Ludhiana, May 22
A mother-daughter duo was found dead at a house in Fateh Jung Mohalla in the Division No. 3 area here today. The victims have been identified as Usha Grover (55) and her daughter Heena (22).

The incident came to light this afternoon when Ashima, Usha's elder daughter, visited the house and was shattered to see the blood-soaked bodies of her mother and sister. On hearing Ashima's cries, residents rushed to the house. Ashima fell unconscious. The police also reached the spot. While Usha was found lying dead on the ground floor of the house, the Heena's body was spotted on the first floor of the house.

According to the police, the duo was attacked by sharp weapons and suffered multiple stab wounds all over their bodies.

The police has not ruled out robbery as the motive behind the double murder.

Almirahs were found lying open and had been ransacked. Gold and cash were found missing.

Ashima said Rs 4 lakh and gold worth Rs 30 lakh were found missing. The police suspects the involvement of an insider in the crime.

Usha and Heena were living alone in the house. Baldev Singh, Usha's husband, had died a few years ago.

Usha's elder daughter Ashima was married in the Mochpura area, while her son Rahul lives in Australia.

Heena was scheduled to get married next month. Usha was busy making arrangements for the wedding. Last evening, Rahul called up from Australia and spoke to his mother.

He called up Usha in the morning to discuss the wedding arrangements, but she did not answer the call. He tired Heena's mobile, but even she did not respond.

Rahul then called up Ashima and told her to visit the house. It was then that the double murder came to light.

The area is located in the old city and remains crowded throughout the day. The street where the house is situated is narrow. There is no CCTV camera in the street.

The police is perplexed as to how the killers entered the house and fled after the double murder without getting noticed.

The police suspects that the killers entered the house around midnight. First they killed Usha on the ground floor and then went upstairs to murder Heena. The police suspects that there were more than two killers.

A similar attempt had been made at Shakti Nagar a few months ago where a former employee attacked a woman and her daughter for robbery. However, the victims had a miraculous escape.

The tragedy has left Heena's fiance devastated. The couple was scheduled to get married next month.

Ludhiana, May 22
The blood-soaked body of a 20-year-old youth was found from a vacant flat in the CRP Colony here today. The city police claims to have cracked the case with the arrest of one person. A hunt is on to nab two other accused in the case.

A jilted lover, along with his two friends, allegedly killed the youth as he was the boyfriend of the girl who had spurned him.

The victim has been identified as Ankush, a resident of Dr Ambedker Nagar near Model Town.

The incident came to light when a priest from a gurdwara visited the house located on the third floor of the flats to deliver sermons.

He saw the blood-soaked body of Ankush and brought the matter to the notice of local residents. The police reached the spot and began investigations.

Later, it was found that the murdered youth was Ankush, who was missing from the Model Town area since last night.

Soon, the victim's parents also reached the spot and identified their son.

Sunil Kumar, victim's father, said his son Ankush, a student of Class XII, had left the house on his friend's motorcycle.

"He told me that he was visiting his friend's house. When he did not return, we called up Ankush's friend. He told us that Ankush did not visit his house. We kept searching for him the whole night, but failed to find him. I do not know why he has been murdered. He had no enmity with anyone," said Sunl Kumar.

Later during the evening, the Dugri police arrested one of the suspects, Noor Aalam, and booked two others, including the jilted lover, Vikas, and his accomplice, in this connection.

"Vikas was dumped by a girl, who befriended Ankush. Vikas decided to eliminate Ankush. Noor Aalam and an unidentified accomplice were partners in the crime and the trio collectively stabbed the victim to death," said Satwinder Singh, SHO, Dugri.

The police claimed that the murder was well-planned. Noor Aalam befriended Ankush in order to eliminate him. Last night, when Ankush left the house, Noor Aalam informed Vikas about it.

Noor Aalam then joined Ankush and took him to a vacant flat in the CRP Colony.

On reaching the flat, the trio attacked Ankush and brutally killed him with sharp weapons.

The trio has been booked under Section 302 of the IPC on a charge of murder.

Ludhiana, May 22
It was the SAD all the way in the zila parishad elections with 22 party candidates emerging victorious in the 25 zones. Only three candidates from the Congress managed to win.

