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| Thursday, July 27, 2000, Chandigarh, India    |
IT men open Sidhu’s two lockers Heroin worth 18 cr seized MASR for thorough riots probe Meeting to discuss property auction Illegal bundh defies solution Marches, rallies mark Vijay Divas
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victims’ kin for action against DGP CHANDIGARH, July 26 — “The state government should initiate action against Punjab Police chief Sarbjit Singh for allegedly reimbursing the legal costs of officers involved in killing a couple in a fake encounter in Calcutta in 1993,” says Hasan Bibi, a sister of Bashir Ahmad, who was killed along with his wife by a five-member Punjab police party while they were asleep in their house that fateful night.
Cabinet expresses
gratitude to martyrs Saluja killing: Cong workers block traffic Community policing in Punjab soon Yatra panel chief’s plea for facilities Foundation teams to help flood-hit
Dalit youth beheads sister Smuggler with ISI links held 2 killed in accident
Teachers’ union seeks PM’s help
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MASR for thorough riots probe CHANDIGARH, July 26 — The Movement Against State Repression
(MASR) has urged the Justice Nanawati Commission set up by the BJP-led government to go into the facts and circumstances leading to the killing of Sikhs during the 1984 riots to do its job seriously. Mr Inderjit Singh Jaijee, MASR convener in a letter to Justice Nanawati said, the organisation was ready to help the Commission in all possible manner. The MASR said some aspects relating to the gruesome happenings of 1984 have not received adequate attention from the Central Government as well as from the various commissions and inquiry committees which have gone into the unfortunate happenings. MASR wanted the Commission to probe the killing and injury of Sikhs travelling by trains and on the railway stations; the killing of Sikh truck, bus and taxi drivers and their crew, plying their vehicles on the national and state highways. “It was then our information that 300 cases of Sikhs killed in trains were registered with the authorities of the Northern Railways alone. The Government has been reluctant to divulge the names and number of Sikhs killed while travelling by trains or on railway premises throughout India. Efforts to get this information directly from the government or through Members of Parliament, failed,” MASR said. One of the Member’s of Parliament from Punjab, Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, (retd) wrote a letter in August 1990 to the then Union Home Minister, Mufti Mohammed Sayeed and pointed out that he had not been able to get information from the Ministry of Railways regarding the large number of Sikhs killed and wounded while travelling by trains or on the railway premises during the 1984 riots. Lt Gen Aurora observed that the Home Ministry may have the required information based on reports from various states or thanas. He therefore, requested the Home Minister to provide the numbers and names of Sikhs killed and wounded while travelling by Indian Railways during that period; details of the property destroyed / damaged; details of relief/ compensation provided by the Government to the next of kin of such victims; is the compensation provided or being provided on the same scale as for the victims of Delhi riots or as for the Punjab killings; and was any information of the victims looted / damaged. But no information was made available. The present Defence Minister, George Fernandes who was the Railway Minister then did not help much. The Prime Minister’s office was also of little help, MASR alleged. “Since the Railway Minister had stated that the Ministry alone could not do much, we wrote a letter to the then Prime Minister on September 4, 1990. Stating that
in spite of our best efforts we have not been able to get information from the Government of India or the Ministry of Railways , about the number of Sikhs killed, wounded or missing while travelling by trains during the riots. A second letter was written to the Prime Minister on November 1,1990. It was brought to his notice that, after he had forwarded our earlier letter dated September 4, 1990 to the Ministry of Railways , Mr George Fernandes had verbally disclosed to the undersigned that the Railways had completed the work of identifying the Sikhs killed on the trains and on the railway premises. However, the order for the payment of compensation rested upon the decision of the Cabinet which had to instruct the Home Ministry to do the needful. The Prime Minister was requested to have a Cabinet decision taken quickly. But