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State may miss wheat yield target
Farmers demand adequate relief for burnt crop
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Agencies yet to lift produce in Moga
BHULLAR CASE
Contingency plan in place
Drug haul case: Man held with Rs 5 cr drugs
Pak smugglers take to novel methods
Terror bodies using smugglers No compromise on voting rights, says Sehajdhari party chief
With groundwater unfit, hand pumps their sole supply line
UNESCO team to visit Gurdaspur
PTU Dean loses post
School board reinstates suspended officials
Dhindsa seeks report into Founder’s Day celebration
Patiala Health Dept face staff shortage
DAV varsity set for launch tomorrow
Verka to look into casteist remarks made at college
Varsity to fill backlog of vacancies by Sept
Acting CJ suspends 3
Patiala court officials Wooden planks for ceremony at Attari 10-yr-old boy beheaded
Speeding car tries to run over 2 cops
Four women peddlers held
in Hoshiarpur
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State may miss wheat yield target
Ropar, April 18
Director of Agriculture, Punjab, Dr MS Sandhu said strong winds followed by hail and rain in the first week of March flattened the crop causing shrivelling of grain. This may result in a drop in the yield by nearly 0.5 per cent against the 162-lakh MT target set for this year, he said. The state had produced highest-ever quantity of wheat during 2010-11 and 2011-12. While the state farmers produced 164.72-lakh MT wheat in 2010-11, the yield touched a high of 179.82 lakh MT last year. The agriculture department had set a target of 161.59 lakh metric tonne for this year based on the average production of the past three years. Last year, the state produced 50.976 quintals of wheat per hectare. A survey of Ropar villages and grain markets has revealed that the yield has gone down drastically this year. While a majority of farmers claims to get 18 quintals per acre from their fields, others say they may manage a mere 12 quintals per acre. Bahadur Singh, a farmer of Railon village, near Ropar, said he had sown wheat over five acres and watered the fields in the first week of March. “But soon strong breeze flattened most for the crop. I got a yield of 12 quintals which was barely enough to meet the expenses incurred on production,” he said. He had registered a yield of 24 quintals per acre last year. Balbir Singh, a resident of Majri Thekedaran, said the yield in his fields had touched 25 quintals per acre last year. It has shrunk to a mere 17 quintals this year, he added. Ropar agriculture officer Lakhwinder Singh Hundal said 10 per cent of the crop was flattened due to rough weather in the district.
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Farmers demand adequate relief for burnt crop
Sangrur, April 18 A farmer claimed such fires usually caused a loss around Rs 27,000 per acre but the government provided them with a meager compensation of Rs 5,000 per
acre. Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ugrahan) president Joginder Singh Ugrahan said farmers suffered major financial losses every year due to the burning of standing crop throughout the state. But they seldom got adequate compensation from the government for the losses. He demanded a relief of Rs 30,000 per acre to farmer whose standing crop had been gutted by fires caused by sparking from electricity wires or other reasons. Standing wheat crop on 150 acres had been gutted in several villages of the district in the past few days. The villages affected the most include Balwarr
Kalan, Balwarr Khurd and Gharachon (around 40 acres); Matoi, near Ahmedgarh (around 35 acres);
Pedhani, near Dhuri (around 25 acres); Model Town village on the Sunam-Cheema road (around 20 acres),
Ghanauri, near Sangrur (around 15 acres). Besides, stray incidents of burning of wheat crop have been reported from villages such as Bakhopeer and Mander
Kalan. Sangrur Deputy Commissioner Kumar Rahul said sparking from electricity wires, combine harvester or cigarette/‘birri’ were the primary reasons behind such fires. They would conduct a survey in a few days, he added. The Deputy Commissioner said if it was ascertained that the crop was gutted due to electricity wires then the power department would pay the compensation, otherwise the relief would be paid by the revenue department under the government rules. The grievance
