Jalandhar, April 6
He lost his vision in an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir. But he hasn’t received any major help from the Punjab government.

A resident of Gurdaspur, Lance Naik Baljit Singh of 7 Sikh Regiment, is forced to support his family with his pension.

Thus in order to get some relief, he produced copies of various supporting documents before the officials of the Sainik Welfare Department today at a Jor Mela organised for the ex-servicemen of Sikh Regiment at Katoch Stadium.

Apart from Rs 3,800 in pension, he has received Rs 75,000 as compensation.

There were over 100 ex-servicemen and their wives from various parts of Punjab who had come up with their problems.

Ex-serviceman Subedar Randhir Singh, who also belongs to Gurdaspur, pleaded for an aid for his son Havildar Sukhwinder Singh deployed with the CRPF who was hit with a bullet in his abdomen during the Parliament attack.

Honorary Capt K.S. Sandhu from Dasuya spoke for the wives of retirees, who had served two wars with Pakistan. He said that even though their husbands fought two wars yet receives lesser pension than present retirees.

Capt I.S. Walia from Ambala demanded that those army personnel who had been commissioned for five to 10 years and had been recognised as ex-servicemen be also covered under Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS).

He also asked for the Rent Act to be implemented as per the order of the High Court for the welfare of ex-servicemen who often find it extremely difficult to push out their 
tenants. Mahinder Kaur from Samrala appealed for her son Malkiat Singh who served in the infantry and was receiving a sum of Rs 2,500 ever since he met with a road accident.

Accompanying her from Ludhiana was another elderly lady who had come to ask for pension of her husband, Sepoy Ram Asra, who had served for 13 years and retired 30 years back but was bed-ridden now and needed help. Maj-Gen R.S. Sujlana, Colonel of the Sikh Regiment and media head of the armed forces, said that there was an increasing effort to improve liaison of the army officials with the media.

Phagwara April 6
The arrest of BSF assistant commandant Nemi Singh, in a sensational case of international drug smuggling, on April 4 have forced the intelligence agencies, besides security forces, to minutely review the security of several VVIPs, including the Prime Minister, as the arrested accused had worked as member of Special Protection Guard (SPG) of Prime Minister from 1996 to 2004.

Later, Nemi Singh was posted at Hoshiarpur in 2004 first in 103 Battalion and then in 115 Battalion of BSF. He was transferred and posted to the border area village of Abdullia on May 20, 2006, where he came in contact with drug smugglers.

His appointment as SPG member of Prime Minister's security can raise many a eyebrows about PM's own security cover.

Reliable police sources revealed that the arrested BSF officer and his driver Chaman Lal were enjoying most cordial relations with drugs smugglers Nagar Mal and Subhash Chander of border village Abdullia as both Nagar and Subhash were hand in gloves with kingpin of the gang Balwinder Singh.

Batala, April 6
A bridegroom, along with his father and grand-father, was arrested from a marriage palace at Dhariwal while performing marriage on Thursday evening.

Bridegroom Satwinder Singh of Quadian under Batala police district was engaged to Rajwinder Kaur, daughter of Darshan Singh, about six months ago and the parents of the girl had spent a huge amount at the ring ceremony.

The groom and his parents demanded a car. At this, Darshan Singh moved an application before SSP Kanwar Vijay Partap Singh who immediately ordered registration of a case against the groom and his relations under the dowry act.