Phagwara, June 15
Battlelines have been drawn on most of the total 27 seats for the municipal council poll here, scheduled to be held on June 30, as prominent political parties have declared most of their candidates. While the Congress released its first list of candidates on Saturday, the BJP, the SAD and the BSP had already announced most of their candidates.

Former Punjab minister Joginder Singh Mann released the list of Congress candidates on Saturday amidst protests by Satish Salhotra, an SC cell leader. Salhotra raised slogans against Mann during the press conference where the list was released. He alleged that deserving party men had been ignored while finalising the candidates.

According to the list, Ramesh Jordan (Ward 2), Rama Rani (3), Madan Mohan Bajaj (4), Paramjit Kaur (6), Parmod Joshi (9), Paviter Singh (10), Sangeeta Rani (11) and Ramesh Duggal (12) shall be contesting on the Congress ticket.

The other party candidates are Rashmi Kalra (Ward 13), Ashwani Sharma (14), Darshan Lal (15), Jyoti Birmani (17), Vipan Kumar (18), K. Sharma (19), Anita Kaura (20), Ram Pal Uppal (21) and Daljit Singh Channa (26).

The BJP, the SAD and the BSP had already announced their candidates on most of the seats.

The candidates for the BJP are Mohinder Pal Thapar (Ward 2), Mamta Sharma (3), Avtar Singh Saini (5), Narinder Kaur (6), Inderjeet Sonkar (8), Kamaljeet Kaur (9), Kulwant Kaur (11), Balbhadar Sen Duggal (12), Sarita Sood (13), Beera Ram Baljod (15), Vipan Kumar, alias Vickey Sood (18), Pradeep Ahuja (19), Reena Khanduja (20), Arun Khosla (21), Dev Sharma (22), Sudesh Chabra (23) and Veena Chawla (27).

The SAD candidates are Om Parkash Bittu (Ward 1), Davinder Sapra (4), Sarabjit Kaur (10), Iqbal Singh Kundi (14), Ranjit Khurara (16), Jasbir Kaur Walia (17) and Gajbir Singh Geju (25).

Amritsar, June 15
In a major raid, the police arrested eight persons involved in betting during the final game of the Kitply cricket tri-series between India and Pakistan which was won by Pakistan. The policemen seized mobile phones and television sets during the raid at house 24, Bhullar Avenue, near Fatehgarh Churian bypass, after a tip-off. Those arrested from the spot are Surinder Kumar, Saurav Bhatia and Gaurav Bhatia of Bhullar Avenue, Tushar Malhotra of Durgiana Abadi, Vikram Bhatia and Sushil Kumar of Tilak Nagar, Montu Bhatia of Partap Bazaar and Sanjay Kumar of Katra Dulo.

The police seized Rs 12,150, 13 mobile phones and two TV sets from their possession. A case was registered under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 13-A/3/67 of the Gambling Act at the Sadar police station here.

Meanwhile, two satta operators, Vipin Kumar of Virman Quartars and Vipin Kumar of Naraingarh area, were also held. A sum of Rs 3,700 was seized from them and a case under the Gambling Act was registered at the A-division police station.

Jalandhar, June 15
Hundreds of muskmelon and watermelon growers in the region have suffered huge monetary losses on account of the pre-monsoon showers.

The apathy of the government towards them has also raised questions on the claims of the government to promote crop diversity in the state. No efforts have been made for a special girdawri to access the damage so that the farmers could be compensated. The worst-affected areas are Lohian, Nakodar, Malsian, Kala Sanghian and scores of villages in Kapurthala.

Talking to The Tribune, Lok Morcha general secretary Amolak Singh said the farmers had been caught unawares by the monsoon rains which had not been witnessed in the past several years. The farmers were expecting a bumper crop and substantial profits but rain had played spoilsport.

They had been doubly affected since they chose to forgo planting other crops, he pointed out.

“It is a matter of concern that the government does not send out any information on changing weather patterns so that the farmers can plan their sowing and reaping period accordingly,” he added. Entire fields had been waterlogged, spoiling the muskmelons and watermelons, a crop that thrived on the heat-wave conditions that generally prevailed during this season, he added. The farmers had to go in for costly pesticides to save their crop which was being affected by the changing weather conditions at the time of sowing. 

Batala, June 15
Shivraj Singh, a tenant at house 25, Urban Estate, Batala, died yesterday, allegedly after a scuffle with the landlord. The tenant had been residing in the house, which was purchased by Sandeep some time back, for the past many years. Sandeep wanted to get it vacated but Shivraj, a retired patwari, did not accede to his request.

The owner, along with 10 to 15 persons, came to the building to get it vacated forcibly. This led to a scuffle, following which the tenant suffered a serious heart attack. He was rushed to a hospital where he was declared dead.

The police arrived at the spot and sent the body for a post-mortem examination today.

A case has been registered under sections 302, 452, 380, 148 and 149 of the IPC and sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act against seven persons by name and 10 to 15 unidentified persons.

The SSP, when contacted, said the case would thoroughly be probed.

Amritsar, June 15
A couple committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance at Rohi village in Sathiala falling under Beas police station in Amritsar rural police district here today.

Their bodies were found near the Rohi bridge in Sathiala where they had gone on a motorcycle (PB-58D-0595) belonging to the boy. The deceased were identified as Gurpinder Singh (20) of Sandalpur village and Harjinder Kaur (17) of Azadpur village. Sucha Singh, father of the girl, in his statement to the police said the two had an affair. While Sucha identified the body of the girl, the body of the boy was identified by his grandfather Gurdial Singh.

A case has been registered under section 174 of the CrPC at Beas police station. — OC