Admn demolishes Tangri’s illegal shops
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 27
In a swift move that took everyone by surprise, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation got into action and demolished some illegal structures, allegedly belonging to Shiv Sena (Rashtrawadi) president Jagdish Tangri in the Gur Mandi here. The demolition operation was completed in a tense atmosphere, while hundreds of Shiv Sainiks and other onlookers watched the Municipal Corporation bulldozers raze buildings to the ground.

According to eyewitnesses, a team of Municipal Corporation employees, along with personnel of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB) staff and the local police headed by Mr Anil Joshi, SHO, division No 3, converged on the market. The target was the office of Mr Tangri that was also known as ‘shastr ghar’, where arms and ammunition were allegedly stored by Tangri and his associates. This site was originally a park belonging to the Municipal Corporation. Last week too some kiosks had been removed from this area.

The PSEB staff removed the kundi connections that were illegally taken from electric poles by the accused. The market remained open and functioned normally.

Interestingly, neither the Municipal Corporation nor the local police took responsibility of the action upon themselves saying that they were only assisting in the operation.

An official of the corporation said that the local police had sought the corporation’s bulldozer (JCB) without disclosing the purpose of the requirement. The bulldozer, he said, was operated by the policemen themselves. He confirmed that the corporation did not issue any order for the said demolition and that it was entirely a police operation.

It may be recalled that the local police had arrested Jagdish Tangri recently on the basis of complaints that Tangri was allegedly running a parallel administration and was reportedly involved in providing protection to people involved in music CDs and movie CDs piracy. Raids on Tangri’s headquarters had led to the recovery of thousands of pirated CDs and arms and ammunition.

Meanwhile, a local court remanded Tangri in a new case of extortion in police custody till July 29. The Judicial Magistrate, Ms Pratima Arora, passed the orders. Later, the police formally arrested him with the permission of court. He had been produced in the court in connection with other cases. The police alleged that Tangri had organised meetings in a mandir and started collecting extortion money by promising protection in lieu of various criminal activities by various persons.

Tangri remanded in police custody
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 27
Chief of the Shiv Sena Rashtarwadi's Jagdish Tangri was remanded in police custody in a case of extortion till July 29 by the Judicial Magistrate, Mr Pratima Arora. The Division No 3 police today arrested him formerly with the permission of the court against an FIR registered against him under Section 384/34 of the IPC on July 11, on the complaint of Shiv Sena (Bal Thakare) leader Pawan Sharma.

In another case in which Tangri was arrested earlier, the court remanded him in judicial custody till August 9.

Pawan Sharma had alleged in the FIR that Mahavir Mandir was constructed in Gur Mandi by his father, Mr Narsi Nath, and another person Dhanraj Thapar, where his father served as mahant uptill 1982. During the terrorism days, Tangri was allowed to organise meeting in the mandir. But later he illegally turned out the mahant and others. 

Forces deployed to prevent outbreak
Our Correspondent

The Superintending Engineer (O and M) and the Health Officer have been told to identify areas where cholera and gastroenteritis threats are maximum. Chlorine tablets will be distributed in such areas, as a preventive measure.

The Zonal Commissioners will ensure that the zones are fogged within seven days and every seventh day afterwards, instead of every 12th day as earlier. Special squads headed by the Chief Sanitary Inspectors have been set up to destroy overripe, cut or exposed fruits, besides exposed sweets, ice-candies, sugarcane juice and such items. Mr Sharma urged everyone to avoid eating such stuff. Roadside meat shops will be closed down and violators will be penalised.

The Sanitary Inspectors have been told to supervise all container sites here to ensure that no rubbish is littered outside. The Zonal Commissioners will give the Commissioner daily reports regarding garbage lifting and dumping.

Councillors and citizens have been urged to alert mobile medical teams in case of an outbreak.

