The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Rallies by doctors working in rural areas
Our Correspondent

Nabha, October 13
The Rural Medical Service Providers Association (Punjab) organised state- wide rallies in all districts of Punjab yesterday. The doctors working in the rural areas joined hands and participated in the rallies against the non-regularisation of their jobs.

Dr Aslam Parvez, state president of the association, said here today that all district units had organised protest rallies at district headquarters and given memorandums of demands addressed to Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to the Deputy Commissioners.

Dr Parvez alleged qualified doctors were being discriminated against compared to those in other government departments. The association’s main demands are regularisation of jobs without hike in pay besides benefit for women doctors for maternity leave and end to interference by local politicians, sarpanches, panches and zila parishad authorities. He said denial of maternity leave to women doctors is violation human rights.

Dr Aslam added the dispensaries were handed over to the non-technical department who were unable to understand problems of doctors. He alleged that they could not enjoy the benefit of PG quota, which is not possible in contract system. In coming days the shortage of PG doctors will affect the health of rural people of the state. He said the doctors were not getting salaries on time.

Dr Aslam wanted Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to intervene in the matter otherwise they would be forced to organise more rallies and gherao ministers.

Mahants reject compromise on Ram Tirath issue

Amritsar, October 13
The compromise brokered by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh late last evening has run into rough weather, as the mahants refused to accept the compromise here today.

The mahants, while talking to The Tribune, said that Capt Amarinder Singh was misled by the two mahants for their vested interests. They said that they would not withdraw the cases which were pending in the high court. There were seven mahants and eight other Hindu organisations. The compromise reached between two mahants and other leaders was not acceptable to them, they added.

It is pertinent to mention here that mahants and valmikis are at loggerheads for over a decade over the construction of a Valmiki temple in the sarovar. The mahants had objected to demolishing the heritage factor of historical religious place by constructing a temple in the holy sarovar. — TNS

Kidney patient needs aid
Our Correspondent

Amritsar, October 13
Mr Tarsem Kapoor, 36, father of two minor daughters, had never expected that kidney transplant operation about seven years ago would come to haunt him again.

The impoverished family bore heavy expenses by disposing of ancestral house and meagre gold jewellery they had. Tarsem's younger brother Sanjay had donated his kidney.

However, at this moment of crisis help has come from unforeseen corner. Mr Jugal Kishore, an employee with Income Tax, has come forward to donate his kidney.

The impoverished family is looking for financial help to get him operated.

2 child labourers rescued

Amritsar, October 13
The local administration rescued two child labourers from different premises here today. They were identified as Arjun (13) and Surinder (12).

Arjun was working in an ice cream factory near railway crossing 21, Islamabad, while Surinder was working at a tea stall on Albert Road. A case was registered under the Child Labour Act 1986, and a fine of Rs 10,000 imposed on the employers. The SDM, Mr Vijay Setia, said strict action would be taken against those employing children at their business establishments. — TNS

Thespian Panditji dead
Tribune News Service

Patiala, October 13
Theatre world suffered loss today with the death of theatre personality Balraj Pandit (70). A product of the National School of Drama, Pandit, popularly called Panditji by his friends, rose to fame with his play Panchvan Savaar, in Hindi in his NSD days.

Pandit taught at the Department of Theatre and Television, Punjabi University, since 1979 and used to hold theatre and poetry dramatisation workshops even after his retirement.

Workshop on economic offences
Tribune News Service

Phillaur, October 13
A two-day workshop on economic offences and their prevention was organised yesterday at Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur, in collaboration with ICICI Bank Limited. Mr. S.S. Virk, DGP, Punjab, inaugurated the workshop in which police officers from different districts of Punjab and senior bank officials from various regions of the country participated.

In his inaugural address, Mr Virk highlighted the importance of sensitizing police officials as well as banking sector regarding technologically sound strategies for tackling various types of economic offences. He appreciated the initiative taken by ICICI Bank for organising such a workshop.

Giving details of the workshop, Mr R.S.Gill, Director, Punjab Police Academy, said economic offences could be effectively controlled if there was a strong link and coordination between the police and banking sector. He said due to Internet and other technological advancement, white collar crime was increasing significantly. He also stressed the need for the police to be educated and trained enough to tackle such challenges.

COURTS

SC verdict rekindles their hope for justice
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, October 13
The Supreme Court's landmark verdict on the clemency granted by a former Andhra Governor to a Congress activist sentenced to life term in a murder case has rekindled hope in the parents of Harpal Singh for whose murder ex-minister Teja Singh's son Sandeep Singh got life imprisonment, but was recently granted pardon by the Punjab Governor.

Talking to The Tribune, Harpal's parents Jagrup Singh and Kartar Kaur said: "The apex court's judgment has renewed our hope that the honourable Punjab and Haryana High Court, where we have filed an appeal against pardon granted to Sandeep, will award justice to our family."

