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Justice Kuldip panel for abolishing institution of patwaris
State govt reprimanded for shamlat loot
Capt’s men to be rehabilitated in new state Cong executive
Bajwa wants Vice Chancellor dismissed
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VB pursuing matter of overpriced science kits
No headway in medicinal herb scam
Chargesheeted, PSPCL whistleblower cries foul
Marginal growth in VAT collections
6 of 51 missing in U’khand return home
Appointment of professors
Information on Guru Harkishan Hospital under RTI ‘refused’
Two state medical colleges told not to admit students
CM sanctions Rs 9 cr for drinking water projects
Talwandi Sabo, Rajpura plants get coal supply
Rs 5 crore recovery notice to transporter
Sarpanch’s son killed in clash
5 arrested for stealing coil from transformers
Kidnapped industrialist’s son returns
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Justice Kuldip panel for abolishing institution of patwaris
Chandigarh, July 15 “We have observed that the institution of patwaris/kanungos is reputed to be highly corrupt…. We are, therefore,
strongly of the view that patwaris and kanungos should be totally abolished in a phased manner,” the panel said. Constituted by the High Court to look into land grab cases not just in Nayagaon and other villages on Chandigarh’s periphery, the panel said their cadre should be replaced by “some officials by the name of revenue inspector or the like, directly under the control of the Collector”. Referring to archaic laws, the panel said the “Land Revenue Act be suitably amended as the more than 100-year-old revenue
laws have more or less outlived their utility…. The Punjab land Revenue Act also needs a fresh look
and a comprehensive amendment”’. The panel also suggested doing away with nomenclatures given to the nature and character of land under revenue proceedings, such as jumla. The nomenclatures were providing loopholes to unscrupulous officers. By carrying out an amendment in the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, the nomenclatures should be deemed to be shamlat land under the control and management of gram panchayats, the panel suggested. The panel also recommended that the overall supervision of shamlat land be entrusted to the Collector by way of appropriate amendments. Also, there should be a regular audit of the shamlat land. The panel said that law should be suitably amended to the effect that no registering authority shall register a sale deed, where the land in terms of the revenue record is or was shamlat land, without the Collector’s prior approval. It reiterated its earlier suggestion of having special Benches to monitor issues arising out of its reports on land grab. Also, persons and societies shown to be in possession of shamlat/panchayat land should be issued notices and the process to dispossess them undertaken. “Officers/officials of the revenue/consolidation department found involved should be punished suitably,” it added.
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State govt reprimanded for shamlat loot
Chandigarh, July 15 It also indicated active connivance of the gram panchayat and revenue officers. The panel further indicted the Vigilance for “holding investigations for years, but without result”. It recommended probe by “some authority” like the CBI, in cases where conspiracy with revenue officials and other high-ups could not be ruled out. Asserting that the state government was “totally remiss” in its performance, the panel said it had made several recommendations in its previous report. Apart from paper work, nothing practical has been done, the panel said. It also referred to “a scandalous situation in respect of shamlat land in Madhopur village” in Chandigarh’s periphery. Neither the gram panchayat, nor the Revenue Department, was protecting shamlat land, which was legally vested with the gram panchayat. “The purchasers of land, including well-known companies, are obviously party to the shamlat grab,” it said. The panel also referred to Nada village. “The village is a classic case, where huge gram panchayat deh measuring 16,113 kanals is being grabbed systematically with the active connivance of the gram panchayat and revenue officers/officials”. In Naglian village, the panel said more than 200 acres of shamlat land had been illegally sold by several persons and subsequently mutations were sanctioned. The penal said this was one of the “worst kinds of fraud which has come to the notice of the tribunal”. “We found that the public record has been tampered with/ forged to suit the convenience of land grabbers,” the panel said. Referring to Chandpur village, the panel said sale deeds were executed only on the basis of names of villages mentioned in the cultivation column of jamabandi. This was a clear case of fraud. “One of such villagers has leased out shamlat land to Hutch for mobile tower and is regularly receiving rent after executing a registered lease agreement and this is being done with the connivance of the naib tehsildar,” the panel said. It said the registering authorities too were not paying attention to the fact that unscrupulous persons were getting their share in shamlat land determined by the authorities concerned before getting the same transferred in their names. “We have prima facie found several officials, who have passed patently illegal/erroneous/malafide orders and are more or less involved in the land grabbing process…."
