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| Thursday,
July 11, 2002, Chandigarh, India
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Tangri, son go underground Ludhiana, July 10 The charges which are likely to be framed against him after he is arrested are serious. Making of petrol bombs, amassing of arms in Gur Mandi with the intention of attacking inspecting police parties and sending arms to the rioters in Gujarat. Some smaller fish have already been arrested and the hunt for the supremo has been intensified following the Chief Minister’s directions to the SSP yesterday in this regard. It had been a smooth sailing for Tangri ever since he stole some limelight during the days prior to Operation Bluestar in 1984. The man was said to have collected a fortune during those days in the name of organising a Hindu-backlash at that time. This reporter, who had interviewed him for The Tribune about four days before the Operation Bluestar , was aghast at what he heard. Tangri said that since he could not recruit gunmen from the trader community , he was asking Bal Thackeray to send a brigade of 500 shooters to Punjab. But before Tangri could buy the arms or Bal Thackeray could send in his little army of shooters, came Operation Bluestar and people forgot about Tangri and the money he had collected to organise a Hindu backlash. Then Tangri started building his base as the head of his own Shiv Sena having no link whatsoever with Bal Thackeray’s Shiv Sena or any other Hindu outfit. He started advertising among the migrant population that if they wanted to get a ration card made or had some other bureaucratic hassle to cross, they should become members of his Shiv Sena. So the migrants flocked to him to have an identity of a Shiv Sainik. But the ambition of Tangri, now in his mid-sixties, were higher. Soon he started holding a parallel court called Lok Adalat by him in his Gur Mandi den and dispensing justice. Again in an interview on the issue with this reporter, Tangri said that he was doing nothing illegal. He cited the case of a woman who had come to him with a complaint that her husband had been flirting with other women. He said he summoned up the man and gave him a sound beating after which he became faithful to his wife. But this correspondent was told by another source that one day Tangri’s men had beaten up a young boy who had been employed at a PCO and was erroneously suspected to have misappropriated the PCO’s cash. He had a torture chamber in his den where suspects were given the ‘treatment’ to extract confessions and promises to pay up. Terror in the name of dispensing social justice, that was Tangri. It helped him become an active arm of the private loan-sharks of the city as well . His services were duly paid for by the big money-lenders. His henchmen were indeed thought capable of inflicting misery on anyone they preferred. The very name of Tangri worked like magic. Recently, on the pattern of Shri Gyan Sthal Mandir Sabha, he started organising monthly functions in his Gur Mandi office at which ration was distributed among widows. The current clash of Tangri with the police came about in the wake of police raids on a number of Gur Mandi outlets selling pirated or fake CDs. The shops belonged to Tangri’s close proteges. So the lion came out of his den and declared to one and all. “Gur Mandi mein police ka nahin, Tangri ka raj chalta hai. Yahan meri hakumat hai, sarkar ki nahin” and blah...blah...blah.... He even defended CD piracy on the ground that bigger companies were fleecing people and he was doing a service to the people by making cheaper versions available to them. He ordered his men to make petrol bombs, amass swords and store conventional missiles ( brick-bats, stones etc) on rooftops which were supposed to be used in case a heavy police party entered Gur Mandi and started searching for smuggled goods and CD-piracy laboratories with computers and all that. A trader of Gur Mandi confided that all shopkeepers of the market held Tangri in great awe and dared not utter a word against his extortionistic methods. Though the police is now on his trail and he may be nabbed any moment, the question arises what was the police doing all these years when he had been running a parallel administration all these years? Ludhiana Tribune learns that some police officers are also sympathetic towards Tangri for reasons best known to them. Sources say that the raids last night at his residence and a couple of his other likely hideouts which proved of little use were more or less mock raids for the benefit of the media alone as the police officers knew very well beforehand that Tangri was not present in his house. Anyway, with the CM’s intervention yesterday, the die has been finally cast. It is only a matter of time now. How long, after all, can the lion be on the run? |
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Hell hole called Mini Secretariat
