Passport office in district

Bathinda: Residents of the district will no longer need to visit Chandigarh or Ludhiana for getting their passport made. Passport office is all set to be opened soon in the city. The passport seva kendra will start functioning from the post office located near the railway station from August 13. Union Food Processing Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal will inaugurate the office on Sunday. This will be the first post office passport seva kendra in the state, which will be opened at the main post office. The facility will be initially available for the residents of the district and it will also be extended to Barnala and Mansa districts. Applicants will have to be fill online applications on website www.passportindia.govt.in, deposit fee and take online appointments. The online appointments were opened on Thursday from 11 am onwards. The External Affairs Ministry has decided to set up one passport seva kendra within an area of 50-km. TNS

Two arrested with heroin

Bathinda: The Kotwali police arrested two persons with 20 gm of heroin from the Santpura road during patrolling. A case has been registered against the accused under the NDPS Act. They have been identified as Mukesh Kumar and Hemanshu, residents of Vikas Nagar, Rajpura. The Maur police arrested Walvinder Singh, a resident of Natt village, with 10 boxes of illicit liquor when he was coming on a car (DL-2CP-0208) near Rajgarh Bhundar village with Jasveer Singh, a resident of Natt. Jasveer Singh is absconding. The Talwandi Sabo police arrested Manjinder Singh, a resident of Seikhupura village, with 120 bottles of illicit liquor. TNS

Auto-rickshaw snatched

Bathinda: Four unidentified persons snatched a three-wheeler (PB-03-AD-9829) after they hired it in the city. In a complaint lodged by Kulwant Singh, a resident of Model Town, it has been alleged that four persons hired his auto-rickshaw at night around 1.50 am from outside the railway station for the Badal road. As they reached near the grain market, they asked the driver to stop the vehicle and then beat him up, he added. Kulwant Singh said the accused also took away his purse and mobile phone. A case has been registered at the Bathinda Sadar police station against the accused under Sections 379B, 323, 506 and 34 of the IPC. Narinder Kumar, SHO of the Sadar police station, said the accused would be arrested soon. TNS