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Capt’s men to be rehabilitated in new state Cong executive
Reliable sources said Bajwa, who has submitted a proposed list of the new executive to the party high command, has included the names of most of Amarinder's loyalists besides the son-in law of former Congress Legislature Party Leader Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. The sources said Bajwa had decided to play safe to keep the PCC together. He had ensured that Amarinder loyalists no longer complained that they were being kept out of the new setup. However, it is not certain whether senior leaders such as Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi, Kewal Dhillon and Rana KP would be made vice-presidents in the new executive. It is felt that the party has already appointed four vice-presidents and given them separate zones. Hence, it should not appoint more persons to the post who could be appointed general secretaries. Dalit leader from the Doaba region Choudhary Jagjit Singh, a staunch Amarinder loyalist, may not make it to the executive with one of the vice-presidents protesting against his inclusion. The party had earlier appointed young Dalit leader Tarlochan Soondh as vice-president and given him charge of the Doaba region Party sources said Bajwa had recommended the name of Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh for the new executive and that the latter could be nominated as general secretary. Rana Gurjit does not see eye to eye with Bajwa, mainly because of the latter’s support to another Doaba leader, Sukhpal Khaira. In a balancing act, Bajwa has recommended the name of Rajinder Kaur Bhattal's son-in-law, Vikram Bajwa, for the post of general secretary. Bajwa was a general secretary in the old dispensation too. Those who took former PCC president Capt Amarinder head on in the recent past, including Amloh legislator Randeep Singh, have also been adjusted in the new executive. Randeep Singh's name has been recommended for the post of general secretary. Bajwa has reportedly recommended adjusting old vice- presidents as general secretaries. He has recommended a 40-member executive with 10 general secretaries and 20 secretaries. The earlier list had 11 vice-presidents, nine general secretaries, seven secretaries, a treasurer and 33 executive members. Most of the earlier district Congress presidents will keep their job. Samrala MLA Amrik Dhillon’s son Kamaljit Dhillon will continue as party treasurer. Bajwa, when approached, said: "All I can say is that the list has been submitted to the high command and that it will be announced soon. I've made sure that all established leaders are part of the new executive. I have not favoured any group." The Balancing Act
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Bajwa wants Vice Chancellor dismissed
Chandigarh, July 15 In a communication to Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil, Bajwa said that in the light of High Court directions on July 8 for re-examining the extension given to the Vice Chancellor by the Board of Governors, "it has become necessary to look at the issue from the administrative angle." The PPCC president said: "It is highly disgraceful that the Chief Minister remained a mute spectator to the misdeeds of his political allies in the government." He claimed Dr Arora was so busy in "malpractices" that he had no time to look into the general administration and as a result, admissions to PTU were banned by the Delhi High Court on the charges of fleecing students. He said that future of 50,000 students registered with the distance learning programme of the university, mostly from weaker sections and rural areas was at stake.
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Water scarcity leaves farmers at tail-end of canals high and dry
Abohar, July 15 Anil claimed it has been several days since he last irrigated his fields. "The Panjawan minor channel from the Abohar branch canal has been supplying water irregularly and whenever my turn comes, the channel runs dry," he rued. With the underground water full of fluoride and other elements harmful for the crop and not much rain being witnessed in this semi-arid region of Punjab, Anil is in a fix whether to wait for the rain or re-sow his drying crop. A few kilometres away in Danewala Satkosi village, Balbir Singh is in a similar predicament: "It is ironic that when people in other parts of the state are worried over floods in case of more rain, we are struggling to irrigate our fields. When the government officials said in news reports that more water will be released to prevent damage to the Bhakra dam, we thought may be this year we will get good supply. But that has not happened yet." He claimed the Irrigation Department supplies water for seven days and then gives a week's break. "We have been requesting them to reduce the break to two or three days, but they tell us the canal cannot bear any additional load," said Anil, fearing his investment of over Rs 7,000 per acre may go down the drain if the Irrigation Department did not regulate the supply. Kisan Sangharsh Samiti spokesman Subhash Sehgal alleged that instead of providing water to farmers in the Abohar-Fazilka belt, excess water was being released to Pakistan. He claimed several thousand cusecs of water released from Hussainiwala headworks to the West Punjab province of Pakistan went unaccounted, an issue that needed to be probed. Sunil Jakhar, Congress Legislature Party leader, alleged that most of the tail-end villages in Abohar region had not been getting water for irrigation. Criticising the state government for the "poor management" of the irrigation system, Jakhar, former Chief Parliamentary Secretary for irrigation, said the area under cotton might further go down if the water scarcity persisted. Abohar Executive Engineer (Irrigation) RK Gupta claimed the irrigation system was working well till a bridge over the Abohar branch near Sotha village developed cracks. "Our staff prevented loss to several hectares of land by the timely detection of the cracks. Had the bridge collapsed, the blocked water would have flooded the region and subsequently there would not have been any supply at all," he said. Gupta said the bridge was repaired swiftly but the intake of water in the canal had to be reduced as a precautionary measure. "As per our field surveys, the water supply is good. Still if any farmer complains that his turn did not come due to a change in the supply timings, we always accommodate him," he
