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December 27, 2002, Chandigarh, India |
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Badam bagh firing: fresh probe ordered Ludhiana, December 26 The DSP (Sadar), Mr Manjit Singh Dhesi, has been entrusted with the fresh inquiry after former Sadar SHO Ranjit Singh Brar had submitted an inquiry into the incident in favour of the accused Home Guard Commandant Daljit Singh Grewal. The alleged victim, Mr Sohi, a well-known farmer who had won awards for successful production of almonds in Ludhiana, had appealed to the city SSP, Mr Harpreet Singh Sidhu, for another inquiry. In his application to the city police chief, Mr Sohi had contended that the inquiry did not record statements of some vital witnesses to the incident. He alleged that the inquiry was one-sided. So Mr Sidhu had now deputed DSP Manjit Singh Dhesi to conduct another inquiry into the incident. The suspended Home Guard Commandant, Mr Daljit Singh Grewal, is also facing charges of possessing assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The case of corruption was registered against Mr Grewal by the State Vigilance Bureau. Mr Sohi also accused Mr Grewal that he was trying to grab his (Mr Sohi’s) almond orchard. Both the parties were at loggerhead with each other over this issue for the last several years and a case had also been registered in this regard against the Home Guard Commandant. On August 24 last, Home Guard Commandant Daljit Singh Grewal, along with seven persons, including his body guards, had allegedly tried to forcibly occupy the orchard. The move was reportedly repulsed by the owner and complainant Ram Singh Sohi. Shots were also fired in the air. A case was registered regarding the incident at the Sadar police station. Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Mr Sohi said he had pleaded with the senior police officers that some vital witnesses to the incident were not included in the first inquiry and he was deeply upset with this. He said he had nothing against the police officers but persons who saw it all and heard the gunshots, their statements should have been recorded. |
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Youth’s death: mother, paramour booked Ludhiana, December 26 The deceased youth, Mandeep Singh, of Ranjodh Park, Haibowal, died of burns at civil hospital today. He had immolated in front of his mother and her paramour in his house. Police sources said the woman, Rupinder Kaur (38), and her alleged paramour, Soni (30), have been booked under section 306 of the IPC for abetment to suicide in the case. The case is a befitting example of how a person, blinded in love, can damage a family. The woman's husband had left the home for some undisclosed place about two years ago after he failed to check her activities. He had also tried to commit suicide a few years ago but the woman's illicit relationship continued. The youth was also objecting to the relationship. The family was facing a social boycott by the area residents because of her blinded love. Initially, the police had registered a case of murder against the two but on the basis of investigation and statements of the persons concerned with the case, the FIR was converted to abetment to suicide this evening. The sordid incident took place late last evening. The youth protested again to the presence of the man in his house but was made to shut up. He was also allegedly beaten up by the man. He then allegedly immolated himself. He was rushed to Civil Hospital where he died this morning. His grandfather lodged a complaint with the Haibowal police that the accused woman and her paramour had set the youth afire. However, the police investigation found that the youth had committed suicide. |
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Industrialist booked for fraud Ludhiana, December 26 Sources in the district administration, meanwhile, stated that the administration was now focusing on the role played by some PFC employees in helping Bhateja. Some employees may also face corruption charges, if proved, the sources said. Deputy Commissioner Anurag Aggarwal and Additional Deputy Commissioner Rahul Bhandari have already stated on record that the administration’s action against such corruption would not be limited to one “fake” industry only. The sources said at least two more such cases had been