nothing was done. “Thousands of trucks, buses and taxis were looted, burnt and the crews killed. The government has refused to divulge as to how many trucks, buses and taxis were destroyed or the number of people killed on the National and state highways and in the cities and towns, MASR said. MASR wanted the commission to summon the Ministries of Railways, Defence and Home and direct them to collate and tally number of Sikhs killed or wounded, including defence personnel, while travelling in trains or within the premises of Indian Railways during the 1984 riots, with their names and addresses. As far as Defence personnel are concerned, information can be obtained from the Defence Services Group Insurance Scheme it said. |
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Heroin worth 18 cr seized ATTARI (AMRITSAR), July 26 — Heroin worth over Rs 18 crore was seized from three Pakistani nationals, including one woman, after they alighted from the bi-weekly Samjhauta Express here last evening. According to the senior railway Customs officer, the heroin was cleverly concealed in Toyota car diesel fuel pump which was being brought by the three-member gang. Talking to newsmen, a small-time kiryana merchant from Lahore, Landa Bazar, Mohamad Rafiq, said today that they were handed over these 58 fuel pump sets by their close friend, Arshad, a drycleaner in the Delhi gate area of Lahore. Rafiq said that Arshad had requested them to carry these to Delhi to be delivered at Seema Lodge in the Chunni Wala Pahargaj area and after confirmation they would be paid Rs 500 each. They feigned ignorance about the heroin being concealed in the pumps. His colleague, Mohamad Zaheer, and small-time ‘sharbat’ seller of the same locality in Lahore, begged to be left off, claiming that they had been duped by Arshad as they had no knowledge of the pumps were being used to transport heroin. The middle-aged married woman, Ishrat Begum, who was part of the courier service, with tears in her eyes, claimed that she was also tricked by Arshad, who had promised to give her Rs 500 each for taking these pumps to Delhi. She was supposed to go to Aligarh to meet her brother. The Customs officer, while briefing newsmen, claimed that the consignment was the biggest in the past one year. He added that the catch was possible due to the strict vigil of the Customs staff at the station. He said that after the large-scale smuggling of fake-Indian currency in January and February this year, the Customs staff had been on extra alert and were thoroughly searching each piece of baggage after x-ray and rummaging. IT men open Sidhu’s two lockers PATIALA,
July 26 — Officials of the Income Tax Department opened two lockers of cricketer Navjot Sidhu at the Mall Road head office of the State Bank of Patiala (SBOP) here today morning. The income tax team, along with Navjot Sidhu, entered the SBOP premises at 11.05 am and left after two hours, drawing up an inventory of the items found in both the lockers which were sealed on July 20 evening. The lockers were sealed after the IT Department and the CBI had conducted raids on Sidhu’s two residences in the city and his commercial establishments located in the posh Chhotti Baradari area. Incidentally, Navjot Sidhu is an employee of the SBOP and is working as a scale three officer in the Public Relations Department. After the eight-member IT team and the cricketer entered the premises of the bank, they immediately went about their task. After discussions lasting about half an hour held in front of Mr Rameshwar
Gupta, Chief Manager (Accounts), who is also the in charge of operation of the lockers, the team members along with Sidhu entered the locker rooms and emerged from the room after about 20 minutes. Sidhu, for most of the time, could be seen poised and confident, even as one could see the IT sleuths questioning him intensively after coming out of the locker room. Sources confirmed that the IT officials removed the department’s official seal on both the lockers and prepared a panchnama (list of items) in the presence of the cricketer, who was given the code name “OB” (opening batsman) during Operation Gentleman — the nationwide search and seizure operations effected by the IT Department on July 20. The next step will be to evaluate the cricketers, properties on basis of which a list will be prepared of Sidhu’s assets. Thereafter, an appraisal report will be prepared by an assessing officer within 60 days, after which a notice will be dispatched to the cricketer, giving him a time period of 45 days to prepare a block assessment report for the year 1990-2000 in which the cricketer will have to list all his undisclosed assets.
