Amritsar, November 13
The beginning of correspondence between Bibi Jagir Kaur, president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), and West Punjab Chief Minister, Choudhary Parvez Ellahi, is being considered significant for according ‘conditional recognition’ to the controversial Pakistan Sikh Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) by the SGPC.

A letter by Chaudhary Ellahi to Bibi Jagir Kaur was received here today.

In return, the PSGPC may like to recognise the supremacy of the SGPC in managing the Sikh shrines in Pakistan so far as maintenance of Gur Maryada is concerned. The PSGPC, however, has already announced to implement the Maryada, approved by the Akal Takht - the supreme temporal seat of the Sikhs.

The SGPC chief has softened her stand after Mr Mastan Singh, a Sikh resident of Nankana Sahib, was elected regular president of the PSGPC. However, sources close to Bibi Jagir Kaur, said she might lay down certain conditions before according long-awaited formal recognition to the PSGPC, including replacing Muslim caretakers with Sikh caretakers of various gurdwaras in Pakistan.

Though Bibi Jagir Kaur took the initiative to open dialogue with Choudhary Ellahi by writing him a letter, following attack on Nankana Sahib by certain miscreants, yet the positive and quick response sent by the latter has helped in removing avoidable irritants.

Earlier, it was Bibi Jagir Kaur who had stopped sending Sikh jathas to Pakistan in protest against the formation of the PSGPC in April, 1999.

The communication from Choudhary Ellahi has assured the SGPC that Gurdwara Nankana Sahib would be protected at all costs. Mr G.M. Sikandar, Principal Secretary to Choudhary Ellahi, has said there is no sign of communal strife between Sikhs and Muslims after attack on Nankana Sahib.

He informed that nine persons, including students, general secretary of the Bar Association and a union nazim had been arrested by the police in connection with stone-throwing on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib.

He assured that the government would exercise extreme vigilance in the area to avoid recurrence of such an incident in future.

Amritsar, November 13
Divali turned out to be a tragic one for the family of Narinder Kumar whose two minor daughters were burnt to death when a fire engulfed their house, situated in the narrow lanes of the Katra Dulo area in the walled city, late last night.

In a separate incident, a person was electrocuted early this morning.

Out of the four members of the family sleeping on the first floor of the house, only Narinder and his wife Geeta were rescued by the neighbours. When the neighbour tried to rescue the girls, the first floor made of wood collapsed.

Narinder and Geeta who were seriously injured in the incident were taken to the SGPC-run Sri Guru Ram Das Hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable.

Anil Kalia, an eyewitness and neighbour who saved the couple, said a woman going to a gurdwara spotted the fire around 2 am and raised the alarm.

He said the family was in deep slumber when the incident took place. The family woke up to the shouts of the people who had gathered on the scene.

Fire-fighters who reached the scene within no time brought the bodies of the girls out of debris, he said.

Neeta, a relative of the victims, said the bodies of the deceased were cremated after the post-mortem examination.

She said though the exact reason of the fire was not known, the earthen lamp lit in the kitchen after “pujan” apparently caused it.

She added that the parents of the girls who were hospitalised had not been informed about the tragedy.

Mr P.K. Rai, SP (City), when contacted, said a case under Section 174, CrPC, has been registered. He said the fire apparently started in the kitchen but its reason could not be ascertained. However, a short-circuit could not be ruled out, he added.

In another incident, Chaman Lal, a resident of the Batala road area, was electrocuted here this morning.

The victim came in contact with a high-tension wire passing along side the wall of his house.

The body was taken to his native village, Dinanagar, in Gurdaspur district by his brother, Joginder Pal, after the post-mortem examination.

Phagwara: Three minor fires caused by crackers and two minor injuries to children while bursting crackers were reported during the Divali celebrations last night.

Fire brigade sources said today that in three separate cases a pile of garbage on the Banga road near the old Civil Hospital building, a dried-up tree in Model Town and waste material in an empty plot on the local railway road caught fire. The fires were caused by sparklers and were extinguished in time. No loss was reported. Two boys sustained minor burns in fireworks and were treated.

11 incidents of fire on Divali
Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 13
Firemen remained busy on Divali night yesterday with as many as 11 incidents of fire being reported from the city and nearby areas.

