Jalandhar, October 6
Even as the labour court here got its new presiding officer around four weeks ago, he is yet to start clearing of nearly 2,500 cases lying pending for the last more than 18 months.

The cause of the delay is some incomplete official formalities. Though the Punjab and Haryana High Court is said to have already issued a notification in this regard, it is yet to be printed by the legal remembrances department.

Speaking on the issue, labour minister Tikshan Sood said, “A notification for appointment of presiding officers of labour courts at Jalandhar, Bathinda and Patiala has gone for printing. I think it should now take more than a week to 10 days for officials to begin with their work”.

The new official, Balbir Singh, will handle cases pertaining to labour disputes of Jalandhar, Nawanshahr, Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts. As many as 1,824 cases have been lying pending ever since his predecessor JS Khushdil was withdrawn on the orders of Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The remaining cases that could not be disposed off by the labour commission too have been received by the office in the last 18 months, further raising the pile of files.

No applications pertaining to industrial disputes have been received by the court and no fresh references have been touched. The labourers from the entire Doaba region have been visiting the office at New Model Town here since the past six months with various complaints but to no avail.

Harimuni Singh, president of a confederation of labour unions, said he along with other representatives had held a protest in this regard on September 16 when BJP leader Lal Krishna Advani had visited the city.

He said he had even met Tikshan Sood on September 21 and was assured of quick relief.

Harimuni said many members of his union had been waiting for justice for the past more than  eight years.

He said the cases pertain to grant of compensation by factory owners, owing to accidental injuries to the labourers in the factories, handing out daily wages far below the minimum amount decided by the DC, anomalies in PF deduction and other matters.

He even demanded that the awards or compensation that have yet not reached the complainants in the cases which have been settled, be handed over to them by the factory owners. 

Nawanshahar, October 6
Rejecting the police theory that three-year-old Lovepreet was murdered by his 10-year-old friend Sandeep, the irate residents of Rahon town blocked traffic for four hours near the bus stand on Saturday. Earlier, residents gathered at victim’s house and took out a protest march from there. Leaders of various political parties and social organisations addressed the rally.

The body of Lovepreet, alias Labha, was recovered on September 24 and a case was registered at Rahon police station. On Friday, SSP B. Chandershekhar, while addressing mediapersons, claimed to have solved the mystery behind the murder by arresting two minors Sandeep Kumar and Dildar Singh.

However, the police theory came under attack and a meeting of residents was organised yesterday night at victim’s residence in Pahar Ganj Mohalla. The parents of the accused also attended the meeting. A 31-member action committee comprising political leaders, local residents and social activists was constituted. Addressing the members, former MLA Parkash Singh, SAD (Badal) district president Mohinder Singh Hussainpuri and Rahon MC president Dharam Pal Bhanger termed the police theory as an 'eye-wash'. “The cops have cooked up a story to shield the real culprits,” they alleged.

Demanding cancellation of case registered against minors, the protestors sought a high-level inquiry and action against the police officials responsible for the ‘wrong-doing.’ They also warned to intensify the stir if their demands were not met immediately. The dharna was lifted on the arrival of SDM Arshdeep Singh and SP (HQ) Jagtar Singh Kainth, who assured justice protesters of justice. A memorandum was also submitted in this regard.

Meanwhile, SP (HQ) Jagtar Singh Kainth said, “The investigations carried out in the murder case were completely correct. I have met the doctor who conducted the postmortem and he confirmed that the cause of the death was an attack with a piece of broken glass.”

The police is ready for any further inquiry, he added.

Phagwara, October 6
The police busted a fake currency notes racket and arrested two persons, identified as Jaswant Singh and Harjinder Singh, near Jagpaulpur T-point when they were on their way to Bhakhriana and Ranipur village. The police impounded a suitcase containing currency notes along with some packets of waste papers wrapped in original currency notes appearing as “gaddi.”

Giving details, DSP H.P.S. Khakh said during interrogations the accused confessed their crime and disclosed that they misled innocent villagers by offering them Pakistan made fake Indian currency notes on half rates.

DSP said the accused use to give original currency notes on trial and when villagers expressed their satisfaction, they made villagers deal with Pakistan made fake currency notes.

They use to hand over packets of plain waste papers wrapped in original Indian currency notes as first and last note of the packet remained an original note to win the confidence of the villagers who were being cheated by the gang members.

Jalandhar, October 6
The district police has challaned 2,973 persons for various traffic violations last month. Giving details, Rakesh Kaushal, SP, Traffic, said the highest number of violations (566) were of driving without a driving license followed by those driving without helmets (460), wrong number plates (408), triple riding (210), without registration (271), jumping red lights (245), without pollution under control certificates (119), without safety belt (67), pressure horn (52) and black film (23).

A sum of Rs 10.48 lakh has been realised from the offenders by the city courts, he said. He said the personnel of the PCR and the traffic police will be on duty at all the major red light intersections in the city from 8 pm till 11 pm every day. This has been done to regulate traffic during night time.

Cops are also being sanitised to behave well and address commuters at all times. A special course is also underway at the traffic staff where batches of 10 traffic policemen were being trained, he added.

Hoshiarpur, October 6
A Piplanwala youth has committed suicide after he was allegedly harassed by money lenders.

Model Town Police booked Deepak Kumar, Painter Kaku, Vikas Sharma and Karan, all residents of Kache Quarter, near civil hospital, under Section 306 of the IPC.

The body has been for postmortem and exact details of his death were still awaited.

According to the police, body of Devinder Singh was found at Bhagat Nagar today morning. A suicide note was also found in his pocket.

In the suicide note, Devinder said he became guarantor of Balwinder Singh of Kakon village, running a shop at local Jalandhar road, who took a loan from the above said accused.

But Balwinder did not return the loan due to which the accused started harassing Devinder. Last night at about 9:30 pm, they came to his residence and threatened him with dire consequences, said the suicide note.

He belonged to a poor family and was not in a position to pay the loan, added Devinder.

Kapurthala, October 6
The district police has booked Gurpreet Singh, a resident of Nanoki Sudhar village in Amritsar, and his family members for allegedly harassing his wife Amandeep Kaur for dowry.

Baj Singh, a resident of Booh village, stated that his daughter Amandeep got married to Gurpreet Singh on December 13 last year. In her complaint submitted to the district police, Amandeep alleged that her in-laws had been harassing her since their marriage for dowry.

The in charge of women cell looked into the complaint and found the allegations prima facie true. Subsequently an FIR under sections 498 A, 406 and 506 of the IPC was registered against Gurpreet, his brother Harpreet Singh and their mother Sinder Kaur.

Hoshiarpur, October 6
In a letter, the deputy commissioner D. K. Tiwari has instructed the officers of various government departments in the district to give due respect to the Ex-servicemen and their widows whenever they visit to their respective offices and do their work on priority.

In the letter, the DC remarked that it had come to his notice that ex-servicemen or their widows are not getting due respect in government offices for which they are deserving.

They had devoted their lives to protect the freedom of the country. After retirement, in their civil life they have to face lot of problems for which they have to visit the government offices. But, when they do not get due respect and their work is not done, they feel frustrated.