Meeting to discuss property auction AMRITSAR, July 26 — The proposal of auctioning surplus land of Dr Vidya Sagar Mental Hospital, PWD and canal rest houses and other government properties here will be taken up at a meeting at Chandigarh tomorrow. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, is likely to attend the meeting. Besides the Deputy Commissioner, Amritsar, Mr Balramji Dass Tandon, Minister Local Government, Dr Upinderjit Kaur, Housing and Urban Development Minister, Dr Baldev Raj Chawla, Health and Family Welfare Minister, who hails from Amritsar, Mr Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Minister Revenue, Commissioner Municipal Corporation, Amritsar, and a number of senior officers of various departments have been invited to the meeting. With a view to generating revenue the State Government has already decided to auction palatial houses of Deputy Commissioners, SSPs and other officers in certain districts. The ‘surplus’ government properties would be disposed of under the optimum utilisation of vacant government lands (OUVGL) scheme. The State Government has already transferred surplus land of the Ram Lal Eye and ENT Hospital to the Punjab Urban Development Authority (PUDA) for open auction. The meeting is likely to discuss the scheme of New Amritsar as proposed by PUDA. The scheme is being opposed by some influential persons of the ruling SAD-BJP combine who have purchased properties at sites under consideration for auction. These persons had purchased the land at ‘very cheap’ rates by misguiding the land owners that the property would be acquired by PUDA. Now these very persons have been putting pressure on the government to stall the New Amritsar scheme as people had constructed many buildings and factories. Official sources, however, said the New Amritsar scheme would materialise as all the departments concerned had given no objection certificates. PUDA has sent a draft notification to the Punjab Government. Mr Harbhupinder Singh Nanda, Additional Chief Administrator, PUDA, told TNS all formalities regarding developing of New Amritsar had been completed. He claimed that the survey conducted by PUDA had shown that most of the owners had hurriedly constructed boundary walls after the finalisation of scheme in order to claim more compensation. He said most factories which had come up at these sites have already been closed. He said under the New Amritsar scheme Danga Pirat Colony won’t be touched. He said New Amritsar would come up on 506 acres on the Amritsar-Jandiala road. Mr Nanda said the 14 quarters of class IV employees in the Ram Lal Eye and ENT Hospital won’t be dismantled till the employees get alternative flats by PUDA. Ms Ratna, Geneal Secretary, Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee, has condemned the Punjab Government for transferring government lands to PUDA for generating additional revenue. She said it was a matter of shame that the government had decided to dispose of the mental hospital land. It may be mentioned here that veteran CPI leader Satya Paul Dang, Congress member Parliament Raghunandan Lal Bhatia and leaders of various political parties had decided to launch an agitation if the State Government disposed of the land of mental hospital and other government properties. 
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Illegal bundh defies solution PATIALA, July 26 — The Punjab Government is unable to find a solution to flooding being caused every year in the district and this year in Sangrur by an illegal bundh constructed at Hotipur village in Sangrur. The bundh causes gushing up of water in several villages of Patiala which are adjacent to Khanauri in Sangrur . The bundh, which has a height of 576 feet ( above sea level ) does not allow water spilling over from the Ghaggar to flow into the Batisdara , a natural drainway of the Ghaggar . The Batisdara , which has a capacity of handling 35,000 cusecs of water and was built to ease the pressure from the syphons at Khanauri where the Ghaggar crosses the Bhakra Main Line from underneath it , has not been used since 1995 when the bundh came up . Due to this water heads up and submerges thousands of acre near Khanauri in Patiala district every year . This year was different . The Ghaggar breached at Sadharanpur and Badhahpur in Patiala and bypassed the bundh and flowed into the Batisdara . As the flow of the water following the breaches was very fast it has adversely affected many villages in Sangrur . The Punjab Irrigation Minister, Mr Janmeja Singh Sekhon, yesterday inspected the flood hit areas and discussed the issue with the Patiala and Sangrur district administration . Talking to TNS, Mr Sekhon said what he could understand from experts was that the natural flow of the river had been stopped by creation of the bundh at Hotipur . The Minister said he would try to solve the problem by taking into account the larger interests of the people rather than any of the two districts. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, while briefing the minister said if the bundh height had been allowed to remain at around 750 feet this year and not raised again , water could have flowed over it and gone to the Batisdara peacefully. He said raising the height of the bundh had resulted in water heading up till a length of around 20 kilometers following which there had been breaches and the water had gushed into Sangrur villages. Mr Bir while demanding demolition of the bundh said a stone bundh already existed on the Ghaggar at its turn near Hotipur village . He said water spilling over the bundh could find its way into the Batisdara . Mr Sekhon said the issue would be discussed in totality . He said the Sangrur district administration had informed him that water could not pass ahead after negotiating the Batisdara due to a railway line and other impediments . The Sangrur administration has also said that the opening of the Batisdara without taking due precautions would endanger around 20 villages of the district . It had also claimed that the bundh had been constructed by the villagers on their land for their safety . The bundh has been a bone of contention between the Patiala and Sangrur district administrations since the past four to five years. Last year a high level committee, including the Secretary, Irrigation, had assured of a solution but no consensus could be arrived at between the Patiala and Sangrur administrations. The Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh
Badal, who had come to inspect flooded area in the district a few days ago said it was a problem between two Deputy Commissioners. |
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Marches, rallies mark Vijay Divas BATHINDA, July 26 — A defence exhibition was organised by the Army at Government Rajindra College here on Wednesday. It gave an opportunity to civilians to witness weapons used in the Kargil war and view the photographs of the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives during Operation Vijay. Weapons like the 155 mm Swedish Bofors gun were on display. Lt-Gen G.K. Duggal, AVSM, VrC, General Officer Commanding, Chetak Corps, inaugurated the Defence Exhibition and also laid wreaths at Nand Chowk. Candles were lighted by the civilians as a mark of respect and honour to the brave soldiers. Wreaths were also laid by Ati Vishist Seva Medal, Vishisht Seva Medal, Veer Chakra Maj-Gen H.S. Herr and Brig Bant Singh. FEROZEPORE: To mark Kargil Day, the General Officer Commanding, 7 Infantry Division, laid wreaths in honour of the martyrs at the War Memorial, Mamdot Hall, here on Wednesday morning. Besides, the President of the Army Wives Welfare Association, Mrs Lagan Tewari, honoured and presented gifts to the war widows, according to a press note. PHAGWARA: Activists of voluntary bodies, citizens and students on Wednesday took out a Kargil Vijay march in commemoration of the first anniversary of India’s victory in the Kargil. GURDASPUR: Kargil Vijay Divas was celebrated here on Wednesday with enthusiasm. A rally, presided over by Deputy Commissioner B. Vikram, was organised in Nehru Park here in which 2000 students and representatives of district administration and social organisations participated. Later, the rally was converted into a march which the Deputy Commissioner flagged off. FATEHGARH SAHIB: Kargil Vijay Divas was celebrated here on Wednesday. A two-minute silence was observed to pay homage to the Kargil martyrs. AMRITSAR: The first anniversary of the Kargil victory celebrated here on Wednesday by Panther Division saw two great heroes of Operation Vijay forgotten with no ‘promised’ memorial having been raised in their memory by the government. These two were Major Baljit Singh Randhawa, the first Kargil hero of 1965, and Lieut Saurab Kalia. Nothing concrete has been done by the government in memory of the two.
There are other cases of forgotten war heroes too. Kargil Vijay Divas commenced here with a run by the schoolchildren, which was flagged off by Brig Sunil Kumar Arora, Chairman, Army Public School, from the Panther Stadium. An on-the-spot painting competition, equipment display, medical camps for ex-servicemen and honouring of nine war widows were other highlights of the function. Kargil Vijay Divas was also observed at Hindu College. College Principal R.C. Verma announced free education for the wards of the martyrs of Operation Vijay. Help promised to kin of martyrs PATIALA, July 26 — Grievances and official work of kin of war martyrs will be taken up on a priority basis and government officials have been given directions in this regard. This was stated today by the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Jasbir Singh Bir, at a function organised at the Government College for Girls here to commemorate the first anniversary of Operation Vijay . Mr Bir said the district was the first to hold a special fair in honour of the martyrs in which the families were given a place of pride. He said attempts would be made to make it an annual feature . Family members of six of the seven martyrs from the district had been given government jobs and they had been paid ex gratia relief, besides money to purchase a plot or a house . Speaking on the occasion, the District Sainik Welfare Deputy Director, Capt Manjit Singh Dhindsa, listed the welfare activities being undertaken for the welfare of martyrs . He said most of the martyr families had received their badges of sacrifice besides monetary benefits. The department was also trying to help widows who had not been able to take possession of the land given to them . Earlier, school children from various schools in the city marched in procession from various points before collecting at the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at the Mall road. They took a pledge to safeguard the interests of the country. The District Assistant Commissioner, (Grievances), Mr Rahul Gupta , who organised the event , said school children had also contributed to the Kargil Martyrs’ Family Fund . The function was attended by the Civil Surgeon, Mr Rameshwar Das, the District Education Officer , (Primary), Mr Harnam Singh Bajaj, the District Education Officer, (Secondary), Mr Kharak Singh Cheema and Girls College Principal Ms Gursharan Kaur Jaggi.