identified and would be made public soon. The Sahnewal police station SHO, Mr Surjit Singh, is the investigating officer of the case registered. The police is learnt to have conducted raids on the house and other addresses of the accused, who has managed to elude arrest. The police said the raids were continuing. The case has been registered under Sections 420,467,468 and 471 of the IPC. The sections deal with fraud, cheating and forgery. The Bhateja case has witnessed several twists during the past month. Allegations and counter-allegations have been made freely in the case. The DC alleged that Bhateja defrauded the state government through the PFC, while Bhateja claimed that the DC was trying to implicate him in a false case. Bhateja alleged that he was being framed at the instance of a brother-in-law of the Deputy Commissioner, with whom he (Bhateja) was working in a joint venture earlier. According to the investigation of the district administration , on
the Mr Aggarwal had claimed that according to the investigation, more than 90 per cent of the amount had been embezzled in the case in which junk machines were purchased and re-painted, the names of manufacturers engraved on the machines were filled with the metal and the nameplates of units from whom bills were raised were affixed over the original ones. Bhateja had contested the assertion of the DC that the machinery installed at his spinning unit, assessed at around Rs 70 lakh, was not even worth Rs 5 lakh at present. He had claimed that the disbursement of the PFC loan of Rs 71 lakh was made to the unit during 1999-2000 against proper bills of the machines purchased, adding that the unit had created adequate assets and collateral security of about Rs 45 lakh was pledged to PFC. |
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Riot victims lament unfulfilled promises Ludhiana, December 26 More than 18 years after they were looted and forced to leave their homes in different parts of the country, the riot victims and their families are still struggling to come to terms with the tragic change in their lives. While their wounds may never heal, the successive state governments instead of coming to their aid, have only added insult to injury by not fulfilling promises. The previous SAD-BJP government also gave ‘mere assurances’ they said. Living in the colony in Urban Estate Dugri here, the affected families are eagerly awaiting the promised allotment of houses, 100 shops, 500 ration depots, besides compensation and proper employment opportunities. An eerie silence prevailed in the colony today, with the residents coming to terms with the latest development. On visiting the colony, one can meet more than 12,000 such families. Each has its own heart-rending tale of misery. Reminiscing the troubled time, they fight tears even 18 years after the sordid episode of their lives. While many have now settled down well, there are other like Charanjit Singh who are literally living from hand to mouth. Owning a roadside cycle shop under the open sky, he has not been able to built a proper shop. He had a flourishing business of cycle repair and a clothes shop in a town in Uttar Pradesh when anti-Sikh riots swept the place. Forced to flee from his cherished home, he is still struggling to make the both ends meet. More painful is the state of one of his sons who helps his father in the cycle-repair work after returning from school. And most of the time he works in the school uniform. “We were promised allotment of a shop if we produced a red card which was the identity of a riot-victim. As I could not produce the evidence of being one, I could not get the card” he laments. There are others, like the old couple Kesar Singh and Ravel Kaur and their neighbour Rajinder Kaur who had to run from their homes twice. Once the Partition in 1947 dislocated them and when they had almost forgotten the ordeal, the riots displaced them for the second time in just 37 years. Says Rajinder Kaur, who migrated to the city from Kanpur and now runs a shop in the colony, “Our life has changed completely. Those were the times when we used to employ people and now we are running after small jobs.” With a choked voice, she remembered how a mob
destroyed her house and several trucks owned by her husband in few minutes. “Dil nun pakka karna painda hai” (We had to become strong), commented the old couple with tears in their eyes. “We had lost all desire to live after being treated in such a manner by people who were like our family members.” According to Mr Surjit Singh, president, Danga Peerat Welfare Society, Punjab, and Mr Manjit Singh, a leader of the victims, they have been more disturbed by the attitude of the government. They said the government had given them these houses in 1984, but were now demanding money in installments to give allotments in their names. The then Governor, Gen O.P. Malhotra (retd), had promised the allotment of 500 ration depots to the victims, which were still pending. Then allotment of another 100 shops was announced, but only 24 persons had got the possession in the past 18 years. Then there are number of widows who live only on the widow pension announced