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Harike bird sanctuary
Forest dept gets back its illegally occupied land
Ferozepur, January 22
The Forest Department today got back the ownership of around seven acres of prime land, estimated to be worth crores, situated in the vicinity of the Harike bird sanctuary. The mutation of the land was earlier illegally done in the name of persons allegedly owing allegiance to the land mafia operating in the region.

Bikers shoot at merchant, loot Rs 1.7 lakh
Abohar, January 22
A merchant sustained injuries when two motorcyclists shot at him as he resisted their attempt to rob him of Rs 1.70 lakh. The victim, Jagjit Singh, was admitted to the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here but the doctors referred him to the Faridkot medical college hospital as his condition was deteriorating.

Minor’s rape and kidnapping case
Being implicated for political reasons: Former SAD councillor
Faridkot, January 22
A former Akali councillor, one of the 20 accused in the trial related to the minor girl's rape and kidnapping case in Faridkot, today sought his discharge, claiming he was being implicated in the case to spoil his political career.

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	Harike bird sanctuary Forest dept gets back its illegally occupied land Our Correspondent Ferozepur, January 22 The Forest Department today got back the ownership of around seven acres of prime land, estimated to be worth crores, situated in the vicinity of the Harike bird sanctuary. The mutation of the land was earlier illegally done in the name of persons allegedly owing allegiance to the land mafia operating in the region. A team from the Forest Department, led by Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjeev Tiwari, got the land freed from an illegal occupation and took its possession. Earlier, after the valuable forest land was fraudulently registered in the name of private parties, the Forest Department had lodged a protest with senior revenue officials. While talking to The Tribune, the DFO said in 2010, two persons, namely Manjeet Singh and Bhajan Singh, allegedly managed to secure the allotment of 16.9 kanal of precious forest land in Gatti Harike and another 35.1 kanal in Boo-gujar. Later, they got the mutation done in their names allegedly in connivance with the revenue officials. The DFO said the matter was taken up with the Ferozepur Deputy Commissioner, who, after repeated reminders, cancelled the said allotment on 26 December 2012 after conducting a probe into it. Later, the revenue records were amended and the land was again registered in the name of the Forest Department. In March last year, the Forest Department had launched an offensive against the land mafia and succeeded in getting more than 40 acres of valuable forest land situated in the Harike bird sanctuary area, vacated from illegal occupation. The DFO said still over thousands of acres of land inside the bird sanctuary was under illegal occupation regarding which several cases were going on in various courts. It is learnt that out of a total of around 10,000 hectares of forest land in the Ferozepur division, a staggering 1,000 acres is under illegal occupation of those who have patronage from political quarters.
	Bikers shoot at merchant, loot Rs 1.7 lakh Two main accused on the run, accomplices held Our Correspondent Abohar, January 22 A merchant sustained injuries when two motorcyclists shot at him as he resisted their attempt to rob him of Rs 1.70 lakh. The victim, Jagjit Singh, was admitted to the Nehru Memorial Civil Hospital here but the doctors referred him to the Faridkot medical college hospital as his condition was deteriorating. It is learnt that Jagjit Singh of Gopal Nagari here along with his brother Surjeet Singh were leaving for Abohar on a car from Gobindgarh village, about 8 km from here. They were carrying a bag containing Rs 1.70 lakh. On the way, two motorcyclists, who had their faces covered, stopped them. While brandishing a pistol, they tried to snatch the bag containing the money. As the traders resisted, the culprits shot at Jagjit and fled with the money leaving the motorcycle behind. Sadar Thana SHO Shinderpal Singh and CIA staff in-charge Navdeep Bhatti, who rushed to the site, said the motorcycle belonged to one Gurpreet Singh of Gobind Nagari here. Gurpreet told the police that unidentified persons had snatched the bike by hitting him in his head a few hours ago. However, on further interrogation, Gurpreet revealed that he and his brother Amritpal Singh had hatched a conspiracy to loot the merchants and kept a watch on their movements. They provided Gurpreet's bike to Jagsir Singh of Chandigarh Mohalla and Gurwinder Singh of Kamalwala village to execute the plan. All the accused were allegedly involved in smuggling of narcotics and other petty crimes in the past, DSP Raj Kumar Jalhotra said in the evening. A case under Sections 307, 392 and 341 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered. The police has arrested Gurpreet and Amritpal Singh while hunt was on to nab the bikers who were at large with the booty.
	Minor’s rape and kidnapping case Being implicated for political reasons: Former SAD councillor Tribune News Service Faridkot, January 22 A former Akali councillor, one of the 20 accused in the trial related to the minor girl's rape and kidnapping case in Faridkot, today sought his discharge, claiming he was being implicated in the case to spoil his political career. During the hearing in the court of the district and sessions judge today, the advocate for Maninderjit Singh alias Dimpy Samra, the former Akali councillor, claimed his client was implicated in the case so that he could not contest the forthcoming municipal elections in Faridkot. As per the claims of the police and the prosecution, Dimpy Samra is a prime accused in the kidnapping of the minor. The police arrested him on November 4, over two months after the kidnapping. After over 15 hours of cross-examination of the minor girl in the last three days, the evidence of the victim before the court concluded today in the evening. During the cross-examination, the counsels for the accused asked the girl over a 1,000 questions which the court recorded in over 75 pages. Meanwhile, GS Toor, SSP, Faridkot said sufficient police protection was being provided to the family in the light of threats they had received.
	Three held for youth’s murder near Barnala Tribune News Service Barnala, January 22 The Barnala police has arrested the three persons accused of killing a 25-year-old youth who had returned from Malaysia recently. The police arrested Gurpreet Singh, Gulab Singh and Jagjeewan Singh and recovered the car allegedly used in the crime. As per the details available, Devinder Singh along with his mother had come to Sangherra village (near Barnala) from Dabwali on January 18 to meet his relatives and on January 19, his body was found in a field situated near Bhadalwadh village (near Sangherra village). The police had registered a case against Gurpreet Singh, Gulab Singh and Jagjeewan Singh under Sections 302 and 34 of the IPC. Barnala Sadar police station SHO Navdeep Singh today said following a tip-off, the police laid a naka at the T-point Sekha and arrested the three accused, who were in the car allegedly used in the crime. He said the accused were produced in a local court here today and were remanded to police custody for one day. It is learnt that the accused and Devinder had an altercation at a liquor vend following which they first beat up Devinder and later, crushed him under the car. They reportedly threw the body in the fields.
	H1N1 case in Faridkot Tribune News Service Faridkot, January 22 A case of swine flu surfaced in Faridkot today, which resulted in the health department alerting all the health centres and dispensaries in the rural and urban areas of the district. Faridkot Civil Surgeon Dr Rakesh Arora said Bharpoor Singh of Bargari village in Faridkot was referred to the CMC at Ludhiana today after his test reports from the PGIMER, Chandigarh, confirmed swine flu. The Civil Surgeon said 15 persons, who came in direct and close contact with Bharpoor Singh, were also given anti-swine flu medicines.