CHANDIGARH
Dereliction of duty: As many as 37 officials and 12 sector officers found absent during the election pilot rehearsal organised by the Bhiwani administration on Saturday. A case against the officials has been registered under Section 134 of the People Representative Act 191 and under Section 174, IPC. Bhiwani District Electoral Officer Vikas Gupta said 10 officers and officials were found absent on the third day of election pilot rehearsal, while 27 others reached late in the rehearsal. Besides, four officials were found absent during the practical training. — TNS
Death mourned: Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has expressed his deep shock and sorrow on the sad demise of freedom fighter Bijender Singh Virk (93) of Kharkra village, Jind district. In a condolence message issued here on Saturday, the Chief Minister said Virk was a great freedom fighter and firm believer of the ideology of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. He had faced a number of ordeals during the freedom struggle. The Chief Minister recalled that in 1942, Bijender Singh had hoisted national flag in the DC office building at Shekhpura, now in Pakistan, and launched a crusade against the tyranny of the British Empire. — TNS
GURGAON
Bail application dismissed: Additional Sessions Judge Ashok Bhardwaj dismissed the bail application of Col Trinayan Saikia, GM security and safety DLF, in the lift mishap case that took place a few days ago, here on Saturday. On behalf of Col Saikia, Delhi criminal lawyer Pt RK Naseem had appeared, whereas advocates--- SS Chauhan and CK Sharma appeared for the complainant. The magistrate dismissed the application after holding that the facts of the case were good enough to attract Section 299 punishable u/s 304, IPC. — TNS
REWARI
1 held in murder case: The police has arrested Dinesh Kumar of Bhurthal Jat village in connection with the murder of a youth. Vikas (20) was allegedly stabbed to death on the Kosniwas road on Saturday. However, his accomplice Amit Gujjar is still at large. Dinesh was produced before the Duty Magistrate on Sunday, who remanded him in custody. —
OC
Body found: The half-burnt body of Rameshwar Dutt Kaushik (71), a senior Congress activist of Prem Nagar colony of Delhi, was found by the police on the Nangal-Mundi-Pranpura road, 14 km from here, in the wee hours on Sunday. The contents of a diary, which was lying on the spot, led to the identification of the victim. Family members of the deceased said when Kaushik did not return home till late in the evening on Saturday, a complaint was made in this regard. A case has been registered.
— OC
SIRSA
Fire at oil mill: Fire engulfed an oil mill situated in the industrial area of the town on Saturday, causing loss of several lakhs. The fire broke out at about 10 pm in Aditya Agro Industries in which oil stock as well as the building of the mill was damaged. The exact loss is yet to be ascertained, according to proprietor Sushil Mittal. — TNS
BILASPUR
Cong optimism: The state unit of the National Students Union of India
(NSUI) has expressed confidence that the Congress would not only retain all its earlier three seats but also snatch the fourth Hamirpur seat from the BJP and would create another record in the state. Addressing mediapersons here on Saturday, NSUI state president Vivek Kumar said the record crowd which turned up at time of filing of nomination papers of the Congress candidate at Mandi is a pointer towards the events and results which can be expected now after the polling day.
— OC
Implement UGC pay scales: The HP State Government College Teachers Association has drawn attention of the state government towards the order of the central government for implementing UGC pay scales. A detailed representation in this regard was submitted to the state government. Association state general secretary Dr Suresh Kumar Soni said here on Sunday that the code of conduct does not bar implementation of these UGC pay scales as this order was issued by the central government much earlier than the enforcement of this election discipline. —
OC
Insurance scheme: Former state president of the HP State Employees Federation Gopal Dass Varma has warned the government that it must ensure quick action with regard to the Employees’ Insurance Scheme which was forced on lakhs of employees during the former Congress government rule only with an intension to financially benefit a handful of self-seeking employees leaders. Addressing mediapersons here on Sunday, he said inquiry into this matter is dragging its feet only because some of high officers are also interested to suppress the truth, as they were also instrumental in enforcing this objectionable scheme. —
OC
MANDI
5 farmers booked: The police on Sunday booked five farmers under the NDPS Act for allegedly growing opium plants illegally on their private land in the Aut area. According to the police, three residents of Bhet village in Bali Chowki under the police station Aut have grown opium plants in their fields. They have been identified as Dina Nath, Dave Ram and Fateh Singh. In another case, the police detected opium plants on the land of Bhagat Ram and Tula Ram of Bhet village and booked them under the NDPS Act. —
TNS
PO arrested: The police has arrested a proclaimed offender, Kapil Dev of the Khaneyara road area in Dharamsala, who was wanted in a hit-and-run case (FIR No. 277/05) registered on August 2, 2005. He would be produced in a court at Jogindernagar on Monday. Kapil was declared a proclaimed offender on February 12, 2009, by the court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Jogindernagar. — TNS
Liquor seized: In a naka on Friday the police seized 36 boxes of different brands of liquor being smuggled by Pawan Kumar from a private vehicle (HP01A-3280), near Magru Gala on the Mandi-Janjeli road, and 12 bottles of liquor from Chuni Lal and Bihari Lal in Gohar. Pawan, a resident of Karsog under the Gohar police station, was arrested under the Excise Act, as he had no valid permit to carry the liquor, the police claimed. It also recovered 12 bottles of country liquor from the possession of Chuni Lal, a resident of Shalla, Chachiot, and Bihari Lal, Padhan. Both accused have been arrested. —
TNS
Engineer held: IPH engineer Asho Arora posted as the SDO, IPH Katola in Drang block, was sent to police remand for three days after the state Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau nabbed him red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 2,500 from contractor Rafi on Thursday. According to the vigilance bureau, they received the complaint and laid a trap to nab the engineer who allegedly accepted Rs 2,500 as bribe to clear Rafi’s pending bills. —
TNS
Boar attacks student:
Manju, a student of BA-I and resident of Kapahi, Sundernagar, was mauled by the attack of a wild boar when she was goading back her cows from the nearby field. She injured her left arm badly and was admitted to the zonal hospital Mandi for treatment. She raised an alarm and villagers saved her from clutches of the boar, which fled into the jungle. — TNS