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New Indo-Pak visa regime from today
Absent judges also party to Full Court decisions
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Police does it again, names Gurdaspur rape victim
PTU continues affiliation to centres outside Punjab despite UGC orders
Speaker’s order irrelevant, issue in public domain: Amarinder
Captain trying to divert attention, say SAD leaders
Jakhar on panel of Cong’s chintan shivir
Bathinda officer, who arrested SGPC member’s son, shifted
Mining auction: Only 2 bidders deposit amount
Patiala
land scam
Rajindra Hospital swine flu ward in a shambles
Spate of thefts in Ropar; police blames it on fog
Villagers, students protest against staff shortage
Guest lecturers cry foul
Extension to VC under HC scanner
Notice to state in re-totalling scam
Man, son held for honour killing in Fatehgarh Sahib
Rape accused held 6 months after crime
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New Indo-Pak visa regime from today
Attari, January 14 The special ‘visa-on-arrival’ counter at the Integrated Check Post (ICP) at Attari will be inaugurated at 9.30 am. A special checklist has been prepared for availing the ‘visa-on-arrival’ facility, conceptualised by the governments of both the countries. Under the new regime, Pakistan's senior citizens (65 and above) are allowed to cross the border on foot or by bus and reach the ICP for visa on arrival. Barring Punjab, Kerala and Jammu and Kashmir, they can visit any five places in India with Attari treated as the transit point. Sources said a dedicated team of Immigration and Customs officials would help the visitors with the requisite formalities at the special counter. Visa will be given twice a year for a fee of $2 for a maximum of 45 days with a minimum gap of 60 days between the two visits. Immigration officials said senior citizens from across the border would have to produce a copy of their national identity card, any utility bill as proof of residence, a photo-copy of the passport and two passport size photos. It would be mandatory for the visitors to declare the name and address of friends or relatives that they would be staying with in India. In case of a hotel booking, the visitors would have to furnish proof of the booking confirmation. Senior citizens from India would be allowed to cross over to Pakistan through the Attari ICP after the scrutiny of their passports and other relevant documents. They would then report to a special counter at the Wagah border (Pakistan side) and furnish an identical checklist. Officials said the issue of police verification would be decided on the spot. It would be the discretion of officials of either side to allow or refuse entry to a person.
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Absent judges also party to Full Court decisions
Chandigarh, January 14 A Division Bench has also made it clear that Judges, even if they are members of the disciplinary or administrative committees, cannot be asked to recuse themselves from hearing petitions filed by judicial officers against whom action has been recommended. The significant directions by the Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice Rajiv Narain Raina came on an application by Mukesh Rao filed against the High Court of Punjab and Haryana and other respondents. A former judicial officer, Rao had asserted that the Bench should recuse itself from hearing his petition as the Judges were also members of the Full Court, which had recommended termination of his services during the probation period. Rather, it should be heard by Judges who were not members of the Full Court that took the decision. In its 63-page judgment, the Bench held the maxim that “no man ought to be a judge in his own cause, because he cannot act as a judge, and at the same time be a party” is part of principles of natural justice. But such principles are subject to statutory exceptions. “The administrative decision, under Article 235 of the Constitution, if taken by a committee or delegate of the Chief Justice, or (is) of the Full Court, it is a decision of the Full Court binding on all Judges, who may not be present in the meeting in which such decision was taken including the Judges, who came to be appointed subsequently,” the Bench said. It further said that the administrative decision was subject to the power of judicial review, and “such power” had to be exercised in terms of distribution of work at the sole discretion of the Chief Justice. Direction could not be issued to the Chief Justice to frame a roster to exclude Judges who participated administratively. “The Judges, when they take a decision administratively have no personal interest, but are discharging constitutional obligation so as to maintain independence of the subordinate judiciary and there cannot be any principle of law that the Judges, who were members of the committee, be it a disciplinary committee, administrative committee or the Full Court, should recuse themselves from hearing the writ petition.” The only exception was a Judge who had conducted an inquiry against the judicial officer.
