Rawat, state general secretary
of the association, said, “We have come to know through an RTI query that the Finance Department has given its assent to 2,371 posts of
the total 3,246 posts considering that the 65 per cent of the cost would be borne by the Central government." Meanwhile, the association said it would
intensify its agitation if the government failed to address its concerns.
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Bhartiya Magar Samaj celebrates foundation day
Dehradun, January 19 During the event, dances and songs of the Magar community were performed and martyrs from the community were remembered. People also observed two-minute silence for the thousands of people who lost their lives in the flash floods last year. Renowned members of the Magar community were present during the function. |
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DM for polythene bag-free Doon
Dehradun, January 19 The District Magistrate stressed on ensuring
participation of people in the anti-polythene bag drive. He said people from civil defence, senior citizens, National Service Scheme (NSS) volunteers, traders and children from government and public schools need to be included to carryforward the drive effectively. It was also decided at
the meeting to start a special daylong polythene eradication campaign in Dehradun on January 22. The meeting also
discussed to conduct a poster removal drive on February 2 under which all the posters
pasted on boundary walls of government offices and buildings will be removed. Additional District Magistrate (Administration) Harak Singh Rawat, City Magistrate Girish Chandra Gunawant and District Panchayat Raj Officer MM Khan were prominent participants of the meeting. |
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Convert Parade Ground into park: Council
Dehradun, January 19 Seeking Dehradun District Magistrate’s intervention, Brig KG Behl (retd), President of the All-India Consumers Council, Uttarakhand, said despite being considered as an important open space in the city, the Parade Ground today was a neglected lot. He said rampant felling of trees and haphazard construction had enormously damaged the ground. He said the park would add to the beauty of the town and would provide a healthy green environment to the local residents.
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Students who excelled in talent search awarded
Dehradun, January 19 The function was organised by Lakshya, an educational and awareness society, Miyanwala, and the SBSPGI, Balawala, while the event was supported by the State Bank of India, Dehradun. Dr SPS Khushwaha from the Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) was the chief guest on the occasion. The young students were shown the modern laboratory facilities in the field of biomedical sciences to broaden their knowledge. There were three categories for awards, including category A for the students of class VI to VIII, category B for the students of class IX and X and category C for the students of class XI and XII. In the category A, Manish Purohit, SGRR, stood first, Vaishnavi Nautiyal, St. Kabir, stood second and Anshuman Sharma, Doon Public School, stood third. In category B, Samarth Khantwal, St Kabir Academy, stood first, Aditya Uniyal, SGRR, stood second and Vinay Singh, Doon Public School, stood third. In the category C, Yash Chauhan, SGRR, stood first, Atul Bamola, SGRR, stood second and Aman Bhandari stood third. |
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sports
Dehradun, January 19 The quarterfinal match was played with full passion by both the teams and University of Calcutta won the match by 35 runs. After winning the toss, University of Calcutta elected to bat first and set a fighting target of 157 runs. Aditya Verma scored the highest 63 runs in the innings, followed by Arjun Das, who scored 34 runs. Vira Thakur took 4 wickets. In reply, University of Pune gave a good start and lost wickets on frequent intervals. Ajay Shinde and Ninad Kulkarni scored 122 runs in the 20 overs and lost the match by 34 runs. From University of Calcutta, Akhilesh Yadav was the star performer after taking 5 wickets in the match. |
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Rahul, Hriyadesh upset plans of leaders vying for CM’s post
While Harish Rawat was the front-runner in case the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leadership was changed, the entry of one of the senior-most ministers in the Bahuguna Cabinet, Indira Hriyadesh, in the race for the post of Chief Minister has upset several leaders eyeing the post. For the past four months, there have been rumours and speculation about Indira Hriyadesh vying for the post of Chief Minister. Last week, she created a flutter by publicly declaring that she was eyeing the Chief Minister's post. Indira Hriyadesh, a legislator since 1974, was number two in the ND Tewari-led first elected Congress government of the state. A protégé of ND Tewari, she lost the 2007 Assembly elections from her hometown Haldwani but won the last Assembly elections in January 2012 to become a minister in the Vijay Bahuguna government. Congress sources state that Rahul Gandhi is yet to open his cards on the issue but his commitment about women's representation has put senior Congress leaders in a quandary. They believe that Harish Rawat would not like anyone other than him to replace Bahuguna at this juncture. If a new Chief Minister takes over now, Harish Rawat would not have any chance till the expiry of the term of the present state Assembly. He could bid for his chance after the Lok Sabha elections. However, there is a possibility that the new president for the Uttarakhand Congress would be announced soon. The present state Congress president, Yashpal Arya, who is also Revenue Minister, had resigned on the principle of “one man, one post” two months ago. Meanwhile, the meetings of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) and a session of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) in Delhi last week have failed to dispel the uncertainty about a change in the leadership of the Uttarakhand Congress as well as the state government. Even