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Attempt to murder and land-grab case Our Correspondent
Ludhiana, August 4 Apart from Chahal, the chargesheet was also filed against his relatives Kartar Singh, his sons Jagdish Pal Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Jaswinder Pal Singh and one Harjinnder Singh under Sections 307, 427, 379, 447, 148, 149 and 506 of the IPC and Section 25 of the Arms Act. Chahal and the other co-accused were produced before the court of Judicial Magistrate Harinder K Sidhu here in the afternoon, amidst tight security. As per the directions of the court, the copies of the charge sheet were supplied to the accused. Thereafter, the Judge adjourned the case to August 14 for scrutiny of the documents. As per the charge sheet, the police has cited 23 witnesses in the list of witnesses to be examined during the trial. Interestingly, four official gunmen of accused Kartar Singh have also been cited as “eyewitnesses” to the occurrence, which allegedly took place on October 23, 2006. These eyewitnesses are constables Saudagar Singh, Sukwinder Singh, Gurnam Singh and Avtar Singh. As per the statements of these persons, produced before the court, two gunmen have been quoted as saying that when Chahal along with 50-60 persons, having arms with them, reached the residence of Kartar Singh, they were present there. Thereafter, all the accused left the place. Two gunmen have been shown on the spot and quoted saying that they tried to stop the accused but failed. The local police had arrested Chahal, when he had come to join investigation before the Vigilance Bureau officials in connection with the city centre scam on June 10. The case was also registered on the same day at Sadar Police Station, following the complaint of Harchand Singh of Dad village. The complainant said on October 23, 2006, the accused launched a murderous attack on him, in order to grab his agricultural land situated at Dad village.
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Govt, Punjabi varsity VC stand-off likely
Lalit Mohan Tribune News Service
Patiala, August 4 According to the agenda circulated among the members, item number 2 is regarding suspension of two professors, Manjit Singh and Kulbir Singh Dhillon, who are active members of the joint action committee seeking the VC’s removal. The VC earlier had got their suspension approved from the syndicate of his camp through circulation. Their decision of suspension is to come up for final approval before the syndicate. The affected members of the joint action committee have lobbied hard with the members of the syndicate to get their suspension dropped. The members of the government, including secretary, education, DPI, colleges, director, languages, principals of the government and aided colleges are likely to oppose the decision of the VC. The agenda also contains items regarding regularisation of employees who are serving on probation. In the last meeting of the syndicate, the government nominees had objected to regularisation of jobs of many employees who were recruited in the last one year. They had walked out of the meeting when the VC had insisted on regularisation of the employees. Thereafter the government, through an order, had restricted the powers of the VC to recruit or promote employees. Since the last meeting, the political nominees of the new government, including Prem Singh Chandumajra and Raj Khurana, parliamentary secretary and BJP MLA from Rajpura, have also been nominated to the syndicate. Raj Khurana has written to the registrar of the university agenda regarding extension of probation of Baltej Singh Mann, professor. Baltej Singh Mann, who was the dean, resource mobilisation, had also fallen apart with the VC after he was denied permission to go abroad. He had exposed the lacunae in the resource mobilisation programme of the university. The VC also held a meeting with the internal university members to apprise them of the coming meeting. The members of the joint action committee have termed today’s meeting as illegal. They have alleged that the VC was trying to influence the members of the syndicate before the crucial meeting. Some of the senior members of the syndicate, including Tarlochan Singh, former chairman of the Minorities Commission, are likely to participate in the meeting allegedly on directions from the government.
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Wildlife Crime Control Bureau set up
Chandigarh, August 4 In the past six years, the tiger population has come down to 1,500 from 3,600. In countries like China, tiger bones fetch a high price. Their skins are also sold at a very high price by poachers in the international market. The bureau, which will combat the organised illegal trade in wildlife and their derivatives, will be headed by the director (Wildlife Preservation). He will be ex-officio director of the bureau, it is learnt. All existing four wildlife regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and three sub-regional offices at Amritsar, Guwahati and Cochin will now also function as offices of the bureau. Besides, the bureau will set up its new regional offices at Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh. First, the existing sensitive border Customs posts at Ramanathapura in Tamil Nadu, Moreah in Maniput, Motihari in Bihar, Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and Nathula Pass in Sikkim will be provided support by the ministry of environment and forests for control the trafficking of wildlife produce and its derivatives. Officials concerned say there will be little use of converting the regional office at Amritsar into the bureau’s office also. They say if the new sub-office of the bureau is set up at Chandigarh, it will prove to be more useful. If the bureau office had been set up here, its officials would have found it convenient to coordinate with officials of the wildlife departments of Punjab, Haryana and UT to check the illegal trade of endangered species, said a senior officer. Among the functions of the bureau will be to collect and collate intelligence related to organised wildlife crime activities and disseminate the same to the state and other enforcement agencies for immediate action to apprehend criminals. It will establish a centralised wildlife crime data. It will also implement the obligations under the various international conventions and protocols that are in force at present or which may be ratified by India in future. It will develop infrastructure and capacity building for a scientific and professional investigation into wildlife crimes. The bureau will also advise the union government on issues related to wildlife crimes. The union government has allowed the creation of new posts of additional director, Joint Directors, deputy directors, assistant directors, public prosecutors and constables and guards, etc.
