Sarpanch among 18 booked in two firing incidents in rural areas
Amritsar, October 10
The Amritsar rural police have booked around 18 persons, including a sarpanch, in two separate firing incidents occurred at Jhander and Dhaul Kalan villages in the last 24-hours. However, the victims narrowly escaped in both the incidents.

Bishop of Amritsar elected Moderator of CNI
Amritsar, October 10
Rev Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy, Bishop of Amritsar, was welcomed by the members of the diocese upon reaching here after the Synod of the Church of North India (CNI) elected him the Moderator of the CNI.

Improvement Trust increases number of booths at New Amritsar firecracker market
Amritsar, October 10
The Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) has increased the number of booths at the temporary firecracker market in the New Amritsar area on the GT road to 70. Earlier, the plan was to set up only 50 booths.



Workers set up sample kiosks at the temporary firecracker market in Amritsar. A Tribune photograph

Amritsar, October 10
Even as the Municipal Corporation has embarked on a cleanliness drive under the Swachh Bharat campaign, which is inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, ironically, garbage is scattered around the Mahatma’s statue at the historic Company Bagh.

Incidentally, on October 2, Cabinet Minister Anil Joshi kicked off the campaign from the Company Bagh in the presence of other leaders, including city Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora, who took an oath to maintain cleanliness.

Mayor Arora recently headed a team to remove garbage from the parks, apparently, as part of the Swachh Bharat campaign. In his statement, he said the parks needed to be cleaned up as the environment-friendly atmosphere would benefit the health of residents who go there for morning and evening walk.

The facts point out that the cleanliness of the historic Company Bagh, also known as the summer capital of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, has been totally ignored. His camp office is also located here where he visits almost daily.

Residents, who usually visit Company Bagh, pointed out that the statue of the Father of the Nation in the Bagh finds favours with politicians and authorities only on Gandhi Jayanti, whereas for the rest of the year, it can be surrounded by garbage and waste bottles.

Gurmeet Singh Bablu, chief of Shaheed Bhagat Singh Welfare Society, said it was nothing but bringing disgrace to a noble soul who had tremendous contribution in liberating the nation.

“The Swachh Bharat campaign is a welcome move to sensitise the residents about keeping their surroundings clean, but it has appeared to be nothing but just publicity scheme for many politicians and celebrities,” he said.

Another resident Baldev Singh said he had been observing that generally there is so much of muck and choked water drains around Mahatma Gandhi’s statue located in the Bagh that it becomes difficult to pass through the place without putting a handkerchief on nose.

“Our politicians should refrain from gaining political mileage and should first transform their bent of mind. Not only the site of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue, there are many other spots inside the Company Bagh which are being used as garbage dumping sites. One out of them is near the historic watch tower and the stink emanating from the garbage has made it difficult to cross over from there,” he said.

Another resident said, “To make things worst, the MC’s own sanitary staff set the refuse on fire, without bothering its negative effects on people’s health. This issue was highlighted a number of times by the media but the authorities have never paid any heed to it.”

Amritsar, October 10
The C-Zone Youth Festival of Jalandhar colleges, affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev University, has been scheduled to be held from October 12 to 15 at various venues at Guru Nanak Dev University.

Dr Jagjit Kaur, director, Youth Welfare Department, said the festival would be inaugurated at 9.30 am at Dasmesh Auditorium of the university on October 12.

The festival will start with a bhangra performance, followed by group song Indian, one act play, group shabad/bhajan, vaar singing, kavishri and fine arts competition.

Amritsar, October 10
The Amritsar rural police have booked around 18 persons, including a sarpanch, in two separate firing incidents occurred at Jhander and Dhaul Kalan villages in the last 24-hours. However, the victims narrowly escaped in both the incidents.

The police have registered cases and launched a manhunt to nab the accused.

In the first incident, Jagtar Singh of Hardo Putli village that comes under the jurisdiction of the Jhander police station said he had gone to meet his relatives at Jhander.

Jagtar Singh said when he was returning, the accused identified as Satyavarnjit Singh, sarpanch of Kaadowali village along with several other persons attacked him. They fired at his car with an intention to kill him, he alleged.

He said the accused fled away while threatening to murder him.

The police have registered a case under Sections 307, 506, 148 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code and 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act against the culprits. Others who were booked include Satnam Singh, Braham Singh of Jhander, Karma of Nava Pind and Pinda and Jora of Kotli Sakiyawali village.

