Jalandhar, June 24
Kin of several youths from the region trapped in Kuwait beat up an employee of the travel agency that had sent them abroad in front of mediapersons at a government tourist complex opposite the SSP Office here this afternoon.

The mediapersons had gathered there to attend a press conference by some travel agents against whom allegations had been made, when a group, comprising mostly of women, led by leaders of the Lok Bhalai Party (LBP), also congregated at the venue and were incited to shout slogans against the agents. Then the group took the shape of a mob and physically assaulted Kishore Kumar, a manager with IBM Tours and Travels, inside a room in the complex.

Earlier in the day, kin of several youths stranded in the Gulf and north Africa, in a LBP press conference, had claimed that five illegal immigrants, including Babbi from Kapurthala, Pappu from Satnampur Mohalla, Phagwara, and Sukhwant Singh from Killwala, Jalandhar, had died of jaundice in Algeria due to the unhygienic conditions they were forced to live in to evade arrest.

The family members also showed a message a youth had faxed from Kuwait asking Lok Bhalai Party President Balwant Singh Ramoowalia to help them return. The letter, faxed on June 20, alleged that 12 persons had been duped by sub-agents and a main agent based in Mumbai.

At the tourist complex, the mob also indulged in verbal altercation with some mediapersons, as they were not allowing the travel agent to speak.

After the protesters were pacified, a visibly-shaken Kumar showed documents, trying to prove the legitimacy of the agency. He said the youth who went to Kuwait were not following the working rules, and were as such facing trouble. He claimed that owner of the agency along with others were on their way to the city.

In the meantime, a police team reached the spot and gave a brief hearing to the protesting kin. The team led by an SHO then went inside the tourist complex, but found the travel agent missing.

The SHO checked records of the complex, but found the details sketchy. The record book of the Punjab Tourism Development Corporation-run complex was also found incomplete.

In the press conference, the LBP members had even connected the reporters to the youths who had claimed that 10 persons from Kapurthala, nine from Hoshiarpur, seven from Jalandhar, six from Amritsar, four from Gurdaspur, and one from Ferozepore were stranded in the Gulf.

The parents of these youths had sad tales to tell. Ms Sibo from Abadpura, Jalandhar, said she had taken a loan to pay an agent Rs 7 lakh for sending her son, Ravi, to Europe. Carrying a baby daughter in arms, Ms Muskan from Hoshiarpur said her husband Avtar Singh had gone to Kuwait six months back after paying Rs 1.25 lakh to an agent, but was working in pitiable conditions.

Also present at the press conference were three youths who said they had been released from jails in Morocco after serving a year’s sentence.

Phagwara, June 24
The Phagwara police nabbed two persons from the Old Grain Market today when they were attempting to escape with the bangles of a woman. The duo used to befool women on the pretext of giving shine to their faded gold ornaments, the police said.

According to sources, the duo reportedly went to a house at Katehra Chowk and asked the woman, Jyoti Anand who was all alone at home, that they can give a new look to old silver and gold ornaments by polishing them with a powder. “The duo showed me by polishing my silver bangles with the help of a powder,” said Jyoti.

“Thereafter, I gave them my two gold bangles for polishing. Then, they asked me to bring some water and a metal container.” They mixed some dark-coloured powder in the water and later dipped the bangles in it which, she said, were not visible due to dark colour of the water. “The duo again asked me to bring some other ornaments for polishing. As I went inside, the alleged cheaters hid the bangles with them and asked me to take out the bangles after 15 minutes,” she added. On being suspicious, she looked for the bangles in the coloured water, but she could not find them. “I raised an alarm and the duo fled the spot immediately with the bangles,” she said.

But they were overpowered by the policemen after a short chase near the Old Grain Market and recovered the bangles from their possession. 

Phagwara, June 24
Three persons of a family died on the spot and five others, including four children, were injured in a road accident when a Maruti Zen and Tata Safari collided head-on on the Phagwara-Banga national highway on Friday night.

The victims, travelling in Safari who died on the spot, were identified as Inderjit, his wife Sukhwinder Kaur and Dilbagh Singh, all residents of Majari village in Banga of Nawanshahr district.

The impact of the collision was so strong that the shopkeepers of the nearby shops had to break open the wind screen of the Safari and extricated the bodies, said the witnesses.

The injured, who were identified as Ravinder Kaur, her sons Elispreet Singh and Arshpreet Singh, daughters Ramnik and Anmol Preet, had been admitted to a private hospital in Dhahan Kaleran village.

The police has registered a case against Rajwinder Singh, owner of the Safari who was driving the vehicle when accident took place.

According to police sources, the car was going from Phagwara to Nawanshahr and the Safari was coming from Nawanshahr. When the vehicles reached near the Happowal village on the highway, the Safari collided head-on with Maruti Zen. 

Phagwara, June 24
Heavy rain lashed the region this afternoon disrupting traffic and catching home-bound people unawares. It also brought relief in the region, which reeled under severe heat wave condition and humidity for over a week.

Traffic moved at a snarl’s pace and vehicles lined up for long distances in various parts of the city.

Met officials said the region might have more thunder showers on Sunday also. There would be partly cloudy sky and the maximum temperature would be around 32 degrees, they added. — TNS