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2 Panipat residents arrested
in car purchase scam
Ludhiana, April 22 The scam has cost the Punjab Government alone a loss of over 10 million with about 100 of those cars being sold to big industrialists in Ludhiana only, apart from other cities. Several other states have also suffered major losses. The total tax evasion is pegged at about Rs 2.5 crore. There was a possibility that the duo had sold more than 300 cars. The duo-Vinay Aggarwal and Rahul Aggarwal-caught by the Haibowal police today. The immediate fallout of the exposure meant all the buyers would have to pay back the sale tax with possibility of added fine or join investigation to make the accused pay back the pocketed amount. SSP A S Rai told mediapersons that the local police has taken the lid off the nationwide scam and the leads can be followed by other state police forces to bust the entire chain formed by the conmen. He said the role of certain car dealers, agents of Punjab, especially Ludhiana, apart from other states, was under investigation. The police was also investigated if there was some involvement of a sale tax official as the activities of the gangsters had gone unnoticed so far. Further, the accused had piles of C-forms with them which are given to traders with certain turnover only. The police would also investigate if the buyer knew about the illegal method of the deal. Many of the buyers were running the cars on temporary registration numbers only. He said the tricksters dealt in sale and purchase of cars priced above Rs 10 lakh. They evaded the 8 per cent sale tax by claiming they were dealers. The dealers with C-form are not charged the sale tax. The conmen saved Rs 80,000 in the deal of a Rs 10 lakh car. They offered discount of Rs 20,000 to 40,000 to the buyer and pocketed rest of the amount. They gave the bill to the buyer in which the sale tax was shown as paid. The police has recovered heaps of stamps of various car dealers, sale tax department besides huge pile up of invoice papers of various car dealers from the possession of the accused. The police said the gang was busted on secret information developed by DSP Simratpal Singh Dhindsa and SHO, Haibowal, Gurpreet Singh. He said the conmen would not have been successful without the help of local agents or dealers who spread the word about the conmen.
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Fogging drive on, Mayor flags it off again
Ludhiana, April 22 Waking up after two months, the city Mayor reached the Rahon road last evening to flag off nine fogging machines. Unfortunately, he could not even arrange for a flag and did everything by waving at the machines. To make sure that he got enough publicity he himself called up mediapersons before the programme. Inquiries by Ludhiana Tribune revealed that the fogging operations were already going on in the city since February 24. Everyday fogging machines were pressed into service in 10 municipal wards. Many officials were unable to understand why Mr Gill was indulging in “publicity operation” although the fogging operations had started two months ago. Not many people reached the venue and mediapersons had to wait for quite some time for the Mayor to arrive. Addressing the gathering, the city Mayor said all fogging machines with the corporation had been put in service to carry out repeated fogging in all areas of the city. The fogging staff had been asked to ensure that in each area fogging should be done once in six days, he added. Mr Gill said all fogging machines of the corporation had been put to optimum use and a fogging schedule had been fixed. “To ensure accountability, once the fogging is complete in that area the fogging staff would have to obtain a verification letter from the area councillor and six to 10 residents”, said the Mayor. He said the fogging staff had been asked to educate people to open doors and windows of their houses at the time of fogging so that the breeding of mosquitoes inside houses could be checked. Mr Gill added that special attention would be paid to reduce the chances of spread of malaria as the corporation teams had been put on the job of identifying places that act as breeding grounds for mosquitoes in the city. The Mayor further added that the corporation was fully committed to ensuring a high quality life for Ludhiana residents. The Mayor said besides fogging, other preventive measures against the spread of summer diseases would be taken and awareness would be created among the masses to clean all potential places to check the breeding of mosquitoes. Mr Gill said he and senior corporation officials would carry out surprise checks to monitor the fogging campaign. The erring staff would be dealt with most strict punishment. He appealed to the city residents to bring to his notice if they found any fogging staff working with laxity.
