Jalandhar, December 18
Ten persons armed with sharp-edged weapons attacked certain persons at Maqsoodan police station for lodging a complaint this evening.

The assailants did not spare even policemen present there.

Two civilians injured in the attack were admitted to the Civil Hospital.

According to the Maqsoodan SHO, Mr Onkar Singh, two groups, led by Balkar Singh and Sukhdev Ram, reached the police station to lodge their complaints after a fight between them over a plot in Jawala Nagar.

The ASI on duty, Mr Kulwant Singh, called the Balkar Singh group. When their complaint was being filed, over 10 persons of the Sukhdev Ram’s party entered the police station and started attacking Balkar Singh and his men with sharp-edged weapon.

Policemen present there tried to intervene, but the attackers did not even spare them and the munshi received minor injuries.

While the assailants managed to flee from the spot, two persons belonging to the Balkar Singh’s party were injured.

An FIR for attempt to murder was filed against Sukhdev Ram and his six accomplices.

Phagwara, December 18

Three persons, including an eight-year-old child, of a migrant family were injured when the roof of their house collapsed in Rattanpura Mohalla here last night.

The injured, Pyare Lal, his wife Pushpa and son Vinay Kumar, were admitted to the Civil Hospital.

The house belonged to Gurmeet Singh of nearby Verka village and it was stated to be in a dilapidated condition. The neighbours extricated the bodies. However, their two daughters escaped unhurt.

Jalandhar, December 18
Members of the Pendu Mazdoor Union held a demonstration in front of the SSP office this morning protesting against lathi charge and arrest of their eight members during the Kartarpur rally on Friday.

Mr Tarsem Peter, president of the union, said that the eight arrested persons were holding a peaceful protest and had simply come to give a memorandum to Deputy Chief Minister, Ms Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, pertaining to the demands of Dalits. He demanded that the case be thoroughly probed and all those guilty be brought to the book. 

Jalandhar, December 18
A SAD Political Affairs Committee (PAC) member, Mr Kuldip Singh Wadala, wants to meet the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, during his visit to Punjab to press his demand for providing a free corridor from Dera Baba Nanak in Gurdaspur district to Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan.

The Kartarpur (Ravi) Darshan Abhilakhi Sanstha, of which Mr Wadala is the president, has been struggling for the corridor for the past six years. Members of the organisation started performing “ardas” from Baisakhi 2001 and since then doing so on every Amavas to put pressure on the authorities concerned in favour of their demand.

Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib has a great significance for the Sikh community as the first Guru Guru Nanak Dev had spent the last 18 years of his life there, said Mr Wadala.

He had already written a letter to the Prime Minister last month requesting him to provide some time during his proposed visit.

Batala, December 18
Local activists and leaders of the BJP, under the leadership of Mr Naresh Mahajan, district general secretary, today criticised the Congress-led Municipal Council, Batala, against the indifferent attitude adopted by the authorities in developing wards 16 and 8. These wards belonged to the BJP group.

Mr Mahajan told mediapersons that the local MLA had adopted indifferent attitude towards the development projects in these wards.

He said in areas near Thathiari Gate streetlights were not working for the past three months, water supply deteriorated and sewerage choked. 

Dholbaha, December 18
Villagers of Dholbaha in Hoshiarpur district have some sweet memories of the day when Mr P.A. Sangma, a former Speaker, Lok Sabha, visited the village in 2001. He promised that the condition of the War Memorial would be improved.

Like other politicians, he has also forgotten to improve its condition. Every election brings a ray of hope for the villagers, especially for ex-servicemen, but are disappointed every time.

Mr Sangma visited the village to open the memorial of Sepoy Dinesh Kumar Dadwal, who died during Operation Rakshak in Jammu and Kashmir on May 1, 1995.

Neither the district administration nor the Department of Sainik Welfare have taken any steps for its upkeep.

Earlier, say old-timers, Mr Kashmir Singh, a former teacher of Hindu Rajput High School, used to take care of the memorial. Now the octogenarian is not in position to manage it.

The remote village hogged the limelight when its heroes not only participated in World Wars but also sacrificed their lives. As many as 73 men participated in the World War I. The memorial has names of soldiers who died in action between 1880 and 2000.

“From this village eight men gave their lives in World War-I (1914 to 1919). They were: Havildar Dhiraj Singh, Sepoy Ratan Singh, Sepoy Jaisi Ram, Sepoy Jagat Ram, Sepoy Bikram Singh, Sepoy Brij Lall, Sepoy Lachhman Dass and Sepoy Qulam Qadir. In Second World War (1939 to 1945), Havildar Atma Singh, Sepoy Suram Singh, Sepoy Prithi Chand and Sepoy Udham Singh died.”

“Sepoy Lakha Singh and Sepoy Thakar Singh died during the Indo-Afghan War (1880) and Sepoy Chatar Singh and Sepoy Paritam Singh died in the Indo-Bangladesh War (1971).”

“We are shocked at the utter lack of respect and decorum shown to our great heroes by the powers that be. It is a sad reflection of the changing political mores and values,” Havildar Jagdev Singh (retd) said.

“For the past many years we have been demanding that a mobile dispensary should be set up in the area. Every time we have to rush to Hoshiarpur, that is 35 km from here. There are nearly 500 ex-servicemen living in this area,” he lamented.

Mr Ram Pal, nambardar, said earlier a mobile canteen used to visit Janauri, near here, once in a month. 