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Panth Rattan awarded
Amritsar, August 4 The award was presented to Daljit Kaur, widow of Bhai Jasbir Singh, by Jathedar, Akal Takht, Joginder Singh Vedanti, Balwant Singh Nandgarh, Jathedar, Takht Damdama Sahib, Giani Tarlochan Singh, Takht Kesgarh Sahib, and SGPC chief Avtar Singh at Akal Takht here. She was given a silver plate, Sri Sahib, siropa and a cheque for Rs 5 lakh. Chief of the SGPC Avtar Singh announced two awards - Bhai Gurdas and Bhai Mardana Awards - to be given to Sikhs for their selfless service towards the Panth. He said that Bhai Gurdas award would be presented to those preachers who spent their lives in selfless service of Guru and Sikh philosophy. Bhai Mardana award would be bestowed upon those ragis who played a vital role in connecting sangat with shabad through kirtan.
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Sukhbir’s poser to Amarinder
Amritsar, August 4 “I would like to have a debate on this issue but that is possible only after the Congress leader gives a straightforward answer to this query,” he said. Reacting to a statement by Amarinder that the wrong policies of the SAD-BJP alliance would soon plunge the state into a financial crisis, Sukhbir said, “Amarinder himself seems to be in a financial crisis. During his tenure as Chief Minister neither did he attend office regularly nor did he interact with traders. What does he know about financial crisis? He wouldn’t even know the spellings of the two words,” he said.
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Govt violating poll code: Dullo
Amritsar, August 4 Dullo said the state government was violating the election code of conduct as it was pasting party posters and banners on government buildings. Distancing the party from the Dera Sacha Sauda issue, Dullo said the SAD was trying to take political mileage on the dera controversy. The PPCC president was in the city to campaign for the party candidates.
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Independent withdraws in favour of Congress leader
Patiala, August 4 Addressing a news conference here, Rajinder Singh Saini, who was in the fray as an independent candidate, said he was retiring in favour of Sharma as he was “highly impressed by Sharma’s integrity and the development works undertaken by him during the last five years.” Saini said he and his supporters would campaign for Sharma and ensure his victory. He added that his supporters, who were spread across the length and breadth of the ward, would now solidly support Sharma. Sharma had been elected in the 2002 municipal corporation elections as a Congress candidate. He expressed optimism that he would make a clean sweep in the upcoming elections.
— TNS
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Jails wait for reforms
Chandigarh, August 4 The prison department had drafted the new Punjab Prison Act to replace the one in force that was passed by the British in 1894. The government is yet to adopt it and also the related modern Punjab prison and correctional home manual. “The antiquated jail manual and the present practices and conditions in jails are two different things,” says an observation of the department. The new Act also aims at reforming and rehabilitating a prisoner. A plan to install mobile phone jammers is pending clearance despite the fact that several high-security prisoners are the inmates of jails in Punjab. The use of cellphones by undertrials and
convicts, several cases have been reported, creates a fear psychosis. The plan was shelved fearing it would not be cleared like other modernisation schemes, said sources, pointing out that Chandigarh installed jammers in the Burail jail some two years ago. Several states have made arrangements for the video-conferencing facility between jails and courts so that trials involving high-profile and high-risk prisoners can be conducted without having to shift prisoners for each hearing. This has been held up as a “legal hitch” was cited as the stumbling block and the money allocated for the purpose during the last budget could not be utilised. The government of India allowed a five-year scheme for the modernisation of jails between 2002 and 2007 and said it would give 75 per cent of the money while the Punjab government was to put in a 25 per cent share. In 2002 the Punjab government gave its share, but stopped paying after that and the central government also stopped contributing its share. Minister for jails Hira Singh Gabbria has been informed that money is needed immediately to get the remaining funds released from the central government. Computerisation, often quoted as a magic mantra, has failed to work in jails. If computers have been provided in a few jails and offices, there is nobody to operate these and there is no software that is related to the functioning of jails. Nobody was found “capable” in the prison department to tackle the situation and young IPS officer Neelabh Kishore has been asked to help out. In the unending story of neglect, the last time new vehicles were purchased was in 1992. The prison department has already submitted a proposal to finance itself. Most jails are located in prime urban areas. The department wants that the sub-jails at Pathankot, Moga, Dasuya, Fazilka, Phagwara and Bassi Pathana should be closed down and sold. New jails can be constructed in outlying locations in the same areas where land is cheaper. A decision on the proposal is also pending. The prison department and its functioning has come into focus after a media expose on how 50 inmates have died due to suspected poisoning in the past seven years while no inquiry has been ordered. Another 400 have jumped parole from various jails and have not been traced.