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Huge tax evasion by Vishwakarma group of industries
Ludhiana, April 22 The department has detected a difference of more than Rs 150 crore in purchase and sales transactions. The alleged duty evasion is estimated to be over Rs 15 crore by Vishwakarma Alloys Limited and Vishwakarma Ispat Limited. Following this detection, department officials said they would tighten their noose around steel units as chances of huge evasion could not be ruled out. On receiving secret information regarding the alleged evasion, the excise authorities started their investigations on Wednesday in which they detected colossal discrepancies while comparing books of accounts submitted to the department and those procured from the statutory auditor of the company. According to the officials, following the detection, the company has already deposited Rs 50 lakh voluntarily towards evasion. "The two units of this group had been hoodwinking tax authorities for at least the last five years. We were surprised to see their modus operandi and the scale of evasion. It is the first time that such a method has been used to evade tax," said Mr Sandeep Puri, Joint Commissioner, Central Excise Commissionerate. Explaining the modus operandi of the accused, he said they prepared two parallel sets of accounts. While one set was submitted to the Taxation Department,
the other was given to auditors. "We suspect that even the signature of the auditors was forged by them." The party continued purchasing invoices without physically receiving the goods so as to avail input credit and offset the Central excise duty impact on their finished goods, said Mr Puri. He said an authorised signatory of the accused had deposed this mode of operation. Officials said that in the ongoing physical verification of stocks, the initial estimates indicate an absence of more than 1,500 metric tonnes of stock in case of one of the units. The party, said officials, also concealed the grade of materials it was using for manufacturing. "It was showing an excessive use of Ferro Alloys which is prima facie disproportionate to the grade of materials that was shown to have been manufactured." Mr Puri said there was a difference of Rs 86 crore in sales and Rs 77 crore in purchases over the last five years. The prevailing duty rate on the clearance of these products is 16 per cent and the exact amount of evasion is yet to be calculated, he said. Huge variations in month-to-month ratio of burning losses shown by the accused were also detected. Besides, the department is scanning electricity consumption shown by the two units. Officials said as investigations are under way, the department expects to come out with more evasion by suppliers and buyers linked with these units. On penalty that could be imposed, officials said an equivalent duty could be levied.
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Close shave for bus passengers
Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 22 While the other injured were discharged after first aid at various private clinics and hospitals, Baldev Singh, driver, Babu Singh, a passenger, and Jaswinder Singh, conductor, were admitted to the local Civil Hospital. Mr Daljit Singh, a resident of Ghungrana village and owner of bus number PB 11 B 8587, said the staff of the Mehtab Palace, passers by and residents of Ghungrana village rescued the passengers. The bus going from the local town to Sudhar village was about to cross road when a cyclist abruptly turned towards the road leading to Kilaraipur village. The bus driver lost control over it while saving him. Cries of trapped passengers attracted the attention of the staff of the palace led by Virpal and Virender Singh Dhillon.