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Agencies yet to lift produce in Moga
Moga, April 18 Gursharanbir Singh, a commission agent, said not even a single grain of wheat had been lifted by the state-owned procurement agencies till Thursday evening. “The FCI has started lifting wheat from the local grain market and is being transported directly to the silos owned by the Adani group through commission agents,” he claimed. Investigations revealed that the Food and Civil Supplies Department had not yet finalised the tendering of labour and cartage for the state procurement agencies to lift wheat. The procurement officially began three weeks ago. The Union Government has entrusted the FCI and state-owned agencies Pungrain, Punjab Agro Foodgrains Corporation, Punjab State Warehouse Corporation and Punsup to procure wheat. District Food and Civil Supplies Controller (DFSC) Gulbahar Singh said tenders for the state procurement agencies were finalised by the department a few days ago but the company assigned the tender did not turn up to do the job. The tenders were allotted to the company at 5 per cent less than the basic rates of labour and cartage fixed by the department. Tender delay The Food and Civil Supplies Department has not yet finalised the tendering of labour and cartage for the state procurement agencies to procure wheat arriving in mandis
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BHULLAR CASE
New Delhi, April 18 President APJ Abdul Kalam had in 2005 reconsidered the plea of death row convict Mahendra Nath Das by first sending a communication to the Home Ministry on September 30, 2005, stating that the conduct of the accused didn’t show traces of pre-meditated murder and the crime could have been committed due to lack of mental equanimity. On these grounds, he advised the ministry to extend Das the benefit of clemency. Later however, Kalam recalled the file and desired to reconsider the matter. While demitting office on 24 July, 2007, he noted that the case be put up before his successor for a decision. President Pratibha Patil subsequently rejected Das’s case for clemency. “Considering the precedence, President Mukherjee can reconsider Bhullar’s plea,” Suhas Chakma of the ACHR said. Activists also said that dissenting judgement in any case (including Bhullar’s) should be a ground for clemency. “Clemency has been granted in the past in cases where there were no dissenting judgements. Here there is one such judgement,” Chakma said. Bhullar’s first appeal against the High Court’s 2001 order of death penalty was rejected by a three-Judge Bench of the Supreme Court. While Justices Arijit Pasyat and BN Agrawal upheld the death penalty, the Presiding Judge, Justice MB Shah, dissented, saying the appellant should be released as he was convicted solely on the basis of a confessional statement made to a police officer. The statement was admissible under Section 15 (1) of the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, which was subsequently repealed. Justice Shah noted: “When the rest of the accused named in the confessional statement are not convicted or tried, this would not be a fit case for convicting the appellant solely on the basis of so-called confessional statement recorded by the police officer. Such type of confessional statement, as recorded by the investigating officer, cannot be the basis for awarding death sentence.” Legal experts say had Bhullar not been tried under TADA, he would have been acquitted because under Section 25 of the Indian Evidence Act, any confessional statement given by an accused to the police is inadmissible as evidence and can’t be brought on record by the prosecution. This is consistent with Article 14 (3) (g) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ratified by India) which states, “in the determination of criminal charge, everyone shall be entitled to the minimum guarantees, such as not to be compelled to testify against himself or to confess guilt”. TADA has since been repealed and terror offences are now dealt with under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967 (UAPA) wherein the provision making a confessional statement to a police officer admissible as evidence stands deleted. “Given the deletion, death sentence to Bhullar should be commuted to life imprisonment as it has been awarded solely on the basis of his confessional statement,” Chakma said.
