Tuesday, May 25, 1999
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P U N J A B | |
Tuesday, May 25, 1999 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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Protesting
RMPs cane-charged |
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Pro-‘Khalistan’
websites detected Rain boon for kharif crops Education — a grey area in
Punjab Medical college autonomy on cards BJP wants to contest 5 seats A legend is gone 6 IAS/PCS officers shuffled High-level meeting reviews law
& order |
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Protesting RMPs cane-charged CHANDIGARH, May 24 — The local police used a water cannon, burst tear gas shells and resorted to a cane charge to disperse agitating registered medical practitioners from Punjab here this evening. As many as six protesters received fractures, 49 persons, including 19 cops, were injured while 30 agitators were detained by the police for rioting, hurting public servants and obstructing public servants from performing their duty. While the police claimed that the action was taken after the protesters resorted to incidents of stone throwing, injuring cops, besides damaging the windowpanes of six roadways buses, including three of the CTU, two of the Haryana Roadways and one of the Punjab Roadways, the protesters allege that they were subjected to the brutal cane charge without any provocation. Braving rain, hundreds of agitators had reached the venue from various parts of the state. A large number of women were also present in expressing their resentment over the apathy shown by the government in solving their long-standing problems. After staging a rally, the protesters tried to march towards the Punjab Civil Secretariat to submit a demands charter but were stopped by the police. According to agitators, while some of their senior leaders were urging police officers to allow some of them to proceed further, the police without any provocation resorted to using the water cannon and burst tear gas shells to disperse them. Dr Surjit Singh and Dr Ramesh Kumar Bali, president and general secretary, respectively of the Medical Practitioners Association, alleged that not content with this the police also resorted to the barbaric act which resulted in injuries to many of them, including women. Some of the women who had fallen down were also not spared and many of them including Ms Raj Kaur, Ms Jasbir Kaur and Ms Surjit Kaur received serious injuries and have been admitted to General Hospital. They alleged the police did not spare even those who were looking for their belongings. They were forcibly taken to the police station. The police, on the other hand maintain that no arrests have been made although a case under Section 147, 149, 186, 332, 353 and 427, IPC, has been registered. According to eyewitness, the protesters were chased away up to the Municipal Corporation office but they later reassembled and started stoning passing government vehicles and buses. The driver of a CRPF bus received injuries on his face when shards from a windowpane, reportedly hit by the protesters, broke. Mr Surjit Singh said their main demands were the highhandedness of the state health department and the police which were forcing practitioners in small villages and towns out of business following a court decision. The police was also registering false cases against them in an attempt to harass them. The fate of thousands of practitioners was at stake and if something was not done by the government, they and their families would suffer. The government should initiate steps to recognise those persons who had secured degrees from outside the state. In case the government found them unfit to practise medicine, they should be given additional coaching before they were found fit for enlistment. Meanwhile , it was
decided that an indefinite fast would be launched here
tomorrow. |
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PCB headless; working hit PATIALA, May 24 — The functioning of the Pollution Control Board (PCB) has been seriously affected with the government not appointing a new Chairman in place of Mr F. Lal Kansal who relinquished charge on April 30. The situation has been further aggravated with the two-year deputation term of its Member Secretary G S Bains, who was earlier working as Superintending Engineer in the Public Health Department, also coming to an end on May 5. The government has neither extended the term of the Member Secretary not repatriated him to his parent department. Mr Kansal, who was also from the Public Health Department, had relinquished the charge on superannuation. The day-to-day working in the board has been affected as only the Chairman can use specific financial powers. Moreover, in case of polluting industries given closure notices, the entrepreneurs are entitled to a personal hearing by the Chairman which cannot be done right now. Also on hold is the decision of restoring power connections of industries which had been closed earlier but who have since complied with the pollution norms. Industrialists seeking restoration of their connections are most affected while those whose cases have been put up for closure have got a temporary reprieve. Sources said even routine matters, including the celebration of Environment Day on June 5, had not been planned as yet. The Board Employees’ Welfare Association has also demanded that the government appoint a new Chairman in public interest so that work does not suffer any longer. Association president Inderjit Singh said while the association had kept quiet for sometime understanding the government needed time to appoint a new Chairman, any further delay would harm the interest of the employees also. Talking to TNS, other
board officials also voiced the concern of appointing the
board Chairman from within the organisation. They said
officials of the Public Health Department had unfairly
dominated in the board during the tenure of Mr Kansal.
