Amritsar, May 21
“It was the most horrifying scene I have ever seen. I had a narrow escape when police gunmen were shooting the two youths who were running to save their lives,” said Ajay Kumar, a shopkeeper, whose shop is situated on the road leading to Police Lines from Lawrence Road.

Panic gripped the busy market of Lawrence Road day before yesterday when an open firing between police personnel and two miscreants occurred, following a tiff the miscreants had with the Taran Taran SP.

The incident claimed the life of one of the SP’s gunmen while critically injuring one of the criminals.

“The gunman, who was hit by the bullets fired by Randeep Kumar, alias Topi (as later revealed by the police), died on the spot. On the other hand, the aide of assailant Manwinder, alias Sonu, was hit by a bullet fired by another gunman while he was trying to run away in the car,” said Aman, an employee of one of the shops.

Vijay Kumar, a shopkeeper, helped to shift the seriously injured to a nearby hospital. “Topi used the gurdwara situated in Bhai Vir Singh Hall as an escape route,” he said.

“I felt it my moral duty to save the injured youth who was repeatedly asking for water. I gave him water and, along with other nearby people, put him in a vehicle. He was bleeding profusely as he was hit in the neck,” said Vijay.

Bittu, who dyes clothes just opposite the place where the Swift car of the criminals was parked, said, “Initially, I could not get what was happening until one of the youths (Topi) shouted to the other one (Manwinder) to start the car. However, as the bullets fired by the police had ripped open the tyres and petrol tank, they couldn’t move the car. Later, Topi escaped while firing. We saved our lives by ducking ourselves and lying on the ground.”

The residents revealed that the boy was limping as he jumped over the wall. He forced his entry into the house and went to the roof through the outside stairs, they added, preferring not to be named. The terrified inhabitants locked themselves in their homes when the police teams searched the house.

All the banks, malls, restaurants, showrooms and other shops closed their shops. The people ran helter-skelter to save themselves. 

Pizza hut - the spot where the altercation between the SP of Tarn Taran and two youths began over teasing girls led to a shootout in the busy market on Lawrence Road on May 19 - is in for changes by adopting several security steps. While installing CCTV cameras on the premises is now the latest priority of the administration, managing the eating joint headquartered at Gurgaon, like many shopping malls arrangements are being made to keep the carry bags outside the building, keeping in view the security concerns of the customers. “The incident forced us to take these precautionary measures as it has really shocked us,” said Sushil Kumar, manager of the Pizza Hut. “We sent a detailed report of the whole episode to our headquarters who instructed us to install CCTV cameras. Immediately after hearing about the firing outside the building, I moved my whole staff to the backside of the corridor,” he added. “Though this was a chance altercation, and we had nothing to do with it. Due to the incident, our business was hampered for a while. But everything got normal by next afternoon,” Sushil said.

Amritsar, May 21
The ESI Hospital management in Amritsar may brag about possessing a state-of-the-art building surrounded by sprawling lawns, but the dilapidated ground realities call for immediate attention.

The two most vulnerable spots in the hospital premises are the waiting hall of the Emergency wing and the part of land adjoining gynaecological ward of the hospital.

Due to faulty construction panel on the roof of the waiting hall, the water being disposed from the toilets of upper floors constantly seep into the roofs. The situation has become more risky because the water leakage has now entered into the electric wires.

It has been learnt that the contractor, who undertook the construction of this building, had managed to get his bills cleared from the management, on the pretext of rectifying the faults in the building.

When The Tribune team visited the spot, water was seeping out from the ceiling fan. “The management should take immediate notice of this shortcoming because any time this situation can lead to short circuiting,” said the patients waiting in the hall.

Another case in point is the open land adjoining the gynae ward. There too, in the absence of underground water outlet provision, the discarded water flows out on the open ground.

This faulty water outlet planning has been resultant of sullied water remaining stagnant adjoining the building permanently, while making the place, a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and flies. 

OfficialSpeak

Medical Superintendent Varinder Singh Mohi: Actually, the building was handed over to the management before I joined here. But, I too have observed these snags and would try to remove them on priority.

Nirmal, in charge, Gynaecological Ward: It is true that the stagnant water remains there due to faulty water outlet system. This matter was brought to the notice of the contractor concerned. He managed to get his dues cleared on the assurance of removing these shortcomings later but it was not to be.

Amritsar, May 21
It is more than a decade now, the road leading to Amritsar cantonment from Gwali mandi chowk is waiting to be relaid.

“Neither the Municipal Corporation nor Public Works Department or Amritsar Cantonment authorities bothered to get it repaired while huge potholes are enough for breaking the backbone of the commuters,” said Sonu, a resident of nearby Putlighar area. Repeated requests on repairing the road failed to bear any fruit, he added.

