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| Saturday,
June 9, 2001, Chandigarh, India
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CBI to probe alibi claim of accused in Mukhija
case Ludhiana, June 8 A team of CBI sleuths visited the sadar police station recently and recorded statements of a number of police personnel concerned. Police sources said the CBI team also questioned a couple of constables who allegedly provided certain out-of-the-way facilities to the accused. The outcome of the investigation into the alibi claim of the accused is of significance in the sensational murder case, in which the involvement of certain politicians has not been ruled out. If Kuku’s claim of being in police custody is proved, an inquiry by the Moga police, which claims that he is the prime accused, will have no takers. On the other hand, if the claim of the accused is found false, not only he, but certain police officials who may have helped him, will be in trouble. The Moga police had reportedly completed its investigation into the case and named Kuku as the prime accused and conspirator on the basis of the statement of certain eyewitnesses, who had claimed to have seen him ‘in action’. The accused claimed that he was innocent. He furnished documents that he was arrested by the Ludhiana police on November 12 and was in police custody at the time of the murder in far-off Moga. AIG Paramjit Singh Gill was instructed by the state government to hold an inquiry into the claim of the accused. According to police sources and inquiries made by Ludhiana Tribune, a case against Gurbax Singh Kuku was registered at the sadar police station on November 12. The sequence of events before his arrest and his release on bail raised suspicion, which led to the initiating of an inquiry, first by the Punjab Police and now by the CBI. Police sources said the accused, who was caught from Satluj Bridge near Phillaur while carrying 12 bottles of liquor in violation of the Excise Act, had allegedly behaved in an abnormal manner at police nakas at Jagraon flyover near Ludhiana railway station and at Jalandhar bypass chowk. His behaviour at the two nakas prior to his arrest had been recorded in the inquiry undertaken by the AIG. According to sources, the policemen at the nakas said they got the impression that he was deliberately trying to get arrested. According to police sources, the theory of abnormal behaviour by the man was substantiated by the fact that his car number had been recorded by different police personnel. Continuing with the doubts, there were allegations that the man was not kept locked and was allowed to sleep outside. This
allegation could not be verified. The man was released on bail the next day on the surety bond of two policemen, which was not termed as usual. One of the policemen standing as surety bond was later sent to the police lines. The CBI inquiry, according to sources, is concentrating on several angles of the case. The first theory was that the man was allegedly involved in hatching a murder conspiracy and had through his alleged arrest got prepared the alibi to protect himself in the future. The second theory was that it was not Kuku but someone else who was arrested. The third theory was that the version of the accused was correct and he was innocent. Senior Congress leader Harmesh Kumar Mukhija was shot dead by five persons at his shop in grain market in Dharamkot in Moga on November 13 last year. Three of the assailants were immediately identified and a case registered against them. They were Gurbax Singh Kuku, gunman Surjit Singh and Happy. Later the accused claimed that he was being implicated in the case as he was in lock-up at the sadar police station in Ludhiana at the time of the murder. His statement in the District and Sessions Court in Ferozepur in December had created a flutter and an inquiry was ordered. |
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Baddowal villagers lift
dharna Ludhiana, June 8 Unconfirmed reports said the Chief Minister had given assurance to ‘mediators’ between the government and the committee that no further demolitions would take place. A meeting between the committee and the Deputy Commissioner, Mr S. K. Sandhu, over the issue was on till the filing of the report. According to Mr Rajinder Singh, spokesperson of the committee, the dharna was lifted at 6 pm when the ‘mediators’ informed the committee about the fixing of the appointment with the Chief Minister. He said the dharna had been postponed till June 10 and if the meeting did not provide an amicable solution they would continue it. The villagers were sitting on the dharna after the district administration demolished four marriage palaces on the directions of the high court. |
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No clue to doctor’s
death Ludhiana, June 8 Inquiries made by the Ludhiana Tribune revealed that barring the report of the postmortem examination , which states that intake of some poison caused her death, the investigators into the case do not have any new leads. Sources said the investigation team has failed to make any headway as the girl’s family has remained tight-lipped about the reasons that could have driven her to suicide. Non-recovery of any suicide note from her hostel or any other place has not helped either. After her burial in the CMC cemetery, the girl’s mother has taken her belongings to Dehra Dun. Dr Sunil Singh, the Medical Superintendent of Christian Medical College (CMC), said, “It was really unfortunate that a young girl ended her life in such a manner. Sheetal was an extremely friendly girl. She was a very good student and a good doctor too. She had a smiling face