Abohar, December 4
The Labour Colony of Shree Bhawani Cotton Mills was razed to the ground to facilitate colonisers in taking physical possession of the land in compliance of the permission recently granted to them by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

More than 150 families, who had migrated from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Orissa a few decades back, have been affected by the drive.

Since the administration had asked them to vacate the place using public address system on Friday, some of the inmates had shifted their belongings to safer places while others packed it off today finding JCB machines heading towards their residential quarters under unprecedented security cover that was provided by the Punjab Police drawn from three districts.

The police using more than a dozen vehicles virtually cordoned off the colony. DSP Talwinder Jit Singh Sammewali was assisted by the station house officers of all the five police stations in the sub-division to supervise the operation that was also monitored by the officials of the revenue department.

Fire tenders, ambulances, health department teams and anti-riot squads were also positioned around the labour colony quarters. The sloganeering against the colonisers as well as the state government remained almost unattended under the thunder created by the demolition of houses.

Abohar, December 4
With the demolition of the Labour Colony today, the last signs of an era that was ushered in with the commissioning of Shree Bhawani Cotton Mills and Industries Ltd by Mohta family related closely to business magnets, Birlas, comes to an end.

Managing Director-cum-Chairman Mohinder Kumar Mohta had taken over its reigns four decades back. He was elected to the Rajya Sabha also. Since he died without an heir, one of his relatives was tasked to run the 50,000 strong cotton spindles unit. The management monitored by his wife wanted to modernise the mills by importing the latest technology but this was resisted by the powerful leftist trade union arguing that nearly half of the 2500 workers would be rendered jobless.

Strikes coupled with clashes with the police had resulted in death of nine workers during the police firing. However, their memorial has not been demolished till today.

The mills had to be locked out as the management was unable to repay the loans taken from various banks and government financial agencies. The Punjab and Haryana HC appointed liquidators, who chose to dispose of the movable and immovable property of the first major industry of the region.

The buyers planned to develop residential colony utilising the area that was under the industry besides the labour colony.

Some senior political worker too reportedly had financial interests in the project, sources said. They asserted that dues of former workers had been paid as per the norms laid down by the HC but most families were unwilling to vacate the quarters even after termination of electricity supply due to non-payment of the whopping arrears.

Notably, the number of students in some privately-run charitable schools in Nai Abadi had nosedived after the closure of the mills. The loss to the local Municipal Council in terms of revenue through octroi, house tax was officially estimated at about Rs one crore annually.

Bathinda, December 4
To make people aware about their level of self-motivation, personal experiences besides the insensitivity of governments, a group of physically challenged persons participated in the Virasat Mela, setting up a special hutment like structure, with ‘Ang Hina Di Zindagi’ inscribed boldly on it.

Showcasing the challenges faced by them in earning their livelihood, they attempted to spread a message—face the challenges of life without considering yourself to be less capable than the others.

“I am handicapped as my legs do not work but still I have the courage to fight the odds. Despite all efforts, I could not get any government job so I opted to be a tailor. After four years of struggle, now I do earn my livelihood, with my own efforts,” said a 24-year-old Labh Singh of Bambiha village.

They also attempted to show the mirror to the government by exhibiting that they were forced to live a life full of thorns due to the insensitive attitude of the government.

Gurmeet Singh Jeeda, state coordinator of the Akhil Bharatiya Viklang Chetna Parishad, who was also there, said, “We have nothing but personal motivation to survive in society as the state government, despite receiving a number of memorandums, is yet to wake up to help the handicapped persons.”

Bathinda, December 4
“Earlier, people from every nook and corner used to come to attend such heritage fair but now with the intrusion of western culture, it is confined only to lovers of tradition,” said Gurpal Singh Pal, a renowned folk singer of Punjab.

Sharing his pride in being a classmate of Bollywood legend Dharmendra and a cousin of celebrated Punjabi actor Yograj, this folk singer, in contrast to the orthodox approach, feels there is nothing wrong if a member of the Jatt community has a passion for singing, acting or dancing.

“If a person, while maintaining his dignity, has the ability to entertain people, he should never shy of showcasing it, said the 76-year-old, who has given a large number of radio and TV shows besides numerous cassettes and records.

It was a pleasant surprise to witness Pal playing Tumbi and singing ‘Pali Paani Khuh Vicho Bhardi’ one of the most popular songs of his collection, for just a handful of persons that too without loudspeakers. But when asked, an unfazed Pal said, “I do not want a crowd, even two persons are enough for me to perform if they are serious lovers of traditional songs.”

“It is our ill-fate that people are moving away from the meaningful songs of the past and are now more interested in songs that are spoiling society,” he said, adding that, “I go abroad and perform there. People like the traditional Punjabi songs and Kaliyan but here things are changing.”

