Jalandhar, November 3
A middle-aged woman on way to Mohali to meet her would-be daughter-in-law died in a freak accident at Langroya village in Nawanshahr around noon.

A resident of Preet Nagar, near Ladowali Road, Rita Thakur (47) was sitting in a stationary Ascent car (PB-37-C-0005) when a truck (PB-08-C-3138) moving in the same direction overturns on it while crossing it. Her two co-travellers, who had just come out of the car to answer the call of nature, had a providential escape.

A cousin of Rita Thakur, Ajay Bhardwaj, also a resident of Ladowali Raod here, was driving the car. They were accompanied by Rita Thakur’s “guru” K.L. Bajaj, deputy director, industries department, Chandigarh. Ajay Bhardwaj stopped the car on the side of the road on the request of Bajaj who wanted to answer the call of nature. Bhardwaj, had also incidentally stepped out of the car to help Bajaj wash his hands when the accident occurred. A speeding Punjab Roadways bus, in a bid to overtake the paddy-loaded truck, hit the truck. The truck lost its balance and overturned on the stationary car in which Rita Thakur was sitting.

Bhardwaj and Bajaj, with the help of villagers, took Rita out of the crushed car and rushed her to a hospital but she succumbed to her injuries on way to hospital.

DSP Satpal Singh Bhangu reached the accident site and started investigation. The husband of the deceased, Prem Thakur, who runs a garment shop, said his wife was in a very upbeat mood that day for she was going to meet her would-be daughter-in-law in Mohali, a professor in a college there. Rita Thakur was to deliver her some documents so that she could join her son in the UK after their marriage in February. “She was so anxious about the preparations. I still am not able to digest that she is not there to be a part of it,” Thakur had tears in his eyes

Gurdaspur, November 3
Rahul Kumar, a local youth, was killed while his four friends suffered multiple injuries when the car in which they were travelling was hit by a bus from the rear near Ranjit Bagh Adda on the Gurdaspur-Pathankot road this evening. They were coming back to the town from Dinanagar. After attending a marriage function at a local marriage palace they had left for Dinanagar for some work. They were returning to the town around 4 pm when the accident took place.

The injured have been identified as Harsh Sharma, Deepak Sharma, Manish Kumar and Kamal Deep. They have been admitted to a local hospital. The bus belonged to a ruling politician. 

Jalandhar, November 3
Journalists from Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana districts held a demonstration outside Lovely Professional University (LPU) in Phagwara to lodge their protest against the incident in which NDTV journalist Ashwini Malhotra had been humiliatingly arrested on the charges of trespassing and extortion on the eve of Divali.

They shouted slogans against LPU officials, Punjab police and SAD-BJP government. Meanwhile, in an emergency meeting of the joint action committee held at the Chandigarh Press Club, Chandigarh, a call was given for statewide demonstrations and dharnas by journalists tomorrow.

The committee called upon all unions and associations of journalists in Punjab to organise and join protests against the Punjab police outside deputy commissioners' offices and officials concerned in all districts and subdivisions.

Memoranda would be submitted to all these offices by journalists in all districts and a massive signature campaign will be started to be later sent to the President, Prime Minister, Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and Governor of Punjab.

The high-level meeting of representatives of journalists from various districts, chaired by Sarabjit Pandher, president, Chandigarh Press Club, took serious note of the Phagwara incident.

The joint action committee decided to register resentment against the Punjab police functioning, which has once again brought to fore the issue of freedom of journalists in carrying on with their legitimate and moral duty to reach out to the truth of any information and news report.

The panel also demanded a high-level probe into the alleged gang rape which is quintessentially linked to the contentious arrest of the NDTV journalist who had gone there with at least four others to ascertain the whereabouts of the victim.

Jalandhar, November 3
The Kapurthala cops will soon contact the German police for further investigation into disappearance of five DIPS students from Frankfurt Airport on September 30. The students were part of an educational tour.

Talking to The Tribune, Kapurthala SSP Rakesh Aggarwal said they are trying to get in touch with their German counterparts, as the passports of the missing students were with them. “The parents also submitted applications today furnishing address details and other information pertaining to the missing children,” revealed the SSP. The police is also trying to ascertain whether it is the students, their parents or the school management responsible for the ‘escape’. The students left for Germany on September 28.

