Jalandhar, August 21
Finding sufficient evidential circumstances against the son of Satwinder Kaur, who was murdered at her place in Gulmarg Avenue, near Ladhewali, last afternoon, the city police has arrested him in the case.

The police claims that the mother-son duo had strained relations for sometime as the deceased was strict with Dilpreet Singh (20), the latter being much spendthrift. The son wanted to get married to a girl of his choice to which the parents had been reportedly resisting.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Jaspreet Singh Sidhu said much confused after having killed his mother, Dilpreet had been doing a lot of flip-flops on his statements since last noon. "He changed his statements a number of times till late evening. We rounded him up, cross-questioned him and he finally gave in around midnight. After his confession, we booked him under Section 302 of the IPC on the complaint of his maternal uncle Baldev Singh," said Sidhu.

The SHO, Bimal Kant, had yesterday said he considered Dilpreet as the main suspect. "He perhaps first tried to kill her by strangling her with a wire and then with a kitchen knife. He confessed that he then wanted to hang her to a ceiling fan, but could not as he was alone and could not lift the body to a height. He then tried to tie her neck with the bathroom tap and show it as suicide. The scene clearly showed that he had changed various positions of the body and was much scared of being caught," said the SHO.

Further, the washing off of blood stains in the house, which even partly remained at some places, led to more suspicion. No loss of jewellery and valuables from the house was the next point as evidence of no role of outsider. A statement of neighbours that they did not notice anyone coming in or going out of the house during that time came as another vital clue for the police.

"Having momentarily lost his mental balance, Dilpreet even went to call his maternal uncles living close by and also a doctor, with absolutely no reason to do so," said ADCP (Crime) Harpreet Singh Mander. Mander added that while the youth had been booked under Section 302 of the IPC, more sectionss would be added.

The ADCP-I, Naresh Dogra, said that there was so much mistrust prevailing between the woman and her son. "Satwinder was so apprehensive of her son splurging all the time that she used to go along with him even up to filling stations whenever he was to get fuel filled in his bike," he said.

The accused's father Nirmal Singh, who is working in Saudi Arabia, is scheduled to come home tomorrow. It would be a big shock for him as his wife is no more and son has gone behind bars for the heinous crime. Deputy Commissioner of Police Jaspreet Singh Sidhu said Nirmal Singh had been apprised of his wife's murder. "We have not told him about his son's arrest for he must be in his transit. His family might have already done so," Sidhu.

Youth going astray There have been several incidences in the recent past wherein youths have been found to be involved in heinous crimes. A minor and a Class XI student from Dhilwan, Amit Kumar, was booked for the murder of 30-year-old Vicky after a clash four days back. Even Dilpreet (20) has barely completed his diploma in hotel management and is still jobless.

Jalandhar, August 21
An emotional bonding, coupled with some insanity, made a mentally challenged man not disclose the death of his mother three days back to anyone. He remained confined to home, did not share his grief with anyone and continued to silently lie alongside the body till the neighbourers today complained of a foul smell emanating from the house.

Not having noticed Prema (70) coming out of the house in Central Town here for the past few days, neighbours said they tried going in to inquire about her well-being, but all such attempts were resisted by her son, who even tried to go volatile against them.

This morning, they all gathered around the house and thought of sharing the problem with area councillor Uma Beri and her husband Rajinder Beri, who, too, tried to go in but got scared of the continuous, loud groaning and erratic behaviour of the deceased's son Bittu (40).

They then called the police and the staff from the Division Number 4 police station finally got inside and took out her body. As this exercise went on Bittu reportedly went upstairs and started taking off his clothes showing annoyance over his parting from his mother.

On the request of the neighbours, who anticipated an attack on them by Bittu, who had turned much aggressive, the police took Bittu along and got him admitted to the Civil Hospital.

Rajinder Beri said Bittu was often seen strolling on roads by the residents as he kept on murmuring something or the other. "He had got married more than a decade back, but his wife left him. Upset over her son's deteriorating mental health, Prema had even tried getting her treated from Amritsar where he remained admitted for a few months," he said.

He said ever since Bittu's mother had died, he did not come outside. Everyone was even clueless as to how he managed to have food in the past three days.

The SHO, Division Number 4 police station, Surinder Pal Singh, said the woman perhaps had apparently died of some sickness or a heart attack. "We faced little resistance from the deceased's son, but it was manageable. We got him admitted to the Civil Hospital. Prema's daughter, who is in Shimla, is yet to come. So we have kept the body at the Civil Hospital mortuary," he said.

Jalandhar, August 21
Over 15 more cases of suspected gastroenteritis surfaced in Madhuban Colony, which has been under the grip of the disease for the past three days. The serious patients were given medical assistance, besides distributing pamphlets to educate general public.

With the surfacing of more cases, the number of suspected gastroenteritis patients have gone over to 80. One patient is still undergoing treatment at the Civil Hospital.

Mayor Sunil Jyoti along with certain officials of the local civic body today took a round of the colony and interacted with residents.

The teams of doctors and paramedical staff that have been camping in the colony distributed medicines and chlorine tablets among the area residents.