added. (With inputs by Raj Sadosh)
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Paddy fields in Moga villages damaged
Moga, July 15 A survey of Sanghera, Kambo Kalan, Kambo Khurd, Praliwala and Mehruwala villages and several settlements located near the embankments of the Sutlej has revealed that paddy seedlings, mint, maize and green fodder planted in hundreds of acres have been damaged. Farmers say the water level had risen to an alarming level about 10 days ago. It had started coming down, but during the past 24 hours, it has again started rising steadily probably due to release of water from Gobind Sagar Lake in Himachal Pradesh, they say. Balwinder Singh, a farmer of Sanghera village, said he had lost paddy seedlings and mint crop as his fields had been inundated. Most of the farmers whose land was waterlogged were losing the hope of sowing new crop in the current season, said Jaswinder Singh Aulakh of Takhtuwala village. The district administration has already sounded an alert along the river belt and set up a flood control room at the district headquarters, besides appointing nodal officers at the sub-division and block levels. At least, 35 villages and a few settlements along the Sutlej had been identified as flood-prone. Officials of the local Army units had conducted a survey of the area last week. They interacted with the people, gave them tips on disaster management and held a meeting with the local civil and police officials. District Magistrate Arshdip Singh Thind claimed to have arranged boats, life jackets, tents and other material to tackle any emergency situation. “We are short of some boats, tents and other material. We have requested the Commissioner of Ferozepur division to arrange these immediately,” he said, adding the Faridkot district administration would send 100 tents and 100 life jackets by tomorrow.
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VB pursuing matter of overpriced science kits
Chandigarh, July 15 Quoting a complaint against the Controller of Stores, the Vigilance Bureau has forwarded a communication to the Principal Secretary, Industries & Commerce, for initiating an appropriate action. The communication directed the department to include the complainant, Kamalpreet Singh, in the enquiry proceedings. While a four-member fact-finding team of the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD) came for a probe into the alleged irregularities in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (RMSA) funds on June 12, the Vigilance had sent the communication on May 30. The complainant has so far not received any formal communication from the VB. Talking to Tribune, Kamalpreet Singh said: “I have only received calls from the police station asking me to settle the matter amicably. I have also filed an application under the Right to Information (RTI) Act asking for a certified copy of the official noting prepared by the Controller of Stores.” A senior official of the Education Department said: “The central team only concentrated on the issue of library books purchased from the SSA funds. The issues of expensive science kits and orders for ‘forced’ purchase of maps and science practical notebooks from recommended vendors were not related to the centre”. The complaint pertains to allegations of favouring five Ambala-based firms. After the mater was highlighted, the job of supplying science kits to the schools was halted immediately.
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No headway in medicinal herb scam
Patiala, July 15 The activist has given a detailed report of the substandard samples received from the Pharmacopoeial Laboratory for Indian Medicine (PLIM), Ghaziabad. Perturbed over the state government’s effort to save the bigwigs involved in the alleged scam, Jeet Singh said after the issue of the purchase of substandard medicines was highlighted two years ago, the Health Department, after receiving reports from the PLIM, claimed that out of total 124 samples of Ayurvedic crude drugs sent for analysis based on identity, purity and strength, only 23 were of substandard quality. “However, the analysis reports of these herbs and materials collected from the PLIM through the RTI Act brought to light the fact that only 23 samples out of the total 124 were found of standard quality and the remaining 98 samples failed to qualify the testing parameters," he said. Documents in possession of The Tribune revealed that out of the total 124 samples, identity of only 67 was confirmed. Moreover, only 26 samples met the standard parameters according to the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India. Moreover, the report of 51 samples was given without approved limits. "Rather than cross-checking the approved limits for these samples, the department just declared them fit for consumption. It is highly unethical. Moreover, the state government has not taken any action against the officials involved in the purchase of expensive and spurious medicines as yet. The government must seek immediate inquiry and nail the guilty," demanded Jeet Singh. However, the Director of Ayurveda, Dr Rakesh Sharma, said the department had not initiated any action because there were no anomalies as such. “The samples were collected after about one year of their purchase and by that time, their value deteriorated. However, if converted into medicines, these could be made fit for human consumption. Even, the committee formed under Dr JP Singh had maintained that the medicines were not spurious,” he stated. Meanwhile, former Health Minister Satpal Gosain has accepted that there were gross irregularities in the purchase of the medicines. “Since not many people are aware of ayurvedic medicines, few department high-ups had purchased substandard material for very high rates. I had succeeded in finding the irregularities and halted payment worth lakhs for the future purchase but could not take any concrete action as the government changed. However, I request the Chief Minister to take stern action against the defaulters as they have not only misused the government money but also played with the health of people,” he said.