“What’s surprising is that parents do not seem to be much concerned about the whereabouts of their children, ” added the district police chief.

The entire issue came to light after DIPS management lodged a complaint with the police regarding disappearance of five students. While Baljit Singh (BA-I) and Jaspreet Singh (class IX), Manjinder Singh (BA-I), his sister Parminder Kaur (class XII) and Baldeep Singh allegedly disappeared from the Frankfurt airport on September 30, Jagjit Singh (BA-I) went missing from Tulip Hotel in Landsberg on October 7, said director of DIPS group, TK Raina. While three students were from DIPS College, Dhilwan, one was from DIPS School, Dhilwan and two were from GV School, also at Dhilwan.

As many as 27 students had gone for the educational trip to Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Italy.

When asked how the school management allowed college students to go with them, Raina said, “The students are part of the institutions run by the DIPS group. The students who could afford the trip were taken along.”

He claimed that as soon as the school authorities came to know about the disappearance of the students they immediately spoke to their parents from Frankfurt. Notably, disappearance of students from educational trips is nothing new in the Doaba region. Earlier, a similar case was reported wherein a couple of city students went missing during a trip to NASA. 

Amritsar, October 3
In a significant development, IG border zone RP Meena today asked SSP (rural) to conduct the inquiry into the extortion case against four policemen, who have been placed under suspension.

The accused, including sub-inspector Harkrishan Singh, had allegedly extorted a huge sum of money from one Baldev Singh of Chheharta in connection with a property dispute. They were helped by two women drug peddlers, who gave them information regarding the dispute.

The IG confirmed that the probe has been handed over to the SSP as per the orders of the director general of police who was not happy with the slow pace of investigation into the case.

The case came to light after Baldev complained against the accused to the higher police authorities, following which SSP Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh entrusted inquiry to Surjit Singh, SP (D), who found prime facie evidence against the accused. The police also booked two women peddlers. According to sources, SI Harkrishan raided Baldev’s house on October 20 and introduced himself as DSP Ferozepur.

Later, he demanded a fat amount from the complainant to settle the property dispute.

After registration of case against Harkrishan and three head constables Bhupinder Singh, Vijay Pal Singh and Surjit Singh, the district police chief ordered departmental inquiries against them and asked DSP Chheharta, Jagdeep Singh Hundal, to file a report within 15 days. However, the accused managed to get a stay on their arrest from court which directed them to join the investigation. But they allegedly started avoiding the probe. 

Amritsar, November 3
Flouting the norms of the ministry of health, a famous liquor brand have put up surrogate hoardings much to the annoyance of public of the holy city at prominent locations, including the income tax chowk, close to the residence of the deputy commissioner.

The government has banned all kinds of billboards obliquely carrying the advertising message of liquors and cigarettes. The commissioner, municipal corporation, D.P.S. Kharbanda, when asked about the same today, said he would immediately look into the matter and get the same removed.

It has been learnt that the government has yet to define its outdoor advertising policy as large number of hoardings and unipoles have sprung up at all conceivable points and nook and corners of the city, especially on pavements and footpaths.

Jalandhar, November 3
Hundreds of members of the Punjab State Aided School Teachers and Other Employees Union from Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts today assembled at the deputy commissioner’s office in support of their demands pertaining to pension benefits.

District secretary of the union K.C. Chaudhary said the state government had ceased the pension benefits from June 1, 2003. “The government has been making fake promises regarding the filling of vacant posts. Apart from this, it has not implemented the pension scheme as well,” he said.

Manjeet Singh, a teacher from Bet Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Mehatpur, said the government had so far not released their DA from 2006. “Earlier, too, we held an agitation in Chandigarh through which we had urged the Punjab Chief Minister to cancel cases against 132 teachers, including 68 woman teachers.”

They took out a rally from the local Company Bagh and marched to the DC office and submitted a memorandum. In case their demands are not met, the teachers have decided to hold a statewide protest in the coming days.