Ludhiana, July 19
A man butchered the alleged paramour of his wife while he was sleeping on the rooftop of their common house in Golden Avenue Colony, Rahon road, past midnight yesterday.

Accused Amarjit Singh, father of two children, allegedly walked quietly to the bed of the paramour, Darshan Singh Darshi, who was sleeping with a chopper and butchered him.

Both families along with a few others live in one house having several room rented to different families. The police said other tenants, including a brother-in-law of the deceased, who were sleeping on the roof heard the cries and saw Amarjit Singh killing Darshan.

SP (City-III) Sajjan Singh Cheema said the accused fled before the neighbhours could apprehend him.

He said investigation revealed that Darshan Singh, a daily wager, lived with sister’s family in the house, and was unmarried. Soon he befriended Amarjit and his wife.

The SP said Amarjit Singh gradually grew suspicious of the relationship between his wife and Darshan. Neighbhours said both had bitter argument over the issue on numerous occasions.

Yesterday, Darshan allegedly came again in his absence. At about 1.30 am, Amarjit killed him.

The SP said the deceased suffered multiple stab wounds and got no opportunity to defend himself. He said raids were on to nab the accused.

Khanna, July 19
Four youngsters were killed in an accident, when the car they were traveling in, rammed into a parked truck near A.S.College late last night.

All of them were aged between 18 and 19. Those killed in the accident have been identified as Simranjeet Singh (18), Manpreet Singh (18), Ravinder Singh, all residents of Guru Nanak Road, ward No. 11, Samrala, and Sohit Kumar, a resident of Shamgarh village near Samrala.

According to the relatives, they were returning to Samrala from Khanna at around 12.30 am when they failed to see a stationary truck at roadside. They had come to Khanna in the evening for seeing a newborn baby girl in a private hospital.

Onlookers said the boys might have failed to see the stationary truck as another vehicle coming from the opposite direction had it headlights on high beam. The truck driver who halted the truck without any switching on its indicators was also at fault, who stopped his vehicle at roadside, said the onlookers.

This road is accident prone as a large number of accidents have been reported on this stretch since the past few months, said residents of the area. A young boy was killed a few days ago on this road when his bike rammed into an electricity pole at the same spot, said Amrik Singh.

Police officials investigating the matter said the car belongs to Simranjeet Singh whose father expired sometime ago. Sohit, whose parents are settled abroad for the past few years, was driving the car. Simranjeet was a Class XIIth student at Dashmesh Academy, Anandpur Sahib, and others were pursuing some vocational courses. All of them had come to see the daughter of Sohit’s relative in a private hospital at Khanna.

A case under Sections 283,304-A and 427 of the IPC has been registered against truck driver Nirdosh Kumar. “The truck driver fled away from the scene. We have identified the truck (PAD-765) and its driver would soon be arrested”, said the police officials. 

Ludhiana, July 19
The industrial city is known for its “kitty” culture. Be it kids, young girls, couples or married women, a large number of kitties are organised in the city everyday. But these days, many hosts are being “duped” by their own friends, who, while handing-over the payment, pass-on fake currency notes to the former, who hardly gets time to scan each note and suffers huge losses.

Ankita Sharma (name changed), who had organised a kitty at one of the restaurants in Sarabha Nagar yesterday, said she felt bad when she came to know that three notes of Rs 500 each, given to her by a kitty member were fake.

“One member usually collects and counts the money while another writes down the names in a dairy. We hardly get time to check each and every note. When I went to the bank to get the amount deposited, the cashier returned the fake notes to me. On asking, the employee said these were fake. I was shocked”, she said adding that she did not know which member had done it.

“I can not pinpoint any individual as I do not know who had given these notes. We have 20 members in the kitty. But it is unfortunate”, she said in a dejected manner.

Deepa Garg, another kitty buff, said since kitties were organised for fun-n-frolic, such cheating was uncalled for. She further informed that maximum fake notes were passed-on during “committee” kitties, which required huge amounts. “To be on the safer side, we ask kitty members to put their money in envelopes and write their names on top of it. The payment is collected and counted properly and is handed over to the host. In case, the host finds any fake or torn note, he asks particular member to replace it”, she added.

Surinder Sharma, one of the bank employees at Ghumar Mandi, said women had to be more vigilant while collecting money during kitty parties.

“You can not dupe men so easily as majority of them can differentiate between fake and original notes. But women are not that expert.

Passing on fake notes to others may not be intentional but if one wants to get away with fake currency, women kitties seem to be an appropriate place. These days we are getting maximum number of complaints of fake notes of Rs 500”, said Sharma.

Ludhiana, July 19
Court of Additional Sessions Judge M.S.Virdi has convicted Mann Singh of the Harisar Cheema Chowk, Payal, on the charges of killing Pala Singh by inflicting sword injuries on him, near Rara Sahib market, on April 2003.

The convict was sentenced to undergo rigorous life imprisonment. He was also ordered to pay fine of Rs 5,000.

Pronouncing the verdict, Judge held that it had been proved beyond doubt that the accused murdered the person with the motive of his “khoka” into possession. The judge turned down the plea of leniency raised by the accused.

