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| Sunday,
December 8, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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PHULANWAL-DHANDRA LAND DISPUTE Ludhiana, December 7 The police, however, has failed to arrest any of the accused so far. The dispute arose over about 5 acres of land. The police also clarified today that only one person had died in the violence. Last evening, Sadar police station sources had stated that two persons had died in the violence. According to the daily police crime report, the case has been registered against members of one party led by Gurmukh Singh. A speedy police investigation has found that the other party led by Bobby Sharma and Arvind Jain were the victims in the clash. The police sources said the victim group was only standing lawfully in their part of the land, when the other group attacked them allegedly without any provocation. A case under Sections 302, 307, 148, 149 and 506 IPC has been registered against Baljinder Kaur, Shamsher Singh, Jora Singh, Megha Singh, Gurmukh Singh,
Billu, Amarjit Singh, Darshan Singh of Dhandra. Sonu of Barundi and about eight others. Police sources said the eight have been identified and their names would be incorporated later in the FIR. According to the complainant, Arvind Jain he along with Anil Kumar, Rakesh Khanna, Pawittar Singh and Bhajan Singh were standing at the plot when the accused about 30 in number came and attacked them. He said the land was listed as ‘common’ land in revenue records. It had several partners. The victim party had the power of attorney over the piece of land owned by one Bhajan Singh. The stretch of land fell in Dhandra and Phulanwal village. He said they were the owners of the land but the other party thought otherwise. Meanwhile, village sources disclosed that the ugly incident could have been averted if the Sadar police was alert. The land sources said the Sadar police officials knew that the land was disputed and could have alerted its informers against any such incident.’ The police has interestingly, not included section of IPC dealing with trespass in the case even as it claims that the land belonged to Arvind Jain, the victim party. Meanwhile, the condition of the injured persons, admitted in a city hospital, improved today. Doctors said the injured had responded well to treatment. An uneasy clam prevailed in the area today over the violent incident. Villagers were wary of talking to strangers, mainly mediapersons, about the incident or the land dispute. The villagers, however, were unhappy with the Sadar police officials for not properly understanding the sensitivity of the dispute earlier. |
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Tantriks
lure superstitious, illiterate Ludhiana, December 7 The solutions offered by these tantriks are absurd and bizarre. A businessman is advised to throw a lump of lead into the Buddha Nullah in order to break the spell of dull business. A housewife is advised to throw 5 kg of wood-charcoal into the same rivulet on five consecutive Saturdays for fulfilling a certain wish of hers. The charges depend upon how superstitious and gullible is the customer. A number of tantrik killings had taken place about one year ago. While one body of a young boy, suspected to be the victim of a
tantrik, was found near the Samrala chowk, another body of a young boy was found in the Focal Point area. So far, these murders have not been solved. The brief appearance of an infant's mutilated body in the desolate Old Jail complex near the Civil Hospital a couple of days ago has again brought into focus the suspected role of “tantriks” in crimes related to infants and children. About two years ago, a migrant woman had sacrificed a four-year-old boy near Sahnewal in order to conceive a male child. She had told the police that she had taken the step on the advice of a tantrik who lived in her neighbourhood. According to those who happened to witness the infant's mutilated body in the Old jail complex, there was a yellow thread tied around the neck of the infant. And the way in which the body had been mutilated also suggested that a tantrik ritual had been performed before the child was sacrificed.
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LPG consumers falling prey to impostors Ludhiana, December 7 Mr S.K.Vasan, District Coordinator, Marketing Division, IOC, said, “One ‘Janjagrook Sanstha’ in Jawahar Nagar is offering membership cards to LPG consumers of the IOC for Rs 35 per connection. They claim that they will provide free services and will also change the spare parts including brush, rubber tubes etc. But they put duplicate spare parts at the rate of original ones. The tubes are of such bad quality that any mishap can take place anytime. The worst part is that these duped customers come to us with their complaints and we are shocked as the company has not authorised any such organisation for providing these services. Mr Chander Shekhar Azad, president of the LPG Ludhiana Distributor Association, said they were getting a number of such complaints daily. “We have come to know that there is a gang, comprising women also, which is duping several city residents. They have also made the fake membership cards and consumer visit reports, offering free services”, said Mr Azad. A Field Ganj resident, Ms Anjali Thapar, complained that two girls had visited her house and offered these services. “I gave them Rs 35 and they made me their member and assured that they will come after a few days on a routine visit to see if I needed any service from them. But so far not even a single person of the
organisation has turned up”, she said. Mr Vasan warned that this organisation did not have any link with the IOC. “These impostors, posing as IOC staff, have already duped many residents. They should not be spared and the company officials should immediately be informed, if any such person is caught by the city residents”, he said. However, when contacted, Mr Prabhpreet Singh of the Janjagrook Sanstha, he said their sanstha was a registered LPG Consumer Welfare Society. “These allegations are absolutely baseless. We are conducting surveys in different areas and offering our services. We have the list of all our consumers, who are being given regular services by the organisation”, he said.
