Saturday, October 17, 1998
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P U N J A B | |
Saturday, October 17, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Unseasonal
rain brings kharif of despair Plots
carved out Two
medical college students suspended |
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 BKU (L) to oppose
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Potters face dark Divali AMRITSAR: Divali is not a festive season for potters this time, thanks to the ban on the sale of loose mustard oil in view of the dropsy deaths in various parts of the country. Liquor
seeps out of Haryana Leak
in NFL plant a fault: AGM Ragging
in GND varsity banned Non-teaching
staff criticise ban Ranjit
Dam project progress reviewed Labourers
allege being paid less College
to have training centre Two
forest officials charge-sheeted Respondents
get more time in Dogra case Hospital
staff stages dharna Tohra
flags off chetna march PSEB
employees threaten stir Tribesmen
await suspect's arrest |
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Unseasonal rain brings kharif of
despair MUKTSAR: Farmers of this region are keeping their fingers crossed at the sudden change in weather for the second time with the harvesting of kharif crops under way after the heavy rain in the third week of September. A severe storm lashed the entire region recently and played havoc with the late sown paddy crop — the only hope of certain farmers. The rain god is still furious. Hailstrorms, strong winds, thundershowers and lightning are what farmers fear most at this time of the year. It is pertinent to mention here that paddy and cotton crops in Punjab have suffered a major setback due to incessant rain. A huge quantity of harvested and standing paddy has been destroyed due to unseasonal rain. It also hampered procurement. The unseasonal rain brings many untold miseries to farmers. Reports from different parts of this district and surrounding areas reveal that both standing and harvested paddy were decaying due to inclement weather since September 14. It has been an unusual kharif season this year. A visit by this correspondent to various mandis to assess the paddy loss showed that most of the kutcha mandis were a deserted look. The farmers were panicky that the entire paddy might become colourless and feared a big fall in the yield. A visit to the worst affected villages which include, Mahuana, Abul Khurana. Madhir, Hussnar, Ratta Khera, Tappa Khera, Inna Khera, Bhunder, Chakk Gilzewala, Bhaikot, Gurusar, Rupana, Lubaniawali, Butter Bakhuha and villages along with Muktsar-Kotkapura road has revealed that the rain and winds have flatted the crops. Rain water has stagnated in the fields. This will not allow the farmers to use combine-harvesters. The farmers now have to hire manual labour to harvest their crops. This in turn will push up the cost of production. Farmers in the Malwa region are facing a shortage of labour from eastern states like Bihar and UP. They have to engage local labour which is quite costly. During a tour this correspondent did not come across many Bihari labourers harvesting the crop as it used to be. Local-hands were seen cutting the flattened paddy crop. The farmhands also include a large number of women. The local labour charges Rs 80 to Rs 120 per day. Even harvesting charges through combines vary from Rs 800 to Rs 1200 per acre for the flattened crop and Rs 600 to Rs 800 for the standing paddy crop. The local labour may cost about Rs 1500 per acre for harvesting the paddy. The process has become very cumbersome, after cutting the flattened crop in the standing water, it has to be taken out on cots and this increases the work three-fold and likewise labour costs. It was also seen that the panicky farmers harvest the not-so-dry paddy fearing the rains and rush it to the market, which blackens quickly and the incessant rain quickens the process and renders the rice unfit for consumption. The procurement agencies prefer not to buy such grain, which is not storable. With paddy arrivals picking up, the grain markets are facing the problem of lifting the procured stocks. The biggest problem faced by procuring agencies is the lack of covered area for storage. Old paddy stocks still remain to be lifted. "I brought paddy 10 days ago, but no government agecny, nor private trader is ready to purchase it, says Gurcharan Singh of Kauni village, looking helplessly towards the hovering black clouds half in prayer and half in fear. No different is the state of Joginder Singh of Ratta Khera village and scores of other farmers who had been waiting for government officials to procure their stocks for several days under the overcast sky. It is also pertinent to mention here that against the support price of Rs 470 per quintal, the farmers are compelled to sell their paddy between Rs 325 and Rs 450 per quintal to private traders as the Government agencies fail to turn up. Paradoxically the cost of production has increased due to shortage of labour and flattening of the crop (where combine-harvesters fail to harvest) and the yield per acre dropped drastically, all in one blow. Adding to the woes of these poor creatures the government agencies are shying away as they are tied by departmental specifications, which forbid the purchase of moist and discoloured paddy. This proud cotton belt has
