The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Two gangs of vehicle thieves busted, 4 held
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 26
Busting two gangs of robbers, the Amritsar rural police here today nabbed a car thief and two motorcycle lifters in two separate cases. The police recovered seven cars and seven motorcycles from their possession, respectively, besides some mobile phones.

Addressing mediapersons, Manmohan Singh, SP (D), said in a major breakthrough the police nabbed a car thief, identified as Manohar Singh, alias Mintu, of Ghanupur Kale, near the Canal Bridge at Sangatpura village.

During the search operation, the police party found 12 fake stamps of DTO office, HDFC bank and insurance folders in his car.

During the interrogation, he admitted that he used to steal cars parked outside marriage palaces and hotels and after forging the documents these vehicles were used as taxis. The police recovered five Indigo cars and one Indica car, which he stole from outside Sifti Palace, Kumar Hotel, Green Avenue Park and Satkar Palace. A case under Sections 420/467/468/ 471/473/379 of the IPC has been registered against him at the Jhander police station.

In another incident, the CIA staff acting on a tip-off arrested two persons identified as Prabhjit Singh, alias Prabha, and Sandeep Singh, alias Sunny, alias, Zehreela, both residents of Jandiala Guru.

They had formed a gang, which used to steal motorcycles from various parts of the city. Three of their companions - Shanil Kumar alias Zada, Harjit Singh alias Dana and Raju - all residents of Jandiala Guru, managed to dodge the police net. The police seized seven motorcycles, five mobiles and two sharp-edged weapons from the accused.

During the preliminary interrogation, the accused said their gang had broken two mobile shops and six grocery shops in and around the Jandiala town. A case under Sections 399/402/379/411/414 of the IPC has been registered against them.

The police said efforts were afoot to arrest the absconding accused and more recoveries were expected in the near future.

Four held with 8 kg charas
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 26
The CIA staff of the city police have nabbed four persons for allegedly possessing 8 kg of charas, while two of their accomplices managed to escape. The four accused were the part of a huge gang of drug peddlers who were active in various parts of the city. Of these, two persons belonged to Nepal and suspected to have close links with drug smugglers there.

Those arrested were identified as Heera Lal of Nepal, Budh Singh of Anngarh, Nirmal Singh and Gurdit Singh of Maqboolpura. While those managed to flee include Jatinder Singh of Nepal and Manga of Vallah.

Inderbir Singh, ADCP, (Crime), said the arrested accused were presented in the court and remanded in police custody.

Terming it a major breakthrough, he said investigations were on different lines to expose the whole nexus.

A manhunt had also been launched to nab the absconding accused, he added.

A case under various sections of the NDPS act has been registered against the accused. In another incident, the civil line police has arrested two vehicle lifters identified as Nishan Singh and Kartar Singh of the Nariangarh area and recovered a motorcycle and scooter, besides 30 gm of charas from their possession.

A case has been registered in this regard.

Opium seized from train

Pathankot: The Government Railway Police (GRP) seized 3 kg of opium here today. According to the police, during a routine checking at Chakki railway station, it found a polythene bag containing opium from the Swaraj Express. Manjit Singh, SHO, said the persons carrying the bag might have fled away on seeing the search party. A case under the NDPS Act was registered. — OC

CBI nabs SDO for graft
Our Correspondent

Hoshiarpur, April 26
A CBI team arrested Romesh Kumar, Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of the civil wing of Post Offices, Jalandhar, for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 from Zirakpur-based post office contractor Ravinder Bhatia here this evening.

An eight-member team from Chandigarh was reportedly led by an ASP. It arrested Romesh Kumar from Head Post Office premises this evening after he accepted the bribe, sources said.

The sources said Ravinder Bhatia was doing construction work worth more than Rs 12 lakh of the Post Office department at Sangrur. He had submitted his final bill of Rs 4.5 lakh for the above said work for which the SDO was delaying the clearance of his bills on various pretexts. After negotiating, the deal was finalised at Rs 50,000 between the SDO and the contractor.

Romesh Kumar called the contractor at Hoshiarpur for making the payment. Ravinder Bhatia lodged a complaint with the CBI, which laid a trap this evening when the payment of Rs 50,000 was to be paid.

The CBI team was investigating the matter till filing of this report.

