The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Tigers at Ludhiana safari safe: docs
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 8 — It is good news for animal lovers in the city. Minto, Pinto, Subash, Sunil and Sunita and Rani and other Royal Bengal tigers and tigresses living in the tiger safari on the outskirts of the city are hale and hearty.

This is definitely a positive sign in view of the tragic death of tigers in Bhubaneswar recently. Seven male and 5 female tigers continue their daily life in the 25-acre Safari, the second best after the World Famous Chhatbir Zoo near Chandigarh. They eat raw meat provided by the zoo officials and then cool off either under the shade of a tree or in a small water pond in the safari. In between they play games with each other and also make fun running after scores of peacocks whom they rarely catch.

Alarmed at the deaths of the tigers in Orissa, the zoo officials of the state are not taking any chances. A team of wild life officials, led by Director Dr Vinod Sharma visited the safari here today to check the health of the animals.

Doctors regularly keep visiting the Safari but a visit in the wake of the deaths of 12 tigers made this a significant one. Dr Sharma said he had come to have a look at the health of the tigers and was extremely happy to see them in top health. “Still we are not taking any chances and will take random samples of urine and stool of some of the tigers to test them for any problem. He, however, stressed that chances of detecting any health problem were few.

He said that though the zoo officials had been alarmed at the deaths, there was no reason to worry about the health of the tigers or other animals. He said that the State Zoo Authority had already taken precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incident.

Some visitors to the zoo were apparently worried about the tigers. They said they were planning to visit the safari for a long time but the news of the tigers’ death made them curious to see the tigers near their city. Zoo officials also said that for the past few days, people had been enquiring about how the health of the tigers here.

In the safari it was an exhilarating experience to watch the tigers from close proximity. Our photographer Rajesh Bhambi waited to have a close shot of the big cat.

Even after waiting for a long time the tigers did not oblige. The efforts of the zoo-keepers to make them open their jaws also did not work. Out of curiosity one of the member asked “Can they attack us”? But the zoo contractor confidently replied in the negative. Soon a big cat opened its jaw, apparently to tell us that she had enough teeth to do the job.

Meanwhile, the People For Animals (PFA) here has expressed concern at the death of the tigers in Orissa. It has sent letters to the Forest Minister, Financial Commissioner Forests and Wild Life Punjab and Director Chhatbir Zoological Park in this regard.

According to Dr Sandeep Jain, President of the PFA, if the number of animals is less, then the risk of contracting diseases, resulting in large number of deaths, decrease. Moreover, if more animals become ill at the same time it becomes difficult to cure them or control the outbreak.

The PFA has demanded translocation of the tigers from Chhatbir Zoo. Dr Jain said the death of the tigers should not mean that only this species should be taken care of. In fact all the animals in any zoo or wild life sanctuary should be sterilised.

Punjab branch of IMA, nursing homes on warpath
‘Ads to lure patients unethical’
From A. S. Prashar
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 8 — A war of words has broken out between the Punjab state branch of the Indian Medical Association and one of the better known infertility centres of Ludhiana over the advisability of publishing advertisements in newspapers to solicit patients.

While the IMA feels that it is “unethical” on the part of a doctor to advertise in newspapers and on cable TV channels in order to lure patients, Dr Sumeet Sofat, who along with his wife, Dr Sumita Sofat, runs Sofat Infertility and Women Care Centre in Ludhiana, is of the view that there is nothing wrong with it. In any case, there are so many doctors, heart centres, clinics, nursing homes, diagnostic centres, laboratories, scanning centres, stone clinics and hospitals all over the country advertising the facilities they have to offer. Nobody seems to have raised any objection to them. So he does not see why this cannot be done by him in Ludhiana.