and in the period of two-and-a-half years I have had no complaint of any nature about her.” In the postmortem conducted in Civil Hospital, the cause of death was reported to be some sort of a poison. Her body, however, did not bear any signs of physical injury. It is reported that she had consumed some poison. The body was discovered after a few hours as she was on leave on that particular day, while her room mates were on duty. The CMC authorities are awaiting the report of viscera which will ascertain the exact cause of death. It has been reported that Sheetal had attempted suicide six months earlier and some sources claim that she had tried to commit suicide three years ago, too, but had survived the attempt. Sheetal had come all the way from Dehra Dun for her studies. According to sources, the police was investigating into the matter on different lines. They said not much headway had been made so far as the family was not pursuing the
matter. The police has questioned a number of employees of the CMC, but has not got any further clue. |
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Blind murder case solved Ludhiana, June 8 Claiming this in a press note here today, the Kotwali police said that a case of murder had been registered against three persons- Vinod Singh, Gujjar and Ravi. According to police sources, the man identified as Raj Kumar alias Raju , who was a pick-pocket was allegedly murdered over some dispute by the accused who were also pick-pockets. The body was found in mysterious circumstances near the city railway station on June 3. The police was not able to identify it at that time. However, according to the release, the police received a tip-off that the man was seen with a gang of pick-pockets who were missing since that day. |
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Missing
children untraced Ludhiana, June 8 Alleging police inaction family sources said that the children might have been kidnapped. The family members were also unhappy with the Division No 2 police which had not even registered FIRs into the cases. The worried family members were now distributing pamphlets in several parts of the city hoping that someone might give them some clue. According to them eight-year-old Laxman is missing from Kutcha No 11, Field Gunj, since April 5. He was wearing Blue and red T-shirt. Ten-year-old Gopal is missing from the same colony since May 22. He was wearing white shirt, blue shorts and slippers. |
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Jagraon
girls shine in board exam Ludhiana, June 8 Shruti Garg and Ashima Gupta, both science students of the college, have secured 381 and 380 marks out of 450, respectively, securing top ranks in the district. Standing next in the row are Sumi Gupta (science subjects) from Bhartiya Vidya Mandir with 373 marks and Gurpreet Singh (science subjects) from Government Senior Secondary School, Samrala, with 370 marks. Other science stars from the district are Navdeep Singh from GGN Khalsa College and a resident of Sahnewal, securing 369 marks, Amanpreet Kaur from Government College for Women with 367 marks and Nishant from Bharatiya Vidya Mandir with 363 marks. Among the commerce students, two girls from Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Gujarkhan Campus, Model Town, have secured top two positions. While Manpreet Kaur has stood first with 371 marks, Anudeep Kaur has secured 368 marks achieving the second position. Amandeep Kaur from RS Model Senior Secondary School has secured third rank with 366 marks and Madan Mohan from SCD Government College stands fourth with 364 marks. While the science students have achieved higher marks, the number of failures in the stream is quite high in the district. Out of the total 88 science students from Guru Hargobind College for Women, Sudhar, 52 students have failed and 17 students have got compartment. Nearly 27 science students of Arya College out of the total 64 have failed. Similarly, 25 out of the total 179 students from SCD Government College, 18 out of 52 students from GGN Khalsa College, 10 out of 63 students from Guru Nanak Khalsa College, Model Town, and eight out of
104 students have flunk in science subjects. Students from several government schools of the district have not been able to get through. At Government Senior Secondary School, Karamsar, five of the total seven students have failed and remaining two have got compartments. Three of the total four students of Government Senior Secondary School, Barundi, have flunked while the fourth one remained absent. Fourteen out of the 37 students from Government Senior Secondary School at Raikot have failed and eight students have got compartments. Out of the total five science students from Government Girls’ Senior Secondary School, Jagraon, one has failed and another has got compartment. Only two students of Government Senior Secondary School, Machhiwara, have passed. The rest three students have failed and two have got compartments. Similarly, three students of Sahnewal have passed, two have failed and five have got compartments. Even some private schools of the district, several science students have not been able to perform well. Of the six science students of Shri Atma Nand Jain Senior Secondary School, three students have flunked and the remaining three have got compartments. Sixteen of 45 students from Baba Isher Singh Public School have failed and 10 students have got compartments. The pass percentage is relatively higher in the commerce group as several institutes have got cent per cent results in this stream. These include Government Multipurpose Senior Secondary School, Cinema Road, R.S. Model Senior Secondary School, BCM Arya Senior Secondary School, Focal Point, Government Model Senior Secondary Schools on Cemetery Road and Punjab Agricultural University, Teja Singh Sutantar Memorial Senior Secondary School, Shimlapuri, Bhartiya Vidya Mandir, Guru Nanak Khalsa College for Women, Model Town, and Government College for Women. |