‘Insaaf rally’ leaves for Capital
Fatehgarh Sahib: Activists of Panthic groups, including the Sant Samaj, the Dal Khalsa and the SAD (Amritsar), held an “Insaaf rally” in support of convict Devinder Pal Singh Bhullar. They later left for Delhi to submit a memorandum, signed by 80 lakh people, to President Pranab Mukherjee. Addressing the gathering, Mann claimed that Bhullar had been awarded the death sentence even though there was no evidence against him, except a confessional statement given to the police under pressure. AISSF chief Karnail Singh Peermohammad alleged the Punjab Government had failed to take steps to safeguard the interests of Sikhs lodged in various jails. — TNS
SGPC delegation to meet Prez on April 20 Amritsar: SGPC President Avtar Singh Makkar on Thursday said he and other members would meet President Pranab Mukherjee and file a petition seeking pardon for Devinderpal Singh Bhullar on April 20. They have also sought an appointment with Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh but are yet to receive a response. Makkar said they would also try to take up the issue with Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde the same day. — TNS
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Contingency plan in place
Chandigarh, April 18 The police is reported to be updating a contingency plan based on daily developments. State police chief Sumedh Saini is learnt to be supervising the security arrangements. Besides the five BSF companies that are already deployed in Amritsar (two), Jalandhar (one) and Ludhiana (two), the police has mobilised more than 2,000 personnel from the Commando Battalion, the Punjab Armed Police and the India Reserve Battalions (IRB) for active deployment. Reliable sources said arrangements for at least 13 more BSF companies had been worked out to meet any exigency.
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Assault case: Ladhar records statements of witnesses
Tarn Taran, April 18 Ladhar is conducting a re-investigation into the case after the Supreme Court trashed the magisterial probe report of the incident. Apart from the victim, those who gave their statements were her father Kashmir Singh, around 20 persons from the family of Satpal Singh whose daughter had got married at the venue on the fateful day, four taxi drivers, dismissed policemen Saraj Singh and Davindar Kumar and Bhag Singh, who resides adjacent to the marriage palace. Around 30 policemen, who were involved in the incident in one way or the other, were also a part of the investigation. The victim and her family members told Ladhar how she was eve-teased by taxi drivers and subsequently thrashed by policemen. The situation turned tense when Satpal Singh’s son Sukhpal and some women accompanying him blamed the victim for triggering the brawl. They were supported by Bhag Singh, who claimed that he saw the victim beating up policemen with her footwear. The dismissed policemen, who were brought here on production warrant, re-wrote their initial statement in the case. Taxi drivers Sahib Singh and Shoshi, who were named in the FIR, also recorded their statements. Ladhar said he had already summoned the victim and her father twice to his office in Jalandhar to know their side of the story. He said he was now trying to assess the conditions in which the victim was thrashed by the policemen. He said he has summoned the then DC, then SSP, DSP and SHO to his office on Monday to record their statements. He said there would also be cross-questioning of the concerned parties in the incident. The Divisional Commissioner said he had also seen the 12-second video footage of the incident facilitated by victim’s cousin Jagjeet Singh. He, however, said Jagjeet had admitted before him that the original video footage was of 19 seconds. He said there was also an audio clipping which he was examining. Tape doctored, allege cops In their statement to Divisional Commissioner SR Ladhar, policemen involved in the case alleged that Jagdish Singh, the victim's cousin, had deleted a part of the video footage which showed the victim and her family members misbehaving with them, say sources. Ladhar said he will seek expert opinion to look into the claim.
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Drug haul case: Man held with Rs 5 cr drugs
Fatehgarh Sahib, April 18 Ravi Deol is a confidant of Jagdish Singh Bhola who is the kingpin in
the case. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) HS Mann said the police stopped the car with registration number PB-07-Z-0606 at a naka near the drain in Jasran village in Mandi Gobindgarh town and recovered the drugs from it. The driver, Rajwinder Singh alias Raju
Rashin, resident of Raikot in Ludhiana district during preliminary interrogation said he was to hand the consignment to Gursewak Singh
Dhillon, resident of Toronto. Dhillon was to take the drugs to Canada.
Rashin said Gursewak Singh was the kingpin of this racket and frequent visited India. He alleged that Gursewak also had links with Ravi Deol and Harpreet Singh, resident of
Patran. SSP said the police was likely to find out more as the investigation gathers pace. In this drug haul case, Fatehgarh Sahib police has so far arrested 18 persons and recovered drugs worth Rs 500 crore. Mann said international drug lords were involved in the drug trade and that more arrests would be made in the near future. Identify lab for testing hair samples: Police
Even though the National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) has given a clean chit to Olympian Vijender Singh, the district police has sent a reminder to the state Forensic Science Laboratory
(SFCL) to identify a lab for testing the pugilist’s hair and blood samples.
