Amritsar, September 17
The Amritsar rural police today arrested a member, panchayat, of Sangatpura village and another local resident for allegedly extorting Rs 4.85 lakh from an ex-serviceman for omitting his son’s name from a ‘drug traffickers’ list’.

The police recovered Rs 4.75 lakh from them and registered a case under Sections 384, 506 and 34, IPC, against the accused, Sukhpreet Singh, member, panchayat, who is also the vice-chairman of the Ajnala market committee, and Sukhdeep Singh, a resident of the Ranjit Avenue D-block area.

They were arrested following an inquiry conducted by the Jhander police after Gurnam Singh, the victim, approached the IG, border range, requesting him to order an impartial probe and do justice in the case. Gurnam Singh retired as Subedar from the Army and at present is an agriculturalist. He said his son, Bikramjit Singh, was a student of MSc at Mohali.

In his complaint, he stated that a few months ago, his son was summoned by the then SHO, Balwant Singh. He along with prominent persons of the village went to the police station where the SHO said that Bikramjit Singh’s name figured in a list of drug traffickers and robbers’ gang. Apprehending that his son would be implicated in a false case, he approached the accused, Sukhpreet Singh, seeking his help as he had connections in the Police Department. He said Sukhpreet Singh said that he would ask Sukhdeep Singh, who had good connections with higher police officials.

Sukhpreet Singh later confirmed to the family that Bikramjit’s name was present in the list and, if arrested, he would not get reprieve in the near future. Meanwhile, Balwant Singh was transferred from the police station. He said Sukhpreet Singh told him that the new SHO would arrest his son. He said he had talked to Sukhdeep Singh, who said that it would take Rs 5 lakh to bail out his son from the problem.

Gurnam Singh said he borrowed money and gave Rs 4.85 lakh to them in two instalments. He said Sukhpreet Singh assured him that he would take him to senior police officials for his satisfaction. However, till now, he did not take him to meet police officials.

He said recently the accused told him that they had not entered into any “contract” to bail his son out every time. Finding his changed attitude disturbing, he approached the IG, border range.

SSP Jasdeep Singh said it was Sukhpreet Singh himself, who had tipped off the police that Bikramjit Singh was involved in drug trafficking. Due to this, SHO Balwant Singh summoned Bikramjit Singh to the police station. He said Sukhpreet Singh and Sukhdeep Singh had planned all this to hoodwink Gurnam Singh. Following the probe, the police arrested both the accused and recovered Rs 4.75 lakh from them. 

Amritsar, September 17
With the arrest of two persons, the Amritsar rural police today claimed to have cracked a case of robbery in which a trader was robbed of his car and Rs 2.5 lakh in cash on August 30. He was returning to his native village at Majitha from the Kathunangla area when the incident took place.

Among those arrested were Mandeep Singh and Ravi, both residents of Mudhal village. The police recovered Rs 20,000 from them.

While giving details, SSP Jasdeep Singh said the victim, Nitin Kumar, a resident of the Fatehgarh Churian road, Matjiha, was a wholesale trader of ghee and refined oil. He along with his driver, Heera Singh, was returning home at Majitha in his Bolero vehicle (PB-02-BM-9799) when they were intercepted by six youths on two motorcycles near Ajaibwali village. They were armed with a sharp-edged and a pistol-like weapon. They snatched the vehicle and cash to the tune of Rs 2.50 lakh kept in a secret locker under the seat. They hit Kumar with their pistol before fleeing with the vehicle and the cash.

Jasdeep Singh said that during investigations, the police team recovered the vehicle from the Rupowali- village turn. They later zeroed in on Mandeep Singh and Ravi. Their investigations brought to the fore the names of Lekhu and Sonu of Mudhal village and Bunty of Majitha, who were still at large.

He said Sonu was under a huge debt and he was desperate to return it. However, he was unable to do so with his present income. Later, he masterminded the whole incident to snatch the vehicle and cash from the trader. 

Amritsar, September 17
Stray animals pose problems to the drivers on the Jalandhar-Attari bypass road, especially during the night. Vehicles on the bypass usually move at a high speed due to low traffic, which poses a risk to the lives of the occupants of these vehicles as well as animals.

