Phagwara, May 9
Six migrant labourers, who were to board a train, were drugged and robbed of their savings and belongings at the Phagwara railway station last night.

The GRP personnel took the labourers to the hospital.

From the condition of the migrants, it was apparent that they had been heavily drugged before being deprived of the cash and other belongings they were carrying.

They were identified as Shiv, Bangar, Binga, Mintu, Guwar and Chhibb, all hailing from Bihar.

No train tickets were found from their possession as they might have kept those along with their cash, said police sources.

They claimed that such incidents had almost become a routine affair on the Amritsar-Delhi rail section. There have been reports in the recent past about drugged migrants being removed from trains at several other railway stations.

As per The Tribune findings, the victims were looted none other than their fellow migrants. The six poor labourers had worked for months at a farm near Nawanshahr. They had come to the local railway station to catch a train for Kishen Ganj in Bihar, when they were targeted by three youths from Bihar itself.

They suggested they should go to Phagwara to catch a train from there as it was not possible to get seats at Ludhiana. The victims came by a bus from Nawanshahr to Phagwara where they were given biscuits laced with drugs with tea at the railway station and robbed of their savings and belongings.

According to the sources, members of such gangs hang around booking windows of railway stations, where they spot their prey. Soon a gang member, familiar with the area of their destination, approaches them and tries to win their confidence.

The gullible migrants are trapped by the sweet talk of the gang member who invariably appears to be carrying a lot of money. The unsuspecting migrants are tricked into putting all their money in one envelope and an attempt is made to change the envelope with a similar one before the arrival of the train.

In case the envelope is not exchanged for some reason, the gang members resort to drugging. Drug-laced cream biscuits prove too tempting for poor migrants. The drug being used commonly is a tranquilliser named ‘ativan’ as it is tasteless and very potent.

Batala, May 9
Two brothers of Malewal village were killed in an alleged clash over a land dispute between two families of supporters of the Congress and the Akali Dal in Fatehgarh Churian, near here, yesterday.

The simmering tension over a land dispute yesterday took urgly shape when Akali workers Amrik Singh and his younger brother Nirmal Singh went to get possession of about 5 kanal of land from Congress worker Hardip Singh who had been occupying the land since 2002. Hardip Singh is a patwari with the revenue department and presently posted at Dera Baba Nanak.

According to villagers, as the brothers reached the site, Hardip Singh and his men allegedly attacked them with sharpedged weapons, leaving Amrik Singh dead on the spot, while Nirmal Singh succumbed to his injuries on his way to the Batala civil hospital. Hardip Singh also sustained injuries in the clash.

Eyewitnesses revealed that Hardip Singh and his men made the brothers captive before assaulting then with sharpedged weapons. They even tied Nirmal Singh with a rope and a turban and attacked him. Struggling for life, Nirmal Singh was rescued by a police party but it was too late.

The families had also been fighting a court case over the possession of the land. Sources in the village said the disputed land was under the possession of Amrik Singh as he had got “girdawri” of land transferred to his name during the Akali regime. When the Congress came to power, patwari Hardip Singh managed to re-change the “girdawri” to his name.

Though Amrik Singh and his brother had won a court case in this context and after the formation of the present SAD-BJP government in Punjab, they tried to get the possession from their rivals but lost lives.

Batala SSP Rajendra Dhoke said that a case under sections 307 and 302 of the IPC, had been registered against Hardip Singh and his five accomplices.

Jalandhar, May 9
Members of the district Congress committee urban today submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner asking for his intervention in checking cases of corruption in the district administrative complex (DAC) and ensuring adequate amenities for the public.

President Arun Kumar Walia said that there were complaints from the general public that a very heavy amount was being charged from the public coming up for registry for their immovable property. The members said that the middlemen had been minting thousands of rupees daily under the nose of the administration.

They pointed out that the employees of the DTO office too had been doing work only after being paid a hefty amount for renewal of licences and registration. They said 14,300 applicants had paid an amount close to Rs 130 crore which had been lying blocked for the past five months, with many of them even paying interest to the bank for having taken a loan for the purpose.

Kapurthala, May 9
A vigilance bureau team, led by DSP Tarsem Singh, today nabbed Dhilwan block development and panchayat officer (BDPO) Pooran Chand red-handed while taking a bribe of Rs 5,000 from panchayat secretary Narinder Singh of Dolonangal village under Beas police station in Amritsar district.

According to the information, the BDPO had withdrawn the circle from the panchayat secretary and directed him to attend the office. Later, the BDPO allegedly demanded Rs 10,000 from the secretary to allot him the circle. After requests, Pooran Chand agreed to take Rs 5,000 as bribe.

The accused was nabbed on the spot and an FIR under sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act was lodged against him at the vigilance bureau thana in Jalandhar. 

Phillaur, May 9
Reacting sharply over vandalising of two foundation stones of Master Gurbanta Singh community hall and at the New Dana Mandi laid by the former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, Santokh Singh hundreds of Congress workers led by former minister Santokh Singh Chaudhary held a protest rally today.

Terming the vandalising as uncalled for they alleged that these acts were being committed at the behest of local MLA.

He also alleged that false cases were being registered against Congress workers. He further alleged that since Akali-BJP took over the government, there was chaos and ‘jungle raj’ all over with no law and order prevailing in the state. The former minister said if prompt action was not taken against the culprits within a week, the Congress workers would block the national highway and hold the rally which would be addressed by Amarinder Singh and Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. Later a copy of the memorandum was also sent to Punjab Governor.