Only after this is done can the district police file a court case pleading that Vijender be sommoned for getting his hair and blood samples tested. The Olympian has already missed two international boxing events held in Cyprus and Cuba. His team-mates say he is likely to miss the next championship to be held in Kazakhstan in
October. SSP HS Mann said they had once again reminded the SFSL to identify a lab. Rejecting the NADA report, he maintained that urine and blood samples hardly showed heroin traces as these got drained out of the body within three to six days. — With inputs from
Sanjay Bumbroo
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Pak smugglers take to novel methods
Jalandhar, April 18 What has alarmed the BSF is information that Indian smugglers are trying to lure border farmers into helping them. “Pakistani smugglers are trying to purchase agriculture land close to the international border. Owing to the increased vigil by the
BSF, they have stepped up efforts to rope in more and more Indian farmers for a cover- up,” said BSF Inspector-General Punjab Aditya
Mishra. The smugglers were using novel methods like running a PVC or steel pipe through the border fence, using false cavities, bullock carts and farm implements for smuggling. “Steel pipes are often being used for transportation of consignments acropss the fence. The maximum number of such cases have been reported from the Ferozepur sector,” said RPS
Jaswal, Deputy IG. Another method is throwing polythene pouches carrying drugs into the fields across the fence. The contraband is collected by Indian smugglers the following day to avoid being caught by BSF troops. Alarming Signals
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Terror bodies using smugglers
Amritsar, April 18 The agencies and the BSF believe that terrorists in Pakistan are making use of the smugglers’ network to execute their nefarious plans. “ It is hard to believe that the Pakistan Rangers did not hear a single shot fired by the smugglers armed with AK-47 rifles during the smuggling attempt yesterday,” said BSF sources. “Intelligence inputs suggest that Pakistan Rangers have been instructed by the ISI to turn a blind eye to
narco-terrorism unleashed against India. Hence, the Rangers did not intercept the smugglers who exchanged fire with the BSF at two places in a bid to smuggle in contraband,” the sources pointed out. This is not the first instance that the smugglers have used AK-47 to push in the contraband. In January last year, BSF troops came under heavy fire when they challenged smugglers trying to push in 17 kg of heroin and fake currency worth Rs 9.86 lakh in Bharopal village. A Pakistani smuggler was killed in retaliatory firing. The sources in the State’s Special Operations Cell, the counter- intelligence wing of the Punjab Police, said there had been a substantial rise in the quantity of heroin being smuggled across the border. This too hinted at the deadly nexus. Seventy per cent of the heroin smuggled from Pakistan came through the 553-km Punjab border and the remaining 30 per cent from the India-Nepal border and other means.
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No compromise on voting rights, says Sehajdhari party chief
Amritsar, April 18 “We know that the fate of the new House is hanging in the balance as the outcome of the elections is subject to the court verdict on the Sehajdhari issue. We will submit to the court that we’ll have no objection if the voting rights are given to us in the next elections and the new House may be allowed to function.” He attributed the move to the “poor fiscal condition” of the state. He said the Sehajdharis considered themselves a Panthic force and the step to “revive” the new SGPC House was keeping in view the interest of the Sikh community. Ranu denied that his stance on the issue was any different from what he had stated earlier this week. He alleged that the compromise between the SAD and the Sehajdharis had upset SGPC chief Avtar Singh Makkar. He claimed Makkar had met him thrice in Ludhiana and had admitted that debarring Sehajdharis from voting was wrong. He alleged that delaying the case in the Supreme Court suited Makkar “because he is continuing to hold the post of SGPC president only on the orders of the court ”. He claimed to have proof that Makkar had offered him fee for lawyers to continue the "friendly match" . Makkar termed Ranu's allegations as “totally baseless”. He claimed that it was Ranu who had been calling up his PA, requesting him to arrange a meeting with him (Makkar). He denied that he wanted to delay the case in the Supreme Court.