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PAU scientist dies in mishap Ludhiana, June 8 Dr Kirpal Singh Aulakh, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, while sympathising with the bereaved family said the university had lost a dedicated scientist and it would be difficult to fill the void created by the untimely demise of the well-known scientist. Dr M.S. Bajwa, Director, Research Dr Jaspinder Singh Kolar, Director, Extension Education, Dr K.S. Sekhon, Dean Postgraduate Studies, Dr M.S. Tiwana, Dean, College of Agriculture, and Dr Hari Singh Brar, president, PAUTA, expressed sympathies with the family of Dr Khatra. |
MLA flayed for manhandling party
worker Fatehgarh Sahib, June 8 Addressing the meeting held in a small room of Mata Gujri Sarai, Jathedar Swarn Singh Chanarthal, district president of the SAD (B), said workers were the backbone of the organisation and they should be given due respect. He strongly condemned the role of the MLA and said the unfortunate incident occurred due to his dictatorial attitude. He said he had brought the matter to the notice of the high command. He urged the party leaders to respect workers and to maintain unity. Earlier a workers’ meeting was held at the farmhouse of Mr Didar Singh Bhatti, a senior Akali leader, in which panches, sarpanches, municipal councillors of Sirhind and Bassi Pathana participated. The speakers urged the Chief Minister to give the party ticket to Mr Didar Singh Bhatti. Addressing the gathering Mr Bhatti assured that the sangat darshan would be organised in the district in which problems of village panchayats would be solved. He said he would tour villages to know their problems. Mr Gurpreet Singh Bhatti, district president of the Youth Akali Dal and Mr Rajesh Pal Singh Lalli, also addressed the workers. Later they joined the party meeting at Fatehgarh Sahib. However, in the meeting held at Fatehgarh Sahib party workers demanded that party ticket should be given to Mr Randhir Singh Cheema, a former minister. When the party workers led by Mr Bhatti reached the venue of the meeting, there was not enough space in the room and they had to remain standing outside. Addressing that meeting Mr Bhatti criticised the district unit of SAD (B) for not organising the meeting in a spacious hall. |
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Change in office timings
resented Fatehgarh Sahib, June 8 A number of leaders of different employee unions said that the timings had not only created chaos among the employees, but among the public as well. They said it was very difficult for the women staff to reach the office at 7 a.m. from distant stations. Secondly the timings of offices at the headquarters in Chandigarh had not been changed and if any inforamtion was sought by the head office, the staff at district level would not be available after 2 p.m. which would lead to a communication gap. Employees are of the view that, the government had taken the decision to save the employees from the intense heat, whereas at 2 p.m. the heat would beat its peak. A large number of people, who would come for registration of their documents e.g., would be told that the banks would open at 10 a.m. and they would be able to draw the amount by 11 a.m. By the time their document was put up the office time would be over, and they won’t be able to get it registered the same day. When contacted, the Deputy Commissioner, said it was too early to make any comment and said the public would become habitual with the passage of time. He said that the schedule of the meetings would also be changed according to the new timings. |
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Govt responsive to people’s aspirations:
Garcha Ludhiana, June 8 Speaking at a function held in Ward No 54 (Dugri) at the residence of Mr Satnam Singh Makkar to felicitate him, Mr Garcha observed that under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the SAD-BJP government in Punjab had made huge strides in all fields and a new era of development had dawned in Punjab. He focussed on various government schemes for the welfare of the people and promotion of career-oriented technical education. Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, Director Markfed, in his speech disclosed that the chief minister would soon announce several major programmes to encourage youth and to involve them in the party mainstream. Meanwhile, a meeting of the SAD workers from Model Town and adjoining localities in Ludhiana West constituency, presided over by Mr Pritpal Singh urged the party high command to settle the issue of District Chief of the party on the basis of membership and support base at various levels. |
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2 per cent more DA for pensioners Ludhiana, June 8 The Punjab Government Pensioners’ Association has welcomed the state government’s decision. Mr Yashpal Ghai, Additional General Secretary, Punjab Government Pensioners’ Association in a press statement issued here today, expressed satisfaction over the announcement of the long-awaited notification of the government. He said that the association had received a copy of the notification. The increased allowance from January to May 2001 would be paid in cash and the increased pension from June would be paid in July. |
