Tarn Taran Diary: Police station turns favourite haunt of snakes

One needs to be much more cautious in case one is visiting the city police station, Tarn Taran, to get work done, as he may find snakes slithering in the courtyard. This is one police station in the state that is being run from an ‘encroached’ building since decades and it is because of this that no grant, not even a single penny, is released by the department or the state government even for white-wash. A few days back, a hue and cry was raised in the police station when a dangerous species of snake appeared in the courtyard during the day time. Yogi Rambo Nath was called from the town to catch the snake. The courtyard of the police station is being used as a store to park vehicles and other material related to the mall-khana (recovered stolen vehicles and other such articles). This has become a haven for snakes in large numbers. As the police station seemingly works from an ‘encroached building’, the police department or the state government under the set rules cannot release grant to repair or renovate the building. As a result, the building of the police station has become totally unsafe and is in a dilapidated condition. The snakes pose danger which the senior officials must take seriously. For the time being, it would be better to clean the courtyard and free it of snakes.

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Missing loan files in embezzlement case proves headache for bank staff, police

Embezzlement to the tune of crores detected in a branch of the Tarn Taran Central Co-operative Bank is proving to be a headache for the bank officials as well as the police. Though the police registered a case of cheating against two officials about one and a half years back, neither of the accused has been arrested nor challan in the case presented in court till date. The embezzlement might not have been unearthed in case the affected farmers of the area had failed to raise their voice in this regard more than six years back. The farmers who had taken farm loan from the bank and had paid it back were issued notices to pay the loan suddenly and they came out on to the roads to protest. To pacify the affected farmers, the bank officials investigated the case and launched a probe. During the preliminary inquiry, the bank officials checked 939 loan files 2014 onward and in 123 cases, fraud worth Rs 7 crore was detected though the team of inquiry officials failed to check certain missing loan files which they mentioned in the inquiry report. The sources in the bank said that actually the fraud was much bigger in case the whole record is made available. The affected farmers under the banner of an outfit raised their voice and a case was registered on November 24, 2022 on the basis of an inquiry report submitted by bank officials. The district police have formed a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the embezzlement. A member of the SIT said that the police have written a number of letters to the bank officials to provide the required record to proceed in the matter like presenting challans in court. Bank officials said that the record was not even available in the branch of the bank too. The case has become a severe headache for bank officials and the district police.

(Contributed by Gurbaxpuri)