Moga, August 5
The Moga police is trying to wash off its hands from the controversy that surfaced a few weeks back over the incident of a proclaimed offender (PO) Sukhdev Singh honouring the Punjab DGP PS Gill by filing an application in a local court demanding to issue fresh orders for declaring Sukhdev Singh as a proclaimed offender.

However, the judicial magistrate Ravi Inder Singh, JMIC, while disposing of the application filed by the SHO of police station (rural) has stated that Sukhdev was already declared a proclaimed offender on September 20, 2003 in a criminal case under Sections 336, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC registered against him on October 29, 2000 at the police station (rural) and three of his associates, Rajinder Pal, Jaswinder Singh and Summittar Singh, were also declared proclaimed offenders in separate orders issued by the court in 2007.

Further, the court has stated, “It was also given direction in the above said orders to send intimation to the police station concerned regarding declaration of above said accused as proclaimed offenders.”

It may be mentioned that it was the duty of the ‘ahlmad’ of the court to send copies of the orders of declaring the accused as proclaimed offenders to the SHO of the police station concerned.

Interestingly, on page number 195 of the case file, a carbon copy of the letter written by the then judicial magistrate Tarsem Mangla is also attached, which was written to the SHO of police station (rural) intimating that Sukhdev has been declared a proclaimed offender by his court. However, there is no mention of the date or diary number on this letter.

Meanwhile, SSP Sneh Deep Sharma in a reply filed to the chief electoral officer Kusumjit Sidhu has claimed that the police had not received a copy of the order of the court in which Sukhdev was proclaimed as offender.

On the other hand, a perusal of the case file revealed that Sukhdev filed a bail application before the sessions court of Sukhdev Singh on December 15, 2003 stating that the police had falsely implicated him as he was in judicial custody in a murder case when the case was registered against him.

However, the additional public prosecutor strongly opposed his bail application claiming that Sukhdev escaped from the police custody, after which, non-bailable warrants of arrest were issued against him and an FIR was also registered against him on the charge of escaping from police custody. On January 24, 2004, the sessions court dismissed the bail application.

Ramesh Grover, a local lawyer, fighting the case on behalf of one of the accused, was of the opinion that the police knew that Sukhdev was declared a proclaimed offender. Otherwise, the prosecution side would not have opposed his bail application.

“How could the prosecution oppose his bail without knowing that he was a proclaimed offender,” he questioned.

The Tribune tried to contact the SSP several times on his mobile phone to seek his comments but he did not respond.

Abohar, August 5
Over 1.5 lakh citizens besides the daily visitors were being provided with drinking water without treating it with alum and bleaching powder since June 14. The fact surfaced during the monthly meeting of the Municipal Council today.

The councillors were asked to consider proposal number 31 for sanctioning a hefty amount to purchase alum and bleaching. A senior Congress councillor enquired about the pending stock and wanted to go through the stock register.

A perusal of the register revealed that the Council had no stock of alum or bleaching powder since June 14.

This caused resentment in the meeting that was presided over by Shiv Raj Goyal of the BJP. The latter had no explanation to offer. The staff confessed that the water was being supplied by passing it through the natural sand filtration system for the past seven weeks.

The Congress councillors said the ruling BJP leaders had forced the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) to shift its sub-divisional office from Abohar to Fazilka by thrashing the sub-divisional engineer Hakam Singh Sidhu on May 1.

“It was wrong on the part of the saffron party leaders in the Municipal Council not to arrange sufficient stock of alum and bleaching powder to facilitate supply of potable water from old and new waterworks. Responsibility for this criminal negligence should be fixed,” they demanded.

The Congress councillors also took strong exception to the proposal number 32 that sought sanction to allot some garbage dumping centres to some persons for commercial use on rent basis.

Ferozepur, August 5
Chief Electoral officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner S Karuna Raju today held a meeting with the representatives of various political parties regarding rationalisation of polling booths falling under four assembly segments of the district, which includes Zira (75), Ferozepur (76) Ferozepur Rural (77) and Guruharsahai (78).

In the meeting GS Pannu, ADC (Development), Harphool Singh Tehsildaar (Elections) besides other officials and representatives from political parties including SAD, BJP and BSP participated. Raju said the Election Commission of India (EC) has given approval to establish new polling booths, following which, 13 additional booths were being created in these assembly segments.

Later, Raju asked the officials to ensure strict implementation of the model code of conduct for the SGPC elections besides he also asked them to make all the arrangements to ensure free and fair polls.

The DC also exhorted all the political parties to ensure that the model code of conduct is followed.

