J A L A N D H A R

Thiara supporters put SAD on notice
Nawanshahr, January 9
Dissidence in the SAD over the allotment of ticket to Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha today surfaced in Nawanshahr. A meeting of SAD members, owing allegiance with Mr Resham Singh Thiara, a former district president, who has been denied party ticket this time, was held at his residence here.

1,400 polling booths in Jalandhar district
Jalandhar, January 9
More than 1,400 polling booths have been set up for the 10 Assembly constituencies falling in Jalandhar district. At the same time, nearly 10,000 government officials and employees have been deputed on poll duties.

Hot shots all!
Jalandhar, January 9
For the Dhillon family, shooting is not about killing. T.S. Dhillon, Indian shooting selector, is a former international shooter. His two children, twins Navdeep Kaur and Bikramjit Singh, are international shooters, while his wife, Sukhprem Kaur Dhillon, is a national-level shooter.

The Dhillons at their residence in Jalandhar. — Photo by S.S. Chopra

NRI robbed of cash, valuables
Phagwara, January 9
Nearly 12 miscreants with muffled faces attacked three persons, including an NRI, with sharp-edged weapons and took away cash and valuables near the Phagwara-Mehli bypass last night. The victims were returning to their village in Garhshankar from the Raja Sansi airport, Amritsar, in a car.

Street quarrel; one killed
Jalandhar, January 9
Four persons allegedly killed Rajbir Singh and injured his brother-in-law Sunny by beating them up with iron rods in Chugitti, here yesterday. The accused, including Roshi, his brothers Ghuggi and Dipu, were standing in a lane when Rajbir and Sunny were going to their house.

Thiara supporters put SAD on notice
Our Correspondent

Nawanshahr, January 9
Dissidence in the SAD over the allotment of ticket to Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha today surfaced in Nawanshahr.

A meeting of SAD members, owing allegiance with Mr Resham Singh Thiara, a former district president, who has been denied party ticket this time, was held at his residence here. The banner of revolt was raised at the meeting and a two-day ultimatum was served on the party high command to “review” the decision. A 21-member committee was constituted to decide the future course of action if the party high command did not relent.

Mr Tara Singh Shekhupur, Mr Manjit Singh Dosanjh and Mr Balwant Singh, all office-bearers of the SAD district unit, among others, while addressing the gathering, expressed resentment against the denial of SAD ticket to Mr Thiara, who had contested the last Assembly election on the SAD ticket.

Appointed

Mr Harsh Sareen, a local rice mill owner, has been appointed district president of the SAD (Urban). His appointment has been hailed by SAD-BJP leaders, including Mr Jatinder Singh Kariha, a SAD nominee for the Nawanshahr Assembly segment, Mr Mohinder Singh Hussainpur, district president, SAD, Ms Varinder Kaur Thandi, state executive member, BJP, Mr Ashwani Ballagan, district BJP president, Mr Harprabh Mahal Singh, general secretary, All-India Youth Wing SAD, and Mr Dinesh Chopra, a former president of the municipal council, Rahon.

1,400 polling booths in Jalandhar district
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 9
More than 1,400 polling booths have been set up for the 10 Assembly constituencies falling in Jalandhar district.

At the same time, nearly 10,000 government officials and employees have been deputed on poll duties.

This was stated by Mr A. Venu Parsad, Deputy Commissioner, who held a meeting of senior poll officers here today.

He said a three-member committee had been constituted to look into election complaints.

Hot shots all!
Vishal Gulati
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 9
For the Dhillon family, shooting is not about killing. T.S. Dhillon, Indian shooting selector, is a former international shooter. His two children, twins Navdeep Kaur and Bikramjit Singh, are international shooters, while his wife, Sukhprem Kaur Dhillon, is a national-level shooter.

Dhillon, DIG, CRPF, Jalandhar Range, was the first qualified Indian shooting coach to receive training at the United States Olympic Training Centre in 1986. He was also the Indian coach at the recently concluded Doha Asian Games.

Shooting started as a routine activity to keep them busy and turned into a passion for the family. After hours of practise, the Dhillons hog limelight at various national and international events.

“Shooting, though an expensive game, is fast catching up in India. This time Indian shooters won 14 medals, while at the Busan Asian Games we had only two silver medals. Today, India has world-class shooting ranges for shooters to hone their skills,” says Dhillon.

The Maharaja Ranjit Singh Award bestowed on Dhillon is a befitting reward for his hard work and achievements. He had received the President Police Medal in 1987.

His daughter Navdeep bagged four medals, including two gold medals, at the SAF Games in Sri Lanka in August. She had also won the gold in 10m rifle team event at the Shooting Hopes Competition in Croatia last year.

Bikramjit created waves when he broke the national record (484 points) of Dhillon senior in the 300m position during the National Shooting Championship held at Indore in 2004. Bikramjit got 495 points in the event.

“For us shooting is in our blood. Of course, the atmosphere in the family helps attain new heights in shooting,” say the twins, who are students of BDS at the Institute of Dental Studies and Technologies, Modinagar, Uttar Pradesh.

Dr Sukhprem Kaur, besides a shooter, is also a gynaecologist. She is posted as the Chief Medical Officer, CRPF, Jalandhar.

Dhillon’s association with shooting dates back to the 80s. He represented India during the IX Asian Games in New Delhi in 1982 as a shooter. He was the coach of the Indian team at the ISSF World Cup at Guangzhou, China, where Gagan Narang won the gold medal and earned the first quota place for the Olympics in 10m air rifle category. He was coach of the Indian team in the 49th World Shooting Championship held at Croatia, where the Indian team won six medals.

NRI robbed of cash, valuables
Tribune News Service

Phagwara, January 9
Nearly 12 miscreants with muffled faces attacked three persons, including an NRI, with sharp-edged weapons and took away cash and valuables near the Phagwara-Mehli bypass last night. The victims were returning to their village in Garhshankar from the Raja Sansi airport, Amritsar, in a car.

The miscreants, travelling in two cars, overtook their car near the Phagwara bypass and forced them to halt. They then attacked them with sharp-edged weapons, inflicting injuries on Satnam Singh, an NRI, who was returning from Australia to his Bisyala village along with his brother Surjit Singh and nephew Satwinder Singh. They then robbed them of $6,000, two cameras, two mobiles and valuables.

The injured were admitted to the DMCH, Ludhiana.

The miscreants were identified by the injured.

Two killed

Two persons were killed in road mishaps in the past 24 hours. In the first accident, a vehicle hit Balwinder, a hawker, who was crossing the road on his bicycle near JCT Mills, this morning. He died on the spot. In another mishap, Narain, who was returning to Phagwara on his bicycle from Khurrampur village, died on the spot after a vehicle hit him near the village last night.

Street quarrel; one killed

Jalandhar, January 9
Four persons allegedly killed Rajbir Singh and injured his brother-in-law Sunny by beating them up with iron rods in Chugitti, here yesterday.

The accused, including Roshi, his brothers Ghuggi and Dipu, were standing in a lane when Rajbir and Sunny were going to their house. On seeing the youths standing in front of their house, they asked them not to stand in such a manner. Instead of heeding to their advice, Roshi and his brother assaulted Rajbir and Sunny. They were taken to the Civil Hospital where Rajbir was declared brought dead. — TNS