a meeting of the senior state party leaders with Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi yesterday did not clear the picture. Although the meeting was focused on the preparations for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections and the relief and rehabilitation efforts of the Uttarakhand government in the disaster-affected areas of the state, Rahul Gandhi asked the leaders to remain united to face the electoral challenge. According to the party leaders who attended the meeting, they gave their feedback on the prevailing ground realities in the state to Rahul Gandhi. They reportedly stated that the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the disaster-affected areas were on right track. Both Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna and his arch rival Union Water Resources Minister Harish Rawat clarified that all was well within the state Congress organisation and the government. Harish Rawat, who had led a campaign to ouster Bahuguna, stated after the meeting that there was no vacancy of Chief Minister or the state Congress president. |
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Rinside
view Uttarakhand Congress leaders were elated at a power-packed speech delivered by vice-president Rahul Gandhi during the session of the All-India Congress Committee (AICC) and later met him in a delegation. Most of the senior party leaders from the state, including ministers and office-bearers of the Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC), were present at the meeting. While most of the speakers talked about the efforts of the state government to provide succour to the disaster affected people and the plans for reconstruction of the damaged infrastructure, one of the leaders spoke his heart out. He talked about the government ignoring party workers and leaders and demanded due recognition of senior party functionaries. Interestingly, Vijay Bahuguna after becoming the Chief Minister of the state, has not given offices of various boards, corporations and other agencies to the party leaders. The state leaders, who enjoyed more than 200 such positions during the earlier Congress regime of former Chief Minister ND Tewari, are feeling frustrated. Bahuguna has only given such offices to legislators and a small number of persons. The party spokesperson, who held one such post during the ND Tiwari government, made an emotional appeal to Rahul Gandhi to honour party workers. Race for forest conservator’s post
With the incumbent Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) all set to retire shortly, the race for the post has begun in the forest predominant state. Top IFS officers have already started lobbying for the post and the tussle is mainly between two officers. However, a meeting of the Department Promotion Committee will be held soon to decide the successor. Interestingly, IFS officers in Uttarakhand consider themselves the most deprived bureaucrats. They for long have been demanding a better representation in the state’s bureaucracy, a move strongly resented by the IAS lobby. The IFS officers allege that IAS officers want to restrict their representation to forests and wildlife works. They say IFS officers in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Northeastern states have been given better representation in the bureaucracy and they were performing excellently. Uttarakhand need to emulate
these states. Age relaxation opens promotion avenue
After the upper age limit for the posts of sub-inspector was increased from 40 to 45 years, all serving constables and head constables in the Police Department are willing to take the department examination, which is expected to take place in the next couple of months. The condition is such that every constable and head constable, who is eligible to sit in the examination in Dehradun, is guessing the possible date of the examination and the number of seats. Moreover, they are requesting journalists and senior officers to fetch information from the police headquarters about the examination date so that they could start preparations for the examination. Some of them are even planning to apply for leave and start preparing as they do not want to leave any stone unturned. On Friday, the state police foundation committee, headed by the Director General of Police, took an important decision to increase the age for sub-inspector posts and opening the avenue for thousands of constables and head constables who have crossed the age of 40 to become sub-inspector. Around 300 posts of sub-inspector are reportedly reserved for the serving police personnel while around the same number of seats will be open for direct recruitment. (Contributed by SMA Kazmi, Jotirmay Thapliyal and Gaurav Talwar) |
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Man booked for posing as CM's driver
Dehradun, January 19 Mahendra Singh filed a complaint in Kotwali police station alleging Deepak, who posed as a driver in the Chief Minister's convoy, assured him of a job in the Energy Department. Mahendra said Deepak even showed him an appointment letter on the letter pad of Principal Secretary in the Government of Uttarakhand. But he got to know the reality when Mahendra reached the energy department with that letter and found it to be forged.
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Four held for trespassing into businessman's house in Doon
Dehradun, January 19 Police sources said they have arrested Deepak, Rabi Chauhan, Suresh and Rinko who entered the house of the businessman on Rajpur Road and threatened his servant Surendra Singh at gunpoint. Later, a complaint was registered in the Kotwali against unidentified men under various sections of the IPC. The men allegedly broke into the house and entered the servant quarters. They got hold of Surendra and his family and threatened to kill him. In his statement, Surendra has alleged that one of the assailants even pulled the trigger of the gun but he was saved as it malfunctioned. Two more persons, namely Raj and Praveen, are wanted in the case and a police team has been formed to nab them. — TNS
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