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Scamster
meets his nemesis Ludhiana, December 7 As the said financier has declared himself insolvent and a five member committee of "investors" has failed to recover any money from the tainted financier, a few individuals on their own have managed to recover some money by using arm twisting tactics. Several others are threatening the said financier with dire consequences, who in turn has asked for some time to arrange money to be returned. Interestingly, since the money involved in the scam is "black money", not a single person has so far lodged any formal complaint. While, the entire district administration is aware of the same, no action has been initiated against the guilty, who has so far moving around in the city freely. Since all transactions of the tainted financier pertain to unaccounted money, some of the investors who received cheques from the said financier in advance are unable to present these cheques issued on behalf of the financier's oil trading company as these cheques were issued merely as a guarantee. At least two cheques of Rs 75 lakh and Rs 60 lakh are with the person who has lost the most in the scam. But he cannot present these cheques, as he will not be able to account for them before the tax authorities. This is despite his close association with some senior revenue officials. Interestingly, investigations by this newspaper have revealed that the current scam has resulted due to another scam that took place two months ago disturbing the flow of money through the channels. Two months ago, the person, who has now suffered a loss of Rs 7.3 crore, himself a financier, had duped his investors of several crores. |
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Cloudy evenings in city Ludhiana, December 7 The thick cover of such clouds in the city is reminiscent of smog that engulfs the city every winter and is a matter of concern for the environmentalists. After festival season especially after Divali the pollution levels rise very high and come evening the city as well as the countryside of the district is under a thick blanket of dust that affects visibility in the region. The commuters are seen on the city roads with their faces covered. Environmentalists say that the hazy blanket is formed due to the suspension of pollutants in the air due to fog that is formed during the mornings and evenings. They say the effects are more in Ludhiana as it has the maximum amount of the suspended particulate matter in the state that lead to the formation of smog. With the SPM particles suspended in the air the residents were complaining of sore throat, nasal, respiratory and eye infections. After travelling on the city roads on an uncovered vehicle one can experience a fine layer of dust on the exposed parts of one’s body.
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Hard times ahead for autorickshaw drivers Ludhiana, December 7 Although the administration’s move has been welcomed by residents of the city, who have been gasping for fresh air due to exceptionally high levels of pollution, these autorickshaw drivers are on the receiving end. Ludhiana has around 26,000 autorickshaws, half of which ply illegally on the city roads, emitting poisonous gases. As per the Deputy Commissioner, around 10,000 autorickshaws will be replaced by mini buses from January onwards. But for families of these 10,000 drivers, who are dependent on them for livelihood, would definitely be having hard times ahead. Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, many autorickshaw drivers said they had bought autorickshaws on installments or had taken these on rent on daily basis. “I have rented an autorickshaw and make around Rs 200 in the evening and a major chunk of this money goes in the owner’s pocket. If they replaced autorickshaws with mini buses on the roads many like me would be rendered jobless,” said Naranjan Singh, an autorickshaw driver living in Salim Tabri. Inderjit Kumar had bought the autorickshaw on installments. He had a similar tale of woes to tell. “I have been running from pillar to post to get a job. But when I did not find any, I bought an autorickshaw. I am wondering when the mini buses start how will I pay the installments and provide food to my children. There are no jobs even for the labourers in the city,” he said. The drivers opined that switching over to CNG like Delhi would have been a better option for them. Mr Kuldeep Singh Katani, president, Ghanta Ghar Autorickshaw Union, and Mr Madan Lal, chairman, Bhadaur House Drivers Union, said the administration should direct the manufacturing companies to make such autorickshaws which do not cause pollution. They even threatened of committing suicides like the farmers if they rendered jobless. Life story of Satbir Singh, a driver, who is a graduate is no less pitiful. He did his graduation thinking that he would land up with a job but after looking for it for three years, he ended up in buying an autorickshaw. Now his five family members are dependent on him. ‘‘They should provide us with a solution for the problem instead of snatching our source of livelihood,’’ he said. |