The SAD witnessed big victories in Galib Kalan (SC seat), Sudhar and Hans, where party candidates Kuldip Singh, Manpreet Singh Talwandi and Raj Kaur won by 10,688, 6,894 and 6,832 votes, respectively. Votes were not cast in Manuke Zone (reserved) where party candidate Baldev Singh was elected unopposed.

The Congress managed to win in three zones: Kaddon, Ramgarh Sardaran and Gill. Its candidates Harmit Kaur (Kaddon zone), Ranjit Kaur from the Ramgarh Sardaran zone (SC women) and Tanvir Singh (Gill zone) emerged victorious and ensured that the SAD did not make a clean sweep. The victory margins in these zones were, however, slim. The victory margin in Kaddon zone was just 200.

The highest number of votes was polled in Bija zone with a voter turnout of 75.85 percent. The voter turnout in Ramgarh Sardaran and Mattewara was 73.86 per cent and 73.04 per cent, respectively.

The lowest voter turnout was reported from Heran (reserved) where only 47.6 per cent votes were cast. The largest zone in terms of voters, Mangat, witnessed a low voter turnout. Only 50.55 per cent votes were cast in this zone having an electorate of 61,753. Surinderjit Singh of the SAD won from this zone.

SAD shines in panchayat samiti poll too

The SAD triumphed in the panchayat samiti poll also with 171 party candidates registering victories in the 226 zones. Congress candidates won 43 seats, while Independents won 12 seats.

Ludhiana, May 22
The rattled parents of a four-year-old girl, on whom there was a rape bid in her school yesterday, and residents of the area today assaulted the school staff and blocked the National Highway No. I near Jodhewal Basti in protest against the incident.

Rajesh Bhutt, a member of the school management committee, was brutally assaulted. He was rushed to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital with multiple fractures.

It is learnt that Rajesh's mother and uncle were also assaulted. The attack and vandalising of the school premises were reportedly fuelled by some local politicians.

"There was total anarchy while Rajesh was being assaulted with iron roads. There was no policeman to prevent the assault," said one of Rajesh's friends.

The incident has caused a lost of resentment among the intelligentsia in the city, who have condemned the attack on Rajesh as the latter had no role in the incident.

Meanwhile, Congress women wing leader Leena Taparia reportedly tried to draw political mileage from the incident as she circulated her photograph along with that of the four-year-old victim.

High drama

High drama took place at the school on the Tibba road when the parents of the four- year-old girl alleged that their daughter was raped in school. The child was taken to the Civil Hospital. However, the doctors' report is inconclusive. The police has registered a case under Section 376 of the IPC on a charge of rape against unidentified persons.

Ludhiana, May 22
There is widespread resentment among people in the mega city as Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has raised a demand for advance consumption deposit (ACD) from domestic, commercial and industrial consumers of electricity. Depending upon the average consumption of power by the consumers for one and a half months, the amount of the ACD could vary between Rs 2,000 and several lakhs of rupees in the case of power-intensive industrial units.

While domestic consumers are sore over the demand for varying amounts as the ACD, which is being incorporated in their energy bills issued every two months, the small and medium sector of the industry is virtually up in arms for the heavy amount of the ACD being demanded from them.

Several members of the industry, including those belonging to the medium, small and tiny sector located at Bahadur-ke Road, Dashmesh Nagar, Janta Nagar and other industrial clusters in the city, said the industry was already reeling under recessionary trends with a severe liquidity crisis. "In a situation when most of the industrial units, especially the small and tiny sector, are finding it difficult to stay afloat for a variety of reasons, the heavy demand for the ACD by the PSPCL has come like a bolt from the blue," said Akhilesh Gupta, a garment manufacturer at Bahadur-ke Road.

Residents of many localities like Sarabha Nagar, Model Town, BRS Nagar, the Civil Lines and Dugri have flayed the power utility for including a hefty amount of the ACD in their power bills. Jagdev Singh, a resident of Sarabha Nagar, said he was shocked to receive an energy bill of more than Rs 35,000 as against his average bill of around Rs 12,000. "At first, I thought that the previous bill paid by me had been included in the current bill through oversight. But on making enquiries from the division concerned of the PSPCL, I was told that the ACD amount had been included in the bill."