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Cops have no clue to cases of unidentified bodies
Ludhiana, April 22 Though the police officially does not see any set pattern in the murders, all of these incidents have one common point — the criminals had deliberately mutilated the faces, by burning the upper part of the body, crushing the head or even beheading the body to make identification extremely difficult. The investigation in such cases does not move ahead if the victim is not identified. The bodies have been found from all parts of the city, especially in the outskirts. The police managed to identify only the body found from Sangowal village. It was of a hosiery trader of the city. However, the case is yet to be solved. In late March, an aged man was found dead on railway tracks. He seemed to have been set on fire after being killed with sharp-edged-weapons. The body was, however, not completely burnt and the murderers seemed to have thrown it on the tracks to make it appear as an accident as well as to mutilate the body Though they succeeded in minimising chances of his early identification, the accused could not destroy evidence of the multiple stab wounds found on the head and chest of the body. Railway police sources revealed that the post-mortem examination had proved their suspicion that the man was stabbed at least five times on his head and chest before his body was dumped there. The police sources revealed that investigation into the case could not proceed further if the body was not identified. The criminals seem to be quite clever in adopting such style of dumping Such murders began taking place in October last year and not a single culprit has been nabbed. The police has not officially announced that the murders were a part of a series of such killings. Sources, however, remind that the gruesome acts of a unique rickshaw-wala gang that had committed over a dozen murders of their passengers with intent to looting them. The series of murders were exposed only when the gang was
busted. The fresh case was the recovery of an unidentified body of a middle-aged man from Subash Nagar four days ago. The body could not be identified as the face was quite mutilated. In March, the half-burnt body of an unidentified middle-aged man was found on the railway tracks near Hussainpur on the Ludhiana -Jalandhar rail line. The first case was the murder of a middle-aged migrant labourer whose partially burnt body was found near the grain market on October 14. The murderers had set the body on fire to conceal his identity. His private parts were also damaged. On November 9, an unidentified youth was found murdered near Kakuwal village when his badly burnt body was found abandoned in a field. The youth seemed to have been killed elsewhere and later his body was dumped here. The body was again burnt with an aim to hide his identity. A beheaded body was found near Qasabad village on November 11. Without the head and recovery of no documents, he is yet to be identified. Partially burnt crops under and around the body indicated it was set on fire here but murdered somewhere else. The police suspects that the youth could have been murdered because of some illicit relationship. “The manner in which he has been killed and later set on fire suggests that the assailants knew they would be caught if he was identified,” said a police official. The police is also groping in the dark regarding the murder case of an unidentified man, whose mutilated body was found near Indian Overseas Bank, Transport Nagar, on January 14 morning. He had injuries on his private parts, suggesting illicit relationships as the possible motive of the murder. His throat was also slit. He is yet to be identified.
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Wheat bonus hailed
Ludhiana, April 22 Chief Parliamentary Secretary Malkit Singh Birmi, MLA Tej Prakash Singh and Housefed Chairman K.K. Bawa today congratulated the Prime Minister for coming to the aid of the farmers of the region. They also extended their greetings to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh for taking up the issue with the government. The Chief Minister’s efforts had borne fruit and had also silenced his critics, who had been alleging that he was not serious about the interests farmers of the state, they pointed out. The Bharti Kisan Union also welcomed the bonus announcement. Mr Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, president of the outfit, said although the farmers had not been getting full remuneration for their produce for the past many decades, this was the first time that any government had made a sympathetic gesture. He said the agricultural universities of Punjab and Haryana had sent reports to the government that in view of the increase in the cost of farm inputs the minimum price of wheat should be fixed at Rs 800 per quintal. The farmers should be compensated for the remaining amount. Mr Lakhowal claimed that the two-day boycott appeal by mandis in the state had met with success and it had forced the government to announce the bonus. The kisan leader also said the government should reconsider its decision of importing 20 lakh tonnes of wheat from Australia. Instead of importing it, the government should pay the farmers the landing price of the produce and save on precious foreign exchange reserves, he added.
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Drug-addict friends held for killing
industrialist’s son
Ludhiana, April 22 Claiming this in a press conference here today, SSP A.S Rai, SP (Detective) Gurpreet Singh and DSP R.K. Bakshi said the two drug-addict friends of the youth had killed him in cold blood to arrange money for buying drugs. The shocking murder case was solved within 24 hours after the highly-decomposed body of the victim was found near Hambran yesterday. The two accused — Onkar Singh and Yogit Pal — along with the victim were drug addicts. They were facing financial crunch as Yogit was not able to pay instalments of his Scorpio vehicle while Onkar was also under heavy debt.
