The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tuesday, April 23, 2002, Chandigarh, India

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Principal’s hunting trip costs dear
Student hurt as gun goes off
Lalit Mohan

Ropar, April 22
A class X student of Dashmesh Academy, Anandpur Sahib, Gurpreet Singh son of Mr Karnail Singh, was seriously injured on being accidentally hit by a bullet from a .12-bore gun. He was accompanying the academy Principal on a hunting trip.

According to sources, the Principal, Mr Pradeep Mal, went to a jungle adjoining the academy for hunting along with some of his students on the evening of April 19 near Drot village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh.

Some students of the academy, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Gurpreet was toying with the loaded gun of the Principal when it went off accidentally, injuring him. He was given first-aid at the Civil Hospital, Anandpur Sahib, after which he was shifted to PGI, Chandigarh.

Sources in the hospital said the injured student had lost a lot of blood due to the large and deep wound on his leg.

The DSP, Anandpur Sahib, said the incident had taken place in an area under the jurisdiction of the Kot Kahlur police station of Bilaspur district. The Anandpur Sahib police has collected all information regarding the incident and sent it to the police authorities of the Kot Kahlur police station.

Residents of Drot village, where the incident took place, told that the incident took place when the students of the academy were swimming in the Charan Ganga river. The students and the Principal were regular visitors to the area and they would also bring weapons on their trips here, they said.

The DSP, Anandpur Sahib, said from the wound, it seemed that the injured student had been hit on the leg point blank. Due to the serious injury, he had not gained consciousness till last evening, he added.

The SHO of the Kot Kahlur police station, Mr Chamel Singh, admitted that he had received information regarding the incident from the Punjab Police. A police party had been sent to PGI, Chandigarh, to record the statement of the injured boy after which a case would be registered, he said.

The Principal of the academy was not available for comments. An official at the academy said he had also went to Chandigarh to enquire about the health of the injured boy.

The incident has, once again, brought to the fore the illegal practice of hunting carried out by influential people in the area. The forests on the Punjab-Himachal border in the Anandpur Sahib area are the favourite hunting spots for influential people.

Due to shortage of the forest staff and dispute over the defining the border of both states, the authorities fail to curb the practice of illegal hunting in the area. The influential people, along with the local hunters, hunt for birds and now rarely found deer and wild boars in the area.

The Wildlife authorities said they could not register a case till any dead animal was found from the place of incident.

TRIBUNE SPECIAL
UK Indian funds Briton’s hunt
Prabhjot Singh & Pratibha Chauhan
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh/Dharamsala, April 22
Bill Kitchen (51), a primary schoolteacher and his wife, Angie, a nurse, who were forced to abandon search for their son, Joel, in the Himalayan foothills when their life savings ran out, are back at Bir in Dhauladhar with their hopes of finding him revived, thanks to Dr Kartar Lalvani, a millionaire from London, who offered to finance a new search.

Dr Kartar Lalvani, who heads the Vitabiotics — a vitamin and nutrition company in London — has not only paid the London-Delhi-London air fare for both Bill and Angie, but also for hiring a helicopter for search operations.

Bill and Angie had exhausted their life savings of £ 18,000 for the helicopter trips that now seem to be the only way to locate Joel Kitchen. Each trip costs between £ 900 and 1200. The adventure insurance cover taken by Joel Kitchen did not cover such expenditure.

The Daily Telegraph of London flashed a big story in its April 18 edition appreciating the gesture by Dr Lalvani.

“I was so moved when I read about their situation. I felt that I had to do whatever I could. I could not believe that they were having to pay for an air search. No parent should have to go through that,” said Dr Lalvani.

Dr Lalvani told The Tribune over the telephone that he had funded for further search after the IAF abandoned the search half way due to inclement weather.”The Escort group has been kind to offer me on the humanitarian grounds the helicopter for the search operations at reduced rates.

“Search by villagers is going on in the mountains around the Dharamsala region. I have offered Rs 1 lakh to the villagers for finding Joel Kitchen.The parents are overwhelmed by the cooperation and help of the local people. The police, too, has been very helpful,” said Dr Lalvani.

Dr Lalvani started Vitabiotics in the UK nearly 30 years ago. Today its one of the leading nutrition companies in the UK, with many brand leaders such as Perfectil, Osteocare and Menopace. With several offices internationally Vitabiotics now exports effective and innovative supplements to over 50 global healthcare markets. Over the years, Dr Lalvani has done a lot for good causes and supports many international charities.

He has two sons, Ajit, who is a don and clinical lecturer of medicine at Oxford University and Tej , who focuses on developing and managing Vitabiotics business worldwide. He also has a daughter, Sangam, who is still at school.

Meanwhile, a police team was rushed to Khagrotu Dhar, above Narwana and Old Charmunda, near Dharamsala, after two shepherds told the police that they had seen a glider landing in the higher reaches on April 7, the day Joe Kitchen went missing.

According to the ADM, Mr S.S. Guleria, the two Gaddis, who were grazing their cattle in the area, saw a glider coming from the Bir side near Khagrotu Dhar on April 7. It was only yesterday that two Gaddis — Bhoomi Singh and Guddu — told the police about it.

The ASP, Mr Ram Lal, left for the site today which is about a five-hour trek from Yol-Narwana. Meanwhile, 10 Army personnel, who had been assisting in the search operation around Bir and Billing have been summoned to Yol. The Army team would leave for the area tomorrow.

The parents of Joel have been camping at Bir for the past two days. They went to the take-off site at Billing and at Utrala, where Joel was last seen, moving towards Dharamsala.

The district administration maintains that the entire focus was on ground search as more than 10 rescue teams, including paragliders, the Army and the ITBP, were trying to rescue Joel.