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New rules may be framed in
Chandigarh, February 14 Pushing back the chair, Dr Aujla says, “The police role envisages a more positive stance now. We may eventually have to frame fresh rules in accordance with this shift in the emphasis. The rules will have to be framed within the purview of the proposed Police Act and take into consideration the increasing awareness of human rights and constitutional imperatives, including the fundamental rights and the directive principles of state policy”. The present set of rules, he adds, were complied way back in 1934. A lot has changed since then. “As far as the Act is concerned, it came into being in 1861, almost one-and-a-half century ago”. Picking up a volume of the Act, he says, “This was basically a knee-jerk reaction to the events connected with the mutiny of 1857. No wonder, the emphasis is basically on the prevention and detection of crime. But over the years the role of police has expanded with the concept of welfare state coming into existence.” Elaborating upon his contention, he says, “Besides prevention and detection of crime, the police has to act as an agent of social change. This is not all. The police has to play a much greater role in tackling natural calamities, also in implementing social legislation and the protection of civil liberties”. Going back to the issue of Police Act, he adds: “A committee set up under former DGP A.A. Siddiqui has already submitted a draft of the Police Act to the state government. It is presently being considered in all its ramifications.” As he sits back, you realise that Dr Aujla is not just a police officer, but also an academician. A 1970-batch officer, Dr Aujla was earlier posted as the Director of Punjab Police Academy at Phillaur. A post graduate in English from Panjab University, Dr Aujla did his Phd in Police Training from abroad. Initially known as Police Training College, the Philaur institute was upgraded into an academy during his tenure. The institute — offering masters and doctrate degree — is now affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University at Amritsar. A recipient of President’s Police Medal for distinguished service and police medal for meritorious service, he was conferred the state award, for revolutionising police education on the Independence Day last year.
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Police zeroing in on dismissed cops
Our Correspondent
Amritsar, February 14 The police has zeroed in on former militants and dismissed cops who had earlier been involved in various cases of kidnappings and a detailed account of their present activities were being minutely put under scanner to solve the riddle which had rocked the city. Mr Paramjit Singh Gill, DIG, Border Range, today said that four gazetted officers had been appointed to coordinate the investigations with the police districts in the range, while the Additional ADGP, Mr J. P. Birdi, was supervising the investigation all over the state. In the meanwhile, even as the police claims to have hit upon crucial evidence to trace the sensational kidnapping of Prabir Singh, which had shook the entire business community of the city, a number of police teams have been sent to the adjoining states, including Delhi, Haryana, UP and Himachal Pradesh to nab the accused. The DIG assured the public that the police would leave no stone unturned for the safe and secure release of Prabir. He said the police was verifying the whereabouts of recently bailed out members of the inter-state gangs allegedly involved in kidnappings. The DIG pointed out that the police was following up in details the case files of dismissed SPOs and had shortlisted sacked cops with criminal background. Mr R P S Brar, SSP, said that the police was pursuing the angle of involvement of an inter-state gang in the abduction of Prabir, who was kidnapped along with his Honda Accord car on February 7 while returning home after tuition from the highly congested Majitha Road area.
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Reform drive in Central Jail
Bathinda, February 14 Following in her footsteps, the local Central Jail authorities undertook a reform drive in the jail in 2004. The efforts put in by the jail authorities go a long way in improving the life of the inmates and conditioning their mindset. When the incidents pertaining to jailbreak, fight among inmates, smuggling, death of inmates in the jail and overcrowding in the jails have become common in Punjab jails, this jail has set an example by providing the required amenities to the prisoners. A five-member committee was set up to carry out reforms in the local Central Jail, which has been facing problems pertaining to overcrowding and inadequate space for women inmates. A significant number of health check-up blood donation, AIDS awareness, eye donation and drug de-addiction camps were held during last year. The inmates also celebrated the various festivals in the jail and number of religious and cultural functions were also organised for their entertainment. Not only this, to lessen the feeling of depression, dullness and monotony, a number of mental development programmes were organised, including painting, yoga, mediation, chess, art of living, etc. Swami Ramdev, an eminent yoga expert, who visited this city in the recent past, also met the jail inmates and advised them to become good citizens and live a life of dignity. A number of ruling politicians and senior officials, including Mr Malkit Singh Birmi, Chief Parliamentary Secretary (Jails), and a number of judges of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Director-General of Police (Jails) and the Deputy Commissioner visited the Central Jail from time to time and took note of the problems being faced by the prisoners. Mr Sukhdev Singh Saggu, Superintendent, Central Jail, said that, apart from it, Rs 7.25 lakh had been spent on the construction of a special kitchen where prisoners could cook their food in a pollution-free environment. Special rooms with attached bathrooms and toilet for women prisoners were being constructed to solve the problem of overcrowding. The jail authorities along with some NGOs had managed to equip the jail with various facilities, like a water cooler, TV set, sewing machines, ceiling fans and one photostat machine for the convenience of the inmates.