by the government. The payment of these pensions was also irregular. The leaders were also worried about the future of hundreds of orphaned children who were either employed as child labourers, doing menial work or being fed by the local gurdwara. Meanwhile, the International Sikh Dharam Prachar Manch has condemned the decision of the court acquitting Sajjan Kumar, one of the main accused in the case. In a statement here today, Mr Gurdeep Singh Leel and Mr Jagdish Singh Jassowal, president and general secretary, of the manch, said that the decision had sent shockwaves among the Sikh community across the world. The decision was a cruel joke on the minorities in the country, they alleged. “It is unfortunate that while the assassins of Indira Gandhi were hanged in just three to four years, the court took 18 years to decide the case and yet did not award any exemplary punishment to the main accused all of whom were let off scot-free,” they alleged. They said that a deputation of the manch would meet the President in this context and demand the reinvestigation of the case by the CBI. If punishment was not given to the accused, the image of the Constitution and the judiciary would be tarnished in the eyes of the community, they added. |
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Project delayed due to lack of funds Khanna, December 26 The meeting was organised under the chairmanship of Mr Momi who told the MC authorities that the sewerage project had been delayed due to a delay in the purchase of 40 acres of land. He said the cost of the land had gone up considerably. |
Taxation Bar pleads for income tax relief Ludhiana, December 26 Speaking on the occasion, Mr Ashok Juneja, president and Mr B.R. Kaushal, general secretary, asked the government for raising exemption limit of income tax from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1,00,000 without withdrawing the rebate schemes under Section 88 for savings, 88B for senior citizens, 88C for women, 88D for medical expenses for senior citizens. Additionally, standard deduction for salaried persons and deductions on housing loans should also continue, which were of great benefit to the middle class, working people and senior citizens. Mr Juneja emphasised that the rate of income tax should in no case exceed 20 per cent because if past experience was any indication, more and more people had volunteered to pay taxes when the rates of taxes were reduced. With the rationalisation of tax structure and liberalisation, the number of assessees had shot up from 1.16 crore in 1997-98 to over 3 crore now. With the result, there had been a significant rise of 137 per cent in the revenue from Rs 38,000 crore to Rs 90,000 crore during this period. The members of taxation bar were of the view that capital gains should be taxed at the rate of 10 percent in place of the existing slab of 20 per cent. Further, the tax rebate scheme and benefit of deductions should not be withdrawn since such a step would adversely affect the middle class, senior citizens, salaried persons and professionals, who deposited their maximum income in savings and fixed deposit schemes in banks and post offices. “The assessees acting in good faith in the course of their acts and transactions under income tax laws should remain protected from penal protections.” The speakers desired that there should be no audit provisions under VAT system because the dealers and assessees were already getting their accounts audited under the Income Tax Act. Pointing out that the limit on turnover for audit of accounts had not been revised for the last 17 years, they said it needed to be enhanced from Rs 40 lakh to Rs 2 crore. Extending their support to tax agricultural income, the members of the bar observed that rich farmers, with a farm income exceeding Rs 1 lakh per annum, should be brought under the tax net. Generation of tax revenue from the farm sector would enable the government to reduce tax slabs for other categories of tax payers. |
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Monopoly in handling bio-medical
waste ends Ludhiana, December 26 Dr Gursharan Singh, president of the district unit of the IMA, unit said for the past many months, the association had been trying hard to bring in competition in this area. The facility formed by Fortis will be operated by Maridi Eco Industries. Dr R.C.Garg, president, IMA, Punjab, said on the repeated requests by the association, the Medicare Incin refused to decrease the rates. “The medicare had been very confident that their monopoly would survive for a long time as they gave assurance to the IMA in writing that no other unit could come up in the next six months and charge the same amount. We are happy that the authorisation to Fortis has rebuffed their claims”, said Dr Gursharan. The row over bio-medical waste handling and disposal facility between the state unit of the Indian Medical Association and the private operator. The company said that the facility set up at Ludhiana, had already been commissioned from the first week of September, 2002. And presently, it was collecting the waste from all corporation cities of Punjab including Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana and Patiala. In addition, the towns en route were also being served. |
