Burnt
Hoshairpur: Tanda police have charged a man and his sister with trying to kill Meenu, 21, at her in-laws' house in Tulla Madha village on January 16. Meenu is admitted in the local civil hospital with 80 per cent burns that she suffered when she was set on fire after being doused with kerosene allegedly by her husband Sarvjit Singh and sister-in-law Motu. She, in a statement to a magistrate yesterday, said the accused, who had been harassing her ever since her marriage 14 months ago, tried to kill her. Her family members and sympathisers today held a demonstration in the district courts here, demanding arrest of the accused against whom police had registered a case or of attempt to murder under Section 307/34 IPC.

Seized
Hoshairpur: Mahilpur police today claimed to have recovered a country made 7.62 rifle alongwith eight live cartridges from Prem Singh of Khera and Baldev Singh of Lakisan villages. Police said both were arrested near village Getpur Naria before dawn when they were coming on cycles. A case under the arms act has been registered against them.

Dharna
Sangrur: Responding to the call of the Democratic Teachers Front Punjab, a dharna was staged yesterday in front of the deputy commissioner's office to protest against the undeclared stopping of payment of the bills of government employees and pensioners by the treasury offices. Addressing the rally, the front leaders said ministers and legislators were responsible for the financial crisis in the state. The said the government had brought the state near bankruptcy. They demanded the pay, besides giving scholarships to dalit students, pending for the last two years.

Strike
Sangrur: According to a press note issued here to day by secretary, District Bar Association, Lalit Kumar Garg, members of the District Bar Association observed a strike here in protest against the murder of a lawyer in the court complex of Hisar. They were demanding strict action against the culprits and adequate security arrangements in the court complex in Punjab and Haryana to avoid any untoward incident in future.

Ban
Phagwara: The state units of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal today urged the state government to ban all demonstrations by Christians to check bitterness. VHP state organising secretary Chiranjeev Lal Sharma told mediapersons here that VHP and Bajrang Dal would not remain silent spectators to these demonstrations by Christians who, they alleged, were maligning VHP and the Dal. Sharma also urged the government to prevent cow export from Punjab.