Hoshiarpur, March 26
The recent release of water in the 59.500-km-long Kandi canal from the Mukerian hydel channel (MHC) to Ajowal (Hoshiarpur) has proved a boon for marginal farmers of the area for the irrigation of their standing crops these days.

However, farmers in other areas of Punjab face great difficulty in this regard due to severe power cuts.

With the required irrigation, the yielding capacity of wheat and other crops would certainly be increased in Kandi now where agriculture is totally dependant on rains.

Deputy Commissioner Megh Raj said here yesterday that on account of breaches and occurrence of patches in the Kandi canal during heavy rains last year, the supply of water in the canal had been stopped since long.

All the 20 breaches and patches had been repaired at a cost of Rs 74 lakh and after the completion of work, 250 cusecs of water had been released regularly so that marginal farmers could irrigate their standing crops well in time.

As many as 19,867 hectares of marginal farmers of 215 villages in Phase-I of the Kandi canal, had been getting irrigation benefits.

The first phase of 59.500-km-long portion of this canal (MHC to Ajowal) was completed in 1998 and since then it had been providing irrigation to the lands of marginal farmers.

The construction of the second phase 70.5-km-long portion from Ajowal to Balachaur was started in 2005 and 62.5-km-long portion had been completed.

With the completion of the second phase, the Kandi canal would further provide irrigation to 23,324 hectares of 285 villages.

The Superintending Engineer of the Kandi canal said though no funds had been received for this project in the current financial year, the construction work of this canal, likely to be completed in March, 2012, at a cost of Rs 500 crore was in progress.

Jalandhar, March 26
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has asked the manager of Punjab National Bank, Model Town, to return the title deed of the property of a complainant within one month or pay compensation amounting to Rs 30,000, along with costs of Rs 4,000.

In his complaint, Jaswant Singh, a resident of Kapurthala Road here, said he and his son had applied for an education loan of Rs 7 lakh from Punjab and Sind Bank in 2004.

He said the same was sanctioned on the strength of requisite documents and original sale deed of his house as security of equitable mortgage after doing its valuation.

He said he had also paid Rs 2,000 for valuation of his property at the insistence of bank officials. He said his son could not avail of the loan facility due to some circumstances after its sanction on June 16, 2004.

The complainant said he requested the bank to return his original papers along with the sale deed as he did not want the bank loan. He said despite requests, the officials failed to return his original sale deed.

In his reply, the manager of the Model Town branch of the bank said the loan was not sanctioned on the basis of the original sale deed. “The complainant had not availed any loan but had simply taken sanction letter for which he had never deposited the sale deed. Only photocopies of the documents are obtained, that too if the party avails disbursement of loan amount from the bank,” he said.

The forum found that the bank had produced entries in the record pertaining to the loan transaction on June 16, 2004, which mentioned the equitable mortgage of property, bearing khasra 1557, measuring 2 marla 186 sq feet.

“The entries, containing full particulars of the property, prove that the title deed was kept by the bank in its custody as its security. No question of sanction of loan arises till the bank was satisfied with valuation of property and also its original sale deed kept with itself,” it observed. 

Nawanshahr, March 26
The SSP, Dr Narinder Bhargav, while addressing mediapersons here today claimed that the district police arrested four members of a gang of narcotics’ smugglers, Jagpreet Singh, alias Shappy, Janak Raj, Ravinder Kumar, alias Goldy, all residents of Amritsar, and Jagjit Singh of Machhike village in Tarn Taran district.

The police has seized 250 gm of heroin each (total 1 kg) worth Rs 5 crore from them. The gang had connection with a notorious smuggler, Bhola, resident of Havelian village in Tarn Taran district, who had recently been arrested with 26 kg of heroin by the Amritsar police, said the SSP.

Giving details, Bhargav said a police party, comprising DSP Jagdip Singh Sidhu, Inderjit Singh, SHO, Mukandpur, and Sukhpal Singh, ASI, succeeded in nabbing the gang members when the car in which they were travelling was intercepted at a police naka at Shehanshah Gate, Mukandpur, on Thursday.

During investigation, they revealed that Jagjit Singh, alias Jassa, resident of Machhike village in Tarn Taran was an agriculturist and had land holding beyond barbed fence at border.

He had connection with notorious smuggler Bhola, from whom he got the supply of heroin and had been delivering it to drug peddlers Jagpreet Singh, a cloth merchant in Srinagar, Janak Raj, a financer, and Ravinder Kumar, alias Goldy, a small thief. A case under sections 21, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered and the accused were presented before the court, which remanded them in police custody for four days. 

Hoshiarpur, March 26
After six months of a crime, the Garhdiwala police last night booked carpenter Pargat Singh, son of Chaanan Singh of Sarhala, under section 302 of the IPC for murdering Kulwinder Singh of his village on the night of September 16, 2009.

According to police sources, the body of Kulwinder Singh was found hanging with a grille on September 17, 2009, at his under-construction house in Ward 6, Garhdiwala. The police carried out proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC at that time. Later, deceased Kulwinder Singh’s wife Kunti Devi filed a complaint against accused Pargat Singh, who had taken the contract of the wooden work in the house, suspecting that he might have killed her husband.

Sources said during investigation, Pargat Singh did not respond adequately to the investigating officer and on his recommendations the above said case had been registered.