Amritsar, October 13
Members of the Amritsar Auto-Rickshaw Union today proceeded on an indefinite strike, leaving commuters, especially schoolchildren, who bank upon the auto-rickshaws heavily, in lurch.

1) Four schoolgoing students ride a motorbike, violating norms, as auto-rickshaws were off the roads on a strike call given by the Amritsar Auto-Rickshaw Union 2) students walk to their school  3) passengers face harassment as they wait for transport to reach their destinations 4) Members of the Amritsar Auto Rickshaw Union raise slogans against the government and demand release of their impounded autos in Amritsar on Monday. PHOTOs : RK SONI

The auto-rickshaw drivers are protesting against the recent police crackdown against illegal autos. Auto-rickshaw union president Ramsharan Paul said the strike would continue as long as the police did not release the impounded autos. He said officials of the Police Commissionerate invited him to hold talks over the matter, but he refused to do so until impounded autos were released.

According to the already announced schedule, members of the union converged at the open ground adjoining Hartej hospital on the Airport road and held a rally in the noon. Since they parked autos on the road, the entire traffic was brought to a halt and commuters were greatly inconvenienced.

They planned the next course of action to impress upon the government their demand that the impounded autos should be released. Paul stated according to the agitation plan, they would observe a black Diwali on October 23.

He said they would not desist from parking autos outside the houses of officials and politicians to convey their resentment over the “apathy” of the authorities towards auto-rickshaw drivers.

Members of the auto-rickshaw union raised slogans against the government demanding release of their impounded autos. Subsequently, they held a march from the Airport road to the Golden Temple.

Daily passengers felt greatly harassed as they waited for vehicles to reach their destinations after autos went off the roads. They were seen boarding the buses and most of these were overloaded today.

Many parents faced difficulties in dropping off and picking up their wards to schools. They were seen talking to auto-drivers to know the reason of the strike.

Members of the union stopped autos carrying passengers from plying on the roads to enforce the call for the strike.

Amritsar, October 13
Though the traffic police had impounded a number of auto-rickshaws, which were plying illegally on the city roads, it is now facing a problem in keeping these autos in its custody due to lack of space. The authorities are now making an alternative arrangement to keep these autos.

The Amritsar police traffic squad led by ADCP (traffic) Dhruman Nimbale had launched a rigorous campaign against plying of illegal autos in the city.

According to information, the police had impounded 150 autos on Wednesday, 120 on Thursday, 80 on Friday and at least 45 on Saturday besides challaning 19 more for violating traffic rules.

An official said the traffic control room housed many offices, including offices of the district community officer, SP, ACP (traffic) and other supporting units, adding that such a large number of autos had occupied most of the space in the complex. This had posed a problem in attending to routine work.

ADCP (traffic) Nimbale said no leniency would be shown in the matter of illegal plying of autos in the city.

“The safety of the residents is our main concern. That’s why we have come out with a rigorous action plan against the autos which have outlived their life of 15 years and which are being driven by underage persons, who do not possess a valid driving licence and, most importantly, the autos which are not registered in Amritsar. The rules demand that the autos can be run only within the municipal limits of a city. Scarcity of space to accommodate the seized vehicles does not matter, we will manage. The bottom line is that the illegal plying of autos cannot be tolerated,” he said.

Amritsar, October 13
Yet another ragging incident has rocked Government Medical College (GMC) here. Several final year MBBS students have ragged first year students in boys’ hostel.

Taking a serious note of this, an inquiry committee has been formed which will submit its report to Dr Santokh Singh, Principal, GMC. Dr Santokh Singh, confirming the incident said the committee had been directed to submit its findings by tomorrow morning and further action would be taken thereafter.

According to sources, on Saturday night, several final year students instructed the first year junior students to come to the boys’ hostel D and E. Some of the seniors, who were heavily drunk, forced the students to do ‘objectionable’ activities besides throwing liquor on a student. When the college authorities got wind of the incident, they raided the hostel premises. However, the accused had fled the scene by then.