Convict escapes from jail farmhouse
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 27
A convict in an attempt-to-murder case, imprisoned at the local Central Jail for the last over three years, escaped from a farmhouse of the jail this afternoon causing a scare among the jail authorities as well as residents living in colonies near the jail. The jail authorities have suspended a constable for dereliction of duty.

Bikkar Singh (25), a resident of Basti Jodhewal area of the city, made the sensational escape at about 3 p.m. when he was working in the farmhouse guarded by jail staff and barbed wires. He just disappeared behind the bushes, said a guard on duty. Barbed wires surrounded the farmhouse but these could not be of any use.

Mr G.S. Sidhu, Superintendent, Jails, told Ludhiana Tribune that he has suspended Gurnam Singh, a constable who was guarding the convict. Each convict sent to the farm is escorted by a guard who keeps an eye on all the movements of the convict. The guard is responsible for taking the convict out of the jail and bringing him back.

Mr Sidhu said in this case the guard was clearly negligent of his duty. The sensational escape pressed panic buttons in the jail. It has happened after over two years when some convict has succeeded in escaping from the highly fortified jail premises. Convicts or undertrials have escaped several times in the recent past from Civil Hospital or Bakshikhana in the district courts but escaping from jail’s premises was rare.

The convict had, interestingly, only four months of imprisonment left. He was sentenced to imprisonment of three-and-a-half years by a district court. He was found guilty of attempting to murder a youth. The convict had just returned from a parole leave of some weeks.

Jail sources said the convict's move came more as a surprise than shock to the jail authorities. Sources said his behaviour was good. Only convicts with good behaviour were sent on parole or to work in the farmhouse. Sources said the convict had some family problem. He was married and was quite uneasy ever since he returned to jail four days ago after a parole leave.

Hectic police activity was witnessed around the jail. All passages and roads were sealed and the police was searching houses in the vicinity. Trekker dogs were also pressed into service but they lost the smell at a road. The jail authorities have sent a complete report about the incident to the senior officials for necessary action. 

Child gets heavy stick in school
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 27
Close to the heels of a recent child-thrashing case in Government Senior Secondary School at Pakhowal village in which the child had died, another case of corporal punishment in a school has come to light.

Balbir Singh, a class VII student of Government High School, Kheri Jhameri village, was allegedly beaten up brutally by his teacher with a stick for creating nuisance in the classroom. While the incident took place on Thursday, parents of the child complained only when Balbir Singh was not allowed to enter the school for the next two days.

Narrating the incident, Mr Gurbachan Singh, father of the child, said that two days back, a science teacher told his son and his friend Devinder Singh to keep standing in class so as to punish them for creating mischief. In the third period, another teacher came to the classroom and beat up his son mercilessly, he said. After this, the child has not been allowed to attend a single class, he said.

Ms Rajinder Kaur, Principal, could not be contacted despite repeated efforts. However, Mr Gurpal Singh, sarpanch of the village, said that he came to know about the incident from the child’s parents but he believed that his teachers were right in taking a disciplinary action. He said that he was told that the teachers first slapped the child and then beat him up with sticks. He said that he was also told that these students were quite indisciplined and had been disturbing the class for quite some time.

Under such circumstances, the teachers must have lost their patience and beaten them up, he said. But he said that he was trying to sort out the problem and persuade the principal and teachers to let the child attend the school from Monday while at the same time warning the children not to create any mischief in future.

DMCH faculty awaits management’s response
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 27
Faculty members of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) have suggested the management to call upon the union leaders for negotiations for the restoration of normal functioning at the DMCH.

The meeting of the faculty members of the DMCH was held today at old DMC. The members said that they were still waiting a reply to their letter in which the doctors had desired to start teaching work at the earliest.

“We had requested to know about the managements’ opinion on the concrete, visible steps needed to implement confidence building measures”, said one of the faculty members.

The faculty members felt that assurances received by the management from the district administration were perhaps not being implemented. They alleged that the police had requested and got the judicial remand extended of all employees in custody, not only this, the judicial remand of five female employees had also been converted to police remand.The faculty was apprehensive about their safety. The arrests and raids were reportedly continuing, said the faculty.

