Nawanshahr, September 24
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Rahul Gandhi evinced keen interest in the life and times of Shaheed Bhagat Singh when he went around a museum dedicated to the martyr at his native village Khatkar Kalan, near here.

After paying floral tributes to the martyr, he was engrossed for almost half an hour in seeing various documents, photographs and papers related to Bhagat Singh. He also visited the ancestral house of the martyr in the village.

Later, while addressing an impressive gathering of the villagers and youth Congress workers adjacent to the house, he said he was here to have a glimpse of the tremendous contribution of the Punjabis in the freedom struggle and what better than by visiting the village of Shaheed Bhagat Singh.

“The vibrant spirit and self-confidence among the youth of Punjab has greatly fascinated me,” said Rahul, adding that his visit was to provide a platform to the youth so that their energy could be channelised for social transformation in the country.

Earlier, Gandhi arrived to a robust welcome by the Youth Congress (YC) workers. Sporting the Bhagat Singh trademark turban, they raised slogans in favour of the visiting leader and also waved the party flag.

But tight security arrangements ensured that they could only have a glimpse of their “ yuvraj” from afar.

They could also be seen jostling with each other to get the attention of the media photographers at the venue where Rahul Gandhi was to address a rally. Some Youth Congress leaders were also busy in briefing the media about the number of vehicles they have used and workers they have ferried for the event.

Jalandhar, September 24
With a view to bring youth back into the party fold, an interaction of dalit youth of the state and AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi was organised here today.

In the absence of senior party functionaries and mediapersons, the youth had an enriching uninterrupted hour- long session with the young leader. They apprised him of various problems being faced by them, primarily in absence of good educational facilities and lack of employment avenues. They also said many schemes for their betterment were not being implemented in toto by the government

Addressing the gathering, Rahul said he would put forward their problems before the government so that adequate measures could be initiated in due course. He also said the dalit tag would not come in the way of any youth who had organisational capabilities. The Congress leader appealed to them to participate in the membership drive so that they could be a part of the process that was aimed at creating a new resurgent India. 

Amritsar, September 24
Health department along with CIA staff of Amritsar rural police, in a joint raid, seized a huge quantity of intoxicants from a chemist shop at Majitha bus stand here on Wednesday.

According to sources, the health department and police recovered more than 47,000 tablets of Microlit, Diazepam and Subrinol, besides 25,000 capsules of Proxyvon, Spasmoplus, Parvonspas and Dexovom besides 260 injections of Diazepam.

The sources said the owner of the Akash Medical Store could not produce the valid bill for the drugs seized.

The contraband would be produced in the CJM court tomorrow, the sources added.

The team also conducted raid at Bawaji Lal Medicos in Majitha and Harpreet Medical Store at Chetanpura village.

However, nothing objectionable was found there.

Amritsar, September 24
The Amritsar rural police booked 10 persons, including an NRI family, in a dowry death case on the statement of Charanjit Kaur of Bhilowal here today.

The case was registered after an enquiry conducted by Majitha DSP Gursewak Singh and taking the advice of DA legal in this regard.

Those booked include husband Ranbir, his brother Jarman Singh, mother Jaskaur, father Joginder Singh, uncle Hazoor Singh, all resident of Gurdaspur, Ranbir’s aunt Lakhwinder Kaur and her husband Balbir Singh of Fatehgarh Churian Road. Ranbir was now living in Norway. Nishan Singh, brother-in-law of the deceased, Parminder Kaur and her husband Jagtar Singh of Norway were also booked.

Charanjit Kaur in her complaint lodged under section 498-A and 120-B, IPC, at Kathunangal police station stated that her daughter Sarabjit Kaur was married to Ranbir Singh of Kospur village in Gurdaspur in March 2005 and they had given enough dowry. He said Ranbir along with Sarabjit went to Norway after 15 days of marriage.

She alleged she started getting calls from her daughter that her in-laws were harassing her for bringing a Safari vehicle and Rs 5 lakh. She said in March this year she got a call from Ranbir that Sarabjit had died of a heart attack. 

Jalandhar, September 24
“With the rising infiltration bids across the international border in the past some months, we cannot rule out the involvement of our neighbouring country in terrorist activities. And there is no denial that the militant activities are being controlled from Pakistan,” director-general, BSF, A.K. Mitra told mediapersons at a press conference during his two-day visit to Punjab frontier here today.

Addressing the mediapersons at BSF headquarters in Jalandhar Cantonment, Mitra said despite ceasefire at the border, cases pertaining to smuggling, seizure of counterfeit money and arms and ammunition were on an increase. “The unstable condition of Pakistan has directly led to increased number of infiltration activities by certain militant groups at the international border with Pakistan,” he said.

Answering a query that the terror probing agencies do not share much information with the BSF, Mitra maintained, “The terror probing agencies conduct interrogation on their own and usually do not convey the information well on time to the BSF authorities and this usually leads to problems.” Talking about the need to keep a vigilant eye over the militant activities of certain groups for infiltration into Jammu, he said, “It is the Pakistan-based ISI which is trying to destabilise the peace process and the internal security of our country. And keeping in mind the upcoming Jammu and Kashmir elections, we have decided not to move the already deployed additional BSF jawans from the border.”

To a query that does the increased infiltration bids at the border indicate the failure of the BSF, the DG said, “The question is not that whether we are at failure but that we are not able to control the infiltration activities. The problem lies with the lack of strength and intelligence with the BSF. One major problem is that the BSF is not allowed to tap the phones, which often creates hindrance in many operations.”

The DG said the recent activities of infiltration in the Jammu area had made the management of Punjab border sensitive as well. “With the rising infiltration activities, we have strengthened our vigil on the border and briefed field commanders and troops about it. Certain additional measures to meet such contingencies are also being taken.”

He said ahead of the winter season they had already equipped the jawans with night vision devices for better results. Apart from this, efforts were being made to modernise the BSF with latest equipment.

Batala, September 24
The police arrested Sukhwinder Singh, alias Lala, of Sunder Nagar, Batala, and Harwant Singh, alias Sonu, of Sarupwali village who were involved in a robbery at Ghumman. This was stated by SSP Dr Naresh Arora while talking to mediapersons here today.

It is worth mentioning here that when Prithipal Singh of Ghumman, the owner of Western Union Money Changer, reached his shop on September 15, two persons tried to snatch his cash bag which had about Rs 4 lakh in it. When he resisted, they hit him, but on seeing people around, they fired in the air and escaped, leaving their motorcycle behind. A case has been registered under sections 382, 511 and 336 of the IPC and sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act at Ghumman police station in this regard. A special investigation team, consisting of the Qadian DSP, the DSP (D), the SHO of Ghumman and SI Kashmir Singh of CIA Staff, Batala, was constituted to investigate the case. A .32-bore pistol has been seized from them.

Arora said that during interrogation, Sukhwinder Singh revealed that he had gone to South Africa through a travel agent after mortgaging his home but was deported to India. He made a plan with Harwant Singh to loot money from the money changer to get back his home. — OC

Tarn Taran, September 24
With the arrest of three members, the district police today claimed to have busted a gang of vehicle-lifters active in the area. Two .315-bore country-made revolvers and 11 bikes were recovered from the possession of the accused. 

SSP Harinder Singh Chahal told mediapersons that the accused had been identified as Ramanjit Singh of Marri Nau Abad, Dilbag Singh, alias Saba, of Bhikhiwind, and Rajinder Singh of Wan Tara Singh village. — OC