The police has already arrested Manjit Singh, his wife Davinder Kaur and Jaswinder Singh, all residents of Rail Coach Factory (RCF) and Gurcharan Singh, a resident of Phagwara last week for giving shelter to Bheora. The police has also arrested Amanpreet Kaur, wife of Bheora from a village near the RCF.

The Delhi police arrested Bheora on March 20 with two others after he escaped from Burail jail in January 2004.

The police has registered a case under Sections 212,216,124 A, IPC and 120B against Kulwant. — UNI

Jalandhar, April 14
The Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) has sent a proposal to the Union government to create more battalions, especially for women. The CRPF Director General, Mr J. K. Sinha, said this today on the sidelines of a sports function here.

He added that there was a provision for inducting more women (ten percent of the total strength) into the force, but “it cannot be taken up in toto, as some practical problems are faced while implementing the same”.

The Director General said he had asked the government to form 20 more battalions in the beginning. “The additional forces would be sent to Jammu and Kashmir in two shifts,” he added. “At present, 51 CRPF battalions are posted in J&K.”

The number of battalions in the CRPF is going to be raised from 176 to 200, Mr Sinha said.

Mr Sinha said that the CRPF has to battle the rising Naxal activities, which he added had “degenerated from a movement for the masses to a money looting activity”.

“We would ask the Defence Ministry to post the personnel in peace areas too,” Mr Sinha added.

“The fact that all the new battalions may be sent to J&K stands testimony to the fact that the entire force is being used in trouble-torn areas only. At present, all such areas are being manned by the CRPF, while the personnel of the Border Security Force (BSF) have been positioned only on the border areas,” he said.

The CRPF Director General added there should be a rotation in duties.

Mr Sinha said that the force was using latest technology like satellite communications for better coordination in the operations.

Phagwara, April 14
A night before the harvest season began, wheat crops growing on about 10 acres of land in two villages near here was completely burnt. In both the incidents, the crops caught fire after overhead live electric wires snapped and fell on it due to short circuit. The incident occurred in Gandma and Atholi villages late last night.

Eyewitnesses in Atholi village said they noticed sparks in the overhead high-tension wires passing over the field at about 11 in the night. “I have lost my crop in about six acres,” Mohan Singh, a farmer from Atholi village, said.

In Gandma village too, wheat crop in about four acres of land was destroyed in fire. As per reports, farmers, Makhan Singh and Gurjit Singh, lost wheat crop in two acres each.

“Though we informed the fire brigade officials about the incident, the wheat was completely destroyed before the fire tender could reach the spot,” Gurjant Singh, a villager, said.

The Phagwara SDM, Mr Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal, also reached the spot and took stock of the loss to the crop.

He has ordered the patwaries concerned to assess the damage.

Kapurthala, April 14
Three persons were killed and one was injured after a cantor and a Scorpio collided on the GT Road near Hamira village here at 3 this morning.

The deceased, all residents of the Amritsar district, have been identified as Kishore Bajaj, Vikramjit Singh and Satnam Singh, who was driving the SUV. All three died on the spot. The leg of one Kuldeep Singh was fractured. He was the canter’s cleaner. The driver of the canter, Surinderpal Singh, is absconding.

According to the police, the victims were returning to Amritsar from Jalandhar when their vehicle collided with a Tata 909. — TNS