The background
The matter came to light two years back when Kulwant Singh, former sarpanch of Ballan village in Patiala, in a complaint to Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and then Health Minister Satpal Gosain, alleged the department had purchased spurious and low-quality herbs and readymade medicines worth lakhs under two different grants of the National Rural Health Mission of Rs 81.5 lakh and Rs 98.7 lakh. Following this, Gosain constituted a four-member committee to investigate the case. He also formed a high-level committee that took the samples of the herbs kept at Government Ayurvedic Pharmacy and also recorded the statements of the officials concerned.
The Anomalies
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Chargesheeted, PSPCL whistleblower cries foul
Jalandhar, July 15 Accusing the PSPCL functionaries of harassing him, Nirmal said “the chargesheet was nothing but pressure tactics to silence him on the power theft issue”. In June last week, Nirmal had submitted an affidavit to the PSPCL chairman-cum-managing director, KD Chaudhri, alleging that a senior corporation official posted with the enforcement wing was hand in glove with those indulging in power theft in the border areas of Amritsar. Chaudhri had subsequently ordered an investigation into the matter. Nirmal said, "The chargesheet that has been served to me has the charges of tampering the office file, notwithstanding the fact that I had only put some additional documents in the file to make the case more stronger against the power-theft accused." The chargesheet also mentions that Nirmal has levelled derogatory charges against his seniors in the file and that his attitude towards higher-rank officials was non-cooperative. Dubbing all the charges as “frivolous”, he said, "During my tenure as the Executive Engineer (Enforcement) in Amritsar from May 31 to December 20 last year, I had highlighted how my immediate boss was patronising consumers who were indulging in power theft. Now instead of initiating action against the culprits, I am being harassed.” When contacted, Chaudhri said he will look into the matter.
Getting to the root
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Marginal growth in VAT collections
Chandigarh, July 15 Officials in the Excise and Taxation Department said as compared to the VAT collection of Rs 3,680 crore between April and June last year, the VAT collections during the same period this year were Rs 4,126 crore. However, VAT from the sale of wheat was down by Rs 70 crore in the first quarter while VAT from the sale of automobiles was down by Rs 21 crore. This is mainly because wheat production in Punjab has fallen from 180 lakh tonnes last year to 160 lakh tonnes. As a result, wheat procurement from the state has fallen from 128.34 lakh tonnes last year to 108.78 lakh tonnes. This means that the 5 per cent purchase tax the state earns from the first purchaser of wheat, too, has gone down. Similarly, the economic slowdown has also had its impact on the sale of automobiles. With sales being down by almost 10-15 per cent, the VAT collections from this have gone down. Interestingly, had it not been for the tax compliance ensured by the Excise Department on part of automobile dealers following the detection of under-billing by some dealers in Bathinda and Patiala, the fall in VAT from automobiles would have been much more. This year, Punjab is targeting a 25 per cent increase in the VAT collections. As against Rs 14,500 crore collected during 2012-13, the state expects to collect over Rs 18,000 crore as VAT. For this, the state will have to have collect Rs 4,500 crore in each quarter. “This quarter, the growth has been slow, although there is an increase of almost 12 per cent over last year. To ensure a 25 per cent growth in the annual VAT collections, we are trying to increase the tax base by plugging all loopholes and getting more people in the VAT net,” said Excise and Taxation Commissioner Anurag
Verma.