Artist’s homage to Kargil heroes PATIALA, July 26 — Striking shadow work was has been used to a telling effect by a local artist Amarjeet Singh Dukhi to convey the message of patriotism through his exhibition which opened at the Banasar Art Gallery here. The exhibition of pencil sketches dedicated to the martyrs of Kargil war was inaugurated today by Punjab Subordinate Selection Board Chairman, Mr Tejinder Pal Singh. More than 30 portraits of the martyrs are on display in the exhibition. Mr Singh said that it was a noble attempt by the artist to keep alive the memory of the war heroes. “The sketches serve the purpose of maintaining a lively record of our war heroes,” he said. Dukhi, who is also the Head of the Department of commercial art at the Government Polytechnic for Women here, has sketched martyrs through bold strokes in black. Praising the strong expressive strokes of the artist’s pencil work Baljeet Fariyadi, an artist, said that Dukhi had done a wonderful job in evoking sense of patriotism through his pencil. Rajesh Bandhu, another artist, admired the artistic flow in the portraits. The perfect flow in the dresses of the soldiers have made the portraits lively, he commented. Mr R.T. Jindal, Director of North Zone Cultural Centre, who was also present at the exhibition, said the Centre would promote such works at the national level.
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Encounter
victims’ kin for action against DGP CHANDIGARH, July 26 — “The state government should
initiate action against Punjab Police chief Sarbjit Singh for
allegedly reimbursing the legal costs of officers involved in killing
a couple in a fake encounter in Calcutta in 1993,” says Hasan Bibi,
a sister of Bashir Ahmad, who was killed along with his wife by a
five-member Punjab police party while they were asleep in their house
that fateful night. Talking to mediapersons in the city here yesterday, Hasan Bibi said she had been pained by the statements of the police chief stating that the department would stand by the officers who were facing charges and were being tried in courts. This was contrary to the claims in the Akali manifesto that the party would not shield anyone or spend money to save guilty officers, she stressed. Accompanied by Mr Amrinder Singh, local SGPC member, and Mr Devinder Singh, president of the Sarb Hind Youth Akali Dal, she said Mr Jyoti Basu, West Bengal Chief Minister, had taken a serious view of the matter and had handed the case to the CBI. Following
inquires, the premier investigating agency had submitted a report
stating that the accused party led by SP S K Singh comprising DSP S S
Chahal, and three other officers, had gunned down Bashir Ahmad and his
wife Renuka Begum in “cold blood” while they were asleep on the
roof top of their house in Tiljala in 1993, she said. Following this, they were arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment by the sessions court Ms Bibi said she had written to the Punjab Chief Minister to draw attention to the statements of his police chief and asked why public money was being used to protect the accused officers. |
Cabinet expresses
gratitude to martyrs CHANDIGARH, July 26 — The Punjab Cabinet today adopted a unanimous resolution on Kargil Vijay Divas to place on record its gratitude to the brave soldiers who laid down their lives or suffered grievous injuries while defending their motherland in the Kargil war. The Cabinet
reiterated its commitment to work for the welfare of their families. The Cabinet also observed a one-minute silence as a mark of respect to the Kargil martyrs. |
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Saluja killing: Cong workers block traffic FEROZEPORE, July 26 — As a mark of protest against the killing of their party activist, Kapil Saluja inside the police station complex here on July 12, the Congress today blocked the Ferozepore-Fazilka road outside the residence of the SSP. Amidst heavy police deployment, the protesters assembled at Sher Shah Wali Chowk under the leadership of the former Chief Minister, Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal and the Punjab Congress Vice President, Mr Balmukand Sharma and blocked the traffic briefly seeking the arrest of the “killers”. Earlier, in her address, Mrs Bhattal vowed to raise the matter in the Punjab Assembly and announced the constitution of an action committee to plan the future course of action. Later, speaking to the mediapersons, she assured financial help to the family of the deceased and urged her party colleagues to sink differences and fight unitedly in this hour of crisis. However, fissures within the Congress were visible, as the former district president of the party, Major Harminder Bhullar and his supporters abstained from today’s rally. |
