R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

IFFCO award for state man: Indian Farmers Fertiliser Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) has awarded a prize of Rs 5 lakh to KK Sharma of Jalandhar for his contribution towards promoting cooperative movement in the state. Sharma worked in the cooperation department for 34 years and he set up a cooperative bank at Jalandhar after retirement. He is the first cooperator from Punjab to get this award.

Fatehgarh Sahib
Woman commits suicide: A 26-year-old woman, Gurpreet Kaur of Bhamarsi Buland, allegedly committed suicide by jumping into the Bhakra main line canal on Friday. Her father Harbans Singh alleged that his daughter had told him that her husband had an affair with a woman, Pinder. Amandeep and Pinder have been booked.

fazilka
Chemists strike, patients hit: Thousands of patients were at the receiving end as more than 600 chemists in the district observed shutdown on Saturday. The chemists have been protesting alleged harassment by the police on the pretext of sale of habit-forming drugs. Hundreds of chemists from various parts led by district association chief Ashok Chhabra protested on the highway near Sanjeev Cinema Chowk from 11 am till the evening.

Ropar
2 feared drowned in canal: Two persons were feared drowned when their car fell into the Bhakra canal here on Saturday. One of the victims, Sukhbir Singh, was a resident of nearby Hussainpur village. A shepherd grazing his goats noticed the car falling into the canal. Sukhbir was on his way to distribute invitation cards for the marriage of his cousin, it is learnt.

Sangrur
Labourer murdered: A 30-year-old migrant labourer, Ramesh Thakur, was allegedly murdered at Sandaur village in Malerkotla sub-division. The police said Ramesh had been murdered by labourer Rajiv Kumar Yadav with the wooden rod of a shovel over a monetary dispute. The accused has been arrested.

HARYANA

Chandigarh
INLD to go in for revamp: The INLD decided on Saturday to disband its state unit and revamp the organisational structure. State INLD president Ashok Arora said the state unit would be reconstituted by giving prominence to leaders who had worked for the party during the Assembly elections. Talking moral responsibility for the outcome of the elections, he alleged that major parties had hatched a conspiracy to defeat the INLD.

Kaithal
Minor raped: The police have arrested a man on the charge of raping a minor girl in Matour village of the district on Friday. The victim (17), a native of Hisar district, is related to the accused. She told the police about the incident. The accused, finding her alone at home, ‘raped’ her.

Trader asked to pay Rs 2 lakh: A businessman from Kalayat has been asked to pay Rs 2 lakh as extortion money. The police have registered a case against an unidentified person. Ravi Kumar, a sugar dealer in the Kalayat grain market, found a letter his shop, asking him to pay the money. He said he had no enmity with anyone.

HIMACHAL PRADESH

Kangra
2 held under HP Excise Act: Two persons were arrested under the HP Excise Act for carrying unauthorised liquor, the police said here on Saturday. District Additional Police Chief Shiv Kumar said Gulzar of Palwana village and Tarseem Lal of Bhol Khas village were arrested.

Mandi
Differently abled get aids: As many as 80 differently abled persons were given wheelchairs, crutches, hearing aids, spectacles and sticks during a camp organised at Nihari under Sundernagar subdivision here on Friday. Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Sohan Lal Thakur, who presided over the function, said such camps should be organised in far-flung areas so that differently abled persons could get health facilities at their doorstep.

Youth held with drugs: The police arrested a youth with psychotropic drugs here on Friday night. The police said Tushar Dixit of Samkehter was arrested with 20 gm of amphetamine, a psychotropic drug, during patrol. Sub-Inspector Sandeep Sharma said a case had been registered.

Una
Transformer gutted in Una: A transformer was completely destroyed and another partially damaged in a fire that broke out at the 33-KV sub-station in Bangana block here on Saturday. Sources in the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board said the incident took place around 4.15 pm due to a short circuit in the Talmehra feeder lines. Fire Department officials were requisitioned from Una who doused the flames. The department put the loss at Rs 15 lakh. Assistant Electrical Engineer Lekh Raj said the power supply was immediately put off.

1 held for transporting wood: The Una police on Saturday arrested Gurnam Singh of Dharampur village for allegedly transporting 31 logs of mango wood in a truck (HP 21 0962). SP Anupam Sharma said the truck was stopped by policemen on the Haroli-Santoshgarh road and Gurnam failed to produce the mandatory permit documents. Sharma said they arrested him and seized the vehicle.

DEHRADUN

Haldwani
Severe LPG shortage: Over 22,000 consumers in the Kumaon region are awaiting the supply of LPG cylinders for the last 15 days as against the requirement of over 13,000 cylinders every day, the supply from the bottling plant is only 9,000 cylinders every day. “There is a shortage of refilled LPG cylinders from the bottling plant,” said BS Garia, in charge of LPG supply in the Kumaon region.

Pithoragarh
7-year-old girl goes missing: People of Panda town in Pithoragarh held a protest after a seven-year-old girl reportedly went missing under suspicious circumstances from a banquet hall at Haldwani. “Seven-year-old Kashish, who had gone to Haldwani to attend the marriage ceremony of his nephew, went missing from the hall where she was playing with other kids on Friday evening. When the news of the girl going missing reached her hometown, the people of her locality gathered and held a protest,” said Tara Chand, an uncle of Kashish.

(Compiled by BD Kasniyal)