Fine on official

Patna: A high court bench on Tuesday imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on principal secretary, health, R.K. Mahajan in a case related to grant of retirement benefits to Pratyush Kumar Mishra. The court had earlier sought Mahajan's response, and fined him after he failed to give a reply.

Liquor cuffs

Patna: Darbhanga BJP MP Kirti Azad's brother-in-law Ajay Kumar Choudhary was arrested on Tuesday from Donar village in an inebriated condition.

Bridge closed

Patna: Traffic from the northern side at Koelwar bridge between Bihta and Ara will remain closed on May 24, 26 and 28 from 10am-6pm.

Drugs due

Patna: The bench of Patna High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon on Tuesday directed chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh to comply with the court's earlier order to pay a stockist who had supplied drugs to the health department but was not being paid. Amit Pharmaceuticals Authorised Stockist had filed a petition, alleging that the government had not paid for drugs supplied to the state health department in 2004. The court ordered the government to pay the stockist its dues in 2008, but so far no payments have been made. The chief secretary has been directed to clear all the payments within four weeks.

Civic polls

Patna: The first phase of urban local bodies elections came to end on Tuesday with declaration of results. Voting was conducted for 2,332 ward seats spread over 35 districts in this phase.

Teacher pay

Patna: Senior BJP leader Nand Kishore Yadav on Tuesday claimed that 4 lakh schoolteachers had not received their salaries for the past three months because of the government's laxity. He said the delay was in spite of the Centre already issuing Rs 800 crore out of Rs 10,500 crore for the state under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Kids return

Patna: Ninety-four children who were rescued from child labour were brought to Patna from Jaipur on Tuesday. The children are Patna, Gaya, Vaishali, Katihar, Nawada, Madhubani and Nalanda districts.

Cop team

Patna: Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaaj has constituted a special investigation team to solve the murder of RJD leader Pappu Yadav, also known as Pappu Gope, who was killed in Fatuha, Patna rural, on May 16.

Suspension

Patna: Mohammad Ali Ansari, the sub-divisional police officer of Sonepur in Saran district, has been suspended and departmental proceedings have been initiated against him for alleged lapses leading to the Makar Sankranti boat capsize near Gandhi Ghat in Patna this year.

Two killed

Sitamarhi: Two persons were beaten to death, allegedly by some influential people at Sandwara village under Bajpatti police station in Sitamarhi district on Monday night. Identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained.

'Loan' death

Araria: Mohammad Naushad alias Symbol (35) was killed on Monday night, allegedly for failing to pay Rs 50 he had taken as loan from a neighbour few months ago.

Burn injury

Buxar: Two persons suffered serious burn injuries when a LPG cylinder exploded at the residence of former MLA Shyam Pyari Devi at Rajpur in Buxar district on Tuesday. Bhola Paswan and Ashok Paswan were rushed to Buxar hospital and from there referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital in serious condition.

Youth killed

Siwan: A youth was killed when a group of supporters of a candidate from ward number 31 opened fire during a victory procession in the town on Tuesday. The identity of the deceased is yet to be ascertained. Residents later blocked the road and paralysed traffic in the town to protest the incident.

Girl run over

Patna: A 17-year old girl, Geetashri Gupta, of Bahadurpur Housing Colony, was run over by a speeding train near Rajendra Nagar Terminal while crossing the railway tracks.

Booze arrests

Patna: Niraj Kumar and Gautam Kumar were arrested near Patna GPO on Monday night while smuggling 20 bottles of liquor in schoolbags from Mughalsarai.