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New Indian envoy crosses over to Pak
Amritsar, July 15 In a brief interaction with the media, he said, “There is a change in environment in Pakistan and certainly that is very important.” He said it had been witnessed over the last few years that there existed a potential for improving ties between the two countries. He, however, said there were a number of challenges and threats that posed a threat to the relations and that he would put in efforts to resolve these issues. Later, he crossed over to Pakistan through the Attari-Wagah land route. A 1982-batch officer of the Indian Foreign Service (IFS), Raghavan replaces Sharat Sabharwal, who has already returned to India. He had earlier served as the Deputy High Commissioner in Islamabad 10 years ago. Prior to this appointment, Raghavan was India’s High Commissioner to Singapore and Joint Secretary of the Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran (PAI) division in the Ministry of External Affairs.
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6 of 51 missing in U’khand return home
Chandigarh, July 15 Confirming the development, Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, General Administration, said, “Twenty-four of the 46 missing persons were pilgrims and they reportedly were in Kedarnath on June 16 when the shrine was hit by the disaster.” Among the pilgrims who have returned home are Kashmir Singh of Amritsar and Patiala residents Vinod Kumar, Minakshi Rani, Deepak and Simran. Of the 51 missing persons, 11 were from Ludhiana, eight from Amritsar, seven from Barnala, five each from Mohali and Fatehgarh Sahib, four from Patiala, three each from Bathinda and Hoshiarpur and one each from Ropar, Sangrur, Kapurthala, Fazilka and Gurdaspur districts. The control room is maintaining an updated data on the missing persons by regularly contacting their families. A senior official said, “We will review the list of those missing once we receive an update from the Uttarakhand Government.”
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Appointment of professors
Patiala, July 15 For many years, the university has been making appointments according to the qualifications approved by the All-India Council for Technical Education for the MBA and MCA courses. However, this year it has given an advertisement for two posts of computer science assistant professors at Mansa and Khuda colleges and has sought qualifications as approved by the UGC. Notably, the university has not yet approved the proposal that the qualifications of the All-India Council for Technical Education should be replaced by the UGC qualifications. After giving the advertisement, the authorities formed a committee and asked them to form a proposal that the norms should be replaced by the UGC. The committee held its meeting today and agreed on changing the rules. However, the proposal has not been cleared yet, since the university Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jaspal Singh, is out of the country. The university is, however, holding the interviews for the above posts tomorrow on the basis of the UGC qualifications. The Dean, academic affairs of the university, Dr Param Jit Singh, said since the Supreme Court had taken out these two courses from the preview of the All-India Council for Technical Education, we have decided to follow the UGC qualifications. “We are only holding the interviews but the candidates will be issued joining letters only after the VC’s decision,” he added.
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Information on Guru Harkishan Hospital under RTI ‘refused’
New Delhi, July 15 He said the hospital was one of the major issues on the election agenda of the SAD. The party had promised that the hospital would not be given to a private company. It would be run as a charitable hospital. The Sikhs had reposed faith in the SAD during the gurdwara committee elections, but five months on, no decision had been taken on canceling the lease deed signed by former DSGMC chief Paramjit Singh Sarna with BL Kapoor Company, Jasjit Singh said. He said though the SAD had promised to reply all queries filed under the RTI Act for information on DSGMC affairs, when RTI activist Bhupinder Singh of Punjabi Bagh sought to know the status of Guru Harkishan Hospital, he was told the case was sub-judice. General Secretary of the DSGMC Harmit Singh Kalka said the allegations by the SAD (Delhi-UK) were baseless. "The trust set up by Sarna will be dissolved.The promises made by the SAD in its election manifesto will be fulfilled,” he claimed. Amritsar: The SGPC today accused Pakistan of not doing enough in the case related to ‘desecration’ of Guru Granth Sahib at a gurdwara in Shakur district on June 18. In a statement, SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar said the incident had hurt the religious sentiments of the Sikhs across the globe. Urging the Pakistan Government to ensure strict action against the miscreants, he said he had written to the Pakistan High Commissioner in New Delhi.
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Two state medical colleges told not to admit students
Jalandhar, July 15 The MCI’s Board of Governors took the decision on a report filed by its team that conducted surprise visits and found the two institutes woefully under-staffed. Moreover, the colleges lacked inadequate infrastructure. Efforts to contact Swaran Salaria, chairman of the Chintpurni School Educational Society, running the Chintpurni Medical College proved futile. Talking to the Tribune, Surjit Singh Rakhra, chairman of the PIMS Medical and Educational Charitable Society, said the Medical Council of India had raised objections on
the delay in salaries to the staff and some other issues concerning the management.