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1 dies of food poisoning Khamano, June 8 According to the information available, a farmer of Pohlo Majra village was ploughing his fields yesterday in the morning, when some migrant labourers, who were passing by the field, asked him if he needed labour for sowing kharif crop. They reached an agreement, and came to the tubewell, where one of them prepared food for all others. Soon after taking meals, one labourer died while others became unconscious. A native of the village, Mr Amarjeet Singh, reported the matter to the land owner Mr Amrik Singh, who was at home at that time. The unconscious labourers were rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh, where their condition is stated to be serious. Mr Amrik Singh said while the labourers had bought potatoes and rice from a village shop, other material for food was supplied to them by him. The Khamano police is investigating into the matter. |
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Village
ponds to be cleaned in the state Khamano, June 8 This was stated by the
Deputy Commissioner of Fatehgarh Sahib, Mr Vikas Partap, during a sangat darshan programme at Mansurpur village, near here. He said that execution of development works depended upon people, so they should co-operate with the government. He said that some new roads would be constructed in the district by June 30. He appealed to all panchayats to fix a signboard with the amount of grant and the date of beginning and completion of work written on it. Regarding the declining number of kikkar and sheesham trees around roads, the DC said that he would depute PGOs to report about the matter in a few days. He announced a grant of Rs. 1 lakh for the boundary wall of the school and Rs. 2 lakh for houses for the poor. The DC and other officers, including SSP Harnek Singh Saran, Jathedar Kirpal Singh Khinia, a member of SGPC, and Jathedar Sarwan Singh Suhavi, a member of Planning Board, had come to the village in a bus instead of their cars, in order to reduce the expenses and the pollution. A learning licence camp and a pension camp were also organised on the occasion. |
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Failing
to connect with Connect Ludhiana, June 8 Not only the subscribers but also the company’s direct marketing associates (DMA) are unhappy with the manner in which the company is treating its customers and
DMAs. Several customers are demanding the refund of their money which they had paid to the company to get a quick connection. The company’s claims of providing a connection in a period of 10 to 15 days have been belied as some customers await a telephone connection even after two months. A large number of people have opted for refund of their money after three months”, says a Connect dealer. In most of the complaints to the company, the copies of which have been received by Ludhiana Tribune, customers have said that at the time of seeking applications, Connect officials misled people into believing that the connection would be installed within a week. One of the customers, Suresh Jindal of Focal Point area, whose telephones was finally installed after over two month, expressed dissatisfaction with the quality of service saying “The BSNL provided a much better services than the Connect”. Connect officials have often been taking the plea of non-feasibility for delayed installations. “Why does the company assure instant connectivity at the time of application”, questions a harassed Connect client, Mr
Harshbir. He accuses the company of introducing several formalities that he says are “far worse than that of a government department”. A Connect spokesperson, Ms Ashee
Mahendru, when contacted in Chandigarh said there may be some delay in installation of telephones, but it is never deliberate or intentional. However, she had nothing to say about the working of the
phones. Mr Ramesh Lal, a resident of Jagjit Nagar, Pakhowal Road, in a written complaint said he was told by the agent at the Feroze Gandhi Market that a new connection would be released within 10 days. The agents even assured him that his cheque would be sent to the bank only when the company releases a new connection to him. After repeated reminders, the complainant was told that connection number 314559 had been allotted to him and the connection would be released and instrument installed within three to four days. The complainant said,” after five days, I was told that DP was not available and the release of connection would take about three months. Frequently break down of services was a big problem. Dr Mahesh Gupta, another subscriber complained,” It is almost impossible to get connected at the first attempt. And the problem is worse while dialing the 95 series”. Although the company has been claiming to have provided the facility to dial outstation numbers with a 95 prefix, by which most cities in Punjab can be reached from a local number. But during the night hours it is almost impossible to talk to someone in
Chandigarh, subscribers claim. Meanwhile, the Spice Telecom has also lodged a complaint with the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited
(BSNL) that HFCL was using a Mobile Switch Centre (MSC) to route its wireless in local loop
(WiLL) as ‘mobile phones’ in different parts of Punjab. The HFCL’s WiLL were catching signals in the city and some other parts of Punjab which was against the instructions of
