The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Masked men throw acid on three, loot Rs 20,000
Tribune News Service

The injured Ramesh Kumar, his mother-in-law Surjit Kaur and wife Seema Rani. — A Tribune photograph

Ludhiana, May 7
At least three masked robbers seriously injured three members of a family, including two women, by throwing acid on them before looting about Rs 20,000 from their house in LIG flats, Sector 32, near Samrala Chowk, here this morning.

Mr Ramesh Kumar, a property dealer, his wife, Seema Rani, and mother-in-law, Surjit Kaur, were sleeping in their house when the accused entered the house by scaling a wall in the backyard. They forced their entry into the house by breaking open a door and began throwing acid on members of the family.

They fled after injuring three persons and also took away Rs 20,000. Before leaving, they ransacked the house in search of more cash or jewellery, but could not find any other valuable.

The injured were rushed to the CMC Hospital by neighbours and a team of the police that had reached there. Mr Ramesh Kumar was still in the hospital, while the two injured woman were discharged after a couple of hours.

Mr Ramesh Kumar told Ludhiana Tribune that he was sleeping in his house, when he heard some noise in the backyard and went to see what was happening. “I had hardly reached the backdoor when three persons threw acid on me. I could not see them as their faces were covered. The acid fell on my face and I fell down. I could only hear the cries of my wife and mother-in-law,” he said.

He said he had no enmity with anyone and was completely at a loss to understand the actual motive behind the incident. He said he learnt afterwards that his house had been looted. But he expressed a doubt that robbery was the only motive behind the incident.

Police officials concerned with the investigation of the case also shared similar doubts. They said robbery did not seem to be the only reasons behind the incident. They said the assailants seemed to have come prepared to assault the members of the family. Sources said the fact that the robbers were wearing masks suggested that the victims knew them and could recognise them.

They said it was rare that robbers threw acid on members of the family to render them helpless.

Four bookies arrested
Rs 1.20 lakh recovered from 2 accused
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 7
Once again bringing to light the widespread racket of cricket bookies in the city, the CIA wing-I of the local police arrested four persons on charges of allegedly planning bets on the forthcoming cricket Test match between India and West Indies. Two of these, Vinod Gupta, alias Vinodi Lal, and Vijay Gupta, were also booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act, as they allegedly tried to bribe a police Inspector.

According to the FIR lodged with the Division No. 5 police station, a team of the CIA-wing raided a place behind the Grewals hotel at about midnight and caught four persons, including the two named above. The other two persons have been identified as Devinder Gulati and Raj Kumar. The FIR states that at least six other persons involved in the racket are absconding.

Later, Vinod Gupta and Vijay Gupta allegedly tried to bribe the CIA-in charge Mukhwinder Singh and offered him Rs 1.20 lakh. They were booked under the Prevention of Corruption Act. The other two accused were released on bail, as gambling is a bailable offence.

Mr Vinod Gupta and Mr Vijay Gupta were remanded to one-day police custody by a district court today afternoon.

Police sources said these two accused were the kingpin in the illegal racket. He said they booked bets of crores of rupees in cricket matches. Sources said Vinod Gupta even had connections in Nepal. He reportedly takes several industrialists of the city for a holiday in that country, where gambling is done in casinos on a large scale.

SSP H.S. Sidhu said in a press release issued late in the evening that the bookies were offering a bet of Rs 7000 against Rs 1000 and used to operate through computers and mobile phones. They were connected to bigger bookies in Delhi and Ludhiana.

The press release said the persons absconding were Om Parkash, Naresh Kumar, Harpal Singh, Sanjeev Kumar, Neeraj Kumar, Parveen Kumar and Gulati. He said the police had recovered Rs 1.20 lakh from the two accused, who tried to bribe Inspector Mukhwinder Singh. The police also recovered Rs 10,000 from the bailed-out accused Raj Kumar and Devinder Kumar.

The SSP said the officers involved in the busting of the racket would be suitably rewarded.