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With groundwater unfit, hand pumps their sole supply line
Tarn Taran, April 18 Most of the villages, including Rajoke, Bhaini, Badharwal, Baserke, Hundal, Chak Bamb, Madar, Wan Tara Singh, Kambo-ke and Mari, are devoid of regular water supply. Gurnam Singh, sarpanch of Hundal village, said: “Groundwater from tubewells which are more than 500 ft deep is safe for drinking. As people cannot afford to dig such deep tubewells, they prefer to get water from hand pumps installed by the government outside villages”. Most of these hand pumps are installed at a depth of 550 feet, he said. Though there are overhead water tanks managed by the Public Health Department at certain places, most of the villagers do not have water connections as, they say, the supply is erratic. Baljeet Singh, a resident of Madar village, said: “The water supply line to our village was broken a month ago. It has not been repaired despite our meeting the local MLA in this regard”. The Valtoha area is known as “khara Majha” because of its brackish water. The presence of uranium and other heavy metals in groundwater in a few villages has worsened the problem. The reports of 440 samples collected by the Health Department last year reveal that water is not fit for consumption. A total of 199 samples had failed the test. Civil Surgeon Dr Dharam Pal said: “A majority of these samples were collected from schools. The water was tested for bacteria, TDS and alkalinity”. High TDS and alkaline levels in water are also degrading the soil health, complain farmers. Many farmers are now installing deep tubewells in their fields. Narinder Pal Singh Kahlon, Executive Engineer, District Programme Management Cell, which is responsible for implementation of the World Bank-assisted Punjab Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Project, said: “The district has around 28 overhead water reservoirs built with community participation under the project.” During the first three years of the project, started in 2009, the villagers failed to respond positively. The area is thus lagging behind in availing the facility. The villages are required to contribute 5 per cent of the total expenditure. Khajan Singh, Executive Engineer, Water Supply and Sanitation, said: “A project for installing RO systems in uranium-affected areas is underway. More financial support is needed to make potable water available in the area”. Water woes
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UNESCO team to visit Gurdaspur
Gurdaspur, April 18 A team from New Delhi will be touring Gurdaspur district on April 19 and 20. It will visit Pandori Dham and the 150-year-old New Egerton Mills, popularly known as Dhariwal woollen mills. The team, named ‘Cultural Resource Conservation Initiative’ (CRCI), has the support of the Department of Cultural Affairs, Archaeology and Museums, Punjab Government. Much importance is being attached to Dhariwal’s ‘sick’ unit. All efforts to revive its sagging fortunes have proved futile in the past two decades. The textile mill, established in 1880, at one time produced the finest woollen and hosiery products in the country.
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Jalandhar, April 18 Dr NP Singh was accused in a case of misappropriation of funds and was was placed under suspension by PTU Vice Chancellor Dr Rajneesh Arora in May 2012, following which an inquiry was marked. The VC said there were serious charges against Singh. He said Singh had been found guilty in the inquiry conducted by Omesh Saigal, a retired IAS officer, following which the university authorities had passed the orders. Singh, however, claimed that he had not received any such orders as yet. He was placed under suspension after the appearance of an advertisement regarding counselling and admissions in PTU-affiliated colleges when AIEEE results were yet to be declared. — TNS
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School board reinstates suspended officials
Mohali, April 18 The five officials - Joint Secretary Pavitar Pal Kaur, Deputy Secretary Baljit Kaur Sodhi and Assistant Secretaries Kiran Bala, Bhupinder Kaur and Manjit Kaur - were suspended on April 16 on charges of irresponsible professional conduct and not maintaining proper coordination with the officials concerned. A three-member committee set up by the board to probe the charges against the officials will submit its report within 10 days. The members of the panel are Charanjit Kaur Cheema, Education Board member, Nirmal Bhangu, Principal, Khalsa Collegiate Senior Secondary School, Amritsar, and Vijay Kumar, Assistant Secretary of the Establishment branch of the board. Dr Balwinder Singh, Secretary, PSEB, today said that after looking into the various aspects of the complaints, they realised that superintendents were also to blame. “However, if found guilty by the panel, we will take action against the officials under the scanner,” Singh said. Soon after the officials were placed under suspension, representatives of the PSEB Employees’ Union had objected to the chairperson’s action. They termed the suspension unjustified and demanded the immediate reinstatement of the suspended officials. Complaints regarding certain Class XII examinations were received from the District Education Officers of various districts, including Pathankot, Amritsar, Fazilka and Gurdaspur. The examinations had begun on April 16 and ended today. The examination material sent to the centres did not have documents such as the “cut list” and the “signature chart” which are important for the smooth conduct of the examinations. The missing documents had created confusion among the centre superintendents with regard to the seating arrangements for the examinees.