Jalandhar, December 18
Alleging non-payment of their dues, 78 labourers who worked for a local sports goods manufacturer staged a protest in front of the office of Labour Commissioner here this afternoon.

The labourers claimed that they had worked in a sports goods factory near Kapurthala Chowk here but had not been given their dues. They said that they fixed labels on footballs for six months and were chucked out in September after they completed the World Cup export order.

Mr Vijay Kumar, a labourer, said that they were asked to immediately leave the premises and threatened that the police would be called. Their bicycles and motor bikes and their dues to the tune of Rs 6.5 lakh have been withheld. He said that they were simply paid for their monthly expenses to the tune of Rs 500. Ms Sangeeta Rani, another worker, said that she had three children to feed .

The labourers were being supported by Mr Ram Singh, general secretary, Democratic Trade Union, who corroborated their statement. He said that it was their fifth visit to the office but to no avail.

Mr Iqbal Singh, counsel for the manufacturer, said that a proprietor of a screen printing industry was actually supposed to make payment to the labourers. He said that since this man was caught in a legal tiff with the company and owed Rs 4.09 lakhs to it, he had fabricated the case against them by arousing the labourers.

Mr Inderjit Singh, District Labour Commissioner, said that the matter was being investigated by an officer and he was trying to reach a compromise between the two parties. 

Kapurthala, December 18
The government will develop Kali Bein as a tourist centre. This was stated by the coordinator of the Kali Bein project, Mr P. Ram, also Principal Secretary Science and Technology Department. He reviewed the ongoing beautification work of the rivulet in Sultanpur Lodhi today.

Mr Ram assured the representatives of the Zameen Bachao Sangharsh Samiti and the Jat Sabha that farmers’ land would not be acquired for the beautification.

The land around the Bein would be green. No polluting industry would be allowed and saplings would be planted along the Bein.

Mr Ram said a road would also be laid along the Bein. Farmers would also be encouraged to plant saplings.

Later ,addressing the meeting of Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Tarn Taran district officials, he directed the officials to ensure that untreated water stopped flowing into the Bein till February 28.

The Kapurthala DC, Mr Raminder Singh , said ponds were being dug in 42 villages of Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts the work in 14 villages had been completed. However it could not be started in six villages as land was being purchased, he added.

The Conservator of Forests ,Mr. Jarnail Singh, said four places in Sultanpur Lodhi, Seechewal, Hoshiarpur and Galowal had been identified for developing the green belt. The project had been sent to the Centre.

As many as 15 lakh saplings would be developed in the four nurseries being set up by Sant Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal’s NGO, for which technical assistance would be provided by the Forests Department. Funds would come from the Centre.

Amritsar, December 18
Tough competitions were witnessed in group song (Indian), folk orchestra and poetry recitation on the second day of the North Zone Inter-University Youth Festival being held at Guru Nanak Dev University today.

The folk orchestra contestants from Kumaun University, Nainital, Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra, Punjabi University, Patiala, MDU Rohtak, Guru Nanak Dev University and J.R Handicapped University, Chitrakoot, performed.

The competition in group song (Indian) was tough and the standard of music performed by young artistes was of high stature. All compositions presented by artistes of 16 universities were so excellent that it was difficult for the judges to select the best.

In the poetry recitation, 14 contestants from various universities participated on topic “My Dream”. The participants provided a rich feast to the audience. In the elocution contest on “Youth Power”, the participants impressed by their skill of presentation. —TNS

Hoshiarpur, December 18
Tension gripped the Civil Lines area near Sadar Police Station last night when two drunken police constables driving a Maruti car (No. PB-08AB-1771) allegedly hit the motor cycle of Rajesh Katna. As result his wife Meetu and two kids fell down. When Rajesh asked the cops to be careful, who beat the couple. Rajesh was injured. Meetu raised an alarm and rushed to Sadar Police Station.

People assembled there and raised slogans against the police. The angry mob also smashed the window panes of the Maruti car. Mr Rajesh Katna was admitted to the local Civil Hospital.

Meanwhile, Mr Lakhbir Singh, SHO, Sadar Police, rushed to the spot .The accused were identified as Constable Ajaib Singh son of Santa Singh of village Lutera PS Adampur and Head Constable Jarnail Singh of local quarter No. 136, Police Lines.

The Head Constable managed to escaped while Constable Ajaib Singh was caught and later handed over to the City Police. He was got medically examined. A case under Sections 185 of the MV Act, Sections 325, 279, 323, 341 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against the two cops.

Jalandhar, December 18
The Municipal Corporation Jalandhar today asked its contractor to complete the construction of railway overbridge on the DAV College railway crossing before June 15.

Hoshiarpur, December 18
Activists of Lal Jhanda Paper Mill Workers Union, Mukerian, led by their President Kehar Singh burnt effigy of Dr Kewal Krishan, Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha at Naushera Chowk, Mukerian, 52 Km, from here today for his alleged support to the management of the Mukerian Sugar Mill which had been closed for the last about one and a half year. Earlier they staged a rally in front of Mill gate and later marched to the Naushera Chowk.

Mr Kehar Singh strongly condemned the mill management for not providing salaries to its workers for the last 17 months due to which their families were facing starvation. He demanded immediate restarting of the mill, release of salaries to the workers and take back services of all the workers in the mill. 

Jalandhar, December 18
A six-day workshop for training visually impaired youths in using talking books began at Hans Raj Mahila Maha Vidyalaya here today.

Teachers and students from Lyallpur Khalsa College, Apeejay College, Government Education College, Manav Sehyog Samiti and the host college are participating.