This is not the first incident of its kind. Earlier, too, similar incidents were reported on the college premises. Taking a grave view of this, the GMC authorities suspended around 12 students found involved in ragging the junior students.

The sources said the same persons were involved this time also. Dr Santokh Singh said a couple of students were indicted in earlier instances also and this time they were contemplating serious punitive action against them. 

Amritsar, October 13
With the Diwali festivities underway, the gambling activities are on the rise. The police have arrested around 14 persons and seized a total of Rs 1.17 lakh from them while conducting raids at two separate places in the past 24 hours.

In a swoop-down on Green Plaza Market on the court road, the special staff of the city police arrested around seven persons and seized Rs 1.04 lakh of gambling money from them. The accused were later released on bail.

Among those arrested include Rohit Gupta of Court Road, Sanjeev Kumar of Green Plaza Market, Vikas Singh of Sudarshan Nagar, Sultanwind Road, Amrit of Gobindpura, Kamal Kishore of Guru Amar Das Avenue, Keshav Chand of Bhawani Nagar and Pushpinder Singh of Bhawani Nagar. Around six persons had, however, managed to escape from the spot.

In another incident, the Islamabad police raided an Islamabad area and arrested sever persons, identified as Krishan Lal of Khu Bhaliyan, Surinder Singh, Vishal, Inderjit, Rahul, Gagan, all residents of the Islamabad area, besides Anil Kumar of Railway Colony. The police seized Rs 13,000 in cash from them. 

Amritsar, October 13
In a shocking incident, a 14-yr-old girl was allegedly raped and sexually abused for the past one and a half years by her stepfather, who has been living with her mother in a live-in relationship.

Due to repeated sexual abuse, the victim became pregnant. She was made to undergo abortion, however, in the initial days of her pregnancy by the accused, it is alleged.

The incident came to light when the victim, fed up of repeated sexual assaults by the accused, narrated her tale of woe to her mother around a week ago. They have lodged a complaint with the Sultanwind police in this regard.

The accused was identified as Devinderjit Singh of Fatehchak village in Tarn Taran. He was charged under Sections 376 (rape), 318 (concealment of birth by secret disposal of dead body), 506 (threat) and Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

The victim, in her statement to the police, alleged that her mother got divorced from her father and she had been living with the accused for the past five years. She alleged that for past one and a half years, she was subjected to sexual abuse by Davinderjit, who, she alleged, used to threaten to kill her and her mother.

Arun Sharma, SHO, Sultanwind police station, where the case has been registered, said that the victim originally hailed from Bhoewal village. He said raids were being conducted to the arrest the culprit, who has been on the run. He said medical examination of the girl was being conducted to ascertain the allegations and whether she was pregnant in the past and had undergone an abortion.

He said the mother of the victim and Davinderjit were never married and they had been living jointly for the past five years in a live-in relationship.

Amritsar, October 13
A love marriage ended on a tragic note when a woman, identified as Maninder Kaur, committed suicide by hanging herself from the iron girder of her room in Labour Colony in the Chheharta area here.

Though the suicide note recovered from the spot did not hold the in-laws responsible for taking this extreme step, the Chheharta police have booked her in-laws, including her husband, who is in Dubai, for abetment to suicide. They were booked following the statement of the deceased’s father, Daljeet Singh, a resident of Santokh Pura, Jalandhar. The police had also recovered a diary from her room in which she wrote her tale of woe. She wrote that she was being subjected to harassment and physical torture by her in-laws while her husband also used to abuse her on the phone.

“The diary gave ample proof that she was being subjected to continuous humiliation and mental and physical torture since her husband went to Dubai,” said Harish Behal, SHO Chheharta police station. Those booked are her husband, Harsh Kumar, mother-in-law, Kiran, and brother-in-law, Sahil.