MC POLL
Protest marks release of Cong list
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 7
The Congress today released the much awaited list of its candidates for the forthcoming elections to the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation amidst protests, slogan shouting and the charges that tickets had been sold and genuine and deserving candidates ignored.

The left out aspirants also staged massive protest demonstration at the Circuit House, immediately after the party MP and the chairman of the selection committee, Mr Gurcharan Singh Ghalib, announced the names of the candidates.

As expected the committee room of the Circuit House was jam packed with journalists and aspiring candidates. As Mr Ghalib went on announcing the names for each single ward, there were more heartburns and lesser jubilations.

In fact the voices of dissent were being heard instantly. As the time passed by the dissent also grew in magnitude with more and more voices joining the protest. All selection committee members, who were present, while Mr Ghalib was announcing the names started feeling uncomfortable.

By the time announcement was completed a huge crowd had already stepped into the conference hall. Sensing trouble the selection committee members, who included besides Mr Ghalib, Mr Surinder Dawer, Mr Milkiat Singh Dakha, both MLAs, Mr K.K Bawa, the District Congress Committee president, Mr Pawan Dewan, Mr Nahar Singh Gill, Ms Harbans Kaur and others made a quiet entry without answering any of the questions from the journalists. In fact they were helped out by their supporters, otherwise it would have been very difficult for them to ‘‘wade through’’ the angry crowd.

Interestingly, Mr Milkiat Singh Birmi, Mr Harnamdass Johar and Mr Rakesh Pandey, the Minister for Stationery and Printing, were conspicuous by their absence at the time of announcement of names of the candidates. Most of their candidates reportedly could not make into the final list.

The pattern of protests seemed too obvious. The angry protesters were raising slogans against Mr Ghalib, Mr Dawer and Mr Bawa only, while other members of the selection committee were left out. The protesters levelled all sorts of charges from accepting money to "para-dropping outsiders" for their "personal interests" against the three.

From today's list it was obvious that most of the candidates in Mr Birmi's Assembly segment had been nominated against his wishes. Despite strong resistance by Mr Birmi, a number of candidates managed nomination from the wards falling in his constituency.

Some of the rejected candidates like Mr Satnam Ahuja, who had applied from Ward 63 alleged that one of the senior Congress leaders and a member of the selection committee had demanded Rs 5 lakh from him for awarding him the party nomination. Since, he could not pay the money he was dropped, he alleged. The ward was allotted to Mr Ashok Thapar.

Similarly, Kulwant Kaur from Ward 44 and Sudesh Rani of Ward 59 also alleged that their genuine claims had been ignored. While Ms Harpreet Kaur Sandhu was nominated from Ward 44, Ms Anju Bagga, wife of Ashok Bagga, was nominated from Ward 59. There was considerable resentment against the nomination of Mr S.S Ahluwalia from Ward 46, with Mr Amarjit Singh Walia and Mr Rakesh Sood alleging that he (Mr Ahluwalia) was an outsider.

None of the selection committee members, against whom charges were levelled, could be contacted as they left the venue instantly for some unknown destination. Their cell phones were also found to be switched off, while at their residence there was one constant reply that they had already left.