The stray animals, especially cows, can be seen sitting in the middle of the road, which makes it difficult for the drivers to see them due to darkness. A local resident, Balkiran Singh, said, “It is difficult to see the animals sitting on the road. Accidents may happen any time. It will be better if the administration moves these stray cows to cow shelters.” The stray cow menace seems to be on the rise in the city. The reason behind the problem is stated to be the apathy of owners, who abandon an animal when it stops producing milk.

A veterinary doctor stated, “The cows often stop producing milk because they require much attention. Most of these are indigenous varieties of cows. Since it becomes uneconomical for farmers, they abandon these animals.”

The stray animal problem is not confined to urban areas where they cause hindrances in the traffic flow. Farmers in rural areas stated that hoards of these animals could be seen moving in their areas.

“Sometimes a herd can have 10 or more cows. The damage can well be imagined if they enter a field with a ripe crop at night. The animals will destroy more than they will eat,” said Kultar Singh, a resident of Baserke village.

Though a large number of cow shelters are being run by religious organisations and private individuals, the city has a large population of these stray animals. These cows feed on rotten vegetables thrown by vegetable sellers and often cause traffic troubles as they graze on grass grown on dividers in between roads. 

Amritsar, September 17
He has been crowned the unofficial Prince Charming by his female fans and he plays the part in his debut Bollywood film, “Khoobsoorat”. But when Fawad Khan visited Wagah border to watch the retreat ceremony and promote his film along with co-stars Sonam Kapoor and Kirron Kher, he oozed charm effortlessly, wearing a smile that women swoon over, giving autographs, shaking hands, and posing for pictures (hundreds of them) with his female fans, who couldn’t seem to get their hands off him.

Fawad, who became a household name in India post his show, “Zindagi Gulzar Hai”, is humbled by his huge fan following. “I enjoyed every bit of working in this industry as I felt quite at home here. I believe it’s beautiful that the two countries share so much history, ancestry and culture that you never feel away from home,” says he.

Fawad, whose reputation as a star and a brilliant actor preceded his big Bollywood debut, is eagerly waiting for the response to his film now. “I feel privileged to have received so much adulation and support from fans here. It’s overwhelming to see so many people encouraging you,” said the 32-year-old actor. Among his other Pakistani counterparts, most of whom have struggled to find their foot in Bollywood, Fawad is probably the only one to have had a successful small screen debut and a positive response even before his film debut. “That is a first,” he nods, “I am always there to support my fraternity wherever it extends to. I love to be an ambassador of love, peace, culture in India and I feel a sense of ownership towards the people of this country.”

He was all praise for his co-star Sonam Kapoor. “She is a popular Bollywood star in Pakistan and fun to work with. In fact all my co-stars in “Khoobsorat” made it quite an experience. It’s a fun film, where I play a Rajput Prince and a disciplinarian,” he said.

Sonam, too, had good things to say about her cross-border co-star. “Fawad is an honest and a good person. When you look at him, you can see it in his eyes. I wish there were more boys like him in India,” said the fashionista. The actor plays a misfit in the film and believes she is a misfit in real life as well. “Ï think we are all misfits in some way or the other and it’s great to be one. I think we should all be misfits.” She says the film is an ode to the Hrishikesh Mukherjee classic. “It’s a remake, but a completely different interpretation. I have high hopes from it and the songs are already a hit.”

“Khoobsoorat” stars Ratna Pathak Shah and Kirron Kher, who plays Sonam’s mother in the film. “We are a crazy mother-daughter pair in the film. I really enjoyed making the film as it never felt like working. I just have one major scene in the film with Fawad, but it was fun doing it,” said Kher.

The trio while watching the retreat ceremony joined in a patriotic spirit as Fawad Khan kept on waving towards the other side of the gate as well. The Pakistani crowd, too, was excited more than usual to watch their star share a seat between them. The Indian crowd, too, was loud in its appreciation of the actors.

Actor Sonam Kapoor also joined in later to greet the people of Pakistan by waving at them. Fawad said, “I had once watched the flag ceremony while shooting for a project two years ago and there are no words to describe the experience. It was electrifying.”

Amritsar, September 17
Voice of Amritsar kick started its campaign to generate funds and donations of daily-use items for the flood-hit victims of Jammu and Kashmiri at the medical college gurdwara, Circular Road. The articles donated will be sent to the needy in the flood-affected areas of that state. The campaign will last three days at the medical college gurdwara and VOA executives will be present there daily from 5 to 6 pm. “We appeal to the people to donate whole-heartedly, so that a substantial amount of goods and food can reach the people, who really need these.

