Punjab: Admn secretaries told to seek prior nod for meetings

Chandigarh: All administrative secretaries in Punjab will have to seek prior permission of the Chief Secretary, before they convene any meeting of deputy commissioners at the state headquarters. Instructions to this effect have been issued by the Personnel Department. The secretaries will have to seek written permission from the Chief Secretary even if a meeting of DCs is to be held via video-conferencing. The aim is to ensure that field work is not affected due to such meetings. TNS

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Mohali resident held for duping 23 in OLX fraud

Mohali: The police here arrested a fraudster for posting fake rental property advertisements on OLX and pocketing advance payments from unsuspecting victims. Paramjit Singh, a resident of Kharar in Mohali, was arrested following a detailed analysis of cyber fraud data reported on the Pratibimb portal of the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, Ministry of Home Affairs. Paramjit Singh defrauded at least 23 victims across Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir. TNS

Police told to act against obscenity on social media

Chandigarh: The Punjab State Child Rights Commission has directed the Additional Director General of Police (Cyber Crime) to take action against those spreading obscenity on social media. In a letter to the ADGP, Commission’s Chairman Kanwardeep Singh said children were being under the strong impact of social media while some people were continuously uploading vulgar content on social media just to earn money. TNS

Six members of inter-state fraudsters’ gang arrested

Sangrur: The Barnala police on Friday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang involved in cyber frauds with the arrest of six persons. The police said they allegedly duped victims on the pretext of helping them get personal loans, making at least Rs 1 crore per month by fleecing gullible people. The arrests were made on June 10 from Mohali’s Zirakpur. The alleged kingpin, Amit Kumar, is currently on the run. They have been operating for the past two years. oc

Flying squad seals fertiliser godown at Moga village

Chandigarh: The Punjab Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department’s flying squad has sealed a godown at Sahoke village in Moga. Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian said fertilisers and pesticides were found illegally stored at the godown operated by Piyush Goyal of Kotkapura. “An FIR has been lodged at the Smalsar police station, said Khudian. TNS

Massive fire at scrap godown in Talwandi Sabo

Muktsar: Goods worth lakhs were gutted after a massive fire broke out at a scrap godown along the Lelewala road at Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda district on Friday morning. The exact cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained. A number of fire tenders from Talwandi Sabo and Maur doused the flames. TNS

Breach in canal plugged, relief for farmers sought

Sangrur: A 40-ft-wide breach in a canal at Khadial village here was plugged on Friday, a day after around 600 acres of paddy fields were submerged in water due to it. The breach in the Sunam Sub-Branch canal was plugged by the Irrigation Department with the help of the district administration and villagers. Sand bags were used to plug the opening. However, villagers accused the authorities of failing to take concrete steps. oc

Woman dies in accident

Abohar: Santosh Rani (30) of Sukhchain village was killed on the spot when a speeding car (HR 24-AC-0198) hit her while she was going to collect firewood on Thursday evening. Doctors declared her “dead on arrival”. The police said the incident was being investigated. OC