List of the candidates : Ward No. 1 — Hemraj Aggarwal; ward No. 2 —Amarjit Kaur; ward No. 3 — Apar Singh Malhi; ward No. 4 — Madan Lal Bagga; ward No. 6 — Lala Jeewan Kumar; ward No. 7 — Chanchal Singh; ward No. 8 — Gurmel Kaur; ward No. 9 — Surender singh; ward No. 10 — Kuldip Singh Janda; ward No. 11—Asha Garg; ward no. 12 — Pawan Mehta; ward No. 13 — Kirpal Singh Grewal; ward No. 14 — Barjinder Kaur; ward No. 15 — Sardool Singh Grewal; ward No. 16 — Rajesh Mehra; ward No. 17 - Ravinder Kaur; ward No. 18 — Nahar Singh Gill; ward No. 19 — Balwinder SIngh Sandhu; ward No. 20 — Sukhbir Kaur; ward No. 21 Jaswinder Singh; ward No. 22 Harvindre Singh Neetu; ward No. 23 — Ravinder Kaur; ward No. 24 Santokh Singh Gill; ward No. 25 — Jasjit singh; ward No. 26 — Kamlesh Puri; ward No. 27 — Kuldip Singh; ward No. 28 — Kulwinder Singh Taggar; ward No. 29 — Surender Kaur; ward No. 30 — Jagdish Singh; ward No. 31 — Rajindre Singh Bajwa; ward No. 32 — Harjit Kaur; ward No. 33 — Amarjit Kaur Matharoo; ward No. 34 — Vippan Singal; ward No. 35 — Sukhwinder Kaur; ward No. 36 — Ramesh Kumar Nahar; ward No. 37 — Prem Mittal; ward No. 38 — Santosh Rani; ward No. 39 — Hans Raj Jassa; ward No. 40 — Jasbir Singh Jassal; ward No. 41 — Amit Varsha; ward No. 42 — Satinder SIngh Jawaddi; ward No. 43 — Ranjit SIngh; ward No. 44 — Gurpreet Kaur Sidhu; ward No. 45 — Balkar singh; ward No. 46 — Surjit Singh Ahluwalia; ward No. 47 — Mrs Sukhchain Bassi; ward No. 48 — Bharat Bhushan; ward No. 49 — Rakesh Prashar; ward No. 50 — Mrs Sushil Gupta; ward No. 51 — Sanjay Talwar; ward No. 52 — Kailash Kapoor; ward No. 53 — Lakshman Devi; ward No. 54 — Bhupender Singh; ward No. 55 — Baldev Raj; ward No. 56 — Malkit Kaur; ward No. 57 — Vijay Gaba; ward No. 58 — Jasbir Singh; ward No. 59 — Anju Bagga; ward No. 60 — Ashwani Sharma; ward No. 61 — Satpal Bedi; ward No. 62 — Mrs Shubh Malhotra; ward No. 63 — Ashok Thapar; ward No. 64 — Rajender Kapoor; ward No. 65 — Pinki Bhatia; ward No. 66 — Satpal Puri; ward No. 67 — Dimple; ward No. 68 — Anita Kharbanda; ward No. 69 — Jai Parkash and ward No. 70 — Sushil Thapar.

SAD, BJP announce candidates for civic poll
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 7
The former ruling combine of the SAD(Badal) and the BJP will contest 33 seats each out of the 70 wards in the city in the coming municipal elections, while four seats have been left for the Bahujan Samaj Party. However, it is not yet clear whether the parties had entered into some kind of seat adjustment or understanding with each other.

Meanwhile, confusion prevailing about these parties contesting the election together or not was further compounded as the BSP came out with a list of 26 candidates of its own to be pitted from different wards in the city. The SAD-BJP combine had decided to leave ward numbers 5, 8, 12, 13 but if the president of the party selection committee Mr M.P. Singh was to be believed, the BSP might put up its nominees in 41 seats, mostly falling under the Ludhiana Rural constituency. During last elections, the BSP had won only two seats and later one of its councillors, Mrs Barjinder Kaur, had joined the Congress.

There was a lot of pressure and intense lobbying for the SAD-B tickets among the aspirants as well as the local party activists. In the list of candidates released here by the chairman of the selection committee and former Speaker of Punjab Assembly, Mr Charanjit Singh Atwal, the party leaders claimed that efforts were made to give representation to each and every faction, without succumbing to any kind of influence.

A surprise development was the accommodation of rebel party functionary Amarjit Singh Bhatia, who had managed to secure nomination for his son Rajinder Singh Bhatia and another close supporter and sitting councillor Kulwant Singh Dukhia. It may be recalled that the district chief of the party, Mr Avtar Singh Makkar, has been gunning for Mr Bhatia ever since the former lost assembly election from Ludhiana West. Mr Bhatia was charged with working against the official party candidate, and the party leadership was under immense pressure to take disciplinary action against Mr Bhatia, one of the vice-presidents of the party.