Health teams also visited Guru Nanak Pura, where residents had been complaining of contaminated water supply for the past three days.

The outbreak of the gastroenteritis in Madhuban Colony had caught the district health authorities napping as the water supply pipes, crossing choked sewerage lines, have been supplying contaminated water in the residential colony for the past one week.

Jalandhar, August 21
Following revelation regarding issuance of 19 arms licences on the address of election office of Congress MLA Rana Gurjit Singh at Kapurthala, various Deputy Commissioners and SSPs during whose tenure the licences were issued have been simply passing buck on to one another.

It was during the tenure of Deputy Commissioners Rakesh Verma, Sameer Kumar and Raminder Singh that the weapon licences were issued at the address of Ekta Bhawan, Circular Road. While the Deputy Commissioners have been claiming that they had only issued licences on the basis of reports from the then SSPs, the SSPs on the other hand have said that the DCs were the final authority on licences and they cannot recall each of these cases.

Of the 19 licences, as many as 10 were issued during the tenure of Raminder Singh from April 2006 to March 2007. The seven arms licences which were issued on the basis of fake ration cards were also made during this period. Three licences were issued during the period of Sameer Kumar and four during Rakesh Kumar.

Sameer Kumar, an IAS officer, when contacted, said he had always issued licences on the basis of police report. SK Asthana, SSP, on the other hand, said he could not recall any such cases. “It is a nearly an eight year old matter and the files are consigned in the DC's office, Kapurthala”, he said.

DS Mangat, DC, Kapurthala, when contacted, said there were no orders to mark an inquiry as of now. Principal Secretary, Home, DS Bains said, “I will respond only when I get a copy of the inquiry report. I need some time on this.”

Following a spat between Rana and Revenue Minister Bikram Majithia in December last, the police and the administration had secretly conducted an enquiry into the matter.

Most Akali leaders have found already trained their guns against the Opposition saying that the Congress brigade had been using muscle men to indulge in wrongful activities. Rana’s arch-rival and former SAD MLA Sarabjit Makkar has used the opportunity to blame him for creating tense situation in the Assembly for winning polls last year. “We had even got an FIR lodged against his armed men for attacking our cavalcade during polls last year”, he claimed. “We are in the process of now giving an application to the SSP to get a thorough probe conducted”, he added.

Reacting on the issue, Bikram Majithia said the enquiry had proven that Rana had converted his election office to arms depot. “It is a small house with probably three bedrooms in it. Not more than 10 people can live in it. But there were 19 licences issued on this address. Three weapons can be taken against one licence. So there must be nearly 60 weapons in that house. Rana perhaps is the only politician across the country who has got so many licences issued from his election office. Was he fighting a war? Was his house situated at the border?” Majithia questioned. “An MLA or an MP is a representative of people and not the one to indulge in criminal intimidation”, he further added.

Amritsar, August 21
Even though importers are ruing the fall in rupee against the dollar, exporters are cheering, as their profit has increased by export of shawls, stoles, chess boards and rice.

A chess board and pieces exporter Kuljeet Singh accepted that the profits had really increased, but it could not be spelled in figures or percentage. He added that a majority of the local chess was exported to European countries and the demand picked up before Christmas. The city has many units specialising in chess board and its pieces manufactured from wood.

Shawl exporter PL Seth said, “There is certainly some benefit over the export of shawls but it has been brought down by the costly import of raw material.”

Local export-oriented units use yard made from imported April Wool from Australia, while wool for carpet is imported from New Zealand. Besides, American wool is imported from the USA, Urugaian wool from Russia and South African wool is also popular for preparing the material. Pashmina wool, which is found only in the Ladakh region of the country, also comes from China.

He added that though the exporters were reaping monetary profit, the overall devaluation of the rupee in international market was detrimental to the Indian economy.

Exporter Arvinder Pal Singh of Amar Singh Chawal Wala (Lal Qila) brand said it was a temporary benefit and in the long run, the economy would suffer. He said the communication was so fast that the traders around the globe know the fraction of fluctuation in the currency and move accordingly. He said in rice export, their main rival was Pakistan and its currency has touched 103 in exchange of a dollar.

Jalandhar, August 21
Family members of Nathpal, an accused in the Vicky murder case held a protest by burning the effigy of the Punjab Police at Reru Chowk here today. Family members and BSP workers, who led the protest said the sequence of events had been planned in a way to nail Nathpal, the main accused, for lodging a complaint against the police in the four-year-old shootout by Balbir Singh Bittu, SAD, MC councillor.

They demanded that the councillor and Raj Kumar Jhona, councillor's driver, who was with Vicky at the time of the clash on Dhilwan Road on the night of August 16, be also brought under the ambit of the case. Nathpal's minor son, Amit Kumar and another accused Rakesh Kumar, too, have been booked by the Rama Mandi police. They demanded that a case be registered under Section 307 instead of 302 of the IPC.

Jalandhar, August 21
A complete apathy shown by our society has forced the future of 44-year-old mentally disabled Ashish to be spent in dark. His father, a 78-year-old retired Wing Commander from the Air Force has decided not to allow his two daughters to take responsibility of their brother after his death after experiencing a proscribed approach himself by the society. A retired officer is leading a dejected and isolated life due to societal malaise.