Ludhiana, July 10 The rush of visitors to the office everyday adds to the chaos, but the district administration has made no proper seating arrangement to accommodate it. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anurag Aggarwal, had said two months ago that public offices would be cleaned and window system would be introduced for public dealing to check the rush. However, no claim has materialised, so far. The corridors of the Mini Secretariat look as if these have never been cleaned and the walls carry spit marks made by visitors. The chairs there are a junk and the water coolers have a moss cover. The computers in the office go out of order every now and then. Last week only, visitors were inconvenienced when a snag hit the computers and was rectified only after 5 days. Sources said the computers were outdated and needing replacement. In the absence of an air-conditioner, these would keep giving trouble. While the authorities concerned continue to sleep over the problems, visitors have been crying foul. A farmer of Mullanpur village, who had come here to obtain a copy of a ‘farad’, said: “There is no place here where a visitor can sit and you have to wait for hours together to obtain any document. The inside stinks. Why can’t such huge staff keep the office clean.” The ADC (Development), Mr A.K. Sinha, when contacted, said that the administration had written to the state government for funds. He said if he had funds, the clean-up would begin within a few days. Regarding faulty computers, he said that the funds for acquiring new ones had already been sanctioned. Soon, six new computers and a server would be installed here.
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Seek justice from CM, get into trouble Ludhiana, July 10 According to Rahul, yesterday he went to meet the SP, City, in connection with an inquiry into the dispute being conducted by him. His younger brother Naval was already sitting there in connection with the same inquiry. And later both of them were booked by the police and arrested. They were today released on bail. Rahul alleged that they were being victimised at the behest of a senior police officer posted at Jalandhar who was openly supporting their cousins. Rahul claimed that his cousins were bent upon evicting him from the building from where they were running business for many years and the senior police officer was providing support and patronage to them. He said on Monday his father met the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, who was in the town to complain against police inaction in the case. He disclosed that a case had been registered against them (his cousins) and the local police was not taking any action against them apparently at the behest of the said officer. He said although his father had not complained against anyone in particular but only wanted justice from the Chief Minister, still the said police officer felt annoyed. Rahul disclosed that yesterday his cousins again manhandled his younger brother Naval. He contacted the police. Instead of taking any action on his complaint, he was taken to the SP’s office. Meanwhile, Rahul also joined his brother at the SP’s office. Later, both of them were allegedly dragged to the Sadar police station by one police official, Devinder Kumar, where they were kept for the entire night. They were released only today on bail. Rahul revealed that when his father Subash Beri, who is said to be out of town, contacted the said police officer at his Chandigarh residence, he straightway threatened him and asked him how he had dared to complain to the CM against him and now he should be prepared to face the repercussions. Rahul alleged that the senior police officer was openly helping his cousins as they wanted to evict him from the building and grab his business. He said although the Chief Minister had directed the local police officers to look into the matter and take an impartial decision, they were still being influenced by the said officer and were unable to do justice with them. Making a fervent appeal to the Chief Minister, he urged him that an impartial inquiry may be conducted into the entire case by some agency which will not be influenced and pressurised by the said police officer. He said, although he had nothing against the local officers, “but everybody can understand the compulsions of the local officers who guided and directed by the senior police officer posted at Jalandhar”. Breaking down several times while narrating his tale of woes in The Tribune office here today, Rahul said he was under medication as he was undergoing treatment for his ailments. He was refused medicines and food till late in the night. It was only around midnight when his mother rang up the SP (city) and told him that her son needed medicines that the police officials allowed him to take food and medicines. |