According to sources in the BJP, the party leadership was still in a quandary on the renomination of firebrand young councillor Mr Sunil Mehra (ward no 63), who had to face expulsion from party during the assembly polls for his open rebellion against the official party nominee Mr Pran Bhatia from Ludhiana North and was recently readmitted. The district president of the party, Mr Harbans Lal Sethi, told Ludhiana Tribune that the local selection committee had recommended the name of Mr Mehra since he was a sitting councillor but official announcement would be made only after obtaining the consent of the candidate. He said the party nominees for the remaining four wards were expected to be named latest by tomorrow.

The following are the candidates of the SAD-BJP combine (ward nos. in bracket) :

SAD-B : Mr Bhupinder Singh Gogi (1), Mr Bhairaj Singh (6), Mr Kashmir Singh (7), Ms Daljit Kaur Khaira (11), Ms Kuldip Kaur (14), Mr Raj Sharma (15), Ms Saroj (17), Mr Naresh Dhingan (18), Ms Karamjit Kaur Garcha (20), Mr Hakam Singh Giaspura (21), Ms Sarbjit Kaur Cheema (23), Mr Mohan Singh Chauhan (24), Dr Kuldip Singh (25), Ms Khushwant Kaur (26), Mr Swarn Singh Maholi (28), Ms Harbhajan Kaur (29), Mr Balbir Singh Mankoo (30), Mr Kuldip Singh Khalsa (31), Ms Manjit Kaur (32), Mr Kashmir Singh Sheera (33), Mr Harbhajan Singh Dang (34), Ms Surinder Kaur (35), Mr Rajinder Singh Bhatia (36), Mr Jaswinder Singh Bhola (39), Mr Devinder Singh Bittu (40), Ms Manjit Kaur (41), Mr Tanvir Singh Dhaliwal (42), Mr Baldev Singh (43), Ms Rajinder Kaur (44), Ms Mohinder Kaur (47), Mr Kulwant Singh Dukhia (51) and Mr Ravinder Pal Singh Khalsa (52).

BJP : Ms Asha Sharma (2), Mr Rajiv Katna (3), Mr R.D. Sharma (4), Mr Harish Tandon (10), Ms Sunita Aggarwal (16), Mr Brij Nandan Prasad (19), Mr Surinder Sharma (22), Mr Pran Jagota (37), Ms Suraksha Rani (38), Mr Karan Salaria (45), Mr Parveen Goyal (46), Mr Kamal Chatley (48), Mr Prem Bhatia (50), Ms Geeta Devi (53), Mr Sarbjit Singh (54), Mr Gurdip Singh Neeta (55), Ms Bimla Devi (56), Mr Parveen Bansal (57), Mr Pran Bhatia (58), Ms Rama Kapoor (59), Mr Sudarshan Sharma (60), Ms Priya Malhotra (62), Ms Sunita Shjarma (64), Ms Suneeta Luthra (65), Mr Yash Pal Thakur (66), Ms Neelam Pathak (67), Ms Anuradha Sharma (68), Mr Avtar Krishan (69), Mr Shakti Kumar (70).

LUDHIANA CALLING

Almost parallel to the soaring mercury in the region, the process of elections to the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation also seems to be hotting up at a faster speed. With all the political parties having announced the list of candidates for the polls, there are hundreds of people who are upset and angry for not making it into the final list. Much hype was created during the selection process of the Congress candidates. At one stage it looked as if this was not a simple local election, but parliamentary election. Stakes had become too much. And when at long last the list came out, the results were not unexpected. The favourite invectives were hurled at the people who were assigned the job of finalising the candidates. And many of those who did not make it to the final list of the Congress said they will support the BJP or the Akali Dal to ensure the official candidate’s defeat. But the Congress need not worry. Similar slogans were heard from the Akali-BJP camp where the rejectees said they would support the Congress candidates, making the contest balanced.