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Police does it again, names Gurdaspur rape victim
Gurdaspur, January 14 The Section says that “printing or publication of the name or any matter which may disclose the identity of the victim is prohibited.” It further states that “whosoever prints or publishes the name or any matter which may make known the identity of any person or against whom any offence under Section 376 alleged is found to have been committed shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years and shall be liable to be fined.” Earlier, the Faridkot police had faced bitter criticism for distributing photographs of a victim, a minor, among mediapersons to prove that she had not been abducted and had gone away with the offender of her own will. Meanwhile, the Gurdaspur police has arrested the seventh accused in the rape case, identified as Sarabjit Singh alias Rinku of Chibh village in the Kahnuwan division. The police said Sarabjit was arrested from Sri Hargobindpur, 35 km from here. He was produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) who remanded him to police custody for two days. Senior Superintendent of Police Raj Jit claimed that security in and around the town and in adjoining villages had been tightened to ensure that such incidents did not recur.
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PTU continues affiliation to centres outside Punjab despite UGC orders
Chandigarh, January 14 The UGC order had come following directions from the Supreme Court. Haryana has already shut down more than 11,000 study centres of Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, outside the state. It has also barred all the state and private universities from operating beyond its territorial jurisdiction. The UGC, in its circular, had pointed out financial and academic exploitation by distance education centres operating beyond the state boundaries. PTU centres can be traced to a number of places in Delhi, Patna, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Manipal etc. It has approximately 2,000 centres outside Punjab. For instance, NIEST, Manipal, an advanced group in management and technology (LC code 751 and 2583) and IAIT Institute, Delhi, offer several PTU courses. Kolkata has a number of centres offering MSc courses in hardware and networking, paramedical care, animation, film-making and interior designing. The university, meanwhile, is going ahead with new recruitment for regional centres to “explore and create new markets”. PTU has flashed advertisements in different newspapers seeking faculty as coordinators and facilitators in different parts of the country. It has sought applications from organisations and agencies who have been active in the field of imparting education in India and SAARC countries. Registrar HS Bains said: “The matter pertaining to study centres outside Punjab was pending with the legal affairs wing.” Rajnish Sharma, Public Relation Officer, said: “We are looking into the implementation aspect of the orders. It involves the future of over 1 lakh students and no decision can be taken abruptly. We are preparing the case to argue in the court, if needed. Most importantly, an academic decision cannot be implemented retrospectively”. The director of a business school said: “The delivery of technical education, including management, through distance education is questionable. These universities are playing havoc with the career of students without giving them quality education and charging astronomical fee”.
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Speaker’s order irrelevant, issue in public domain: Amarinder
This was so as the matter was already in the public domain. “Since the proceedings were broadcast live on PTC with the Speaker's permission, how can it be expunged now?" he asked. Questioning the impartiality of Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, he said what Majithia had uttered was clearly audible. “All the members present in the House, those in the media gallery and others heard what Majithia said and yet he (Speaker) claims that he did not hear anything,” he observed. On the Speaker exploring legal options against Congress MLAs for screening the video, the PCC chief said that the Speaker “should examine his own role and constitutional duty first.” He said it was he who had ordered the screening of the video and none of the Congress MLAs should be held responsible for the same. “If you have a problem, deal with me and do not harass my legislators,” he told the Speaker. “If the Speaker did not hear anything objectionable, what then made him expunge the remarks from the House record and suspend Congress MLA Rana Gurjit,” Amarinder asked. Moreover, Majithia in interviews to newspapers had admitted to having abused Rana Gurjit in the House. “How come the Speaker did not read any of these newspapers,” the PCC chief asked. Muktsar police
stand
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Captain trying to divert attention, say SAD leaders