The present controversy has been kicked up by a press release issued by Dr Gursharan Singh, President of the Ludhiana branch of the Indian Medical Association, a few days ago describing advertisments regarding Dr Sofat’s infertility centre as unethical. He also alleged that the doctors who had done MD (gynae) from Dayanand Medical College and Hospital were not recognised. While Dr Sofat complains that his centre is being singled out by the district IMA chief for criticism, Dr Gursharan Singh asserts that he had addressed letters to all nursing homes and medical centres to avoid giving newspaper advertisements.

Dr Gursharan Singh’s communication to Dr Sofat and others in Ludhiana about the alleged unethical practices led to a strong reaction from Dr Sofat who published an “open letter” in the form of an advertisement in a newspaper addressed to the state IMA President, Dr O.P.S. Kande, questioning the bona fides of Dr Gursharan Singh. The “open letter” inter alia alleged that Dr Gursharan Singh was himself publishing a periodical which routinely carried advertisements of such medical centres and nursing homes. Dr Gursharan Singh had also approached him (Dr Sofat) unsuccessfully for the release of some advertisements about the centre in his journal. Therefore, his objection to the publication of advertisements regarding Dr Sofat’s Infertility and Women Care Centre in newspapers was due to ulterior motives.Dr Sofat said that his MD (gynae) degree was duly recognised by Panjab University.

Dr Kande, who drove down to Ludhiana from Patiala last evening for a press meet made it clear that the present IMA drive against publication of advertisements in newspapers by medical centres and nursing homes was not directed against any individual nursing home. But Dr Sofat’s name figured prominently because he found “big and unethical advertisements” about his infertility centre in newspapers.

“The matter cannot be closed because I want a full public discussion on this issue and no sacrifice is too great to uphold of the dignity of the noble profession which...is being besmirched by our greed and commercialisation”.

Dr Kande said he was much pained by the description of the patient as a consumer by Dr Sofat “despite the fact that the only recognised body of qualified doctors in India — IMA — has time and again said that patient is not a consumer and we are not traders.

“Although the highest court in the country has also described the patient as a consumer, the World Medical Association is pressing the Indian government to take medical profession out of the purview of the Consumer Protection Act . Your statement has given an open invitation to the government to apply this act to the medical profession”, he told Dr Sofat.

Dr Kande also disclosed that the state IMA would hold a meeting on July 30 to discuss this issue in depth.

Dr Gursharan Singh said the periodical being brought out by him was named “Voice of The Medical People”. It was a fortnightly and restricted to circulation among medical people. He denied that he had ever approached Dr Sofat for advertisements. “I don’t know even the location of Dr Sofat’s centre in Ludhiana”, he claimed.

COMMUNITY

MCPI flays Vajpayee government
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 8 — The Marxist Communist Party of India (MCPI) has flayed the anti-people, anti-national and anti-democracy policies of the NDA government led by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, saying that under the dictates of imperialist bodies like the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation, and the so called policies of globalisation, liberalisation and privatisation, the second generation economic reforms had played havoc with the economy of the country.

The MCPI general secretary, Mr Jagjit Singh Lyallpuri, has said in a statement here today that the policy of opening the flood gates for multinational corporations (MNC’s) had landed the country with an unbearable debt burden, resulting in large scale deindustrialisation and joblessness for millions of workers. The NDA government was implementing the so called ‘new economic polity’ initiated by the previous Congress government and their successors, the United Front, more thoroughly and vigorously. Recently, under pressure from the WTO, the government had removed all restrictions on the free unlimited flow of 741 commodities, mainly related to agriculture and small scale industries. As a result, the agriculture and small scale sector in the country had received a big blow.

Mr Lyallpuri further pointed out that in order to sustain its anti-people rule and suppress any kind of agitation against its wrong policies, the government, especially the BJP leadership, was arming itself with fascist measures and legislations, which appeared deadlier than black laws like TADA and ESMA, imposed by the Congress government. For this purpose, the government was setting up a more centralised administration, without hesitating to trample upon the rights of the states.