been deprived of this honour by the all devouring
American bollworm, which has become resistant due to the
combined effect of weather and spurious insecticides. A
large number of farmers shifted to paddy this year. Being
new and lacking infrastructure (there are very few
electric tubewells), their cost per acre is higher than
other areas. But the paddy experiment has failed. Both
nature and man are equally responsible, but who is more
is the million-dollar question. |
Plots carved out of MC park BATHINDA, Oct 16 — A scandal of grabbing municipal park land worth lakhs of rupees by certain property dealers in connivance with the municipal council and Town Planning Departmental officials has come to light. Official sources said scandal came to light when the senior municipal officials got sanctioned amended town planning scheme number 3, part-11, packet-C, by misrepresenting facts to the Secretary, Local Bodies, Punjab. By misrepresenting the facts, Municipal and Town Planning Department officials in connivance with certain property dealers converted the municipal park into a number of residential plots. Mr Jagroop Singh Gill and Mr Bhupinder Singh Bhullar, former and present president of the local municipal council, respectively, had written to the higher local bodies authorities in separate letters seeking the cancellation of the notification issued regarding the sanctioning of the amended town planning scheme. They said if the notification was not cancelled the municipal council would suffer loss of lakhs of rupees. They alleged that amended scheme received sanction from officials concerned even though there was a litigation going in the court regarding this piece of land. Mr Mohan Lal Garg, a senior municipal councillor and president of the district BJP unit, had urged the state government to hold a probe into scandal. He alleged that certain influential persons, including businessmen, had grabbed many pieces of municipal lands by getting town planning schemes amended. He demanded that guilty municipal council officials and town planning department officials who misrepresented the fact should be prosecuted according to the law. Mr Jagroop Singh Gill in his letter to Mr NK Arora, secretary, local bodies, has alleged that the Executive Officer of the municipal council misrepresented certain facts to higher authorities to get the sanction for amendded scheme. He said the scheme should be amened as per the resolution of the municipal council body passed in this regard. According to a letter written by the Executive Officer, Mr Gurbachan Gupta to the Director, Local Bodies, Punjab, the municipal council had listened to all objections to amending the scheme and then subsequently took the decision so the scheme should be sanctioned as per amendments. However, Mr Gill alleged
that no objections were heard from the public about the
amendment of pocket-C of the scheme and its amendment was
wrong and illegal. He said the council authorities should
withdraw the sanction to save the council from loss. |
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BKU (L) to oppose BJP in poll GIDDERBAHA, Oct 16 — Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, president, Bhartiya Kisan Union (Lakhowal) group today announced that his organisation would oppose the candidates of BJP and its alliance partners in the coming assembly elections in Rajasthan MP, Delhi and Mizoram slated for November 25. Addressing a state-level rally of the BKU here, he said the BKU would launch a campaign against the candidates of BJP and its alliance partners in the coming elections. Lashing out at the state government, he said due to repeated failure of crop, growers of cotton belt of Punjab had come on the brink of economic disaster but the state government had done nothing for them. He said the state government had not ordered any special girdawri to assess loss of cotton and paddy crop due to untimely rain and attack of American bollworm. He said the government should give Rs 10,000 per acre as compensation to the affected farmers. He alleged that the state government had been doing nothing to check the flooding of markets with spurious pesticides, insecticides and fertilisers. He said certain officers of the Punjab Agriculture Department were hand in glove with those who were selling fake pesticides in the market. He alleged that sugarcane growers too, had to face many problems as sugar mills of Punjab did not buy their produce and the little purchase which was made by these mills. Farmers were given delayed payments. He alleged that the Central Government was in favour of changing crop pattern (wheat-rice rotation) in Punjab to fulfil the needs of food grain of country. He said if the Central Government was claiming that paddy crop was surplus then why it was not exempting levy on rice to the mills owners so that rice mill owners could export the rice after milling directly. He said the state government should own the outstanding debt of the farmers of Punjab and the farmers should be freed from the loans of commission agents. He said the state government should also make arrangements for providing money to the farmers for sowing next crop. He demanded that crop prices should be linked with the prices index, and crop the insurance scheme should be implemented. The government should pay 90 per cent amount of instalment of crop insurance and implementation of credit card scheme for the farmers in Punjab, he said. Critising the functioning of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), he said that scientists of PAU could not develop cotton seed which was resistance to bollworm attack. The rally was also
