R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
Child drowns in pond: Gaurav (5) reportedly slipped into a pond while playing near it in Waryamkhera village on Saturday. Some villagers noticed his body floating in the pond and informed his parents. The boy was cremated in the evening.

Rs 60 lakh liquor seized: The Rajasthan police have seized liquor worth Rs 60 lakh from a truck bearing a Punjab registration number. It was intercepted near Chak Jiwan Nagar outside Rawatsar in Hanumangarh district. Gurwinder Singh and Jagjit Sharma of Mallanwala (Ferozepur) have been arrested.

Hoshiarpur
Notice to candidates: The District Electoral Officer has served show-cause notices to Congress and BSP candidates for the alleged violation of the model code of conduct. Congress candidate Mohinder Singh Kaypee was served a notice for allegedly bringing more than five persons to the DEO's office. A BSP candidate was served a notice for allegedly getting posters published without the approval of the Election Commission.

Lok Adalat held: As many as 12,158 cases out of 15,392 cases presented in the mega Lok Adalat were disposed of on Saturday. The Lok Adalat was organised by the District Legal Services Authority at Hoshiarpur, Dasuya, Mukerian and Garhshankar. Additional District & Sessions Judge Poonam R Joshi said the Lok Adalats helped litigants in saving their time and money.

Sangrur
Protesters block traffic: Residents of Mehlan village on Saturday blocked traffic for two hours at Mehlan Chowk, 10 km from here, demanding arrest of two persons. Jasbir Kaur (28) committed ‘suicide’ at her in-laws’ house at Badrukhan village on April 2. Jasbir’s husband Parminder Singh and Parminder’s grandfather Balwant Singh have already been arrested. The protesters demanded the arrest of the other two booked in the case, Parminder’s mother Baljit Kaur and grandmother Surjit Kaur.

CHANDIGARH

FIR against POs: The Chandigarh Police on Saturday registered an FIR against two relatives of Amit Kakkar, owner of Healthyway Immigration Company, and an associate who have been declared proclaimed offenders in connection of a cheating case. The trio—Kakkar’s sister Shilpa Kakkar, brother-in-law Hari Mohan Sharma, and associate Harinder Singh—are accused of duping at least 40 persons of Rs 60 lakh. They were declared proclaimed offenders in February, 2014. The accused couple is a resident of Ludhiana and Harinder Singh hails from Gurdaspur. The complaint against POs was filed by one Karan Arora, against whom Amit Kakkar had levelled allegations of implicating him in a false case. Kakkar was arrested for committing fraud with scores of people on the pretext of sending them abroad in August 2011. A case under Section 174-A (non-attendance in obedience to an order from public servant) has been registered at the Sector 36 police station.

Mohali
2 held with opium: The Mohali police arrested two persons for possessing 800-gm opium on Saturday. The accused, Thakur Singh of Bakarpur village and his nephew Jagtar Singh, were nabbed at a naka. The car they were travelling in was impounded. After registering a case against the duo at the Sohana police station, the police produced them in a local court, which sent them to judicial custody. Framing of charges in the Jagdish Singh Bhola case could not be done in court today as the alleged drug lord was not presented at the hearing. All other accused-- Manjinder Singh, Sarabjit Singh Saba, Jagjit Singh Chahal, Satinder Dhama, Baljinder Singh, Anoop Singh Kahlon, Paramjit Singh Pamma and Surjit Singh--were present along with their lawyers. The court issued production warrants for Bhola and ordered the police and the jail staff concerned to ensure that he was presented at the next date of hearing on April 15.

Five held with weapons: The police arrested five persons who were in possession of three pistols, eight cartridges and other weapons from Lakhnaur village on Sunday. The police said the accused, identified as Farman Khan, Balkar Singh and Paramvir Singh of Sohana village, Gurminder Singh of Durali and Mandip Singh of Jagatpura, were planning a dacoity when nabbed, following a tip-off. A case under Sections 399 and 402 of the IPC has been registered at the Sohana police station. A local court sent the accused to five-day police remand.

Panchkula
Woman seeks DGP's help: A 20-year-old woman from Kaithal came to the Haryana Director General of Police's office to lodge a complaint of rape. The girl alleged she was raped by her employer and his accomplices, but the Kaithal police was not lodging an FIR. The victim works at a kiln. The local police ordered medical examination of the victim at the General Hospital.

DEHRADUN

TPS Rawat rejoins Cong: Lt Gen TPS Rawat (retd), who recently merged its party Uttarakhand Raksha Morcha with the Aam Aadmi Party, rejoined the Congress today. Gen Rawat had been in the Congress and the BJP earlier. Lt Gen TPS Rawat (retd) and Lt Gen Gambhir Singh Negi (retd) led by in charge of the Congress affairs in Uttrakhand Rajeev Shukla met UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Delhi today and expressed their commitment to the policies and programmes of the party. Rajeev Shukla today did not rule out bringing back Congress rebels, who had left the party in the past. He said the Congress had been strengthened in Uttarakhand with the return of two former generals. He added both Lt Gen Rawat and Lt Gen Negi would actively campaign for the Congress in the state.

Satyendra Sharma files nomination paper for Tehri: Naya Daur party's candidate Satyendra Sharma filed his nomination papers for the Tehri Lok Sabha constituency at the district headquarters here today. Apart from Sharma, 16 candidates bought 31 nomination papers for the Tehri Lok Sabha constituency. District Magistrate-cum-District Election Officer BVRC Purshottam said those who took the nomination papers included, Congress candidate Saket Bahuguna, Aam Aadmi Party candidate Anup Nautiyal, Bhartiya Janta Party candidate Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah, Communist Party of India (M) candidate Shiv Prasad Devli, BSP candidate Shishpal Singh, Nand Kishore Garg, Brahm Dev Jha, Kunwar Japender Singh, Nand Kishore Garg, Navneet Gusain, Moha-mmed Yusuf Liyakat, Rajiv Gupta and Hukum Chandra.

Lalkuwan
CM campaigns in Nainital: Chief Minister Harish Rawat has said all houses and routes damaged in the natural disaster last year will be reconstructed before the onset of the monsoon this year. The Chief Minister stated this while addressing public meetings at Lalkuwan, Bhimtal, and Naukuchiatal in Nainital district. He sought votes for KC Singh Baba, Congress candidate from the Nainital parliamentary seat. "The development model of Gujarat, which is being publicised as a great developmental model, has kept 34 per cent people of that state backward, which is higher than Uttarakhand. While 80 per cent houses in Uttarakhand are pucca, Gujarat has only 42 per cent pucca houses," he said.

Rudrapur
Koshiyari files nomination: Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, BJP candidate from the Nainital Lok Sabha seat, filed his nomination papers with the returning officer at Rudrapur on Saturday. Accompanied by slogan shouting BJP workers, Koshiyari reached the election officers office at 12 pm and presented two sets of nomination papers. "Several senior BJP leaders, including former Union minister Bacchi Singh Rawat, state BJP chief Teerath Singh Rawat, Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly Ajay Bhatt and party campaign organiser for the seat Bansidhar Bhagat were present at the time Koshiyari filed the nomination papers," said Vinod Upreti, in charge of the BJP election office at Rudrapur.

(Complied by BD Kasniyal)