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Community policing in Punjab soon PHILLAUR, July 26 — In order to bridge the gap between the police and public, community policing has been approved by the Director-General of Police, Punjab. This programme will be formally launched next month. An orientation programme will be started at the Punjab Police Academy, Phillaur. All SHOs of the State will be trained in batches of 50 each. The Academy’s director, Mr A.A. Siddiqui said under the new scheme, programmes are being planned to involve law abiding citizens to assist police in ensuring peaceful environment in the State. Dr D.J. Singh, programme co-ordinator, informed that all sub-divisional police officers, district SSPs, and range DIGs would be briefed about the community policing programme on August 1 and August 3 at the Academy here by the DGP, Punjab and other experts. Experts on community policing have been invited to interact with police officers. Resource persons for the new plan would include Mr Chander Shekher, IGP, Mr Dinkar Gupta, DIG, Intelligence, Mrs Anita Punj, Deputy Director (indoor) and Mr Parveen Sinha, Deputy Director (outdoor), Punjab Police Academy here. |
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Yatra panel chief’s plea for facilities SANGRUR, July 26 — The president of the All-India Shree Baba Amarnath Yatra Committee, Mr Sumer Garg, has urged the Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the Punjab Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, to ask the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister to take steps for providing adequate facilities to pilgrims of Amarnath yatra. Talking to this reporter here yesterday, Mr Garg alleged that the government had not permitted social and voluntary organisations to organise langars on the route of the pilgrimage at such places where these had been organised by them for the past several years. Condemning the alleged police lathi charge on people waiting for their registration, Mr Garg also demanded stern action against the erring police officials. He also demanded the setting up of more registration counters for the convenience of the pilgrims. He also urged the union government to open such counters at all district headquarters in the country. |
Foundation teams to help flood-hit CHANDIGARH, July 26 — The Umeed Khanna Foundation (UKF) has assured all help to the flood affected of various villages in Sangrur and Patiala districts, where the Ghaggar has caused devastation. Mr Arvind Khanna, chairman of the foundation, while expressing sympathy with the people, has deputed UKF teams, comprising doctors, nurses and social workers provided with the necessary medicines to the affected areas. According to Mr Khanna, crops over nearly 25,000 acres have been destroyed and around 13,000 acres of land is still under water. He expressed his unhappiness over the government’s failure to check floods in the Ghaggar which caused loss of crores of rupees every year. He demanded immediate relief for the flood victims as well as measures to check the recurring floods. |
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3 PCS officers
shuffled CHANDIGARH, July 26 — The Punjab Government today shuffled three PCS officers. Mr R.L. Mehta, Additional Secretary, Home Affairs and Justice, will take over as Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel, in addition to being Additional Managing Director of the Punjab Tourism Development Corporation while Mr Megh Raj, Additional Secretary in the Department of Personnel, will take over as Additional Secretary in the Home Affairs Department. Mr T.S. Dhaliwal, Estate Officer, PUDA, at Patiala has been transferred as SDM at Fatehgarh Sahib. |
Dalit youth beheads sister FARIDKOT, July 26 — A case of murder of a Dalit girl by her brother after he found that she was carrying his child has come to light. Gurmit Singh, alias Meeta, a resident of Dhudhi village, beheaded his 19-year-old sister on the night of July 17 with a sharp-edged weapon. The girl was nine-month pregnant when she was murdered. Sources said the police took it as a simple case of murder at first instance and registered a case against Gurmit Singh, alias Meeta, under Section 302 of the IPC on the complaint of the father of the deceased. The father, in his complaint alleged that Gurmit Singh allegedly killed his sister as she was having illicit relations with a boy of a neighbouring village. However, things started unfolding when the post-mortem of the deceased, revealed that she was carrying a full grown female foetus. When the police questioned Gurmit Singh, he