Staff crunch at PSPCL in Nakodar

Nakodar: Punjab State Power Corporation Limited’s (PSPCL), Nakodar city division, has been facing an acute shortage of staff, which has hampered the routine functioning at the office. There are 619 sanctioned posts of employees in the division, out of which 468 posts are lying vacant and the workforce has been reduced to only 25%. Of the four sanctioned posts of sub-divisional officers, three have been lying vacant. There are 23 posts of junior engineers in the division, of which 12 are vacant. Of the 159 posts of linemen and 292 posts of assistant linemen, 116 and 242 are lying vacant, respectively. Additional Superintendent Engineer Indarjit Singh said due to the shortage of linemen and assistant linemen complaints, redressal of complaints has taken a hit. OC

1 held for selling illicit liquor

Nakodar: The Lohian Khas police have arrested a woman on the charge of selling illicit liquor. Investigating Officer Avtar Singh said nine bottles of hooch were seized from accused Kulvir Kaur, wife of Satpal, a resident of Harchowal village. A case under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Punjab Excise Act has been registered against the accused that was released on bail. The Nurmahal police arrested Akash of Shadi Pur village with nine bottles of hooch, said IO Mohan Lal. The Nakodar sadar police booked Gurpit Singh of Chak Kalan village for brewing illicit liquor and recovered 50 kg of lahan from his possession, said IO Gurdev Singh. OC

7 gm of heroin seized, two held

Nurmahal: The Bilga police have arrested two drug peddlers on the charge of selling heroin. Station House Officer (SHO) Mohindar Pal said 7 gm of heroin was recovered from the possession of the accused identified as Manjit Singh, alias Rinku, son of Satpal, a resident of Talwann village and Resham Lal, son of Mohindar Pal, a resident of Dhagara village. The SHO said a case under Sections 21-B, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused. OC

Elderly dies in road mishap

Hoshiarpur: An elderly person died after being hit by an unidentified vehicle. The Garhshankar police have registered a case against the driver. Hardeep Singh, a resident of Jeevanpur village, had lodged a complaint with the police in this regard. The complainant said his father Balwinder Kumar (62) was hit by an unidentified vehicle near Kitna village and died on the spot. The police have registered a case against the driver. OC

Three arrested for betting

Hoshiarpur: The police have arrested three accused who were betting, from different places during the past 24 hours and recovered from them the cash worth Rs 32,690 put on bets. One of the accused, Shankar Sahni, a resident of New Shastri Nagar, was arrested by the Model Town police. He was betting near Luxmi Cinema and seized cash and betting slips worth Rs 21,790 from him. The Dasuya police have arrested two accused and seized cash and slips worth Rs 10,900 from them. OC

Smuggler held with intoxicants

Hoshiarpur: The Dasuya police have arrested a smuggler and seized 20 grams of intoxicating powder from him. The accused has been identified as Sajan, a resident of Ghanta Ghar, Hoshiarpur. He has been booked under the NDPS Act.OC

Donation to Apahaj Ashram

Hoshiarpur: Stepping ahead in the CSR activity, students of CT Institute of Law, Shahpur visited Apahaj Ashram. The students donated usable things such as clothes, blankets and some eatables. They also delivered a speech on the human rights. Many students interacted with the members of the asharam. OC