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Admn forgets Udham Singh’s birth anniversary Ludhiana, December 26 The function was organised at GGN Khalsa College here in collaboration with the Kamboj Welfare Society. Addressing those present, Dr Jaswant Singh Chamak, secretary-general of the trust, said that the martyr had dreamt of a strong India which was capable of providing food and shelter to all and sundry. Paying rich tributes to the martyr at the function, Dr Chamak highlighted the heroic deeds of Shaheed Udham Singh. He said that Udham Singh was a man with total conviction who had taken a vow to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. He had chased Sir Michael O’Dwyer, the then Lt. Governor of Punjab for 21 years and shot him dead in Caxton Hall, London. Continuing his speech, Dr Chamak lamented that around 13 files carrying 3,000 documents on the life of the martyr were lying at London which were banned for public release by a British court in 1940 after his execution. He added that some excerpts were, however, released by Mr Tony Blair which were published in the form of a book by Prof Sikander Singh Azad. He urged upon the government to get the other documents released so that more could be published about the life of the great Indian martyr. Jathedar Avtar Singh Makkar, president, SAD, Ludhiana, while addressing the participants, recalled the sacrifice made by the martyr. The trust demanded that land should be allotted to the trust for raising a befitting memorial to the martyr. A grant of Rs 10 lakh for the memorial was also demanded from the government besides setting up Shaheed Udham SIngh Chair at Punjab Agricultural University. |
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No justice in 84’ riots case, claims SAD Ludhiana, December 26 The party vice-president, Mr Amarjit Singh Bhatia, said in a statement here today that around 3000 Sikhs were killed, many of them burnt alive, in Delhi during the massacre which followed the killing of Mrs Gandhi. “Not only the family members of the victims had identified several prominent Congress leaders as main culprits of inciting violence and later testified against them in the courts, quite a few Congressmen had themselves unabashedly owned up their involvement in the ghastly crime.” He said almost all Inquiry Commissions, set up by successive governments at the Centre had indicted the Congress leaders and even Parliament had placed on record the dubious role of the Congress party in the riots. |
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Body found hanging from tree Ahmedgarh, December 26 The body of a middle-aged person was spotted by some school students on Monday morning, who informed the residents of the area. Though people came to the spot to see and identify the person, but none cared to inform the police. |
Two car thieves arrested Ludhiana, December 26 According to the police, under the supervision of DSP Gurpreet Singh, a team led by ASI Dalip Singh organised a naka at the Aggar Nagar chowk and intercepted a stolen Maruti Zen with a forged number plate,being driven by Gurbachan Singh,a resident of Amritsar. The other accused, Daljeet Singh, also a resident of Amritsar, was nabbed by ASI Darshan Singh at a naka on the canal in Randhir Singh Nagar, while he was driving a stolen Tata Sumo. Gurbacahan Singh has been arrested earlier in a number of theft and robbery cases. Both the accused were separately booked at the Sarabha Nagar police station. Youth nabbed Frauds alleged The complainant alleged that the accused had taken Rs 23,000 from him and did not give it back. The accused had even changed the name of his company, he alleged. The Sarabha Nagar police has also registered a case of alleged fraud on a statement of Harjit Singh, a resident of Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar, against Kulbir Singh, a resident of Raj Guru Nagar, and Harish Kumar, a resident of Ashok Nagar in Delhi. The complainant said he purchased a car from the accused, for which he had given them Rs 2.85 lakh. However, he alleged, he was not given documents of the car. The complainant said he later came to know that the accused were trying to make a duplicate registration document for the car. Attempt on