In Brief

Bulletin on blood donation released
The Chandigarh State AIDS Control Society released a bulletin to cement the pledge to ‘Donate Blood-Save Life’. During the campaign,as many as 47 blood camps were held and 5,815 volunteers donated blood. The pledge which says ‘Become Life Saver for Life’ is the message which is being given to the masses so that voluntary blood donation can be promoted. The document has been compiled by Dr Vandana Dewan.

Autos to be converted into LPG: Operators seek extension of deadline
With the last date for autos to be converted into LPG ones fast approaching (March 31),operators in the city want the Administration to increase the deadline. Though only two days are left,the government is yet to decide whether the deadline will be extended. Sources in the Administration,meanwhile,said the date would be increased by another three months. Secretary Transport Ram Niwas said the matter is being looked into and the deadline will be increased keeping in mind the availability of LPG. He added that a decision would be taken only on March 31 and nothing has been decided as of now.

Former PGI employee arrested on theft charges
The police have arrested a former PGI employee and recovered a laptop,which he had allegedly stolen from the PGI in February this year. The police said accused Ashok Kumar of Himachal Pradesh was arrested from Delhi yesterday. He was working as technician before he quit the job and joined started working at a laboratory in Delhi. The police procured the CCTV footage from the PGI,in which the accused was captured on camera stealing the laptop. The accused was today produced in a local court,which remanded him to one-day police custody.

Nipun Gupta abduction case: Two vehicles used in crime,say cops
While the Panchkula police is yet to arrest Rachit Nagpal,the alleged mastermind in the Nipun Gupta abduction case,it has come to light that the youths had used two vehicles to execute the crime. While a white Maruti Swift was used to abduct the 21-year-old,he was later shifted in a Hyundai Verna which belonged to Sidhanshu,an accused. Four youths were arrested on Sunday for allegedly abducting Nipun Gupta,who was rescued the same day. The accused had been identified as Lavish Gugnani (19),Sidhanshu Puri (21),Sahil Negi (18),Abheshek (22) and Rachit Nagpal (23). They had demanded Rs 80 lakh as ransom from his industrialist father. “During the first day of the remand,the youths told us that Lavish had brought the Swift car from his friend. As Nipun had told his sister on phone with her that he was with his friends in the Swift car,they decided to shift him to another vehicle,” said a police official. It was added that while the Verna has been impounded from Sector 26,they are yet to recover the white Swift.