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Mystery shrouds gas leak at village
Four child labourers rescued
Heroin worth Rs 1.25 cr seized
DAV varsity in soup over land deal
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PIMS docs go on strike
40 students donate blood
Panic grips Gabha Colony as youths fire in air
Gang of transformer thieves busted, six arrested
Rs 1 lakh snatched from farmer
2 snatchers held
Man held for cheating
Shop burgled in Phagwara
Effigy of militant outfits burnt
Mela Ghadri Babein Da concludes
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Mystery shrouds gas leak at village
Jalandhar, November 1 The incident occurred about 8:30 pm yesterday when residents of the area suddenly complained of irritation in eyes, discomfort in breathing, cough and even vomiting. One of the residents even fell unconscious and had to be immediately rushed for medical aid. Many residents first started quarreling with one another, as they thought that their next door neighbours had burnt chillies, which was causing them burning sensation or cough. “As we all stepped out, we saw that everyone was out on roads and discussing that there could be an ammonia gas leakage from a cold storage situated at about 500 feet away,” said Sindo, a resident, whose daughter-in-law Rajni had been taken ill. “As four women got critical, panic struck and about 70-80 families from the area came out of their houses and took shelter in Sri Guru Ravi Dass Bhawan closeby,” said Bhola Ram, whose wife Beant Kaur and sister-in-law Mahinder Kaur had to be admitted to the hospital. SDM-II Isha Kalia and Civil Surgeon Dr RL Bassan rushed to the spot. The SDM checked the cold storage, but could not find any signs of gas leakage there. Dr Bassan held a camp at the bhawan and gave first aid to a few more complainants till 1:30 am after which stench in the air had gone and there were no more complaints. An 108 ambulance with a medical team was stationed at the place through the night. Meanwhile, residents also suspected that the gas could have emanated from the burning of straw in the fields nearby or from the solid waste dumping site of the Municipal Corporation at a distance of about a 1000 feet. Officials from the Punjab Pollution Control Board also reached the spot last night and checked the cold storages and the area around. The four women, Rajni, Mahinder Kaur, Beant Kaur and Balbir Kaur, were said to be in a critical condition when they reached the hospital and had to be given oxygen masks. Dr Bassan said the four patients were out of danger and would be discharged soon. He, too, opined that there certainly was some poisonous gas in the air at that time which the PPCB report could only tell. Manohar Lal Chauhan, XEN, PPCB, in his report, has claimed that he could not detect any gas leakage from the factory. SS Cheema, general manager, District Industry Centre, too, visited the cold storage to check any irregularities. The owner of Hundal Cold Storage Kulwinder Singh claimed that there was no gas leakage. “Had it been there, my family which resides in the same compound or my 50 workers working at that time would have definitely been affected. The affects of ammonia leakage would have also shown on animals or the potato which we are storing. But nothing of the sort has happened,” he claimed. No clue Even as there are different opinions of what could have happened, PPCB XEN Manohar Lal Chauhan suspects that this could have happened because of a leaking gas cylinder that was just carried in a trailer through the village road, leaving behind its impact that remained in the air for about two hours. Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti said even though the cause had not been ascertained, his officials were on the job. |
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Four child labourers rescued
Jalandhar, November 1 They were rescued from a dingy establishment in the Gandhi Camp area, where they were found working in deplorable conditions, embroidering a cloth on a wooden frame in a small room. The children are from Bihar and they have no relatives in the city. Talking to The Tribune, labour inspector Kunwar Dabur said, "We rescued four children from an establishment in the Gandhi Camp area. The doctor accompanying the task force has determined that all of them are below 13 years and are from Bihar." The labour inspector added that the employer of the children, who wasn't available on the spot, is also from Bihar and belongs to the same district as the children. " The prosecution process of the owner will be initiated tomorrow after we receive sanction from our senior in this regard. Presently we have carried out our duties," said Dabur. The fact that the children had no relatives in the city and the owner is from the same district as theirs, establishes that the children were bonded labourers. The children have presently been sent to the children's home at
Hoshiarpur. Residents’ opinion
Residents living in the neighbouring houses of the said establishment said the children were never seen outside. "They were working from 8 am to 6 pm and were spending their lives in the dingy rooms, as they were clearly not allowed to go out in the day, since we never saw them," said a neighbour. Sources said the children were eating in these rooms and were even sleeping under the cot frames on which they worked all day. Neighbours pointed out that they were clearly living restricted lives since they never even played outside
