Simultaneous elections to the Kerala, West Bengal and Haryana assemblies are likely to be held early next year as the Congress (I) leaders are considering advancing the poll date. The tenure of these assemblies is to expire in June next year. The elections may be held six months before the expiry of the tenure. Seven gunned down in Tripura Seven persons, including six policemen, were killed and several others injured when armed Tribal National Volunteers (TNV) extremists ambushed a police jeep on the Ambassa-Ganganagar road in North Tripura about 90 km from Agartala, officials said. About eight policemen were on their way to the Ambassa market from the Ganganagar Tripura Armed Police outpost around 10.30 am, when about 10 extremists opened fire. The Punjab chief minister, Surjit Singh Barnala, said the people must frustrate the terrorists who wanted to achieve Khalistan by forcing migration of the population along communal lines. Barnala, who was addressing a public meeting attended mostly by the Punjabis of Jaipur, said the Punjab government was determined to persuade the Hindus who had migrated from the state to return to their homes. Panther in concrete jungle A full-grown panther that strayed into the concrete jungle of Secunderabad was captured alive and taken to the Nehru Zoological Park in Hyderabad by the zoo staff with the help of the police. The spotted cat measures nearly 5.5 feet, nose-to-tail-tip, and weighs 60 kg. It had no man-eating tendencies according to the zoo staff, who managed to tranquilise it after a two-hour battle.
