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Taxi driver gets life imprisonment
Ludhiana, January 29 The convict, Sukhev Singh, had killed the NRI, Sanjay Puri of Phagwara, with the motive to rob him. After killing the man, the driver tried to show the killing as an accident by disposing of the car containing the body into the Sidhwan canal, near Doraha, on February 2. Delivering the verdict, the Additional Sessions Judge, Mr Inderjit Kaushik, said the accused deserved no leniency, as he had committed a “heinous crime”. A fine of Rs 20,000 was also imposed on the culprit. The driver was booked under Sections 302, 376 and 394 of the IPC at Payal police station on February 3 on the statement of the victim’s wife, a resident of Nawanshahr. He was arrested from Nabha. The NRI was working at an airport in New York. He had migrated to the USA after marriage. He had returned to India in the first week of January to take his wife along with him. As per the complainant, the couple had to visit New Delhi to get visas. On February 2, when the couple was returning from New Delhi, the behaviour of the driver became rude. When the car reached near Karnal, the driver took the vehicle to an isolated spot. After the accused stopped the car, the couple tried to run away. Sanjay Puri could not run as his leg was affected by polio. The accused beat up Sanjay Puri with an iron rod and bundled him into the car. Thereafter, the accused took money and ornaments and threatened to kill them. At night the woman was raped twice. At 5 am when they reached near Doraha the driver disposed of the car in the canal. The driver also beat up the woman and took her to Doraha, from where she escaped.
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Drive to clear pending land mutations from Feb 1
Ludhiana, January 29 He said that as per the new policy of the government, the top priority had been accorded to release liberal loans to the agriculture sector. All revenue officers had been directed to review the pending mutations and chalk out special tour programmes for the fortnight-long campaign. They had also been directed to form clusters of villages keeping in view the number of pending mutations and execute all the pending mutations in the surrounding villages during the tour of that particular cluster at one place, Mr Verma added. The officers would ensure proper advance information to people through publicity regarding the date of their visit to that area so that people could make the maximum use of the campaign. The Deputy Collector also asked the SDMs not to assign any other job to the revenue officers during this period, which could hamper the progress of the campaign. He said that during this fortnight, Saturdays would be working days and all revenue officers would submit their progress reports after the completion of the campaign. He would also get a random checking done through senior
officers. Mr Verma warned that strict action would be initiated against those officials who showed any laxity during the campaign. He said that the mutation cases pending for more than
one year would be cleared on priority during the campaign. He asked all SDMs to monitor the campaign in their sub-divisions and to ensure that a maximum number of pending mutations could be cleared. The Deputy Collector further informed that after this campaign, another special campaign would be launched from March 1 to dispose of all pending cases regarding the partition of agriculture land in the district.
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Parents anxious as admission to schools closes
Ludhiana, January 29 The managements of all schools maintain that they have tried to ensure merit and transparency “as far as possible” so that nobody felt aggrieved. Yet there are parents who are not satisfied with the results. It is a belief here that nobody can manage admission to any of the top schools without a recommendation. But the school managements have been denying it claiming that the admissions have been done on the basis of the performance of the parents and the children during the interviews. Although the exact number of students who did not get admission to any of the top schools could not be confirmed, but it certainly runs into several thousands. There are only a few schools, which still remain the preference of the parents for various reasons, including education standard, fees and overall atmosphere. Of late several schools owned either by business houses or societies have come up in the city. However, these schools remain beyond the reach of the middle class families due to heavy fee charged by them. Most of these schools mainly depend on the children who did not get admission to the ‘preferred’ schools. Only a couple of years ago, one of the aggrieved parents, who could not manage the admission of his ward to any of the top schools, filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking transparency in the admission process. The writ was, however, withdrawn later. But the matter did not end up there. The problem still continues and hundreds of parents still feel aggrieved about the admission process. Mr Gautam Sharma, one such aggrieved parent, says, “I have either to seek admission to some expensive school or make my daughter sit at home and wait till the next year… that is the impression I got everywhere”. He says there is a dearth of educational institutions in the city having good academic standards and which are affordable as well.
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BJP protests against power shortage
Ludhiana, January 29 Banging spoons on serving plates, the protesters raised slogans against the Congress government in Punjab, which they alleged, had miserably failed to provide electricity to the people. Speaking at the occasion, Ms Prem Bhatia, district president of the morcha, said erratic power supply and drastic cuts had adversely affected the normal life in the city. In addition to causing immense losses to industry and business, the power shortage had made the lives of housewives and students miserable. The mahila morcha functionaries further stated that as a result of long power cuts, the law and order situation, particularly thefts and snatchings, had gone up in the city. They called upon the people to launch a decisive movement to rid the state of the government. Prominent among others present at this occasion were Ms Santosh Kalra, Ms Asha Sharma, Ms Neelam Dhawan, Ms Rajesh Sharma, Ms Dolly Gosain, Ms Manju Malhotra, Ms Sheela Bahl, Ms Harjeet, Ms Sudesh Sood, Ms Neelam Kalra, Ms Neelam Chhabra, Ms Sonia, Ms Neera Arneja, and Ms Sneh Lata Sood .
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Cinema owner booked, bailed out
Ludhiana, January 29 They were arrested by the police late last night. The police officials of Division No.1 along with the Tehsildar, Mr Gursewak Singh Sidhu, had raided the cinema when the English movie, Masquerade, was allegedly being shown by adding pornographic clips. The police and the administration had swung into action after recieving a complaint from Rakesh Kapoor, a vigilance officer of Night Watch Security Ltd., a firm authorised by the Censor Board for Films in India. As per the complainant, the modus operandi of some film distributors was that after getting a certificate from the Censor Board, they allegedly added pornographic clips and showed it all over the country to earn easy money.