They said since professionally qualified manpower was now
available in the board, there was no need to take senior
officers on deputation from outside. |
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Fertiliser scam 13 accused not yet arrested CHANDIGARH, May 24 — The Punjab Vigilance Bureau today told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that it had arrested 37 suspects in the fertiliser scam until now. Mr B.K. Uppal, the bureau's Superintendent of Police, who filed a detailed affidavit, stated that while 24 accused persons were arrested, 13 accused had been arrested since April 1, 1999 — the date on which he had taken over investigation of the case. The accused are Mr Daljit Singh Randhawa, Joint Director, (Agriculture); Mr Bhagwani Singh Pannu, Chief Inspector Fertiliser, Mr Laxmi Narayan Kapoor, Mr Vinod Uppal, Mr Rakesh Kumar, Mr Sardul Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer, Patiala; Mr Subhash Khurana, Agriculture Land Officer, Rajpura; Mr Sukhdev Singh, AO, Nabha; Mr Gurmit Singh, ADO, Nabha; Mr Gursewak Singh Sandhu, Land Officer, Rajpura; Mr Santokh Singh Chahal, ADO, Patiala; Mr Narinder Singh, ADO and Mr Rajinder Singh Dhillon. Mr Uppal also stated in the affidavit that 13 more accused were yet to be arrested. They are Mr Sarwan Singh Dhillon, Mr Amrik Singh Dhillon, Mr Mewa Singh, Mr Sewa Singh, Mr Kamaljit Singh, Mr Natha Ran Sallan and Mr Nahar Singh, Chief Agriculture Officer (retd), Mr Mangaljit Singh, ADO, Jalandhar; Mr Gurdev Singh, ADO, Adampur; Mr Ramesh Kumar, Mr Harmesh Kumar, Dr Mewa Singh Sonar, Director (Agriculture); and Mr Gurbax Singh, ex-Joint Director (Input). In his eight-page affidavit, Mr Uppal stated that "efforts are being made to arrest all these accused but these accused are highly placed persons and they are making every effort to avoid arrest and they are not joining the investigation. Moreover, if any of them will have to be declared a proclaimed offender, then the procedure under Cr. P.C. itself will take two to three months." Mr Uppal also told the court that only two Directors of the manufacturing company had so for been arrested. However, they were not cooperating in the investigation. Nor did they produce any record regarding raw material. Verification of supply of raw material is an important aspect of this case and this can be done only after obtaining the records and details from accused. Directors of the manufacturing company. The S.P. stated that a total of 1008 vehicles were claimed to have been used in the supply of fertiliser. Out of these the registration numbers of 648 vehicles had been verified. Interestingly, out of these the registration numbers of 358 vehicles were found to be those of scooters, cars, mopeds and tractors, instead of trucks. The registration number of the remaining vehicles were yet to be verified. The scandal of bogus sale of fertiliser was highlighted by the Bharti Kisan Union alleging that some ill-reputed fertiliser dealers of Patiala district had cheated the government of the subsidy given on the fertiliser sale. Mr Justice G.S. Singhvi
and Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, before whom the case
camp up for hearing, adjourned it to June 1 for
arguments. |
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Pro-‘Khalistan’
websites detected LUDHIANA, May 24 — The Punjab Police has detected seven to eight websites propagating a separate Sikh nation on the Internet with most of the traffic coming from abroad. This was stated by the Punjab DGP, Mr Sarabjit Singh, while talking to the mediapersons here today. Distributing copies of literature from the websites, the DGP said that a mere clicking of buttons exposed the net surfers to literature that exhorted the masses "to vote only for candidates who supported Khalistan" and not to support the present Sikh leadership that is completely under the Indian Government's control. Literature from another website informed the net surfers about the "Sikh freedom fighters dedicated to liberating the Sikh homeland" and telling them about the "excesses committed against the Sikhs" and impeachment of the religious freedom of the Sikhs in Punjab. Mr Sarabjit Singh said the police had intensified the monitoring on the Internet to know about more such cases. The DGP was here to preside over a meeting of senior officials of the police force from all over Punjab in order to review the crime situation in the state. Mr Sarabjit Singh said the crime rate had gone up, but only in proportion to the increase in population. He said that crime related to property had increased steeply and cases of domestic violence had also increased. When asked to comment on the CAT system, the DGP said that the present CAT system was a residue of the former system and it was no longer being utilised. Mr Sarabjit Singh strongly denied the charges of the politicisation of the police and the police playing in the hands of the ruling faction of the Akali Dal. He said both in the case of Baba Darshan Singh and the house arrest of Bhai Ranjit Singh, the police action was only in accordance with the law. He said security had been deployed only because the police had anticipated trouble. He denied charges of CID surveillance and tapping of telephones of the pro-Tohra leaders by the police and said the measures were taken only for crime prevention. The DGP, while