The maximum damage was caused at Bhadson, near here, where fire broke out in a market alongside the police station. The fire started from Kanda General Store in the market and spread to six other shops. The store was completely gutted by the fire with the other shops also being affected. Shop owner Satish Kumar said the fire had started due to a short circuit. Firemen battled the flames for nearly one hour before dousing them.

In another incident, several gunny bags were destroyed at a shop in Markal Colony in the city. The cause of the fire, however, could not be known. Sources said the firemen had a tough time controlling the fire from spreading to other areas in the colony.

According to sources the phone at the local Fire Brigade office kept on ringing throughout the night. They said the first call came at 3.30 pm yesterday from the Income Tax Colony behind the Malwa cinema. Fire broke out in a house in the colony after a rocket bomb hit it. The fire was, however, brought under control and not damage was caused.

In another incident, a fire broke out in a house (Number 43) in the Urban Estate Phase I. Scrap at the Hindustan Wire Factory in the Factory Area also caught fire when a rocket fell there. Besides this, calls were also received from Anardana Chowk, a furniture shop on the Sirhind Road, near State Bank of Patiala at Quila Chowk, Cloth Market near the Masjid and from the dhobi ghat near Nabha Gate.

Jalandhar, November 13
The functioning of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) authorities came under a cloud as Deputy Director, Sainik Welfare, Jalandhar, Lt-Col Manmohan Singh, today accused the former of discriminating against deserving candidates in the ongoing selection test for recruitment of constables in the RPF at Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala since November 8.

Claiming that the entire selection process was subverted to favour the candidates having influence in the Railways Department, he demanded that the entire selection should be made afresh to give justice to the deserving candidates. He also demanded action against the erring officials.

He said the officials concerned had allegedly rejected candidature of some wards of ex-servicemen on the pretext that the latter did fulfil mandatory chest measurement requirements.

Quoting the case of one Varinder Singh, a son of an ex-serviceman, who hails from Majra Manna Singh Wala village in Fatehgarh Sahib, Col Manmohan Singh, in press statement issued here today, said during the test, Varinder Singh successfully completed 1500m run in the allotted time to get a place among six out of 200 candidates, who were to further undergo chest measurement test.

Even as Varinder’s chest measurement was above the laid down standards, the official concerned rejected his candidature on flimsy grounds.

Col Manmohan Singh, who heads a state government-run institute for imparting pre-recruitment training to the ex-servicemen and their wards here, alleged that though there was a provision for an appeal against the judgment of the authorities concerned, the Senior Commandant of the RPF, Mr P.C. Pandey simply refused to hear the appeal without assigning any reason.

Mr Pandey was, however, not available for comments, despite repeated attempts.

Phagwara, November 13
PPCC President H.S. Hanspal said today that he would talk to Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh about the November 11 NHRC order in the case of “secret” cremations by the Punjab Police during its 1984-1994 anti-terror drive. But he also asserted that the morale of security forces and the situation of that time in Punjab would be kept in view, while considering the order of the NHPC Bench directing the state to pay a compensation of Rs 2.5 lakh each to the next of victims kin.

Mr Hanspal was talking to newsmen at the residence of local Congress MLA and Chairman of the Punjab Agro Foods Corporation Joginder Singh Mann about the landmark order of the NHRC Bench comprising Chairman Justice A.S. Anand, members Justice Y Bhaskar Rao and R.S. Kalha in which relief was provided in the case of alleged cremations of 2,097 bodies as “unclaimed or unidentified” in Amritsar district.

He said there was a serious consideration on restoring Lok Pal to curb corruption.

When reminded that the image of the state government had got a severe beating due to the quashing of appointment of some DSPs and orders about re-auction of certain liqour vends, by the judiciary Mr Hanspal said he would soon convene a meeting of block and district presidents of the party for telling the public about the achievements of the Congress government at the Centre and in state.

He defended the appointment of liqour baron Ponty Chadha in a state sports panel.

Mr Hanspal declared that he was in favour of abolishing octroi as it wasted time, diesel, petrol, and caused pollution and delays.

On the arrest of Shankaracharya Saraswati Jaininder Ji, Mr Hanspal retorted that the arrest was made by the Tamil Nadu government and it was totally wrong to blame the Central government for it.