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Man beaten up in presence of cop Ludhiana, July 10 According to information, Arun Kumar, who is in the employment of Congress councillor Bhagwan Dass, had had a minor scuffle with a migrant Suryanand Yadav of Sherpur some time ago. At that time, Arun Kumar had sustained a minor injury on the forehead. A case against Yadav had also been registered at the Sherpur chowki in this connection. Yesterday afternoon, while Yadav was reportedly talking to a couple of reporters at a karyana shop in the area, Arun Kumar appeared on the scene along with Shamsher Singh, ASI, posted at the Sherpur chowki, and in the presence of the cop, attacked Yadav with fisticuffs and beat him up. The cop remained a silent spectators and made no attempt to stop the man enjoying political patronage. However, no police official could be contacted to get details of the case. |
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MC initiates measures to improve water supply Ludhiana, July 10 Mr S.K. Sharma, MC Commissioner claimed while talking to Ludhiana Tribune that a system had been evolved to fix responsibility for avoidable disruption in water supply. The staff responsible for operation and maintenance of tubewells as well as the supervisory officers has been explicitly told to ensure that barring unavoidable circumstances, water supply should be maintained strictly according to timings fixed by the civic body. He said in view of the extremely hot weather and the increased demand for water, supply was maintained through water tankers in case of disruption due to electrical or mechanical faults in tubewells or in cases of power failure. ‘‘We (the MC) try our best to reach out to the people to fulfill their demand for water not only in the areas covered under water supply network but even in those localities where piped water supply is yet to be provided.’’ The officials in the O and M wing of the MC had also been directed to accord top priority to complaints of contaminated water supply, Mr Sharma added. Elaborating other steps taken to improve water supply, he said that more often than not the supply was affected due to disruption of power as a result of unscheduled power cuts, shut downs and faults. ‘‘Since water supply provided through tubewells is directly dependent on power supply, we have taken up the matter at the appropriate level with the management of Punjab State Electricity Board to reschedule the power cuts in residential areas so as not to affect the water supply.’’ The MC had also mooted a proposal to have a separate power grid for water supply network as a long term measure, the Commissioner said. ‘‘The sheer size of the geographical area and size of the population in the mega city makes the task challenging. As the facility of piped water is available to around 90 per cent of the city population and the remaining 10 per cent people still have to be brought under coverage, the MC has an added responsibility of planning and executing new projects for expansion of water supply network in addition to proper maintenance of existing facility,’’ he added. He further said with the completion of a Rs 33.52 crore project for augmentation and extension of water supply scheme for the city during the last financial year an additional 30 per cent population was brought under the cover of water supply through a network of 265 tubewells and 62 overhead service reservoirs (OHSRs), 1280 km of distribution lines and about 1.5 lakh water connections. The MC in the mega city, he asserted, was providing 130 litre per capita daily supply of water with supply being maintained for an average 10 hours every day which was much more than in terms of quantity and duration as compared to most of civic bodies in major towns and cities. |
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MC employees hold rally, flay Punjab Budget Ludhiana, July 10 Addressing the rally, convener of the Sangharsh Committee, Mr Hans Raj Gagat came down heavily upon the freezing of the dearness allowance (DA) and denial of other facilities like medical allowance, house rent and leave encashment. He further asked the government to grant bonus to civic employees at the rate of 12 per cent, scrap the ceiling on salary, remove ban on new recruitment in the MC in view of massive extension in city limits. Other activists of the MC employees’ unions, including Mr Khelar Chand Gupta, Mr Gajraj Prajapati, Mr Sunder Lal Mehta, Mr Ram Jatan, Mr Balwant Rai Mattu and Mr Ram Lakhan, focussed on other demands which included hike in interest on Employees Provident Fund and an end to the misuse of these funds, creation of promotion channel for class IV employees and masons in civic bodies, grant of special allowance to sewermen and regularisation of ad hoc employees who had completed 240 days service. A deputation of the Sangharsh Committee functionaries later met the MC Commissioner, Mr S.K. Sharma, and presented a charter of demands to him. Mr Sharma assured that the demands which pertained to local administration would be favourably considered while those relating to policy matters would be forwarded to the state government. |