The bulk brands

Ludhiana is one of the prosperous cities of Punjab where affluence is abound. It obviously becomes the target of all big business. Of late three newspaper ‘brands’ seem to have made it their battle filed. These newspapers started their “aggressive campaign” about two years ago by distributing the papers free along with gifts and many things. Unable to make any dent in the traditional readership, these ‘brand’ newspapers are at it again in more ‘ruthless’ rather generous manner. Now these are distributed free of cost in schools, public places, parking spaces and also at the residences of the people. And people get these papers in bulk, as much as four copies of the same issue on a single day. A reader had an interesting revelation to make. He was offered one of the ‘brands’ outside the PAU gate while returning from the morning walk. When he reached home another copy of the same ‘brand’ issue was lying outside. And when two of his children returned from their schools each one of them had also got the ‘brand’ issues free of cost, taking the total number to four on a single day!

Dust and smoke

With the wheat- harvesting season almost over, farmers and the general public alike are looking forward to a spell of rain. Farmers are praying for rain because it will facilitate the growing of paddy saplings and make the dry and hard fields ploughable. But the non-farming community is eagerly awaiting a spell of rain so that the air is cleared of the dust and smoke particles which had been hanging in the atmosphere. The current suspension in the air contains dust particles mingled with powdered chaff and of course the smoke as well from the burning of wheat stubble in the countryside.

Though the government had banned the use of harvesting machines and the PAU scientists had also advised the farmers against burning of wheat stubble, combines were used on the sly and the resultant stubble burnt by the farmers who could not afford to hire manual labour and waste their precious time. The prevailing combination of smoke and dust in the air has already started telling upon the eyes and the throats in general. Isn’t there a way to ensure that harvesting machines are not used and the stubble is not burnt ?

Policemen’s English

Policemen are rarely known for their proficiency in English Language. An apt example of this is the nameplate outside the Sahnewal police station. Interestingly the cops have spelt Ludhiana as ‘Loodiana’. The name of Sahnewal has been converted into a cool ‘Sanehwal’. No one in the police station knows who had got it written or why were the spellings wrong. The word ‘Loodiana’ could have reflected British fixation also, if the spellings were right. The city was called Loodhiana about five centuries ago after the name of the Lodhi rulers, who had founded the city. (See photo).

Queen’s English

Queen’s English is becoming a casualty at the meetings of the Municipal Corporation. In a recent meeting of the MC where a senior official was addressing his staff about the newly opened toddler swimming pool, he kept pronouncing the word toddler as turtle much to the amusement of all present. His staff members who were discussing the entire meeting afterwards said that the official was known for his English and once he had even said in a meeting “Our coffins are empty” instead of “Our coffers are empty.”

Manchurian or koftas

Before Chinese cuisine came into vogue, one of the most popular dishes was of “koftas”, fried balls made of either vegetables or chicken or meat and put in plain curry or rich curry using cream. In Chinese cuisine Manchurian is almost similar in nature except the curry is made differently. Many people do not really know the difference. Innocently, they ask: “Are they koftas?” In reality, it is a Manchurian dish. What is in a the name, Shakespeare would say. So long as they taste well, it doesn’t matter whether they are ‘koftas’ or ‘Manchurians’.

Opulent weddings

The wedding scene in Ludhiana is getting grander and grander. The scale at which the marriages are being held is mind-boggling. Right from the start, the card is more like a booklet using finest of papers. Everyone who is someone is trying to be one up on others. The accompanying sweets, chocolates would be packed in a novel way. At the weddings snacks and mocktails and cocktails have an amazing variety followed by sumptuous salads of both Indian and continental variety. The food spread is mind-boggling. One can have exotic Thai food, Chinese, dhaba, Amritsari, Indian, Mexican cuisine. Desserts range from golden jalebeis and rabri to a variety of icecreams, and many puddings, and souffles. The most neglected are the bride and groom as people after giving ‘shagun’ are busy socialising and eating.

