R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Tribunal head appointed: The state government has appointed Justice AN Jindal (retd) as chairman of the Punjab Value Added Tax Tribunal. He will exercise the functions as stated in the Punjab Value Added Tax Act, 2005. A spokesperson said the jurisdiction of the tribunal would extend throughout the state. The appointment would be for a term of three years or till he attained the age of 67 years, whichever was earlier.

41 teachers found absent: Special teams of the Education Department conducted surprise checks in 800 schools of the state and found 41 teachers absent. The teams found that 62 teachers arrived late whereas 39 were long-time absentees. Three circles, Jalandhar, Faridkot and Nabha (Patiala), were visited by the special teams.

Hoshiarpur

One booked for rape: Jujhar Singh of Moranwali village has been booked for allegedly raping a married woman in the Islamabad area on the outskirts of the city. The victim alleged that Jujhar raped her while she was alone at her house on October 14. The accused has been booked under Section 376 of the IPC.

3 killed in accidents: Three persons, including a four-year-old girl, were killed in accidents in Hoshiarpur district. Sukhdev Singh of Nangal Khungan village was killed after being hit by a bike while he was out on a walk. Ekta, four-year-old daughter of Tanda resident Jagdish, was run over by a mini bus on the Tanda-Khakh road. An old man lost his life after being hit by a bike at Purhiran, while an Army man was crushed under a train near Bhangala.

Ludhiana

World Smile Day: Students of Ryan School, Dugri, celebrated World Smile Day on the school premises. Students came dressed as various cartoon characters and narrated funny stories in the class. The motive behind thecelebration was to make the people around feel happy and lively.

Patiala

Founders' day: Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha will preside over the 55th founders' day celebrations of The Punjab Public School, Nabha, on October 19. He will also present the Roll of Honour Award for 2014 to Prof Jagmohan Raju of Wharton School of Business. KPK Tandon will be awarded the lifetime achievement award for serving the school for 36 years.

Tarn Taran

Man jumps before train: Jagir Singh (50) of Jaura village allegedly committed suicide by jumping before a train at Jandoke Sarhali village on Wednesday. He was reportedly suffering of depression. The railway police have lodged a case under Section 174 of the CrPC. The body was handed over the family after a post-mortem.

4 of family booked for fraud: Four members of an Amritsar family have been booked for allegedly duping a villager, Gurpreet Singh of Pandori Sidhwan, of Rs 13.5 lakh on the pretext of sending him to Australia. Among those booked are Ninder Kaur, her daughter Rupinder Kaur and her sons Gurcharan Singh and Santokh Singh.

Protest by anganwari staff: Employees of various anganwaris on Thursday staged a dharna and carried out a march here in support of their demands. Gurmeet Kaur, Anganwari Mulazam Union block president, said they had been demanding a month's medical leave and regular promotion for helpers and anganwari workers.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Kullu

Man nabbed with charas: The Manali police nabbed Prakash Chand (37) of Bandrol village with 300 gm of charas at the Khakhnag Bridge near Manali on Wednesday. The police said Prakash was arrested. A case under Section 20 of the NDPS Act had been registered and the accused remanded in police custody for 14 days.

Stone of PHC laid: Ravi Thakur, Vice-Chairperson, National Commission for Scheduled Tribes and MLA Lahaul-Spiti inaugurated the Tindi Seri fair in Lahaul district on Thursday. He laid the foundation stone of a Primary Health Centre (PHC) to be built at a cost of Rs 34 lakh. He also inaugurated a Transit Home developed by the Forest Department at a cost of Rs 12 lakh in Tindi village.

Charas seized from bus: SP Surinder Verma claimed that 150 gm charas was recovered from an HRTC luxury coach at the Bajaura check post Tuesday evening. The SP said Lovekesh of Katrain village in Kullu was nabbed with 352 gm charas on Monday at this check post while he was travelling in a private luxury coach from Manali to Delhi. 

MANDI

Illicit liquor seized, 6 booked: The police booked six persons under the HP Excise Act and seized a huge quantity of illicit liquor from them during the past 24 hours in the district. The police said 5,000 ml of illicit liquor was recovered from Sanehru Devi of Hawani, 15 litre of lahan from Gavyanu Ram of Dhardarobra, and 39 litre of lahan and 10,000 ml of illicit liquor from Jagdish Kumar of Bhadaran. The police said they also recovered 10 litre of lahan and 1,500 ml of illicit liquor from Sauni Devi of Dhandras village, 10 litre of lahan from Tiblu Ram of Kohla village, and a bottle of English wine from Rakesh Kumar of Bhour.

NURPUR

Drive to check tax evasion: The Excise and Taxation Department, keeping in view Diwali, has started a drive to check the evasion of luxury and Value Added Tax (VAT) in this border subdivision. A team of the department conducted raids at private hotels and guest houses in Nurpur, Rehan, Jassur, Jonta and Bhadroya during this week and detected irregularities. Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner (AETC), Nurpur, Vivek Mahajan said Rs 75,000 had been imposed as penalty and recovered from defaulters. The team, led by the AETC, conducted surprise checks on wholesale cracker dealers at Jassur and found stocks without purchase bills. A fine of Rs 2 lakh was imposed and recovered on the spot from dealers for evading VAT.

SUNDERNAGAR

Illicit liquor seized, 1 nabbed: The police nabbed a person and recovered 5 litre illicit liquor and 10 litre lahan from him on Tuesday. A police team on patrol at Sangahan village recovered the illicit liquor and lahan from Shyam Lal, a resident of Sangahan in Sundernagar tehsil in Mandi district. A case under Section 39, HP Excise Act, had been registered at the Sundernagar police station. The accused was arrested. The police were investigating the case.

UNA

Rs 17.5 lakh looted from ATM: Unidentified persons reportedly broke open an ATM of the Punjab National Bank and decamped with Rs 17.5 lakh at the Santoshgarh nagar panchayat on Tuesday night. SP Anupam Sharma said senior manager of the bank DR Negi complained on Wednesday that upon receiving information about the robbery, he rushed to the ATM where the front panel appeared to be cut with the help of a gas cutter and all cash was missing. Some eyewitnesses said a Maruti 800 car was parked in front of the ATM when the incident occurred.