Nawanshahr, December 19
The local court today sentenced eight persons - Gurbinder Singh, his wife Ramandeep Kaur and uncle Dliawar Singh, all residents of Jameetgarh Bhalla village in Nawanshahr district; Raghubir Singh, Parminder Kumar and Harminder Singh, all residents of Hukeran village in Hoshiarpur district; Sukhwinder Singh of Darapur village in Hoshiarpur district; and Kirandeep Singh of Nazarpur village in Hoshiarpur district - to life imprisonment.

They were convicted for murdering Darshan Kaur of Jameetgarh Bhalla village.

Darshan Kaur, a former head teacher in Government Primary School, was murdered by his own son Gurbinder Singh and daughter-in-law Ramandeep Kaur in connivance with their uncles - Dilawar Singh and Raghubir Singh - and others on July 25, 2004, in greed of property.

The FIR was registered at the Balachaur police station.

Jalandhar, December 19
The feud between labourers and a sports goods manufacturing company over payment of dues took a new turn today with the rounding up of their leader.
The labourers said they had been called in the factory located at Basti Bawa Khel where an officer from the Labour Department was there to help them reach a compromise with the owner. They alleged that while the labourers and the officer reached there, the policemen on duty threatened to put them behind bars. They said while they tried to run away, their leader, Manoj Kumar, was rounded up.

The SSP, however, had a different story to tell. He said after the labour officer left the site, the labourers jammed the road there, causing inconvenience to the public. He said since this was a violation of law, one of their men had to be rounded up for investigation.

He said that the labourers had no right to lodge a protest like that when they could also get in touch with him, the Deputy Commissioner and the Labour Commissioner.

Later, the labourers gathered in front of the SSP’s office demanding release of their man and helping them get their dues and job.
Nearly 78 labourers held a protest outside the office of District Labour Commissioner yesterday. The labourers, including women, claimed that they had worked in a sports goods factory near Kapurthala Chowk but their dues to the tune of Rs 6.5 lakhs had been due for the past six months. They said they were fixing prints on footballs for the past six months and were chucked out in September after they had completed World Cup export orders.

Jalandhar, December 19
Two persons, Balwinder Singh of Ravi Dass Colony and Pargat of Janata Colony, have been nabbed today for allegedly attacking five persons in Maqsoodan police station with sharp-edged weapons yesterday evening.

However ,the other accused are still at large and several police teams are raiding their possible hideouts.

Over 10 persons armed with sharp-edged weapons had attacked five persons in Maqsoodan police station. The assailants did not spare even the policemen present there. Two parties belonging to Balkar Singh and Sukhdev Ram reached the police station to lodge their complaints after a fight between them over a plot in Jawala Nagar, said SHO Onkar Singh.

Chandigarh, December 19
The office of the Speaker of the Punjab Assembly, Dr Kewal Krishan, has clarified that the Speaker had nothing to do with the issue of closure of the paper mill mentioned the news item which appeared in the Jalandhar edition of the The Tribune under the headline “Speaker’s effigy burnt”.

A statement said the news item, originating from Hoshiarpur gave the impression as if the workers union at the mill at Mukerian had burnt an effigy of the Speaker. The Speaker had no role to play in the issue. The paper mill is run by a private company and is lying closed for the past one and a half years. As the local MLA, Dr Kewal Krishan, had pleaded with the management of the paper mill to open it, but the management did not agree to the request. He is pursuing the matter for an early solution. — TNS