Zindabad or murdabad?

A dharna or an agitation always indicates excitement. In a dharna organised by the defected members of the Congress, the excited members kept raising slogans in praise of Captain Amarinder Singh and Ms Sonia Gandhi, while they were criticising the duo for their policies. When the air was filled with slogans of “Capt Amarinder Singh Zindabad” and “Sonia Gandhi Zindabad” one of the agitators stopped the rest and making them realise what they were doing in the fits of excitement.

Dead department

The District Education Department here seems to be slowly going defunct. No new schemes, no plans, no functions and no programmes are being arranged for the students here. All what the officers seem to be doing is signing those huge piles of files that reach their tables every morning. Hardly does any officer visit any school and interact with the staff and students to know about their problems. Some of them are not even aware of the latest directions issued by the Punjab School Education Board. When asked out any new programme, one senior officer of the department remarked, ‘‘There is nothing new here. We are here just to show our presence, sit for a while, take our salaries and quietly go back home. Why should we rack our brains uselessly?’’

— Sentinel

Ex-servicemen flay SAD-BJP combine
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 7
The Indian Ex-services League, Punjab and Chandigarh, has cautioned the people of Punjab against the parochial and opportunistic tendencies of the SAD-BJP combine and its attempts to disturb peace in the state for ulterior political motives.

The IEL president, Lt Col Chanan Singh Dhillon, has said in a statement here that the Akali-BJP combine was confused and in a state of disarray and out of sheer frustration, its leaders were inciting the workers to take the path of agitation. “Akali leaders have conveniently forgotten that the overwhelming mandate given to the previous government was highjacked by the forces that have always been inimical to farmers, Dalits and weaker sections. In complete disregard to the sacrifices of the Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular, they acted as pawns of the Central Government and became a party to draconian laws like POTO.”

He said the previous government had failed to address the woes of war widows and their dependents. The families of soldiers, who had suffered heavily before and after Operation Blue Star, were still on the streets. Not only that the ruling combine had done precious little to rehabilitate veterans in their reserved quotas and all entries to state services had been on sale during their regime. This time around the workers, teachers, labour unions and the rank and file of the league had fully realised the real intentions of the two parties, which were only pursuing the agenda of furthering their political ambitions.

SGPC poll: 56 lakh voters registered
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 7
As many as 56 lakh voters — Amritdhari Sikhs and Sehajdharis — have been registered so far in the states of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh and Union Territory of Chandigarh for the general elections to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabhandhak Committee (SGPC) according to Justice J.S. Sekhon (retired), Chief Commissioner, Gurdwara Elections. Justice Sekhon held a meeting of the State Election Commissioner of these states in Chandigarh yesterday to review the enrolment of voters for the general house elections to the SGPC.

The last date for the registration of voters for the SGPC poll is May 27. Justice Sekhon said no reply had been received from the Centre so far in response to his suggestion that the voting age for the SGPC election should be lowered to 18 instead of 21 as recommended by the general house of the SGPC on November 30, 2000, at the time of the election of Mr Jagdev Talwandi as President.

The Home Ministry had also not taken any decision on the demand of the SGPC that Sehajdharis be debarred from participating in elections to the general house of the SGPC. Justice Harbans Singh (retired), the outgoing Chief Commissioner for gurdwara elections, had supported the demand of the SGPC and had recommended to the Home Ministry that the Sehajdharis could be nominated on the SGPC and the right to vote for them should be withdrawn.

Absence of cones creates mess
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 7
One of the distinct features of the city traffic management is the traffic cones, which are no longer intact on roads. Now, on a large number of roads only spots are left which remind that once upon a time there were cones.

In the absence of the cones, a confusion prevails among commuters as they cannot spot the lane for driving.

A few years back imported cones were installed near trafficlights at the Ferozepore road, Old Court crossing, Jagraon bridge and other spots. The purpose of installing the cones is to ensure smooth flow of traffic. The purpose is defeated as there is no timely maintenance of cones.

