B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Rlys to curb illegal sale of tickets
Ferozepur, August 30
To tackle the problem of unauthorised ticketing and to check systemic loopholes in the sale and purchase of tickets, the Northern Railway has formulated an action plan ahead of the ensuing festival season under which several pro-active measures are being taken to curb the menace.

Fazilka traders flay fresh taxes
Fazilka, August 30
Fazilka traders have strongly opposed the increase in VAT, property tax and imposition of other taxes in Punjab and demanded a rollback of the decision.

New taxes collective decision of SAD-BJP: CM
Muktsar, August 30
At the time when Punjab government is facing a united Opposition onslaught on an array of new taxes and even the ruling alliance partner, BJP is showing resistance, albeit tepid, to these taxes, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the new taxes were the need of the hour to sustain the ongoing tempo of the overall development in the state.

CM Parkash Singh Badal addressing a Sangat Darshan at a village in Lambi constituency on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

Woman, son electrocuted
Moga, August 30
A mentally-challenged boy and his mother were electrocuted at Dhalleke village on the outskirts of Moga city on Wednesday night. As per the details available, the boy, identified as Nirmal Singh, was electrocuted when he touched a grill on the stairs of his house while going upstairs. The boy cried for help. His mother rushed to save him but was herself electrocuted.

Property dealer booked for Rs 6.83 cr fraud
Moga, August 30
A scam regarding duping a septuagenarian man of Rs 6.83 crore in a sale of a prime commercial property, in the name of a judge and an income tax officer, has come to light in Moga city. The police had registered a criminal case under sections 420, 464, 465, 506 and 120B of the IPC against a property dealer, Anil Kumar Ahuja alias Dabli, and three others
The property over which a fraud of Rs 6.83 crore has come to light in Moga city. A Tribune photograph

Mutilated body of young girl found in canal
Abohar, August 30
The highly mutilated body of a young girl was found in a water course attached to a sub-canal near village Maujgarh of this sub-division last evening. On getting the information, the SHO of the Khuyiansarwar police station, Darshan Singh, reached the village along with other cops and enquired about it from the villagers.

The damaged car and jeep following a head-on collision on the Ferozepur-Moga highway near Talwandi Bhai. Five persons including a woman were injured in the accident. Photo: Anirudh Gupta

 Rlys to curb illegal sale of tickets
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, August 30
To tackle the problem of unauthorised ticketing and to check systemic loopholes in the sale and purchase of tickets, the Northern Railway has formulated an action plan ahead of the ensuing festival season under which several pro-active measures are being taken to curb the menace.

Railway sources said officials have been told to raid the premises of unauthorised travel agents with the help of the local police and check blocking of reservation under fictitious names and the subsequent sale of transferred tickets.

Railway sources said travel agencies, being run by close relatives of railway employees will also be discreetly identified.

Railway authorities have also decided to curb the blocking of accommodation in unreserved coaches by anti-social elements. They have also planned to regulate the system of queuing opposite unreserved coaches on selected Mail and Express trains through the presence of commercial staff in addition to the RPF and GRP sleuths.

Efforts will also be made for the detection of fake and forged tickets, blank paper tickets, extra fare tickets. Railway officials said misuse of various quotas will also be checked.

In another step, the rail authorities have planned to keep the analysis and observation of hourly transaction statements of the reservation clerks.

Any unusually high transaction recorded by a particular reservation clerk will also be noted. 

 Fazilka traders flay fresh taxes
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, August 30
Fazilka traders have strongly opposed the increase in VAT, property tax and imposition of other taxes in Punjab and demanded a rollback of the decision. In a meeting of the Beopar Mandal, Fazilka, chaired by its president Ashok Gulbadhar, it was unanimously resolved that the increase in VAT by 0.5 per cent was not in the interest of the common man and the traders alike.

“The traders will have to resort to agitation if the increased taxes are not withdrawn,” warned Gulbadhar. The traders rued that it was an injustice to levy taxes to fill the empty coffers of the government. They suggested that the insensitive state government machinery should curtail its wasteful expenses to improve the economy of the state.

 New taxes collective decision of SAD-BJP: CM
Balwant Garg/TNS

Muktsar, August 30
At the time when Punjab government is facing a united Opposition onslaught on an array of new taxes and even the ruling alliance partner, BJP is showing resistance, albeit tepid, to these taxes, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said the new taxes were the need of the hour to sustain the ongoing tempo of the overall development in the state.

Trying to defuse the political hullabaloo on the new taxes, the Chief Minister said besides soothing the state economy, the new taxes were necessary for a  prosperous future of the state.

