Nirmohi Akhara picks Sonepat man as adviser

Chandigarh: The Nirmohi Akhara has appointed Sonepat native Dr Raj Singh, who is Regional Director (northern region) in the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, as its adviser. The Nirmohi Akhara has led the campaign for Ram Temple at Ayodhya and was one of the main litigants in the case. Besides social work, Dr Singh would advise the akhara in its further contribution towards Ram Temple. “Our 12 generations had served in the Nirmohi Akhara,” he said. TNS

Vij assures action on Kundu’s complaint

Chandigarh: A day after Independent MLA from Meham Balraj Kundu submitted certain documents against former BJP minister Manish Grover alleging corruption and nepotism during his tenure, Home Minister Anil Vij on Wednesday assured action on the complaint. In a statement issued here, Vij asserted that if any legislator levelled allegations of wrongdoing against anyone, the same would be inquired into by the state government. TNS

Guv, CM greet people on Basant Panchami

Chandigarh: Governor Satyadev Narayan Arya and Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar greeted people of the state on the occasion of Basant Panchami and Chhotu Ram Jayanti. In a message, Arya said Basant Panchami symbolised new energy, ambition and vigour. Khattar described Sir Chhotu Ram as a visionary leader who selflessly worked for the welfare of farmers. TNS

Paid holiday for workers registered in Delhi as voters

Chandigarh: In view of polling for the Delhi Assembly elections on February 8, the Haryana Government has notified ‘paid holiday’ for workers, who are enrolled as voters in Delhi and working in different parts of the state. An official spokesman said under Sub-Section (2) of Section 65 of the Factories Act, 1948 , only those workers working in factories in Haryana and who are registered as voters in the NCT of Delhi, had been given this exemption. TNS

Man held for raping child in Gurugram

Gurugram: The Gurugram police arrested a 28-year-old man from Uttar Pradesh for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl in Dundahera village on Tuesday. The child was playing outside her home and strayed into Bablu’s room. He threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the same. An FIR under POCSO act has been registered at Udyog Vihar police station. As per the complaint of the child’s mother, she found her daughter missing when she returned from work around 9 am on Tuesday. She and her husband started searching for her and finally found her in the room of their neighbour Bablu. “The accused confessed his crime. We are interrogating him,” said SHO Mahesh Kumar. TNS

Inter-district gang busted, four held

Karnal: The Karnal police claimed to have busted a gang involved in several incident of inter-district loot in Karnal, Jind and Kaithal with the arrest of four persons from Assandh. Three sharp-edged weapons and a vehicle was seized from them. SP Surinder Singh Bhoria said Sachin and Mandeep alias Gula, both resident of Rahra village in Karnal, Govinda alias Iron and Ramniwas of Malikpur in Jind confessed to their involvement in 11 incidents of loot in Karnal, Jind and Kaithal districts. The gang used to mainly target passersby and pedestrians, the SP said. TNS

15-year-old sodomised in Kurukshetra

Kurukshetra: A 15-year-old mentally challenged boy was allegedly sodomised in Bajidpur village of Kurukshetra on Sunday. The accused lured the child on the pretext of giving him Rs 10 and took him to a dharmashala of the village and sodomised him. A case has been registered under sections 4 of the POCSO Act and 377 of the IPC at Thanesar Sadar police station. SHO Jagdish Chand said the medical exam of the victim was conducted on Wednesday. The suspect is in his early 20s and is absconding. TNS

135-kg poppy husk seized, two arrested

Kurukshetra: The anti narcotic cell has recovered nearly 135 kg poppy husk from two men in Kurukshetra. The team got a tip-off that truck driver Rajbir Singh and cleaner Happy were on their way from Maharashtra with poppy husk purchased either from MP or Rajasthan. A naka was set up near Umri village. During inspection, 866 bags of onion and nine bags of poppy husk were recovered. The onion bags were to be delivered in Shimla and Solan. A case has been registered under Section 15 of the NDPS Act. TNS

Sonepat man gets life term for murder

Sonepat: The court of District and Sessions Judge YS Rathore on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to Karambir of Butana village after convicting him for the murder of Amit of the same village on April 4, 2017. The court also imposed a penalty of Rs 1 lakh with the orders that in case of default of penalty amount, the convict would serve additional imprisonment of six month. However, three others, including Karambir’s wife, were acquitted by the court for want of evidence. OC