Accused was booked under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC at the Payal Police Station, on April 10, 2003, following the complaint of Sangram Thapar, watchman of Rara Sahib market, Payal. The police has also booked a servant of person murdered namely Major Singh of Bishanpur village but he had expired during the pendency of case.

The complainant had stated to the police that Pala Singh used to sell bhang in his “khoka”. On April 9, 2003, he was on night duty. He saw that both accused were taking liquor with Pala Singh. After some time, all three exchanged hot words. They manhandled each other. Major Singh caught hold of Pala Singh and Mann Singh inflicted sword blow on Pala, who died on the spot. The motive was to take Pala’s “khoka” into their possession. However, during trial the accused pleaded innocence and claimed false implication. But convinced with the cogent and convincing evidence adduced by the prosecution, the court found the accused guilty and sentenced him accordingly.

Ludhiana, July 19
Tempers are running high in various sarpanches’ camp in connection with the ongoing campaign. Besides, minor skirmishes reported from a few villages, the police has registered FIRs at Jhande Daad, Guru Sudhar and Mullanpur villages, besides others, in different cases.

Cases of fights, kidnapping and an alleged murder between different groups, have also been reported. Dates for sarpanches’election, in a number of villages of the district, have been extended till July 22, official sources added.

Villagers are crying foul saying the elections have been postponed at “places, which didn’t suit the political interest.” Government officials pointed out the lack of clarity in the poll instructions as one of the reasons for the extending the poll dates in different places.

Officially, lacking quorum of the panchayat house for election of sarpanch has been pointed out as the main reason for the postponement of election at different places. While election in the panchayats reserved for different categories of scheduled castes and women candidates were, largely, carried out within the prescribed time limit, election in villages having general category sarpanches were delayed in several cases.

Kohara panchayat is all set to have two sarpanches, Hartej Singh Teji and ‘Babli’, for two and a half years each. In a nearby village, Sahabana, one of the panches was allegedly offered a car in lieu for voting for a particular candidate, which he rejected. Election at Hargobindpura, near Chapar, was postponed till July 22 because of lacking quorum.

Election at Kila Raipur has also been staggered. Election at Brahmpur village could not be carried out because of lacking quorum.

The election campaign has also witnessed lavish parties, tours to hills and Golden Temple. Paramjit Singh, a resident of Kohara, said, “the villages are full of tales about lavish parties and tours for panches being organised by the interested parties. There are also talks about cash exchanging hands”.

Ludhiana, July 19
Vivaha 2008, a three-day wedding exhibition, got under way at Majestic Park Plaza today. The exhibition with its distinctive collection of jewellery, clothes and other artifacts proved to be a crowd puller, particularly for would-be brides.

A large number of stalls offering designer trousseau and jewellery were amongst the most popular stopovers for the brides to be. From lehengas to ready-made saris, every piece was a style statement.

The exhibition is being held in the city for the third consecutive year. Looking at the overwhelming response, CEO Tarun Sarda said the number of people visiting the exhibition was increasing with each passing year.

“With Vivaha, I have endeavoured to redefine the concept of weddings and wedding exhibitions in India,” said Tarun. With the launch of the Dubai exhibition, celebrating Vivaha had become a pan-Asian fair, he added.

Ludhiana being a city of rich culture and heritage, weddings are of great significance and designers cater to all tastes and offer everything that you would need to make your dream wedding come true.

Designer menswear, astrology, beauty, home furnishings and accessories, watches, lifestyle refinements and worldwide limited editions of Indian deities are an attraction for the people aspiring to have 'theme weddings'.

Dar-e-aab from Kashmir Christian Geen, Bobby Creations by Sehgal, Whites of London, Raasleela by Rakhi and Tarak, Astrology by Savita Jain are amongst the participants in the exhibition. 

Ludhiana, July 19
The Ludhiana Management Association has invited P.C. Jha, chairman, Central Board of Excise and Customs, to address the members of the association and highlight the role of indirect taxes in economic development process of India on Monday.

This lecture is being organised in association with Ludhiana chapter of the Institute of Chartered Accounts of India. The topic of the lecture is “Indirect Taxes - an instrument for economic development”. The lecture will start at 7.45 pm.

Senior vice-president Anil Kumar said the idea of holding this lecture was to enlighten the members of the association regarding the role of indirect taxes in the economic development.

Khanna, July 19
An increasing number of thefts of expensive farming equipments being reported from different villages has become a headache for farmers of the area. Thieves are making money by selling expensive equipments lying in the farms in markets of Khanna, Mandi Gobindgarh and Ludhiana. The frequently stolen farm implements are copper wires present in various gadgets, electricity motors, motor-fans, tube-well pipes, generators and even diesel.

"All gadgets cannot be locked inside and thieves are taking advantage of this. Many of the thefts take place during day when there is no one in the fields," said a farmer, Nachhattar Singh, from a nearby village.

He revealed that many of the incidents go unreported and only a few of them reach the police. The police hardly takes any action except writing few notes.