commenting on the recent controversy of a DSP being
appointed as the SSP of Amritsar, said that a district
posting was generally not on the seniority basis. |
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Rain boon for kharif crops CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Whereas the moderate to heavy rainfall in this region during the past 48 hours has provided the much-needed relief to the overloaded power transmission system, it will also prove good for the kharif crops. Informed sources in the Punjab State Electricity Board told TNS that the power demand in the state come down to 560 lakh units this morning while a few days back it had shot up to 815 lakh units. Even yesterday, the power demand was around 684 units which steadily came down as rain continued in various parts of Punjab last night. "It has provided relief to the transmission system which otherwise remained overstretched for several weeks due to a prolonged hot spell in the region," a PSEB official said. According to reports received here from the countryside, there was a moderate to heavy rainfall in the paddy and cotton belt of Malwa. In the Malwa belt, rain started on the night of May 23. In other parts, a light to moderate rainfall was reported. Agriculture experts said rain would prove beneficial to the Kharif crops. But it would adversely affect the sunflower crop which was at the harvesting stage. Spongy structure of sunflower retains rainwater in its body which damages the grain inside, a senior official of the Agriculture department said. About 70,000 hectares of land was under the sunflower crop in the state. As far as the cotton and sugarcane crops are concerned, rain will have a positive effect. Mr Arjan Singh Chandi, Joint Director (Cotton) in the Punjab Agriculture Department, said about 80 per cent to the total area under cotton had already been sown. He said there was a target to bring about 5 lakh hectares of land under cotton. Experts said that as paddy transplantation was about to begin in some parts of the state, the rain would help the farmers prepare the land for the purpose. Otherwise, farmers had to saturate the soil by irrigation through tubewells. But the rain had made their task of preparing the fields for transplantation easier. Experts said the rain
would also benefit the sugarcane, oilseeds and other
kharif crops. |
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Education — a grey area in
Punjab CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Despite best intentions, education continues to be a grey area in Punjab. It was listed as one of the priority areas by the SAD-BJP Government on assuming office in February, 1997. A couple of schemes were announced to give education a "new look" with stress on "job-oriented" teaching and training. Though it is elementary for any government to pay proper attention to primary education, the existing adhocism in Punjab, perhaps, did not permit the state to make much headway. The government efforts nevertheless provided the much-needed feedback on the existing education system and infrastructure to enable it to act and implement the recommendations. Besides a comprehensive proposal on "universal" elementary education for the state by 2003 (submitted by Mr K.R. Lakhanpal, who was Secretary education some time ago), the government has it its possession a report — a "theme paper" — on primary education. It was prepared by Dr S.S. Johal, a member of the State Planning Board and a former Vice-Chancellor. The theme paper, submitted in November, 1997, is not traceable now. Later, in October 1998, the government received the report and recommendations of a committee it had constituted on "vocationalisation of education". That committee was headed by yet another Vice-Chancellor, Dr Amrik Singh. Though some discussion has taken place on the recommendations, their implementation is awaited. Taking a "serious
view" of the deteriorating standards and quality of
education, the SAD-BJP government made a concerted effort
to involve private educational institutions and societies
in and outside the country to provide "good"
education. For this, appeals were made and contacts
established even with NRIs. So much so that a delegation
was sent to Canada in mid-1998 to study the possibility
of tie-up with some societies there. As a result of that
effort, Mr Lakhanpal, who had visited Canada, a
memorandum of understanding was signed between the Punjab
School Education Board and the Peel Board of Education,
Vancouver, Canada. Under that MoU, a school is coming up
on 30 acres at Khatkar Kalan. TNS learns a sum of Rs 50
lakh is available. But even before the scheme could make
some progress, Mr Lakhanpal was shifted. He is Principal
Secretary Animal Husbandry, at present. |
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Medical college autonomy on