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Dhindsa seeks report into Founder’s Day celebration
Patiala, April 18 Dhindsa has sought a report from the Secretary, Power, and condemned the profligate ways of the two corporations. “Excessive spending on such events cannot be tolerated,” he said. The PSTCL and the PSPCL had celebrated their fourth annual Founder’s Day at the Officers Club in the Power Colony on Tuesday even though these companies are running huge losses. Over 200 guests, including present and former top officers of the corporations had attended the function. The official spokesperson of the PSPCL and the PSTCL defended the decision to celebrate the Founder’s Day.
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Patiala Health Dept face staff shortage
Patiala, April 18 The MHWs form the backbone of the Health Department and perform various duties, including handling immunisation, deliveries and medical termination of pregnancies, family planning schemes and records. They also conduct surveys, provide health education and help implement all other national programmes. As per the policy, there should be one MHW for 5,000 people in cities. But, in Patiala district every MHW is catering to at least 10,000 people in most areas and over 30,000 people in a few. Patiala city has a population of 4.5 lakh people with 45 sanctioned posts of female workers and out of these 17 are lying vacant. Sources said they had time and again complained about the excessive workload but in vain. Civil Surgeon Dr Virinder Singh Mohi confirming there was shortage of staff.
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DAV varsity set for launch tomorrow
Jalandhar, April 18 Dignitaries from various educational institutions across the country, including those from DAV institutions and its associates, will join the opening ceremony while over 500 delegates have already arrived. The university has been set up over 74 acres at a cost of Rs 386 crore in the first phase, says Prof CL Kochher, Regional Director, DAV College Managing Committee, and a brain behind the institution. Professor Kochher says the university, established under the DAV University Act 2012 and the Punjab Government Act 14 of 2013, will focus on providing quality education. “Academic courses will be designed to suit students’ needs and enable them to compete at the international level,” he says. The university has tied up with Australia for research in engineering and efforts are afoot to sign similar pacts with other nations for research in agriculture, he adds. Vice Chancellor Dr RK Kohli says: “The university will allow students to make lateral entry and exit, and will follow the grade system. Teaching will focus on research works and practicals. The results of various classes will be declared within a week.” The campus The university campus, located on the Jalandhar-Jammu highway, is spread over 74 acres and has come up at a cost of `386 crore
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Verka to look into casteist remarks made at college
Patiala, April 18 Verka has summoned college principal Dr KD Singh to the circuit house to discuss the matter. He will then head to the college to meet the students who were present in the class when the incident occurred. The three-member committee constituted by the college authorities to investigate the incident has already submitted their report to the college principal. This controversial incident has once again put the Government Rajindra College and Hospital in the spot light as this is not the first time such complaints have been made. Seven complaints of this nature have been reported, three at the Medical College and four at the Rajindra Hospital. In August 2012, three such complaints were filed by Class IV employees of the hospital. But upon investigation none of the seven complaints were found to be genuine and thus were dismissed. Several doctors at the hospital feel that the authorities should take action against anyone found guilty, including those levelling baseless allegations. A senior doctor on condition of anonymity said some employees, who shirk from doing their job, try to blackmail the doctors on the pretext that the doctors had made casteist remarks at them. “These allegations are baseless as has been proved in the past. But no action has been taken against the ones who make these false complaints. If we want to solve this issue once and for all, we should take strict action against those making such allegations,” he said. Another doctor complained that they were intimidated by certain SC/ST employees. “No one has the right to make casteist remarks and the administration should not tolerate it but we should also see the other side of the story,” he added.