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Govt staff to launch agitation from March 9
Bathinda, February 14 The strategy for the agitation, however, will be finalised at the district convention, which will be held shortly and will be attended by state-level leaders of the union, according to the joint press statement issued by senior state vice-president, Mr Baldev Singh Mahal, and district president, Mr Gurjant Singh Grewal. They added that before launching this massive agitation, all district-level conventions and meetings would be held to mobilise the members. The proposed March 9 programme would take the form of an agitation, which was witnessed in 1990 when the union endured police repression and a lathi charge and when a section of the employees suffered fractures and injuries. Their resistance, however, forced the state government to accept their demands. They said the union was of the opinion that the state government should accept its demands immediately. They added that it was deplorable that the state government had been adopting an indifferent attitude towards the union’s demands. The government should open a dialogue with the union instead of ignoring it. The charter of demands included payment of 15 per cent of house rent in Bathinda on a par with the rate of house rent being given to the residents of other towns where there was a municipal corporation, equal house rent at all district headquarters, sanctioning of new posts in the new districts and removal of anomalies in salaries and promotions of the ministerial staff.
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Doyen of classical music nurtures young talent
Patiala, February 14 She might even have to adopt the experiment she has started with her former Guru and husband Ustad Dilshad Khan with her daughter Shabad, who is all set to follow the path chosen by her parents. “Shabad is in Class XII and is very unhappy at present as she has to leave ‘riyaaz’ to prepare for her examinations. But she promises to more than make up once the exams are over”, says a doting mother who along with her husband has started a music circle. “Our stress is on presenting promising youngsters before their peers as well as a knowledgeable audience”, says Parveen Sultana “as this is how I started my music career”. She says unfortunately the stress now is on creating institutions and academies whereas the need of the hour is to give exposure to young artistes. The singer says she alongwith her husband had held shows for youngsters at Mumbai and Pune during which veteran musicians had also been invited. “I even try to get artists from Assam to Mumbai so that they can gain from the exposure”, she adds. Speaking about herself, Parveen Sultana says she gained tremendously by performing in front of her peers. “Those were the days when great musicians used to come to listen to you”, she says adding she trembled even now while thinking how she had fearlessly sang in front of people like Bismillah Khan, Krishan Maharaj and Omkar Nath Thakur. Her guiding force was always her father who told her “dat ke gaa” and don’t worry about the consequences. Parveen’s father - the late Ikramul Mazid, was also her first guru and started teaching her music from the age of five. “Nowgaon was then a very small town surrounded by greenery and mountains with the Kaziranga National Park being close by. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much of a music environment but my father more than made up for it by inviting musicians to his house regularly”. The artiste later went to Kolkota to learn music under the guidance of the late Pt. Chinmoy Lahiri and in 1973 became the disciple of Ustad Dilshad Khan of the Kirana Gharana whom she later married. Music is Parveen’s ‘bhagwan’, ‘aradhana’ and ‘ibadat’ and she always goes on the stage with a prayer “Bhagwan meri laaj rakhna”. God was definitely by her side at the Quila Mubarak here last evening when she seemed to get into a trance while singing on the second day of the Patiala Heritage Festival with the spell being broken only by the applause from the audience.