DoT, said a BSNL official. According to sources, the BSNL head office in New Delhi has instructed the Chief General Manager (Punjab Telecom Circle) not to allow any further inter connection to the HFCL without an approval by the headquarters. It is not only the domestic customers, but the PCO operators who have complaints against the company. The company has reportedly slashed their commission by one-third. The PCO operators said, when they raised the issue with the company management, they were told that it was going through a difficult phase. On the reduced Direct Marketing Associate (DMA) compensation, Ms Mahendru said,”DMA compensation has not been reduced, but has been redesigned. Objective behind the change is to reward the high performers and weed out the non-performers”. According to a local DMA, several subscribers are demanding security deposits back due to delay in installation of phones.”And we are unable to convince them as the company official hardly gives any satisfactory answer”, said the dealer on condition of anonymity. A Kitchlu
nagar-based DMA told Ludhiana Tribune that several complaints had been lodged with the company, but not much could be done due to lack of proper infrastructure with the company at present. |
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Awareness
rally by PSEB Ludhiana, June 8 Mr Kirpal Singh, Member, Operations, flagged off the procession from Sarabha Nagar office here today. The procession of about 100 scooterists and trucks passed through different parts of the city. All officials and thousands of employees participated in the rally held on the office premises. They held card-boards and banners in their hands and distributed pamphlets and handbills to people at all the major roundabouts and in the main markets of the city. Besides passing through the city, the procession passed through the route of Ludhiana- Mandi Gobindgarh-Khanna; and from Ludhiana-Mandi Ahmedgarh-Raikot-Jagraon. Talking to mediapersons, Mr Kirpal Singh informed that as part of the board’s campaign to curb power theft in the state, awareness rallies were being held in all the parts of the state. He said, “The campaign against power pilferage would be intensified in the coming days. After creating awareness among the public, the board would take strict action against the consumers indulging in power theft.” He revealed that during the awareness campaign, the flying squads would also visit household and industrial complexes to check the meters. No penalty would be imposed on the consumers during this period in case of power pilferage. The consumers would be encouraged to regularise the extended load. Among others, Engineer Mr J.R. Dhaliwal, Mr V.K. Birmani, Mr Jaspal Singh, Mr H.S. Chima, Me N.F.S. Sethi and Mr V.K. Bhatia were also present on this occasion. |
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Sangat
darshan Khamano, June 8 |
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BSP dharna Ludhiana, June 8 |
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BKU to hold dharna on June 12 Doraha, June 8 Prof Manjit Singh Kadian, general secretary of the union, said that the power supply in Punjab was deteriorating day by day. He said the board takes the farmers for granted. He called upon the farmers to join them for a common cause so that the proper supply is ensured by the government. He warned the government that, “If the pending connections of general category are not released and the compensation for the burnt yield is not increased from Rs 2,000 to Rs 12,000, the farmers will begin the agitation. |
Opium smugglers arrested Ludhiana, June 8 The arrested persons have been identified as Jaswant Singh of Jawadi village, near here, and Babu Ram. The police said Babu Ram was later arrested from near the Dugri bridge. One -and-a-half kg of opium has been recovered from his possession. |
Industrialists meet Badal Ludhiana, June 8 The CM had agreed that the industry would be given representation in the state-level, zonal-level and circle-level dispute settlement committees of the
PSEB. The board would allow clubbing of more than two connections in the same plot or premises and regular supply would be ensured to the consumers. The board had agreed temporary increase in contract demand and sanctioned load to the green category industries located outside the residential areas. Interestingly, in the presence of the CM the board official had agreed that defective meters would be replaced within two days from the date of default and had allowed to install generators of higher capacity. The Chairman of the board told the delegation that the said decisions would be notified after taking the consent of all members of the boards’s meeting likely to be held on June
13. |
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Bharti
to restructure operations Ludhiana, June 8 Stating this in a press note, Mr Ashok Juneja, CEO, Bharti Broadband Networks Limited, said the functions of the company had been coalesced to enter the market in a unified manner and to be a singular delivery platform for the Internet, VSAT and broadband initiatives, offering a menu of integrated solutions and services to enterprise customers and home consumers across different market segments. He further said the proposed merger of four Bharti companies, Bharti BT Internet, Bharti BT (VSAT), Bharti Broadband and their Holding Company Telespatiale, would come into effect later this year and new products and services supported by superior technology would be introduced in a phased manner across all existing markets of the merged companies during the current year, he said. Giving further details, Mr Juneja said the company would continue to be addressed by the Mantra brand, with its services ranging from providing Internet bandwidth, VSAT solutions, VPN, hybrid solutions, server colocation, corporate mail and web hosting across the markets of 11 major cities of the country, including Ludhiana. |
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