The MCPI leader said the ruling SAD(B) and many other regional parties were lending support to these centralised fascist and repressive measures as constituents of the NDA government.

A joint convention of the MCPI, CP-ML(Liberation) and CPI-ML(New Democracy) being held at Punjabi Bhawan here on Sunday, will deliberate in detail upon these policies of the government and would chalk out a plan of action, Mr Lyallpuri added.

PCCTU plans dharnas
From Our Correspondent

LUDHIANA, July 8 — The executive committee of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union has decided to launch a series of actions, starting from August 1 to September 1, in protest against the police excesses against teachers on examination duty in Amritsar and the indifferent and apathetic attitude of the Punjab Government towards their long-pending demands. This was decided at a meeting held under the chairmanship of Prof K.B.S. Sodhi, president, PCCTU.

The union threatened non-cooperation in conducting exams at Guru Nanak Dev University if the Vice-Chancellor failed to provide security to the teachers on examination duty.

According to a press note, Mr Sodhi said that the union would hold massive dharnas on August 1 and August 9 at Amritsar and Chandigarh, respectively, in protest against the Amritsar district administration, the VC, GND, varsity and the Punjab Government’s failure to fulfill their demands.

Mr Sodhi said that their demands included immediate implementation of the pension-cum-gratuity scheme, release of grants of January and February, solution to problems of D.P.Es and librarians and the review of posts.

The teachers of the colleges affiliated to Punjabi University, Patiala, Punjab University, Chandigarh, and GND varsity, Amritsar, will sit on dharna in front of the principals’ offices on August 18,25 and September 1, respectively.

Two stolen cars recovered
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 8 — A team led by Inspector Ranbir Singh has recovered two more cars stolen by the notorious gang of car theives led by Harwinder Singh Bittu. The gang was busted by the Ludhiana and the Bathinda police with the arrest of five miscreants at Bathinda last month and two miscreants from Ludhiana a couple of weeks ago.

The police has recovered two more cars — a Ceilo and a Maruti Esteem — that were sold off by the nine-member gang to Gursharan Singh of Hoshiarpur at Rs 2.36 lakh and to Mr Harpreet Singh Brar of Ludhiana, at Rs 1.20 lakh. Five of the accused — Harwinder Singh Bittu, Gopal Singh Pala, Chamkaur Singh Kauri, Mandeep Singh Mithoo and Ramandeep Singh — who were arrested by the Bathinda police were brought to Ludhiana after obtaining a production warrant for facilitating in the recovery of these stolen cars and were today sent back to Bathinda.

It may be noted that the members of the gang were in the age group of 20-25 and from well-to-do families.

Till date the Ludhiana police has recovered four cars sold off by this gang, including these two. Earlier, a black Esteem was recovered from Jagwinder Singh Happy by the police and later another Esteem car was recovered from near the Ludhiana stock exchange. Other than this, the city police has also arrested another member of the gang, Jasmeet Singh Sonu, from Delhi. The Bathinda police has recovered two cars — a Zen and a Maruti Esteem. The police investigations have also shown that the gang had thrown two Zen cars into the Sirhind canal in Fatehgarh Sahib district.

It is learnt that the police is on the look-out for the two remaining members of the gang — Amandeep Singh Neetu and Sukhjit Singh Kaka.

Theme of a poetic monologue
By M.S.Cheema

INDIA has a number of metropolitan cities. Most of these are the product of imperial capitalism. India is blessed with a number of Maha Nagars with a glorious historical past and heritage. In these cities /towns, we still can see and feel the grandeur of architecture, the echoes of classical music, the traditional design and texture of dresses and hobbies of inhabitants. Lucknow, Hyderabad, Pune, Bhopal, Gwalior, Agra, Delhi, etc. preserve and present a proud heritage. From Punjab, Amritsar and Patiala can be added to the list of national and human glory.

