Phagwara, May 16
The police arrested a school principal on the charge of hurting the religious sentiments of a particular community at nearby Bhullarai village today.

As per information gathered by The Tribune, Tirath Ram, sarpanch of the village, in a complaint lodged with the Sadar police, said that Kailash Wati, principal of Government Senior Secondary School, Bhullarai, had removed the photo of Dr B.R. Ambedkar from the school premises and hurt the sentiments of a particular community. The sarpanch alleged that a month back, the school principal had made an attempt to remove the photo of Dr Ambedkar from the school premises but was installed on his insistence.

The police, on the complaint of the sarpanch, arrested the school principal. She was produced in the local court that remanded her in 14-day judicial custody. Later she was admitted to the local civil hospital due to indisposition.

On the other hand, Kailash Wati, told The Tribune that all the allegations against her had no relevance and alleged that she was being falsely implicated in the case. She further alleged that earlier the children of Tirath Ram were students of the school and he was made president of the parent-teacher association (PTA) and now since his children were not on the school rolls, he was removed from the presidentship of the PTA.

She alleged the sarpanch was bent upon taking revenge for removing him as the PTA president and accused her of removing the photo of Dr Ambedkar, whereas she had asked the schoolchildren to reinstall all the photographs on the school premises after cleaning as these were gathering dust.

Meanwhile, the general category of the welfare association and general samaj manch condemned the arrest of the principal and alleged that she was being falsely implicated in the case. They also demanded the cancellation of the case against her and sought her early release.

Jalandhar, May 16
Agitated Sikhs continued their protest against Dera Sacha Sauda on third consecutive day. They burnt effigies of Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, head of Dera Sacha Sauda, in Jalandhar and Kapurthala to lodge their protest against the baba.

There are reports of burning of effigies at Basti Seikh and Paragpur in the city. The protesters were raising slogans against the dera.

The dera chief had allegedly tried to copy the ceremonies once performed by Guru Gobind Singh at Salabatpura village of Bathinda in the recent past.

In Kapurthala, agitated Sikhs led by SAD (Badal) city chief Jaswinder Singh Batra burnt the effigies of Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim Singh, Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan chief Baba Ashutosh and Bhaniarawale.

Earlier Sikhs gathered at State Gurdwara, from where they carried out a protest march which passed through several parts of the city. Some of the protesters were raising slogans in favour of Khalistan and Jarnail Singh Bhindrawale.

Meanwhile, CPM Punjab secretary Mangat Ram Pasla and BSP Punjab general secretary P.D. Shant termed the incidents of violence in Bathinda as unfortunate.

While Shant demanded a CBI probe into the incident, Pasla said no one should try to take political mileage out of recent developments.

Phagwara: About 200 Sikh youths led by local Sukhmani Sahib Sewa Society president Manjit Singh Khalsa, expressed their deep resentment against the working of Dera Sacha Sauda and burnt the effigy of dera chief Baba Gurmit Ram Rahim at Gol Chowk here this afternoon.

Earlier Sikh youths assembled in Gurdwara Akalian and held a protest meeting, which was addressed by Akali leaders Jarnail Singh Wahid and Sarwan Singh Kular, who demanded stern action against the anti-Sikh Dera Sacha Sauda head.

Protesters also held a protest march from Gurdwara Akalian to Gol Chowk to register their resentment and later burnt the effigy of the baba. Tight police arrangements had been made on this occasion.

Jalandhar, May 16
Conducting raids, the labour department today found 14 children working in violation of Child Labour Prohibition and Regulation Act after which the department issued challans on eight small firms involved in the illegal act.

In a raid conducted at Gandhi Camp Nine Bihari Muslim children were found doing zari work, which is completely prohibited as per the Act. While five children were found working with embroider Mohammad Parvez, three were attached with Mohammad Javed and one with Mohammad Irsad.

A raid was also conducted in the premises of another embroider Noor Alam but no child below the age of 14 was found working there.

One child labourer was also found working with Chief Matting House at Jyoti Chowk. A child was also found doing labour for Chacha Tikke Wala around the same chowk helping him with tandoori preparations.

Similarly, Harish Tea Stall, Gupta Autos on Jail Road and Trade Centre, a shoe shop on GT Road, were challaned. They employed one child each in their premises.

Assistant labour officer, Inderjit Singh, when contacted, confirmed that 14 child labourers have been found working. He said that since most of these children were from Bihar and UP, their employers were asked to send these children back. He said that challans had been issued on all of them and checks would be made in another few days to verify that they do not indulge in violation of the Act again.

Batala, May 16
Jagdish Sawhney, chief parliamentary secretary, Excise Taxation Department, has assured industrialists of the town due and proper attention to their problems.

More than 200 industrialists attended the get-together held under the aegis of the Foundry Industries Association, Batala.

The Batala industrial units, which used to be famous for manufacturing heavy machinery like lathes, shapers, wood-cutters, tokas, turners, planners, etc., migrated to other places in India with the onset of terrorism.

Another setback to the town came following abolition of uniform freight by the Railways. About 90 per cent of the industrial units have either been shut down or are functioning marginally.

With the installation of new government in Punjab, the industrialists have demanded certain priorities for the rebirth and rejuvenation of the heavy industry of Batala.

The industrialists presented a memorandum of demands which included exemption from the payment of sales tax for new industrial units, proper and uninterrupted refund of VAT, abolition of check barriers, instant verification of record of the detained carrier through the Internet, time-bound assessment of the sales tax cases, supply of ‘C’ and ‘E1’ forms on demand, reduction of VAT from 12.5 to 4 per cent on the supplies made to the government. — OC

Banga, May 16
Former sarpanch of nearby Zandiala village Paramjit Singh was murdered by two armed assailants near village fields on Tuesday evening.

According to police sources, the deceased was on the way to his house on his motor cycle when two armed miscreants stopped him and attacked with sharpedged weapons. They then fired shots at him before fleeing.

The body of the deceased was brought to the Banga civil hospital where doctors declared him brought dead. A post-mortem examination was conducted at the civil hospital.

The police has registered a case under sections 302 and 34 of the IPC and the Arms Act, but no arrest have been made so far. Personal enmity was said to be the reason behind the murder.