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Govt delaying SGPC poll: Tohra Ludhiana, December 7 Addressing a well-attended religious congregation at Gurudwara Shaheedan here, organised to honour members of the SGPC, who had sided with Mr Tohra during the presidential election, he charged the Centre and the Punjab Government with interfering in the religious affairs of the Sikh community in general and the working of the SGPC in particular. Mr Tohra further alleged that Mr Badal had taken the support of the NDA government at the Centre and the Congress government in Punjab to regain control of the SGPC. “The fact that head priest of Akal Takht, Mr Joginder Singh Vedanti had expressed gratitude to Ms Sonia Gandhi is proof enough that the Badal camp had no hesitation in seeking support of the Congress when it politically suited them.” The SHSAD chief said the party would come out with an action programme to achieve pending demands of Punjab at Jor Mela in Fatehgarh Sahib on December 26. “We shall raise the issue of holding general elections of the SGPC without any further delay along with other pending demands of Punjab.” Mr Mal Singh Ghuman, who had led the rebel group during the SGPC presidential poll and was expelled from the SAD by Mr Badal, narrated in details as to how Mr Badal had manipulated victory in the SGPC poll. He observed that while Mr Badal was now charging the government with interference in religious affairs, it was Mr Badal himself, who had reduced the SGPC and other religious institutions as mere puppets of the government, headed by him. Mr Tohra honoured 52 members of the SGPC with mementoes. However, contrary to the expectations, Mr Jagdev Singh Talwandi, former SGPC President and till recently a close supporter of Mr Badal, did not turn up at the function.
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Manewal’s killers still at large Machhiwara, December 7 The late Mr Manewal was picked by unidentified persons on July 27, 2001, from his residence at Samrala in the early hours and his body was found at 4 pm near Sirhind Canal. An the shardhanjali samaroh held at Grain Market Machhiwara, Congress leaders Lal Singh, Darshan Singh Brar, Malkit Singh Dakha, Malkit Singh Birmi and Taj Parkash Singh Kotli blamed the then SAD-BJP government for not arresting the murderers. They said it was unfortunate that even after six months of the Congress regime the promise to apprehend the culprits had not been fulfilled. These Congress leaders had staged a dharna at Samrala for the arrest of murderers. On the first death anniversary of the departed congress leader on July 6, 2002, at Manewal village, the Congress MLA Amrik Singh Dhillon, PPCC’s then general secretary Gurkirat Singh Kotli, a former minister Darshan Singh Brar, MLA Malkit Singh Birmi and another MLA Malkit Singh Dakha assured the family of solving the mystery of Manewal’s death. The silence by the PPCC general secretary, Mr Ishar Singh Meharban, on the issue showed as that the Congress had forgotten all sacrifices made by Mr Manewal. Disappointed at the non-serious attitude of the Congress and the police members of the Manewal family called a press conference yesterday. Younger brother of the late Mr Manewal, Kulwinder Singh Manewal alleged that the police was trying to hush up the matter. He justified his allegations by adding that on the day of the murder there was confusion whether the case would be dealt by the Samrala or the Machhiwara police. |
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Rally held to mark Ambedkar anniversary Ludhiana, December 7 A flower-bedecked carriage, in which a bust of Dr Ambedkar was placed, led the rally. The activists of the BSP and the Valmiki Sabha, started their march from Guru Ravi Das Mandir in Basti Jodhewal and passed through Valmiki Nagar, Ghati Valmiki, Ghati Ravi Das, Kila Mohalla, Daresi Ground, Partap Bazar, Clock Tower, Deepak Cinema Road, Arya School Road, Master Tara Singh Chowk, Chawni Mohalla and Salem Tabri on their way to Dr Ambedkar Chowk where floral tributes were paid to Dr Ambedkar. Dr Khosla and other speakers made an appeal to follow the footsteps of the great leader, who was not only the main architect of the Indian Constitution but also a ‘massiha’ for the dalits. “The equal status and place that the Dalit community enjoys in the society today is mainly due to the farsightedness and the role played by Dr
Ambedkar.” |