Meanwhile, the striking employees of Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) have demanded action against the guilty policemen who allegedly beat up the ‘innocent’ employees on July 13.

In a press note issued here today, the president, Mr Chander Mohan Kalia and the general secretary, Ms Navraj Kaur, said that the employees were holding a peaceful dharna when the police suddenly resorted to lathi charge and burst teargas shells on the employees. The union leaders said that the Chief Minister had also admitted that administration had got ‘over-involved’ in the situation.

The employees alleged that two women employees, Charanjit Kaur and Gurdip Kaur who were in judicial custody, were admitted to the Civil Hospital as Gurdip Kaur was suffering from gastroenteritis and fever whereas Charanjit Kaur was pregnant. The leaders said that Charanjit Kaur might be admitted to the Civil Hospital as her case was of terminal pregnancy.

Adding a new twist to the ongoing drama at the DMCH, many organisations supporting hospital employees’ union have come forward to entertain and educate the employees sitting on dharna. These union leaders have been conducting dramas and plays to make employees aware of their rights and the alleged injustices meted out to them. The union leaders have already staged plays like ‘Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh’ and ‘Jhanna da Paani’, telling the protesters how the police misbehaved and how people managed to get what was their due. 

Police remand for five DMCH nurses 
A Correspondent

Ludhiana, July 27
The Judicial Magistrate, Ms Anita Narwal, today remanded five nurses of DMCH in police custody for one day, in a case registered against them under Section 397 of IPC at police station Division No 8 on July 14.

Ms Joginderjit Kaur, Ms Sukhchint Kaur, Ms Hardeep Kaur, Ms Surinder Kaur and Ms Sukhvinder Kaur were today produced in the court, in connection with an other case of attempt to murder and the police moved application for getting police remand, which was accepted.

Meanwhile, the judicial remand of 28 DMCH employees was today extended till August 9, by the Judicial Magistrate in an FIR lodged against them after the untoward incident of clash between the DMCH union members and the police. They were booked under Sections 307, 186, 427 etc.

Invest in Uttaranchal hydel power projects: Sajwan
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 27
“Punjab should invest in power projects in Uttaranchal since this state has limited potential for setting up more hydel projects,” said Uttaranchal Minister for Irrigation and Flood Control, Mr Soorveer Singh Sajwan. He was on a personal visit in the city yesterday.

The minister told Ludhiana Tribune that the power deficit state should actively consider investing in hydel power projects in his state for a long term solution to the ever increasing demand. As compared to thermal and nuclear power, hydel power was the cheapest and environment friendly, he added.

Elaborating on the issue, he said the state — after its bifurcation from Uttar Pradesh — had been saddled with many incomplete power projects. Though rich in mineral resources, development left much to be desired and it was in this context that the state was raising finances by soliciting investment or partnership in this vital sector, he added.

“Northern states can invest as per their requirements since the projects were varied and spread across the state. The major projects awaiting completion include the three 1,000 mw Utsiasu, Koh and Poornagiri projects. Besides this, there were the 600 mw Usau, 400 kw Changar, 420 mw Lakhuta, 112 Takula - Sakri and the 252 kw Karan - Prayag projects, he informed.

Mr Sajwan said Punjab had shown interest in the 304 MW Maneri - Bhali project but things had not moved forward after the initial round. “ I will meet the CM, Amarinder Singh, to know about the states’ policy on increasing the generation capacity besides soliciting investment in this vital sector of the economy, he pointed out.

The minister said the Uttaranchal Government was willing to offer flexible conditions and all possible help to Punjab. The same was applicable for any new project that the state wanted to execute, he added. Presently, his state was power surplus and valuable finances were being generated by selling power to Uttar Pradesh and Delhi.

