Jalandhar, December 20
An NRI couple has been running from pillar to post to get justice, following the registration of a false case, at the behest of a local SAD MLA.

UK citizen Baljit Kaur and her husband Shivnath Singh have alleged that a case under Section 307 was registered at the Division 5 police station, just to pressurise them for a compromise in an earlier assault case, involving their nephew Manpreet Singh, who is under treatment at the Satyam Hospital, with three gunshot wounds.

Narrating the sequence of events, Baljit said on the intervening night of December 3 and 4, accused Kuldip Singh, alias Mintu, and some of his henchmen opened fire on Manpreet, following which he suffered gunshot wounds in his stomach, leg and right arm.

The police registered an FIR (172 dt 04/12/10) under Sections 307, 120 B, 148 and 149 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act against Bhupinder Singh Makkar, Ravi Chabbra, Prabjot Singh and others but owing to political pressure, the accused roam freely.

Bhupinder is the brother of MLA SS Makkar, she revealed.

To counter her husband’s complaint, the main accused Mintu, fabricated a false story and instead got an FIR (173 dt. 04/12/10) under Sections 307, 452, 427, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act registered at the division number two police station, alleging that Shivnath and others had opened fire at the accused.

All this happened within just 15 hours of our FIR, she added. Ironically, acting swiftly, the police have arrested my brother- in- law Kamaljit Singh, also a UK citizen, in the aforementioned case, while the main accused, who critically injured Manpreet, are roaming free.

In fact, the accused are threatening us with dire consequences, she lamented.

Consequently, there is intense pressure on the local police, which is turning a deaf ear to our pleas to ensure that justice prevails, she added.

Baljit also said they had approached senior police officers in Chandigarh, but to no avail.

To add insult to injury, the police are arbitrarily rounding up the members of our family and terrorising all those who want help. The police are raiding the house of anyone they suspect is helping us. They have created an atmosphere of terror and have not even spared womenfolk, she alleged.

The helplessness of the police can be gauged from the fact that even senior officers have been busy passing the buck instead of taking any action. I urge the DGP to hand over the case to an independent agency, besides providing us with security, she added.

Jalandhar, December 20
In a blot on human relationships, a woman murdered her 10-year-old son with the help her paramour to escape social stigma.

Kamaljit Kaur, a resident of Baghela village near Mehatpur, informed the police that her son Satinderjit Singh (10) had committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance on December 17.

The police conducted proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC and the body was handed over to the deceased’s mother. However, an uncle of the Kamaljit’s husband Dilbagh Singh informed the police yesterday that his nephew Kuldip Singh had been living in Italy for the past 13-14 years and had two children, one of whom was Satinderjit.

He alleged that Kamaljit had illicit relations with her neighbour, which was in the knowledge of Satinderjit.

Following interrogation, both the accused admitted that they had poisoned the boy as they suspected that he would narrate the nature of their relationship to the neighbours and his father.

The accused have also admitted that they had also conspired to kill even Kuldip Singh, once he landed in India.

The police has recovered the poison administered to the boy and arrested the mother and her paramour. A case under Section 302 and 34 of the IPC has been registered and the accused will be produced before the court tomorrow. 

Jalandhar, December 20
Punjab Roadways will continue to be in the red even after fares were hiked by 16 per cent. Transport Minister Master Mohal Lal, who was in the city to attend a meeting of the district administration and transport officers here today, said the roadways needed to add 600 new buses to its existing fleet, to make it more profitable.

He said keeping in view the increased death rate in the state in road accidents, the government is starting a traffic awareness drive from December 24. The Road Safety Council will start this drive for a fortnight from Jalandhar and it will conclude on January 7 in Bhatinda.

Strict action will be taken against all those vehicle owners who flout traffic rules. As many as 4,000 people die in road accidents every year in Punjab alone.

To control the speed of commercial vehicles, including buses and trucks, speed governors have been introduced and with the passage of time, the same would be done for private vehicles too, he revealed.

The minister said the government is contemplating to introduce driving as a subject in the technical institutes of the state and also to give power to issue driving licenses.

He said the department would revive the surrendered routes by starting bus service of Punjab Roadways and PRTC.

Amritsar, December 20
Some car occupants forcibly intercepted an employee of the Khanna Paper Mill, riding his bike and fired at him with intentions to snatch away his bag containing a cash amount of Rs 6.2 lakh. Thereafter, the miscreants managed to flee from the scene. Though the people present on the spot noted down the registration number of the car, it was later found to be fake.

Pardeep Sharma, an employee with the Khanna paper mill withdrew a cash amount of Rs 7 lakh from a bank in Ranjit Avenue.

After disbursing an amount of Rs 80,000 to some party mid way, he drove his bike on the bypass road towards the mill. It was then that a Ford car suddenly hit him from behind. Pardeep fell down and before he could regain his senses, the car occupants, armed with sharp-edged weapons and a pistol, shot at him and took away the bag, leaving him injured. The Deputy Commissioner of Police AS Chahal, when contacted, said the registration number of the car was later found to be belonging to a motorbike at Batala. A case has been registered. 

Phagwara, December 20
Three persons were killed in three different mishaps in and around the Phagwara sub-division during the last 24 hours.

In the first incident, a truck driver, identified as Dharam Singh of Gurdaspur, was found dead in mysterious circumstances near Chiherru, on the Phagwara-Jalandhar national highways on Sunday. Police has registered a case and sent the dead body to the local civil hospital for postmortem examination.

In the second mishap, a migrant rickshaw puller, identified as Udhaya Shankar, was killed on the spot while his rickshaw was smashed when a speeding DMU train coming from Nawanshahar hit him on an unmanned railway crossing near Khotrra, on the Phagwara-Banga rail section today.

The government railway police has registered a case and sent the dead body to the local civil hospital for postmortem examination.

In the third accident, an unidentified middle-aged person was run over by a running train near Mauli village on the Phagwara-Goraya rail section yesterday. The GRP has registered a case.