Farmer commits suicide

Barnala: A farmer, who was under debt, allegedly committed suicide in Dhaula village of Barnala district on Thursday night. The deceased had only two canals and was under Rs 5 lakh-debt. The deceased, identified as Bhalwant Singh, went to his fields on Thursday night to check water. But when he did not return, his family members started looking for him. They found him lying near a tubewell with a bottle of pesticide. “Bhalwant committed suicide by consuming pesticide on Thursday night. He committed suicide because he was under debt. The body has been handed over to the family after conducting a post-mortem examination,” said Manjit Singh, SHO of the Rureke Kalan police station. TNS

Prayers for Vajpayee

Malout: BJP leaders here on Thursday evening went to the local ‘peerkhana’ to pray for the speedy recovery of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Harish Grover, Malout block president of the BJP, said, “We were 12 members who went to the ‘peerkhana’ to pray for the well-being of our favourite leader.” TNS

Two held with illicit liquor

Malout: The local police on Friday claimed to have arrested two persons with 35 boxes of illicit liquor, which were being smuggled from Haryana. The police also seized a pick-up vehicle. Police officers said a team was checking vehicles near Midda village and while checking a pick-up vehicle, it found the illicit liquor inside it. The accused have been identified as Harjinder Singh of Ferozepur district and Maan Singh of Arniwala Wazira village in Muktsar district. A case has been registered against the accused. TNS