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Following in the footsteps of a legend
Patiala, February 14 And as she prepares to dismantle the past, her wrinkled face casts an enigmatic spell — the one that holds keys to the world of Siddheshwari Devi, her mother and guru. As the custodian of the legendary thumri queen’s memoirs, Savita treads into the conversation with care lest her mother’s reputation suffers a scar yet again. “The last time I spoke at length about Siddheshwari Devi was when Mani Kaul approached me for the film he wanted to make on her life. Meeta Vashishtha was to play the lead role, but she could hardly live the legend. The script was altered without our knowledge. The movie turned out to be a feeble attempt in parallel cinema. It had several objectionable portions that portrayed my mother in poor light and served every purpose, except aesthetic,’ said a visibly perturbed Savita Devi who has not yet succeeded in putting the experience behind her. In fact, she was most traumatised by the sequence that showed Siddheshwari Devi bathing in the Ganges. ‘I regret having spared Mani Kaul so much of authentic information. There was so much aberration in the film that I had to undertake a damage control exercise to redeem the reputation of the family,” said Savita Devi, who performed during the ongoing Patiala Heritage festival today. What began as an attempt to clear doubts that Mani Kaul raised resulted in a fine documentation on Siddheshwari Devi’s life. Rated as the most authentic text on the musical genius of the celebrated thumri queen who lived and died amidst controversy, Savita Devi’s book was published by Roli. Titled “Maa…Siddheshwari”, it is a chronological feature on the illustrious singer’s struggles through decades. At another level, Savita Devi is instructing students at Siddheshwari Devi Academy of Indian Music, besides documenting the thumris that filled her mother’s repertoire. “This involves a toning down of lyrics. There are some exceptionally striking compositions which don’t command the due respect because they are not refined enough for connoisseurs’ consumption. I am diluting the romantic (shingaar) references in such songs to make them dignified,’ says the artiste who renders hori, chaiti, kajri, poorab ang thumri and khayal with admirable ease. Besides frequenting the concert circuit, Savita Devi is now busy recording thumris of her mother. “There are magical compositions which will be lost if not revived now. I have culled out from my mother’s treasures several fresh compositions which have never been presented before people. Also, I am planning to write a book on the evolution of thumri, the impact of Wajid Ali Khan’s reign on this art form and its gradual journey towards perfection,’ tells the illustrious vocalist who has mastered the art of jugalbandi with shehnai – a tradition typical of Banaras. She sung chaiti with Ustad Bismillah Khan recently. Today she presented hori with Pt Anant Lal accompanying her on the shehnai.
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Classical recital a feast for ears
Patiala, February 14 Exhibiting rare artistry, he struck nostalgic melodies on the sitar, weaving a spell in which the seemingly complex world of classical music appeared mighty approachable. As the instrumentalist recreated the aura typical of the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan, one wondered what he must have done to deserve the reputation he commands. But as he played into the night, one knew what made Shujaat Khan the master of intuitive recitals. His musical plan is not about scaring the listener with his knowledge of technical nuances. It is simply about introducing a musical piece, then delineating it with the power of imagination. No wonder Shujaat’s music evolved with every composition he offered. And because he offered with great devotion, he had his way with the organisers — no refreshments were served as he made musical offerings; no whistles were blown by traffic cops. In Quila Mubarak’s ambience last night, there was space only for songs and flowers, none for dissonance. Powerful as his music was, the audience couldn’t but crave for more of it. So much so that by the time Shujaat concluded his instrumental and vocal recital, he had actually taken more time than the festival schedule permitted him to. But thankfully no voices were raised. The only interruption which the recital witnessed was from a diehard fan of music who made time to shower flowers on Shujaat Khan, blessing him with more success. The affair of purity was taken further by Begum Parween Sultana, the illustrious practitioner of Kirana gharana, who began by paying tributes to the torchbearers of Patiala gharana. She then mesmerised the audiences with the range of her voice, the purity of her rendition and the perfection of
her style. She spent much time in the mellifluous raga Puria Dhanashri which brought out the best of her musical talent. Resting on notes, she decorated the raga to perfection, making the evening worthwhile and memorable. She was accompanied by Pt Mithilesh Kumar Jha on the tabla and Ustad Mehmood Dhaulpuri on the harmonium.
