In brief

PC Jewellers’ robbery mastermind arrested
PANCHKULA: The CIA staff claimed to have arrested Sanjay Dahiya,the alleged mastermind behind the PC Jewellers robbery that was reported on January 27 last year. He has been sent to five days’ police custody after being produced in court. He was declared a proclaimed offender by the Panchkula court on November 17 last year. Dahiya,who was arrested from Jhanda village in Sonepat,used to conduct a recce of places the gang planned to rob. While the police have already arrested five accused in the case,one of them,Rajesh alias Badri,is still at large.

SBI donates autorickshaw to NGO
The State Bank of India donated an autorickshaw to the Theatre Age,a group involved in the uplift and education of slum children,on Friday. The Piaggio three-wheeler’s keys were handed over by the SBI Chief General Manager S K Sehgal. The vehicle will be used by the NGO to carry out the day-to-day activities for the benefits of ragpickers and needy students. On the occasion,Sehgal extended New Year wishes and also highlighted the bank’s scheme for adoption of the girl child. Till now,Chandigarh Circle has adopted 1,930 girls. Zulfikar,President of Theatre Age group,thanked the bank for its concern towards the cause.

Hotel management institute to get new hostel
The UT Administration has finally approved the construction of a hostel block and quantity food training kitchen at Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management,Sector 42D. A financial grant of Rs 50 lakh has been released for the purpose. The approval was given by Home-cum-Tourism Secretary Ram Niwas. The outlay and plan of the hostel block has been prepared by the Department of Urban Planning,Chandigarh. The UT Engineering department has been entrusted with the task to complete the project costing nearly Rs 9.15 crore. At present,the Hotel Management Institute besides running a three-year degree course in BSc (Hospitality and Hotel Administration),also offers a 18-month diploma course in trades of food production,food and beverage service,front office,bakery,confectionary and house keeping. The total intake at present is 240 students for the diploma course and 40 for the three-year BSc programme. With the coming up of a new hostel block,the intake is likely to increase.

Fraud worth Rs 34 lakh in Punjab National Bank
AMBALA: A fraud worth over Rs 34 lakh in two district branches of Punjab National Bank (PNB) have come to light. The police are investigating the case. The complaints lodged by the managers of Chaur Mastpur and Chhapra Kathgarh branches revealed that Narinder Kumar Swami who served as deputy managers in both the banks had committed the fraud by forging various documents and misusing passwords of his colleagues. The complaint made by the Chaur Mastpur branch manager,Rajinder Kumar Batra,alleged that Swami had forged documents from February 2005 to August 2007 and committed a fraud of over Rs 12 lakh. Similarly,after his transfer to Chhapra Kathgarh,it was alleged that Swami indulged in frauds from August 2007 to January 2009. A case against Swami has been registered and DSP (Headquarters) Rameshwar Sharma is handling the investigation.

Health of freedom fighter on hunger strike worsens
AMBALA: The condition of octogenarian Pritam Chand deteriorated after he sat on an indefinite hunger strike demanding inquiry into the misappropriation of funds by the sarpanch of nearby Naraingarh village. He alleged that the present sarpanch had misused the funds received for development schemes of the village and did not give account of nearly Rs 45,000 spent on projects. SDM Naraingarh O P Sharma said that in view of the deteriorating health condition,the veteran freedom fighter would be admitted to the civil hospital. He further said that notices of recovery of Rs 45,000 had been issued to the ex-sarpanch and also demarcation of common land had been ordered.

Rayat School celebrates annual day
Ropar: The Rayat International School,Railmajra,organised its annual day function ‘Navrang’ in the Rayat Technology campus on Friday. CBSE Regional Joint Secretary D R Yadav was the chief guest at the function. Speaking on the occasion,Yadav lauded the achievements of the school in various fields. He also inaugurated an exhibition displaying projects made by students.