The cones were especially put on the Ferozepore road as there are many link roads and trafficlights.

The maintenance of the cones is the responsibility of the Municipal Corporation. But it seems that after installation of the cones, the officials had not bothered to maintain these for the convenience of commuters.

An official, on condition of anonymity, said six months back the cones were purchased, but on somebody’s complaint the whole lot was rejected. He said after that the corporation did not try to get the cones from any other supplier.

However, the traffic police could also inform the corporation in this regard. But sources said no such intimation had been given to the corporation. A senior police official said: “These days the traffic diversions due to the elevated road project are the main problem for corporation officials as well as the traffic police. The police could only intimate and discuss the problem with the corporation, but ultimately the corporation would have to do the necessary.”

Widow’s endless wait for pension
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, May 7
Life has been unkind to 85-year- old Balwant Kaur, a resident of Burundi and widow of a policeman, who has been frequenting the office of the district administration for years for family pension without any success.

Physically weak and hard of hearing, Balwant Kaur, who walks with the help of a stick, today met Deputy Commissioner, Anurag Aggarwal who asked the Senior Suprintendent of Police, Jagraon, to look into her case and redress her grievance on a priority basis.

Her husband, Pritam Singh, who worked as a Constable with the Jagraon police died some years ago. A mother of five children, including two daughters and three sons, she is forced to live with one of her daughters in Mandi Gobingarh.

Narrating her tale of woes to Ludhiana Tribune, the old woman said that she just wanted some money and some place to live. She said she was turned out of her house by relatives of her husband’s first wife, and her own sons were not ready to keep her at their houses. So she was forced to live with one of her daughters. She said her relatives had also falsely implicated her in a theft case and had taken her thumb impression

She said she did not blame anybody as officials found it difficult to understand her story as her husband had not changed the nomination of her first wife, who had died and he had remarried her. “He did not understand anything and did not change the nomination. While his first wife is dead, I am the most suitable person to get the pension,” she pleaded.

One shot at in family feud
Our Correspondent

Ludhiana, May 7
Mr Jagjit Singh (32) was allegedly shot at by his brothers, when they tried to hand over the possession of their share of ancestral land to a buyer in Jamalpur yesterday afternoon.

The injured has been admitted to the DMC Hospital. The police has registered a case under Section 307 of the IPC against Basant, Sarabjit and Rajinder. But the accused have asserted that their brother had shot himself in the arm after firing a shot in the air.

Woman beaten up: Ms Satto, a resident of Habib Ganj, who was allegedly beaten up and injured by her in-laws here yesterday, has been admitted to the Civil Hospital and her husband Raju has been arrested by the police.

According to Mr Puran Chand, father of the injured woman, her in-laws had been beating her up on trivial issues. Some days ago, when her son Ankush accidentally broke the telephone set she was beaten up by her husband, mother-in-law and sister-in-law after which she came to her parents in the city. Yesterday, her husband arrived at her house and started beating her up.

Couple injured: Mr Durga Dutt, a vegetable-seller of Ashok Nagar, and his wife Phool Devi were allegedly attacked with stones, knives and sticks by three persons here yesterday. According to the victim, a woman had bought some vegetables from him on credit. When he went to her house along with his wife to collect the money the woman along with her husband and son attacked them. The injured have been admitted to the Civil Hospital and the police has registered a case.

Beaten up: The Sahnewal police has registered a case under Sections 324, 341, 323, 148 and 149 of the IPC on the statement of Ms Daljit Kaur, who resides near the local Civil Hospital, against Gurdip Singh Giani. The woman had complained that while Mr Charanjit Singh, her relation, was returning from a visit to her house, the accused, with the help of four cronies, attacked him with sharp-edged weapons and sticks as a result of which Mr Charanjit Singh sustained serious injuries.