Avtar Singh, SHO of the Jhander police station, said an old enmity was the reason behind the incident.

In another incident, Harpreet Singh of Dhaul Kalan village said he had a dispute with several persons and a case was already pending in the court. He said last evening, a quarrel ensued between them over connecting a power line.

The accused, identified as Navjot Singh, Gurvail Singh, Ajaypal Singh, Talwinder Singh, Agyapal Singh, Reshambir Singh, Baaz Singh and Rashpal Singh, all residents of Meerakot, fired at his residence.

He said they had a narrow escape. The accused fled the scene while threatening to kill them. A case under Sections 307, 506, 148 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code and 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act had been registered at the Kamboh police station in this regard, said Surjit Singh, investigating officer.

Amritsar, October 10
Rev Pradeep Kumar Samantaroy, Bishop of Amritsar, was welcomed by the members of the diocese upon reaching here after the Synod of the Church of North India (CNI) elected him the Moderator of the CNI.

He was unanimously elected the Moderator of the CNI during the four-day 15th Ordinary Meeting concluded on October 4 at Sherwood College, Nainital.

The bishops of 27 dioceses and over 300 delegates of the CNI took part in 
the meet.

Daniel B Das, Director, SEDP and property manager of the diocese of Amritsar informed that Samantaroy took over from PP Marandih, the outgoing 12th moderator.

He elaborated that the CNI was constituted on November 29, 1970 following amalgamation of the Council of Baptist Churches in Northern India, the Church of Brethren in India, the Disciples of Christ, the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (CIPBC), The Methodist Church (British and Australian Conference and the United Church of Northern India.

Bishop Samantaroy was warmly welcomed by the representatives of churches, heads of the institutions situated in Punjab, Himanchal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

Rev Samantaroy expressed his gratitude to the Almighty for bestowing the responsibility of serving the church on him.

Amritsar, October 10
The Amritsar Improvement Trust (AIT) has increased the number of booths at the temporary firecracker market in the New Amritsar area on the GT road to 70. Earlier, the plan was to set up only 50 booths.

Improvement Trust chairman Sandeep Rishi said keeping in view the response from the traders and the size of the local market, it was decided to increase the number 
of booths.

Out of the 70 booths, 30 are reserved for the traders who had their firecracker shops in the trust’s Jahajgarh scheme and were pleading in the court demanding a permanent Patakha market. For the remaining 40 booths, the trust received 50 applications.

Rishi said all booths had been allocated to the traders and in case the traders from reserved category of 30 booths did not turn up then those booths would be allotted to 10 traders in the waiting list.

Meanwhile, firecracker traders are all geared up to set up a retail market at the New Amritsar locality.

Harish Dhawan of Amritsar Fire Works Association said a temporary firecracker market was expected to be operational in the New Amritsar area on the GT Road from October 14 or 15.

He said though some traders were not happy at being allotted space on the outskirts of the city, a little time was left to set up the kiosks and then to start the trade.

About 60 per cent of the traders today deposited the fee of Rs 28,100, including service tax, with the trust, he added.

He said 12’x25’ size booths would be set up and each booth would cost about Rs 35,000.

The trust allotted space for setting up 70 stalls. Similarly, 74 stalls were allocated in Ludhiana and 107 in Jalandhar, he added.

Amritsar, October 10
The agitating students of Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital today burned an effigy of Member of Parliament and Union Minister for Food Processing, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, for ignoring their demand to shift them to other recognised colleges of the state.

According to them, the Medical Council of India had cancelled the recognition of their college as it failed to fulfil the norms on mandatory infrastructure and staff. They have been protesting outside Government Medical College since September 27.

They alleged while Harsimrat Kaur Badal had been the patron of the Nanhi Chhan campaign for saving the girl child, a number of girls along with other medical students are forced to sit on the road for demanding their rights.

The students also handed over a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner Bhupinder Singh and sought a meeting with the Chief Minister.

They said during the sangat darshan programme earlier this month, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had sought time till October 7. But till now, there had been no response from the government while Medical Education and Research Minister Anil Joshi had turned a blind eye towards their problem, they alleged.

While they got the support of various political leaders, including senior BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla, their requests have not yielded anything. The students started a chain hunger strike from yesterday.