Sandeep Singh had reportedly killed his son Harpal and his farm hand Rasal Singh on the night of October 30, 1998. He was convicted in the murder case on July 14, 2004, and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Harpal's father lamented that they had got justice from the judiciary after a long-drawn legal battle of six years, but a single stroke of the Governor's pen brought the case back to square one. "If an individual convicted for a heinous crime can be pardoned in such a manner, what for the courts have been set up," asked his sobbing mother.

Jagrup Singh said though they were aware of the attempts of Sandeep Singh for seeking pardon, they didn't know that it would soon turn into reality. "Both of us didn't have proper meals for days and had spent sleepless nights wondering how we'll fight the case afresh. But, now the SC verdict had given us strength to wage our struggle for justice with renewed optimism," he concluded.

	Victim’s cellphone leads to solving blind murder Our Correspondent Fatehgarh Sahib, October 13 Mr Jaspreet Singh Sidhu, SP(D), succeeded in solving a blind murder that took place in Mandi Gobindgarh town in 2005. Addressing a press conference, Mr Shiv Kumar Verma, SSP, said the police had launched a campaign to reinvestigate all unsolved murder cases. He said on January 16, 2005, Sonu, resident of Mandi Gobindgarh town, went out of his house on his motorcycle at 9 pm and did not return. His body was recovered from the Bhakra Canal on January 24. The police registered a case under Section 302 and 34 of the IPC against his friends Harpreet Singh and Sohan Singh, residents of Mandi Gobindgarh. During the investigation they were found to be innocent and released. So the case was marked as untraced. The SSP said now Mr Jaspreet Singh, SP(D), and his team started investigation again and all those factors which were not touched earlier by the then investigating officer were considered. The information about the motorcycle and mobile phone of the deceased was gathered. The police succeeded in tracing the IMEI number of his cellphone and the complete information was taken from the manufacturing company. It was found that even after his death his cellphone was being used. The police gathered the complete information about the calls made from the set from the mobile phone service provider and the persons using it were nabbed. The SSP said the arrested persons were identified as Devinder Singh, alias Kala, and Maninder Singh, alias Mintoo. He said during investigation they revealed that they had murdered Sonu and threw his body into the canal. The SSP said these two along with Sonu used to sell poppy husk. One day these two purchased 80 kg of poppy husk, sold it and shared the booty among themselves. Sonu developed enmity with them and they planned to murder him. On the night of January 16, 2005, they told Sonu that they have looted a huge amount at Bassi Pathana and he could take his share of the booty. They along with Sonu went towards Jandali village and as per plan they murdered him with a dagger. They threw the body into the canal and took away his motorcycle, cash and cellphone. The SSP said the local police recovered the dagger and the papers of the motorcycle from them and the motorcycle was recovered by the Khanna police. The SSP said Mr Balraj Singh, in charge, CIA, and havaldar Kuldeep Singh played a major role in solving the murder case.
	Audit officer held for graft Tribune News Service Amritsar, October 13 The Vigilance Department nabbed an Assistant Controller here today for demanding and accepting a graft of Rs 2,500 from a contractor for passing his bill. The accused has been identified as Subhash Chander Sharma of Mohali. According to the police, Baljeet Singh, working as munshi with S.S. Sandhu and Co., went to the local audit office and asked for clearance of his bill worth Rs 2.5 lakh which had been pending for some time. The accused allegedly demanded Rs 2,500 to clear the bill. Baljeet Singh contacted the Vigilance Department. A team was deputed to nab the accused red-handed. Baljeet was given marked currency notes worth Rs 2,500 to be given to the accused. When the accused accepted the amount, the Vigilance team raided the office and recovered the amount from his possession. The team said that the complainant had gone to collect the payment for the sewerage work he had undertaken in the Rayya area here. Meanwhile, police officials in Mohali have been informed to raid his house there and to assess his assets.
	Murder case suspect remanded in police custody Our Correspondent Kharar, October 13 A migrant labourer from Bihar, Bhima Mukhiya, who was booked by the police in connection with a case of murder, has been remanded to police custody for three days by a local court today. The decomposed body of Triveni, who was allegedly murdered on September 26 by Bhima, was handed over to members of his family after a postmortem examination at the local Civil Hospital. The body of Triveni was recovered by the police yesterday from an abandoned area where it had been allegedly buried by Bhima after committing the crime. Triveni’s brother Ram Avtar had complained to the police that the former, who worked as a mason in a village near Rajpura had gone to Chando Gobindgarh village to get back the money which Bhima had borrowed from him but failed to return. He said he had been unable to trace his brother after he left for Chando Gobindgarh village. According to the police, Bhima had confessed that he had murdered Triveni as the latter had threatened him of dire consequences. The police is investigating the matter to find out whether the crime had been committed by Bhima alone or more persons were involved.
	2 more surrender in murder case Our Correspondent Amritsar, October 13 Two more persons, including a woman, today surrendered in a local court in connection with the killing of a youth, Visakha Singh, in a hotel here on September 3. Earlier, the police has arrested Dr Ravinder Singh Thind of a hospital in Ludhiana, the key accused for murdering him. Both of them have been sent to police remand till October 15 and would be presented in the court the same day. According to information, the accused were involved in the exchange of money taken by them to send Visakha Singh abroad.