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Metro, a pipedream, says Bhattal
Jalandhar, August 4 Talking to mediapersons at a press conference here before addressing a series of MC election rallies, she said the Congress had already made a proposal on introducing Metro rail during its regime but she felt that it was too lengthy and complicated a project. It would take not less than seven years to get accomplished and that, too, if there were enough funds with the state to bear the expenditure. Bhattal said the financial situation of the state was such that there could be a state of financial emergency any time. She said her government had left an amount of Rs 812 crore as it stepped out but now the funds suddenly seemed to have exhausted. “Salaries of the government employees have not been paid. Written orders have been passed to the employees regarding not withdrawing their GPF. Never has such a situation arisen earlier”, she pointed out. “The state government was aware of the problem and it knew that it would not be able to introduce the Atta-Dal scheme on August 15 as has already been announced by it. That’s why they got the MC elections announced at a short notice before the implementation of the scheme. Ward delimitation had not been done properly. There had been no preparations by the candidates at all. Everything happened in a huff for the same reason”, Bhattal alleged. The next attack came with a comment on changing equations between the alliance partners. “There are clear-cut fissures between the BJP and SAD. Their break-off is imminent. The government will tumble down under its own burden”, she commented.
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Hawara, Balwant find support in KAC
Amritsar, August 4 The programme was organised by the KAC and the ardas performed by Jathedar, Takht Damdama Sahib, Balwant Singh Nandgarh. However, Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, who was present at Akal Takht, chose to stay away from the function. Addressing the gathering, Manjit Singh Calcutta, a veteran SGPC member, flayed SAD and other leaders for having failed to stand up against the state repression. He eulogised both convicts for the courage they had shown while discharging their duty towards the Panth. Bhai Mohkam Singh and Kanwar Pal Singh, convener and spokesperson of the KAC, respectively, said the death penalty awarded would further alienate Sikhs from the Indian state. Naraien Singh, Surinder Pal Singh and Parmjit Singh Gazi (all members of the KAC) and Bibi Paramjit Kaur Khalra were among those present at the function.
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Dera: SGPC, SAD face flak
Amritsar, August 4 Bhai Ranjit Singh, a former Jathedar of Akal Takht, alleged that the Chief Minister and his son Sukhbir Badal were frequent visitors to Dera Sacha Sauda. Reading out from a book, “Paras di Watti”, published by Dera Sacha Sauda, Bhai Ranjit Singh said neither the SGPC nor the SAD had bothered to seek a ban on such printed material. The main organiser of the seminar, Bhai Ram Singh, secretary-general, SAD (A), said it was an attempt to mobilise the Sikh masses against the ill-designs of the deras in Punjab and elsewhere. Sikh intellectual Balkar Singh, Baba Ram Singh, chief of the breakaway group of the Damdami Taksal, Mohinder Singh, Bhai Dhian Singh Mand, working president of SAD (A), Iman Singh Mann and Baldev Singh Sirsa also addressed the gathering.
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Re-election ordered
Our Correspondent
Malerkotla , August 4 Earlier, the resolution passed by the Congress municipal councillors electing Sabran Bhappa as vice-president of the council on July 12, was suspended by the deputy commissioner. He in the letter written to the secretary, government of Punjab , department of local government had said it seemed SDM Jaspal Singh Jassi and executive officer Ved Parkash Singla worked under some pressure and declared the result of the post of vice- president in a hasty manner. He also forwarded the latter to the government for confirmation and taking further action. Taking action on the letter the secretary, Local Bodies, cancelled the election and ordered the DC for the re-election. Earlier Akali municipal councillors of Malerkotla appeared before the DC and complained by ignoring the majority .The SDM, Malerkotla had declared Sabran Bhappa as vice-president having support of only 11 councillors along with sitting MLA Razia Sultana in the house of total 27 councillors.