cards FARIDKOT, May 24 — Finding itself unable to allocate adequate funds for research and medical education in the state, the Punjab Government has started exploring the possibilities of extending the autonomy to three medical colleges in the state. Official sources said the Principal Secretary, Research and Medical Education, Mr K.K. Bhatnagar, Punjab, the Heads of three medical colleges of state and representatives of Educational Consultants India (Ltd), a Government of India enterprise, would discuss the matter tomorrow at Chandigarh. Official sources said that a proposal to extend autonomy to the government-owned medical colleges and other institutes providing medical care had been prepared by the Educational Consultants India Ltd. (Ed. CIL) after visiting all medical colleges of the state in the recent past. The state government was thinking of extending autonomy to the medical colleges so that they could generate funds and become independent financially. The Ed. CIL was engaged by the state government for developing a suitable model of autonomy for the medical colleges after holding discussions with senior faculty members, Head of the Departments and the Heads of the Academic, Finance and Administrative wings of each college. Official sources said that state government engaged the Ed. CIL to workout a permanent solution to the financial crisis which the medical colleges, having big hospitals attached to them, had been facing for the past many years. Sources said the financial position of the medical colleges was so bad that their respective authorities were finding it difficult to pay the salaries to the staff members. The medical college authorities had been encroaching upon the grant meant for other purposes to pay their electricity bills which fell under the category of office expenses. Sources said that with budgetary allocation of only few crores for all medical colleges and their big hospitals, dental colleges and nursing institutes, a large number of expensive machines were lying unused in the medical colleges due to lack of repair. Official sources said that due to repeatedly acute shortage of funds, the local medical college authorities had not been able to buy its own ambulance van so far. The college authorities had also no vehicle to send its students to various villages for field health training. Official sources said
that team of Ed. CIL comprising Dr P.C. Chobe, Professor,
Hospital Administration, AIIMS, Delhi, Professor S.K.
Kumar, former chairman, AICCT and Mrs Veera Gupta,
Project Manager, Ed. CIL, would also suggest the extent
of autonomy to be extended to the medical colleges in the
present set-up. |
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BJP wants to contest 5 seats FEROZEPORE, May 24 — The secretary of the state unit of the BJP, Mr Anil Sarin, has said that if Ms Sonia Gandhi comes to power at the Centre the security of the country "will be in danger". Talking to The Tribune here yesterday, Mr Sarin said voters were aware of this and would reject the Congress if it projected Ms Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate. He regretted that the Congress, which has worked for the freedom of the country and ruled for over 40 years, wanted to see a person of foreign origin as the Prime Minister. Mr Sarin said the BJP wanted to contest five Lok Sabha seats — Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar and Ludhiana. It wished to field its candidates from Jalandhar and Ludhiana because now these constituencies had become its strongholds. The BJP would finalise the adjustment of seats with its coalition partner, the SAD, in a cordial manner at the appropriate time. He said the activities of former SGPC President Gurcharan Singh Tohra and his associates would not adversely affect the electoral prospects of candidates of the SAD-BJP combine in Lok Sabha poll. The BJP leader said
there would be a neck-and-neck fight between candidates
of the SAD-BJP combine and the Congress. Voters would not
accept hardliners like Mr Simaranjit Singh Mann. |
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A legend is gone CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Not many artistes end up as legends in their lifetime. But Asa Singh Mastana was fortunate enough to be one. For over three decades Mastana, a name he got when he was just a school student from one of his teachers, dominated the Punjabi singing scene along with Bibi Surinder Kaur. In between was that Tumbiwala Yamla Jatt. Many other singers have now captivated hearts of Punjabi lovers — Gurdas Mann, Hans Raj Hans, Wadali brothers and Malkiat Singh. Now they are sensations and big advertising budgets launch them. As one travels around in the north, big bill boards announce new voices, new faces and some with just their nick names — Chhinda, Channi and Rano. Indeed there is big money now. It was not the case when Mastana, one of the best singers of Waris Shah's Heer, started his singing career. In fact, it would be wrong to call it a career. Colleges and sometime politicians besides some cultural groups invited and provided the artistes the bare minimum. But the appreciation by audience kept the artistes going. A sum of Rs 500 could be considered as a good fee and that too from Ludhiana's Government College. But money then counted less. Another thing that marked out the performance at that time in the fifties and the sixties and, to some extent even in the seventies was that the present razzle dazzle where the artiste is a kind of dancer on the stage and with loud and, at times, annoying music was just not there. It was the depth of the song and the melodious voice that counted with the listeners. Asa Singh Mastana was counted as one of the singers of Heer who elevated and enlivened the scene not only in this