City residents say that the PSPCL had put an additional burden on the consumers only recently by way of a hike in the tariff, which came into effect from April. "Now, the demand for the ACD will add to the misery of the people," said Gurpal , a resident of Dugri, who has been told to pay an amount of Rs 18,000 as the ACD along with his current electricity bill. Gurpal and many other city residents are of the view that if at all the PSPCL has to recover advance deposit, it should be recovered in equal instalments.

PSPCL Chief Engineer (Central Zone) KL Sharma said the demand for the ACD was being raised as per a notification issued by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission, which had mandated that the consumers would pay the ACD equivalent to their average power consumption for one and a half months. "It is not our discretion, but a statutory provision under the Code of Electricity Supply," he said. Sharma said in the first phase, the ACD was collected only from large supply (LS) consumers with connected load of more than 100 kW. "However, now the demand is being raised from all other categories of consumers," he said.

Ludhiana, May 22
A 35-year-old man was allegedly beaten to death by his neighbour on the Tibba road here today after the duo entered into an argument over a trivial issue.

The victim has been identified as Harjinder Singh, a driver. He was standing at a shop near his house. His neighbour Bachan Singh reportedly objected to it.

The duo entered into a fight, which turned ugly.

A blow by Bachan Singh allegedly proved fatal for Harjinder Singh, who reportedly died on the spot.

Raj Kumar, Station House Officer of the Division No. 7 police post, said the accused had been booked on a charge of murder.

Ludhiana, May 22
After Himachal Pradesh, the government of Karnataka is all set to woo the local industry to set up their units in their state. A meeting in this regard is being held later in the evening as the Commissioner of Industries, Maheshwar Rao, is in the city.

The local industrialists are hopeful of striking a deal which will prove helpful for them in growing and flourishing. With heavy taxation, scarcity of power and shortage of labour, the industry is already searching an opportunity to shift from the state.

"In a proposal sent to us, the Karnataka government has offered to give surplus power, interest free loan against VAT. The offer is for the industry in general and for bicycle, fasteners, auto parts and steel industry in particular," said Badish Jindal, president of the Federation of Association of Small Industries of India.

Adding further, another industrialist said sooner or later the industry has to shift from the state as the conditions here are no longer suitable for the survival of the industry.

"In Karnataka, the steel is cheaper by 10 per cent while power and land are also cheap when compared with Punjab. If things work out in today's meeting, we can think of moving to the state in cluster," added an owner of a fastener unit.

He further added that the scarcity of power is the major factor behind the industry's exit from the state. "Costly but interrupted power is what we are getting in the state. No industry can flourish under such situation where they are not getting enough power coupled with heavy taxation. We are hopeful that the offer of the Karnataka government will appeal to us and we might move out of the state for better tomorrow," he said.

Ludhiana, May 22
Waning confidence of the MSME sector needs to be boosted. The cost of the product can be competitive if the factors of production like raw material, cost of capital, labour cost, power cost and technology upgradation are rightly priced. These suggestions were given by the delegation of Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry led by PD Sharma, president, who had a meeting with Inter Ministerial Committee headed by the Union Finance Secretary.

Explaining the reason behind the high price of steel, Sharma said steel producers take global reference and add ocean freight and other expenses including custom duty as if steel is brought to the port of the country. This is entirely wrong. Some countries have penalised steel producers for fixing cost in this manner. This mode of fixing price simply means that Indian steel user is giving higher price over the global price. Similarly, other raw materials are being priced in a cartelised manner. The MSME's are included in the priority sector. But they are being treated just in the opposite sense. Smaller units are paying the highest interest rate. PD Sharma, convincingly, brought to the notice of the Finance Secretary that there should be no risk weightage for the MSME's while determining interest rate. This sector either gives adequate collateral or has convincing performance creditability. Apex Chamber brought to the notice of the Finance Secretary that the NREGA scheme has harmed the industry by way of scarcity and cost of labour. Chamber suggested that NREGA scheme may be linked with industry.

Government of India provides subsidies like TUF and CLCSS for purchasing equipments. Unfortunately, the disbursement is very late and uncertain. Chamber conveyed all the suggestion convincingly and with these suggestions exports from the MSME's shall go up.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, May 22
Keeping in view the historical and spiritual importance of installations associated with the greater holocaust (Wada Ghallughara), the State Government has decided to give top priority to selection procedure for deploying the staff at the Wada Ghallughara Kup Rohira Memorial, which is being constructed at Rohira village near here to commemorate the sacrifice of 35,000 Sikhs, who were massacred by invader, Ahmed Shah Abdali in 1762.

