Phillaur, August 27
As the Assembly elections draw nearer, Punjab MLAs are busy laying foundation stones in their respective constituencies.

For instance, Phillaur MLA Santokh Singh Chaudhary laid as many as eight foundation stones for laying link roads in his constituency today.

He began early this morning. He laid foundation stones for link roads to villages from Jagatpur to Dera Ram Chand, Ritenda to Bakhlaur canal bridge, Udapad to Chakdana-Mukandpur road, Aur-Phambra road to Rahon-Aur road linking Bazipur Basli, Burj Tehal Dass to Shamshanghat, Begowal to Rahon-Mattewara road, Rahon-Mattewara road to Lallewal and Kahlon to Bairsal-Ratnala road. The process continued till late in the evening.

But sources said that till date, nearly 24 foundation stones had been laid in the constituency and only four of the proposed projects had been completed.

Talking to The Tribune, Sher Singh, a farmer of Aur, alleged that these stones were laid to crush the farming community who were under the burden of indebtedness. “They make false promises of waiving power bills on these occasions. I have been in this village for the last 18 years. But nothing concrete had been done so far,” he said. He added that power supply in the village was still a dream.

Rattan Lal, a trader, said, “I have been here for the last 15 years to see foundations stones laid before the elections. Most of the foundation stones are gathering dust and no developmental activity has been done for the last four years. These promises remain on paper only.” 

Kapurthala, August 27
A woman from Bilpur village near Sultanpur Lodhi has accused the Nadala police post in-charge of shielding the people who allegedly attacked and injured her son and his companion.

Sukhdeep Kaur alleged that instead of arresting the accused who had injured her son Avtar Singh and one Harmeet Singh, the police officer was pressuring her to reach at a compromise.

But the police post in-charge ASI Tarsem Singh denied the allegations. Why will I try to ask any of the parties to reach a compromise?” he questioned.

An FIR under Sections 323, 324, 148 and 149 has already been registered against the accused including one Daljeet Singh Don after recording the victim’s statement.

However, none of the accused have yet been arrested.

The victims are currently admitted in the Civil Hospital, Kapurthala.

According to Sukhdeep Kaur, on August 22, her son and his companion were returning from Nadala to their when the main accused and his associates attacked them at the Nadala bus stand.

Basewall sticks and lathis were reportedly used in the attack.

The victims were first taken to a hospital in Dhilwan, but were later shifted to the Civil Hospital.

Besides Don, one Lucky Lal, Tehla, Lucky Bhardwaj, Awdesh alias Desha, Manha, Ladhi, Jai Jagat Joshi, Billa, Inderjeet Singh, Mohinder Singh and Baljinder Singh have been named in the FIR registered after a medico-legal report (MLR).

Avtar Singh’s mother has also submitted a complaint in this regard to Kapurthala SSP Rajiv Ahir. In a similar incident, one Jaswant Singh from Hussainpur village alleged that some persons had assaulted him on August 21.

He said he had to be admitted to Civil Hospital in with injuries.

However, he claimed that no policeman had come to the hospital to record his statement even after the hospital authorities informed the police station concerned of the case.

When contacted, a senior police officer said the matter was not in his notice.

But he assured that the victim’s statement would be recorded soon and the culprits booked.

Jalandhar, August 27
Gopal Singh (32), an employee of Lorango Hotel, died after he reportedly fell from the hotel’s roof yesterday night. The victim, a native of Uttarnchal, had been working in the hotel for the past nine years.

In another case, an unidentified man was declared brought dead at the Guru Nanak Mission Hospital here this afternoon.

According to the ASI of Division No. 4 Sukhwinder Singh, the two men who brought the victim to hospital stating that he was ill, fled as soon the doctors declared him dead.

The ASI said the body had been sent for postmortem and further action would be initiated after the reports come in.

Meanwhile, two persons were arrested with narcotics under their possession here today.

SHO of Division No. 6 Gurmeet Singh said the accused were natives from Bihar, currently settled in Adamwal Village in Hoshiarpur district.

He said 4 kg of heroin were recovered from Narayanpuri alias Jyoti and 3 kg of ganja from Sushil Paswan.

The SHO said the accused had confessed to have bought the contraband from one Rita, living in Nepal.

The accused have been booked under Section 20-61-85 of the NDPS Act.

Phagwara, August 27
Phagwara unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) has decided to adopt at least one patient suffering from tuberculosis.

Phagwara IMA’s president Dr Subhash Sharma and secretary Dr Davinder Chhabra said this here today. They said TB patients would be provided free consultation and medicines for the full course.

A fund would also be raised to purchase medicines for at least 250 poor patients, they added.

Meanwhile, Dr Alka Dogra of DMC, Ludhiana, while addressing an IMA meeting, highlighted the positive and negative aspects of cosmetics and hair dyes besides the laser technique for curing skin diseases. Dr R.S. Nagpaul, a skin specialist, presided over the meeting.

Jalandhar, August 27
Targeting ‘unqualified’ dental surgeons practicing in the district, the Indian Dental Association’s Jalandhar unit today said it would approach the Punjab Government and the district administration in this regard. The IDA, during its general body meeting, said the administration should authorise the District Dental Heath Officer to take the necessary action. The IDA would also ask the state government to create more jobs for dental surgeons, on the pattern of medical service providers, the association’s president, Dr Ashok Sharma, said.