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Garbage dumping centre removed
Abohar, August 4 They expressed gratitude to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for directing the municipal council to give relief to thousands of “refugees” (as they are still called). Residents had been allotted houses in this locality as the Muslim population had migrated in August 1947 to the west Punjab province of Pakistan. The migrants changed its name from Sukhera Basti to Patel Nagar. Living in narrow lanes, the residents first struggled to get a pond removed as stagnant water polluted the entire area. Patel Park was developed on it, but could not be maintained due to the apathy of the municipal council. It had lost boundary walls many a time during incessant rain and turned into a pond again. The garbage dumping centre located at the entrance to the locality was another nuisance. The residents started the struggle to get it shifted in 1972. Legislators made promises but none were fulfilled. And finally the Chief Minister had to intervene.
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60 buildings pulled down
Bathinda, Aug 4 Though the authorities concerned have decided to widen the Bibiwala road to 100 feet as it carried maximum volume of traffic, the decision was later changed for reasons best known to them. The authorities concerned have issued notices to about 150 persons for pulling down their buildings to widen the road up to 100 feet also. To prevent the happening of any untoward incident, policemen in large number were deployed in that pocket where the buildings, which were raised in an illegal manner, were to be demolished. The demolition work started early in the morning and continued till late afternoon. The senior officials of the Municipal Corporation, PWD and district administration, including K. P. S. Mahi, who were present on the spot during the demolition work, met with no resistance from the people. The traffic on the Bibiwala road was closed as it was diverted through alternative routes. However, the officials concerned did not touch two religious places, which had also come up illegally on the Bibiwala road and had been causing a major obstruction in the smooth flow of vehicular traffic. Those buildings, which had come up in an unauthorised manner, will be demolished shortly.
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Migrant labourers’ dream turns sour
Bathinda, August 4 The dream of earning enough money by working as labourers in Punjab turned into a nightmare for a section of labourers from Madhya Pardesh, who reached the local cantonment a few days ago. They found themselves on the road after they were forced to spend heavily for the treatment of their children, who fell ill suddenly. About 45 labourers belonging to Damoh district of MP are now being looked after by Sahara Jan Sewa, a local non-government organisation (NGO). The NGO, with the help of a section of private doctors and deputy commissioner, Rahul Tiwari, had made arrangements for the treatment of sick children and for sending them back to their native place. The labourers were lured when they were told that they would be getting decent daily wages by working as labourers in Punjab by Narinder, a labour contractor. They left their native village, where they were getting Rs 20 as daily wages, for Bathinda town. However, fate had decided otherwise for them. A few days after they started working as construction labourers in the local cantonment area, their children fell ill. Though they arranged treatment for them, they could not save two children due to extreme poverty. The labourers, who were penniless, found themselves left with no other option than to go back to their native place. However, a private practitioner, under whose care two more children were getting treatment, started insisting that he would discharge the children from his clinic only after the labourers paid his bill. Vijay Goyal, president, Sahara Jan Sewa, said some private doctors jumped into scene and collected Rs 8,000 for paying the bill of the doctor.
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Case against Akali MLA to be withdrawn
Chandigarh, August 4 The Barnala district police had registered a case in connection with mob violence against Ghunas and several others at Bhadur a few years ago. Sources said the review committee headed by the district magistrate at Barnala had recommended the withdrawal of the case. After examining the case, the committee found that Ghunas was not involved in the violence and was booked for political reasons. The sources said the committee had also recommended the withdrawal of the case against Keetu, who was booked by the Barnala police in April, 2002, following a complaint made against him by a faction of the truck union. The case against him is at the evidence stage. The case files had been forwarded to the state government authorities for necessary action.
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Police remand for Bittu
Amritsar, August 4 He was presented in the court of Lakhwinder Kaur, JMIC, by the Amritsar police on a production warrant as he was currently in judicial custody at Nabha
jail. — TNS
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Financial company dupes residents
Moga, August 4 The family of the Kargil martyr has invested Rs 6 lakh. Besides, a number of people deposited their heard-earned money after retirement with the company in the hope of getting handsome interest. Confirming this, SSP Davinder Singh Garcha said Jaspal Singh, DSP (City), had been entrusted with the task of carrying out a thorough inquiry. He said numerous
people approached him with their complaints but a case would be registered only after a thorough investigation. Ashok Kumar of Chownk Shekhan in a written complaint said that he took a loan of Rs 3 lakh at 11 per cent annual interest from the company on March 19, 2005, and added that he had to return the amount in 120 instalments. After paying some instalments of the loan when he checked the company records, he found to his amazement that he had to clear the loan in 180 instalments at 13.5 per cent per annum. He stated that disillusioned with local officials he consulted the Delhi office of the company and was baffled to find that he had to return the amount in 263 instalments. He quipped that it meant that he had to return Rs 11,94,809 to the company and its interest amounted to nearly 48 per cent.
