R E G I O N A L   B R I E F S

PUNJAB

Abohar
PWD staff stage dharna: The PWD Mulazim Sangharsh Committee on Friday staged a dharna outside the divisional office to press its demands. Mr Puran Ram, president, Mr Piara Singh Mangat, senior vice-president, Mr Sukhdev Singh, Mr Lal Chand, general secretary, and Mr Jaimal Ram, chairman, addressed the rally. They criticised the state government for adopting a negative attitude towards the long-pending demands of the union.

Office-bearers: The following have been unanimously elected office-bearers of the Abohar Press Club: president — Mr Raj Sadosh; general secretary — Mr Shiv Garg; and cashier — Mr Shyam Sunder Sachdeva. Mr Rajesh Sachdeva, Editor, Abohar Tasveer, was elected president of the Small Newspapers Association at a separate meeting.

Batala
Case registered: Mr Bakhshish Singh, president, Municipal Council Employees Association, told mediapersons here on Friday that a case under Section 332, 353, 186, 148, 149 and 379 IPC had been registered against Mr Rajesh Kumar and his accomplices for allegedly threatening and misbehaving with the octroi inspector, Mr Bhupinder Singh, and others. The staff had stopped one Tata Sumo (PB02-N-44) on Dera road and found that it was loaded with 40 bags of sugar for which no octroi was paid.

Office-bearers: The annual general meeting of Lions Club Smile, Batala, was held here on Friday at Batala Club and the following office-bearers were unanimously elected: president — Mr Dinesh Paul Vedi; vice-presidents — Dr Harbhajan Singh, Mr Hardev Singh and Mr Vipan Puri; secretary — Mr V.K. Sehgal; joint secretaries — Mr Ashok Mahajan and Mr Kuldeep Singh; treasurer — Mr Vinod Mahajan; and PRO — Mr Parneet Singh.

Hoshiarpur
Decomposed body found: The decomposed body of a person aged about 32 packed in a gunny bag was found in an abandoned well in the fields of Mr Jatinder Singh, a resident of Langeri road, mahilpur, on Friday. After taking the dead body in possession, the police sent it for post mortem. Further investigation is in progress.

Household goods burnt: A fire broke out in the houses of Mr Noor Mohmad Sher Din and Mr Mohmad Dulla, sons of Ismail, at Kalsa village on Friday. According to police sources, Rs 25,000 in cash, gold ornaments, silver ornaments and other household articles were reduced to ashes. However, no loss of life has been reported. Sources further said that the victims had gone to the fields for grazing their cattle.

Forum directive: The District Consumer Forum has accepted the complaint of Mr Karnail Singh of Tanda and ordered the National Insurance Company to pay a sum of Rs 4,93,750 along with Rs 5,000 as compensation within a period of two months. Mr Karnail filed a complaint under Section 12 of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986, against the company in which he stated that he purchased a Toyota Qualis van on March 13, 2003 and the same was insured with the said company. The same vehicle was stolen from the garage of the complainant on June 11, 2004. The complainant lodged a claim for his stolen vehicle for Rs 5,00,800, but the company repudiated the same on the ground that no proper FIR had been registered in the case.

Pathankot
Cash snatched: Motorcycle-borne youths robbed employees of a Jalandhar-based industrial unit at Mirthal, about 18 km from here, on the Pathankot-Jalandhar road on friday and fled with nearly Rs 2 lakh in cash and the Indica care of the employees. According to Mr Manminder Singh, SP, Mr Deepak Kumar, Manager, and Mr Dev Raj, driver, both employees of the jalandhar-based industrial unit R.K.Steel Traders, after collecting payments from Pathankot, were on their way back to Jalandhar when the two youths on a red Hero Honda motorcycle started following their car and intercepted the same near Mirthal and robbed them of the money and car. The police recovered a country-made pistol from the scene of the crime.

Phillaur
Gang of robbers busted: A police party headed by Phillaur DSP Gursharanjeet Singh Grewal busted an inter-district gang of robbers and arrested four members under Sections 399/402, IPC, and Section 25/54/59 of the Arms Act. They have been identified as Sarabjit Singh, Gurpreet Singh, Manjit Singh and Baljit Singh of nearby Kalyanpur village. Goraya SHO Rajinder Kumar said here on Friday that the police recovered two motorcycles, one air pistol, two sharp-edged weapons, and one iron rod from their possession. The SHO said their fifth accompliance, Raju of Phagwara, managed to escape. The accused were proceeding to commit a crime in the Goraya area but were nabbed.

HARYANA

AMBALA
QUIZ CONTEST: A quiz competition was held at Darshan Academy, Ambala Cantonment, here on Saturday. The school principal, Mr Mathew Varghese, said the competition comprised individual, buzzer and rapid fire rounds. The quiz was conducted by Mr Ashok Sharma, Director, Chunmun Club. The trophy was won by a team comprising Ritu Sharma, Surbhi and Sant Prasad.

BHIWANI
Impersonation case: The police has registered a case of impersonation in the ongoing senior secondary school examination being conducted by the Haryana School Education Board. In a complaint registered with the police, the centre superintendent at the local KM High School, Mr Madan Lal Sharma, said Babloo of Sangwan village appeared in place of Pradeep in the science examination on Friday.

Attempt to rape 6-year-old: An attempt to rape a six-year-old girl child on Friday was foiled at Dhani Berla village when the victim raised the alarm. The police registered a case against the accused on a complaint by the uncle of the victim. The complainant, Umed, alleged that the accused, Leela, of the same village attempted to rape his niece. When the victim raised an alarm, the accused managed to escape.

Prisoner on parole absconds: A prisoner of the local district jail failed to turn up after the expiry of the parole period. The Prison Superintendent has registered a complaint with the police. He said Umed Singh of Kishkindha village was lodged in the jail and he had gone to his village on parole on April 29 but after the expiry of the parole period he did not return.

FATEHABAD
Media room inaugurated: Fatehabad on Friday became the first district headquarters in Haryana to have a media room-cum-information centre.

HISAR
Patwari dismissed: The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Kumar Gupta, has dismissed a Patwari posted at Thurana under Hansi subdivision of the district with immediate effect. Patwari Randhir Singh had been accused of embezzling Rs 34,600 from the old-age pension amount for Kutubpur and Lapura villages.

JHAJJAR
Girl, father attacked: A girl and her father sustained injuries when two persons posing as electricians attacked them with a knife at their residence in Bahadurgarh on Friday. A complaint has been lodged by the police.