Over óne million people are affected by floods in J&K and it’s our duty to save as many lives as possible and preserve the identity of a paradise in Kashmir. Donations will be accepted in any form as well,” said Seenu Arora, president of the VOA. — TNS

Amritsar, September 17
Though water hoses are installed in adequate numbers at Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport, water pipes are missing from the iron and glass enclosures, standing besides these.

The Amritsar airport is the only international airport in the region comprising key north Indian states of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. This is despite the fact that the airport is categorised as a high-security zone. A vigilant city resident, Gunbir Singh, said fire safety was a prerequisite for a sensitive spot like an airport. If there is any inadequacy in this regard, it should be rectified.

It was on December 22, 2008, that a minor fire had broken out at the airport’s arrival lounge. It was soon extinguished. However, it serves as a reminder that such accident could take place any time.

Airport director Suneel Dutt said the airport had got an excellent fire-fighting arrangement, which had been utilised even by the district administration in times of exigency. He said water pipes were kept safely in the fire room, which was close by. Besides, the airport has four sophisticated fire-crash tenders, which could attain a speed between 60 to 80 km in 2.5 seconds.

He said these tenders had got a water throw of 80 metres. It apparently meant that the tenders could reach any part of the airport within less than a minute. Besides, fire hydrants, which include water hoses and enclosure, were required where fire tenders were not closely available.

Amritsar, September 17
After garnering an impressive amount in the auction of commercial properties, the Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) has initiated the process to recover Rs 7 crore from 90 defaulters, who acquired the trust’s properties, but are yet to make full payment.

AIT chairman Sandeep Rishi said there were 90 defaulters from its various schemes and they were to pay Rs 7 crore to the trust. He said the trust issued notices to these defaulters, according to which they have to appeal to the Local Body Secretary within 60 days. Failure in making an appeal empowers the trust to seize their properties. The majority of these defaulters are having their properties in the 340-acre scheme, popularly known as New Amritsar, Nehru Shopping Complex, the Ajnala road scheme, commonly known as the Ranjit Avenue area. — TNS

Amritsar, September 17
Although the work on shifting and replacement of power lines in various parts of the holy city is underway, yet the residents rue that the quality of work being done is poor.

Most of the work being executed by the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) has been outsourced and private agencies engaged for the project are showing poor workmanship, thereby risking the lives of the residents.

In one such case, a new transformer was installed at New Amritsar Block- A recently. The four RCC poles, on which the base of the heavy transformer was rested, got tilted towards one side due to inclement weather conditions. The base of these poles is so weak that they can get uprooted anytime.

The residents complained that despite repeated pleas to the PSPCL, Amritsar, no attempt was made to inform the company or rectify the snag.

A resident of house No. 425, Sukhdev Singh Mattewal said, “It is quite scary to pass through the spot on the road on which this transformer has been installed. This is the busiest location as a number of residences are located around it. I have called right from linemen to higher officials atleast 50 times, but to no avail. Since the work has been outsourced, the PSPCL officials seldom care to shoulder any responsibility.”

Endorsing Mattewal’s views, Sohan Lal, president of Senior Citizen Forum, New Amritsar, said the work on the base of the four cemented poles was left half-done. “Just imagine the consequences as the transformer base has tilted to one side thus putting the entire load on the two pillars. Base of these poles sans proper concrete material filling and it may fall down easily risking the lives of commuters, who use this route daily,” he rued.

XEN, Mall Mandi, Darbari Lal, was contacted a number of times during past few days. Except for verbal assurances, he could do nothing.

Superintending engineer SK Chawla, when contacted, said as the work was outsourced to private hands, the responsibility of addressing the problems if any lay on both the parties.

“Give me the location, I will get it done on priority. If there is such a serious lapse, we are bound to set it in right,” he assured. This was not the only case, which can be cited as an example of lapse on the part of the PSPCL authorities. There are number of spots in the city where transformers and high tension wires have been placed on bent electricity poles. At some places, the PSPCL has just erected a temporary support to make the pole stand. Few electricity poles are broken from the point from where wires get the support.

A resident of East Mohan Nagar, LJ Singh, said reinforced poles were not being installed for transmission lines by the private company in Amritsar. “No, they are not reinforced in the real sense, because in our locality, one such pole snapped like a match stick when it was hit by something. The broken part of this pole showed that there were no steel bars (saria) running through its length, except a thin wire mesh on one side. “It gives us shivers when we think about what will happen if strong winds uproot these poles,” he said. 