Ferozepur, August 5
While the state government claims to have recruited thousands of eligible candidates against the vacancies lying vacant in various government departments, the PUDA office here is functioning with only a regular employee.

The rest of the posts are vacant for the last several years. Though, there are over ten sanctioned posts including that of an executive officer (EO), SDO, junior engineer besides other subordinate staff, all the posts have been unoccupied for the last several years and the charge has been given to the officials posted in either Bathinda or Ludhiana.

At present, the charge of the EO has been given to Jeet Ram, who is also looking after Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) in the same capacity at Ludhiana. No regular appointment of EO has been made here since the year 2000, revealed the sources.

The only official posted here, Sandeep Kumar, who is working as Senior Assistant (Accounts) also has to go to Ludhiana for official jobs. At this time, when several projects under optimum utilisation of vacant government land (OUVGL) are on the anvil in this border town, the government does not seem to be concerned about the posts lying vacant here.

Jaswant Singh, Additional Chief Administrator (ACA), GLADA, who is also looking after the area, said though the posts were lying vacant, the department was managing the affairs by delegating responsibilities to the staff from Ludhiana as and when the need arises.

He said since there was not much of the workload in the Ferozepur office, the issue has not been taken up on priority. About the upcoming PUDA projects in Ferozepur, he said the land at the back of the Central Jail besides the old TB Hospital land was being developed as commercial sites.

Every time, some auction is conducted here or some project has to be planned, the officials have to come from Ludhiana to oversee the entire work.

At present, the PUDA has multi-storied flats, SCOs in the Housing Board Colony and another colony has been developed near Ram Sharnam Ashram in Ferozepur city.

Bathinda, August 5
Bathinda is sans a senior medical officer (SMO) at its 100-bed Civil Hospital for the past one month. Due to this, official work especially those related to healthcare services has been affected.

Sources said at present, the SMO of the local Women and Children Hospital had been given additional charge of the Civil Hospital even as it needed a full-fledged SMO in the light of heavy rush of patients, especially in the OPD block and the emergency wing.

It is learnt that the heavy rush of patients at the Women and Children Hospital also does not allow its SMO to perform additional duties in a big way. During the past three days, about 45 women have reportedly delivered babies at the Women and Children Hospital, due to which the SMO had to remain there most of the time to tackle any emergency.

Dr Jarnail Singh was the last SMO at the Civil Hospital, who was transferred to Banur and relieved on July 5. He had served here for only a month.

On the one hand, the local Civil Hospital is waiting for an SMO for the past one month to run its affairs smoothly while on the other, the state government has been making tall claims about providing healthcare facilities throughout the state.

Civil Surgeon Dr Neelam Bajaj said her office had already sent the information about the vacancy to the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Punjab. Besides, the department had also been informed about it over the telephone, she added.

Bathinda, August 5
The functioning in the nationalised banks remained paralysed today as officers and employees observed strike in response to the call given by the United Forum of Bank Unions, consisting of nine trade unions of the banking sector.

The agitators were against privatisation of public sector banks and merger of banks, and in favour of implementation of compassionate appointments in banks, improvement in pension scheme on the pattern of Central government and scrapping of the recommendations given by the Khandelwal Committee.

The protesting bank staff gathered in front of the Union Bank of India’s branch on the Mall Road here and held a rally to compel the government to accept their demands.

They also raised slogans against privatisation and the Central government.

Addressing the gathering, the convener of the Forum, Pawan Jindal, criticised the Banking Law (Amendment) Bill-2011.

As there was not much prior knowledge about the strike, some pensioners were visiting branches of the commercial banks here in the morning, neighbouring residents confirmed. Denial of access to ATMs too disappointed hundreds of visitors.

Seetogunno (Abohar), August 5
Countering poaching in Asia's biggest open wildlife sanctuary is proving to be a tough task for the Forest and Wildlife Department.

As per the recently conducted census, 4,728 blackbucks and 6,011 blue bulls inhabit this open sanctuary, which is being guarded by just two wildlife guards and a veterinary compounder and that too unarmed. Though the department has hired some locals as daily wagers to curb poaching, yet the illegal practice goes on. The staff deployed here for patrolling round-the-clock does not even have binoculars or any government vehicle.

The equipment provided to them a long time back were also out of service, which were found dumped at their office in Abohar. The wireless communication in the wildlife office was also non-existent and the officials totally depended on cell-phones. A visit to the sanctuary revealed that the department had just two check-posts that too situated on the roadsides.

"The area is too vast and it is not even fenced, so we are completely unable to monitor the day-to-day activities inside the sanctuary. Sometimes we receive the information after a gap of 24 hours. The shortage of staff and funds is affecting our work," said an official. Due to lack of all the basic amenities, the Wildlife Department now trusts the support of Bishnoi community, which is against hunting.