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City cop gets President’s Medal
Ludhiana, January 29 Mr Sohal is presently serving as Station House Officer, Police Station Division number-V. He joined the Punjab Police in 1988 as an Assistant Sub-Inspector. He was awarded President’s Police Gallantry Medal in 1995 for his services during militancy in the state. He had killed 10 militants of Babbar Khalsa International in an encounter in Khunde Halal village in Muktsar district. Later he was also given 24 commendation certificates besides an Emergency Services Medal in 1988. Mr Sohal was also declared the best SHO in Punjab by the DGP of Haryana.
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Cong leaders resent CPM remarks on Amarinder
Ludhiana, January 29 The common observation among the Congressmen is that the Left has always used the Congress for its own benefits and has never made any returns. A senior Congress leader observed: this is height of ungratefulness that the CPM should accuse the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, of playing the ‘communal politics’. On January 24 during the three-day state conference of the party, a resolution condemned the policies of Capt Amarinder Singh, accusing him of allround failure on social, political and economic fronts. The resolution went on to allege that the Chief Minister was trying to play communal politics by way of holding the religious functions in connection with the holding of the 400 years of the installation of Guru Granth Sahib and 300 years of the martyrdom of the Sahibzadas. The resolution also blamed the Chief Minister for failing to get Chandigarh transferred to Punjab and solving of the river water disputes problem. Reacting to the resolution, senior vice-president of the Pradesh Youth Congress, Mr Pawan Dewan, observed that it was unfortunate that the CPM levelled such allegations against the government without realising their implications. “Had such allegations and accusations come from a party like the BJP, it could be understandable. But having come from the CPM is too shocking to believe”, he said, while wondering as why the CPM chose its state platform to condemn and criticise the Congress government. Another senior Congress leader alleged that the Left parties like the CPM had “always” betrayed the Congress. He said even during the last parliamentary elections, the CPM and other Left parties supported the Lok Bhalai Party president and candidate from Ludhiana, Mr Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, and not the Congress although the Left had seat understanding with the party. He regretted that the CPM general secretary, Mr Harkishen Singh Surjeet, presided over the session that passed the political resolution condemning the Congress government of the state. The general feeling among the party workers and leaders is against continuing any sort of relationship with the CPM in the state in future. They observed that although the Left was supporting the Congress at the Centre, it has its own compulsions to keep the BJP out of power. But that should also not make the party a scapegoat in Punjab, where it (the Congress) has nothing to gain from any alliance with the Left, except for the condemnations and ingratitude.
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SAD to take up VAT issue with Manmohan
Ludhiana, January 29 This assurance was given by the party MP from the city, Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, while interacting with functionaries of the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal here today. The mandal also submitted a memorandum to the MP, expressing its opposition to the proposed state law on VAT. Mr Sunil Mehra, Mr Ajit Singh, Mr Kasturi Lal Mittal and Mr Mohinder Aggarwal, among others, took part in the discussion. Mr Dhillon agreed with the trade representatives that with the introduction of VAT in its present form, the business would be adversely affected and the state economy would suffer. The mandal activists maintained that the VAT regime would lead to rise in prices, unemployment and corruption. Not only this, the trading community would have to remain under the sway of the enforcement staff of the Excise and Taxation Department. Mr Dhillon advised the Punjab Government to discuss the proposed tax law threadbare with the representatives of trade and industry before its implementation and make desired amendments accordingly so that it became acceptable to tax payers.
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Exempt farm implements from VAT, says party
Ludhiana, January 29 In a press note here today, Mr K.S. Budhiraja, vice-president of the Ludhiana unit, said the imposition of VAT on agricultural implements and other products would directly hit the farmers. He said diesel engine sets, thrashers and electric motors used in agriculture should be exempted from VAT. Meanwhile, the Monoblock and Submersible Pump Dealers Association has thanked the Punjab Government and the Central government for exempting submersible pumps for agricultural purposes from the payment of excise duty and sales tax.
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3 Estate Office officials
suspended
Mohali, January 29 According to sources, the action follows in the wake of an irregularity found in the allotment of plot in Sector 68 here. Sources added that a plot falling in an area under litigation was allotted by the Estate Office here to an applicant.
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Dawar distributes pension papers
Ludhiana, January 29 Addressing a function at his office after distribution of pension papers to more than 150 women and ration to a large number of poor people, he said he had entered politics with the sole purpose of serving the masses. Providing service and taking welfare measures for the have-nots and the underprivileged was his moral and constitutional duty and such steps should not be seen as aimed at seeking publicity or advancement in the political field. He said certain political adversaries upset over his increasing popularity, were carrying out false propaganda against him. Mr Dawar asked the people not to be misled and maintain caution against ulterior motives of such politicians and political parties.
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Five held, weapons seized
Ludhiana, January 29 The arrested persons were identified as Davinder Chauhan, Palmu, Dev Shanker, Ganesh and Soham. Two pistols, four cartridges, a sharp-edged weapon and an iron rod were recovered from their possession. A case under Sections 399 and 402 of the IPC and under Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered.
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Man commits suicide
Ludhiana, January 29
This had annoyed Swaran Singh who hanged himself to death in the morning today.
The police has registered a case under Section 306, IPC, against Bhuchar. She is, however, absconding.
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