According to her in-laws, Maninder was mentally upset since Saturday after performing the Karva Chauth prayer. Yesterday, when she did not come out of her room and repeated knocks at the door evinced no response, they broke open the door and found her hanging from the roof.

Daljeet Singh stated to the police that her daughter entered into a love marriage with Harsh in July last year against the wishes of the family. Since the marriage, she was not in touch with her parents. After a few months of the marriage, Harsh went to Dubai and did not return. He said yesterday they received information that Maninder had committed suicide. Behal said a case under Section 306, IPC, had been registered against the culprits, who were yet to be arrested.

Amritsar, October 13
Unsafe roads on the city outskirts are posing a serious threat to the commuters is a well known fact accepted by a cross section of the city residents. The credit for having introduced houses in the city, which do not share wall, goes to the British rulers. The most glaring characteristic of previous architecture, visible in the walled city, is houses with common walls and narrow front roads.

In the post-militancy period, the Indian economy opened and heralded an altogether new era in the development and expansion of the holy city. Growing population, rapid urbanisation, changing lifestyle propelled demand for housing. It led to mushroom growth of residential localities across bypasses. The traffic and pattern of roads linking to the city underwent a drastic change. Earlier, big vehicles were the main source of commuting. Now, people use small vehicles for day-to-day travel, which has also become a cause of frequent accidents.

Amritsar, October 13
The Municipal Corporation is all set to realise house tax dues amounting to Rs 5 crore from residential as well as commercial units, which are pending till March 31 last year. It has recovered Rs 87 lakh on account of house tax dues till now. In the first phase, a list of around 200 units has been prepared against whom there is an outstanding house tax.

The MC has been facing tough times in recovering house tax dues from defaulters. Earlier, it had also launched “name and shame” campaign by beating drums in localities of defaulters. Although this exercise, which was carried on a few months ago yielded good results, yet it was discontinued later on.

With the introduction of property tax, house tax realisation has suffered a setback as the whole staff deputed for the collection of the house tax was deployed for recovery of property tax, which was implemented from April 1 last year. House tax in charge superintendent Vishal Vadhawan said, “We have started the exercise of house tax recovery from the last 20 days. Around 150 notices have been served and the defaulters will be dealt with sternly. The recovery can be slow, but no one will be spared.”

Amritsar, October 13
Congress activists led by Mandeep Singh Manna staged a demonstration outside the Maqboolpura police station today to protest against the alleged failure of the police in arresting the culprits responsible for the death of Jagdev Singh, a local resident. Jagdev (27), was attacked by armed persons, including a son of a policeman, on September 16. He succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital on September 30.

The victim’s family members and residents of the area had held a demonstration and blocked the traffic at Maqboolpura Chowk on the main GT Road at that time of the incident.

Meanwhile, police officials have given assurance regarding the arrest of the culprit, identified as Harpreet Singh, and registration of a murder case against those involved.

Harpreet is wanted in a number of criminal cases, including rape and attempt to murder. The victim’s family members alleged that the police had adopted a dilly-dallying approach in the matter as the accused was son of Mohinder Singh, who is posted at Majitha Road police station.

Manna threatened that if the police failed to arrest the culprit soon, they would gherao the police commissioner’s office. He said the law and order situation in the city has deteriorated as police officials were playing in the hands of their political bosses. Political interference in the functioning of the police has led to the increase in the crime rate in the city, he added. 

Amritsar, October 13
Despite an appeal made by Director Medical Education and Research on behalf of the Punjab government, medical students of Chintpurni Medical College decided to continue their protest till they were shifted to other recognised medical institutions in the state. They took out a peaceful candle march towards the residence of Medical Education Minister Anil Joshi. They threatened that if the government failed to resolve the issue in a meeting scheduled to be held in Chandigarh on Wednesday as assured by Raj Kumar Verka, vice-president, National Schedule Caste Commission, they would be forced to intensify their protest. In an appeal published in various newspapers, the Punjab government had urged students to withdraw their agitation and attend classes so that they became eligible to appear in the next examination. The state government reiterated its commitment to take all necessary steps to secure the future of students of the college.

