Ludhiana, May 28
Five labourers died and 10 others injured when a building collapsed that was under construction in Hira Vihar Colony of Basti Jodhewal here this morning.

The building collapsed as the construction was delayed due to imposition of curfew in the city.

The deceased have been identified as Badrul, Mohd Karim, Mohd Islam, Mohd Hamid and Akseer.

The list of injured include Shahid (16), Mohd Zaheed (22), Ayub (50), Asamudin (30), Mohd Wasir (24), Bhutter Sardar (21), Bachan Sardar (28), Mohd Asad (30), Tauhiq, Mohd Atabul (25), Shafeed (30).

The incident took place at 6.45 am when 16 labourers were sleeping inside.

A lifting jack, out of the four fastened in the corners of the building, gave away and its roof came crashing down on the labourers.

Neighbours said when the building collapsed they felt a tremor and thought an earthquake had hit the city.

Later, JCB machine was used to remove the debris and to search for buried labourers.

Witnesses said owner of the house Surinder Kumar was getting the ground floor lifted with the help of jacks and was planning to construct a hall under the building. The ground floor was already lifted and was in the air for past four days. All these labourers were residing inside.

The police has registered a case against the owner of the house and contractor Mohd Nasin under Sections 304 (A) of the IPC for negligence causing death.

Bathinda, May 28
Taking no chances in the case of ‘accidental death’ of the married daughter of Lakhbir Singh alias Lakhi, a close ally of the ruling Badal family, the police has kept the case open for deeper investigations.

Though Lakhi has not raised any objections over the statement of his son-in-law Subeg Singh in which he described the incident as a case of accidental gunfire, but due to the high-profile status of the family, police has lodged a case under section 174 of the CrPC and initiated inquest proceedings to ascertain some required facts.

After conducting the postmortem in the early hours today, the body was handed over to the bereaved family. The last rites of Kiranjot Kaur were subsequently performed at the cremation ground located at Bibiwala road here.

The cremation was attended by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, his wife Surinder Kaur Badal, deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, his MP wife Harsimrat Kaur Badal and SAD (B) MP from Faridkot Paramjeet Kaur Gulshan besides other party functionaries and senior officials.

As per the details of the case, Kiranjot Kaur (22), daughter of Lakhbir Singh, who is the manager of the Orbit Transport Company, owned by the Badal family, died here late on Wednesday evening in what was said to be a case of “accidental gunfire.”

In his statement to the police, Subeg Singh, husband of the deceased, said that while cleaning his licensed weapon (.32 bore pistol), a bullet mistakenly left in it, got accidentally fired and injured his wife Kiranjot Kaur. At that time, his mother was also present in the house.

After the cremation, SSP Bathinda, Ashish Chaudhary said, “We have recorded the statement of Subeg Singh and then inspected the sequence of incident narrated by him. In a wider sense, it seems his statement is right. Moreover, the father of the deceased has not raised any objection and ruled out foul play.”

“It appears that the bullet was fired at from a distance of seven to ten feet. But taking no chances, we have initiated inquest proceedings and during the investigations, if any fact comes to light, it would be considered with due seriousness as per the law,” he added.

Jalandhar, May 28
Policemen not only bore the fury of protesters but also maintained their cool during the three-day violence in the state in the wake of the Vienna incident. In fact, they were front line of defence even after the Army and paramilitary forces were called out. At least 58 cops suffered injuries during the protests.

Even senior officers of the rank of IG, DIG, SSP and SP were not spared by the protesters. The official vehicle of the IG was stoned on his way to the Ballan dera on Monday and his gunmen had to fire more than 20 rounds in the air.

Ditto for the DIG who was attacked by the mobs in Rama Mandi and his security staff too had to open fire to disperse the agitators.

Talking to The Tribune, Inspector Balwinder Iqbal Singh Kahlon said he was in the canter escorting the DIG at Rama Mandi. “As we crossed the flyover, we were surrounded by a huge mob of protesters. As a stone hit our driver, the vehicle overturned injuring 20 of us. Instead of helping us, the mob dragged us out of the vehicle and beat us up mercilessly. We managed to run and hid in nearby homes till reinforcements arrived”, he narrated the incident with a shudder.

The Kapurthala DC was cornered by an irate mob forcing him to abandon his vehicles at the Bidhipur railway crossing. However, the quick reflexes of his gunmen ensured that he reached home safely. All vehicles of the police convoy were damaged. Four seriously injured cops include head constables Tilak Raj, Kuldip Raj, Gurjeet Singh and Narinder Singh, the driver of the canter. Kuldip suffered a broken collarbone, Gurjit suffered multiple fractures and Narinder received facial injuries.

DIG Kuldeep Singh today visited the house of BIS Kahlon, his reader, who sustained injuries while doing duty in a troubled area. He also paid visit to all the injured personnel attached to his office and enquired after them.

SSP RK Jaiswal said three critically injured personnel had been admitted to the DMC, Ludhiana. “I am also preparing a case of those who displayed courage in the face of danger to the department so that they can be suitably rewarded,” he added.

Sources said all this happened in such a short time that the district authorities, including the police, were caught unawares.