Wadali (Amritsar), November 13
Mr Surinder Singla, Finance Minister, said the Land Ceiling Act must be scrapped to usher in a farming revolution in Punjab.

Addressing a gathering on the concluding day of the three-day Shah Mohammad memorial cultural festival here today, he said the Act was a hindrance in the growth of farming. Contract farming could not be implemented in toto as long as the Act was in place, he said.

Meanwhile, Mr Inderjit Singh Basarke, president of the DCC (R), caused a flutter when he described Giani Joginder Singh Vedanti, Jathedar, Akal Takht, as “puppet” of the SAD. He said Jathedar Vedanti did not participate in a function organised by the DCC on November 11 to mark Bandi Chhod Divas.

Referring to the entrance of private companies in the power sector, he said it would help farmers with electricity connections without visiting government offices. Allaying the fears of employees of the PSEB he said such fears were expressed by the Telecom Department prior to the introduction of private players in the sector. It was proved wrong and people were enjoying the services of telephones and mobile at cheap rates.

He said he would write to the Prime Minister to raise a national monument in memory of Punjabi poet Shah Mohammad whom he described as a symbol of national integration.

He announced a waiver on the entertainment tax on the Punjabi movie, “Pind Di Kudi”.

Capt Amarinder Singh, Chief Minister, was scheduled to participate in the function but failed to arrive. According to Mr Singla, he could not come due to poor health.

Among others, Mr R.L. Bhatia, Kerala Governor, Mr Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa, Parliamentary Secretary, and Mr Harminder Singh Gill, general secretary, PPCC, were present.

Chandigarh, November 13
Top leaders of agitating farmers have called a meeting tomorrow to decide the next course of agitation against the Capt Amarinder Singh government in the state.

“We would continue our agitation to free the farming community from the exploitation they have been facing at the hands of commission agents, money lenders, sellers of substandard pesticides and seeds and other such forces”, said Mr Sukhdev Singh Kokri Kalan.

Hitting out at government, he said on the one hand the Congress government at the Centre had released as many as 25 Pakistani citizens from Indian jails as a Divali gift and on the other hundreds of farmers were languishing in Punjab jails for the past several days.

He said the rough methods used by the state police against farmers had forced them to go on strike in jails. As many as 772 farmers, including a women, had been on fast for the past 36 hours in Amritsar jail in protest against the treatment given to them by the government authorities.

Besides, 53 farmers, including five women, were on fast in Ludhiana jail for the past 24 hours. He said that as many as 800 farmers had been released unconditionally in the past days and they were separate from those already in the jails. The Government did not provide adequate medical facilities to those farmers, who were wounded in police lathicharge in Mansa district last week, he asserted. All such farmers had been sent to jail at Ludhiana, he added.

Intelligence agencies were keeping the track of all senior leaders of farmers. He apprehended that the government would book farmer leaders in false criminal cases. Whereas, the government wanted to crush farmers’ agitation by using all sort of repressive measures, no action was being taken against those who have been exploiting farmers, he added.

Farmers have been facing bad times because of the fall in cotton prices. And they have been knocking the doors of the government to get their sugarcane dues cleared. There is a negligible increase in the price of wheat. Prices of diesel and other inputs used in the agricultural sector had a back breaking effect on farmers, he said.

Ropar/Una, November 13
After two months of his release, Sukhdev Singh, one of the three Indians taken hostage by Iraqi militants for 42 days, has again decided to go back to Kuwait for a truck driver’s job. He wanted to take the risk again as he has not been offered any government job by the Punjab Government as promised. Moreover, he has to pay a debt of more than Rs 2 lakh.

However, the other two hostages, Antaryami and Tilak Raj, who are from Una in Himachal Pradesh, have decided to meet Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh, to request him to give them government jobs as promised. These two have no plans to go back for a job in Kuwait.

Appearing frustrated and disheartened with the government apathy and has inability to pay his debt, Sukhdev Singh at his Makroana Kala village in Ropar district, said, “We have 2 acres of land which is not enough to take care of our family. I have also to pay more than Rs 2 lakh as debt”.

“I have left with no option. Last week, I met an agent in Chandigarh who assured me to get me a job as a truck driver with the KGL Company in Kuwait”, he added. When The Tribune team visited Sukhdev’s village he was sowing wheat in his fields.