"My wife had died 3 years ago. Earlier, there were phone calls from our relatives and neighbours, but now they are busy with their own families. We have just become aliens in our own society. I do not want my two daughters and their families to lead the same forbidden life as I am living for the past so many years", said CL Sega, whose elder daughter is settled in Canada and the younger one in Gurgaon.

He is now worried about the future of his son. At a time when parents look out for girls for their sons' marriage, I am searching for a place for him to survive after my demise, said Sehgal who had even visited some shelter homes in and around the city to look for a suitable home for his son.

"Ashish was born healthy. When he was about 6 months old, he had a very high fever which damaged his brain cells completely. After that, the family ran from pillar to post to get him treated but to no avail. We even tried to put him to a special school in New Delhi for his rehabilitation once but it didn't materialise", added Sehgal.

After that, a long struggle of dejection began. People nowadays prefer to visit some orphanage for charity, but spending time with any such relative of their own, is out of question.

"Unfortunately, our society treats them as no human beings but as an object of pity and hatred. The prevailing attitude is that such individuals are incapable of participating or contributing to the society and so they are taken as a decayed part to be kept on one side with no association with the community, said Amarjit Singh Anand, president, Social Activist, Jalandhar.

"Even such families have problem in keeping a helper in the house as no one wants to work in a house without a woman. Earlier, my wife used to take care of him and I looked after the work outside. But now after her death, I had to lock him inside for hours to do outside work. I cannot even keep an attendant for him due to his mental ill health", said Sehgal.

"After experiencing such apathy, I have decided not to allow my daughters to take care of their brother. I don't want my daughters to suffer because of him. He will live with me till my end and after that God will take care of him", he sighs off!

Amritsar, August 21
Does fish oil help in the speedy recovery of accident victims or burns victims? The answer, according to a study, is yes.

As per a survey conducted by a city-based private hospital on its patients for the past six months, promising results were reported in the patients who were given fish oil-enriched intravenous nutrition regimen.

A paper in this connection was presented at the "Second International Conference and Exhibition on Nutritional Science & Therapy" at Philadelphia, USA, by Dr Pankaj Soni, chief anaesthesiologist representing the hospital.

Dr Soni pointed out that the patients with fish oil-enriched intravenous nutrition regimen plays a wonderful role in the early recovery of patients suffering from burns and trauma injuries.

Dr Avtar Singh, director and head of the orthopaedics department of the hospital, said, the hospital was using fish oil-enriched nutritious diet given through intravenous means in the hospital for the past six years with encouraging results.

A random, parallel group study was carried out at the intensive medicine, department of critical care of the hospital and a comparative sample was of a total of 311 patients all of whom were accident victims.

He said the patients were divided into two groups, in which there were 153 patients in a control group and 158 patients were put in the steady group. The patients in the steady group were imparted a fish oil-enriched nutritious diet intravenously. All the accident victims taken in this sample group were those with 30 or more percentage of burns.

Jalandhar, August 21
The CT Group of Institutions is starting a free hospitality training programme, "Huner Se Rozgar" under the Capacity Building Scheme of the Ministry of Tourism, Union Government at the CT Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology (CTIHM & CT), Maqsudan and CTIHM (Shahpur) campus, Jalandhar with effect from September 1.

On the whole, 14 batches have been approved by the Ministry of Tourism, Union Government, out of which six batches have been sanctioned for the CT Institute of Hotel Management, Jalandhar. The courses will include Bakery and Patisseries, Food Production and Housekeeping.

Giving the details of the programme, Rohit Sarin, principal of the CTIHM & CT said the students would get a certificate duly issued by the Ministry of Tourism after the successful completion of the programme. "Apart from this, as per the scheme, all the students would get token stipend, a set of uniform to wear during the training period and a tool kit required to work in the kitchen. This way the programme provides both practical training and financial support to students undergoing this programme", he added. Sarin further said the trainees would get a better start in the hospitality sector. "Moreover, they can also start their own restaurants, hotels, motels, food joints etc. after getting training under this programme", he said.

Amritsar, August 21
Close on the heels of the arrest of Harpreet Singh of Bhakna Kalan who has nabbed by the narcotics cell of the Amritsar rural police with 500 gm of heroin worth Rs 2.5 crore in the international market a couple of days ago, the rural police has arrested another person with half kilogram of heroin.

The accused, identified as Satbir Singh, a resident of Ibban Kalan village, was arrested from adjoining Ibban Khurd. The police authorities said he was intercepted while he was escaping from the spot after seeing the police party.

A case under Sections 21/61/85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against him, while further investigations have been launched to know the source of the contraband.

Meanwhile, the police has arrested another person, identified as Baljit Singh of Nangali Kalan with 250 gm of narcotic powder. He was arrested from near the Nangali Khurd drain. Further investigations are under progress.

The Mehta police nabbed another alleged notorious drugs peddler Jasbir Singh from near village Buttar Kalan drain and confiscated 260 gm of narcotic powder from his possession.