Amritsar, September 17
The Leader of the Opposition today criticised ill-conceived policy matters while launching a scathing attack on the ruling SAD-BJP alliance. Congress leader Raj Kanwal Preet Pal Singh Lucky said Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s announcement to make Amritsar a smart city was nothing but eyewash as his Urban Development counterpart Venkaiah Naidu in a statement had conveyed imposition of taxes to carry out development works.

“The dream of making Amritsar as smart city may not be realised, but it can soon be the tax city. Apart from the property tax, the government now plans to impose water, sewerage and garbage processing taxes, which will further burden the residents,” he said.

Lucky stressed that the government had failed to implement any concrete policy regarding the century old unsafe structures, which were a threat to the lives of occupants of these buildings.

“Every time when it rains, many such dilapidated structures fall killing their residents. Except for serving notices to occupants, the government has done nothing. When the BJP’s office adjoining Durgiana Temple developed cracks, the whole administrative machinery was pressed into service to initiate preventive measures. I have come to know that Rs 1 crore was spent to engage a Delhi-based company to save the BJP office in the city,” he added. He said corruption had plagued the MC’s functioning as a number of illegal constructions were going on at full swing right under the nose of the authorities concerned.

“Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora has recently called up meeting of officials of the Municipal Town Planning Department to take view of gross irregularities. I appreciate that the Mayor has asked the department to prepare a report of illegal constructions within a span of 15 days. Yet, I fear that this exercise, too, will end up with no results. The reason is that earlier Mayor had asked for a report regarding the defunct water overhead reservoirs from the MC, but till date no such information has been given. All these exercises are undertaken just to gain publicity,” he said. — TNS

Amritsar, September 17
With Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) becoming the prime target of armed robbers, the security guards deputed to safeguard these machines are becoming vulnerable to brutal assault by such miscreants. In one such instance, three unidentified armed persons seriously injured a security guard, an ex-serviceman, guarding an ATM of Oriental Bank of Commerce (OBC) at Tarsikka last night.

However, he survived as fortunately a police patrolling party of the Tarsikka police reached the spot a couple of minutes later. While the victim, identified as Sukhwinder Singh, was immediately rushed to the hospital, the accused managed to escape taking cover of the darkness and huge wild growth near the spot. The victim was later shifted to a private hospital in Amritsar. The accused could not break open the ATM machine as the police arrived on time.

Bhupinder Kaur, SHO of the Tarsikka police, said three armed miscreants attacked and injured Sukhwinder with sharp-edged weapons before dragging him towards a secluded place covered with huge wild growth. She said ASI Tarsem Singh along with head constable Shankar came to the spot and got suspicious after finding Sukhwinder missing from the ATM machine with its shutters down.

“The patrolling team reached the spot within minutes as they were coming from Khajala village, located a few kilometres away. They started looking for Sukhwinder,” said the SHO. On hearing Sukhwinder’s screams, the police team managed to trace him, added the SHO.

Bhupinder Kaur said a case under Sections 382, 511, 323, 324 of the IPC, besides the Arms Act had been registered against unidentified culprits and further investigations were under progress.

Earlier, a security guard was seriously injured by armed robbers in Rajasansi area on September 6. The miscreants decamped with Rs 26 lakh by breaking open the ATM machine with a gas cutter. The police was yet to make any breakthrough in the case. 

Amritsar, September 17
The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) submitted a memorandum to Union Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani during her visit to the holy city yesterday to apprise her about the problems being faced by university and college teachers.

The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union general secretary, Prof HS Walia, made a fervent appeal to the minister to clear the file pertaining to streamlining of academic performance indicator (API) score system for the promotion of university and college teachers under Career Advancement Scheme (CAS).

The memorandum also highlighted the fact that due to undue delay in taking final decision on the relaxation in API score system, the promotion of thousands of teachers in the country had been withheld from June 2010 onwards. The University Grants Commission issued the regulations pertaining to the Career Advancement Scheme on June 30, 2010. Thereafter, the Anomaly Committee and the Revisit Committee, formed by the UGC, met several times to amend and streamline the Career Advancement Scheme regulations, but no decision had been taken so far, he added.

The memorandum also apprised the minister about the higher education system going haywire in Punjab.

