Hoshiarpur, December 22
On account of a complete ban on hunting for about last five years, wild animals in the Kandi forest area of Hoshiarpur district has increased tremendously and has become a permanent headache for the marginal farmers of the area.

Herds of white-footed antelopes, wild boars and deer generally come to villages in search of food and destroy standing crops of marginal farmers causing great loss to them.

A social activist of Januari village, Dr Nirmal Kumar, said before the imposition of ban on hunting, farmers of the area used to kill wild animals through various means.

They used “desi” bombs (wrapped with wet wheat flour) and planted them in their fields. As soon as any of the wild animal tried to consume it, the desi bomb exploded as a result the animal was killed.

Some of the inhabitants, generally ex-servicemen, of the area, who have licenced firearms, used to hunt wild animals, especially in winters, for eating them. Members of the Sansi community used to kill wild animals with their hunting dogs.

Sarpanch of Jahan Khelan village Jugal Kishore said with the imposition of ban on hunting, the population of wild animals had increased manifold. The strict vigil by the forest and wildlife department had almost restricted the hunters from poaching in the Kandi forest area.

Talking to The Tribune here today, former Punjab minister Naresh Thakur, who had a sizeable land in Kandi area, explained the plight of marginal farmers caused due to the constant damage to their crops by wild animals. The forest department had not initiated any steps to check increasing wild animals.

Naresh Thakur urged upon the state government to either lift ban on hunting at least for some period to save farmers or pay a compensation to them for damage to their crops by wild animals.

Jalandhar, December 22
After five days of solving the case of blind murder of a missing youth, the police succeeded in nabbing the main accused, Gian, alias Sonu, today.

SP (city I) S.K. Kalia said the police had already arrested two of his accomplices Vinod Kumar and Jitendra on December 18 in connection with the murder of Shivpal, alias Rinku, of Basti Sheikh.

Shivpal had gone missing under mysterious circumstances on December 
14 and his family members had lodged a report with the police.

The police interrogated Vinod and Jitendra on suspicion on December 18 and during interrogation they confessed to having committed the crime.

An FIR under sections 302 and 365 of the IPC was registered against the three accused on December 18.

Jalandhar, December 22
In the interest of the consumers and for ensuring high professional ethics, a new body of insurance surveyors has come into being under the banner of Indian Institute of Insurance Surveyors and Loss Assessors (IIISLA).

The recently elected all-India secretary of the council Arun Kumar said the body was formed on the recommendations of the government of India and under the directions of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA).

He said the Hyderabad-based council also had three government nominees on its panel, including its chairperson K.K. Shrinivasan, from general insurance council, deputy secretary Lalit Kumar from the finance ministry and IRDA joint director Suresh Mathur.

Arun Kumar said the first meeting of the newly elected council was held on December 15 in Hyderabad. He said as many as 4,375 surveyors had become its members while 2,000 applicants would be enrolled after scrutiny within a month.

Kumar said the council would soon form committees at the zonal, state and district levels to make it easy for harried consumers to lodge their complaints.

He said the council would soon come up with its own website where the grievances could be registered for speedy action.

To update knowledge of the members, the secretary said the council would also be holding training programmes and seminars.

He claimed the government would watch the functioning of the council, following which a bill for charter status would also be tabled in Parliament.

Jalandhar, December 22
As part of its series of dharnas, the Pendu Mazdoor Union staged a dharna outside Kartarpur police station here today.

They were protesting against registration of “false” cases against some of its representatives and Dalits in different police stations of the district.

Addressing the protesters, PMU state president Tarsem Peter said the dharnas from December 17 to 22 outside Shahkot, Mehatpur, Noormahal and Bhogpur police stations witnessed a large participation from labourers, including women.

He alleged that the police was misusing sections 452 and 307 of the IPC at the behest of SAD-BJP leaders by registering cases under these sections against persons opposing “anti-people” policies of the ruling alliance.

The PMU president said the police had not cancelled the FIR lodged under section 307 of the IPC against those representatives who were demanding justice and forced a family to commit suicide at Uppalan village falling under Noormahal police station.

Similarly, an FIR under section 452 of the IPC was registered against some Dalits at the behest of the Noormahal SAD MLA, he alleged.

Peter said if these “false” cases were not cancelled at the earliest the PMU would be left with no option, but to intensify its agitation against the police.

Amritsar, December 22
There would be anger, frustration and turmoil in the country if the minorities were denied their limited rights.

This would dent the fabric of the unity and integrity of the nation. These views were expressed by Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) member Manjit Singh Calcutta in his missive to Avtar Singh, chief of Sikh’s mini-parliament.

He was commenting on the recent decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court where it said the Sikhs were not a minority in Punjab. He asked the SGPC chief to pursue the matter in court.

Calcutta said no special rights like reservation had been conferred on the minorities in India and the only right the nation had provided under Articles 29 and 30 of the Constitution was that they could establish their own educational institutions and manage them independently.

Calcutta said the Sikhs were among the five recognised minorities in the country and the Sikh minority institutions run by the SGPC did not get any state funding.

He said none of the institutions run by the SGPC had any pecuniary benefits or profit consideration and these were philanthropic institutions. He said the Sikh quota was not confined to Punjab but was open to the students from the community across the country.

“If this benefit was denied to the Sikhs, it would suppress the spirit to establish such institutions and thus deprive the state of the unique services provided in the field of education and health, which was primarily the responsibility of a welfare state,” he added.

Phagwara, December 22
In a shocking incident, a reported minor scuffle between two students of Modern Public School located in Friends Colony led to an attack resulting in the death of a person and injuries to three others.

The deceased has been identified as Jagdish Chander, alias Kala, of Palahi Gate. His two sons, Vikramjeet, Narinder Kumar and nephew Amarjeet, alias Lali suatained injuries.

DSP H.P.S. Khakh said ring leader Kalu of the Satnampura locality and members of his gang had been identified as assailants and a case was being registered against them.

According to the preliminary information, a minor scuffle between Lali and one of his school mates had taken place.

The latter had reportedly informed about the scuffle to some of his known criminals who, led by Kalu, attacked Lali and his cousin Vikrakamjeet when they were sitting at Jagdish Chander’s shop in Model Town.

The assailants had reportedly come on five motorcycles. They injured both Lali and Vikramjeet by attacking them with sharp-edged weapons.

Later the assailants attacked Jagdish Chander and his another son Narinder in which the former died while the latter sustained injuries.

Jalandhar, December 22
Tabla wizard Ustad Sattar Khan “Tari” and Ustad Mubarak Ali from Pakistan along with santoor maestro Pt Shiv Kumar Sharma and Rajan-Sajan Misra (vocal) will perform at the 132nd Harballabh Sangeet Sammelan here this year.

The sammelan will be held at the Devi Talab Mandir from December 28 to 30. Stating this in a statement today, Shree Baba Harballabh Sangeet Mahasabha general secretary Purnima Beri said the other artistes who will give their performances included Ustad Nishat Khan (sitar), Ustad Sabri Khan and family (concert of sarangi), Pt Kartik Kumar and his son Niladri Kumar (sitar) and Savita Devi (vocal).

The annual music competition for young artistes would be organised from December 25 to 27. More than 100 young competitors from India and abroad were expected to perform, Beri added.

They included president, Punjab Christian Front, Lawrance Chowdhary, district president of SAD (A) Avtar Singh Khakh, and BSP leader Lal Chand Bhatti.

“Jhankis” depicting the life of Lord Christ were the main attraction of the procession.