There are a number of books about cities. The British rulers took care to survey the districts and write and periodically revise the district gazettes. Lahore, Lucknow, Delhi and Hyderabad have fine books about them, but all in prose.

Some of the books present the cities as dynamic forces. They have a body and a soul. Some present research work and a few are classics. We have books about Amritsar and Patiala which excite our hunger for knowledge. But they don’t provide as rich a feast or good food as one by Amresh Mishra on Lucknow.

Though Ludhiana does not fall in the category of cities listed above, it does fall in another category. A poet had selected Ludhiana (district) as a topic a few years ago.

This is a new genre in a literary sense. The form is dramatic monologue: Thus speaks out Ludhiana. The book runs into more than 400 pages. The range of theme is mind-boggling. The collection of facts and figures makes it a research work.

Its author, Dr Atam Hamrahi, suffered a massive paralytic stroke, but survived. He recently escaped death by the proverbial hair-breadth margin. His left leg was amputated, but this die-hard genius completed his tribute to his district, Ludhiana. Dr. Hamrahi, in the face of sure death, defied it to complete his book. Hamrahi lost a major limb, yet added to the prestigious volume. As a resident of Ludhiana, he is the Hamrahi of the Ludhianvis. As the author of this book, he will always be remembered as Ludhiana’s Hamrahi. He has done something for which Punjab in general and Ludhianvis in particular will feel obliged.

It is an interesting monologue. Ludhiana is personified and speaks out. The district opens floodgates of information. The narrative is fast and years are covered through a few lines or pages. The treatment is similar to his earlier attempts: Thus speaks this place.

Dr Hamrahi is a well-read scholar. He is a well-travelled extrovert cultivating instant familiarity graduating to friendships and relationship.

It is interesting to recall that he started as an untrained school teacher four decades ago. He changed places, not the profession. He acquired new academic qualification and changed the nature of job — school teacher, master and then college lecturer. It was at the local government college where his latent faculty sprouted and grew into a poetic-banyan.

His loveable trait is a queer mixture of knowledge and innocence. In his latest book, he establishes his knowledge about Ludhiana. He makes Ludhiana to address us all about all that it has to say. I fear in his innocence he may overdo it. He should know that a bird does not carry extra wings to fly!

CRIME

Man making fake RCs caught
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 8 — The Focal Point police has claimed to have busted a racket involved in the making of fake registration copies in four districts of the state with the arrest of one of the members of the racket.

The police arrested one person, Rakesh Kumar Sharma, a resident of Kidwai Nagar area, during a raid at the house of Ramesh Kumar Bansal at Jain Colony, Daba Road two days ago and recovered fake stamps, licence forms and a few fake registration copies there. While the latter fled away, the police arrested another accused, Ramesh Kumar Sharma.

Informed Mr Paramjit Singh, SHO, Focal Point Police Station, “The two members of the gang — Rakesh Kumar Sharma and Rakesh Kumar Bansal — had been operating from the old district courts for quite some time and had been making fake RCs by passing these as real and also making fake RCs for people who had to deposit these in the courts while they had to appear in the courts for facing their challans.”

It is also learnt that the two were charging anything from Rs 500 to Rs 1000 from their customers. They were also allegedly forging the signatures of the DTOs and RTOs of any of the districts that their customers belonged to.

It is also learnt that the police has also seized fake stamps of the DTOs of Ludhiana, Khanna, Faridkot and Patiala. While one of the accused who was arrested, Rakesh Kumar Sharma, was presented before the court of the JMIC, Mr Harpal Singh last evening and given a three days’ police remand, the other accused, Rakesh Kumar Bansal, of Jain Colony, Daba Road is still at large.

SI involved in contract killing booked
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 8 —Sub-Inspector of Police, Joginder Singh, a co-accused in the first-ever proven case of contract killing in Punjab, has been booked by the Ludhiana Police in a case relating to fabrication of false evidence even as he claims his innocence in the murder of the Canadian woman and has obtained a stay for his arrest till July 11.

