Congress, SAD councillors join AAP

Chandigarh: More than a dozen Akali and Congress councillors from Chamkaur Sahib, Sultanpur Lodhi and Ludhiana joined AAP here on Saturday. AAP Punjab in-charge and MLA Jarnail Singh formally inducted the newly members into the party fold. The event was presided over by Punjab unit general secretary Harchand Singh Barsat. TNS

Poppy husk seized

Abohar: The police have seized 30-kg poppy husk from a mini truck near Kallarkhera village on the Abohar-Sriganganagar stretch of National Highway No. 62. Driver Manpreet Singh Gonoana of Muktsar has been arrested, while his accomplice identified as Gurdev Singh reportedly managed to flee. A case under provisions of the NDPS Act had been registered, said SHO Baljit Singh. OC

Two held for extortion

Abohar: The police have arrested two persons — Rahman alias Bablu (18) and Chandan Sidana (19) of Sehajipura village — for threatening to kill a Hanumangarh doctor, Paras Jain, and demanding a ransom of Rs 1 crore from him. Along with this, a minor boy was also detained. All three had reportedly come in contact with gangster Hrithik Boxer through social media. OC

Mother-son duo drown

Abohar: A farmer and his 60-year-old mother drowned late on Friday at Khuyian village. Sources said Mala Ram Tiwari (32) went to his farm house with his mother and wife on Friday. When Mala Ram got down to fix a pipe in the reservoir in a field, he slipped. Seeing her son drown, Narbada Devi also jumped into the reservoir to save him. However, both drowned in the reservoir. OC

Two held with stolen items

Muktsar: The police on Saturday arrested two thieves and recovered a stolen tractor, a trailer and two oxygen cylinders from them. The suspects have been identified as Sandeep Singh of Bhitiwala village and Sukhdev Singh of Balasar village in Haryana. The Lambi police have registered a case against them. TNS

35-year-old labourer dies

Abohar: A labourer died on the spot when he accidentally slipped during work at an under-construction building in Kala Tibba village, 8 km from here, on Saturday. The deceased was identified as Balwinder Singh (35) of Jalalabad. OC

Pak drone shot down

Sriganganagar: The BSF personnel deployed on the International Border in the Srikaranpur area, along with the police, shot down a Pakistani drone which entered into India territory on the intervening night of February 3 and 4. During search of the area, the drone with two bags that contained six packets weighing 6 kg, suspected to be heroin, were recovered.