“I have no future here. I cannot get or earn enough money that can clear my debt. So I have to leave for Kuwait,” he added.

“I met a number of politicians and also the administrative officials who had assured my family members and me about a government job. But all of them did not respond and ignored my request”, said Sukhdev Singh.

Antaryami another hostage, appeared relaxed in his Dehlan village in Una district. He that he was happy and had spent most of the past two months visiting religious places and meeting relatives.

“I have no anger against anyone. I am happy that I came back. I will meet Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh and Chief Parliamentary Secretary Mukesh Agnihorti, and request them to provide me a government job as assured to me after my release,” he added.

“Even if the government will not help me to get job, I can take any suitable job to look after my family. It is a new birth for me and I am grateful to all those government officials who had helped in getting me released,” added Antaryami.

“My family suffered a lot because of me. I have no plans to go back to Kuwait. I will meet CM Virbhadra Singh next week, along with Antaryami and ask for a government job”, said another hostage, Tilak Raj in his Dharmpur village in Una district.

“I am happy that I am safe with my family members. Wherever I go people recognise me and extend help. I have got debt of about Rs 1 lakh. But I will do any job here and return the money within a few years,” he added.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, November 13
Residents of this belt of Malwa are looking forward to the visit of Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to Malerkotla on the eve of Id as they would urge him to order immediate repair of the only road connecting this area with the rest of the state.

The Ludhiana-Malerkotla road is a small stretch on the150-km Ludhiana-Khanauri road that is being set up under a World Bank Project for constructing a total of 400 km link roads in the state. While the Punjab Road and Bridges Development Board might take another couple of years to complete the work on the road, the residents of the area would have to face inconvenience on the Ludhiana-Khanauri road which has become a death trap on account of numerous potholes on it.

Many fatal accidents have occurred on the road but the administration lent no ear to the grievance of the public. The department concerned instead of repairing the road has chosen to wait for the road to be widened and reconstructed.

The condition of the about 150 km span of the road joining Ludhiana with the neighbouring Haryana has been deteriorating for the past 10 years. Except for some patch works or temporary repairs near major towns of Malerkotla, Dhuri, Sangrur, Sunam, Patran and Khanauri no major repairs were undertaken by the authorities concerned. At certain places some social organisations got the road repaired.

The diversion of heavy traffic from the National Highway Number 1 has led to further deterioration of the road. Drivers preferred to take this road to evade toll tax. Vehicles bound for West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan have virtually left local commuters search alternative routes.

Though a tender notice for the construction of the Ludhiana-Khanauri road was issued two years ago, sources at the Punjab Roads and Bridges Development Board, Chandigarh, disclosed that the final decision for strengthening and widening of the road was yet to be taken.

Bathinda, November 13
Fire broke out in a cotton godown in the local Grain Market area. Cotton worth lakhs of rupees was destroyed.

Though the godown was situated in the thickly populated area, fire brigade personnel, with the help of the Punjab police, managed to bring the flames under control before these could spread to other parts of the locality. The cause of fire could not be known as yet.

The fire brigade authorities pointed out that about three fire tenders were pressed into service to extinguish the fire. Mr S. K. Singla, SDM, along with the senior police officials, reached the spot to supervise the fire-control operation.

The authorities pointed out that on Divali, two incidents of fire took place in this town. First incident of fire was reported from the powerhouse road where a cracker shop caught fire.

The fire was immediately brought under control. The second fire incident was reported from the Amrik Singh road area and fire brigade personnel also controlled it.

Civil Hospital sources said only a few people with burn injuries reported in the hospital.

Gurdaspur, November 13
The Jammu queen case has been repeated in Pathankot. Some politically influential people have “exploited” a local girl and her nude photographs have been circulated in the town on mobiles and e-mails.

Sources said, the case relates to a family member of a politically influential management trustee of a local college. The person along with a few of his friends exploited a college girl and clicked her photographs. She was then allegedly blackmailed and forced to “serve” certain influential persons.

The operation went awry when the mobile phone of one of the accused in which he had stored the photographs of the girl developed some problem. He went to a local mechanic who downloaded the photographs and tried to blackmail the accused. When they did not yield to his demands, he circulated the photographs among a few of his friends, following which the photographs were circulated in the town on mobiles and e-mails.

