Jalandhar, June 28
It was a momentous occasion for 15 physically and mentally challenged as these boys from Jalandhar, Faridkot and Ferozepore districts moved out of their homes for a trip to hill stations, courtesy the Punjab Government.

Mostly from underprivileged families, the youths left for a fortnight-long excursion to Rohtang Pass, Manali, Kulu, Mandi and Anandpur Sahib today. The trip has been organised by the Directorate of Youth Services, Punjab. While the directorate has organised such trips for school and college students earlier, no such tour has ever been organised for physically and mentally challenged.

The boys will visit a number of sites, including Kiratpur Sahib, Bhakra Dam, Naina Devi, Sundernagar, Rawalsar Sahib, Hadimba Temple, Art Gallery at Nagar and Manikaran Sahib.

The boys are in the age group of 18 to 22 years, most of them government school students. A few work as tailors or electricians in their respective villages. While three of them are polio afflicted, one is spastic and the rest are hearing impaired.

There was much excitement about the trip. Owing to their physical disabilities, they did not get any chance to move out of their places. “We had never imagined that we could go to hill stations without our families whom we are dependent upon”, they expressed.

Harinder Singh, 19-year-old polio-afflicted boy from Kila Nau village in Faridkot, revealed the only other time he had moved out of his home was for a trip to Amritsar with his family. A Class X student, he said he had been a member of youth club run in his village. “I could not believe it to be true when I was informed about the trip by one of the club managers,” he said excitedly.

Paramjit, a polio-afflicted member of the trip, is a tailor in the same village. “We have been friends for quite sometime, meeting each other often in the club. But we had never imagined that we could go for a trip together,” he said.

Gurpreet, a Plus Two student of Kaku Wala village in Ferozepore, too suffers from the same disability. A son of a truck driver, he earlier had gone to Jammu. “But a visit to hill stations with my new-found friends would obviously be a memorable event,” he said.

Excited after having left his home on his own, Ankur Chawla, a Plus One pass-out from Ferozepore who has slight physical, mental and speech related problems, said he was feeling confident. Two boys, Ravi Bahadur and Rajesh Kumar from Red Cross School for the Deaf, when asked about their feelings showed excitement.

Capt I.S. Dhami, Assistant Director, Youth Services, Jalandhar, said it would be a different experience for him too. He said five boys would join the trip from Ropar. He added that a separate trip would be arranged for disabled girls later. 

Jalandhar, June 28
The Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) has criticised the Punjab Police for registering “false” cases against three of its senior leaders and nearly 20 workers in connection with the court appearance of the former KCF terrorist Kulbir Singh Bira in Phillaur on June 26.

Addressing a press conference here today, Harjinder Singh Jakhu, Satnam Singh Sandhu and Sukhwinder Singh Khalsa claimed that no SAD (A) worker was present in the court premises at around 8.23 am when Bira was produced and still they were booked.

“SAD (A) President Simranjit Singh Maan had reached Phillaur at about 10 am and had subsequently held a press conference. Thereafter, he left for Jalandhar. So the police action was unjustified,” Mr Jakhu said. “ We will protest against this action during the next date of hearing of Bira’s case,” he added.

Jalandhar, June 28
Tarlochan Singh Sohal, a native of Authaula village in Jalandhar district, has become the first Punjabi Deputy Sheriff of California’s Merced County.

Merced is one of 52 counties in the state of California with a population of about 2.5 lakh.

What is remarkable is that Mr Sohal is the only Punjabi to first become a police officer in the city of Livingston and then the Sheriff’s Deputy of the county.

In 1978, Mr Sohal left his post in the Punjab Police to go to his “land of dreams”. In the US, he joined as a voluntary police official. After putting in years of hard work, he has now risen to the position of Sheriff Deputy.

“I’m happy to attain this position. It’s a dream come true,” Mr Sohal told The Tribune on the phone from the US.

“I’ve been striving hard to achieve my goal for years together, but now I think I have reached there and it’s all due to the blessings of the Almighty. Realisation of my dream was not possible without love and affection, which has been showered upon me by the people of Livingston and Merced as well,” he added.

Earlier, Mr Sohal was awarded with ‘Call To Service’ by the White House. 

“Now I have got an opportunity to go a step ahead, since I have been sworn in as the Deputy Sheriff.  I’m proud to be a Punjabi, and being able to serve my community. My goal as a law enforcement officer is to safeguard lives and property, to protect the innocent people against deception, and the weak against oppression or intimidation,” he added.

The residents of Authaula village are happy too.

“He has been yearning to achieve something big and that is why he had left Punjab and headed for the US,” Mr Purshotam and Dr Amar Iqbal, two of Mr Sohal’s old friends said.

“Making sacrifices and helping friends in need has been a trait of Tarlochan,” they added.

Phagwara, June 28
Fourteen villagers were allegedly cheated by two fake travel agents from Phagwara who took from them an amount of Rs 3.08 lakh (Rs 22,000 each) on the pretext of sending them to Dubai.

When the complainants reached the airport in Amritsar on June 27, they neither found their flight to Dubai nor the travel agents.

The villagers lodged a complaint with Phagwara police and a case of fraud under Section 420 and 406 of the IPC were registered against Inderjit Singh and Surjit Singh, the travel agents.

The police also raided their local office near the Sugar Mills Chowk.

ASP Sukhchain Singh Gill said the complainants struck the deal with the agents after reading an advertisement in a vernacular daily on May 3 that sought labourers for a Dubai-based firm.

The ASP said the agents asked the villagers to deposit copies of their passports, photos and Rs 2,000 for each.

He added that after a gap of two weeks, the agents informed the villagers that they could reach the airport along with their luggage. The agents also asked them to deposit Rs 20,000 each along with their original passports. The complainants alleged that travel agents gave them fake employment documents. 

Phagwara, June 28
The decision of the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), asking industry to close down on Mondays as well, besides the weekly off on Sundays, has riled the industry in Phagwara. The industry is not ready to cherish this forced ‘day off’ as it would hit production by at least 28 per cent. The industry already faces a loss of 15 per cent production due to scheduled off and other unscheduled cuts.

Sources in the PSEB said the industry needed supply of 20 lakh units and it was falling short by 10.6 per cent. The state faces power deficiency of more than 350 lakh units. Purchased power from other sources is dedicated towards agriculture sector in view of paddy sowing season.

Mr A.K. Kohli, an industrialist and export house owner, anticipates greater loss to the industry in the wake of these forced cuts. He said the talk about competing with the neighbouring states on the industrial front was hollow as Punjab lacked adequate infrastructure like power. “This would put us in a greater fix,” he added. The Phagwara industry had not opposed the first weekly off. “But the second off is not acceptable to us,” Mr Kohli added.

Meanwhile, the decision has not been received well in Goraya and Phillaur also. Reacting to the forced 48-hour cut, a small scale industry owner said the condition had worsened in the last few days.