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HARYANA

KAITHAL
4 smugglers held: The police arrested four smugglers on Wednesday who were carrying opium and poppy husk concealed in a Santro car along with Rs 1.40 lakh cash. All accused were produced in a court, which sent them to 7-day police remand for recovery of more contraband kept in Gaziabad and to extract information about further links of smugglers . 

Sim cards: The police has arrested a shopkeeper in Kaul village who used to sell mobile sim cards on fake ID proof. Simardeep Singh, SP, said the police had received information that Deepak Kumar had been selling sim cards on the basis of fake ID, which could be detrimental to national interest. The accused was produced in a court on Wednesday who sent him in 14-day judicial custody. 

Kurukshetra
Two killed: Two persons were killed in two road accidents here on Wednesday. Jagbir Singh of Sarkuris village in UP was killed on the spot near Samani village when his truck was hit by a tanker while Ram Kumar of Antehri village was killed when his motorcycle was hit by a dumper near bus stand here. Meanwhile, two motorcycles and a three-wheeler were stolen in the district on Wednesday. 

DEHRADUN

DEHRADUN
Man commits suicide: A man allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a river near Maldevta on Thursday. The police has fished out his body. He is yet to be identified.

2 girls go missing: Two girls, Khushbu and Adiga, students of Dayanand Sarswati Inter-College have gone missing from their homes in Claimontown since Wednesday. The fathers of both girls, who are labourers, have given clues to the police regarding some boys who could be behind luring the girls away with them. The police is verifying the details.

One killed: Manoj of Nehru Colony was killed when a van driven, identified as Madan Singh, hit him. Madan, who fled the scene, was apprehended by the police today.

Kumaon Briefs

Women’s concerns addressed: District Magistrate in Udham Singh Nagar PS Jangpangi has asked women's rights organisations and officials of the departments addressing the concerns of the women to take steps to save the women in the district from the discrimination of various sorts. He ordered that the cases pertaining to harassment be taken up on a priority basis so that the women get justice at the earliest. He was speaking at a public hearing on the Domestic Violence Act 2005 organised by the Mahila Samakhya. The speakers expressed concern over the growing number of atrocities on women. They said the police should play a more proactive role in dealing with such cases.

World AIDS Day observed: Various programmes were held across Kumaon to mark World AIDS Day. The programmes aimed at generating awareness about the disease among the public and how it could be dealt with. Experts from the Health Department spoke about precautions that needed to be taken to ensure safety from the disease. In Rudrapur, an AIDS awareness rally was held in which children from various school participated. District Magistrate PS Jangpangi said at least 50 cases of the AIDS cases have come to light in the district. Workshops and seminars were held in other districts as well to spread awareness about the dreaded diseases and how to counsel the patients affected by it.

35 kg of rice for BPL cardholders: Udham Singh Nagar has received an additional supply of 213.6 metric tonnes of wheat and 279.38 metric tonnes of rice to be distributed to the ration cardholders from the Below Poverty Line (BPL) families. This was stated by District Supplies Officer (DSO) NC Semwal in a statement issued on Thursday. He informed that this month, the BPL cardholders would be given 35 kg of rice and 15 kg of wheat on every card through the Public Distribution System (PDS) outlets. He has asked the consumers to avail the food grains from the PDS outlets in their localities and has urged them to register their complaints on 05946-242458 or the office of the SDM.

Cong, BJP men clash: A violent clash took place between the Congress and the BJP supporters in Bazpur on Wednesday. The clash saw workers from both the parties resorting to liberal use of sticks and blows with some firing taking place as well. The trouble began when a group of Congressmen landed on the premises of a sugar mill where a ‘havan’, organised by some BJP leaders, including Balraj Passi and local legislator Arvind Pande, was being held to mark the harvesting of sugarcane. The Congress workers were demanding payment of farmers' dues and were seeking that the ritual for the start of the harvest be got done by some farmer. This gradually snowballed into a heated exchange of words, which was followed by a violent clash. Four people were injured in the clash.

(Compiled by Rajeev Khanna)