A local doctor, Rajinder Kumar, who provides free of cost treatment to the animals, said, “The department is ill-equipped. As a result, poachers enjoy hunting in this area.” While admitting that the paucity of funds is proving a major hurdle in the functioning of department, Sanjeev Tiwari , Divisional Forest Officer (Wildlife), Ferozepur, said, “The problem would be resolved in a couple of months. We have written to the higher-ups seeking allocation of more funds to purchase equipment. The recruitment process would also begin in a short period.”

Muktsar, August 5
Sanjay Raj Singh Garg, 21, of Muktsar has added another feather to his cap with his academic brilliance. He has become the first Indian to get a fellowship of $65,183 from the Brown University in the United States to do his Masters in Economics. Sanjay, an alumni of Little Flower Convent School, here, has stood first in the state in the ISC senior secondary exams with 97.2 per cent marks in 2008. Sanjay’s father, advocate Rajinder Kumar Garg said his son did his graduation in Economics from St. Stephen's College (Delhi) and was a topper there.

“The Department of Economics in the Brown University has admitted only 14 students from across the world and Sanjay is the only one from this sub-continent,” said advocate Rajinder Kumar Garg. He added that the Brown University ranked 39 in the world, where his son would complete his Masters under the 10-month-long study programme.

“Besides academics at Stephen's College, my son has participated in some social works as well. He was among the team of volunteers from St. Stephen’s who visited Bihar for flood relief projects.”

He has the credit of being a leader of the Indian team that participated in the sixth South Asian Economics Students Meet at Dhaka in 2009, where he won a gold medal for his research work.

At the seventh South Asian Economics Students Meet, Colombo 2010 too, he led the Indian team.

Bathinda, August 5
The Punjab Government’s tall claims of promoting higher education in the state notwithstanding, students of the Government Rajindra College here are forced to take their lessons under sweltering hot sun in the summers and in biting cold during the winters.

While the Punjab Government has set up a state university – the Central University of Punjab (CUP) – and allowed the setting up of a private university – the Guru Kashi University — it has miserably failed to provide the basic infrastructure to this decades-old premier government institute of the Malwa region.

The college is in a dire need of at least 20 rooms to accommodate its growing brigade of students. Presently, there are around 3,300 students in various graduate and undergraduate courses that are being run here.

In October 2009, the Punjab Government had constituted committees to assess and present immediate budgetary needs of these colleges with a view to upgrade their infrastructure. While the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner was the chairman, the college principal was the member secretary of the committee.

“The committee had put up a demand for at least 20 more rooms to provide adequate classrooms to students. A budget of around Rs 1 crore was projected to be enough to step up the infrastructure here,” said senior teachers at the college.

The college sprawls over 28 acres, a large part of which is being utilised to set up a stadium now. An year ago, Rs 30 lakh was earmarked to build a library in the college. However, the finances fell short and the PWD department ended up just erecting a framework in the given amount. Rest of the project hangs fire for want of funds.

Over the years, politicians have announced grants for the college, which never reached. Even repairs of the college auditorium had been insufficient.

Officiating principal Malkit Singh Gill said the college had been repeatedly writing to the government seeking funds but hadn’t got any.

Meanwhile, minister for higher education Sewa Singh Sekhwan said his department had given recommendations to the finance department and had asked for funds for government colleges. “There are 52 government colleges in the state. This year, we have got allocated 294 per cent more budget for higher education, which is bound to percolate to these colleges in the next few months. The amount would be spent on setting up the infrastructure,” he asserted.

The Government Rajindra College started as a primary school in 1904 and graduated to an intermediate college in 1940. BA degree-level Arts classes were started in 1950; science classes in 1955; and B.Sc in 1962.

The UGC recognised the college in 1957.

Bathinda, August 5
No nomination was filed today for the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) elections.

The district has nine seats in six constituencies of Bhagta, Rampura Phul, Bathinda, Balluana, Talwandi Sabo and Maur.

While the Bhagta seat is double reserved for males from general and scheduled caste categories, the Rampura Phul will have male and female general category contestants. The Bathinda seat is open for general category (male) and the Balluana seat is for general category (female). Both Talwandi Sabo and Maur seats are for general category (male).

There are 2,31,391 voters in the Bathinda district, who would cast their votes in 386 booths set up across the district.

The last day of filing the nominations is August 11. On August 16, the nominations will be scrutinised and by August 26, the candidates can withdraw their nominations.

Mansa/ Bathinda, August 5
To curb crime, the Bathinda and Mansa police have directed petrol pump owners to close their establishments before 9 pm.