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INTACH to undertake restoration of Quila Mubarak
Patiala, February 14 The fund idea has been mooted because of the sheer enormity of the task of restoration which INTACH feels cannot be done on its own by either the Punjab Government or the World Monument Fund which is at present associated with the project. The ‘Jaisalmer in Jeopardy’ fund has raised crores of rupees for the Jaisalmer fort through sustained fund-raising activity over the years. “We want to establish a similar UK-based fund for Quila Mubarak which, while working on the same lines, will raise money for the Quila over the long period needed to restore the monument to its former glory”, INTACH Chairman S.K. Misra said while talking to The Tribune. Mr Misra said London Nehru Centre head Pawan Varma was holding a fund-raising meeting in this regard in London in July this year. “We hope to get Prince Charles to the fund raiser besides state Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and leading members of the NRI community and Britishers who are interested in contributing towards conservation efforts in India”, Mr Misra said. He said the Jaisalmer fund had led to improving the quality of life of the more than 500 families living in the fort by providing toilets and paving of roads. He said besides this an Interpretation Centre and a Women Craft Centre had also been established in one of the ‘mahals’ in the fort. As far as the Quila Mubarak restoration work is concerned, the INTACH Chairman said more than Rs 100 crore would be needed for the entire restoration work of all buildings in the Quila complex. He said the Patiala Development Authority (PDA) right now had only Rs 2 crore in its kitty which had come from the government and Rs 1 crore had been promised by the World Monument Fund. He said the corpus was likely to increase further with the Chief Minister announcing another Rs 2 crore for the Quila. However, this would be woefully short of requirement, he added. “Keeping this in view, we have decided to document the entire Quila, list all the paintings and other art objects in the Durbar Hall as well as the Quila Androon and then detail restoration work needed to be done on them”, Mr Misra said. The expert said this process was likely to take six months after which restoration would be started after prioritising what needed to be taken up first. INTACH will not only bring its own experts to supervise the restoration work but will also train personnel of the Department of Archaeology, Archives and Cultural Affairs so that they can also take up this responsibility. The organisation also held a workshop for PWD engineers on heritage conservation last year and has requested the state government to associate it whenever the PWD Department is entrusted with the restoration work of heritage buildings in the state.
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SAD, BJP protest against poor condition of roads
Mukerian, February 14 The leaders alleged that most of the roads in Hoshiarpur district were in poor shape. “Not even a single penny has been spent by the government on the state highways and link roads in the district for the past three years. The condition of the Dasuya-Hoshiarpur and Talwara-Hajipur roads was very bad, they alleged. Due to lack of repair work both the roads were full of huge potholes. The roads in shambles had become accident prone especially at night time. The only step that the PWD takes sometimes to improve the poor condition of the roads in to fillup the pits with mud and soil alleged protesters. However, these mud-filled pits became more deadly after rains Earlier also the BJP workers had organised a scooter march on the Dasuya-Hoshiarpur road to protest against the poor condition of the road. SAD and BJP leaders had threatened to block traffic if the road were not repaired in time. Sources in the Public Works Department told that the maintenance head of almost all highways in the state has not been operated for the past seven years.
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Badal urges CEC to rectify anomalies
Amritsar, February 14 A press release issued here today said Mr Badal uttered these words while addressing election rallies in various villages of Ajnala in support of the SAD-BJP, Christian Dalit Front and Bharatiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) candidate, Mr Amarpal Singh Bony. He reiterated his demand for early deployment of paramilitary forces in the constituency. He alleged that the ruling party was misusing the state machinery. He claimed that false cases were being registered against SAD workers.
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Govt has let people down: Capt Kanwaljit
Fatehgarh Sahib, February 14 The present government has proved to be the worst government in the history of the state, he said, and added that the economy of the state is in doldrums. The government has failed to release any type of pension to senior citizens and widows. They are running from one office to other to get pensions. Not only this, they stopped all the welfare schemes initiated by the SAD (B), Capt Kanwaljit alleged. He said it was unfortunate that employees had to wait for months to get their salaries. No recruitment is being made. He said even the government itself admits that more than half of the schools are not functioning due to lack of teachers but no new teachers are being recruited. Similarly, hospitals and dispensaries are without doctors. He said the government had imposed ban on the recruitment of Class III and Class IV employees only. He questioned why the recruitment of IAS, IPS, PCS and PPS officers was not banned. He said the Chief Minister was behaving like a maharaja and was least bothered about public problems. He said people in the Ajnala by-election would teach him a lesson.
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Sack Congress govt, demands BSP
Jalandhar, February 14 Hundreds of BSP workers, led by state BSP General Secretary Pawan Tinoo, held a protest march in the city which culminated at the office of the Deputy Commissioner here. They presented a memorandum of demands to the DC, who assured them to forward the same to the Governor of Punjab.