Bathinda, December 4
To create awareness among the Hindu community about its role in the formation of government in the state and to propagate its 11-point demand charter in a big way, the Shiv Sena (Hindustan) will begin a month long ‘Vishal Hindu Chetna Rath Yatra’ on December 11 from Mata Shri Kali Devi Mandir, Patiala. The yatra will culminate at Shri Durgiana Mandir, Amritsar.

Stating this here today, national president of the party Pawan Gupta said the main points in their demand charter were compensation and other facilities to all Hindus of Punjab who were victims of militancy on the pattern of victims of the ‘anti-Sikh’ riots and formation of an all-India Hindu temples management Act.

Gupta said neither the SAD-BJP Government nor the previous Congress government had implemented their 11-point demand charter. He said during last year of his regime (2006), Capt Amarinder Singh had sent a proposal of Rs 405 crore package to the Centre for Hindus who were victims of militancy, but to no avail.

The party chief further said the SAD had also made a promise during previous Assembly elections to implement their demand charter but it also did nothing in this direction.

He said the Shiv Sena (Hindustan) was of the view that the SAD-BJP Government had been betraying the Hindu community. In view of this, the party had decided to raise the matter before the community by carrying out the yatra, he added. The yatra would pass through various villages, towns and cities of the state. It would reach Bathinda city on December 23, he said.

Gupta announced that the Sena would contest ensuing Assembly elections in Punjab on its own agenda, containing 11demands and other issues.

Bathinda, December 4
India Infoline Ltd (IIFL), a leading one-stop financial services provider organised an investors meet in Bathinda on Saturday to share their views about the basics of investing and the road ahead for Indian stock markets in the backdrop of vibrancy in equity stock market.

Rajan Goyal, ASVP, who is looking after all the branches of Malwa region of Punjab, suggested medium and long-term investment. More investment should be made in IPOs/FPO with good rating, he said.

Nitin Kapur, AVP, IIFL, told the media that people in Punjab were receptive to stock market investing and were market savvy.

“We have great plans for Punjab and have expanded our network to ensure that we are present wherever the retail investor needs us across Punjab.”

IIFL is a leading player in online broking space with a network of 2700 business locations across 450 cities.

Bathinda, December 4
About 570 patients were examined at a free eye check-up-cum-operation camp organised by the Lions Club Bathinda Royal here today. Out of these, over 180 patients were identified for cataract operations.

A team of doctors from the Lion Eye Care Centre, Jaito, and a local doctor examined the patients. The club also gave medicines to the patients free of cost. The operations of the patients will be done at the Jaito centre.

At the inaugural function of the camp, Chairman of the Lal Singh Dhillon Memorial Society Avtar Singh Samad Bhai was the chief guest.

Among others present on the occasion included Mayor Baljit Singh Bir Behman, area in-charge of the Shiromani Akali Dal (B) for Bathinda Assembly constituency Sarup Chand Singla and President of the Lions Club Bathinda Royal Ashok Singla.

Ferozepur, December 4
Municipal councillor Kulwant Singh Maggo, who was shot at by three persons in the city on December 1, died today at a hospital in Ludhiana, where he had been undergoing treatment as he had suffered two gunshot wounds in the attack.

Maggo was shot at by three assailants in front of his house after he was called from his house located in Telu Mal street, a thickly populated area of the town, by them.

The three assailants were identified as Kuku Pradhan, who was once an important leader of the ruling SAD (B), Charan Dass Honda and Sita Tarapuria.

The assailants were identified as Maggo recorded his statement before the police. He was shifted to Ludhiana the same day. Though a case under sections 307 and 34 of the IPC and relevant section of the Arms Act was registered against the accused, they could not be arrested even 72 hours after the incident.

Maggo, who was elected as municipal councillor from ward number four of this city, was shot at by the assailants as they became angry with him over some issue.

Both Maggo and Kuku Pradhan had purchased different shares of an old building located in the town. When Kuku Pradhan started demolishing an old building in an illegal way, the tenant and one of the other owners of a small share of that building complained to the police against Kuku Pradhan and his associates.

When a police party reached the spot to verify the allegations levelled against Kuku Pradhan and others, Maggo was present there.

Kuku Pradhan and his associates suspected that Maggo was trying to frame them in a criminal case by helping the police. Kuku Pradhan along with his associates attacked Maggo with fire-arms the same day.

SSP Kaustab Sharma said so far, police could not succeed in arresting the assailants despite the fact that raids were being continuously conducted on their suspected hideouts. He added that a new offence of section 302 of the IPC pertaining to commission of murder would be made out against the accused now.

