Jaipur, Sep 26: The election result for the Khatushyamji Municipality in Sikar district was declared on Saturday, with Congress candidate Vinita Poonia elected as the Municipality Chairperson by a margin of just one vote.

The counting of the 19 votes cast on September 21 began at the municipal office at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Congress’s Vinita Poonia secured 10 votes, while BJP candidate Prem Devi received 9 votes. Congress supporters celebrated after Poonia was declared the winner. The ballot box containing the 19 votes was brought from the strongroom to the municipal office in compliance with an order of the Rajasthan High Court.

The ballot box was retrieved in the presence of Returning Officer (RO) Kapil Upadhyay, ASP Deepak Garg, Deputy Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar Jangid, other police officials and Congress candidate Vinita Poonia.

Tight security arrangements were made during the process. BJP candidate Prem Devi did not reach the strongroom. The counting of the 19 votes subsequently began at 10 a.m. With 10 votes, Poonia defeated Prem Devi by one vote and was declared the Chairperson of Khatushyamji Municipality. The result followed an order of the Jaipur Bench of the Rajasthan High Court on September 24.

Vinita Poonia, a councillor from Ward 11 and a candidate for the Chairperson’s post, had approached the court. The court cancelled the re-polling that had been scheduled for September 25 and directed the authorities to count the 19 votes cast on September 21 and declare the result. Following the court’s directions, the Returning Officer conducted the counting on Saturday, bringing the election process to a conclusion.

The Khatushyamji Municipality has a 20-member board, comprising 8 BJP councillors, 8 Congress councillors, three independents and one RLP councillor.

Of the 20 councillors, 19 cast their votes in the September 21 election for Chairperson. Lakshmi, the Congress councillor from Ward 10, did not turn up to vote.

Police had located Lakshmi following a complaint filed by her husband, Harlal. After voting concluded on September 21, the ballot box containing the 19 votes was sealed and placed in safe custody. Following the High Court’s directions, those votes were counted on Saturday, resulting in Vinita Poonia’s election as Chairperson by a one-vote margin.

New Delhi, Sep 26: Alert patrolling staff of the Ranjit Nagar Police Station, Central District, arrested a 30-year-old man with 1,026.8 grams of ganja, police said on Saturday.

The accused has been identified as Arjun alias Rahul, a resident of Moti Nagar, Delhi. Police said he was apprehended near the railway line under Shadipur Flyover after he allegedly attempted to conceal a polythene bag and move away on noticing the police personnel.

The incident took place on September 25 when HC Sitaram, along with Constables Lalit and Sumit, was conducting area patrolling within the jurisdiction of PS Ranjit Nagar.

At around 10:25 a.m., while patrolling near the railway line under Shadipur Flyover towards Delhi Cantonment from Patel Nagar, the police team noticed a person carrying a polythene bag in his right hand.

On seeing the police personnel, the man attempted to conceal the bag, turned back and started moving hurriedly towards Delhi Cantonment. Finding his conduct suspicious, the patrolling staff intervened and apprehended him at around 10:30 a.m.

The man was identified as Arjun alias Rahul, aged 30. When questioned about the contents of the bag, he became nervous and failed to provide a satisfactory explanation.

HC Sitaram informed the Duty Officer at PS Ranjit Nagar, following which SI M. Sunil Kumar, along with Constable Subham, promptly reached the spot and initiated legal proceedings.

On checking the bag, suspected ganja was recovered from his possession. The SHO, PS Ranjit Nagar, was informed, and further proceedings were conducted as per law.

The recovered substance was weighed using an electronic weighing machine and its net weight was found to be 1,026.8 grams.

Accordingly, FIR No. 346/2026 under Section 20(b) of the NDPS Act was registered at PS Ranjit Nagar, and further investigation was taken up.

During interrogation, the accused disclosed that he had procured the contraband from a person in the Baljeet Nagar area and sold it locally to make easy money.

Police said the disclosure is being independently verified. Efforts are underway to ascertain the identity and whereabouts of the alleged supplier and trace the supply chain.

Kohima, Sep 26: At least 19 people have died in Nagaland Mokokchung and Tuensang districts over the past two days after allegedly consuming suspected spurious liquor, prompting police to launch a probe into the source and supply chain of the illicit alcohol, officials said on Saturday. As many as 19 people have been arrested in connection with the hooch tragedy till now.

A police official in Kohima said eight deaths were reported in Mokokchung district and 11 in Tuensang district.

He said that a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Additional Superintendent of Police, Bunglang Chang, has been constituted to investigate the deaths and trace the source of the suspected adulterated liquor.

“Some leads have been obtained, but it is too premature to disclose details,” the official said.

Samples of the liquor have been sent to a laboratory in Guwahati for forensic examination to ascertain the cause of the deaths, he said.

Following the fatalities, police conducted raids at multiple locations and arrested 19 people, while nearly 3,000 bottles of liquor were seized.

Nagaland has had a prohibition law in force since 1990, although the consumption and illegal sale of liquor continue to pose challenges in the state.

Police have, on a number of occasions, advised people against consuming unidentified, unlabelled or suspected illicit liquor and urged anyone experiencing symptoms such as dizziness, blurred vision, breathing difficulties or loss of consciousness after consuming alcohol to seek immediate medical attention.

The investigation is underway.

Meanwhile, earlier this month at least nine people, including three members of a family, died at the Tuensang Civil Hospital in Nagaland after allegedly consuming suspected spurious liquor, prompting the state police to issue a red alert and urge people to refrain from consuming liquor from unknown or unauthorised sources.

Police officials had said that the victims reportedly complained of breathlessness after consuming the suspected adulterated liquor and subsequently died.

Nagaland Director General of Police (DGP) Rupin Sharma had said that the victims reportedly succumbed to what is suspected to be spurious liquor. An official release had said that a total of nine deaths were reported in Tuensang Town and Chendang Saddle on September 10 and 11.

Preliminary enquiries revealed that in most of the cases, the deceased had reportedly consumed liquor before developing symptoms such as blurred vision, severe headache, dizziness, nausea and vomiting.

Widespread information dissemination and public awareness efforts have also been undertaken to alert people about the potential risks associated with consuming liquor obtained from unknown, unauthorised or suspected adulterated sources, a police official said.