Chandigarh January 14 In a statement, they said Amarinder was targeting Majithia only to divert people’s attention from the lack of faith in his leadership by his party rank and file. The leaders alleged that first Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa had come out against Amarinder and now Rajinder Kaur Bhattal had criticised him at a press conference at Faridkot. The Congress had to resort to screening the CD on Majithia at their political conference at the Maghi Mela to ensure a decent gathering, Maluka remarked. He said Amarinder’s statement that the Chief Minister was not eager on improving rail connectivity in the state “lest it hit his transport business” was baseless. On the Congress decision to appoint three chiefs for the three regions of Malwa, Majha and Doaba, the Akali leaders said even if the Congress appointed 117 chiefs for each of the Vidhan Sabha constituencies, the end result would be its defeat and rejection by voters. — TNS
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Jakhar on panel of Cong’s chintan shivir
Abohar, January 14 CLP leader Sunil Jakhar is the only nominee from Punjab. The other members of the committee are union ministers Jairam Ramesh and GK Wasan, ex-CM of Chhattisgarh and CWC member Ajit Jogi, party spokesperson Renuka Chaudhary, MP Dipender Hooda and the chairman of the committee Union Cabinet Minister CP Joshi. Jakhar said the Committee would deliberate and report on all the facets of agriculture and suggest changes in the agriculture policy of the government. The deliberations will be exhaustive to make agricultural economy viable as India still remains a predominantly agrarian state.— OC
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Bathinda officer, who arrested SGPC member’s son, shifted
Bathinda, January 14 Patil has been shifted to Amritsar with immediate effect. He is being replaced by Alka Meena. The police officer was under fire from local lawyers and politicians for arresting and “beating up” SGPC member Sukhdev Singh Bahia’s son Prabhjot Singh and his two friends on Thursday evening. The charges were that the three, who were in an “inebriated” condition, did not stop their vehicle at a naka when a police party signalled them to do so. They were also charged with creating a ruckus at the local Civil Hospital when they were taken there for a medical examination and for allegedly manhandling the policemen on duty. As Bahia himself is a lawyer, members of the fraternity had been holding protests in the city, demanding action against the police officer. Patil was also accused of raiding Bahia’s house at odd hours in search of Prabhjot. Senior Superintendent of Police Ravcharan Brar confirmed that the ASP had been shifted.
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Mining auction: Only 2 bidders deposit amount
Chandigarh, January 14 Sources in the Industries Department informed The Tribune that they had received 50 per cent of the bid amount from just two successful bidders. While Rs 9 crore has been received from the highest bidder for Parchian Biharipur quarry in Ludhiana, Rs 2 crore has been received from the bidder for Gag Digara quarry in Jalandhar. With the deadline for claiming the mining rights for the auctioned quarries getting over by 5 pm, none of the other bidders came forward to deposit the bid amount. Officials said a meeting of all general managers of the department, who also act as district mining officers, had been convened tomorrow to assess whether there was any lacunae on part of the department to forward the offer letters to the successful bidders and to decide on the next course of action. Most likely, the offer letters for mining in the remaining 20 quarries will be offered to the second highest bidders. In case the second highest bidders too fail to come forward and accept the contract to mine, these quarries will be re-auctioned. It may be noted that these sand quarries were auctioned last week under the supervision of Industries Minister Anil Joshi. The highest bidder in the electronic auction of these quarries had bid Rs 34.25 crore (Chandiala), Rs 20.12 crore (Amritpur) and Rs 22.50 crore (Kailon). Since the highest bidder failed to turn up, the government will send offer letters to the second highest bidder in these quarries. The second highest bidder for Chandiala had offered Rs 34 crore, for Amritpur Rs 20 crore and for Kailon Rs 20 crore. In the e-auction of the remaining quarries, there was a huge difference in the highest and second highest bid (for six quarries of Harta, Dandiana Kalan, Deowala, Hargarh, Patti and Khalwana). In Harta, as against the highest bid of Rs 2 crore, the second highest bid was Rs 21 lakh; in Dandiana Kalan, the highest bid was Rs 45 crore and second highest was Rs 45.15 lakh; in Deowala, the highest bid was Rs 21 crore and the second highest was Rs 21.50 lakh; in Hargarh, the highest bid was Rs 6 crore against Rs 35.50 lakh as the second highest bid; in Patti, the highest bid was Rs 22.50 crore and the second highest was Rs 22.50 lakh; while in Khalwana, the highest bid was Rs 7.10 crore and the second highest was Rs 75 lakh. The government was contemplating to cancel the auction of these six quarries on the grounds that these appeared to benefit a particular bidder. A highly inflated bid was made to ward off other serious competitors. Sources said the person making the inflated bid (which is the highest) was likely to back off and got his security forfeited, thus ensuring that the other member of his cartel having made the second highest bid would finally get the contract for mining.