or went to school like normal children. Residents said scores of other homes in the locality employ little children for similar tasks. No FIR lodged Despite the presence of five police personnel in the task force, the police officials had reportedly no clue about their role in the raids. "When we asked the police personnel to lodge an FIR against the establishment owner, they claimed they are just there for protection," said Dinesh Kumar from the BBA. The BBA members said they planned to bring the matter to the notice of the DGP. Delaying tactics While the task force was supposed to set out at 10 am, it was delayed by four hours due to the non-availability of an Assistant Labour Commissioner (the ALC's post is presently vacant), a health department member and the police team. Only four labour inspectors and two Child Welfare Committee members had turned up in the morning. Activists of the BBA later had to ask for the DC to intervene in the matter and summon the remaining members of the task force. Only after the DC?s intervention did the one doctor and five police team members (one inspector and four hawaldars) turn up and the raid started at 2 pm instead of 10 am. Due to the delay and shortage of time, the raid had to be wrapped up quickly. "Otherwise, we had planned to raid more establishments in another area of the city,' said Dinesh Kumar activist of the Bachapn Bachao Andolan (BBA). BBA writes to DC Irked BBA activists have written to the DC, asking him to make either the ADC or the SDM the nodal officer of the task force the next time raids take place. "No one listens to the labour department even if the raids have been planned days before," said Kumar. |
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Heroin worth Rs 1.25 cr seized
Jalandhar, November 1 Acting on information that a drug peddler was heading towards Nurmehal with the contraband, the CIA staff of the Jalandhar (Rural) policed laid a trap on the Bhangala-Chuheki road at a T-point near Nurmehal. Superintendent of Police (SP), Detective, Rajinder Singh, said that noticing the police party, a pedestrian, who was just joining the road, tried to flee from the place, which raised doubts among the policemen there. As the policemen asked him to stop, the suspect tried to run away, but was nabbed after a long chase. During his search, the police found a plastic pouch in his pocket, containing the drug. On questioning, Singh claimed that the suspect was identified as Charanjit Singh, a resident of Atta village near Goraya, who as smuggling the drug after procuring it from Makhan Singh, a Tarn Taran-based drug supplier. Charanjit Singh, the police revealed, was to sell the drug in nearby areas and was active in the trade for a long time. He is having a criminal background with a number of criminal cases pending against him with the police. He is also a proclaimed offender in a criminal case, the SP said. Meanwhile, a case under the NDPS Act has been registered against him and raids were being organised to nab Makhan Singh at his suspected hideout in Tarn Taran. During interrogation, Charanjit revealed his links with other drug traders active in this part of the region, claimed in charge of the CIA Staff, Angrez Singh. |
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DAV varsity in soup over land deal
Jalandhar, November 1 A case was registered at the Maqsudan police station late last night on a complaint filed by SDM-II Isha Kalia on the orders of Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti against Yog Raj Puri, his son Neeraj Puri, wife Chanchal Rani, brothers Gurdev Singh and Ajit Singh of Sarmaspur village, Ram Anand, Jaswinder Kumar and Davinder Pal Singh Uppal under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC. The action comes following a report sought by the DC from the Punjab and Haryana High Court on a civil writ petition number 7973 titled Manohar Singh and another vs State of Punjab. The report was marked to the SDM for inquiry. The copy of FIR mentions the details of the report of the SDM, “Yog Raj Puri executed sale deed on August 31, 2009, for area measuring 25 kanals and 14 marlas in village Sarmastpur in favour of his wife Chanchal Rani in the office of Joint Registrar Kartarpur. The sale deed which was wrongly executed was written by Davinder Pal Singh Uppal, deed writer, Ram Anand, the then Joint Registrar, and Jaswinder Kumar, registered clerk. A mutation was entered, but not sanctioned by Naib Tehsildar-cum-Assistant Collector Grade-II Varinder Bhatia. Thus, this sale was not reflected in the revenue record.” After getting the report, the DC found certain irregularities. “The executants Ajit Singh and Gurdev Singh were claiming themselves to be owners of the land whereas they were muaffidars as per the revenue record. The deed writers and staff of sub-registrars who have tried to register attorneys contrary to entries in records must be proceeded against. Neither Neeraj Puri nor his firm Bhagwati Agriculture Farm had any right over the land in the village. Yog Raj, being attorney of Neeraj, was not competent to alienate land in village in favour of his wife Chanchal Rani.” The DC’s report mentions the deal to be a “deep-rooted conspiracy and a fraud”. The report further reads, “All the concerned seem to have joined hands.” The DC had, thus, asked the police to register a case, as a reply on the matter had to be replied in the court before November 3, the next date of hearing. |
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PIMS docs go on strike