addressed by state general secretary of the BKU, Mr
Manjit Singh Kadian, and presidents of the Ludhiana,
Bathinda and Mansa units. |
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Liquor seeps out of Haryana MANSA, Oct 16 — The smuggling of liquor, including the illicitly distilled one, has commenced from Sirsa district of Haryana to Bathinda and Mansa districts. Official sources said with the lifting of prohibition in Haryana in April this year, the liquor mafia which was active in Haryana had shifted its operation towards these districts. In September, smugglers in association with the liquor licencees in Sirsa district opened outlets in the villages bordering Bathinda and Mansa districts, the sources added. The shops in Haryana were opened in front of authorised vends in the Punjab territory. In view of fall in the sale of liquor at the authorised vends in Bathinda and Mansa districts, the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner of these districts had approached the sales authorities for checking the smuggling. The main reason of smuggling is cheap prices of liquor in Haryana than in Punjab. In a letter written to the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commisssioner, Sirsa, Mr M.L. Garg, the Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Mansa, has alleged that liquor licencees in Sirsa district were smuggling liquor into Punjab. He said more than 20 vends had been opened in villages of Haryana bordering Mansa district. He said the licencees of Mansa district were suffering losses on this account. Mr Samarjit Singh, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Bathinda, told TNS that he had identified 10 vends which had been opened by the licencees of Sirsa in villages bordering Punjab. He said Bathinda was the only district where liquor vends' auction fetched 9 per cent more price this year as compared to last year. He said due to opening of liquor vends in the Haryana villages the liquor contractors of Talwandi Sabo, Raman and Sangat circles were losing sale. He said he had written to the Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Punjab, on September 1, 1998 about the smuggling . He said if the trend was not checked immediately, the auction of liquor vends in this district would fetch less money next year. He alleged that he had personally requested the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Haryana, based at Sirsa. He said the Punjab Excise and Sales Tax authorities should take up the matter with their Haryana counterparts. Sources said with Divali round the corner the liquor was being smuggled in a large quantity to execute the advance deals made by the smugglers with certain traders of these districts. This phenomenon is more prominent in rural areas as the smugglers have charted safe routes and manage to escape the traps laid by the Punjab police. It is a reversal of fortunes for the liquor contractors of Bathinda and Mansa districts. During prohibition in Haryana, they earned a fortune by smuggling liquor from these two districts to Haryana. With the lifting of prohibition in Haryana they are making efforts to check smuggling of liquor from Haryana to both these districts. Mr Samarjit Singh said even the tipplers of Punjab head to the illegal vends of Haryana for a cheap drink.
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Potters face dark Divali AMRITSAR: Divali is not a festive season for potters this time, thanks to the ban on the sale of loose mustard oil in view of the dropsy deaths in various parts of the country. The potters never knew that the earthen lamp — earlier considered to be the poor man's light, would be out of reach of the have-nots due to high mustard oil prices. The mustard oil could be sold in sealed packets/bottles due to the ban. Since the potters had already baked earthen lamps in bulk in anticipation of Divali, there are few takers for the commodity. "Only rich persons can afford to light up their houses with earthern lamps on this auspicious occasion," says Jagan Nath, a potter. He points out that due to a glut of earthen lamps, the potters have resorted to distress sale. "In view of the recession, we have already lowered the prices of earthen lamps this time", says Balbir, another potter. "During the last Divali, we sold more than two lakh earthen lamps. However, the number is likely to be less than 30,000 this time," he said. This resulted in a glut of lamps, with the result the potters had to slash prices drastically. He said that the prices of the small lamps had been slashed from Rs 8 to Rs 6 per 100. Even then there was distress sale. There are more than 70 families of potters who are engaged in the clay work in Amritsar. In most cases, entire family members of the potters are engaged in making the earthen pots. Even then, they save not more than Rs 1000 per month, said Jogi, a potter of Anngarh village. The sky-rocketing prices of mustard oil has come as a blessing in disguise for candle makers. The sale of candles have gone up — much higher than the last Divali. Candle factories have also hiked their rates. Even then, the people prefer candles to earthen lamps for obvious reasons. Mohinder, another potter,