It was highlighted that due to non-release of grant meant for salaries for the last one and half year (from May, 2013 onwards) to the non-government aided colleges and imposition of ban on recruitment since 2005, the financial condition of colleges had deteriorated to such an extent that 50 per cent of instutions were on the brink of closure.

Due to the imposition of ban, 2,000 posts of teacher are lying vacant, which has badly affected the quality of higher education in the state. The memorandum also included other issues such as implementation of pension and gratuity scheme, raising of retirement age from 60 to 65 years as per the Union government notification and relaxation from refresher courses as per the UGC guidelines.

The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union (PCCTU) appealed to the minister to intervene and direct the Bharatiya Janata Party leadership in the state to impress upon the state government to invite the teachers’ representatives for talks for amicable solution to the problems.

Prof Walia also extended an invitation to the HRD minister to inaugurate the National Academic Conference on “Quality in higher education: Issues and challenges,” which will be organised by the All India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation from November 14 to 16, in Chandigarh.

Amritsar, September 17
A German couple, Andreas Blasé and Ute Vogel, crossed over from Pakistan to India today in their Landrover from Attari-Wagah Joint Check Post to explore different parts of the Silk route.

It is their third expedition on the Caravan route, another name for the Silk route. However, all the three times they undertook separate roads to ensure that they do not miss any of its shade.

Berlin- based IT engineer, Andreas, said, objective of their odysseys was to discover all Caravan routes of the Silk road following the footsteps of explorers, Italian Marco Polo, Swedish Sven Hedin and British Aurel Stein.

He said the road was chosen as it is the oldest known surviving road, which was probably over 2000 years old. “It is a transcontinental trade route between China, Central Asia and Europe,” he added.

He said crossing over mountains like Pamir, Hindukush, Karakoram and Tianshan and driving in deserts of Gobi, Taklamakan, Kizikum and Karakum was a challenging task.

Since the Silk route did not go through only big cities, they had to live in pitched tents for 30 days during their journey, he added.

Ute said both of them were happy that Chinese government was eventually investing funds to revive the Silk route by constructing roads in Afghanistan and Pakistan. She said during their expeditions they were fascinated by the magnificient landscapes, lovely people, cultural and historical treasures.

This time they started their expedition from Polland and after crossing through Baltic state, Belarus, Russia, Azerbaizan, Russia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Russia, Kyrgystan, China and Pakistan, entered India. From here they would move to Nepal, then again to India, Myanmar, China, Laos, Thailand and finally go back to Germany.

The couple has a grudge that they could not visit some parts of the Silk route in Iraq as it was under siege. Bamyan in Afghanistan, which was still ruled by the Taliban, was also out of bounds for them. They could not go to Luop Nua in China as its government did not want foreigners to visit the area being a nuclear weapon test site. 

Amritsar, September 17
A four-day Zonal Youth Festival of affiliated colleges of Guru Nanak Dev University from B Zone, which include Tarn Taran, Pathankot and Gurdaspur districts, was started at Dashmesh Auditorium here today with beats of bhangra. More than 500 students-artistes are participating in 27 items of music, theatre, dance, literary and fine arts. This festival will conclude on September 20.

Registrar, Dr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, inaugurated the festival by lighting candles in the presence of faculty members and students.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Dhillon appreciated the efforts of the Youth Welfare Department for successfully organising youth festivals. He encouraged the participants to perform better in every field for succeeding in life. Participation in such activities was more important than wining or loosing, he added.

The registrar said students from rural areas had also achieved success in academics, research and sports. “I hope that the selected students from these youth festivals will achieve at the national level for the university in future,” Dr Dhillon said.

Earlier, Dr Jagjit Kaur, director, youth welfare, welcomed the chief guest and student-artistes. She also gave details of the activities and achievements of the department. She honoured Prof Dhillon with a memento on the occasion.

Today’s competitions started with bhangra followed by group song (Indian), group shabad/bhajan, vaar, kavishri and fine arts. Competitions of costume exhibition, skit, mimicry, mime, folk song, geet/gazal, classical instrumental (percussion), classical vocal, rangoli and fulkari will be held on Thursday.

Competitions of folk instruments, group song (western), classical dance, western vocal, classical instrumental non-percussion, poetical symposium, elocution and debate will be held on Friday. On Saturday, the last day of the festival, 20 competitions of group song, quiz and giddha will be held.