R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Phagwara
Five hurt in clash: Five persons, including a SAD leader’s son, got injured in clash between two groups of the union on Saturday. The injured Jathedar Gurmeet Singh’s son Gurpreet Singh of Chhachhowal village, Parminder Singh of Landhran village, Kirpal Singh, Sukhwant Singh and Ram Het were admitted to civil hospital. The police said old enmity was the cause behind the fight. A case has been registered.

CHANDIGARH

Chandigarh
Appointed: PS Pruthi, former Chief Commissioner of Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax, Chandigarh zone, has been appointed as member technical in the Customs, Central Excise and Service Tax tribunal bench at Mumbai. He will take charge on May 26.

DEHRADUN

Chaukhutia, (Almora)
2 of marriage party drown: Two members of a marriage party were drowned in the Ramganga at Korni village, near Chaukhutia town, on Saturday. Rajendra Kumar (20) and Ramesh Singh (19), who had come along with a marriage party from Janli village, went to the river to have a bath but were drowned," said Hira Singh, Patwari. While the body of one of them was retrieved from the river, a team was called from Almora to recover the other one.

Ramnagar
Trucks with minerals seized: Forest officials impounded two trucks from near the Kalu Saiyyad gate along the Koshi river and seized minerals extracted from the riverbed illegally. "We seized two trucks after we found that minerals extracted from the riverbed without permission was being transported in it. We have started taking strict action against mineral thieves as they are causing heavy losses to the state exchequer," said Shekhar Tiwari, deputy ranger of the Ramnagar range of the Forest Department.

Rudrapur
Koshiyari’s priorities: Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, victorious BJP candidate from the Nainital seat, has said the construction of the Jamrani Dam at Haldwani, and roads to remote parts of the hill region of the constituency, and addressing drinking water problems of all villages and towns of the constituency are his priority. "I will work for the all round development of the Nainital constituency as several villages in the area are still without a road and struggling for drinking water supply on a daily basis," he said.

Tanakpur
12 pilgrims hurt in mishap: Twelve pilgrims were injured seriously when the jeep they were returning after paying obeisance at the Purnagiri Devi temple fell into a deep gorge near Tanakpur town on Saturday. "All injured, mostly from Bareilly and Lucknow, have been admitted to a hospital at Tanakpur while two seriously injured pilgrims have been referred to higher medical centres," said Dr VK Joshi, a medical officer at Tanakpur hospital.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)