Bathinda, December 4
The Thermal police in Bathinda today got one-day police remand of two accused in the Nandan Nagpal Kidnapping case, namely Mandeep Kaur and Manpreet Singh.

The Bathinda police had brought Manpreet Singh of Malout on transit remand from the CBI court, Ambala on Friday. Following the legal procedure, he was produced before the magistrate today to obtain his police remand.

Meanwhile, Mandeep Kaur, wife of one accused Daljeet Singh, was already in the judicial custody till today for the identification parade. Though the formalities of identification parade were initiated, she had refused to comply with it. As the period of her judicial custody was to be over today, she was taken to the court, where the Thermal police urged the magistrate to allow her police remand as her interrogation could lead to ascertain some related facts. Accepting the plea, the court awarded one day remand of Mandeep.

Speaking to The Tribune, SHO Thermal police station, Kuldeep Singh said, “During the interrogation, we observed Manpreet as the mastermind behind the kidnapping. He had planned to kidnap Nandan to get easy money but just at the last moment, he backtracked but his accomplices Kampal Singh, Daljeet Singh, Mandeep Kaur, Karamjeet Kaur, Jasveer Singh and Pavittar Singh kidnapped the boy. Moving from his stand, he again joined the gang and called Nandan’s father for a ransom of Rs 3 crore.”

Replying to a query, the SHO maintained, “As of now, we could not confirm whether the ransom was paid or not. It seems as if the accused spared the boy fearing police pressure, without even taking the money.”

It may be mentioned that Nandan Nagpal, son of a renowned Arhtiya of Malout, was a student of the Khalsa College, Chandigarh. He was allegedly kidnapped with the help of a girl, who entered into friendship with him and facilitated her gang members to kidnap him from Bathinda in June this year, when he was on his way to Malout from Chandigarh.

Though the boy was recovered on the third day of kidnapping, the Bathinda police got a breakthrough in November only when Daljeet Singh and Kampal Singh were arrested by the sleuths of the CBI and Panchkula Police in some other case related to Haryana.

Fazilka, December 4
Former Finance Minister of state Manpreet Singh Badal would visit Fazilka on December 11 as part of his ongoing Jago Punjab yatra. One of his close associate Satinder Singh Manta said he would hold a public meeting in Mandi Arniwala of this subdivision. Another rally is scheduled at Ghas Mandi. He would finally address a rural gathering at village Abhun. Manpreet has decided to meet the press and members of the Bar Association during his visit here.

Former MP and father of Manpreet Singh Badal, Gurdas Singh Badal, MLA Bir Devinder Singh and Abhay Singh, nephew of martyr Bhagat Singh, would accompany him, said Manta. — OC

Hari Ke (Ferozepur), December 4
As it starts getting dark early and gets foggy at night, the wildlife sanctuary has become a ‘safe place’ for the unscrupulous elements to carry out their illegal activities connected with fishing and poaching. In the past about four weeks, the district wildlife authorities have managed to detect three cases of illegal fishing and poaching in the wildlife sanctuary spread over three districts — Ferozepur, Kapurthala and Tarn Taran.

Late last night, the guards, who were on duty, caught two members of a gang involved in fishing and poaching and recovered a boat, six nets and 15 kilograms of fish from their possession. The accused have been identified as Gurdeep Singh and Bhira Singh, both residents of this village. Gurdeep Singh has already been facing a criminal case in connection with his involvement in illegal fishing here earlier.

Earlier, on November 7, three persons along with nets were caught by the guards of wildlife department. They have been bailed out. Besides, a boat with net was recovered on November 25 when the guards were on duty in the sanctuary area. In January, a number of unscrupulous elements involved in fishing and poaching area in this sanctuary were arrested by the wildlife department officials. The sanctuary, which has carved a niche for itself at an international level for its unique biodiversity and providing shelter to lakhs of migratory birds every year during the winter, has also come under serious threat from the encroachers.

About 1000 acres of sanctuary has been encroached upon by a number of people hailing from different villages surrounding it. The wildlife department authorities have been contesting civil suits to get the encroachments removed in different courts located in Ferozepur, Tarn Taran and Kapurthala districts.

Sanjeev Tiwari, district wildlife official, said both Gurdeep Singh and Bhira Singh had been presented before the court of judicial magistrate concerned. Both had been remanded to judicial custody for 14 days and had been sent to jail. A case under sections 27, 28, 29, 39, 51 and 55 of Wildlife Protection Act had been registered against them.

He said it had come to light that the unscrupulous elements, who operate by forming gangs, had been enjoying active patronage of politicians as illegal fishing had become a lucrative business for them. The patrolling had been intensified, he added.