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Talk show on Indo-Pak ties
Ludhiana, April 22 The discussion panel included Mr Gurbaz Singh, MD, Punjab State Forest Development Corporation, Dr S.S. Grewal and Col Gurlal Singh Toor, an expert in defence strategies. Colonel Toor said it was not a problem with Pakistan alone where higher powers had their vested interests. Mr Gurbaz Singh said there was a lot of red-tapism involved at the higher level which was a great hindrance to the peace talks. Vishal, a student, expressed resentment over the fact that the sacrifices of freedom fighters like Bhagat Singh had been forgotten. Mr Aggarwal was of the view that there was an economic angle related to the whole issue, the impact of which could not be ruled out. The panel felt that people of both countries were in the favour of peace and positive attitude would help to reach a consensus.
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‘Conserve’ ecological balance to promote health
Ludhiana, April 22 The seminar was presided over by Mr Haravtar Singh, Superintending Engineer of the board, and Major Sher Singh Aulukh, president of the jatha. Mr H.G. Arora, Managing Director of the board, inaugurated the seminar. He told the audience that the Sutlej Action Plan had been envisaged to reduce pollution in the river and treat polluted water of Buddha Nala. Dr Jaswant Singh, Joint Commissioner, Ludhiana, who was the chief guest at the function, said the Municipal Corporation needed cooperation of public in checking pollution of various types. A coordinated effort between people and the administration could help ameliorate the situation. Speaking on the subject of ‘Environment and Health’ Dr Arun Mittra, general secretary of the jatha, pointed out that if the participation of people was not made effective and serious life on Earth would face serious consequences. Global warming occurring as a result of a large number of gases accumulating in atmosphere was a pointer to it. He explained diseases that could arise as a result of ecological disturbance and environmental degradation. He informed that rich people put 36 times more load on environment as compared to an average Indian due to their lavish lifestyle. A sustained effort on the part of people with global outlook and local responsibility was required to promote healthy environment. Dr A.S. Walia, professor of Botany, Panjab University, Chandigarh, dwelt at length on the crisis of water in time to come, which could become a cause of conflicts in the world. “We all have to work to conserve water”. Dr K.P. Singh, professor of Geology, Panjab University, Chandigarh, informed the gathering about the changing levels of water under Earth, which could pose serious consequences to us. Dr A.N. Singh, Professor of Botany, Panjab University, impressed upon the need to conserve ecology and save flora and fauna on earth. “We have to devise methods to conserve water in all sectors - domestic, agriculture and industry”. Dr Rajinder Pal Singh and Mrs Gurcharan Kochher, secretary and vice-president of the jatha, respectively, Mr Tarsem Singh, Assistant Engineer of the board, compered the seminar. Others who actively participated in organising the seminar include Mr K.C. Gupta, Mr Krishan Lal Malik, Mr M.S. Sikand, Mr Ravinder Bhushan, Mrs Kusum Lata, Mr Sohan Singh, Mr Amritpal Singh. A one act play ‘Ek Nadi Aansoo Bhari’ directed by Mr Pardeep Sharma was staged on the occasion. The participating schools were given trophies and all students were given certificates of participation. A large number of students put questions to the speakers on various aspects related to environment.
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SGPC chief reinstates Grewal
Ludhiana, April 22 Mr Grewal, former minister in the SAD-BJP government and a staunch Tohra loyalist, was removed from the post following some altercation with Mr Makkar during the budget meeting of the trust in March. Before accepting the reinstatement, Mr Grewal is reported to have sought disciplinary action against some of the teachers who had allegedly misbehaved with him and also the reconstitution of the Trust. Mr Makkar and Senior Akali leaders, including Mr Tota Singh, former Education Minister, Mr Jagdish Singh Garcha, and Mr Sharanjit Singh Dhillon, MP, have promised to meet all his demands. The removal of Mr Grewal had brought lot of resentment among the Tohra loyalists who had also lodged protest with Mr Parkash Singh Badal, president of the SAD. A feeling had been growing among the Tohra loyalists of being eased out from the party on one pretext or the other. Mr Manjit Singh Calcutta, senior Akali leader and a Tohra loyalist, has already been eased out from the party. He has been appointed the chairman of the International Sikh Mission by the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee led by Sarna brothers. Mr Badal is learnt to have directed the SGPC president to reinstate Mr Grewal and maintain unity in the party at all levels.