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Shiromani award winner’s family fails to get dues
Nabha, February 14 Dr Khokhar died on February 15, 2004, while attending a function in his honour at the Language Department, Patiala. With his death, the nightmare of his family started and till date the government fails to release dues. The job promised to his kin on compassionate grounds is not given to any of his two sons. Talking to this correspondent, his elder son Kamalpreet said officials were continuously harassing them on petty issues and they were delaying the release of benefits to the family. He added that he could not join his job in a private company as he was running around Language Department officials to get the paperwork done in order to release the benefits. He lamented that his younger brother had to stop his B.Tech studies midway due to poor financial condition of the family. He said they had got only ex gratia of Rs 50,000 while the department had to pay around Rs 8 lakh. When contacted, an official of the department said all formalities were completed and the case was forwarded for the family pension and job on compassionate grounds to his elder son.
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Komaldeep best dancer
Abohar, February 14 Ms Komal Midha received the second prize from the chief guest, Mr Jackiran Singh, SDM. Mr Narinder topped among boys in the dance competition, Mr Sumit and Mr Abhiskek were placed second. A fashion show was presided over by fashion designer Jagat Verma. The participants, most of them students, displayed traditional Indian and Western costumes. In the fancy dress competition toppers in different categories included Garima, Sakshi, Kunal and Vaishali. Winners in the baby show were Harshal, Pragya Nishu, Ishar Munjal Mishka and Saru. The Mousam team won in the first Bahar team in the second round of Antakshri that kept hundreds of spectators spellbound for half an hour. Mr Manohar Lal Nagpal, a former president, Municipal Council, and Dr B.C. Josan, member, PU Senate, were also present.
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Protest against Valentine’s Day
Amritsar, February 14 Activists burned effigies at Lawrence Road, protesting against the day. Raising slogans, they stated that the day was against Indian traditions, culture and ethos. Mr Rakesh Maidan, co-convener, Punjab, and the media adviser, Mr Lajpat Rai Khanna, led the Bajrang Dal, while Mr Rana Jagdish Chand, zonal convener led the Vishwa Hindu Parishad. The women activists were led by Ms Kavita Sood and Dr Suman Srivastav, zonal and district conveners of the Durga Vahini, shouted slogans against the celebration that was promoting “hooliganism” and “eve-teasing”. They exhorted the youth to boycott the occasion to register their protest against foreign companies who were merely pushing for sales of their products.
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DC asks officers to speed up development
Sangrur, February 14 He was addressing a meeting of district officers here today. Besides the Deputy Commissioner, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) and SDMs, officers of various departments were also present in the meeting.
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Dog
show on Feb 20
Patiala, February 14 Prizes will be awarded for dog of the year, reserve dog of the year, best puppy of the year and best dog of the year (bred in India). Mr Larry Yuen of Malayasia and Dr Roberto S. Tesoro of the Phillipines will be the judges.
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Barnala, February 14
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Summons issued to Badal’s brother-in-law
Bathinda, February 14 Information gathered by The Tribune revealed that the Civil Judge issued summons to Mr Gurpreet Singh when Ms Preet Kaur alleged that she was a rightful owner of the house and a piece of land measuring 7 marlas located at Chak Fathe Singh Wala village as the same were gifted to her by her husband Mr Gurpreet Singh. The judge asked them to appear in the court on February 28. While the district police authorities have asked the women wing of the police to conduct an inquiry into the complaint lodged by Ms Preet Kaur, the Bhucho Mandi police had been asked to conduct a probe into the complaint lodged by Mr Gurpreet Singh. Mr Sukhdev Singh Bahia, SGPC member, who is going to defend the case on behalf of Mr Gurpreet Singh, said Ms Preet Kaur had taken goods lying in house located in Chak Fathe Singh Wala in absence of Mr Gurpreet Singh a few months ago.
