B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Man gets lifer for killing ‘friend-like’ cop
Faridkot, June 14
Holding the close friend of a police official guilty of his murder, the court of the additional district and sessions judge, Faridkot, today awarded life imprisonment to Gurmit Singh, a resident of Khidkianwala village of Muktsar district.

Fazilka-Abohar rail link will be operation soon
Fazilka, June 14
The running of the train on the newly-constructed railway track between Fazilka and Abohar does not seem to be a distant dream now with the Union Railway Minister Mukul Roy assuring that trains would run on this track soon. The Railway Minister was responding to the demand raised by the local MLA and Forest Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani during the visit of Mukul Roy to Chandigarh today.

Union Railway Minister Mukul Roy (left) going through the memorandum submitted by Fazilka MLA and Cabinet Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani demanding running of trains on newly-constructed rail track between Fazilka and Abohar. A Tribune photograph

62-yr-old man killed in Moga
Moga, June 14
A 62-year-old man has allegedly been killed by his neighbourers due to personal enmity at Pandori Araian village in Dharamkot sub-division of Moga district on Wednesday night.

Man gets lifer for killing ‘friend-like’ cop
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, June 14
Holding the close friend of a police official guilty of his murder, the court of the additional district and sessions judge, Faridkot, today awarded life imprisonment to Gurmit Singh, a resident of Khidkianwala village of Muktsar district.

Thana Singh, the police official, was killed on the intervening night of December 4-5, 2010. His body was found lying in a pool of blood in his official residence, near the police station in Kotkapura town of Faridkot.

In this blind murder case, the police faced a lot of problems during the investigation.

A day after the incident, on the basis of a complaint by the son of the deceased official, the police had booked an Amritsar-based woman travel agent and her nephew as they owed Rs 13 lakh to the deceased.

“The agent failed to arrange an emigration visa to Canada for my father. So, they killed him when the latter asked him to return Rs 13 lakh,” alleged the son.

But during the investigation, the police found the travel agent and her nephew innocent. So, the investigation started from a new angle.

The police got the information that the deceased was seen the last time with one of his friends, Gurmit Singh, and they used to sit together in the evening.

So, beginning the investigation, the police started matching the finger prints collected on a glass in the house of the deceased with that of Gurmit Singh. More over, the police sent the samples of the traces of hair, found in the nails of the deceased and Gurmit Singh's hair, for medical and clinical examination to Chandigarh. These samples were also found matching.

Besides, it was the mobile phone of Gurmit Singh which helped the police in nabbing him. After killing Thana Singh, Gurmit Singh removed the SIM from the deceased's mobile and started using it in his mobile phone. So, the cyber wing of the police got an alert when they traced the IMEI number of the mobile phone, using the deceased's SIM.

Moreover, many valuable articles found missing from the deceased's house, was recovered from Gurmit Singh. The motive of the murder was to loot as a friend, in poor financial condition, killed his pal to collect some money, said the prosecution in its case.

Besides awarding life sentence, the court imposed Rs 35,000 as fine on the guilty.

Fazilka-Abohar rail link will be operation soon
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, June 14
The running of the train on the newly-constructed railway track between Fazilka and Abohar does not seem to be a distant dream now with the Union Railway Minister Mukul Roy assuring that trains would run on this track soon. The Railway Minister was responding to the demand raised by the local MLA and Forest Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani during the visit of Mukul Roy to Chandigarh today.

While talking to this correspondent over the phone, Jyani disclosed that the Railway Minister, after going through the memorandum submitted by him regarding the delay in introducing the train on this newly-constructed track, regretted the inordinate delay and assured of making the track operational soon.

Jyani has also pointed out before the Railway Minister that after making the track operational, the border area from Jammu to Jaisalmer would be directly connected through the rail network which shall ultimately benefit the defence forces also. 

62-yr-old man killed in Moga

Moga, June 14
A 62-year-old man has allegedly been killed by his neighbourers due to personal enmity at Pandori Araian village in Dharamkot sub-division of Moga district on Wednesday night.

Body of Ranjit Singh was recovered by the police from the nearby canal on Thursday morning. After the post-mortem examination, the body was handed over to the family members.

The police had registered a criminal case of murder against Pippal Singh, Bikkar Singh, Bachitter Singh, Chand Singh and Desa Singh, all residents of the same village and begun investigations, said Surjit Singh Grewal, SSP of Moga district.

Jaspal Singh, the son of the deceased, said in a statement recorded with the police, that Pippal Singh had the wrong belief that his father had murdered his son about three years back due because of which they were not on speaking terms even as a compromise was brokered between them by the local panchayat.

He alleged that Pippal Singh, his brothers and the other family members, could have murdered his father under such circumstances. — TNS