Amritsar, October 10
Two inmates of the Amritsar Central Jail made an unsuccessful attempt to commit suicide on the premises of the jail yesterday. One of them tried to hang himself from the roof while the other cut his veins, but was saved with timely assistance. They have been serving the jail term for criminal activities like murder and drugs smuggling. Both were stated to be under depression.

The first incident occurred at around 2.30 pm when an undertrial, Hardeep Singh, son of Kuldip Singh, a resident of Rangah Bhana Patti Gill village on the Mehta road, tried to end his life in the hospital on the jail premises. He attempted to hang himself from the ceiling fan hook with the help of a bed sheet. He had been booked under the NDPS Act.

According to information, he was spotted by his fellow inmate who lent him support on time and saved him. On the basis of a complaint lodged by Jail Superintendent RK Sharma, a case under Section 309, IPC, and 42 Prisoner Act has been lodged with the Cantonment police station.

In the second incident that occurred at around 10.30 pm, another inmate, Vijay, son of Baljit Singh, a resident of Nangli Bhatta village on the Fatehgarh Churian road, had cut his veins with the help of a spoon, the handle of which was sharpened like a knife.

Spotting the blood stains on the floor, his fellow inmates raised the alarm and Vijay got the timely attention of duty guards.

Vijay had been held guilty in a murder case and was lodged in the jail for the past three and a half months.

According to Jail Superintendent Sharma, both the cases of bid to commit suicide were the result of their disturbed mental state of mind.

“On the domestic front, both the inmates faced adverse conditions. Hardeep was caught under the NDPS Act. He had a handicapped wife and an old father and found himself helpless to support them,” he said.

In the other case, Vijay, a murder accused, missed his family members as none of them ever came to meet him during the visiting hours and he often talked about it to his fellow inmates.

“We came to know that it was his family members only who helped the police in catching him post-crime and thereafter none of them ever cared to have any relationship with him, which included his mother, too. In both the instances, their personal circumstances disturbed their state of mind and they took resort to this extreme step,” he said. 

Amritsar, October 10
An Assistant Sub-Inspector, posted in Amritsar rural police, was today booked by the Bhindi Saida police for allegedly cheating his own department by showing his date of birth lesser by six years for getting a job. The police have booked Jugraj Singh of Amritsar rural police under Section 420, IPC, in this regard and further investigations were under progress.

According to information, Jugraj Singh appeared for his matriculation examination in 1987 by describing his date of birth as February 28,1961, while he again appeared for the same examination in 1989 by showing his date of birth as March 25, 1967. On the basis of this certificate, he was recruited in the department as a constable. He is currently posted in the Amritsar rural police.

The incident came to light after Jagbir Singh, a resident of Kot Sidhu village, approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court. He is a relative of the accused.

Avtar Singh, investigating officer, said the department was seeking documents from the Education Department and if found guilty, appropriate action would be initiated against him. 

Amritsar, October 10
The Amritsar rural police have witnessed a couple of instances of sexual assault and domestic violence, which have shocked the holy city. In both the cases, the police have booked the father-in-laws and other male members of the in-laws’ family.

Though the incidents occurred several months ago, the police registered cases only yesterday after probing the complaints submitted by the victims.

A resident of Ibban Khurd village stated to the police that in March, her father-in-law Kashmir Singh entered her room and tried to rape her when she was alone. She stated that she raised the alarm and came out of her room. She said her brother-in-law, Surjit Singh, who was also present in the house tried to push her into another room. She alleged that in order to silence her, her brother-in-law hit her on her head with a brick. She said she was admitted to the Civil Hospital. Barring her father-in-law and brother-in-law, the remaining members of the family had gone to participate in a village fair.

Durlabh Darshan Singh, investigating officer, said the victim lodged a complaint with the police in April, following which an inquiry was conducted by sub-inspector Harjit Kaur of women’s wing. He said raids would be conducted to arrest the culprits. The Chatiwind police have registered a case under Sections 354, 323 and 34, IPC, in this regard.

In yet another incident, the Chatiwind police booked Kashmir Singh, his wife Jasbir Kaur and son Dharminder Singh for sexually assaulting his daughter-in-law and under various sections of the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act.

In her complaint to the police on August 19, she stated that her father-in-law and brother-in-law tried to outrage her modesty. She said she told her husband about this and asked them not to indulge in such things. She said on August 17 when her husband had gone to work, the accused thrashed her brutally. A case has been registered while the police authorities added that raids were being conducted to arrest them.