A high-power committee led by the Punjab Government Chief Secretary, Rakesh Singh, and Punjab Chief Secretary, KJS Cheema, announced that all members of the staff to be deployed to guide and attend visitors coming to the memorial would be having extensive knowledge about all incidents associated with the memorial and the historical event.

"Now when the memorial is about to complete, we have to ensure that visitors are satisfied by a team of expert guides and hospitality team members," said Singh and Cheema, maintaining that selection would be made on merits through a laid down procedure. Singh and Cheema, who visited the site to gauge the progress of construction work during the last phase of construction, directed the officials of the company responsible for the construction to expedite the work so that the memorial could be opened for the public without further delay.

SS Channi, Chief Secretary Cultural Affairs and Archeological Department, Chief Secretary Tourism Geetika Kalha and ADC Sangrur Pritam Singh Johal accompanied the inspecting team.

Ludhiana, May 22
Amid heavy resistance from jhuggi dwellers, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation officials cleared around 100 jhuggis near Orient Cinema in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar here this evening. More than 200 jhuggis had come up on government land worth crores in one of the poshest areas of the city.

When the MC Tehbazaari officials, accompanied by building branch and policemen, reached the spot, they had to face a lot of resistance from the jhuggi dwellers. First, the jhuggi dwellers tried to stop the ditch machine from entering the area and some of them even misbehaved with the officials.

A group of persons even pelted the MC officials as well as media persons with stones. The police swung into action and dispersed them. The MC officials had reached the spot accompanied by only 20 policemen. There was no woman police staff.

When women posed resistance, MC Tehbazaari superintendent Naveen Malhotra sought additional police force. Around an hour after the start of the drive, Deepak Hilori, trainee SHO of the Sarabha Nagar police station, reached the spot.

It seemed that the MC officials had reached the spot without an planning, as only one ditch machine and 20 policemen were there to remove more than 200 jhuggis. When the only ditch machine broke down after demolishing 15-20 jhuggis, two more ditch machines were called.

The jhuggi dwellers kept on asking for a "few more days" so that they can shift to another place. But, the MC officials had given them ample time. On March 2, two days' time was given to the jhuggi dwellers, but they failed to vacate the place.

The MC officials were surprised to see that many dhabas were running there. Many of the jhuggis had TV sets with DTH cable connections.

Naveen Malhotra said the remaining jhuggi dwellers had been asked to clear their jhuggis themselves by 11 am tomorrow. "If they don't remove them, we will demolish them," he claimed.

Khanna, May 22
The Shiromani Akali Dal has won all the five seats (two each in Khanna and Samrala and one in Machhiwara) of Zila Parishad that fall in the police district of Khanna. In the block samiti elections in Khanna, the SAD has won 12 seats while the Congress has been declared winner on five seats. One seat has gone to an independent candidate. In the Samrala block, the SAD has won 10 seats while the Congress has won five seats. In the Machhiwara block, the SAD has made a clean sweep by winning 14 seats while the Congress could bag only one.

In the Zila Parishad elections in the Khanna block, Boota Singh Raipur of the SAD has been declared elected in Bija Zone while Gurdeep Singh Libra of the SAD has won the Lalheri zone seat. In the Samrala block, Baljinder Singh of the SAD has won from the Mutton zila parishad zone. Charanjit Singh Bijlipur of the SAD has won from the Khirnia zila parishad zone. On the Machhiwara seat in the Neelon Kalan zone, Des Raj of the SAD has been declared elected

In the Khamano block, the Congress and the PPP have swept the block samiti and zila parishad elections. In the Dhanaula zila parishad zone, Harkeet Singh Bhari of the PPP has been declared winner while in the Hawara zone, Ram Lal Mal of the Congress has been elected. In the block samiti elections, the Congress has won seven seats in alliance with the PPP while the PPP has won two seats. Akali Dal could win only six seats.

Ludhiana, May 22
To track down tax evaders, the Income Tax (IT) Department has set up a compliance management cell that will specifically keep a track of the tax payments and returns.

The department is also in the process of sending letters to individuals who have been shortlisted under its "business intelligence project" project.

