M A I N   N E W S

‘Land-grabber’ honours CS
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, November 18
The Punjab Chief Secretary, Mr N.K. Arora, and a number of other senior police and administration officials were honoured by an alleged infamous land-grabber of the city who is facing a number of charges in different cases pertaining to the development of “illegal” colonies in and around the city and an armed attack on some “mujaras” who are in possession of a piece of 84-acre disputed land at Fazalpur village, near here.

Mr Charanjit Singh Channi, who honoured Mr Arora and others in his capacity as chairman of the CT Education Society, is allegedly running a land mafia and has been facing charges under Section 307 of the IPC for allegedly attacking a few “mujaras” of Fazalpur village to take possession of a piece of 84 acres of land, which was allegedly purchased by him.

Later, Mr Channi remained elusive for sometime to evade arrest in another case in which he and his accomplices had allegedly shot dead one of the “mujaras” in broad daylight following a scuffle in the Maqsudan police station area in October last year, which had sparked a massive protest by residents of Fazalpur and other villages, who had even laid a siege to the police station to press for the arrest of Channi and his accomplices, including Karnail Singh Dhillon.

While Mr Dhillon was arrested in the case, Mr Channi was first booked by the police under the public pressure and then “exonerated” of charges following a subsequent police enquiry into the matter. Apart from this, Mr Channi and his accomplices, who are known for their clout in the higher echelons of power, are facing a number of cases for violation of the PAPR Act for developing “illegal” colonies in and around Jalandhar, PUDA sources said. Mr Channi, however, denied his involvement in any such case and asserted that he was falsely booked in a Maqsudan police station murder case and was later absolved after a police inquiry.

Mr Channi honoured Mr Arora who was the chief guest at the annual prize distribution function of CT Public School. He also honoured the SP (Vigilance), Amritsar, Mr Rajinder Sharda, who also allegedly owns a residential plot in one of the colonies developed by the former. The Maqsudan police station in charge and the GA to the Deputy Commissioner, Capt Munish Kumar, were also honoured for their contribution to society.

Interestingly, addressing the gathering, Mr Channi said Mr Arora was like a “god father” to him and had been helpful to him in more than one ways. “He has never said no to me whenever I had approached him,” Mr Channi said. Mr Arora exhorted parents not to force their children to pursue any stream of education. “Every child has a unique personality and potential,” he said, adding that he was not aware that Mr Channi was facing charges.

Dr H.S. Gurm, Vice-Chancellor of Punjab Technical University, said education technology was witnessing great changes with time and participation of private institutes in the field of information technology science and engineering had increased.