In the past three months, eight petrol fuel stations on the Bathinda-Mansa road have been attacked. Following numerous incidents of robberies, theft and loot, owners of these fuel stations have been instructed by the police not to refuel vehicles after dark.

“We have no alternative but to follow the directions issued by the police,” said the owner of a petrol pump. He added that the police officials said they would not be responsible for any mishap occurring after 9 pm. The petrol-pump employees have started refusing sale of fuel even before 9 pm so that they could wind up their work on time.

An employee of a fuel station on the Mansa-Bathinda road said in the wake of a protest by farmers in Gobindpura village, the entire police force was deployed there.

“With most of the cops deputed at one point, the police stations and posts are virtually empty,” he pointed out.

“Earlier, the police had directed fuel station owners to install CCTV cameras to keep an eye on anti-social elements. And now, we got instructions not to operate during night,” added another owner.

Another pump operator Meenu said effective police patrolling on highways could solve problems to a large extent. “We even gave the registration number of a Bolero car, the driver of which had fled without paying Rs 800 for the fuel he had purchased. Still, the police could not even identify the culprit,” Meenu said.

He added that pump operators cannot hire security men to keep vigil at night as it would put more economical burden on them.

Alleging that the police was lackadaisical towards tracing criminals, petrol pump workers said most of the miscreants are drug addicts who either run away or shout threats while exhibiting weapons.

Mansa Sadar SHO Baljeet Singh, when contacted, said he along with entire police force from Mansa and adjoining districts was busy in controlling the protesters at Gobindpura village for the past one week. “At present, there are only two men at the police station. We could chalk out some strategy to check thefts at petrol pumps only on our return,” he rued.

Bathinda Sadar SHO Gurjit Singh Romana said petrol pumps should be shut down at 8 pm due to security reasons. “People should get their vehicles refuelled during daytime,” he said.

It may be recalled that in the first week of June, a gang of robbers had targeted petrol pumps in Bathinda and Muktsar districts and looted cash to the tune of lakhs after assaulting the employees there with iron rods and other weapons.

Bathinda, August 5
There is no let up in the theft incidents at shops falling under the Civil Lines police station. Close on the heels of six thefts reported on Thursday, two more shops were burgled last night.

Yesterday, six shops near Fauji Chowk were burgled and the miscreants had escaped with cash after breaking locks and iron shutters of the shops. They also ransacked goods sold at these shops.

Using a similar modus operandi, thieves decamped with cash by breaking open the locks of two recently-opened shops on the Bibi Wala road. Owners of a medical store and a hardware shop, who are the victims of the latest burglaries, said they found the locks and shutters of their shops broken in the morning and informed the police.

“Since the shops were recently opened, we had not hired a watchman yet,” said the shopkeepers.

In panic, the shopkeepers alleged that a number of thefts had taken place in just a few days owing to the lack of police patrolling and lackadaisical attitude of the cops to investigate the crimes.

The owner of the Grover Medicos on the Bibi Wala road said thieves took away Rs 1,100 from the cash counter and Rs 200 from a small temple inside the shop.

Manoj Garg, the owner of the MN Garg Trading Company situated beside the medical hall, said thieves entered his shop in a similar manner and took away Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 from the cash counter and money was also found missing from the temple inside the shop.

Investigating officer from the Civil Lines police station, Jaswant Singh, said the thieves seem to be drug addicts who only decamp with cash and leave behind the goods in the shop.

On the lack of police patrolling, he said the functioning of police was hampered with the deployment of force due to the farmers’ agitation in Mansa. “But even then, we are trying to nab the culprits,” he said.

Bathinda, August 5
An assistant office kanungo, Gurdeep Singh, posted at Talwandi Sabo was caught red-handed today while accepting a bribe of Rs 1,000.

In her complaint to the Vigilance Bureau, the complainant, Kulwant Kaur from village Kailey Bandar, Talwandi Sabo, stated that she had sought funds under the Chief Minister Relief Fund to carry out repairs of her house. She was to get a cheque of Rs 15, 000 but instead of giving her the cheque, the assistant kanungo Gurdeep Singh demanded a bribe of Rs 2,000. When Kulwant Kaur expressed her inability to pay the same, Gurdeep settled the shady deal at Rs 1,000.

In the meantime, Kulwant approached the DSP, Vigilance, Bathinda range, Baljit Singh.

The accused was caught red-handed while accepting the bribe of Rs 1,000 in the presence of SDO Manpreet Singh and JE Manjit Singh from the water and sanitation division, Nathana.

A case has been registered against Gurdeep Singh under Sections 7, 13 (2) 88 of the Prevention of Corruption Act.