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Farmers take to ‘Hyola’ cultivation
Manawala (Amritsar), February 14 Manawala village (located on Ajnala — Chogawan road) is about 26 kilometres from Amritsar city. A large number of farmers in this block have started the production of “Hyola” (gobhi saron) under the supervision of the Punjab Agro Food Grain Corporation and Tata Kisan Kendra which also provide expert services and technical knowhow to grow quality produce. The corporation will buy back the produce and sell it in the market. Mr Baljinder Singh, alias Lali, who adopted this type of farming about four years back is now sowing “Hyola” in four acres. Initially, he had started with one acre. The best part of this system is that the farmers are at liberty to sell their produce to private firms or other parties if they got good returns remunerative amount and they are not bound to sell their produce to the Punjab Agro Corporation. Another adventurous farmer Mr Surjit Singh Bhitewadia, who also ventured into “Hyola” with six acres fields, said he was very much encouraged by the yield. Moreover, he added, the inputs were very less as compared to wheat and paddy crops. After reaping the crop the waste could also be used as odder. Experts at the Punjab Agro and Tata Kisan Kendra have encouraged the farmers to produce “Hyola” and Basmati cycle. The advantage of this cycle is that the farmers could get an extra crop of moongi which becomes ready within 60 days (the period between the sowing of Hyola and Basmati crops.) This crop also helps in maintaining the fertility of the land. As per records of Punjab Agro Foodgrain Corporation, as many as 2000 farmers are now involved in contract farming and about 4,500 acres are under the cultivation of “Hyola” as compared to 1,300 acres in Amritsar district in 2002, when the concept of contract farming was launched in the state in view of diversification from the usual wheat-paddy cycle, said Mr J.S. Ghuman, District manager, Punjab agro. Talking to this correspondent he said this year the MSP for Hyola is Rs 1,700 per quintal as compared to Rs 1,600 per quintal last year. He said the corporation would give Rs 20 per quintal extra to the farmers. Mr Ghuman said this system was beneficial from environmental and farmer’s interest point of view besides diversification.
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Pak ‘terrorist’ held, fake driving licence seized
Mandi Ahmedgarh, February 14 A special investigating team, constituted under the supervision of Mr Mukand Singh Malhi, DSP, Malerkotla, and Mr Balraj Singh, SHO, arrested Mohammad Pakir at a naka near here. Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that Pakistan was still sending
terrorists after giving them training. Mohammad Pakir had been living in this area under bogus names for a long period. Besides other documents, a driving licence issued by the transport authority in New Delhi was also seized from his
custody. He was active earlier in Jammu and Kashmir along with four others. Three of them had died in encounters with the Army. One of his companions was injured in a land mine blast while crossing back to Pakistan. Though he was working for a Pakistani terrorist outfit, Albara, he was sent to India by the Pakistani army this time. A havildar introduced him to a Major of the Pakistani army. The Major arranged his training and helped him to get a new passport. To facilitate his working in India, a driving licence in the name of Rajinder Singh, son of Mohinder Singh, was also got prepared from New Delhi. Mohammad Pakir reached Lucknow via Katmandu in January 2004. While living in a rented house at Malerkotla, he developed good relations with Muslims. The investigations further revealed that he was specially sent to get some Pakistani prisoners released from jails. He revealed that the Pakistani army was still working against India. An aggressive propaganda was made against India at the training camps.
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78-yr-old widow murdered
Amritsar, February 14 She appeared to be a soft target for thieves as they had ransacked her house earlier also and taken away valuables. The thieves barged into the house at 2 am by cutting the iron mesh from the front and thereafter entered the bedroom where she sleeping alone. According to her son Mahesh Sagar, one of the culprits suffocated her by pressing a pillow on her face and later hit a brass statute on her head. This proved to be fatal. The thieves picked up everything they could lay their hands on, including jewellery. The woman used to live alone in the house while her son, Mahesh Sagar, lived in a separate house along with his family. Satish, a servant, who lived in the upper portion of the house, in a statement to the police said when his wife went to give tea as per routine; she found the door open and Mrs Sagar dead. They immediately informed her son and neighbours. The police was informed about the incident. It picked up fingerprints and formed a team to crack the case. Meanwhile, the police has arrested the servant and registered a case at the Civil Line police station.
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SSP’s guard, two others killed in accidents
Tarn Taran, February 14 The escort vehicle (PB12-D-2727) of the SSP, Mr Paramjit Singh Grewal, was hit by a truck near village Bhuller. The vehicle overturned, killing Gurjit Singh (32), constable, on the spot. All the five security guards in the vehicle sustained injuries. The injured include Balraj Singh, ASI, Kanwarbir Singh (driver), and Kulwinder Singh, Salvinder Kumar and Narinder Pal Singh (all constables). The police has registered a case. Meanwhile, two women were killed when a mini bus (PAB-6888) coming from Khadoor Sahib to Tarn Taran lost control and fell in a field and overturned. As many as 16 persons in the bus, including five women, were injured. Paramjit Kaur (38), widow of Balwant Singh, a resident of Bhullar village, died, while Manjit Kaur (35) of the same village died on the way to hospital. A case has been registered against the driver of the bus, Satnam Singh of Kang village under Sections 279, 304, 337 and 338, IPC, who fled the spot.