The foul smell emanating from two garbage bins situated just in front of a textile mill in Gwal Mandi poses a grave threat to the health of the children studying in adjoining government school besides the residents of the area.

Vijay Kumar, an inhabitant of the area, said the residents had appealed to the MC authorities but nothing materialised. The people are also to be blamed who did not care to throw the household garbage inside the bins. They carelessly threw the filth on the road, he rued.

The rampant encroachments by the shopkeepers are bane in Putlighar area. And as the owners enjoy political patronage, all attempts to remove the illegal structures by the Municipal Corporation have proved futile. The condition is worse on the GT Road where the shopkeepers have extended their shops almost till the road. The building material could be seen stocked on the main road.

“The building materials stacked on the road have made the area accident prone. During windy days, the sand gets into the eyes of the commuters especially the two wheelers passing through the GT Road which would cause accidents,” said a resident.

The other areas that fall in the ward include Rani Ka Bagh, Gwal Mandi, Mcleod Road, Hari Ram Bagichi, Railway A-block etc. 

CouncillorSpeak

Meenu Sehgal, Councillor of the area, said road leading to Amritsar cantonment from Gwali Mandi Chowk falls under the Amritsar cantonment authorities. She said she had written a number of times to the cantonment authorities in this regard. She said they promised to get it repaired soon, but nothing has been done so far.

About the dump, she blamed the residents for the problem. She said we have appealed to the residents to throw the garbage in the bins but nobody bothers. However, she said the corporation regularly lifts the garbage from the bins otherwise the problem would have been more severe. She claimed that the corporation has spent more than Rs 3 crore for various development works. She said two new tubewells have also been passed by the authorities which would be set up soon.

Amritsar, May 21
The president of the Punjab unit of Shiromani Akali Dal, Delhi, Jaswinder Singh Balliyewal, demanded stern action against those persons in the Dharam Prachar Committee of the SGPC who had omitted significant facts and twisted historical events in Sikh history in its Hindi book to Jathedar, Akal Takht, Giani Gurbachan Singh.

Balliyewal handed over a memorandum to Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh in this regard here today.

He claimed that the book missed out significant sacrifices of Sikh Gurus, Sikh ideals, customs and rehat maryada (Sikh code of conduct). Had these significant historic events been left out by a non-Sikh writer or publisher, they could be understood, but this was embarrassingly done by the custodian of the Sikh community - SGPC, he said.

He said even the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee brought the anomaly to the notice of Akal Takht on October 29, 2007.

Following this, Akal Takht had constituted a committee of five Sikh high priests. The committee had established the fallacious facts in the book and had recommended to SGPC President Avtar Singh to hold an inquiry against the persons and to submit the report to Akal Takht by April 1, 2008.

However, he said, the SGPC failed to take any action against the responsible persons. As a result of the communique, the SGPC prohibited the publication of the book and recalled its copies from the market. However, he added, it was only a damage-control exercise and no punitive action was taken against those who had committed the mistakes.

Amritsar, May 21
Raminder Singh Malhi, an MBA student in the Global Institute of Management, Batala Road here, was taken aback when he was refrained from appearing in the ongoing semester II exams by the management by declaring him “detained”.

Ironically, on the one hand he was being stopped from appearing in the semester II exams, on the other hand the management of the institute did not hesitate to charge Rs 29,025 as fee for semester III in advance.

This is not the lone case, but there are at least over 20 students of MBA and B.Tech courses who are facing the same situation.

Arshdeep of B.Tech could not attend requisite lectures because of his ailment. He, too, was refrained from taking semester II exams of engineering drawing (ED) and chemistry, but was charged Rs 33,0025 as fee for semester III . “I had submitted my medical reports of the DMC, Ludhiana, but the management did not acknowledge that and declared me detained. I have undergone a stomach operation and lever biopsy. Definitely, I could not attend requisite lectures, but this should not be the cause enough to not allow us to take exams,” he rued.

“But my attendance of lectures was adequate, still I was refrained from appearing in the exams,” complained Raminder, who has on schedule two exams on May 22 and 25, but he was unable to concentrate in studies due to this tension. “I have been going through mental trauma for the last five days. I could not even concentrate on my curriculum due to this tension,” he added.

Nevertheless, Punjab Technical University (PTU), Jalandhar, which governs all the technical institutes running under the jurisdiction of the state, issued a roll No 94522237048 to Raminder, while certifying “the candidate has completed the prescribed course of study and fulfils all the conditions laid down in the regulations for the exams.”

Besides this, the Head of the Department as well as the Director of the institute endorsed that “the candidate bears a good moral character and particulars filled by him are correct”.

It is evident to mention that the exams have been in progress since May 15, but Raminder was stopped from taking exams, despite the fact that he possessed roll number duly approved by the PTU.

Raminder claimed that he was suffering from a disc problem and approached the management, but could not get any valid reason for his detainment.