The incident has evoked strong reaction from the social organisations. Demanding action against the accused, they alleged that certain persons of the town had been running a sex racket. Obscene photographs of girls were clicked and they were blackmailed to work as sex slaves.

Fatal game
Tribune News Service

Patiala, November 13
In a bizarre incident, a child lost his life yesterday when his brother and sister, besides three other children, were playing a make-believe game, ghar-ghar.

The children first reportedly subjected the sleeping child to inhalation of flour with which they were playing near his bed and then fed him a mixture of flour and water.

Sahil, the two-and-a-half-year-old child, who was alone at home with his brother and sister when the incident occurred, suffered acute breathing problems. His condition deteriorated soon after and he was taken to the Rajindra Hospital. Doctors found that his respiratory tract was full of flour which they said led to his death.

Police sources said Sahil’s parents were not at home when the incident occurred at a slum behind the Income Tax Colony. They said while Sahil was sleeping inside a room, his brother and sister and three more children of the locality were playing outside. They said after sometime the children, in the age group of three to five, decided to play the game inside the room in which Sahil was sleeping.

The sources said the children first spilled a lot of flour while trying to prepare a batter which could have blocked Sahil’s nostrils. After this, they said, it was decided to make Sahil eat the batter after it was supposedly prepared. The half asleep boy ate the batter which was partially force fed to him. Shortly thereafter, he started having breathing problems.

When his condition started deteriorating, the children raised an alarm and neighbours rushed Sahil to the hospital.

Doctors said the boy was in a precarious state when he was admitted to the hospital. He could not survive despite artificial respiration provided to him.

Bathinda, November 13
Even as the Directorate of Census Operations, Government of India, has chosen the local Civil Surgeon, Dr Y.P. Singla, for a state level award for his contribution in the issuing of birth certificates to the children under the age of 10 years, he would not be able to receive the award personally.

Dr Singla had been selected for state-level award for his contribution in the issuance of birth certificates in phase one while he was the Civil Surgeon at Amritsar and also for phase two while he was working as Civil Surgeon, Bathinda. But he would not be able to receive both these awards, to be presented at a special function in Chandigarh tomorrow, as higher officials of the state health department were visiting here tomorrow, for which he would have to stay here.

Dr Singla would not be able to receive the honour tomorrow as Mr D.S. Guru, Secretary, Health, Punjab, was visiting Bathinda in connection with the convention being held on female foeticide by the Indian Medical Association, Punjab, tomorrow.

The Directorate, in its letter dated November 4, 2004, had praised Punjab for its right planning and implementation of the national campaign to issue Birth Certificates (NCBC) and had recognised the role played by the Bathinda civil surgeon, Dr Y.P. Singla.

Dr Singla, was not available for comments but the state Health Secretary, Mr D.S. Guru, claimed at Chandigarh that he did not know that whether Dr Singla had been selected for this state-level award or that Director, Health, Punjab, would be attending tomorrow’s function at Chandigarh.

When asked that why the Punjab Government was missing this opportunity of being honoured for its contribution in the national campaign of issuance of birth certificates, he said that some individuals had been selected for this award as the state government had no role to play in it.

Nearly 51.73 lakh birth certificates had been prepared in Punjab under the two-phased campaign that was started last year on the Children’s Day. Out of this nearly 43.44 birth certificates had been issued so far. 

Phagwara, November 13
PPCC President H.S. Hanspal and Chairman Punjab Agro Foods Corporation Joginder Singh Mann paid tributes to Lord Vishwakarma at nearly a-century-old Vishwakarma temple on the Phagwara-Banga road here today.

They glorified the Lord as a divine architect of the world. They called upon the people to follow the dignity of work and give preference to practice to precept. The Vishwakarma Dhiman Sabha felicitated Mr Hanspal and Mr Mann. The Sabha demanded declaration of a gazetted holiday on Vishwakarma Day.

Meanwhile, about one lack devotees, mostly artisans, masons, carpenters, blacksmiths, workers and also devout industrialists paid obeisance at the temple. A religious flag was hoisted. Havan yajna and langar were also organised. Earlier, artisans worshipped tools.