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Patiala
land scam
Patiala, January 14 The accused had allegedly transferred government land worth crores of rupees in the names of several private individuals. Highly placed sources in the VB office said its sleuths were waiting for the accused to surrender after their bail pleas were rejected by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Sources claimed that the VB officials had been slow in arresting the accused having given them an ample opportunity to seek bail which was rejected by different courts. “If they (the accused) are not yet behind the bars for fraud, it is only due to a soft approach of the investigating agency,” sources added. Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police (VB) Pritam Singh, the investigating officer in the case, has reportedly told the high-ups that the arrest of former Patiala Deputy Commissioner (DC) Vikas Garg and former Naib Tehsildar Gurinder Singh Walia is vital for investigations. “Since they remain untraced, despite the police having carried several raids, we will soon announce a reward to anyone who helps nab him,” Pritam is reported to have told senior officials. Singh, however, denied any leniency towards the accused. “The accused will be declared proclaimed offenders if they do not surrender,” the Senior Superintendent of Police said. Sources said a vigilance team had narrowly missed a key accused during a raid in Himachal Pradesh who fled minutes before the VB raid last month. The VB is also mulling over to write to the government to get these officials removed from their service since they are avoiding arrest and have remained underground. A case was registered against Vikas Garg, Gurinder Singh Walia, Pritpal Singh, and Suresh Kumar, all government officials. Other accused named in the case are NP Singh, Yashpal Aggarwal, Davinder Singh Sandhu, Ravdeep Singh, Jaswant Singh, the alleged middlemen who executed the illegal deals.
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Rajindra Hospital swine flu ward in a shambles
Patiala, January 14 Despite the fact that as many as four persons in the district have been found swine flu positive in the past one week, the hospital authorities are yet to make suitable arrangements for providing proper medical assistance to the patients. Though the hospital has set up a swine flu ward, in reality, it has no facilities, as a result of which, the hospital authorities are unable to use it. The rest rooms are practically non-functional and the room did not even have bulbs till yesterday. It was only when a swine flu patient had to be shifted to the ward yesterday that the bulbs were installed. But, the patient was shifted back to the dengue ward because of dilapidated rest rooms. Sources in the hospital said this is not the first time that the patients are being shifted just because of the hospital's ill-preparedness. The hospital has sufficient infrastructure and machinery but part of it has fallen victim to sheer negligence. Though the doctors have time and again written about their problem since their complaints fall on deaf ears, they have started suggesting patients to get their treatment at PGI. As for the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Paediatrics Intensive Care Unit and eye department, the condition is no less deplorable. Medical Superintendent of the hospital, Dr VK Sharda, said he had no idea about the ward since he was on leave. Admitting that the ward was not ready, Deputy Medical Superintendent Dr Harshinder Kaur said maintaining the ward was not in her jurisdiction. "I am not the financial head of the institute and therefore cannot comment on this issue," she added.
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Bus hits divider, none hurt
Ropar, January 14 The police, however, failed to issue a challan for driving the bus with black film on it and at a high speed. The accidents took place at around 10.30 pm. Simranjit Singh, a passenger, said he was on his way to Jammu when he noticed that the driver was driving very rashly from Kurali. It seemed he (driver) was under the influence of liquor or some sedative, he said. The police reached the spot and shifted the driver to a nearby hospital. It did not register a case against him. Station House Officer (SHO) Manvir Singh Bajwa claimed that the bus driver had suffered a fit of epilepsy which had led to the accident. “Action will be initiated only after the statement of the bus driver is recorded tomorrow,” he said. The Supreme Court in its orders on April 27 last year had prohibited the use of tinted glass windows beyond the permissible limit prescribed by the Motor Vehicles Act.