Under the business intelligence project, the department monitors high-valued bank transactions, deposits, bonds purchase and credit card bills above Rs 2 lakh, all linked through permanent account number (PAN). It also checks whether these individuals have filed income tax returns or not.

The department sends letters to the individuals who have failed to file their returns.

"A large number of taxpayers have filed income tax returns and paid self-assessment tax after the initiation of this exercise. Letters are being sent under the business intelligence project while the compliance management cell will help to take effective follow-up action and see if tax has been paid or not," said a senior official from the department. 

Ludhiana, May 22
For the second consecutive day today, the city residents were at the receiving end of the strike by the drivers of 30 low-floor buses plying under Ludhiana City Bus Service Ltd (LCBSL). This is the second such strike in less than a month. Four new routes (started in April), Chandigarh Road, Hambran Road, Delhi Road and Dugri Road, have been non-operational since yesterday.

The drivers have gone on strike after the contractor demanded a security deposit of Rs 10,000 from each driver. The strike has caused a loss of around Rs 2 lakh daily to the LCBSL.

The contractor has deposited around Rs 10 lakh with the LCBSL as security deposit. Recently, two of the drivers outsourced by the LCBSL had indulged in rash driving, due to which the windowpanes of two buses got damaged. The LCBSL deducted the amount spent on the repairs from the contractor's security deposit.

The drivers said they were paid a monthly salary of Rs 8,404 and an amount of Rs 950 was deducted on account of the ESI and other funds.

One of the outsourced drivers, Pardeep Singh, claimed that they had been working for the LCBSL for the past six months. "Despite working for six months, we have been paid salaries for only one month and that also after we went on strike. Now that we have been driving buses for more than two months, the contractor has demanded a security deposit of Rs 10,000, which we cannot pay. The contractor as well as the LCBSL officers say that if we cannot pay the security amount, we should resign," Pardeep claimed.

Ranjit Singh, a resident of Haibowal, said: "In this fight among the drivers, company and the LCBSL, it's the residents who are suffering. This strike is not only resulting in losses to the LCBSL, but also bringing a bad name to the city bus service," he said.

While speaking to The Tribune, Baljit Singh, Manager, LCBSL, claimed that they were in constant touch with the contractor. "The contractor should either resolve the matter or should provide us with drivers because the LCBSL should not suffer due to their internal matter. We expect the matter to be resolved soon," he said.

Strike called off In the evening, the drivers and the contractor reached a compromise and the strike was called off. Now, instead of a security deposit of Rs 10,000, the drivers would pay Rs 7,000. Pardeep Singh, a driver, said they would pay Rs 7,000 in seven monthly instalments. "We have ended our strike and the buses will ply from tomorrow," he claimed.

Ludhiana, May 22
A power generator set was damaged in a fire that broke out at a private building in the posh Mall Road area here this afternoon. Though the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered the removal of these generator sets, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation has failed to get them removed.

The private building, Surya Kiran, where the fire broke out, is located on Mall Road. While the ground floor and the basement are used for commercial purposes, the other floors are used for residential purpose. The generator sets, kept on the rear side of the building, have been installed by the owners of commercial establishments running from the building. The fire brigade reached the spot and doused the flames with the help of a fire engine.

Assistant Divisional Fire Officer Bhupinder Singh Sandhu said it was a minor incident as only one generator set had caught fire.

Ludhiana, May 22
People of the peripheral areas of the Ludhiana district are falling an easy prey to Hepatitis B and C as very few are aware of this disease. Experts of the Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) and the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMC), Ludhiana, disclosed this fact after holding screening camps in these areas.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Dr Aneesh Chopra, senior consultant and head of gastroenterology and hepatology, said: “Recently, we organised a screening camp for Hepatitis B and C at Dalla village of Ludhiana district. We examined 210 people and found 30 to be suffering from Hepatitis B and C. This means about 15 per cent patients are suffering from Hepatitis B and C.”

Dr Chopra said a similar camp was organised in a village of Moga district by the CMCH and it was found that out of a total of 215 persons examined at the camp, 61 suffered from Hepatitis B and C. “We observed that people suffered from occult infection, means they were not aware about it,” he added.

Dr Raju Singh Shina, professor of gastroenterology and Dean, academics, Dayanand Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, said: “There are a number of quacks in rural areas who hardly bother about proper sterilised techniques while handling any patient. We have also observed that people are still not aware about these diseases.”

