Nawanshahr, August 7
A police party came under fire near Sehbajpur village on late Friday evening when the police on a tip-off had set up a naka to catch a gang of robbers.The police retaliated and later managed to arrest four gang members, identified as Anil Kumar of Atta village near Orya (Jalandhar), Jaswinder Singh of Ganna village near Phillaur (Jalandhar), Rajwant Singh of Muradpur (Tarn Taran) and Sonu Gill of Nakodar (Jalandhar).

Giving details here today, SSP Narinder Bhargav said CIA in charge Rakesh Kumar and Rahon SHO Hardeep Kumar had put up a joint naka at Jadla Road, Rahon, on Friday night when they received a tip-off that the members of a gang armed with weapons riding on three stolen motorcycles were entering Nawanshahr along the canal near Mehatpur Ulladhani village.

The police officials on naka formulated a strategy and divided themselves into three groups and put up nakas at different locations to nab the gang.

When a police party, headed by Sub Inspector Dilbagh Singh, signalled the motorcycle-borne miscreants coming from Sehbajpur Road to stop, the miscreants slowed down their motorcycle and one of the pillion rider fired at the police party.

In retaliation, the police parties headed by Rakesh Kumar and Hardip Kumar fired at the miscreants and grilled them from different sides to overpower them.

The police seized two country made pistols (.32 bore and .12 bore), six live cartridges, three motorcycles from their possession. A case under sections 307 and 34 of the IPC and 25, 54, 59 of the Arms Act had been registered at Rahon police station, said the SSP.

Gang leader Anil Kumar, alias Bhola, had already been sentenced to life imprisonment in cases registered against him under sections 302 and 34 of the IPC at Jalandhar and under section 302 at Panipat in Haryana. He came out of Ludhiana jail on parole in September last year and instead of returning to jail he again started committing robberies in connivance with his accomplices in several districts of Punjab, said Bhargav adding that the gang members had confessed to their involvement in as many as 10 incidents of robberies, snatching and vehicle lifting at different districts in Punjab during the past few months.

Jalandhar, August 7
The police nabbed three suspects, including a barber, in the head tonsuring case.Talking to The Tribune, Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP), West, claimed that Ravinder Singh of Arjun Nagar, Shakil Ahmad, the barber, and Nirmal Kaur, have been arrested under various sections of the IPC.

He claimed that four other persons have also been identified and efforts are being made to arrest them. The police parties have been sent to raid their suspected hideouts at various places.

The police was also trying to identify other suspects in the case, he added.

The police has also taken preventive measures so that such incidents could not be repeated in future. The ACP said Ajay Kumar, a resident of Hardev Nagar, was going to his aunt’s house who was a tenant of Nirmal Kaur.

Taking the law in their own hands, residents of Mithu Basti reportedly tied Ajay Kumar to a shutter of a shop, tonsured his head and paraded him publicly on the suspicion that he had illicit relations with a girl outing up with Nirmal Kaur. Ajay Kumar was on his way to his aunt’s house in the locality was intercepted by the residents suspecting that he was going to meet the girl on Friday afternoon.

 He added that the Centre had sanctioned a grant of Rs 750 crore to fight the movement in Chattisgarh and other affected states. The MP said he had information based on intelligence reports that the movement was spreading its tentacles in the Malwa belt of Punjab. — TNS

Phagwara, August 7
Thousands of activists belonging to Guru Ravi Dass Force blocked traffic for more than one and half hours near Phagwara-Mehli Bypass, Noormahal, Shahkot, Mehatpur, and five more different places in Phagwara, Phillaur and Nakodar sub-divisions tonight.

The traffic was blocked in protest against the removal of ‘Amrit Bani’ from a shrine in Sanghowal village today.

The protesters raised slogans against the SAD-BJP government and alleged that government machinery, including the civil administration and police, was working under the pressure of some hard core organisations, including Damdami Taksal, which could not be tolerated at any cost.

The commuters had to face much inconvenience due to the blockade, which was lifted only when the leaders got reports that a meeting between the administration and Dera Ballan head would be held on August 8 to solve the tangle. — OC