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Photojournalists manhandled, held Ludhiana, July 10 According to Sunil Sharma, he, along with his colleague, Ashwani Kumar, was waiting outside a photo lab as they had left some prints for developing. He said they were on a scooter when a PCR motorcycle stopped behind them. One of the cops on it hit Ashwani from behind and they fell down. When Sunil tried to argue with the cops they were taken to the Kailash Nagar police station. Sunil was arrested and an FIR was registered against him. The cops at the police station reportedly expressed their helplessness in the case as they had directions from some senior officials to register an FIR, Sunil Sharma said. He said the issue could have been resolved on the spot but for the directions from some senior officials to register an FIR and arrest him. Meanwhile, the local scribes have strongly condemned the incident and demanded an action against the erring cops. A meeting of local journalists was held here this evening. They said it was not the first time that the police had behaved in such a manner with journalists. They demanded action against all the police officials concerned, including those who had ordered the registration of an FIR against the journalist. |
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’62 war widows still await compensation Ludhiana, July 10 In a memorandum submitted to the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, here the president of the Indian Ex-Services League, Punjab and Chandigarh, Lieut-Col C.S. Dhillon, urged him to sympathetically consider their cases. The memorandum also listed other problems, including an increase in the ex-gratia grant to non-pensioners and old veterans who were provided a monthly grant of Rs 100 15 years ago. It was enhanced to Rs 400 with severe conditions. The previous government had announced to raise it to Rs 800 and also assured to withdraw all the conditions. But so far nothing has been done. Mr Dhillon also demanded enhancement of marriage grants of the JCOs and other ranks which has not been increased for years. He said although the government had promised to raise it to Rs 8,000, nothing had been done. The memorandum urged the government to ensure that the commercial and private properties of the veterans be got vacated. It suggested that an ordinance on the pattern of protection of NRI properties be promulgated to watch the interests of the veterans. Mr Dhillon said there were several other problems of the serving as well as retired ranks which needed urgent attention of the government. He said the league understood the financial constraints of the government and would not like to create problems but would prefer to wait. The league also extended its full support to the Chief Minister in his campaign against corruption. |
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Jamalpur
goes without power for 20 hrs Ludhiana, July 10 According to residents, the power cut was unscheduled and repeated complaints to the authorities elicited no response. The power went off at 10 p.m. last night and remained suspended throughout the day today forcing the residents to sweat in the sweltering heat. An irate resident, Devinder Kaur told TNS that they had to spend a restless night and the condition of the children and the elderly was bad. Children kept on crying and even moving outdoors offered no respite due to the hot and humid conditions. The noise of generators too added to the unbearable state, she narrated. Other residents alleged that calls to the public complaint centre remained unanswered. One attendant told them to get in touch with the local complaint centre in their area only to be greeted by a engaged tone. Residents who went all the way were shocked to find no one there. Enquiries revealed that the phone was out of order for the past many days, the residents added. The power had not been restored till the filing of this report. |
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Illegal
collections at
cattle fair alleged Khanna, July 10 According to information, the monthly cattle fair is being organised at the local camping ground. There are 18 tempo unions which collect the money from tempos at the rate of Rs 100 per cattle. So many times the legality of the collections has been discussed but clearcut guidelines never been issued by the authorities. This time union approached a senior police officer who directed the city police to help him. The city police allowed the union to supervise the collection work at the cattle fair on July 9. |
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2 well