“When I enquired from the management about the exact reason for their objection in letting me appear for the exams, they did not provide me with any valid ground or reason in writing. Even my parents accompanied me to the officials of the institute, but in vain,” rued Raminder.

“The management also charged fee for semester III against norms. The PTU norms say that no institute can charge fee before August, but this institute has been charges fee in advance from other students too. Wouldn’t you call these institutes ‘money minting’ institutes, when they adopt such tactics to get the course delayed. I am very depressed by the attitude of the management,” said Davinder Singh Malhi, Raminder Singh Malhi’s father, while showing the receipt for the semester III fee for Rs 29,000.

Official reaction

Dr Rajnish Arora, Vice-Chancellor, PTU: I had got a call from students about their grievances, but I have asked them to meet me and give in writing their complaint. Only after that I would order an inquiry into these cases before taking any decision. Dr Nachhatar Singh, Controller, Examination, PTU: I too have received a complaint from a candidate on mail. We have communicated with the institute to know the exact cause of their detainment, but their reply is still awaited. May be tomorrow some decision would be taken.

Amritsar, May 21
With summer vacation round the corner, different organisations have planned various programmes to hone the skills of youngsters with stress on extra-curricular activities.

These days there is no dearth of talent hunt events offering youngsters many areas to hone their skills and excel in their respective hobbies. The Panther Division of the Army undertook the mission of tapping the talent in singing and dancing among the “fauji bhais”. A three-day talent hunt-2010 was held in Panther Auditorium from May 18. Its final, which was held on May 20, was sponsored by AlphaOne.

The dance and singing contest was open to defence personnel - serving, retired and their dependents.

The first two days were devoted to auditions for the finals. The competition was held in three categories - 12 to 18 years, 19 to 24 years and above.

General Officer Commanding, Panther Division, Major-Gen Varinder Kumar, handed over prizes to the winners. His wife Upasna Kumar, convener, FWO, Panther Division, was the chief guest.

Meanwhile, Guru Nanak Dev University would organise a five-day summer science camp under INSPIRE (Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research) internship programme in collaboration with the Department of Science and 
Technology from May 24.

About 200 science students of Classes XI and XII from all over the state are expected to participate in it.

Professor of chemistry and Coordinator, INSPIRE, Dr R.K. Mahajan, said Prof C.L. Khetrapal, Director, Centre for Biomedical Magnetic Resonance, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow, would inaugurate the camp.

During the camp, some eminent scientists of national and international repute would interact with the students through lectures related to scientific success stories and joys of innovation across all science streams which, in turn, would nourish the curiosity of children in science.

Amritsar, May 21
Principal of St Francis School Rev Sister Rita Maria said 127 students got the first division out of a total 131 who appeared in the matriculation examination.

Sarvesh Mahajan topped with 97.28 per cent, followed by Bikram Raja Sharma (95 per cent) and Aman Mahajan (93.4 per cent).

Sacred Heart toppers

Gursimran Kaur Boparai topped in Sacred Heart Senior Secondary School with 94 per cent marks in the matriculation examination of the ICSE board.

Army School toppers

Muskan Dhir topped in Army School with 91.8 per cent in the commerce stream of Class XII examination. Navneet Kaur stood second with 89.2 per cent.

In the science stream, Navneet Singh topped with 89.6 per cent, followed by Gurpreet Singh (89 per cent) and Khushwantdeep Kaur (85.8 per cent).

International award

DAV International School has won the British Council International School award for 2010-13 for the second consecutive time this year. Earlier, it won this prize for the session 2006-2009.

Amritsar, May 21
Mystery shrouds the death of a couple whose bodies were found in the ganda nullah at Mulla Behram village in Khasa township here today.

The deceased were identified as Pardeep Singh (25) and Kiranjot Kaur (22), both residents of Jhabal.

The police said it seemed that they were first strangled and later their bodies were thrown into the nullah. During preliminary investigations the police found scars on the neck and face of Pardeep.

The Gharinda police has registered a case under sections 302, 201 and 404 of the IPC in this regard on the statement of Mahinder Singh, father of the boy. He said that his son married Kiranjot about two days back and was living separately in Amritsar.

He said Pardeep had come to Jhabal to meet them. He said he left the house at 4 pm yesterday in a car (PB-10-AX-0244) and today he received the information that their bodies were lying in the nullah.

The police said their bodies had been sent for a post-mortem examination and further investigations were on.

Amritsar, May 21
The authorities at the Amritsar Central Jail seized three mobile phones from jail inmates.

G.S. Sandhu, Jail Superintendent in his complaint lodged with the cantonment police, said the mobiles phones were seized during a search operation in barrack number 1 and 9.

The two mobiles along with SIM card were recovered from barrack number 1 while the third one was seized from barrack number 9.