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Spate of thefts in Ropar; police blames it on fog
Ropar, January 14 The police, however, blames fog for being the reason behind a rise in incidents of theft. Thieves were able to strike at many places taking advantage of foggy conditions in the region, the police says. On December 24, burglars decamped with cash and valuables worth more than Rs 11 lakh from a jewellery shop at Bhai Lalo market here. Just a day before, thieves struck at a garment shop near Gurdwara Bhattha Sahib taking away Rs 1.2 lakh cash. The same day, a house in Dashmesh colony was burgled from where cash worth Rs 12,000, jewellery and mobile phone were stolen. On December 29, miscreants broke into the shop of a cloth merchant at Saini Bhawan road and decamped with cash and goods worth lakhs of rupees. On January 10, thieves took away inverters and batteries from the office of Food Corporation of India (FCI). A cloth shop at Kumhar Mohalla was also targeted last Friday from where goods worth Rs 2 lakh were stolen. City residents held protests in front of the targeted shops on Saturday against frequent incidents of theft. “During winter, residents sleep with their houses thoroughly closed. The presence of people outside remains almost negligible. Furthermore, the fog provides favourable condition to the burglars to commit the crime. “Thefts increased despite sufficient deployment of police force recently,” Ropar Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Inder Mohan Singh said.
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Villagers, students protest against staff shortage
Sangrur, January 14 Several women, including a member of the school management committee, participated in the dharna. Students staged dharna without taking their lunch. The protesters raised slogans against the government. Reports said there were over 450 students in the school. The school has 10 sanctioned posts of teachers but at present there is only one teacher at the school. The villagers have met the authorities several times but to no avail. Social worker Jagmail Singh said they would tomorrow stage a dharna in front of the office of the Sub Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Moonak, seeking appointment of teachers at the school. He said the villagers had appointed six girls from the village to teach their wards at the school. These girls were being paid by the villagers. Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO), who holds additional charge of Moonak block, Sukhwinder Singh Tiwana said he would talk to the authorities concerned to solve the problem at the earliest.
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Guest lecturers cry foul
Sangrur, January 14 Such lecturers get salary from the PTA (Parent-Teacher Association) funds that too for about six-and-a-half months instead of one year in an academic session. Through a letter issued about two months ago, the state government had enhanced the honorarium of the guest faculty lecturers from Rs 7,000 to Rs 10,000 with the condition that the enhanced honorarium would be given to those lecturers who fulfilled the UGC qualifications for the post of lecturer. Dr SK Kaushik, Principal, Government Ranbir College, Sangrur, said he had sought clarification from the Director, Education Department (Colleges), about the guest faculty lecturers in his college to whom the enhanced honorarium could be given. He said as per government’s records, there were 525 guest faculty lecturers in government colleges of the state. Devinder Kumar, a guest faculty lecturer who teaches history at Government Ranbir College, said he had joined the college in 2002 at a salary of Rs 6,000 per month and even after 10 years, he was getting only Rs 7,000 per month. Even Class IV employees of the state government had been getting much more than this amount, he said. He added they had demanded part-time lecturer’s status, continuity in their service and salary from the government treasury instead of PTA funds.
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Extension to VC under HC scanner
Chandigarh, January 14 In a petition placed before Justice RK Garg of the High Court, Narinder Paul Singh has sought directions for annulling the “extension” granted to Arora as the Vice-Chancellor. Under-suspension Dean (Directorate of Distance Education), the petitioner has claimed that Arora was not eligible to occupy the Vice-Chancellor’s office. Elaborating, his counsel Sanjiv Bansal and R Kartikeya asserted that Arora was not eligible to be even considered for the Vice-Chancellor’s office in terms of the eligibility conditions prescribed by the University Grants Commission vide notification dated June 3, 2010. Moreover, the Punjab Technical University Act, 1996, does not provide for an extension to the Vice-Chancellor, without following the prescribed procedure. While granting extension to Arora, neither a search committee was constituted nor claims of other eligible candidates were considered. Therefore, extension could not have been recommended. Also, the extension of three years granted in favour of Arora was vitiated “on account of illegal constitution of the Board of Governors”. Taking up the petition, Justice Garg issued notice of motion to the State of Punjab through the State Chief Secretary, the university, the Board of Governors and other respondents.