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15-year-old boy goes missing
Jalandhar, February 14 Satyam Sood, a student of Army Public School, went to a barber shop to a hair cut last evening. His parents got worried when Satyam failed to return home late in the night. Parents and family members of Stayam launched a manhunt, but to no avail. They informed the police and got a case registered in this regard. When contacted, the father of the missing student, Mr Munish Sood, said that his son was very down to earth and was good at studies. “He went to a barber shop and failed to return. Upon inquiring, the owner of the barber shop said that Satyam did not come to his shop last evening,” Mr Munish Sood said, while ruling out any possibility of his son being gone on his own to some place. Meanwhile, the police has swung into action and photographs of the missing student along with other details have been sent to all the police stations in the state. “We have inquired from the friends and the school authorities of the missing child and there was nothing suspicious in this case,” said a senior police official, who maintained that special police parties had been dispatched to various destinations to locate
Satyam.
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6 boys rounded up for
eve-teasing
Ropar, February 14 Things took an ugly turn in the afternoon when two groups of students clashed over the giving of a card to a girl of Government College, Ropar. A team of police personnel accompanied by SHO Manveer Singh Bajwa rounded up the students from outside the college. Except for this clash boys were seen standing outside schools and colleges waiting to give flowers and cards to girls. Some of them made desperate attempts to handover gifts to girls. There were not many activities in the city. The card shops also drew fewer customers. Even other shops had very less to offer to the lovers. Youngsters could be seen riding motorcycles in groups. Others preferred to send cards and chat with their beloveds on the Net. Another place which witnessed rush of youngsters was Punjab Tourism’s Hotel Pincassia “The city is not prepared for such an occasion. The problem began as the boys considered their right to tease girls on this day. A number of girls today suffered harassment because of this. Many girls preferred to stay at home,” said Anil Gupta, a city resident.
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NRI youth murdered
Phillaur, February 14 Gurjit Singh was rushed to a private hospital in Ludhiana, where he succumbed to his injuries this afternoon. Old enmity was said to be the cause of the murder the police said. The police has registered a case under Sections 302/452/324/ 323/ 148/149, IPC, against seven assailants, Manjit, Kaushal, Jarnail, Kimti, Gulshan, Kamal, Pappi, but no arrest had been made so far.
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Man alleges forcible kidney removal by police
Ludhiana, February 14 In an affidavit submitted to the Ludhiana Vigilance Bureau seeking a high-level inquiry into the case, Rajesh Kumar of Basant Vihar here has claimed that he was picked up from the city railway station by a police team and got operated upon forcibly at a prominent hospital. He said after that the senior official got him a job in a factory near Jagraon. However, now they have thrown him out of the job on flimsy grounds. He said he has been cheated and his life has been ruined.
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ETT teachers hold demonstrations
Amritsar, February 14 However, hundreds of union activists held demonstrations in different parts of the city, including New Amritsar and bus stand. The police had erected nakas at various points to stop the agitating ETT teachers from reaching Ajnala to highlight their plights. All senior activists of the union were present in the city today. Mr Jaswinder Singh Sidhu, state president of the union, said massive barricading by the government had blocked all routes especially the Gumtala crossing. The teachers, however, jammed the traffic at various points to register their protest. The union president said the next course of action would be decided at a late night meeting.
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Protest march by aided school teachers
Bathinda, February 14 The teachers, who are also activists of the Punjab State Aided School Teachers and Other Employees Union, also raised slogans against the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, and the Finance Minister, Mr Surinder Singla, for their anti-teacher attitude. The activists, who wore black badges, after passing through the main markets of the city, handed over a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. The demands of school teachers include release of pension to the retired teachers, fixation of pay scale according to the new rules of merging dearness allowance (DA) with the basic pay, practical allowance for science teachers, uniform for class IV employees, approval of 34 posts of teacher for private schools, release of two instalment of DA in arrears, etc. Addressing the rally, Mr Gurcharan Singh Chahal, state president of the union, said that the state government had been harassing the employees and teachers by not accepting their demands. The retired teachers had also been facing a financial crisis. He added that non-acceptance of their demands would force them to intensify the protest.
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Basant celebration
Kharar, February 14 The festivities started by offering a prayer to Goddess Saraswati in which, apart from schoolchildren and staff members, parents also participated.
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