Land scam accused detained at airport

Hoshiarpur: An accused in the multi-crore national highway four-laning land acquisition scam was detained at IGI Airport, Delhi, when he was trying to go abroad. A team of the Vigilance Bureau has been dispatched to Delhi to arrest him. Prateek Gupta, an accused land owner, was absconding since the registration of an FIR in February. The VB had booked 13 persons who had shown agricultural land as residential property during the acquisition of land for widening the NH along the Hoshiarpur-Chintpurni road. OC

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Five held with intoxicating pills

Moga: The Moga police seized 1,440 intoxicating pills from three motorcycle-borne youths at Badhni Kalan village in the district last night. The youths identified as Kulwinder Singh, a resident of Dhurkot Ransinh village; Partap Singh and Jaspal Singh, both residents of Jalalabad (east) village; were arrested from the spot. In the second incident, 200 intoxicating pills were seized from Gurwinder Singh, a resident of Dhaleke village on the Kotkapura road in Moga city. A criminal case under the NDPS Act has been registered against him at the city police station (south). TNS

One more held for Rs 75-lakh robbery

Abohar: The Bhadra (Hanumangarh) police have arrested Ravinder Kumar, an accused in the Rs 75-lakh robbery case. He was remanded in police custody for five days by a court on Monday. Four accused — Manoj Poonia and Manoj Khemka of Bhadra, Ram Swarup of Karanpura and Sunil Sidhu of Dhaba Khurd (Fatehabad) — were earlier held following the arrest of gangster Anand Pal Singh’s brother Ravinderpal Singh Vicky and cousin Davinderpal Singh Guddu. The gang had looted Rs 75.5 lakh from a bus on November 29, 2016, near the old bus stand in Bhadra, Hanumangarh. OC

Farmer who took poison dies

Tanda Urmar: Sukhwinder Singh, a farmer of Ghulla Khakh village who had consumed poison on July 1, died late on Monday evening at a Jalandhar hospital. His son, Jaspreet Singh, is in a critical condition. Both had consumed poison due to financial problems. The deceased’s wife, Jagjit Kaur, said they had taken a loan of Rs 4 lakh a few months ago. OC

Four in custody for farmer’s murder

Abohar: The Sriganganagar police have arrested four persons for killing Lekh Ram Nayak (35), a farmer, during a clash over a land dispute at Kardu village on Friday. His accomplice, Bhagwana Ram Meghwal (31), was injured in the clash. OC

Ex-minister bereaved

Phagwara: Pritam Kaur (95), sister of former Union Minister Buta Singh, passed away at her residence at Jallowal village near Jalandhar on Monday. She was the mother of former Punjab minister Joginder Singh Mann. Pritam Kaur is survived by four sons and a daughter. OC

Truck union dharna in Patiala on July 6 

Jalandhar: Members of the All-Punjab Truck Operators’ Union on Monday announced a state-level dharna at the grain market in Patiala on July 6 against the government’s decision to dissolve the union. Led by president Happy Sandhu and All-India Motor Congress chairman Kultaran Singh Atwal, the members said that the union was working for their welfare and the decision would affect their lives badly. TNS

Chinese project for electric cars, buses  

Chandigarh: Chinese PSU major Yinlong has proposed to launch a pilot project to run electric cars and buses in Amritsar, followed by Jalandhar and Ludhiana and to set up an electrical vehicle manufacturing facility in the state. The company will sign an MoU with Punjab through ZTEsoft Technology Co Ltd in getting financial assistance for a series of programmes and projects. TNS