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Police
‘shielding’ accused Ludhiana, December 7 The complainants alleged that the police was deliberately letting him off and had not made any attempt to trace him. He is a co accused in a case with two others for allegedly grabbing the house of Veena Shahi and getting it fraudulently transferred in the name of Abdul
Qadoos. While Qadoos has been granted bail, another accused is in judicial remand. Lambhar Singh has reportedly been avoiding arrest with the help of some police officials. |
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Bhai Vir Singh remembered Ludhiana, December 7 The keynote address was delivered by Prof M.S.Cheema. Dr A.S.Sikka spoke on the first literary epic of Punjab. Bhai Vir Singh Memorial Samman-2002 was awarded to Kulwant Jagraon. Dr K.K. Minhas presented a research paper on poetic merits of Kulwant Jagraon. |
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Jagraon tops in poppy husk seizure Ludhiana, December 7 The haul is three times the seizure of poppy husk from the district during the corresponding period last year. As many as 159 persons have been arrested and 123 cases registered in this regard. The Jagraon police district has the highest rate of smuggling of narcotics in the state. The smuggling has, in fact, become a way of life in the area, especially in the Bet area. The police has now achieved an unparalleled success against the smugglers, but lot more needs to be done, said the SSP, Mr Mukhwinder Singh Chinna. He said the police was also educating people living in at least five villages identified for the purpose. He urged the media and social work organisations to help the police in the endeavour. The poppy husk smuggling in the area and high number of addicts among the young generation had even drawn the attention of Akal Takht Jathedar Joginder Singh Vedanti, who had appealed to the people to fight against drugs. Meanwhile, in a fresh seizure, the Raikot police has seized 14 bags of poppy husk from a truck (HR-56-9283) and 39 bags from an electric motor room, weighing 1,855 kg in all and valuing Rs 5.30 lakh. Raj Dubey, a resident of Faizabad, has been arrested in this connection, while three others — Sat Pal of Rajgarh, Kulwant SIngh alias Kanta of Andloo and Paramjit Singh alias Pamma of Wadla Kotli — managed to flee from the scene. The police has impounded the truck and registered a case under Sections 15, 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act. According to a press note released by Mr Chinna, a team comprising Mr Harjit Singh, DSP Raikot, SHO Mohinder Kumar and other police officials, while acting on a tip-off, raided the place where a consignment of the narcotic was being unloaded from the truck. The poppy husk was brought from Uttar Pradesh and was destined for Bathinda.
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Foetus
found on jail premises, lost Ludhiana, December 7 Contrary to earlier assertions by the police that they were not sure if any such incident had happened, the police has now confirmed that a body was found and it had disappeared. The police has registered a case under Section 315 of the IPC on a complaint lodged by a local resident Baljit Singh. Police sources said they were not very optimistic of unravelling the mystery. According to sources, the foetus could have been taken away by some animal or person who had thrown it there. A senior police official told The Tribune that the police was sure about the foetus theory on the basis of its investigation, the photographs of the body as well as the description given by some persons who had seen the body. The official said it had been confirmed from all hospitals that no new-born child or at most six-months-old child had died recently. Secondly, no report of missing child had been lodged recently. Police sources said they suspected that it could be a case of female foeticide or abortion at a later stage. A badly mutilated body had vanished under highly controversial circumstances from the abandoned premises of the old jail, near the Civil Hospital, minutes after its recovery on December 4 late evening. A massive search operation conducted by the police and the residents of the area failed to trace the whereabouts of the body. According to eye witnesses, the body, having only the torso intact and without legs or limbs, was spotted in bushes in the abandoned jail premises. A cloth was tied around the body’s neck. They further said after the police reached the spot, it could not find anything in the bushes of the jail because it was not armed with the proper lighting system. The thick bushed and wild vegetation grown inside the jail premises has been a favourite place for criminals, especially those
committing crimes against children.
