Jalandhar, May 31
A 65-year-old woman, Shanti Devi, was found murdered in the her house in the Bikram Pura area near Tanda Chowk here at seven this morning.

A sum of Rs 6,000 was also found missing from the victim’s room, the police said.

The family members of the victim claimed that the killer might be the man who had assaulted her in her kitchen and tried to strangulate her on April 24.

Shanti Devi had reportedly identified the accused after the news of his arrest on charges of hooliganism two days later was published in a newspaper along with his photograph.

The accused was later released on bail.

The victim’s husband, Inder Raj Aggarwal, an iron dealer, said he had gone for a morning walk when the incident occurred.

He added that after he opened the shutter of his shop to go upstairs to his house, he found the main door locked from inside. At 7 am, his daughter-in-law opened the door.

When he went to the bedroom, he said he found the body of his wife lying in pool of blood.

SSP Ishwar Singh and other senior officers visited the spot and pressed the finger print experts and the dog squad into service. The SSP said the search for the suspect was on.

Jalandhar, May 31
Well, she was asked to go today. A day after Ms Kamaljit Multani, the District President (Rural) of the Punjab Mahila Congress, alleged that she was slapped in full public view by Ms Gurkanwal Kaur, chief of the Punjab Mahila Congress and Minister for Social Welfare, the minister signed Ms Multani’s suspension orders from the party.

Ms Gurkanwal Kaur alleged that Ms Multani was involved in anti-party activity and was creating indiscipline.

She also claimed that she had written to the All India President of the Mahila Congress, Ms Rita Bahuguna Joshi, to remove Ms Multani from the party post.

On the other hand, Ms Multani claimed that she would only accept an order passed by the party High Command and an suspension order by Ms Ms Gurkanwal Kaur was not binding on her. The Minister removed Ms Multani from her post sometime ago, but she was reinstated a few days back by Ms Rita Bahuguna Joshi.

Meanwhile, adding weight to the Minister’s move against Ms Multani, the All India General Secretary of the Mahila Congress, Ms Meera Singh, in a press release, today claimed that no incident of slapping ever took place in her presence yesterday.

But there is still room for irony. Yesterday, Ms Gurkanwal Kaur had claimed that she was not aware that Ms Multani had been reinstated since she had not received any communication from the High Command in this regard. Then if Ms Multani is officially not the party’s District President (Rural), then why seek her removal from the post once again? 

Kapurthala, May 31
The Punjab Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh, has reportedly agreed in principle to approve projects costing over Rs 69-crore for Kali Bein to stop the drainage of sewage from villages and towns into the holy rivulet.

Mr Raminder Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Kapurthala, submitted a project report in this regard to the Chief Minister during a meeting yesterday.

Environmentalist Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, Jalandhar MP Rana Gurjit Singh and Hoshiarpur Deputy Commissioner, Mr D. K. Tiwari, were also present in the meeting.

In the report, Rs 60 crore were sought for a permanent solution to stop the sewage of towns and villages in Kapurthala and Hoshiarpur districts from falling into the rivulet.

Besides, Rs 9 crore were sought by the Kapurthala district authorities to stop the dirty water from falling into Kali Bein temporarily before the President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, visited Sultanpur Lodhi in a few weeks time.

Baba Seechewal requested the Chief Minister to order the release of 400 cusecs of water from Mukerian hydel channel into the Bein for its cleaning and widening, a ban on construction within 250 metres on both sides of the Bein after declaring these as green belts, removal of encroachments on the rivulet’s bed and an issuance of a notification to give holy status to Kali Bein and the historical town of Sultanpur Lodhi.

Lauding the efforts of Baba Seechewal in preserving the environment and especially, the work done by him on the rivulet, the Chief Minister reportedly assured him of considering the demands.

Baba Seechewal, when contacted, said the Chief Minister had also accepted his invitation to visit Kali Bein to see the cleaning operation from Dhanoa village in Hoshiarpur to Sultanpur Lodhi. The Chief Minister was expected to visit the place within a fortnight, Baba Seechewal said.

Mr Raminder Singh informed that the Hoshiarpur district had demanded Rs 31 crore for a permanent solution to the problem of sewage falling into Kali Bein, while the Kapurthala district had prepared a scheme of Rs 29 crore.