Khalsa College Imbroglio
Teachers to continue boycott of evaluation process
PK Jaiswar
Tribune News Service

Amritsar, April 26
Finding no response from the Khalsa College management, the teaching fraternity has again decided to intensify the agitation. The teachers will boycott the evaluation of answer sheets for the next two days.

The decision was taken during a general house meeting of the Khalsa College Teachers’ Union (KCTU) supported by the Punjab Chandigarh College Teachers union (PCCTU) and the Punjab Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation (PFUCTO) held here today.

Prof SS Rangi and Daljit Singh, president and general secretary of the KCTU, said the next course of action would be chalked out during the meeting of representatives of PFUCTO, PCCTU, KCTU and teachers belonging to various other organisations scheduled to be held on April 28 in Chandigarh.

Following an appeal by AS Brar, Vice-Chancellor, GND University, the teaching fraternity, which had earlier boycotted the evaluation of answer sheets, resumed the evaluation work on April 21.

They were protesting against the registration of criminal cases and suspension of several college teachers who were agitating against the proposal of conversion of college into a private university.

The teachers have again given a call to boycott the evaluation process for two days.

Rangi said the KCTU had also constituted teams, which would visit various colleges and encourage teachers to join the agitation.

The teachers pointed out that the college management should immediately withdraw the criminal cases registered against teachers, besides revoking the suspension orders.

They added that the management should also cancel the orders of vacating of houses on the college premises.

Hospital run by philanthropists proves to be boon for poor villagers
Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service

Pathankot, April 26
Charity, they say, begins at home. This, in essence, seems to be the motto of the Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital which has been established by a group of philanthropists just to cater to the needs of the poor and needy.

The 300-bed hospital has been established in one of the remotest and most deprived tehsils of the state --- Dhar Kalan --- at Bungal village and is treating needy patients just on the recommendations of either the village sarpanch or any other village elder.

It is pertinent to mention here that there are nearly 80 villages which fall under the jurisdiction of Dhar Kalan and a majority of them are being inhabited by poor and the underprivileged.

A high-level team of the Medical Council of India (MCI) has already inspected the facilities and other infrastructure at the hospital and a green signal to start admissions to college may come anytime.

Vikram Joshi, the executive director of the hospital, spread over an area of 150 acres, claims that preference is being given to the villagers who do not have money to pay for medical treatment.

“We have even performed cardiac surgeries on the poorest of poor of Dhar Kalan. We have nearly 200 doctors on our rolls and possess state-of-the-art infrastructure which can be compared to the one possessed by super speciality hospitals in metropolitan cities. We have set up the hospital at Dhar Kalan because we thought that the tehsil being one of the most backward areas of Punjab, medicare facilities were virtually non-existence. People had to travel all the way to Pathankot or Amritsar for treatment.”

“The life of a man consists not in seeing visions and in dreaming dreams but in active service and charity. We are funded by some philanthropic people in Delhi and Pathankot. Funds are not a problem for us. Our main aim is to treat the poor and needy although any rich person needing treatment will not be turned back,” added Joshi.

Dr JK Sharma, Principal of the Medical College, disclosed, “Where there is charity and wisdom there is neither fear nor ignorance. Since we are not strapped for funds, we will continue treating poor villagers who till yet could not benefit from technological advances being maid in the medical field.”

Raid unearths violations in nursing institute canteen
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, April 26
Tightening noose around the management of private institutes, the district health authorities today conducted a surprise raid at a canteen of Punjab Medical Institute of Nursing in Suranasi and unearthed massive violations.

A team of health officials led by Dr RN Wassan, district health officer (DHO), raided the canteen of the girls’ hostel and found it running under unhygienic conditions.

Acting on complaints from women commission and hostel inmates in which they had alleged that the management had been serving stale and putrefied food to hostel inmates, the health authorities conducted the raid.

Talking to the Tribune, the DHO said the canteen was running under deplorable and unhygienic conditions. The flour (raw and prepared) stored in the fridge was stinking and vegetables were found rotten inside the store.

The authorities were operating the canteen from a dingy room, he added. After collecting samples of prepared (rice, chappatis and Rajma) and raw food, the department has also sent samples of flour, pulses, and other edible items to a Chandigarh-based laboratory for test. The rotten vegetables and other prepared food items were destroyed on the spot, claimed Wassan. Meanwhile, the institute authorities were not available for comments.