Ludhiana, May 22
Though the committee constituted by the Vice-Chancellor of Panjab University (PU) approved a “nominal” increase in the fee structure of various courses in the colleges due to inflation, still in the absence of proper guidelines by the university, confusion prevails among the colleges on how much fees has to be increased from the current academic session.

One of the Syndicate members RPS Josh said the committee constituted on the fee issue had recommended that the fee in colleges should be increased seeing the rising inflation. “At the same time, the committee members had maintained that the hike must be nominal and must not pinch the parents. The increase should be around 10 per cent, which is justified,” said Josh. He said the final decision will be taken only after the approval of the Syndicate.

The principal of Master Tara Singh College for Women, Praveen Chawla, said it had already been decided that fees will be increased but how much, is not known till formally any decision was taken. “It could be anything up to 20 per cent depending on the courses,” she said.

One of the officials at PU, Chandigarh, however, said the VC was away for few days, so decision on certain matters was yet to be taken. “The increase in fee structure is one point on which there is no clarity and continuing or scrapping of the semester system in the PG classes is another issue, which has to be sorted-out. Though the committees have given their recommendations but nothing is official,” said the official.

The other institute with a similar grading in the region was PCTE, Baddowal. There are approximately 5,000 business schools all over India. The GNIMT is among the top 75 including all the IIMs and universities. This is the fourth time in succession that the GNIMT and the PCTE have got top-grading. — TNS

Jagraon, May 22
The local police claims to have cracked the triple murder case that took place at Abupura village about two weeks ago. The police has also arrested a youth, who had allegedly killed three persons, including two women and one man of the same family.

The accused has been identified as Akash Kumar, a resident of Abupura village. The police has also recovered the sharp edged weapon, allegedly used by the accused used in murder.

It is reminded here that Shingara Singh of Abupura village, his wife Manjit Kaur and his NRI sister-in-law, Surjit Kaur, were all found killed at their house on May 8 this year.

The incident had taken place on the night intervening May 7 and 8 May. The police had registered a case against unidentified persons.

Jagraon SSP, Ashish Choudhry, had created a special team, which included Raikot DSP Amrik Singh and the CIA Staff in charge Prem Singh to solve the case.

"During the course of investigation, the police found many evidences which pointed towards Akash. The accused has confessed that he had murdered the three persons," said the SSP.

The police said some dispute over property among them was the main reason behind the murder.

Ludhiana, May 22
A man has been booked for duping his employers of Rs 10 lakh. The accused has been identified as Satwinder Singh of Dugri. According to Palwinder Singh, a resident of Hargobind Nagar, he runs a hosiery factory and his two brothers Amarjit Singh and Sukhwinder Singh work as iron commission agent on Gill Road. The accused was handling the accounts of both the firms.

One day Amarjit Singh called up Palwinder Singh and told him that he needed Rs 10 lakh. Amarjit said he was sending Satwinder Singh, who would collect the money. Palwinder handed over Rs 10 lakh to Satwinder. However, the accused neither gave the cash to Amarjit nor return it to Palwidner. A case has been registered under section 408, IPC.

Five held with illegal sand

The police has nabbed five persons with illegal sand here on Tuesday night. The accused have been identified as Inderjeet Singh of Phonday village, Onkar Singh of Mangli Kadar, Rashid Alam of Focal Point, Baga Singh and Baljinder Singh of Sekhewal village.

The accused were nabbed following a tip-off. The police got to know that the accused used to sell illegal sand in the market. The police raided the Sekhewal area and nabbed them. It impounded five tractor-trailers.

Girl takes police for a ride

A 14-year-old girl from the Ladhowal area, who was rushed to the Civil Hospital after she complained that she had been gang-raped, later backtracked on her statement. The incident took place on Tuesday night when she claimed that she was gang-raped by youths residing close to her house. She was immediately taken to a hospital where she told the police that nothing had happened to her. She was later discharged from the hospital.

Man booked on charge of intimidating ex-wife

One person has been booked for threatening his ex-wife and demanding Rs 5.5 lakh from her. The accused has been identified as Sukhwinder Singh of Bilga village. The incident took place nearly two week ago. According to the complainant, Manpreet Kaur, a resident of New Akash Nagar, it was around 11am that her mother got a call from an unidentified number. The caller introduced himself as Iqbal Singh and said he was posted at the Police Headquarters in Chandigarh. He told her that he had received a complaint against the family. He threaten them and demanded Rs 5.5 lakh. She reported the matter the police. An inquiry was launched following which Sulhwinder Singh was booked.