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Ex-sarpanch indicted for harassing
martyr’s family
Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 22 In her inquiry report submitted to the Deputy Commissioner of Sangrur, the SDM, Dr Indu, has held that the former sarpanch had been harassing Fatima Beghum of the village with threats to extort a portion of grant that she had been getting after the martyrdom of her son Sowar Mushtaq Khan in J & K few years ago. The accused, instead of showing sympathy with the family of the martyr, harassed them and gave extortion threats to mint money, Dr Indu mentioned in her report. According to her, the district administration had received a complaint against the former sarpanch, Akram Khan, and his associates about alleged acts of harassment and intimidation of Fatima Beghum. She had been threatened with dire consequences in case she did not pay him Rs 1 lakh for getting the formalities completed for the processing of a case in which the government had declared to pay Rs 5 lakh as grant. The DC, Sangrur, had directed Dr Indu to conduct an inquiry into the allegations levelled by the family of the martyr. Dr Indu, besides recording the statement of the Fatima, interacted with a large number of villagers to conduct the inquire. Villagers, including sarpanch and lambardar, supplemented the claim made by the family. Investigations revealed that the accused had been involved in several other cases. “Perusal of records at the Ahmedgarh police station revealed that at least five cases had been registered against Akram for his alleged involvement in various cases,” said Dr Indu, while talking to Ludhiana Tribune. While two cases were registered under Section 420 of the IPC, one each was registered under Sections 452, 379 and 325 of the IPC. The SDM recommended stern action and registration of a case against the accused. Meanwhile, Akram in his statement submitted to the investigating team, denied the charges levelled against him.
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Dhindsa disburses grants under
MPLAD scheme
Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 22 Mr Dhindsa urged the office-bearers of the organisations to appropriate funds conservatively and avoid interference of agents during process of materialisation of cheques. While talking to Ludhiana Tribune after disbursing grants at a function organised at MGMN Senior Secondary School here yesterday, Mr Dhindsa claimed that the beneficiaries had been chosen irrespective of their political alliance. He urged the leaders of the social organisations to come forward for the development of the area and project demands of their region so that they could be met without further delay. The Ram Bag Shamshan Ghat Committee, Vishavkarma Mandir Committee and the Balmik Dharamshala received cheques worth Rs 1 lakh each for construction of halls at their respective sites. Government Elementary School, Jandali Kalan, and panchayats of Jandali Khurad and Phallewal villages were paid Rs 1 lakh each for development
projects. Momnabad and Jitwal Kalan village panchayats get Rs 50,000 each while the Youth Sports Club, Maherna Kalan, was given Rs 30,000. Mr Jagwant Singh Jaggie, President, SAD, Ahmedgarh, Mr Bimal Kumar Sharma and Mr Dharampal Sharma were also present on the occasion.
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Poor girl’s marriage solemnised
Ludhiana, April 22 Mr Sita Ram Shankar, vice-president of the District Congress Committee (Urban), blessed the couple. Mr Ajay Sidhu, president of the Dharmik Ekta Welfare Society, and other members of the society were also present on the occasion. The bride was provided with necessary household articles.