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PPCC secy booked for trespass
Amritsar, August 4 T However,
Bakshi, Congress candidate from ward No. 65, alleged the case was politically motivated and registered to keep him away from his ward so that he could not campaign for the elections. He claimed he was not present at the site of the incident as mentioned in the
complaint. He said he would withdraw from the contest if anybody proved his involvement in the case. Demanding the deployment of the CRPF and other paramilitary forces in the state on the day of the elections, Raman said they did not have faith in police officials as they were working under pressure of the government. Meanwhile, Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Naraingarh, Chheharta, in a complaint to the police stated that accused Chaman Lal, Avtar Kumar, Kali, Harish Kumar, Jajji, Bir Singh had assaulted him and his brother Rakesh Kumar after entering their house. In the FIR registered under Sections 453, 324, 323, 149 and 109 , IPC, at the Chheharta police station they alleged they were targeted by the accused on the directions of Bakshi for helping BJP candidate Satpal in the area. However, Bakshi said he had met district police chief Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh last evening who had assured them to take any action only after the completion of inquiry marked to the DSP
Sadar. But to their astonishment, the police registered a case against them.
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Fee Hike Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 4 Yielding to the pressure built by the managements ,the government had yesterday postponed the counselling for admission to such colleges. For the past four days the managements of these colleges had been pressurising Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to increase the admission fee for their institutions. The government had yesterday increased the fee for management quota seats. In fact, representatives of the managements of such colleges had met Badal in Ludhiana on August 2 in this regard. Criticising the SAD-BJP government, president of the Punjab youth Congress Vijay Inder Singla today said the government was playing into the hands of private medical colleges. Medical students were left in lurch by the government. A large number of applicants were hopeful of getting admission to the MBBS course. He said students who had secured a good rank in the PMET would be deprived of admission due to the fee hike. The colleges should charge fee in accordance with the prospectus of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, said Singla. He, however, justified the fee hike by 15 per cent, but said it would be burden to raise the fee to Rs 3 lakh for the seats under the management quota. He demanded that the management quota fee and the government fee should be on a par. He suggested that rather than putting a financial burden on students, the state government should contribute some funds to bail the colleges out of the financial crisis.
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Private medical colleges under fire
Hoshiarpur, August 4 In a joint press note issued here, Dr Hardeep Singh and Dr Ajay Bagga, president and press
secretary of the PCMSA, respectively, appealed to the Punjab government not to succumb to the pressure being mounted by the managements of these colleges for making a steep fee hike in admission to the undergraduate and post-graduate medical courses under the management quota. The state government had already favoured these colleges by allowing them to charge per annum Rs 1.15 lakh for the MBBS and Rs 63,250 for the BDS courses, they lamented. They severely criticised the proposal of private colleges to allow them to charge Rs 3 lakh per for the MBBS course, Rs 2.3 lakh for the BDS course and Rs 1.10 lakh for the BMS and BHMS courses under management quota.
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Varsity showed ‘undue haste’
Tribune News Service
Amritsar, August 4 The official correspondence, which is in possession of The Tribune, revealed that the constitution of the sub- committee, seeking of legal opinion and increasing of B. Tech seats from four to eight were done in less than a week's time . This was done by ignoring the "modified notification", dispatched by the state government to various vice-chancellors in Punjab that removed certain categories from Clause 39 pertaining to admissions for the current session. The committee constituted by the VC met on July 14 in the office of the Registrar. It recommended admission of the four additional wards in the new unit of B.Tech. The university received the legal opinion on July 15. It opined that these wards should be entitled to the benefit of concessional fees.
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Avtar Singh resents move on scrapping department
Amritsar, August 4 He said the Sikhism was the most scientific and modern religion. The SGPC chief said according to reliable information, the vice-chancellor was not keen on filling posts in the Departments of Sikh Studies and Guru Granth Sahib Research. Instead, he was trying to set up a department on Buddhism and transfer the posts from the two departments there.
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70 students attend ICFAI meet
Mohali, August 4 Mohali branch manager Ankur informed the students about the various career options available to them. About 70 students from various schools and colleges participated in the event. Navneet Singh Badwal, head of the institute, said the lecture had helped clear many doubts of the students.
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