A case under Sections 194 and 195 of the IPC has been registered against SI Joginder Singh presently posted at Jalandhar. It is alleged that he has falsely implicated one Brijmohan, in a blind murder case after he had refused to agree to the former’s demand of withdrawing a case of property dispute against four of the SI’s associates. It is learnt that Joginder Singh had asked Brijmohan to withdraw his case against Santokh Singh, Bachan Singh, Nirmal Singh, Kashmira Singh and Sohan Singh.

An inquiry into the case was conducted by the SP City II, Mr Parmod Ban, and it was revealed that Joginder Singh had gotten a statement registered from one Harpal Singh against Brijmohan. However, Harpal Singh has now denied having made any statement.

The Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr Kuldip Singh, when contacted said that Brijmohan was innocent and strict action would be taken against the erring officials.

Meanwhile, accused Joginder Singh, while talking to TNS over the telephone here today said that he was being falsely implicated by the Sangrur police at the behest of a Superintendent of Police, presently posted at Khanna. “My acquaintance with the prime accused, Anil Kumar, is being used as a ploy by the police to book me in the Jassi murder case. I had earlier caught Mr H.S. Sekhon, SP, Khanna, with a woman in a city hotel in a compromising position. It was then that a move was initiated at the Home Affairs Department and the Director General of Police offices to suspend Mr Sekhon. Infuriated at this, he was looking for opportunities to get even with me and all this is a sequel to the earlier above mentioned incident.”

On the other hand, Mr H.S. Sekhon, when contacted by TNS, denied all the allegations and said that he was not even in Punjab at the time the murder occurred or the police investigations found Joginder Singh as one of the accused. “I was away to Purnian in Bihar on official duty when the entire drama unfolded,” he said.

The sensational contract killing case of a Canadian woman, Jaswinder Kaur alias Jassi, allegedly arranged by her mother, Malkiat Kaur, and maternal uncle, Surjit Singh (both residents of Canada) angry over her love marriage to an Indian youth of a low socio- economic status, has reportedly been solved by the Sangrur police and eight persons, including the friend of the maternal uncle of the deceased belonging to Kaonke Khus village, six killers and their leader with whom the deal was struck have been arrested. Attempts are being made to nab the Sub Inspector of Police Joginder Singh, who had allegedly arranged the deal for the family of the girl with the killers, informed the DSP, subdivision, Sangrur, Mr Raj Bachan Singh Sandhu.

The body of Jaswinder Kaur was found lying in a distributary near village Bulara near here on June 9. The Sadar police led by Inspector Maninder Bedi had launched a massive exercise to identify the body and subsequently the Amargarh police had identified the body as that of Jassi. It was learnt that while the deceased and her husband, Sukhwinder Singh, were returning to Narike village from Malerkotla, they were attacked by some unknown persons. While the assailants had left Sukhwinder Singh for dead, they had taken his wife along and later murdered her and thrown her body in the fields near village Bulara. The investigations by the Sangrur police have shown that the mother of the deceased, Malkiat Kaur, had first tried to talk Jassi out of her marriage to Sukhwinder from Canada over a mobile telephone of one of the assailants. When she refused to relent, they gave the go-ahead to Anil Kumar to punish her.

Jaswinder Kaur, a resident of Canada had tied the nupital knot with Sukhwinder Singh alias Mithoo, a resident of village Kaonke Khus, where her maternal family was residing. She had met the boy, a kabaddi player and a taxi driver by profession, during her visit to the village two years ago. She had later gone back to Canada but love bloomed in the two hearts and when she came back to India in the last winter, the two decided to get married.

It was then that the two went to Baba Bakala and had a court marriage there. But as fate would have it, Jassi was allegedly forcibly sent back to Canada by her maternal family. Once in Canada, Jassi was allegedly kept in confinement in the house of her other maternal uncle there, Mr Surjeet Singh. Her uncle here, Mr Darshan Singh, lodged a complaint with the Jagraon police that Sukhwinder Singh was falsely claiming his marriage to the former’s neice.