diggers die Ludhiana, July 10 The deceased youth have been identified as Surinder Pal, alias Kukki (32) of the same village and Mukti, a migrant labourer working in the village. The bodies were dug out from under the debris after five hours of efforts by the villagers and have been sent to Ludhiana for autopsy. |
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129 kg of poppy husk seized Ludhiana, July 10 According to police sources, Sidhwan resident Jaspal Singh, alias Pappy, was stopped at a special naka and 5 kg of opium was recovered from the bag he was carrying. He told the police that he used to buy the opium from Kishangarh town in Rajasthan and sell it here. He had been in the trade for a long time as the profits were high. One kg of opium was bought for Rs 8,000 in Rajasthan and sold at between Rs 15,000 and Rs 18,000 here. In another incident, Jaswinder Singh, a resident of Panj Dheran, Phillaur, was arrested for possessing 124 kg of poppy husk. Sources said he was driving a car (PB-10W-0498) when it met with an accident near Mandiani village late last night. Villagers pulled him and the other two occupants, Soni and Harnek Singh, out of the car and rushed them to hospital. Soni and Harnek Singh died on the way, while the condition of Jaswinder is stated to be serious. A search of the car yielded four sacks of the narcotic. The three are said to be known smugglers who brought the poppy husk from Rajasthan. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused. |
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Dowry murder alleged Ludhiana, July 10 Murder bid:
Girl kidnapped:
Poppy husk seized:
Theft
cases:
The Sadar police yesterday registered a case under Sections 379, 427, 148 and 149 of the IPC on the statement of Mr Agaya Pal Singh and Mr Surjit Singh, residents of Mall Road, against Harbhajan Singh and about 10 other unknown persons. The complainant had alleged that the accused broke the walls of his plot in Jhamat village on Monday and stole cement, light poles and other goods. No arrest has been made so far. Eve-teaser booked:
Undertrial escapes:
According to sources, undertrial Sadhu Singh was in the Central Jail for the last about eight months. Some few weeks ago, he was admitted in the Civil Hospital as he complained of abdomen pain. He was also operated upon few days ago. Sources said he went to toilet today morning and ran away from there. Policemen on duty were caught unaware. Mr G S Sidhu, Superintendent, Central Jail, said the district police has not intimated him officially about the undertrial’s escape. Doraha The complainant, Beant Singh, has alleged that the three accused entered the house of Avtar Singh at about 1 am today and attacked him with a spade and bricks due to which he was badly injured. He was rushed to hospital at Maloud from where he was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, but he was declared brought dead. Mr Rachpal Singh, SHO, Payal police station, when contacted, said that the body of the deceased was handed over to the relatives after a post-mortem. The police parties have been sent to nab the culprits. A property dispute is stated to be the reason of the murder, police sources said. |
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All telecom problems will be
sorted out, Ludhiana, July 10 Mr Julka expressed these views while talking to mediapersons here today. He said that the BSNL Mobile Service will be started by October end. He admitted that it had been delayed as it was a big project. Mr Julka added that for the streamlining of the billing section, the department was planning to set up over 30 online cash counters. The servers will provide the necessary information for the convenience of customers. The online cash counters will be opened at Jalandhar bypass (TRA), Bharat Nagar exchange, Ghumar Mandi (TRA), CTO Mata Rani exchange, Dholewal exchange, Transport Nagar exchange, Model Town (TRA), Khanna exchange, Jagraon exchange and Raikot exchange. New exchanges will also be opened at Sunder Nagar, Haibowal, Sabzi Mandi, Jamalpur, Giaspur and New Shivpuri. Many outer area exchanges will also be expanded which include Meharaban, Sahnewal, Threeke, Alamgir, Bassian, Bhadla, Issru, Jarg, Jodhan, Kohara, Pakhowal, Rampur, Rara Sahib, Sidhwan Bet, Rauni, Mailkowal, Dhoorkot, Haidon and Kheri Nodh Singh. Mr Julka said that more WLL lines were expected during 2002-2003. The telephones would be given on demand in most of the areas in the city. Subscribers applying new telephones in these areas would be given telephones within one week. The shifting of telephones in Transport Nagar, which was pending due to non- feasibility could now be done easily. “We have already changed the damaged cables in some areas and I am sure the subscribers will not face any kind of problem with their telephones in the coming monsoon”, said the GM. |
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