Bikkar Singh of Bhammadi village said his tractor trolley was stolen a few months back from his fields. He had bought it on loan from a nationalised bank. Many farmers have lost their cattle panels and heavy iron material from the village in the past few months. Now, they have started paying an extra attention to the farm equipments.

"Now, we don't leave equipments in our fields after finishing work. We have to go an extra mile to ferry it from our houses to the fields," said another farmer.

Thieves are easily making Rs 200 to 500 or sometimes more than that by selling the stolen equipment. One such thief was caught redhanded while burning copper wires to extract copper from the fields of Lakhbir Singh a couple of months back.

The accused was identified as Surinder, a resident of Motihar village in Bihar. He had later revealed that he, along with his accomplices, had come to steal copper wire from tube-wells to sell it at a higher price in the market.

Police officials said the farmers should lock up their equipments to prevent thefts.

In spite of good amount of rains this season, the Punjab State Electricity Board is imposing frequent power cuts for long hours. School going children have to suffer the most due to these power cuts.

First of all, they have to get ready for school at a time when there is no electricity as power cut starts from 6.30 or 7.00 am to 8.00 or 8.30 am. Secondly, they have to study without electricity in schools. When they reach home, there is no electricity as afternoon power cut starts from 2.30 to 5.00 pm. Midnight power cut further keeps the children awake.

The PSEB, in order to reduce the impact of power cuts on school going children, must reschedule its timing.

Ravi Chander Garg, Ludhiana

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CRIME

6 booked for assault
Our Correspondent

Jagraon, July 19
The Humbran and Jagron police has booked six persons on charges of assault in two separate incidents. In the first incident, Jagdev Singh and Gurpal Singh of Rauke allegedly restrained and threatened Amandeep Singh of their village at pistol point on Friday.

The Humbran police has registered a case. A dispute pertaining to the panchayat elections is stated to be the reason. In another incident, Jarnail Singh of Sandhuana, district Moga, along with three unknown persons, allegedly trespassed into the house of Harjit Kaur of Malak on July 15 at 11 pm and assaulted her with a sharp-edged weapon and an iron pipe.

The injured has been admitted to the Jagraon civil hospital. The police has registered a case. Some old dispute is said to be the reason behind the incident. 

Ludhiana, July 19
A group of 10 students and two teachers of Green Land Senior Secondary School were given a warm send-off for a fortnight-long cultural exchange programme to Australia and Dubai.

The troop will begin its expedition from tomorrow and will return on August 4. They will visit Nazareth College, Melbourne, and various other places in Australia and Dubai.

Principal Baldeep Pandher, staff and students of the school presented bouquets and cards and wished them good luck on the occasion.

Ludhiana, July 19
The PCMS Association has hailed the Punjab Government's decision of designating medical officers with eight years of service as senior medical officers.

In a statement issued today, state president of the association Dr Hardeep Singh and district president Dr Balwinder Kumar said the decision was taken by amending the previous Punjab Civil Medical Rules-1972.

However, a few association members termed the decision as partial as it did not distinguish between the designated and functional SMOs. To make a distinction between designated and functioning SMO, the latter should be designated as deputy civil surgeon, the members suggested.

The fourth Punjab Pay Commission had recommended the designation of medical officers after four years of service and of CMO after nine years of regular service, stated the members.

The association has also called upon the state government to designate medical officers as SMOs after four years of service and as CMOs after nine years. 

Ludhiana, July 19
Chandigarh defeated Faridkot by six wickets to book their place in the final on the penultimate day of the Punjab State Inter-District Twenty20 Cricket Tournament (u-16) for the Shaheed Udham Singh Trophy being played at Government Institute of Textile Chemistry and Knitting Technology, Rishi Nagar, here today.

The semifinal encounter was reduced to 15 overs for each side. Batting first, Faridkot made 87 runs for the loss of six wickets with main contributions coming through Saurav, Pawandeep and Harpal who scored 23, 19 and 10 runs, respectively. For Chandigarh, Ramandeep chipped in two wickets conceding 13 runs.

Chandigarh surpassed the rivals' total after losing just four wickets with two balls to spare. Their innings revolved around Rahul and Balwinder, who contributed 19 and 15 runs, respectively, while Ramandeep made 10 runs to guide their team to victory and enter the final.

Earlier, in a quarterfinal match played between hosts Ludhiana and Kapurthala, the former managed to squeeze past their opponents by a wafer thin margin of one run.

Ludhiana scored 125 runs after losing seven wickets in the allotted 20 overs. The main contributors were Sarabjit Singh and Nikhil, who made 31 and 27 runs, respectively. Jeewanjot and Diwankar Jain, too, made useful contributions of 15 and 22 runs, respectively.

For Kapurthala, Varinder and Gurwinder scalped two victims each after conceding 25 and 30 runs, respectively.

The visitors began their reply on a perfect note. They were cruising well to achieve the target. But, the middle order collapsed and found themselves struggling. In the last over, Kapurthala required 18 runs but they could muster 17 runs thus losing the cliffhanger by just one run.