Amritsar, October 10
A day after a newly married woman accused her in-laws family of perpetrating gang rape on her, the Amritsar rural police have registered a case against them in this connection.

The Ajnala police have booked six members of her in-laws’ family besides eight unidentified persons for committing the crime. Among those booked include her father-in-law Virsa Singh, mother-in-law Veer Kaur, sister-in-laws Monica, Veenus and Aman and brother-in-law Mithu, all residents of Uthian village.

The 22-year-old victim, in her statement to the police, alleged that she was married to Surjit Singh about three months ago. However, her in-laws were not happy with the marriage. She said on October 5 the accused along with eight unidentified persons surrounded her in a private hospital while her in-laws prompted them to gang rape her for insulting her. The accused also thrashed her husband and threatened to kill them.

Yesterday, the victim had appeared before National SC commission’s Vice-Chairman Raj Kumar Verka. Before Verka, she had alleged that she was perturbed over the harassment at the hands of her in-laws and had attempted suicide on October 5, following which she was admitted to a private hospital where she survived. She alleged that even though she was fine after treatment, the hospital staff administered six injections to her, following which she became unconscious. She said when she regained consciousness she found the accused surrounding her. She alleged the accused had raped her.

The commission had summoned SSP, Amritsar rural, in this connection and directed him to initiate action after a medical examination of the victim after forming a medical board.

Jasdeep Singh, SSP, Amritsar rural police, said that the medical examination of the girl had been conducted after forming a medical board. He said samples had been sent to the Kharar Laboratory for chemical examination in order to ascertain the claims of the victim. Further, he said the hospital staff had pleaded innocence and denied any involvement in the case. He said investigations were under progress to ascertain their role in the crime.

Amritsar, October 10
A resident lost his money to the tune of Rs 5 lakh after being fleeced by an unknown person, who made him leave his car unattended in which the cash was kept in a bag.

Ajaypal Singh, a resident of White Avenue, said that he was sitting in his car near Kairon Market at Hall Bazaar when unknown persons told him that some cash had fallen near his car. He said he came out of the vehicle and started collecting the cash while the accused stole his bag containing Rs 4.99 lakh, a cheque book and keys of a petrol pump from the car.

The Kotwali police have registered a case under Section 379, IPC, while no arrest has been made so far.

Amritsar, October 10
The Chheharta police have arrested a vehicle lifter and recovered 10 motorcycles from his possession. The accused has been identified as Karanbir Singh of Guru Ki Wadali area. The police have also seized 100 gm of narcotic powder from him.

A case under Sections 379 and 411 of the Indian Penal Code and the NDPS Act has been registered.

Harish Behal, SHO of Chheharta police station, said the majority of motorcycles were stolen from near the Chheharta Sahib Gurdwara. He used to steal vehicles on festive occasions at the shrine.

The SHO said the preliminary probe revealed that he was a drug addict and used to steal vehicles to arrange money for buying drugs. He said further investigations were in progress. — TNS

Amritsar, October 10
A team of budding swimmers from Spring Dale Senior School emerged winner in the Under-14 (girls) category in the Inter-School District Swimming Championship (girls and boys) held at Khalsa College. The Under-17 (girls) team of the school was declared the first runners-up in the championship.

The event saw the participation of 280 swimmers from various schools across the district.

The swimmers from Spring Dales comprising both boys and girls, bagged five gold, 11 silver and four bronze medals in the championship.

The winning girls’ Under-14 team bagged 42 points, while the girls Under-17 team, which was declared runners-up, scored 11 points.

Among the girls, Ananya Chawla, a budding swimmer from Spring Dales, bagged three gold medals, Chanmeet Kaur, another student from Spring Dale, won two gold medals, and Paramjit Kaur, also from the same school, clinched two silver medals.

Arpan Heir and Harjas Kaur, other budding swimmers from Spring Dales, won one silver medal each and one bronze medal each among the girls even as Gunreet Kaur, another student from Spring Dales, won three silver medals in the event.

The boys from Spring Dales, who won medals in the championship included Dilraj Singh (two silver medals), Arnav Singh (one bronze medal), Ansh Mehra (one bronze medal) and Prateek Bhagat (two silver medals). — TNS