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Varsity to fill backlog of vacancies by Sept
Patiala, April 18 Punjabi University Registrar Dr AS Chawla said the university had already initiated the process and based on the backlog, would soon advertise these vacant posts. The Punjab State Scheduled Castes Commission had also directed the university few days ago to fill the backlog of Scheduled Caste (SC) vacancies within six months. It had also directed the university not to charge the SC students, studying in colleges affiliated with the university under the Post Matric Scholarship Scheme, any fee.
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Acting CJ suspends 3 Patiala court officials Chandigarh, April 18 As a result of the check, the services of three court employees were placed under suspension and certain lapses also surfaced. Justice Jasbir Singh went from one court to another in the District Court complex to have a look at the functioning of the judges and the court staff. Mistaking him for a common litigant, the court officials continued with the work in a casual manner. What he found was reportedly far from satisfactory. A couple of judicial officers were found inside their chambers during court hours. Some court officials had also gone on a half-day leave without even getting it sanctioned. The issues were later discussed with the Sessions Judge. —TNS
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Wooden planks for ceremony at Attari Amritsar, April 18 Aditya Mishra, BSF Punjab Frontier Inspector-General (IG), said: “We have got approval from the higher authorities as well as the National Highway Authority of India. Work on the project is most likely to start within a month.” The BSF had moved a proposal for laying wooden strips for the Retreat ceremony as jawans were experiencing health problems in their lower limbs because of heavy stomping during the ceremony. The BSF plans to lay wooden planks at certain areas where the jawans participating in the ceremony stomp their feet with much force. The authorities then plan to coat the planks with rubber paint to “keep uniformity with the surroundings.” The Retreat ceremony held every evening draws a huge crowd comprising locals and tourists.
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10-yr-old boy beheaded Hoshiarpur, April 18 Kulwant Singh, Station House Officer (SHO) of the Chabbewal police station, said Balkar, son of Ashok Paul of Jandoli, was returning home from the fields along with his sister Rajwant (12) when they were intercepted by Jaswinder Singh alias Binda (50) of the same village near the village petrol station. Binda (50) allegedly beheaded Balkar Singh with a wedge. The SHO said the motive behind the murder was yet to be ascertained. Binda, he said, had been arrested and a murder case registered against him.
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Speeding car tries to run over 2 cops
Patiala, April 18 Eyewitnesses said the speeding car jumped the red light and tried to crush the policemen after they attempted to pull it over. “The car later hit another vehicle while trying to evade the police team on pursuit,” an eyewitness said. Patiala SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill said they had identified the vehicle and would take strict action against the offender. — TNS
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Four women peddlers held in Hoshiarpur
Hoshiarpur, April 18 Sources said the Tanda police arrested Paramjit alias Pammi and seized 100 gm of intoxicated powder from her. The Mahilpur police arrested Resham Lal of Paldi and his wife Balbir Kaur and seized 600 gm of intoxicated powder, 2,260 capsules and 26 bottles of syrup from them. The police also arrested Jaswant Singh of Ajnoha and Amrit Kumar of Laksian and seized 465 gm and 460 gm of intoxicated powder from them, respectively. Harmesh Lal of Saila Khurd was held with 920 capsules and 29 bottles of syrup. — TNS
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Ropar, April 18
New Delhi, April 18
Divisional Commissioner SR Ladhar today visited Punjab International Marriage Palace in Tarn Taran where a girl of Usma village was assaulted by a policeman in full public view last month and recorded statements of eyewitnesses, including the victim.
Jalandhar, April 18
Tarn Taran, April 18
This may affect the state’s chances of meeting the target of producing 162 lakh metric tonne wheat
this year.
Asian Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), which has a special consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council, filed the petition with President Pranab Mukherjee, citing precedence.