confessed that he had killed his sister with her consent as they wanted to save the honour of the family. He confessed that it was his sister who forced him to have relations with her. He said when they could not find any solution to the problem of pregnancy, the girl told Gurmit Singh to kill her. Gurmit Singh who killed his sister on July 17 was arrested by the police on July 22. The accused was remanded in police custody up to July 27 when he was produced before the Judicial Magistrate, said Dr Arun Oraon, SSP. Mr Rakesh Kaushal, DSP (City), when contacted, said the accused had also confessed to having illicit relations with the wife of his elder brother too. His relations with the wife of his elder brother continued till she left their house after divorcing his brother. He said opinion from legal experts was being sought whether the accused could be booked under the charge of rape under Section 376 of the IPC. |
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Smuggler with ISI links held JALANDHAR July 26—The district police claims to have made a major dent in an ISI-backed narco-terrorism module with the arrest of Swaran Singh, alias Doctor, suspected to be a top smuggler, here last night. Swaran Singh, was an important part of a smuggling ring, exposed by the local police last year after nabbing a number of its members, including a Pakistan national Mohammed Aslam and the KCF terrorist Charanjit Singh. The gang was also responsible for driving Rattandip Singh, the second in command to top terrorist Paramjit Singh Panjwar, out of the country after his involvement in a bomb blast in Chandigarh’s Sector 22. Rattandip had been working with Panjwar as his driver, before his crossing over to Pakistan. Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, said preliminary interrogation of Swaran Singh revealed that he took to smuggling in the early 1990s after the death of his younger brother, Major Singh, a commission agent-turned smuggler. He said at present ‘Doctor’ was based at Panchkula and owned a palatial house and two cars and used to change his residence frequently to avoid police scrutiny. He said besides gold smuggling with the help of his Pakistan-based contacts, ‘Doctor’ had been dealing in fake currency and had been supplying gold and narcotics to an international party. A case has been registered against him. Family attacked: A migrant labourers’ family was attacked and injured by a gang of four while they were fast asleep in their Kapurthala road “jhuggi” in the wee hours today. According to the police, Indu Devi, her husband and their six children were attacked by four armed persons around 1 a.m. when the family was sleeping. The marauders attacked Indu and her husband with iron rods, thus injuring the couple. The children were slapped and beaten up by the gang members before fleeing. The police is investigating the matter.
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2 killed in accident PATIALA, July 26 — Two persons died on the spot when the Maruti car in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary truck near Muradpur village, 10 km from here, yesterday. The deceased have been identified as Vipin Kumar and Anish Kumar. Both of them were brought dead to the Rajindra Hospital here. Hospital Assistant Prof., Dr O.P. Aggarwal, said their heads had been crushed and they had suffered multiple injuries. Police has registered a case against the truck driver who has been identified as Wakil
Razak. |
Teachers’ union seeks PM’s help CHANDIGARH July 26 — The Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers Union in a letter to the Prime Minister has sought his intervention in the implementation of an agreement over wages signed between the All-India Federation of University and College Teachers Organisation and the Human Resource Development Ministry in 1988. Prof Charanjit Chawla, general secretary of the union, in a press note today, said nearly 3 lakh teachers from all over the country would be given the letters for a signature campaign. The letter points out that more than one lakh teachers working in 9,000 colleges and 25-odd universities were denied the benefit of the career advancement scheme. One key issue was the implementation of the third promotion to the senior teachers working in colleges and universities in terms of granting the Rs 16400-20900 grade to all teachers with eight years of experience. The union also favoured grant of two additional increments for those who have done their Ph.D during service as per notification released by the UGC and the government. The AIFUCTO has scheduled a special meeting on August 13 at Nowgaon (Assam). |
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