Around Town

Barn owl found dead at Chhatbir zoo

A barn owl,a species covered under Schedule-IV of Wild Life Protection Act,was found dead in the forest area near deer safari at Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park in Chhatbir on Tuesday. The owl had escaped from a broken cage in the nocturnal house of Chhatbir zoo on Sunday. Zoo field director,Charchil Kumar,said the owl had died of starvation and dehydration.

Court frame charges against Dr Sofat

The district court on Tuesday framed charges against Dr Sumit Sofat. He will face trial under Sections 307(attempt to murder),182( for giving false information with intent to cause public servant use his lawful power to cause injury to others) and 120-B( for criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and Arms Act. In July 2009,Sumit had claimed that Ludhiana resident Ramesh Pashan,along with his sons,Vinayak and Abhinav,had attacked and robbed him of Rs 33 lakh near Morni Hills. He had also allegedly shot at his driver,Nelson,to substantiate his claims. The police,however,allege that the conspiracy was hatched to discredit the Pashans over a property dispute.

Cong leaders meet to respond to BJP bandh

Congress leaders on Tuesday,held a meeting,to discuss the course of action to be adopted in wake of the BJP’s decision to hold a demonstration on March 12. The BJP will hold a demonstration in Ramleela ground,Sector 27 against those accused in the inquiry report of the booth allotment scam. The protesters will then move to the residence of Union Minister,Pawan Bansal. The Congress leaders decided that they would counter the demonstration.

Case against head constable for negligence

The Panchkula police has registered a case against head constable,Rajpal,for negligence after a thief escaped from his custody. The thief,Johny,escaped from the Chandimandir police station on Monday after the head constable had gone out for a while to bring some papers. Three police teams are looking for the thief.

Student dies in road accident

A class 10 student,Harjinder,was killed in a road accident while he was going to school on his bicycle on Tuesday. As he reached the National Highway near Manji Sahib gurudwara,an unknown vehicle hit him and fled.

Ambala woman alleges rape

A resident of Laxminagar locality has lodged a complaint with the police alleging that ,her former maid,brought a person,who raped her. The housewife further alleges that the maid,who held a grudge,along with two other people threatened to kill her if she reported the matter to the police. The police took her to the civil hospital for medical examination and have booked the maid and her two accomplices.

3-year-old mowed down by bike

A three year old boy was run over by a motorcycle on the Chandigarh-Ambala National Highway-21 at Jauli village near Lalru in Mohali district on Tuesday. A brick-kiln worker,Bilasa ,was taking his son,Arjun,to a doctor when the speeding motorcycle hit the minor and fled. The seriously injured child was rushed to GMCH in Chandigarh,where he succumbed to his injuries.

Hungerstrike called off at DAV College

The Students of DAV College at Sector 10 called off their hungerstrike on Tuesday morning after the college authorities decided to fund the annual youth festival in March 13. The students had began a hungerstrike after the authorities had earlier refused to to release funds for the festival.

Bank of India opens branch

Bank of India opened its ninth branch in Chandigarh at Sector-47. With this the Bank’s Chandigarh Zone has 58 branches spread across Chandigarh UT,Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.