In the advertisement, Director Research and Medical Education gave ‘factual position’ with regard to the recognition of Chintpurni Medical College, Pathankot. The students pleaded that the Medical Council of India (MCI) had pointed out that their degree would be recognised subject to the inspection during the final year examination, which clearly meant that if the college again failed to fulfil the guidelines then they would be the sufferer.“For the past three years the college failed to fulfil conditions regarding the staff and infrastructure. Can the government tell us what magic wand it has with the help of which the college can manage to complete all the mandatory conditions of the MCI in a single go,” said the students.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court in its decision on September 16 had directed the government to secure the data of recommendations of the MCI, stand of the college for the fourth year students and prepare its report, which would be forwarded to the Central government within eight weeks. The Central government would take appropriate decision after receiving state government’s report.

The Director Research and Medical Education has written to the MCI for necessary recommendations as per directions of the high court. “Till now the Punjab government has not shown any urgency in the matter. In the advertisement the government has tried to save the college owned by a BJP leader,” the students alleged. They claimed that the MCI and Vice-Chancellor, Baba Farid University of Medical Sciences, had already written to the government to shift the students to other recognised colleges, but the government was deliberately delaying the move. 

Amritsar, October 13
Though the escalator became operational at the Amritsar railway station around 22 days ago, the passengers complain that it remains out of order most of the time.

The Railways has not deployed any attendant to monitor its operation. The passengers are facing a lot of inconvenience in transporting their luggage from one platform to other due to non-functional escalator.

The facility was considered a boon for the elderly and children who find it difficult to climb stairs at the busy railway station. The machine remains out of order most of the time.

A daily passenger, Harjit Singh, said the escalator showed error on small screens installed at its both ends. He said it was tough to move on stationary escalator as its steps were deeper than the normal stairs.

Earlier, the installation work of the escalator, which began in December last year, took undue long time and now its frequent break down has irked the passengers. Many of them said stairs were better as they were psychological prepared to walk over these. It would have been better if the Railways had constructed concrete ramps, they added.

When contacted, a senior official at the railway station, said passengers were responsible for the malfunctioning of the escalator. “They ruin the machine by punching its sensors which stops the escalator mid-way and results in an error,” the official added.

He said it was not possible to deploy guards at the escalator. He, however, assured that he would speak to officials of the engineering wing to install a panel to conceal sensors. — TNS

Amritsar, October 13
Khadoor Sahib Hockey Academy lifted overall trophy after defeating Government School, Chheherta, 3-2 in the Diwali Tournament’s final match, held at Khalsa College, here today.

Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy came third while DAV School, Attari, bagged the fourth position in the tournament.

In handball, the team from Ludhiana district defeated the team from Moga district 38-37 while Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Amritsar, and Faridkot district bagged third and fourth position in the tournament.

The final hockey match was so keenly contested event. After the game time lapsed, both the teams had a tie of 2-2. Khadoor Sahib Academy finally won the match by a penalty stroke.

Khalsa College, Amritsar, played host to the three-day sports event which dates back to the Partition era of 1947 and was revived after a long gap.

In handball too a close contest was witnessed as the teams scored close to each other. Moga won the handball title in the finals.

In this three-day sports extravaganza more than 40 teams with over 200 players from all over Punjab competed in different events.

Head of the Physical Education Department, Guru Nanak Dev University, Dr Sukhdev Singh and Principal of Khalsa College, Dr Mehal Singh, presided over the prize distribution function. They said, “Hockey is a game of the masses. We need to encourage this sport to revive the old glory of Punjab in the game. Handball too is attracting new players.”

In his vote of thanks, head of the Physical Education Department, Khalsa College Academy, Dr Daljit Singh, said it was a matter of great pride that Khalsa College has produced a number of international level players in hockey and other sports. It was a proud moment to host players from all over the state, he added.