“Without paying the taxes, how can we expect a government to pay timely salaries to its employees, starting new development projects and meeting the expectation of its people,” said Badal while addressing various Sangat Darshan programmes in the villages of Lambi assembly constituency today.

Setting aside the talks of the alliance partner BJP also opposing the new taxes, the CM said the new taxes were the collective decision of the SAD and BJP. The leaders of both parties are well aware of the needs for more revenue for the state to continue its spate of development, said Badal.

While addressing the Sangat Darshan programs at Dhaula, Tharajwala, Lalbai North, Lalbai, Beedowali, Maan, Chunnu and Chunnu East villages, the CM did not forget to make special mention of various ‘freebies’ offered by the state government for the farmers.

For the SAD-BJP being a welfare government and Punjab, primarily an agrarian state, the subsidies for the farmers and various welfare schemes for the poor section of the society could not be curtailed as it was with this mandate that the ruling alliance came into power in 2007 and 2012, Badal said.

In his public addresses, besides supporting the new taxes, the Chief Minister time and again made special reference to drinking water problem and the work on a war-footing the state government had initiated to tackle this problem in view of poor quality groundwater causing diseases in Punjab.

Promising 70 litres of pure and safe drinking water to every person in the state by December 2013, the CM said while the state government strove to provide save drinking water in 7,244 villages of the state in the last five years, now the target is to cover all the remaining villages in the next one year.

Showing his concern for the high rate of various ailments in the state, the CM said the state health department will start organizing medical camps across the state from next month for medical examination of the residents.

Badal said the state government also has a plan of introducing mobile health vans to provide quality health services to the poor and the needy. 

 Woman, son electrocuted
Tribune News Service

Moga, August 30
A mentally-challenged boy and his mother were electrocuted at Dhalleke village on the outskirts of Moga city on Wednesday night. As per the details available, the boy, identified as Nirmal Singh, was electrocuted when he touched a grill on the stairs of his house while going upstairs. The boy cried for help. His mother rushed to save him but was herself electrocuted.

A short-circuit was reported from the adjoining power lines in the grill due to the rains. Both the mother and the son died on the spot.

The incident came to light when the milk vendor went to their house on Thursday morning. The second son of the woman is also mentally-challenged and he could not even call for help.

The woman's husband lives in the US.

The police recovered the bodies this morning and got the post-mortem conducted at the district hospital, after which, the bodies were handed over to the relatives for cremation. 

 Property dealer booked for Rs 6.83 cr fraud
Kulwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service

Moga, August 30
A scam regarding duping a septuagenarian man of Rs 6.83 crore in a sale of a prime commercial property, in the name of a judge and an income tax officer, has come to light in Moga city.

The police had registered a criminal case under sections 420, 464, 465, 506 and 120B of the IPC against a property dealer, Anil Kumar Ahuja alias Dabli, and three others, Rakesh Kumar, Vijay Kumar and Mohan Lal, all residents of Muktsar at the city police station, last night.

SSP Surjit Singh Grewal, while confirming this, said a complaint was filed by the 78-year-old Beant Singh Gill before his office a couple of weeks back. On the basis of this complaint, a preliminary inquiry was conducted into the allegations, after which a criminal case was registered against these persons.

No one was immediately arrested by the police. However, a hunt has been launched to nab them, the SSP said.

ASI Daljit Singh, who is investigating the case, said the alleged accused gave bogus cheques to Beant Singh and committed a fraud of Rs 6.83 crore in the name of purchasing 52 kanals 17 marlas of land located on the national highway within the municipal limits.

It has further come to light that a civil suit was pending regarding the possession of this land in a local court and a stay was granted on further sale of the property. But while the fresh deal to sell this land was made out, the court vacated the stay.

It has been alleged in the FIR that a huge sum of money was taken by the alleged accused, including the property dealer, in the name of the judge to vacate the stay for facilitating the fresh deal over the property.

Interestingly, instead of facilitating the land deal, the said property dealer became one of the partners. A housing complex is under construction on this disputed land. 

 Mutilated body of young girl found in canal
Our Correspondent

Abohar, August 30
The highly mutilated body of a young girl was found in a water course attached to a sub-canal near village Maujgarh of this sub-division last evening. On getting the information, the SHO of the Khuyiansarwar police station, Darshan Singh, reached the village along with other cops and enquired about it from the villagers.

The body was shifted to the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here for autopsy as no clue was available with regard to the girl’s identity.

As she was wearing black T-shirt and black-brownish capri pants, the police had reasons to believe that either she belonged to some affluent family or was a member of some orchestra dance group.

It is believed that the killers strangled the girl and damaged her face so badly that it becomes difficult to recognise her.

The body has been preserved at the hospital for identification purpose.

DSP Raj Kumar Jalhotra also visited the village to supervise investigation.