A case under sections 384, 509, 451 and 120-B of the IPC has been.

Raid at yarn unit

The state Excise and Taxation Department today conducted a raid at Juneja Woollen Mill, which is located on Rahon Road. The raid was conducted under the supervision of Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner HPS Ghotra. Raid was conducted as the department suspected that the mill owner was wrongly availing tax exemption by not processing yarn into cloth and selling it in its raw form. To avail tax exemption on yarn, it is to be converted into cloth and sold as a tax-free item. Bill books and computers were seized by the raiding team.

Ludhiana, May 22
It was justice at last for Jasbir Singh Khurana, a businessman who was duped of Rs 35 lakh by a self-styled tantrik.

The vigilance staff today arrested the tanrik, Harnek Singh, a resident of the New Shimlapuri area, and his accomplice Sukhdev Singh. Ram Savroop, a former registry clerk in the Revenue Department, has absconded.

The trio was booked following a year-long inquiry into the matter. Jasbir Singh, a resident of the Sham Nagar area, near Bharat Nagar Chowk, said: "I entered into a land deal with Harnek Singh and decided to purchase a plot from him."

According to Jasbir Singh, he gave Rs 35 lakh to Harnek Singh on November 2004 for purchasing a 1500 sq yd plot in Model Town.

"But the accused neither got the plot registered in his name nor returned the money. In 2010, I came to know that Harnek Singh had prepared fake documents of 1500 sq yd land in Model Town and claimed himself to be the owner of the land. Ram Savroop, who was then registry clerk in the Revenue Department, helped Harnek Singh in preparing fake land documents," said Jasbir Singh Khurana.

He lodged a complaint with the Vigilance Department.

The trio of Harnek Singh, his accomplices Sukhdev Singh and Ram Savroop were booked last month.

Sukhdev Singh, Inspector (vigilance), confirmed the development. "Two persons have been arrested while the hunt is on to nab Ram Savroop. The trio had been on the run since they were booked for fraud and criminal conspiracy," said Sukhdev Singh. 

Ludhiana, May 22
The Punjab Basketball Association (PBA) mourned the death of an international basketball coach, Dr S Subramanian, who died in Patiala early this morning. Dr Subramanian had not been keeping well for the past six months.

In a special resolution, the PBA expressed grief over the death of a legend coach, who had produced a number of cagers of national and international repute. RS Gill, former DGP, Punjab, and president of the PBA, Ishwar Singh, Commissioner of Police, Ludhiana, and senior vice-president of the association, besides other office-bearers, including Teja Singh Dhaliwal, Naunihal Singh, Yurinder Singh Hayer, Rakesh Aggarwal, JP Singh, Yashvir Walia and Vijay Chopra and Arjuna Award recipients Sajjan Singh Cheema, Suman Sharma and Parminder Singh expressed sympathies with the aggrieved family.

The Ludhiana Basketball Academy, being run by the PBA at Guru Nanak Stadium here, remained closed today as a mark of respect to the departed soul. The trainees of the academy, accompanied by their coaches and members of the Ludhiana District Basketball Association, went to Patiala to attend the Dr Subramanian's cremation.

Dr S Subramanian had been the most experienced and outstanding basketball coach of India since 1968. He was the Director-cum-Chief Basketball Coach at Ludhiana Basketball Academy.

Dr Subramanian had coached many young players of Punjab, selected them as young beginners and trained them for more than five years. The players trained by him played in Asian Basketball Championships (junior and senior), Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.

He coached, trained and prepared as many as 27 international players for India. At present, 12 of his trainees are in the Indian teams in different age groups. In the Asian Basketball Championship, 2011, which was held in Wuhan, out of the 12 members of the Indian squad, six players (Jagdeep Singh, Yadwinder Singh, Talwinderjit Singh, Amritpal Singh, Amjot Singh, and Satnam Singh) were trained by Dr Subramanian, a record in the Indian basketball history. Dr Subramanian also trained Kiranjit Kaur who won a gold medal in the Asian Beach Games 2012 in China.