life alleged The complainant alleged the accused gave him milk, laced with mercury. After he drank the milk, he was told that he had consumed contaminated milk. He vomited out the poisoned milk and informed the police. One dies in accident Case registered Poppy husk seized Woman injured The injured woman was rushed to the Civil Hospital for a medical examination. According to information, both women had been having tiffs in the past too. Robbery accused held Injured According to the victim, he was riding a motor cycle on the Rahon road. When he reached near Subhash Nagar, the accused, who were following him in a car, allegedly attacked him with sharp-edged weapons. The attackers fled after injuring him. He has been admitted in a hospital. Assaulted Eve-teaser held Gamblers held The Focal Point police also arrested Manjit Singh, a resident of Sanjay Gandhi Colony, Upjinder Singh, a resident of Ram Nagar, Mohinder and Joginder, residents of Jamalpur, and Dalip Kumar, a resident of Jeewan Nagar, while they were gambling at a public place. All the accused were booked under the Gambling Act. Held for jamming traffic |
Cold weather warms up hosiery industry Ludhiana, December 26 Purana Bazar and Hindi Bazar, the main hosiery markets of the city, are abuzz with activity. The manufacturers and traders are attending to an overflowing stream of customers from different parts of the region. However, the situation was dismal tell a couple of weeks back. The manufacturers and traders had to rely on limited orders and were worried about the winter getting delayed. But luckily for them, the wintre has come, although a little late. Sources said the cold wave that had gripped the hilly areas of the region, like Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, had spurred the sales of hosiery here. Ludhiana is the probably the only hosiery and knitwear market, catering to the demands of the entire region and the hosiery and knitwear goods made here are sold in far off places like Ladakh and Kargil regions as well. The hosiery trade of the city has also been buoyed by Tibetians who sell these products on roadsides across the country. The Tibetians are believed to have emerged as one of the largest consumers of the hosiery goods of Ludhiana. Hundreds of small and middle-level hosiery manufacturers of the city are heavily relying on them acting as their retailers. Moreover, they purchase the goods in cash and not on credit. Notwithstanding the quantum jump in the sales of the hosiery and knitwear goods, the manufacturers are still not too optimistic. They feel that the momentary phases may push the sales for a while, but well not help the business in the long run. Mr Sunil Datt of Sunil Fabrics said, “The basic problem is the shrinking of the season”. He said while earlier the winter would last for at least three months, now it hardly lasted for a month or so. That was the reason why the manufacturers were shifting to other products like sweat shirts and jackets, he said. The cynicism among the manufacturers and traders notwithstanding, there is a general feeling that in case the chill lasts for a week more, it will help in clearing a lot of stocks pending with the retailers and will also lead to timely payment to the manufacturers. |
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PNB to provide ‘anywhere banking’ Ludhiana, December 26 This was stated by Mr A.K. Loomba, Senior Regional Manager, while presiding over a schematic loan mela organised jointly by several local branches of the bank at Hotel Le Classic here yesterday. The Mata Rani Road, Civil Lines, Rajpura Road, Benjamin Road, Kesar Ganj, Kharadian Bazar and Karimpura Chowk branches participated in the loan mela. Mr Loomba disclosed that loans worth Rs 1.85 crore, under different schemes, were disbursed in a similar function held at the Sarabha Nagar branch last week. He explained the salient features of the festival bonanza offer by the bank under which provision had been made for full waiver of the upfront fee and documentation fee in addition to free insurance of the house for housing loans. Mr K.K. Mohindru, Senior Manager, Regional Office, Ludhiana, focused on various schemes of the bank like housing loans, vehicle loans, traders advances, personal loans, mortgage loan, education loans and loan against future lease rentals. Prominent, among others, present at the function were Mr V.K. Bansal, Chief Manager, PNB, Mr S.K. Garg, Senior Manager, PNB, Mata Rani Road, Mr S.K. Chawla, Senior Manager, Mr A.K. Gupta, Senior Manager, Mr Sham Lal Gupta, Senior Manager, Mr Mohinder Aggarwal, General Secretary, Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal, Mr Vijay Mohan, Mr S.K. Dhawan and Mr P.D. Singh. |
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