R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Patwaris protest against colleague’s dismissal: Patwaris of the Revenue Department staged a dharna in the sub-divisional complex here on Monday to express resentment over the dismissal of their colleague Jaswant. The union's sub-divisional president, Jagdish Kherwa, criticised the district administration for resorting to repressive measures to harass employees on flimsy grounds. 

Chandigarh
2 ASIs held for graft: The Punjab Vigilance Bureau sleuths on Monday arrested two police officers on alleged graft charges. Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs) Munish Kumar and Harmanjit Singh were trapped with the alleged bribe of ~60,000 on the complaint of a resident of Ludhiana, a spokesman said. They had allegedly demanded bribe from the complainant for not arresting him in connection with a case, the complainant said.

Fatehgarh Sahib
Man dies as car falls in canal: A man was killed when his car fell into the Narwana branch of the Bakhra Main Line canal on Saturday evening. The victim, Amarjit Singh, was a native of Nabipur village in the district. He was a taxi driver. The body and the car were fished out last evening. The deceased’s brother, Sarabjit Singh Cheema, said Amarjit went missing on January 24. The next day, a passerby informed the family that a car had fallen into the canal last night, he said.

Revenue officials on strike: Revenue Department officials today started a weeklong strike in protest against the registration of a "false case" against a Patwari and a Registry Clerk. SGPC interim member Karnail Singh Panjoli assured the protesters to take up the matter with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal.

Gurdaspur
One killed, 6 hurt in bus-car collision: A local resident, Om Parkash Salaria, was killed and six others were injured when a private bus plying on the Amritsar-Gurdaspur road rammed into a car near the Bidhipur railway crossing, 14 km from here, this evening. Eye witnesses said the impact was such that the “speeding” bus, after ramming into the car, turned turtle and hit a tree, about 20 m away from the place of accident. A case has been registered against the bus driver.

Hoshiarpur
3 booked for murder bid: The police have booked three persons on the charge of attempt to murder a NRI. Ajram village resident Gagandeep Singh complained to the police that while NRI Surinder Singh of his village was getting his house repaired, accused Jaswinder Singh, Gursharan Singh and Avtar Singh tried to kill him by crushing him under a tractor. Surinder had returned from the US a few days ago. Avtar Singh has been arrested, while his accomplices are at large.

Dera chief held for rape bid: Sarup Hari, the head of a dera in Gobindpur Nadali village, was arrested on the charge of attempt to rape. The girl, in her complaint on January 9, stated a peon told her to hand over a "siropa" to dera head Sarup. When she went to the Sarup's room, he allegedly latched the door from inside and tried to rape her. When she raised a noise, he threatened her that he would kill her family.

Ludhiana
Swine flu case reported: A case of swine flu was reported at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) here today. The woman patient is from Una district in Himachal Pradesh. A few days ago, a 25-year-old woman from Jalandhar infected with the virus was admitted to the DMCH. District Epidemiologist Dr Anil Verma said patients' members of families and relatives were subjected to medication.

National martyr status sought  for Sarabha: Sukhdev Kaur, a relative of Kartar Singh Sarabha, observed a day-long hunger strike at Shaheed Sarabha Park here seeking national martyr status for the freedom fighter. She demanded that work related to his home be completed and the road from Bhai Bala Chowk to Raikot be named after the martyr. The Shaheed Bhagat Singh Sabhyachar Kendra and Shaheed Kartar Singh Lok Bhalai Manch supported her demands.

Moga
3 killed in mishaps: Two youths, Balbir Singh and Sukhwant Singh, died on the spot on Sunday when their motorcycle was hit by a tractor near Aminwala village under the Dharamkot police station. The tractor driver has absconded. In another mishap, a cyclist, Nahar Singh, was killed after being hit by an unidentified vehicle on the Moga-Amritsar road.