said the present state of affairs was the result of lack
of awareness among potters. Had they known about the
dropsy deaths which hit the potters directly, they would
not have made the earthen lamps on such a large scale
this time. |
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Gambling fever at its peak LUDHIANA: Industrial recession and a general economic slowdown has had only a limited effect on the pre-Divali gambling fever which has gripped this industrial hub of Punjab. With the festival of lights only three days away, gambling in some of the clubs and houses has reached its peak. Lakhs, if not crores, of rupees are changing hands every night in marathon gambling sessions in the megacity which boasts of one of the highest per capita incomes in the country. Incidentally, women vie with their male counterparts in this game of chance, though the betting is not as heavy as indulged in by the men. "This is a culture peculiar to Ludhiana", says a knowledgeable citizen of the megacity. "You will not find people as crazy elsewhere as they are here about gambling. And as Divali approaches, more and more people get sucked into the game...." Normally, gambling begins here immediately after the festival of Dasehra. But this year, there has been a delay, presumably because of a cash crunch caused by the recession and economic slowdown. Serious gambling began only a few days ago. "You need to have surplus money to indulge in gambling", says an insider. "And there is plenty floating around in Ludhiana. This explains the near-universality of the phenomenon here. It is indulged in primarily by the trading class, the business community and the industrialists, both big and small..." The industrial recession this year has definitely had an impact on the gambling fever. "Where else will the money come from if not from the industrial and trading activity", says the insider. "Therefore, gambling this year is somewhat subdued as compared to that in previous years. But many look at it as another way of making money", he adds. Gambling of Ludhiana is legendary. Till a few years ago, people from here used to travel to Kathmandu to gamble in casinoes there. But the novelty has worn off and the phenomenon is now on the wane. A tale is also told with great relish of a person gambling away his own wife, like Yudhishtar in the Mahabharata, during a particularly fierce card game session a few years ago. But insiders say the tale is a figment of the imagination of an enterprising scribe. "All that happened that day", says an insider, who claims to have been present on the occasion, "was that the person in question, after losing heavily in the game of cards, rushed home to fetch more money... That is all. I don't know how these reports of his having gone home to fetch his wife and losing her too on the card table began. They are simply not true." The card games usually begin in the afternoon in some of the clubs and continue till the closing hours. Then those keen on continuing, shift to the residence of one of the players where it continues till the early hours of the next morning. Some times, friends host dinner parties accompanied by card games. While men have separate sittings, their wives have their own card sessions. But this year, the number
of such parties sessions is not very high. "Each
party which includes food and liquor costs between Rs
40,000 and Rs 50,000 per evening. Not everybody can
afford to host them. Those who have suffered losses in
their business are keeping out of the circuit this
year", say insiders. |
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Two medical college students suspended PATIALA, Oct 16 — Close on the heels of the rustication of eight students of the Thapar Engineering Institute here for ragging, Government Medical College has suspended two students on the charges of indiscipline following a clash when some students tried to rag a student in a college corridor. The incident took place on October 13 when a group of pharmacy students tried to rag a third year MBBS student taking him to be a fresher. After being humiliated the ragged student returned with some of his friends which resulted in a group clash in which bricks and sharp-edged weapons were also used. While one student sustained a head injury on being hit by a brick, another sustained injuries inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon. Both students were rushed to Government Rajindra Hospital. Talking to TNS, the college Principal, Dr Ravinderpal Kaur, said following a complaint she had suspended both the students from their courses and that the case had been sent to the college disciplinary committee. Dr Ravinderpal said an MBBS student of third year course was ragged by second year pharmacy students. She said no medico-legal case had been made out and that none of the boys had been hospitalised. However, Government
Rajindra College records reveal that both the boys had
visited its emergency wing on October 13 at 11 a.m. were
registered under emergency department numbers 26560 and
26561. While one boy has been treated for injuries on the
face and hand, the other was treated for scalp injury.