Meanwhile, mediapersons and cops were on their feet as rumour mills worked overtime with incidents of violence from various parts of the city. Thanks to this, shops and business establishments were closed well before the curfew ended at 6 pm. However, the day passed of peacefully.

Gidderbaha, May 28
Irked over the “abusive language” allegedly used kin of the Finance Minister, staff of the civil hospital, Gidderbaha, today submitted their resignations en masse to the authorities concerned.

Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal is the sitting MLA from the Gidderbaha constituency. The resignation letter bearing signatures of 25 persons, including four doctors, has been submitted to the senior medical officer (SMO).

In the letter, medical officer Dr Dhiraj Goyal (MS Ortho) has said: “Today, I administered first aid to an injured woman and referred her to the civil hospital in Bathinda. Later, the civil surgeon called me up.”

“Soon after, the SMO called me in his office, where the kin of the Finance Minister was already sitting. The SMO introduced us as he was sitting there for that very reason. I tried to explain my position but he used abusive language and asked me to leave the office or face dire consequences,” he added.

Ludhiana, May 28
The Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF), the organisation that has cropped up in the context of the assassination of Sant Ramanand ( 57), tipped to take over as the the next head of Dera Sachkhand, in Vienna on Sunday, today denied any involvement in the attack.

In an e-mail on a letter pad of the KZF, received by the Tribune office here, it has been pointed out the Punjab leadership was defaming their struggle for Khalistan. The press note was signed by Ranjit Singh Jammu, a "servant of the Guru Panth."

Jammu said, "Guru Granth Sahib has borrowed sayings from leading lights of different religions. Our ‘baani’ stresses on equality of mankind. We urge the followers of Dera Sachkhand to be vigilant regarding moves with ulterior motives by different agencies. Our fight for Khalistan is with those opposed to the panth and not against our brothers."

“People are being misled in the name of the KZF. The incident has hurt the entire Sant Ravidass brotherhood. The KZF begs pardon from the entire Sikh panth and also from the Sant Ravidass brotherhood,” the press note added.

Ludhiana, May 28
Efforts of the state government to make farmers aware of the depleting groundwater resources seems to have yielded results as farmers have agreed to start paddy transplantation after June 10, the move will help conserving water.

The paddy transplantation in the state is scheduled to start from June 10 as per the Punjab Preservation of Subsoil Water Act. The state government introduced this Act in view of declining water table in the state.

In the past, farmers had been defying government’s directions on paddy transplantation.

Agriculture experts said this would improve the groundwater level as by the first week of June, 60 to 70 per cent of the paddy was generally transplanted in the state.

Ajmer Singh Sidhu, HoD (soils), PAU, Ludhiana, said in this kharif season farmers have been convinced to carry out transplantation after June 10. “This will be beneficial for the groundwater level,” he said.

However, if the farmers delay the sowing even further it would be more good for the underground resources, he said.

Jalandhar, May 28
It may sound incredible but ace cricketer Harbhajan Singh has turned out to be more important than Sonia Gandhi, the most powerful woman in the country. It is true, at least in the case of the Punjab Armed Police (PAP).

The PAP authorities took no time to allow a helicopter to land in its parade ground to enable Harbhajan to fly out from this curfew-bound city early in the morning yesterday. Harbhajan had come here to meet his mother and other members of the family. Nita Ambani, owner of the Mumbai Indians team, for which Harbhajan plays in the 20-20 format of cricket, had provided him with a chopper to catch a flight from Chandigarh for Mumbai where he was to attend an important meeting of the team. Obviously, a special helipad was prepared for the landing and taking off of the helicopter.

However, the PAP did not show similar courtesy to Sonia on May 3. Sonia was to arrive here to address an election meeting in support of the Congress candidate for the Lok Sabha election and acting president of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Mohinder Singh Kaypee. The Congress had sought permission to hold the meeting at the PAP parade ground that was considered the safest area for the purpose and also for the landing of Sonia’s helicopter.

However, the PAP had refused to give the ground for holding the meeting taking the plea that it would not be available because of an ongoing training programme. A PAP officer has been quoted as saying that since Harbhajan was a star player, so he was granted the permission.

Sainsowal (Machhiwara), May 28
Villagers of Sainsowal are reeling under constant health threat and are forced to drink water unfit for consumption.

In the absence of potable water, villagers have to go miles to fetch water in pitchers, earthen wares and plastic tanks from the nearby villages. According to them, taps and pumps installed in fields throw polluted water which not only smells foul, but is too dirty to be drunk. This has been happening for the past two years.

Villagers claimed that many of them had fallen ill after consuming polluted water repeatedly. Many have gastro-intestinal problems, while others claim to have contacted tuberculosis because of the problem.

Another factor arising out of the problem is early greying of hair and decaying of teeth. “While water for drinking is fetched from nearby villages, we have no other option but to use dirty water for washing, bathing, cleaning and for feeding animals,” said Roop Kaur, a village resident.

Surprisingly, a motor installed near the village for drawing out water throws out dirty water. Villagers said the problem arose around two years ago when village pond was cleaned and deepened. The pond’s water had seeped into the ground water, thereby polluting it too, they added.