HOSHIARPUR: Vishwakarma Day was celebrated with great enthusiasm here today. A function was organised at local Shakti temple where Pooja and Havan Yajna were performed and prayers were offered to Lord Vishwakarma.

A Kavi Darbar was also held and free langer was served on this occasion.

Phagwara, November 13
Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid, Phagwara, Maulana Uzbek-ur- Rehman today objected to the decision of some private educational institutions to keep them open on Monday despite it being a government holiday.

He raised the objection before local MLA and Punjab Agro Foods Corporation Chairman Joginder Singh Mann during an Iftar party at the Khera road masjid, an official press note stated this evening.

The Maulana regretted that some private schools were holding examination on that day and demanded their closure so that Muslim pupils could join the celebrations.

Mr Mann assured the Maulana of holding a meeting with the management of the schools and ask them to declare a holiday on Id.

Amritsar, November 13
The child swapping case on Thursday took a fresh turn when the court of Ms Harpreet Kaur Randhawa, Chief Judicial Magistrate, today summoned Sukhwinder Singh and Ranjit Kaur, foster parents of Amanpartap (4), to appear as accused for “kidnapping” the child.

Counsel of the complainant confirmed that after listening to arguments over the application of Harish and Manju, biological parents Amanpartap filed under Section 319, CrPC, summoned Sukhwinder and Ranjit Kaur as accused to be tried under Sections 363, 365 and 368, IPC, along with Ramesh Rani, midwife and the main accused in the case. The next date of hearing is November 23.

Manju had alleged that her child was kidnapped by Ramesh Rani immediately after delivery at her (Ramesh Rani) house on July 1, 2000, and sold to Sukhwinder Singh and his wife Ranjit Kaur of Raipur Kalan. The boy was rescued by the police on January 14, 2003, as per the disclosure made by Ramesh Rani during her arrest in another child swapping case. She said she had delivered Muskan who was being brought up by them. Mukesh, however, did not bear any resemblance to them.

The police had applied for DNA test which confirmed that Harish and Manju were the natural parents of Amanpartap.

In another application moved by the natural parents for summoning essential witnesses, including experts of DNA testing, doctors, magistrate (in whose presence the sample was taken) and a police official who carried it to the laboratory in Hyderabad, the court has given November 23 as the next date of hearing as Ramesh Rani had not filed her reply. The court has also directed the midwife to file a reply by November 23.

Amritsar, November 13
Iqbal Singh Bhagowalia, advocate, and his son Hirdyajeet Singh, alias Rockey were arrested by the Vijay Nagar police allegedly for firing at tenant shopkeepers over a property dispute here in the early morning.

Six persons were injured, one of them seriously, in the incident and admitted to the local Government Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. The police has registered a case under Section 307 and other sections of the IPC.

The injured persons include Ramesh Chander Mahajan, Jagdish Kumar, his two sons Rohit Kumar and Pankaj, Basant and Narinder Bawa, all shopkeepers and residents of the Majitha Road area here.

Family members of the injured disclosed that Iqbal Singh had purchased three shops from Dr Navdeep Singh about six months back. Iqbal Singh wanted to get these shops vacated. They claimed that a legal case was already pending in the court which had given a status quo in this regard.

Jagdish Kumar, one of the shopkeepers, alleged that the accused had dug out tiles and earth from roof tops and damaged the roof by pouring acid. He alleged that earlier a case was also registered against him under Section 427 of the IPC.

He alleged that Iqbal Singh purchased the disputed property in his wife’s name and was trying to forcibly occupy it.

Rohit alleged that the accused fired about 10 shot from a double-barrel gun injuring six persons. He alleged that the incident took place early in the morning when he opened his shop. The shopkeepers along with Mr Krishan Kumar Kuku, former councillor, raised slogans against the advocate.

However, Ms Swinder Kaur, wife of Iqbal Singh, refuted the allegations and alleged that it was the shopkeepers who first attacked their house and threw bricks and breaking windowpanes. She admitted that Iqbal Singh and Rockey fired but in self protection.

Phagwara, November 13
Mrs Sita Devi, former vice-president, Nagar Council, Phagwara, and a ruling party Councillor, was today assaulted by certain assailants at local Santokhpura mohalla along the GT road. The assailants dragged and stopped her and snatched away her purse and gold chain.