Jalandhar, November 1 The doctors at PIMS have suspended OPD services, surgeries, tests, etc, and only emergencies are being attended to. The doctors of the institute have also written to the institute’s Principal Director on the issue. The PIMS authorities also held a meeting with the staff today on the issue. But so far, the doctors are continuing with the strike. The staff has, for the moment, been assured that their salaries for two months will be released on Wednesday and that for the remaining two months will be announced at a later date. Dr Ajay Aggarwal, Resident Director of PIMS, while commenting on the issue, said, “The institute will be provided with salaries within a few days.” When asked for the cause of non-payment of dues, he said, “Two of the PIMS Directors were busy and had gone out of station. But the salaries will be paid soon.” While PIMS has been in news for all the wrong reasons, in the recent times, there has been major unrest among the staff due to the non-payment of their salaries. While the power supply of the institute has also been disconnected many times due to the non-payment of dues, the lingering pattern of unpaid dues has clearly had an adverse effect on the medical services and the general reputation of the tertiary institute, which had initially brought hopes for the people of the region. |
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40 students donate blood
Phagwara, November 1 The Principal, Suman
Tandon, addressed the students and encouraged them to serve the society by donating blood. |
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Panic grips Gabha Colony as youths fire in air
Phagwara, November 1 On hearing the gunshots, Bhardwaj went to the roof of his house and opened fire from his licenced weapon. The SP, H.P.S. Khakh, said the police was investigating the matter. — OC |
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Gang of transformer thieves busted, six arrested
Jalandhar, November 1 With the arrest of six members of the gang and recovery of three pistols and seven live cartridges, the police claimed to have solved nearly 1,000 cases, registered in different police stations across the state. A press note issued by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) said acting on a tip-off, a team of the special cell laid a trap and nabbed the thieves from a remote area adjacent to Jhal Farm near Kartarpur on October 30. The thieves, Sukhwinder Singh, Jatinder Singh, both from Khanki village, Pooran Chand Raju, Lucky, residents of Sohal Jagir village, Bir Singh of Ranpur Colony in Mehatpur and Mandeep Singh, resident of Hazoor Bagh in Ludhiana, were nabbed while they were hatching a plan to steal transformers. The SSP said the gang had been active in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Jagraon, Amritsar, Nawanshahr and neighbouring districts since 1999. They had stolen over 1,000 electric transformers from these districts and were also involved in other criminal cases. The police had recovered over two dozen stolen transformers from their possession, while raids were being conducted to recover the rest. The police also named the scrap dealers to whom the stolen transformers were sold by the gang. A case under Sections 399 and 402 of the IPC and under the provisions of the Arms Act was registered against them at the Kartarpur police station.
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Rs 1 lakh snatched from farmer
Shahkot, November 1 The robbers have reportedly been caught on close circuit television (CCTV) cameras of the State Bank of Patiala and Darshan Singh has also identified them in the footage. The police has launched a hunt to nab the robbers. The farmer had come to withdraw cash from the bank. “The moment I came out of the bank, in no time, two motorcycle-borne youths (one clean-shaved and other turbaned) pounced on me and attempted to snatch the bag containing cash. I struggled for about a minute with the snatchers, but I fell down and sustained injuries on my knees. Many people standing near did not help him, he said. The poor quality of CCTV footage has increased the worries of the police as the faces of the robbers were not so clear.
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Phagwara, November 1 The SP,
H.P.S. Khakh, told mediapersons last evening that the arrested snatchers had confessed to their involvement in dozens of snatching incidents. The police had recovered a knife and a stolen mobile phone from them. They were today produced before the Judicial Magistrate, who remanded them in police custody for two days. — OC
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Man held for cheating
Phagwara, November 1 He has been booked under Sections 376 and 420 of the IPC. The victim woman, Kashmir Kaur, wife of Birbal, said she was working in the Anti-Crime Bureau and Rajiv Duggal met her in 2008 and developed sexual relations with her. He now wanted to leave her, while she had already left the house of her former husband. The SP, H.P.S. Khakh, said after an inquiry by SHO (City) Sarwan Singh Bal the case was registered and Rajiv Duggal was arrested. |
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Phagwara, November 1
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Effigy of militant outfits burnt
alandhar, November 1 Speaking on the occasion, Kamboj flayed Parkash Singh Badal-led SAD-BJP government and SGPC for favouring the construction of a Operation Bluestar memorial at the Golden Temple. — TNS
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Mela Ghadri Babein Da concludes
Jalandhar, November 1 Advocating rustic roots and vehemently opposing the unlimited greed of a corporate culture, that quietly, subtly has been eating into the foundations of the society, the enlightened gathering at Mela Ghadri Babein Da today sent across a message of being prepared for a tough fight against the culture of greed. Dedicated to the Indian National Army, the fair this year saw a congregation of people from across the state and from abroad too. The fourth day of the fair started with the flag-hoisting ceremony amid chanting of slogans by
the gathering. Today’s presentations included the flag song and cultural folk performances by “Dhadis”. Jagroop, Dr Raghbir Kaur, Mangat Ram Pasla and Dev Raj Nayyar were among the speakers today. A souvenir of the Mela Ghadri Babein Da
and “Virsa” magazine were released.
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