Ropar
Youth killed in road mishap: A man was killed in a road mishap here yesterday. The deceased, Surjit Singh (25), was a native of Alowal village in the district. The police said that while crossing the NH-21 around 1 am the victim was hit by a vehicle. Following this, he fell down and was run over other vehicles due to darkness. The police have registered a case.

AAP protests attack on cadre: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) staged a dharna at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Park here today in protest against an attack on patry workers in Amritsar yesterday. A mob had attacked AAP workers when they gathered at Ram Bagh in Amritsar to unfurl the National Flag on Republic Day.

Sangrur
Man, woman die after consuming poison: An unmarried man, Kuldip Singh, and a married woman, Manpreet Kaur —both 25 years of age — who had “consumed some poisonous substance” on January 25-26 night in Longowal village, died on Sunday. The Longowal police initiated proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC.

Tarn Taran
Leopard injures two youths: A leopard reportedly attacked two youths at Sursing village, 25 km from here, on Sunday. Both the youths Sukhwinder Singh and Deepak Singh were injured. The incident has created panic among residents of the area. Officials of the Wildlife Department, police and the district administration have launched a search to trace the animal.

Valmiki Kranti Sena workers gherao police station: Valmiki Kranti Sena workers gheroed the local police station on Sunday to protest against registration of case against 35 persons of the Muradpur locality. They were booked on the complaint of Darshan Kaur, wife of a former SAD councillor Baldev Singh Billa. She alleged that the accused forcibly entered her house and ransacked it and threatened to kill her. The protesters said the allegations were baseless. They budged only after the SSP assured them to investigate the matter.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

BILASPUR
Man found dead in khad: Lal Singh of Chalag village under the Bhalswaye gram panchayat was found dead in the Solly khad near his village, 40 km from here, on Friday. He was a daily wage earner. Reports said Lal Singh was returning to his village in the afternoon and might have slipped into the khad. Later, schoolchildren returning home saw a body in the khad and informed villagers. They took the body out of it. The police had registered a case.

CHAMBA
1 dies as car rolls down hill: The driver of a Santro car was killed on the spot when it veered off the road and rolled down about 400 m a hill at Bailey near Banikhet on Friday night, a police report said here on Saturday. The driver was the lone occupant in the car at the time of the accident. The deceased had been identified as Tilak Raj of Bailey village in Chamba. The body had been handed over to the family after postmortem. A case had been registered at the Banikhet police post.

1,100 gm charas seized: The police seized charas weighing 1,100 gm from an HRTC bus near Kaila in Churah subdivision here on Saturday. Chamba SP Jagat Ram said the bus, going from Tissa to Pathankot, was intercepted by a police patrolling party near Kaila. On checking, it recovered the charas from the bus. But no arrest had been made as the accused was yet to be ascertained. A case had been registered at the Tissa police station under Section 20 of the NDPS Act.

Hamirpur
1 gets 10-year jail for sexual assault: District and Sessions Judge CL Kochhar sentenced Kishori Lal to a 10-year jail and fined him Rs 20,000 for sexually assaulting his physically challenged daughter about a year ago. The court found him guilty of the offence. His wife, who was living separately from him, had filed a complaint against the accused in this case.

KANGRA
Kangra school celebrates Statehood Day: Staff and students of DAV Senior Secondary Public School, Alampur, celebrated the 44th Statehood Day and the fourth National Voters Day here on Saturday. On the occasion, an inter-house quiz competition, speeches highlighting the importance of Statehood Day and National Voters Day by students and teachers and a poem recitation competition were organised. The Chenab House clinched the first position in the quiz competition. Principal Bikram Singh congratulated the staff and students.

SHIMLA
SJVN commissions wind power project: Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam (SJVN) Ltd has successfully commissioned 15 wind power turbines of its 47.6 MW Khirvire wind power project at Ahmednagar district of Maharashtra. An official spokesperson on Wednesday said each of the 15 wind power turbines had a capacity to generate energy of 850 kV. The project would have a total of 56 turbine units and an annual energy generation of 85.65 MU of electricity.