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Tantrik
held, woman recovered Ludhiana, December 7 The husband of the woman, who is a taxi driver, in his complaint had alleged that three other residents of the locality were involved in the incident. Abductor arrested:
The father of the minor, in his complaint, alleged that Mahesh, who was father of two children had been living here alone while his wife and children were living in their native village in Uttar Pradesh. The accused used to get a rakhi tied by the minor girl. The accused took the girl to Lucknow and later to another town in the state. The girl, who had been rescued from him, alleged that he had repeatedly raped her. Dowry cases:
The Shimla Puri police has also registered a similar case on an allegation of Kiran Bala, a resident of Guru Gobind Singh, Nagar, against her husband Mahinder Pal Sharma, a resident of Vinod Nagar, New Delhi. Cases registered:
Meanwhile, a case has been registered under Sections 323, 341, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC on a complaint lodged by Shanti Devi, a resident of EWS Colony on the Tajpur road, against Sanjiv Kumar Pardhan, Pamma, Ranjit Singh, alias Mintu, Sukhdev Singh, alias Sukha, Baldev Kumar, Ashok Kumar and some other persons. The woman had alleged that the accused intercepted her on her way and beat her up. AMLOH
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Textile exhibition inaugurated Ludhiana, December 7 After inaugurating the exhibition, Mr Agarwal said that keeping in view the fast technological and communication developments at international levels, our industrialists have no alternative but to fully modernise their units and enhance the quality to meet the fierce competition. He said the communication gap between the institute, which is situated at Mohali, and the knitwear and textile industry should be minimised through the efforts of both sides. He said that the district administration would extend all kinds of assistance to set up a sub-centre of the institute at Ludhiana so that both industry and trainees could take maximum benefit from the expertise and modern machinery available with them. Addressing the function, Ms Vijay Sharma, director, NIIFT, stressed the need for the industry and the institute to join hands to meet the global challenges and for the re-orientation of the industry. She said the quality of training in the institute was excellent and all 250 trainees passing out from the four courses were getting full placement in the knitwear and textile industry of Ludhiana. She informed that the institute with a view to ensuring maximum interaction between the industry and the trainees would set up a design studio in Ludhiana shortly , for which proper place was being searched in consultation with industry and administration. This would help in developing latest designs, keeping in view the needs of local industry. She said that the industry would also be asked to provide maximum practical training for students in the knitwear units, where computerised machines were already been in operation. Mr Vinod Thappar, secretary, Knitwear Club, addressing the function said that more and more such exhibitions and fashion shows should be organised to further promote the knitwear and textile products of the industry. He informed that a new knitwear apparel park was being set up on Ludhiana at a cost of Rs 700 crore and the Union Government had already released funds amounting to Rs 17 crore for making the initial arrangements. Ms Prabhdip Brar, Assistant Professor and coordinator of KDT Department, gave a brief presentation about the institute and the kinds of services it can provide to the industry. A large number of people, including designers form industry and students from various designing institutes, visited the exhibition on the first day. The creations by the students were appreciated, especially the ones which were surface ornamented with a variety of embellishments as ribbons, sequins, insertions, with mauli thread. The works were a remarkable show of innovation and creativity. Among other who were present on the occasion included Mr Charanjiv Singh, Mr Narinder Munglani, Mr B.S. Mann, Mrs Mridula Jain, Mr Dinesh Lakra and Mr
G.K. Mirjra. |
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Industry
faces fuel problem Mandi Gobindgarh, December 7 Mr J.P. Sharma, general-secretary, in a press release here today said that after considering the pros and cons of the letter in the prevailing circumstances governing financial aspects of the re-rolling industry when some units had got their power connections permanently disconnected while many more were thinking on the similar lines because of high cost of production which had further hit harder on account of demand recession. |
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Free pollution
check for vehicles Ludhiana, December 7 Representatives of Apollo Tyres carried out a campaign during the camp to educate vehicle owners on proper care of tyres like maintaining proper air pressure, periodic check-up, balancing and alignment after stipulated mileage to increase life of the tyres and enhance efficiency of the vehicles.
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