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Pet Talk
Lice on dogs are similar to lice on humans. There is no need to panic if your dog gets lice. Dog lice do not like to infest humans. However, nobody wants to see lice on their pet, any more than they do on their kids. Like human head lice, dog lice are usually transmitted in situations where dogs are gathered together. The lice move straight from dog to dog by direct contact. Often dogs with just a few lice are very "itchy," while those harboring thousands of lice may not scratch themselves at all. So small, they escape notice; some lice penetrate the pet's skin and suck the blood. Lice live out their entire life cycle on the animal. The adult female lice lays eggs, gluing them tightly to the hair shafts. The entire process from egg to adult takes 2-4 weeks. Constant blood-sucking, if extensive, can cause severe anemia in puppies and greatly weaken mature dogs, particularly females with nursing puppies. The biggest problem that the lice create is itching and its attendant loss of sleep and general misery. Lice can carry tapeworms; so infested dogs should be treated for tapeworms once the lice are under control. Treatment of lice is relatively straightforward. Many insecticides kill lice. You have to keep in mind two things. First, that nothing will kill the eggs. And second, most insecticides do not have much forward effect. That is, they don’t last very long on the dog’s coat and skin. Your vet is the best source of the insecticide that you should use and the bathing routine you should follow in order to get rid of the lice on your dog effectively and permanently. To get rid of the lice from your surroundings all animals in the household should be treated whether you have seen lice on them or not. Wash all bedding in hot water. Get rid of all combs and brushes or other grooming equipment, as they may have eggs stuck to them that will be hard to remove. It’s better to just throw the lot and start over again with clean instruments. Dr Jaspreet Singh
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Akademi to award best manuscript
Ludhiana, April 22 It was decided that manuscripts regarding the life and teachings of Guru Arjan Dev would be invited from all over the country and the best manuscript would be given an award of Rs 11,000, besides getting it published. This prize would be sponsored by the Alag Shabad Yag Trust.
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Pensioners resent delay in pay commission
Ludhiana, April 22
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3 held for obstructing officer on duty
Mandi Ahmedgarh, April 22 According to an FIR registered on the orders of Mr Harkanwal Jit Singh, BDO, Sudhar, Jarnail Singh, Jagdev Singh, Ms Kamaljit Kaur and Ms Paramjit Kaur, all members of the Saholi panchayat, and Mr Amrik Singh, another resident of the village, had allegedly obstructed Mr Paramjit Singh, Panchayat Secretary, from performing his official duties and threatened to eliminate him on Thursday. The incident occurred during a meeting convened by Mr Malkiat Singh, sarpanch, Saholi village, in the presence of Mr Paramjit Singh. The meeting was called to decide matters, including the auction of a contract for collecting the carcasses of animals, which died in the panchayat limits, and the auction of panchayat land for cultivation. “Not only they obstructed me from performing my official duties and record the minutes of the meeting, they threatened to kill me in case I reported the matter to my seniors and the police,” reported the Panchayat Secretary to Mr Harkanwal Jit Singh, Block Development Officer, Sudhar. The BDO finding substance in the case asked the police to register a case against the accused. Mr Sahwinder Singh Dhillon, SHO, Sudhar, said he had registered an FIR against five persons, including four panches. The arrested persons, who had since been released on bail, included Jarnail Singh, Jagdev Singh and Amrik Singh. Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused had earlier threatened Malkiat Singh but he did not report the matter to the police.
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Minister’s assurance
to traders
Ludhiana, April 22 A press note by Chowk Nanu Mal Shopkeepers (Welfare) Association said the minister assured the traders that their problems would be resolved. The meeting was presided over by Mr Darshan Singh Bedi, a Congress leader, whereas Mr Buta Ram, president, Sewing Machine Dealers Association, Lakkar Bazaar, Mr Jagjit Singh of Sugar and Vanaspati Association and Mr Inderjit Garg, president, Chowk Nanu Mal Shopkeepers (Welfare) Association, were among others who attended the meeting.
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Animation Academy launched
Ludhiana, April 22 AAASP-2006 follows the latest approach to learning animation in the increasing order of complexity. Ms Prachi Dewan, centre head, said the programme was a highly focused course, offering high-end animation with a specialization in 3-D animation.
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External parasites can be extremely irritating to a pet and cause serious skin disorders or even disease. You have an obligation to rid your pet of these unwelcome guests if they are infested with them.