Punjab, but even the one in Pakistan. Mastana rubbed shoulders with Ghulam Ali, Mehndi Hasan, Farida Khunum and Reshma. Totally unassuming, this short-statured man would come live on the stage with his measured tune and classical rhythm. One could hear his famous song "jado meri arthi utha ke chalan ge or tera shabab lei betha, bale ni Punjab di sher bacheai". And with Bibi Surinder Kaur, Mastana would go a little naughty, have a peg or two and then a duet would follow. But that never descended to vulgarity. Both kept to healthy Punjabi humour. Some nine or 10 years ago, both were guests of honour at the Chandigarh Press Club where they regaled the audience for two hours. Their tappas and mahia, were very popular with the audiences. Born on August 22, 1926, at Sheikhupura in Pakistan, Mastana's talent was spotted earlier by his school teacher. Later he learnt classical singing from Pandit Durga Prasad. In 1985, he was awarded the Padma Shri. He travelled widely to entertain and show to the world that Waris Shah's Heer was not just a romantic love story, but a song of many dimensions. Even though Asa Singh
Mastana, has passed any away. His songs shall live ever
after. |
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Badal mourns Mastana's demise CHANDIGARH, May 24 —The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, and Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Information and Public Relations Minister, have expressed grief over the demise of Asa Singh Mastana, a renowned Punjabi folk singer and Padam Shree winner. In their condolence messages, the two said, Mastana had brought a change in the traditional Punjabi folklore by introducing classical touch in folk singing. Mr Swarna Ram, State
Education Minister, has also expressed grief over the
demise of Asa Singh Mastana. |
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6 IAS/PCS officers
shuffled CHANDIGARH, May 24 — The Punjab Government today shuffled six IAS/PCS officers. Mr G. Vajralingam is the new Managing Director, Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation, vice Capt Narinder Singh, who goes as Special Secretary, Welfare, of SCs and BCs. Mr Dalip Kumar is the new Additional Deputy Commissioner, Nawanshahr, with additional charge as ADC (Development). Mr Nirbhai Singh is SDM, Khamanon, while Mr Shiv Dular Singh Dhillon has been appointed SDM, Anandpur Sahib. Mr Jaspal Mittal has been named SDM, Fatehgarh Sahib. Several transfer orders
issued on May 21 have either been withdrawn or modified. |
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High-level meeting reviews
law & order LUDHIANA, May 24 — The law and order scenario in Punjab was discussed at a high-level meeting of IGs (zones), DIGs (ranges) and district SSPs presided over by the Director-General of Punjab Police, Mr Sarabjit Singh. The crime situation in the state was discussed at length and a comparison of the police performance during the four-month period beginning January 1, 1999, was made with the same period last year. It revealed that the Punjab police had improved its recoveries under the heads of stolen property, the Arms Act, the Excise Act and other local and special laws. In January-April, 1998, the police recovered property looted in robberies and dacoities, worth Rs 1.21 lakh while during the same period this year, it recovered property worth Rs 4.89 lakh. This represented a 300 per cent increase. Similarly, the property recovered in cases of burglary and theft showed a 30 per cent increase over last year. Kidnapping and abduction cases registered a decrease from 115 in 1998 to 110 this year. The total number of cases traced increased from 10,393 to 12008. The number of cases chargesheeted after investigation also showed an increase from 9,141 to 1998 to 10,881 in 1999. The number of persons convicted in all types of cases also went up by 216. Recoveries under the local and special laws showed an improvement. Under the Arms Act, the recovery of explosives, including RDX and PETN, showed an increase of about 27 kg as compared to last year. Recoveries of arms such as pistols, revolvers and other weapons, also increased. The DGP appreciated the
good work done by the officers but cautioned them against
complacency, particularly on the anti-terrorist front. |
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More bodies join stir against
fee hike PATIALA, May 24 — The Bharatiya Kisan Union (Ekta) Punjab Students Federation, Technical Union, Jamuhri Adhikar Sabha and Mehnatkash Sangharsh Kendra staged a joint rally at Rajindra Hospital here today to protest against the hike in fees and charges at government hospitals. Addressing the rally speakers of these organisations condemned the state government for "commercialising" medical treatment in hospitals by increasing the charges. The speakers said that both treatment at government hospitals and education at government colleges had become out of reach of the middle class. They said, due to costly treatment and education Punjab could no longer call itself a welfare state. A memorandum has also been sent to the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, urging the government to immediately withdraw the fee hike and roll back the increased treatment charges at hospitals. Meanwhile, two more
organisations the Democratic Teachers Front and Netraheen