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Narrow escape for five school kids as van catches fire
Sangrur, July 15 Sources said when the driver sensed smoke coming out of the van, he alighted from the vehicle and pulled the children out of. Seeing the vehicle, passersby reportedly threw water and sand on the van and managed to extinguish the fire. Sources further said if the fire was not controlled immediately, it could lead to a big explosion as the van had a gas kit. SHO Harinder Singh said the police had taken the van in its possession and also arrested the driver, Amarpreet Singh, after registering a case against him under Sections 279, 285 and 336 of the IPC. He also appealed to the parents not to send their children in such vehicles that had unauthorised alterations.
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CM sanctions Rs 9 cr for drinking water projects
Fatehgarh Sahib, July 15 The work on these projects would start by July 20, said Prof Prem Singh
Chandumajra, general secretary, SAD. He said 61 km steel-coated water pipes would be laid and a water tank and tube well would be constructed at Talania village. It would also provide drinking water and sewer facility to Roza Sharif Sahib.
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Talwandi Sabo, Rajpura plants get coal supply
Chandigarh, July 15 An official press note said a confirmation of readiness, on the same lines, had been recently made by the CEA for the trial run of the first 660 MW unit of the Sterlite Group's plant near Talwandi Sabo in September. A spokesperson of the Chief Minister’s office said the Chief Engineer, Operation Monitoring Division, CEA, had asked Coal India Limited (CIL) to supply coal to the Rajpura and Talwandi Sabo TPPs to carry out pre-commissioning/synchronisation activities, coal for carpeting, trial run etc. The Ministry of Power is also said to have issued a notification asking the CIL to sign fuel supply agreements (FSA) to include the thermal plants at Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura. Earlier, the Ministry of Power (CEA) had not included fuel linkage and signing of the FSA for certain units of Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura during 2014-15.These had been delayed to 2015-16.
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Rs 5 crore recovery notice to transporter
Jalandhar, July 15 A notice seeking the names was issued, but the company failed to respond. It was later considered the goods belonged to the transporter himself. Divisional Excise and Taxation Commissioner Sarojini Gautam Sharda confirmed having sent the notice. — TNS
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Sarpanch’s son killed in clash
Batala, July 15 Sources said two groups, both owing allegiance to the SAD, had been at loggerheads for some time. Tension had been building up between them ever since the panchayat elections. Batala Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Tulsi Ram said the two groups, both aligned with the Fatehgarh Churian halqa in charge, clashed over the placing of an electricity transformer. Raghubir Singh allegedly opened fire at Amarbir Singh, killing him on the spot. Both the parties had approached the Ghania ke Bangar police station. Station House Officer (SHO) Harshdeep Singh said he had called the warring groups to the police station but before a truce could be reached, Raghubir Singh shot Amarbir Singh in the head. The police has arrested one person so far. The SSP said that police parties had been sent to several places to nab the other accused. A case had been registered against five identified and 20 unidentified persons under Sections 302, 307, 323, 324, 148 and 149 of the IPC and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act. Ravi Kiran Kahlon, son of former Speaker and halqa in charge Nirmal Singh Kahlon, said: "I tried hard to bring about a rapprochement between the warring groups but in vain." Tripit Rajinder Singh Bajwa, sitting Congress MLA from Fatehgarh Churian, alleged the Batala police was not doing enough to arrest the accused.
Intense rivalry
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5 arrested for stealing coil from transformers
Sangrur, July 15 Sangrur SSP Mandeep Singh Sidhu said a police party from the Sadar police station had laid a naka near Jhanerri village and intercepted a Xylo SUV. On a search, the police seized 109 kg of copper coil, a Xylo SUV and about 2.5 kg of intoxicant powder from the occupants. The SSP said the accused had been identified as Ravel Singh, Bikramjit Singh, Ashwani Kumar, Kala Singh and Sukhwant Singh, all belonging to Amritsar district. The gang was active in Sangrur, Barnala, Moga and Ludhiana districts for the past two years. Preliminary investigations revealed that they had stolen copper coils from more than 200 transformers, he added.
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Kidnapped industrialist’s son returns
Ludhiana, July 15 Reliable sources said a woman from an influential family had been arrested. It is learnt that the ransom money was lying with her. "We are in the process of registering an FIR in the case. I cannot give any more details," said S Bhupati, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Khanna. The sources said that the state police chief, SS Saini, had supervised the investigations. A relative who visited Manish today, said the family did not want to talk about the matter.
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Chandigarh, July 15