Her supporters blocked traffic on the GT road for about an hour. The traffic was resumed only after local DSP, Mr Jaspal Singh, and City SHO Mr Gurwinder Singh, assured action against the assailants. The police nabbed one of the assailants, Ram Lal Basra, a property dealer. The arrest was made under Sections 452, 379, 356, 506, 148, 149 of the IPC.

Giving details of the incident Mrs Sita Devi told newsmen at the City police station in the presence of DSP and SHO that a development work was going on in her Ward No 16 for the past one and a half month. She alleged that whenever she visited the site to inspect the ongoing work, Ram Lal Basra, alongwith his two sons and associates Mohinderpal, Lovely, Lalji used to hurl abuses at her and tried to create road-blocks in the ongoing work.

Ferozepore, November 13
In a fit of rage, a BSF jawan shot his colleague from point-blank range following a minor squabble between the two here last night.

According to BSF sources, constable Jitender Kumar (ID No. 021446580) posted at battalion headquarters in Mamdot sector, near the Indo-Pak border, shot Subhash Chander (ID No. 021446526) after the two had a heated argument over some issue.

Jitender was so enraged by some remarks allegedly made by Subhash Chander that he fired 16 bullets at the victim from his SLR, killing him on the spot.

Subhash was getting ready to go for routine patrolling along the border when the incident occurred.

BSF sources said the two jawans belonged to the 2002 batch and had passed the training together. They even belonged to same squad during the training and joined the same company, a BSF official said.

Though there was no official confirmation, the sources said there was possibility of the BSF constable being under the influence of liquor since it was a Divali night.

A case has been registered at the Mamdot police station and an inquiry has been ordered into the incident.

BSF officials said the exact reason behind the incident could be ascertained only after the interrogation was over.

Abohar, November 13
Students and teachers of DAV College had a lot more to cheer on Divali as they won a number of prizes at the Zonal Youth Festival of Panjab University held at Muktsar, 48 km from here.

The winners received prizes from the former Chief Minister, Mr Prakash Singh Badal.

Of various competitions held for girls and boys of more than 10 degree colleges, the local DAV College and Gopi Chand Arya Mahila College reigned supreme in folk dances, orchestra, play, group singing and other contests.

Renuka Jakhar, a computer science student of DAV College, won first prize in classical dance besides individual prize in general dance. The college won the bhangra and giddha competitions also.

“Court Marshal”, a play staged by students of the college and directed by Gaurav Vij, was declared best, while Ruby Sharma of the college bagged second prize for individual performance.

Roshan Lal of the same college came first in mimicry, while another prize was bagged by the college in folk singing.

The college also bagged second positions in group singing and mime.

While individual prize in giddha went to Surender Kaur, Ruby Sharma came second in mono-acting.

Dr B.C. Josan, Principal of the college, complimented the participants and its two teachers, Gurraj Singh Chahal and B.S. Bhullar.

Students of Gopi Chand Arya Mahila College also put up a good show and came first in seven competitions i.e. orchestra, group dance (general), geet, ghazal, skit, pakhi making and embroidery.

Komal Midha of the college got second prize in classical dance, while Rachna and Gagan won second positions in mimicry and skit competitions, respectively.

Bhag Singh Hayer College for Women was also not far behind with first prize in group singing. Manvinder Kaur of the college won first prize in mono-acting, while Kavita came second in still life drawing.

Dr Achla Kant, Principal of the college, congratulated the winners.

Student moves rights panel against police
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 13
Charging the Punjab police with trying to implicate him in an accident case, Mr Soni Sekhon, a resident of Khanna and an MCA student of Punjab Technical University, has moved the Punjab State Human Rights Commission.

Meanwhile, the commission has asked the Punjab police ADGP to enquire into the matter and submit a report by December 23.

In his complaint Mr Sekhon had alleged that the DIG, Patiala range, and DSP and the SHO of Amloh were trying to implicate him in the case.

Jaswinder Singh, a friend of Mr Sekhon, had borrowed his car on June 8 this year. Gursharan Singh reportedly died after being run over by the car at Chellan village in Fatehgarh Sahib district. A case had been registered against Jaswinder Singh.

However, Mr Sekhon alleged that the police was trying to include his name in the FIR and had asked him for money although he had nothing to do with the accident.