B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Land under illegal possession
Court order acted upon after 16 yrs
Faridkot, March 1
Over 16 years after the court directed the revenue department in Faridkot to evict over 150 families from the illegal possession of the land which they were holding for over three decades, the revenue department today swung into action after the court queried it about an inordinate delay in compliance of its orders. Accompanied by heavy police force, the revenue officials today reached Bir Sikhan Wala village and got the possession of a large portion of the land that was illegally occupied.

Staff caught with PSPCL material worth Rs 30 lakh in Muktsar
Muktsar, March 1
A Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) employee, an assistant lineman posted at a complaint centre here, was allegedly caught with illegally stored material worth nearly Rs 30 lakh belonging to the Powercom and pilfering power at his residence on the Kotkapura road here. A team led by executive engineer, Enforcement, Kulwant Singh Sandhu, raided the place. It took almost five hours to load the illegally stored material in three tractor-trolleys.

Land under illegal possession
Court order acted upon after 16 yrs
Balwant Garg/TNS

Faridkot, March 1
Over 16 years after the court directed the revenue department in Faridkot to evict over 150 families from the illegal possession of the land which they were holding for over three decades, the revenue department today swung into action after the court queried it about an inordinate delay in compliance of its orders.

Accompanied by heavy police force, the revenue officials today reached Bir Sikhan Wala village and got the possession of a large portion of the land that was illegally occupied. But bowing to political pressure, the possession of the land on which the concrete houses were built was not handed over to the rightful owner.

Over 20 acres of this illegally-occupied land belongs to Maharawal Khewaji Trust, a body constituted by the last prince of Faridkot estate Harjinder Singh. Before his death in 1989, Maharaja Harjinder Singh had bequeathed his entire property, which was on thousands of acres, to the Trust.

In Bir Sikhanwala village, over 150 families had constructed houses on a large stretch of illegally-occupied land. But as the encroachment on the Trust land was increasing every year, the trustee filed a case against the illegal possession.

In its order in 1996, the court decreed that the occupants of the land had no legal title to the property, so it was to be vacated.

But as the illegal occupants of the land can be a potential vote bank, the revenue department was allegedly under political pressure and the court orders could not be executed. Many a time, the court issued directions to the revenue department but in vain. Some days ago, the court reprimanded the officials of the department to take police help in vacating the illegal possession or face action.

Accompanied by heavy police force, the revenue officials reached Bir Sikhanwala village. But allegedly under political pressure, a compromise was arrived at according to which the occupants vacated the uncovered land.

Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Bikramjit Singh said the police force accompanied the revenue officials as per the court’s direction to maintain law and order.

Staff caught with PSPCL material worth Rs 30 lakh in Muktsar

Muktsar, March 1
A Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) employee, an assistant lineman posted at a complaint centre here, was allegedly caught with illegally stored material worth nearly Rs 30 lakh belonging to the Powercom and pilfering power at his residence on the Kotkapura road here.

A team led by executive engineer, Enforcement, Kulwant Singh Sandhu, raided the place. It took almost five hours to load the illegally stored material in three tractor-trolleys. “The illegally stored goods included 6-km long electricity wire, 54 power meters, channels and conductors worth nearly Rs 30 lakh,” said Sandhu.

He added that the seizure was just the tip of the iceberg, as a number of other officials could also be involved in the scam.

Sandhu said the accused Sukhwinder Singh was working as an assistant lineman for the last 12 years and was getting a monthly salary of nearly Rs 10,000. — TNS