The police has registered another case under Sections 323, 324, 506 and 34 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Amandeep Singh, a resident of Balliawal village, against Ramanjeet Singh alias Rummy. The complainant had alleged that the accused along with his friends had beaten him up. A cross case against Amandeep Singh, Kuldip Singh and Gurdip Singh has been registered.

Fraud case: On the directions of Mr H.S.Sidhu, SSP, the Kotwali police has registered a case under Sections 406, 420 and 34 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Seetal Singh, a resident of Randhirgarh village in Phagwara tehsil, against a couple, Balwinder Singh and his wife Asha Rani, residents of Lalton Kalan village. The complainant had alleged that he had paid Rs 7.50 lakh to the couple to help his son go abroad but neither did they send his son abroad nor return his money.

Two arrested: The division no 2 police has arrested Rattan Singh, a resident of Jawahar Nagar, and Charanjit Singh, a resident of Karol Bagh Colony, on the charge of quarrelling on road and obstructing the traffic.

Liquor seized: The Model Town police has arrested Baljit Singh, a resident of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, and Surjit Singh, a resident of Dhakka Colony, and booked them under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act. Nine and 12 bottles of country liquor were seized from the accused, respectively.

Cases of theft: A Maruti car belonging to Mr Hakumat Rai Malhotra was allegedly stolen outside his residence in HIG flats in Ghumar Mandi on Sunday. While in Madho Puri, a Vespa scooter belonging to Mr Dinesh Sethi was stolen outside his house on Sunday.

The Civil Lines police has registered a case of theft on the statement of Mr Tejinder Singh, a resident of Sarabha Nagar, against unknown persons. According to the complainant, he had gone to a gift centre on the Malhar cinema road on Sunday to make some purchases. He left his bag containing Rs 10,000 on the counter and was allegedly stolen by two youths.

The Model Town police, on the statement of Mr G.Ghai, a resident of Urban Estate, Phase III, Dugri, has registered a case of theft against his housemaid Suman under Section 381 of the IPC. The complainant had alleged that the maidservant had stolen gold ornaments weighing around 120 gm on Sunday.

Fatehgarh Sahib
Held for satta: he district police has arrested satta operators in various parts of the district and recovered money and slips from them. Mr I.S.Randhawa, SP(H) said the police had initiated a campaign against corruption and anti-social elements in the district.

The Mandi Gobindgarh police arrested Jagtar Singh, a resident of Kukar Majra, while operating satta and recovered some cash. A case under Sections 87, 88-13A, 3 and 67, Gambling Act, has been registered.

Poppy husk seized: The Gobindgarh police arrested Rajbir Singh during a naka and seized 14.3 kg of poppy husk from him. A case under Sections 15, 61 and 85, NDPS Act, has been registered.

Arms case: An inspector of the anti-goonda staff arrested Manjenath from Nalini village and recovered dagger and other weapons from him. A case has been registered under the Arms Act.

JAGRAON
One held: The local police has arrested Tejinder Singh alias Jinder of PS Sudhar on the charge of helping Bhupinder Singh of Narud Pasta village, Phagwara, a Granthi at the gurdwara of Dholan village, for alluring Kamaljit Kaur (22) of marriage and later kidnapping her. The accused was named in the FIR registered under Sections 363, 366 and 120-B, IPC. As per information, Bhupinder Singh used to send persons abroad and Tejinder Singh, came in his contact as he wanted to go abroad.

Illicit liquor seized: The Sidhwan Bet police arrested Joginder Singh of Madarpura from his village and Surinder Singh of Salempura from Abuwal and seized 18 and 19 litres of illicit liquor, respectively, from their possessions. Two cases under Sections 61, 1 and 14 of the Excise Act have been registered.

5 booked for assault: The local police on the statement of Yash Pal Singh of Mohalla Khai Agwar Gujjran registered a case under Sections 452, 323, 356, 506, 427, 148 and 149, IPC, against Rinku, Mithu and three unidentified persons who assaulted him while he was on his way to his house. They later damaged household articles after entering his house and looted Rs 13,000 from there.