The district unit of the Democratic Teachers Front (DTF), Punjab, presented a new charter of demands to Tarn Taran MLA Dr Kashmir Singh Sohal recently, seeking a change in the election process for the local government department. These range from gram panchayats to Municipal Corporations. The DTF also raised demands related to requirement of polling staff for elections in local government bodies. Partap Singh Thathgarh, district president of DTF, said the organisation was laying stress on counting of votes for gram panchayats, Block Samitis, Zila Parishads, Nagar Councils, Nagar Panchayats and Municipal Corporations by other staff like in the case of Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. DTF leaders said that at present, counting is done by the polling staff at the booth level soon after polling ends. He said the DTF was stressing to end the present process. DTF leaders said as streamlining of the polling process for the coming Lok Sabha elections is underway, their demands must be considered. The DTF leader stressed that the remuneration for polling staff of the local government institutions should be fair and timely.
When dacoits meant no harm, only the booty
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A dacoity took place recently in a posh locality of Tarn Taran town which turned out to be a unique case of crime. Though the five armed and masked dacoits managed to achieve their target, the presence of an elderly woman member of the family helped in reducing the hostility. The leader among the four dacoits who entered the house addressed her as ‘Mata ji’ and told her not to be afraid as they were there only to take away the cash and other valuables. Ritu Arora, daughter-in-law of the woman, however, informed her husband who was at his shop on the mobile phone. The leader of the dacoits pointed a pistol at the four-year-old son of Ritu Arora. She was told to surrender all the cash and valuables. Ritu begged for the life of her son and told them to kill her instead. “No worries, we too have our families and children, we are here to loot the valuables, not to kill the kids,” the ring leader told Ritu. But it was the police which failed to act. The police failed to notice the suspected masked dacoits on their arrival and at the time of absconding. The district administration had imposed a ban on wearing of masks to check this type of incidents. The district police was claiming that it had set up nakas on all sensitive points across the district. But the police failed to apprehend the dacoits who came triple riding on a motorcycle. The five dacoits came to the spot on two motorcycles. The dacoits came to the spot with a masked appearance and escaped. While escaping, the four dacoits were on a single motorcycle as the other bike they had left behind at the spot. Their one accomplice fled on foot. The police managed to recover one of the two mobiles taken away by the dacoits from the fields of nearby Kakka Kandiala village but failed to pursue them after the incident. The words ‘Mata ji’ and ‘We too have our families’ used by dacoits continue to haunt the victim’s family, who were satisfied that the dacoits caused them no harm. Eight members of the family were present in the house.