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Notice to state in re-totalling scam
Chandigarh, January 14 Notice was also issued to the CBI by the High Court Bench of Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri on the petition filed in public interest by Dr Ajay Sharma. Dr Sharma, who is Punjab Homeopathic Medical Association president, is seeking a CBI investigation into the re-totalling scam in the BAMS examination conducted by the university in November-December 2011. The petitioner also brought it to the High Court’s notice the alleged tampering with the answer-sheets. Referring to the first page of an answer-sheet, the petitioner alleged that the marks against almost all the questions of a candidate were increased by overwriting and total marks were increased from 22 to 47. The petitioner also brought to notice of the High Court that many students applied for re-totalling. However, the re-totalling committee found that even marks as per the university records were different from the marks actually conveyed to the students. The case is listed for March 4, 2013.
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Man, son held for honour killing in Fatehgarh Sahib
Fatehgarh Sahib, January 14 Reports said the accused tried to mislead the police investigations by lodging a fake FIR against her in-laws alleging dowry harassment as a result of which she committed suicide by jumping in the canal. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) HS Mann said in May 5 last year Nirmal Singh of Damheri village in Basasi Pathana lodged an FIR that his daughter Gurpreet Kaur got remarried to Prabhjit Singh of Tibbi village near Amloh. She was earlier married to one Gurjeet Singh of Nandpur Kalour and was divorced. Nirmal Singh further told the police that she came back to their place just three days after the marriage saying her in-laws started torturing her for bringing more dowry. He added that she was mentally upset and committed suicide by jumping in the Bhakra canal near Damheri village. Though the police registered a dowry case against her in-laws but doubted the theory. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Bassi Pathana, was then asked to hold a probe into the matter. In the meantime, a resident of Mandi Gobindgarh informed the police that Gurwinder Singh and Ravinder Singh, both sons of Nirmal Singh told him that they had murdered their sister and threw her dead body in the canal. They reportedly told him that she did not want to live at her in-laws’ place and wanted to marry a boy of their village to which they did not agree. On his statement, the police arrested Nirmal Singh along with his sons Gurwinder Singh and Ravinder Singh. During interrogation, they revealed that they murdered and thrown her body in the Bhakra canal after killing her. They also placed her sleepers and dupatta on the canal side to mislead the police. Then they hatched a conspiracy with Gurmukh Singh, the victim’s uncle, to get a case registered against her in-laws for demanding dowry. The SSP said the body has not been recovered till date. He said they could have murdered her to grab Rs 4 lakh which the victim had got as settlement from her first husband. A case has been registered under Section 302, 201, 120-B, 34 of the IPC.
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Rape accused held 6 months after crime
Ludhiana, January 14 Sunny was arrested after the victim and her family members met the Commissioner of Police here this afternoon. Sources said the accused was arrested from his shop by a team of the CIA staff. The team later handed over the accused to the Sahnewal police. The incident has yet again put a question mark on the working of the state police as Station House Officer (SHO) Kulwant Singh had earlier told The Tribune that the accused was on the run. He had claimed that the police had raided Sunny’s house and shop, but failed to nab him. Jasbir Singh and Dharminder Kumar of the All India Human Rights Council (AIHRC), which supported the victim’s family in the case, have demanded disciplinary action against the SHO. “No effort was made by the Sahnewal police to arrest the accused. Instead, the police provided him shelter. For over six months, Sunny had roamed freely in Sahnewal,” said Jasbir.
Man held for raping differently abled
Ludhiana: A 45-year-old man has been arrested for raping a differently abled woman at his house in EWS colony on the Tibba road here. Station House Officer Raj Kumar said the police received a call from the area residents that Taranjit Singh had held a woman hostage in his house. The police raided the house and nabbed Taranjit. — TNS
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Bathinda, January 14
Chandigarh, January 14