Sangharsh Committee have also expressed their support. |
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Tributes paid to Darbara Singh JALANDHAR, May 24 — Tributes were paid to Darbara Singh on his first death anniversary at his native Malsian village here today. Darbara Singh, a former Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, had also been an MP and Governor of Rajasthan during his long political career. He died of a heart attack, after a few days of taking over as Governor of Rajasthan, last year. A large number of leaders from different parties, media barons, Rajya Sabha members and ministers were present at the bhog ceremony. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, while speaking on the occasion said Darbara Singh had lived a principled life and never hankered after political positions. Mr Badal revealed that when Darbara Singh was offered the governorship of Rajasthan, he had declined the offer at first, but after a lot of persuasion and pressure from different quarters, he agreed to accept the post. Prominent among those
who spoke and paid homage to the leader included Bibi
Jagir Kaur, Bibi Upinderjit Kaur, Mr Sarwan Singh, Mr
Manoranjan Kalia, Mr Ajit Singh Kohar (all ministers) and
Mr Satnam Singh Kainth, Chairman of the Bahujan Samaj
Morcha. |
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Cong 'discriminated against Punjab' RANIA (Moga), May 24 (UNI) — The Punjab Minister of State for Irrigation and Power Mr Sikander Singh Maluka, has lamented that it was unfortunate that the Congress was projecting Mrs Sonia Gandhi as its Prime Ministerial candidate. Mr Maluka was addressing a rural gathering here last evening. He alleged that successive Congress governments had always discriminated against Punjab. Referring to the river water dispute, the minister charged the Congress with helping Haryana in this respect. He alleged that at the time of the reorganisation of Punjab in 1966, the Congress Government gave 50 per cent of the water share to Haryana, instead of 40 per cent, at the cost of Punjab. Lashing out at expelled former Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra and sacked Akal Takht Jathedar Bhai Ranjit Singh, Mr Maluka said that the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) had given them enough opportunities to seek pardon for their alleged anti-party activities. However, Mr Tohra's expulsion was the only way out, he maintained. Mr Maluka also charged
Mr Tohra with playing in the hands of the Congress. |
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Technical staff to join PSEB rally JALANDHAR, May 24 — The Punjab Technical Services Union had decided to join the rally of the Electricity Employees Federation of India at Chandigarh on June 1. The decision was taken at a meeting held here today. Mr H.S. Minhas, general secretary of the union, strongly condemned the attitude of the government regarding the PSEB employees in the state. He said the union had urged the government to end the victimisation of the employees. He said it had also been
decided to observe protest rallies in mid-June at the
head office of the Punjab State Electricity Board,
Patiala, and a one day strike in the first week of July. |
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Six bootleggers arrested GURDASPUR, May 24 — The Pathankot police has arrested six persons of an inter-state gang of bootleggers and seized huge quantity of illicit liquor which was being smuggled from Himachal Pradesh to Punjab. According to Mr Varinder Kumar, SSP, six persons — Bishno, Kamaldeep, alias Deepa, Raman Kumar Veena, Sunita and Raj Rani — all residents of Awankha under Dinanagar police station had been arrested. A case under section 61/1/14 of the excise Act was registered against. The accused in police station Sadar, Pathankot yesterday. As much as 520 bottles of illicit liquor were seized from them. The district police chief said that the SHO Prem Dass of the Pathankot police, on a up-off, raided the hide-outs of the accused near Mukimpur village. The illicit liquor was being smuggled from Chhani Beli village in Himachal Pradesh under Indora police station for sale in Dinanagar. The police chief said
that the accused had been smuggling illicit liquor for
some time and were involved in several cases under the
excise Act. |
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Tohra meets Governor CHANDIGARH, May 24 — Former SGPC Chief Gurcharan Singh Tohra here today met the Punjab Governor, Lieut-Gen B.K.N. Chhibber. Informed sources said Mr Tohra brought some cases of police excesses to the notice of the Punjab Governor. He also submitted a memorandum to the Governor in this connection. Sources said that Mr Tohra complained that Akali workers belonging to his camp were being harassed by the police at the instance of the Punjab Government headed by Mr Parkash Singh Badal. He reportedly gave an instance of Fatehgarh Sahib where he had heated arguments with police officials over the holding of a meeting of Akali workers in gurdwara premises yesterday. Mr Tohra reportedly told the Governor that Sant Darshan Singh was victimised for political reasons. Mr Tohra also expressed
his apprehension about possible interference at the
Ludhiana meeting scheduled to be held on May 30. |
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