ABOHAR
Shop destroyed: A hardware shop located in the old grain market area was Tuesday gutted in fire on Tuesday. Proprietor of Mittal Iron Store Maman Chand said a few shopkeepers informed him about the fire at 9 P.M. By the time he reached the shop the fire had spread to the first floor where plastic goods were stacked. The two municipal fire brigade vehicles were able to douse the fire after an hour.

Six killed: Raju, alias Balkaran, died when a newspaper van he had boarded at Jalandhar, overturned near 59 GB village in the Sriganganagar area on Tuesday. Two boys were killed in an accident near Ganguwala village. Sucha Singh (65) of 3HH village was killed when his car collided head-on with a roadways bus near Chunavadh. Shanti Devi of Chhatargarh village was run over by a bus near Dhaba village. A beggar was found dead in the Suratgarh-bound passenger train. Vijay Kumar Soni (15) of Raziasar died when he jumped into a drinking water reservoir after failing in matriculation exam.

Arrested: The local police has arrested Suresh Kumar, alias Sunil Mitha of Nai Abadi, and seized 1,135 prohibited tablets, 235 capsules, 30 injections and nine bottles of cough syrups from his possession. He runs a PCO whereas his father owns a medicine shop.

BARNALA
Office-bearers: The following have been elected office-bearers of the local Lions Club (Supreme) for 2007-2008: president-Sukhdarshan Singh, secretary-N.S.Jandu and treasurer-Pawan Mittal.

Hoshiarpur
FIR against fake travel agent: Police has booked a fake travel agent for duping a Tanda resident on the pretext of sending him abroad. Ajmer Singh had complained to police that Amritpal, son of Mohinder Singh of Rampur Talwara, took Rs 8 lakh for sending him to Spain. But, he neither fulfilled his promise nor returned the money. A case under sections 420 and 406 of the IPC has been registered.

Assault: 8 booked: Garhshankar police on Wednesday booked eight persons for assaulting two youths. Harmandeep Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Jarnail Singh and Harjit Singh, all of Dagam village along with their four accomplices assaulted two persons with sharp-edged weapons and also fired shots in the air to threaten them.The victims, identified as Varinder Kumar and Baljinder Kumar, both belonging to Dagam village, were admitted to Garshankar hospital. According to sources, Varinder and Baljinder, were playing at Government Elementary School, when the accused suddenly appeared and attacked the duo. When the co-players retaliated, Harmandeep Singh fired three shots in the air from his licenced .32 bore revolver and fled along with other, leaving behind two motorbikes and some swords.

13-year-old inmate escapes: A 13-year-old inmate escaped from an Observation Home at Ram Colony Camp, here on Tuesday evening. Police said Sanjiv Kumar alias Kalu ran away after giving the ward servant a slip. Superintendent of Home Jagdish Mittar said it was Sarup Singh who informed the office regarding the incident. Kumar was an undertrial in a case registered against him under sections 457 and 380 of the IPC at Police Station Maksudan. Police has booked Kumar and the ward servant under sections 223 and 224 of the IPC.

Youth arrested for kidnapping teen: Dasuya police on Wednesday arrested Prem Lal of Mian Da Pind village for abducting a teenaged girl. According to police sources, Prem kidnapped Hardeep Kaur (15) of the same village. He was spotted by a villager who informed the police which swung into action and arrested the accused.

Bus falls into pit, 15 hurt: Nearly 15 persons were injured when the bus in which they travelling fell into a pit near Chal Sandhu on Wednesday. The Punjab Roadways (Nangal depot) bus was going to Amritsar. The accident took place as the driver lost control over the vehicle. The injured have been admitted to a local civil hospital.

Jalandhar
Canada invite for Amritsar doctor: Dr Adarsh Kumar, professor and head, Department of Cardiology, Government Medical College, Amritsar, has been invited for World Congress on Clinical Nutrition in Alberta, Canada from June 17 to 20.He will present a paper on ‘Dietary trasfatty acids and coronary artery disease - a worldwide overview’. He is one of the two speakers from south-east Asia who have been invited for the congress.

Khamano
SPOs demand pay hike: Special police officers (SPOs), who were first introduced into service in 1992, have demanded a pay increase. At present, SPOs draw a salary of only Rs 2700 per month. Some SPOs on the condition of anonymity said that they were not organised yet. They said that SPOs had made sacrifices in the line of duty since the creation of the force in 1992. They said that while the salaries of home guard jawans had been increased from Rs 2700 to Rs 4500 since 1992, their own salaries had remained the same. They said they had been promised better pay by the Congress government but nothing had been done in this regard. Now they have appealed to the Badal government to listen to their demands.

Samagam held: A social organisation, Sahara Welfare Club, Khamano, organised a samagam at the smadh of Baba Sukha Singh at Khamano on Tuesday night in which a documentary about the life of Guru Arjan Dev was shown. According to club member Gurdeep Singh this programme was organised with the support of Guru Gobind Singh Study Circle, Ludhiana. The importance of chhabeels was also discussed and club members informed those present that this tradition was started in the time of Guru Arjan Dev. Club members also decided to organise a chhabeel on June 22 near Government Senior Secondary School, Khamano, on GT Road. Another documentary was also shown on the menace of drugs among the youths .

CHAMBA
Lightning kills 15 sheep: A mysterious disease has killed 15 sheep in the Preena area of Chamba and affected around 2,500 more sheep and goats over the past few days. The villagers of the area have urged the Veterinary Department to save their livestock from the disease.

Kangra
BSF staffer found dead : Vipin Kumar (25) of Fakloo village, near Jawalamukhi, serving in the BSF was found lying dead near Sapri. A large quantity of drugs in the form of capsules were recovered from him. The police felt Vipin Kumar had allegedly consumed a large quantity of drugs which resulted in his death. He had come on leave. The police is trying to find out as to how the deceased managed to procure such a large quantity of capsules when this medicine is given only on a doctor’s prescription. Vipin Kumar was to get married within two months.

Kumarhatti
Girl killed: Eight-year-old Gagandeep Kaur was killed when a truck hit her at Sainimajra, near Nalagarh, on Tuesday evening. She was crossing the road when the truck hit her. She died on the way to Ropar. The truck driver has been arrested.

Nahan
Water scarcity: Residents of Dhawan village in Nahan tehsil met Deputy Commissioner R.S. Negi on Tuesday and apprised him of scarcity of potable water in the area. He assured the residents that all efforts would be made to resolve their problem.

Shimla
1 dies in mishap: Attar Singh of Deonal village in the Jagando area of Shillai was killed and five were injured when a Mahindra jeep rolled into a khud near the Chamnoli nullah in Rohru subdivision on Wednesday morning.