The second boy was also referred to the surgery
department. |
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Leak
in NFL plant a fault: AGM BATHINDA, Oct 16 — Following a leak in the urea reactor of the local plant of National Fertilizer Limited (NFL), the unit has been closed for production since October 14. It would take 15 days to put the plant back on rails after necessary repairs. Sources said the NFL, which is already in financial crises following the Rs 133 crore urea scam by a Karsan firm, would further suffer a loss of Rs 7 crore due to non-production when the plant would remain closed. Mr M.K. Vashni, Additional General Manager, NFL, when contacted on phone, said the leak was detected on October 14 and steps were taken to carry out repairs. He said at present ammonia gas was being taken out from the reactor so that engineers could enter into it. Mr Vashni said daily production at the plant was about 1550 metric tonnes when it was closed. He said during the closure period, the repairs would be carried out in other sections of the plant and all the jobs would be done in next 10 days. He ruled out negligence on the part of any plant engineer in the leak and said it was a routine fault. He said leakage also occurred in 1996. He, however, declined to tell the exact amount which was required for carrying out repairs. The sources said the NFL
was suffering a loss of Rs 50 lakh daily due to
non-production of urea. |
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Ragging in GND varsity banned AMRITSAR, Oct 16 — Dr H.S. Soch, Vice-Chancellor, Guru Nanak Dev University has said that there was a total ban on ragging in the university. Commenting on the expulsion of the 10 students from the hostel for indulging in indecent ragging, Dr Soch said that the officials concerned had been directed to ensure that there should not be any kind of ragging in the university. The university had taken a very serious view of the ragging of students of B.Tech by their seniors. Meanwhile, the university
had informed the parents of the expelled students about
the incident. Photographs of the 10 students who were
expelled from the hostel were pasted on the notice board
of stating that there was a ban on their entry in the
hostel. According to sources the expelled students
belonged to very rich families |
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Non-teaching staff criticise ban PATIALA, Oct 16 — The executive committee of the Punjabi University category "A" Officers Association (Non-teaching) has criticised the Punjab Government’s decision to impose a ban on filling of non-teaching staff posts in the university as well as Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. In a statement here yesterday, association president Ravinder Dhir said this step amounted to "undue and unwarranted" interference in the functioning of the universities. The decision would not only antagonise university officers, but would also block the promotion avenues of officers due for retirement within a year or so, he added. The association also
reiterated its demands, including the increase of
contribution of the CPF from the existing 10 per cent to
12 per cent and maintaining equality in making payment of
gratuity both to the officers opting for pension and CPF
schemes. |
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Ranjit Dam project progress
reviewed CHANDIGARH, Oct 16 — The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, today reviewed the progress of Ranjit Sagar Dam project. He was informed that most of the works on the project stood completed, including erection liners and concreting around the tunnels. The work of erection of gates’ grooves and dry testing of the gates has also been completed. The clay placement on the main dam has also picked up. The work on this will be completed in the next few days. Major portion of spill-way has been completed and the remaining concreting work will be completed shortly. The government of India, the Chief Minister said, has been approached to provide Rs 300 crore in 1998-99 for the project. A sum of Rs 150 crore have already been approved by the Planning Commission, which is being released shortly. He asked the Finance Department to make available required funds for commissioning of this project before the next paddy season. The total cost of the
project is now Rs 2,976 crore out of which Rs 2,645.92
crore have already been spent up to March 31,1998. |
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Labourers allege being paid less NANGAL, Oct 16 — Twelve labourers working in parks under the Municipal Committee, Nangal, are allegedly being paid lesser wages than those prescribed under the government norms. In a letter forwarded to the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, on Wednesday, they have alleged that for the past seven months they were being paid Rs 50 per day instead of 61 fixed by the Deputy Commissioner, Ropar. The representative of the labourers while talking to this correspondent said their repeated complaints to the committee officials had fallen on deaf ears. He further alleged that when the labourers tried to meet the Food and Supplies Minister, Mr Madan Mohan Mittal, who represented the constituency, on his last visit, they were forcibly stopped from doing so and threatened with dire consequences by the officials concerned. The Chairman, Municipal
Council, Mr Rakesh Sharma, when contacted, denied having
any knowledge of the matter. The SDO Horticulture, under
whom the labourers were working, when asked about the
matter said the payments for the labourers were handed to
the contractors who further paid them. On being asked to
