R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Amritsar
Five booked: On a complaint by Ms Harpreet Kaur Randhawa, Chief Judicial Magistrate, the Civil Lines police has booked five persons for allegedly depositing fake registry for bail of an accused, Ramawati. The accused include Ramawati of Muzafrabad (UP), Jagtar Singh, Harpal Singh and Bachan Singh, residents of Khasa village. The police has also booked Bhupinder Singh Patwari in this regard. However, no arrest has been made so far.

Bathinda
Students resent protest rally: Students of various undergraduate courses at Rajindra College on Wednesday rued that a protest by Dalit Sena at their college created nuisance at a time when they were appearing in their final examinations. The Dalit Sena workers were seeking permanent appointment of Class IV employees who had been working at the college on temporary basis for the past few years. 

Thermal plant units: The execution of stage II units at Guru Hargobind Thermal Plant, Lehra Mohabbat, has been entrusted to Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) on EPC basis at a cost of Rs 1,674 crore. The scheduled date for commissioning of Unit 3 is December 30, 2006 and that of Unit 4 March 30, 2007. 

Patwari nabbed: The Vigilance Bureau has nabbed a patwari posted in Kusla revenue circle in Mansa, Mr Niranjan Singh, while he was accepting a bribe of
Rs 1,000 from the complainant, Mr Bindar Singh, for giving him a copy of a document pertaining to his land. A case has been registered under the Prevention of Corruption Act. 

FEROZEPORE
Burmese nationals held: The BSF apprehended two Burmese nationals identified as Amir Hussain (23) and Zakir Hussain (19) while roaming under suspicious circumstances near the border outpost at Kassoke, about 1.5 km from the Indo-Pakistan border here. BSF sources said a patrol party spotted the two near the border outpost and arrested them without resistance.

Hoshiarpur
Foundation stone damaged: Some miscreants damaged the foundation stone of a link road, laid by Mr Romesh Chander Dogra, Health and Family Welfare Minister, Punjab, on February 2, 2004, at Rakri village on the night of March 2. On a complaint by Ms Savitri Devi, Sarpanch of the village, the Hajipur police has registered a case under Sections 427 and 434 of the IPC and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage of Public Property Act.

Case registered: On a complaint by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Mukerian, the police has registered a case under Section 420, 465, 467, 468 and 471, IPC, against Madan Lal and Anil Kumar for allegedly preparing a fake certificate of Schedule Tribe. According to police sources, the SDM stated that Anil Kumar was employed in the Central Reserve Police Force.

Kapurthala
Bribe: A senior assistant of the state Irrigation Department was arrested by a team of the Vigilance Department, Kapurthala, after he was allegedly caught red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 2,000 from a patwari in his office on the Kapurthala Road here on Thursday.

NABHA
Condemned: The Punjab State Ophthalmic Officers' Association has condemned the decision of the government to recruit health officials in rural dispensaries on contract basis. Association spokesperson Hardip Singh Randhawa said at a press conference on Wednesday that the decision of the government was not in the interests of the masses. 

Phagwara
Road mishap: A mother-son duo was seriously injured when a car hit the bicycle they were riding. The accident took place at Chaheru village near here on Thursday. The police said Harmesh Lal (35), along with his mother, Chhini (70), both residents of Chakguru village near Behram in Nawanshahr district, were admitted to the local Civil Hospital. The police has taken into custody the driver of the car.

Five booked: The police has booked five youths for allegedly inflicting serious injuries on a mini-bus conductor at nearby Ranipur village near here on Thursday. In a complaint to the police, the mini-bus conductor alleged that five youths riding motorcycles dragged him out of the bus and beaten him up with bats. 

CHANDIGARH

PANCHKULA
Osteoporosis camp: The State Bank Learning Centre, Panchkula, organised an osteoporosis awareness camp in Sector 14 on Thursday. Ms Usha Nair, Deputy General Manager and Circle Development Officer, inaugurated the camp.

HARYANA

AMBALA
Hut gutted: A hut located at Ram Bagh, Ambala City, was burnt on Thursday. A visually impaired beggar used to live in the hut. Fire brigade personnel doused the flames. The cause of the fire is not yet known.

Medican-2006: The Ambala City branch of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) will organise Medican Ambala — 2006 at Panchyat Bhavan here on March 12. The president of the local unit of the IMA, Dr Ashok Sarwal, said around 250 senior doctors of Haryana, Punjab and Chandigarh would participate. 

KAITHAL
Clerk held for embezzlement: The district police has arrested a clerk in the office of the Chief Medical Officer here on the charge of embezzling Rs 75900 of government funds. The accused was produced in the court of Mr Surya Partap Singh, CJM, on Wednesday who remanded him to police custody. According to SP Navdeep Singh Virk, Romesh Chander, a storekeeper, collected Rs 100 per person as medical fee for driving licences and issued receipts for the same , but the collected money was neither deposited in the treasury nor entered in record books. The police had registered a case on October 20, 2004, under the IPC and Prevention of Corruption Act.

Rewari
Bid to outrage modesty: A village youth entered his neighbour's house under the influence of liquor and made a bid to outrage the modesty of a girl student in Balawas Ahir village, about 12 km from here, on Tuesday. When the girl raised an alarm, the youth fled. On a complaint by the girl's father, the Rampura police has booked the accused, Dharampal, on charges of molestation and trespass.

Woman dies in road mishap: Mrs Sumitra Devi Sharma (35) was killed while her companion, Mrs Sharda Devi, was injured after they were hit by a speeding truck (HR38 F- 6097) while crossing the Rewari-Pataudi road, near here, on Tuesday. The injured has been hospitalised here. The Sadar police here has booked the truck driver for rash and negligent driving.

2 youths hurt in stabbing incident: Following an altercation a local goon injured two youths, Raju and Lokesh, by stabbing them near the double railway crossing here on Monday night. The assailant, Sonu Yadav, a resident of Dhakka Basti here, was overpowered and handed over to the police. The injured, both residents of Adarsh Nagar colony here, were admitted to the local civil hospital. The city police has registered a case under Section 324 of the IPC.

Rohtak
Charge against administration: A large number of residents of the Chief Minister’s ancestral village, Sanghi, near here, have accused the district administration of stalling several development projects in the village. According to Sarpanch Rishpal Singh, a deputation, comprising 13 panches, in a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr R S Doon, alleged that the panchayat had constructed a pond in the village but the authorities stopped the grant for the project without valid reason. It was also alleged that the authorities had also not allowed building of two streets in the village which had been approved through a panchayat resolution.