Earlier, a deputation led by Mr R.S. Rana, president of the Tehri Garhwal Vikas Manch met the minister and apprised him of the problems of Garhwalis living in the city. He impressed upon the minister to urge the state government to start a bus service from Ludhiana to Rishikesh besides a train from here to Kathgarh to facilitate the travel of the people to their native place.

CITY SCAN
The birthplace of heroes

Stratford-upon-Avon makes sense to lovers of Shakespeare as the Bard’s birthplace. Sialkot-upon-Aik is the birthplace of our heroes Puran Bhagat, Raja Risalu, Haqiqat Rai besides revolutionaries. It is the birthplace of Iqbal and Faiz. The agriculturally fertile land being equally rich culturally that inspires literary artists and pioneers. Sons of the soil have added to human heritage in all progressive fields.

‘Fake’ ITO arrested 
Our Correspondent

Khanna, July 27
The police arrested a ‘fake’ income tax officer for allegedly collecting money from people on the basis of a false identity, here yesterday.

According to the SSP, Mr Parmjit Singh Sarao, the accused, Bhushan Thapar, had been threatening a local trader, Mr Rajinder Puri, for the past one week his income tax returns had gross irregularities. The accused demanded Rs 1 lakh failing which he threatened to conduct raids.

Mr Puri agreed to pay Rs 20,000 and the police caught Bhushan Thapar red-handed at Mr Puri's house.

PSEB criticised for power cuts
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 27
The Industry and Trade Forum, Punjab, and the Ludhiana Small Scale Manufacturers Association have criticised the working of the Punjab State Electricity Board, especially when it comes to ensuring regular power supply to the industry.

A press note issued by the Industries and Trade Organisation said there was severe power crises throughout Punjab and largely in Ludhiana, the industrial hub of the state, where the industry is losing industrial production to the tune of Rs 60 crore everyday.

Besides weekly off, the board has also enforced peak-load-hour restrictions from 8 pm to 5 am. Not ending here, there were unscheduled power cuts ranging from 3 to 4 hours a day. As a direct consequences of the ongoing power crises, steel prices have gone up.

Industry was consuming 42 per cent of the total electricity generated in the state while it was paying 62 per cent revenue to the board. “Industry fully understands that less rainfall so far was one of the main reasons for the shortage of power in the state, but to our mind mismanagement, poor quality of transformers and transmission lines, apathy of the board officials were equally responsible for the present state of affairs.

During the last two years, no major maintenance work has been done in the city. Poor quality of transformers cannot withstand the existing power load and such breakdowns were quite often.

A deputation of the Industry and Trade Forum, Punjab, and the Ludhiana Small Scale manufacturers Association, under the chairmanship of Mr Harish Khanna, president, met the Chief Engineer, Ludhiana circle, and apprised him of the problems being faced by the industry due to the ongoing power crises.

A representation has also been sent to the Chief Minister, Punjab, and the Chairman of the PSEB to streamline the power supply in the state.

Printers resent entry tax on paper
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, July 27
Resentment prevails among the printers in the state over the proposed introduction of a four per cent entry tax on paper. According to local printers, the most serious fallout of the proposal is likely to fall on the middle and lower middle class, especially the student community.

According to Mr Kamal Chopra, honorary general secretary of the Offset Printers Association, the printers in Punjab were expecting certain encouraging fiscal reliefs from the new Congress government to successfully combat the competition. Instead, he said, the recent proposal that aims at a four per cent levy is an unkind act. If implemented, it would be a direct addition to the cost of production, he said.

Another printer, Mr Sumit Batish, said the levy of entry tax on paper will adversely affect the printing and publishing industry of Punjab. Representatives of the Offset Printers Association feel that the proposed set off to the extent of entry tax paid against paper is nothing but merely an eyewash, as more than 80 per cent of paper in the state is used for the manufacturing books, notebooks, periodicals and journals, etc. Since there was no sales tax on these items, it would not be possible to claim the set off to the entry tax charged on the paper, for manufacturing these items. The students would be worst effected by this

The association has appealed to Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, to scuttle the move as it was essential for the printing industry.