give the names of the contractors, he said he did not
have any immediate knowledge about their names. |
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College to have training centre GURU HARSAHAI (FEROZEPORE), Oct 16 — The Principal Secretary (Finance), Punjab, Mr Rajan Kashyap, has stressed the need for opening more educational institutions in remote areas of the state. He was presiding over the first annual prize distribution function of the local Guru Karam Singh College for Women. He lauded the Sodhi family who had taken the initiative to run the college in memory of their forefather and a philanthropist, Guru Karam Singh Sodhi. The College Principal, Ms Kamaljit Kaur, said MA classes would start from next academic year in the college. On behalf of the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Gurdev Singh Sidhu, Jalalabad SDM, Mr Vimal Satia announced to start a training cum-production centre in the college. Women would be trained in handlooms and carpet making trades at the Centre, he added. The function was also
addressed by the Chairman, Telephone Regulatory Authority
of India (TRAI), Justice SS Sodhi. He is also the
Chairman of the college managing committee. |
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Two forest officials charge-sheeted CHANDIGARH, Oct 16 — The Punjab government has charge-sheeted two officers — Mr Bodh Singh Ghuman and Mr Piara Singh Palia of the Forest Department on the basis of a vigilance inquiry held against them. Indicting both officers the Vigilance Department had held that Mr Piara Singh Palia bungled in the cutting of bamboo and kher trees in Hoshiarpur district and he also paid Rs 2 lakh to Mr Bodh Singh Ghuman. Mr Ghuman gave this amount to Mr V Mahindra who promoted Mr Palia as Divisonal Manager. The Vigilance Department also found that Mr Palia was preparing bogus muster rolls as project officer and approving the same himself as Divisional Manager. The officers concerned
have been asked to submit their replies within two weeks
to the Forest Department. |
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Respondents get more time in Dogra
case CHANDIGARH, Oct 16 — The Central Administrative Tribunal on a request of the respondents today granted 15 more days time for filing reply to the petition filed by three Additional Directors-General of Police of Punjab, challenging the extension in service granted to their Director-General of Police, Mr PC Dogra. The petitioners in the case are Mr Sarabjit Singh, Mr MS Bhulla and Mr Jarnail Singh Chahal. To begin with, the
Tribunal had granted only a week's time to the
respondents for filing reply to the petition. |
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Hospital staff stages dharna PATIALA, Oct 16 — The class IV Employees Union Rajindra Hospital, here staged a rally in front of the medical superintendent's office here today in protest against the non-implementation of their "accepted" demands by the hospital authorities. Mr Ram Kishan, President of the union, said in a statement that the hospital authorities had promised the payment of house-rent arrears at the increased rate of five per cent. He said the class IV
employees union has resolved to launch an agitation if
all their accepted demands were not implemented before
Divali. |
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Tohra flags off chetna march AMRITSAR, Oct 16 — Led by a Christian, a Hindu, a Sikh and a Muslim, a colourful chetna march organised by the Indian Minorities and Dalit front was flagged off by Mr Gurcharan Singh Tohra, SGPC chief, from the Golden Temple, here today. National president of the front, Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, State Minister for Public Relations, said objective of the march was to spread brotherhood among all sections of society. Earlier, members of the Dalit Front paid obeisance at Ram Tirath Temple, Golden Temple, Akal Takht and Durgiana Mandir. They also paid their obeisance at Jallianwala Bagh. After visiting Kartarpur
Sahib, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Ludhiana, Phillaur, Mohali
and Nawanshahr, the march will reach Chandigarh tomorrow
where Mr Parkash Singh Badal, Chief Minister, would
receive them. The march will halt at various historical
gurdwaras, churches, mosques and temples. |
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PSEB employees threaten stir AMRITSAR, Oct 16 — An emergency meeting of the PSEB Employees Federation held here yesterday under the presidentship of Mr Tehal Singh has threatened to adopt an agitational path if the genuine demands of employees were not conceded by Divali. The press release of the
federation urged the PSEB authorities to give bonus to
all employees, remove the pay anomalies and fix the
retirement age of employees as 60 years etc. |
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Tribesmen await suspect's arrest CHHEHARTA (Amritsar), Oct 16 — Even after one month of the Director General Police, Mr P.C. Dogra, deputing the ADGP (crime) to investigate into the killing of Harish Kumar, a Tira tribesman, no arrest has been made. Tira tribesmen told TNS that though they had named the absconding smuggler Baldev Singh as the suspect before the Muktsar police, yet he had been let off. ‘‘What is the use of a high-level probe if no suspect has been arrested so far’’, said Mohinder Nath, brother of the deceased. The CPI leader, Mr Satya
Paul Dang, who had taken up the matter with the DGP
alleged that the nexus between the smuggler and the
police could not be ruled out as the suspect had been let
off. |
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