Sukhwinder was allegedly then rounded up by the police and kept in illegal custody. His friends, then, tried to contact Jassi in Canada but to no avail. They then managed to get in touch with her friend in Canada and this friend then took the help of the Canadian police and got Jassi released from the captivity of her maternal uncle. Once free, she faxed a letter to the Jagraon police and stated that she had indeed been married to Sukhwinder. It was then that she came back to India against the wishes of her family and were staying at Narike with the maternal family of her husband.

According to the DIG, Patiala Range, Mr Sanjeev Gupta, SI Joginder Singh, who was at that time the Incharge of CIA Staff at Ludhiana, was well known to a photographer from Moga, Gurnek Singh Bhatti. He inturn was known to Mr Darshan Singh from village Kaonke Khus in Jagraon.

Servant held for theft
Tribune News Service

LUDHIANA, July 8 — A domestic servant in the house of a businessman is alleged to have found a novel way of getting even with his employers after they had accused him of theft by actually committing a theft.

A team led by Inspector Ranbir Singh, SI Darshan Singh and ASI Gurmeet Singh arrested Dalip Kumar Saroj from the railway station while he was trying to escape. It is learnt that the accused had got a faint idea that his previous employers were suspecting him for the theft.

Twenty-year-old Dalip Kumar, a resident of village Gokla in Uttar Pradesh, had been working as a domestic servant in the house of Surinder Kumar in the Brahmpuri area near Daresi for almost four years. The accused, while talking to TNS here today after his arrest, said that he had earlier been accused by his employers of stealing Rs 500 and it was then that he had made up his mind to teach them a lesson for doubting his honesty and integrity.

It is learnt that Surinder Kumar’s mother, Sheela Wanti, would keep her gold jewellery hidden from the other family members in her trunk and only the accused was aware of this. He then decided to steal the gold jewellery: 30 gold bangles weighing 12 gms each, one ring weighing one tola and four ginnies of gold, just before he was leaving for his village for a vacation in December last year. He was also aware that the old lady took out her jewellery only on special occasions and probably thought that it would be a long time till she would discover the theft.

Interestingly, the accused, in order to erase out any doubts in the minds of his employers about the theft, asked them to buy Kisan Vikas Patras from the money they owed him as his salary and said that he would collect these from them upon his return from the village. He had reportedly taken a two months leave for getting married.

“The accused took away 14 bangles and hid the other ornaments in a factory on the Chandigarh Road, where one of his cousins Jagpat was working. He, however, did not even inform his cousin that he had hidden the ornaments there. He went back to the village and sold off the 14 bangles with the connivance of his father for around Rs 28000. He came to Ludhiana again in the month of February and asked Mr Surinder Kumar to re-employ him. However, since the latter had already kept another servant, he arranged for Dalip Kumar to be taken as a servant at an acquaintance’s house,” said Inspector Ranbir Singh.

It is learnt that the accused then asked Mr Kumar to give him Rs 2000 in cash and asked him to keep the Kisan Vikas Patras bought for him by the latter as security. He then went back to the village and also got a fixed deposit of Rs 20,000 in the bank from the money that he had procured after selling the 14 gold bangles.

Dalip Kumar came to Ludhiana after that and began working at the new house. In the meantime, Mrs Sheela Wanti found out about the missing jewellery and a case under Section 381 of the IPC was registered at the Police Station Division No. 4. The accused then tried to run away, but was caught by the police.

It is also learnt that the police has already recovered the gold ornaments that he had hidden in the factory, and that a police party is being sent to village Gokla to arrest the father of the accused and to recover the remaining gold bangles that he had allegedly sold off to a goldsmith there. The police has obtained a seven days police remand for Dalip Kumar till July 12.