J A L A N D H A R

Stone Struck
PO’s kin chase away raiding cops
Kapurthala, September 16
A police party which had gone to But village, falling under Subhanpur police station today, to arrest a proclaimed offender, returned bruised and empty handed after they were pelted with stones by accused’s kin and other villagers. Three cops were injured in the attack.

Zero tolerance against terrorism a must: Advani
Jalandhar, September 16
The government should adopt “zero tolerance” toward terrorism and no compassion should be shown to the merchants of death. For this, political consensus was a must. Lal Krishan Advani, former deputy prime minister and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, stated this as the chief guest at the 97th Shaheed Parivar Fund function organised by the Punjab Kesri Group.

Fake currency racket busted, three held
Jalandhar, September 16
The district police today arretsed three persons involved in fake currency racket and recovered fake currency of Rs 36,300 from their possession. According to the police, the trio has been identified as Sartaj Singh, a resident of Punjabi Bagh on Mithapur road, and Rakesh Kumar alias Sonu and Harmesh Singh, both hailing from Adampur.

Woman commits suicide, 2 booked
Hoshiarpur, September 16
Sadar police today booked Simran Kaur wife of Ichhapurakh Singh of local Krishna Colony and Pawan Kataria of Model Town under sections 306 and 34 of the IPC. According to the police sources, Harkishan Singh of Krishna Colony alleged that his sister-in-law Simran Kaur had illicit relations with Pawan Kataria who used to visit their house regularly.

Trade union workers stage dharna
Hoshiarpur, September 16
On the call of the Joint Action Committee of the national trade unions, hundreds of factory workers from Jalandhar, Adampur, Kapurthala, Mukerian, Talwara, Dasuya and Hoshiarpur led by their state convener Hari Muni Singh, staged a dharna near the residence of minister for labour, Punjab, Tikshan Sud, at Civil lines here on Sunday afternoon in support of their various demands.

Stone Struck
PO’s kin chase away raiding cops
Dharmendra Joshi
Tribune News Service

Kapurthala, September 16
A police party which had gone to But village, falling under Subhanpur police station today, to arrest a proclaimed offender, returned bruised and empty handed after they were pelted with stones by accused’s kin and other villagers. Three cops were injured in the attack.

According to the reports, more than 15 villagers, including six-members of PO’s family, attacked the raiding cops. The six-member police party led by Subhanpur, SHO Balkar Singh, had gone to the village in search of PO Charan Singh, alias Babbu, on a tip-off. Babbu is an accused under NDPS Act. A case was registered in 2006 after poppy husk was seized from him.

The police party raided the house with full force again. However, the family members managed to flee.

A case has been registered under various sections, including 307, 332, 186, 148 and 149 of the IPC against the absconding PO Charan Singh and his six family members, including his father, Kala Singh, his two sons Joga Singh, Patwari Singh, his wife Kulwant Kaur, his two daughters-in-law, Ratni and Malkiat Kaur.

SHO Balkar Singh said while constable Balbir Singh’s uniform was torn in the attack, two other cops, including head constable, Surinder Singh, and a home guard jawan, Nirmal Singh, received injuries on various parts of their body. Interestingly, he said the attackers included three female family members of the accused. SHO Balkar Singh said the PO’s family members and some villagers began pelting the police party with stones when they realised that it had come to nab Charan Singh.

It may be recalled that a campaign had been launched in the state to nab POs on the directions of DGP NPS Aulakh.

Zero tolerance against terrorism a must: Advani
Amarjit Thind
Tribune News service

Jalandhar, September 16
The government should adopt “zero tolerance” toward terrorism and no compassion should be shown to the merchants of death. For this, political consensus was a must. Lal Krishan Advani, former deputy prime minister and leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, stated this as the chief guest at the 97th Shaheed Parivar Fund function organised by the Punjab Kesri Group.

He along with other dignitaries distributed financial aid of about 20 lakh among 133 terrorist victim families. He also flagged off the 227th truckload of goods for the migrants from the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir.

Advani said terrorism is a scourge and should be treated as such. Since it was not an ordinary crime, special laws must be enacted to fight terrorists. Even the UN has observed that countries should make such laws that would have a deterrent effect on the criminals.

Although laws cannot stop crime, but the attitude of the society and the government should be changed for curbing this menace, he observed. He said a case in point was that of Abdul Naser Mahdani, the main accused in the Coimbatore serial blasts that killed 58 and maimed 250 on February 14, 1998, and was recently released by a court. He demanded that the CBI should appeal against the verdict in the Supreme Court and provide justice to the victims’ families.

Advani said politics has also come into play in the case of Afzal Guru. The way his case is being handled he is quite likely to be allowed to go scot free. “Such a vote bank related politics would come to haunt us in the coming years,” he warned.

On the affidavit filed by the government over Ram Setu issue, he said the government should not play with the religious sentiments of people. The government has acted with “mischief” by raising such doubts about religious beliefs of millions, he added.

Fake currency racket busted, three held

Jalandhar, September 16
The district police today arretsed three persons involved in fake currency racket and recovered fake currency of Rs 36,300 from their possession.

According to the police, the trio has been identified as Sartaj Singh, a resident of Punjabi Bagh on Mithapur road, and Rakesh Kumar alias Sonu and Harmesh Singh, both hailing from Adampur.

Giving details, the police said Sartaj was arrested at a naka laid at the BSF chowk following a tip off. As much as 363 currency notes each in the denomination of Rs 100 were recovered from his car. During the preliminary interrogation, Sartaj revealed that he used to supply the fake currency in the market whereas his two companions used to prepare it in Aadampur.

Later, his both accomplices were nabbed after conducting a raid in Aadampur. A computer set including scanner and printer was also recovered from their posession. These were being used to prepare fake currency. A case has been registered. — TNS

Woman commits suicide, 2 booked

Hoshiarpur, September 16
Sadar police today booked Simran Kaur wife of Ichhapurakh Singh of local Krishna Colony and Pawan Kataria of Model Town under sections 306 and 34 of the IPC.

According to the police sources, Harkishan Singh of Krishna Colony alleged that his sister-in-law Simran Kaur had illicit relations with Pawan Kataria who used to visit their house regularly. Harkishan said his mother Jasbir Kaur had strongly objected to it and tried to persuade her daughter-in-law to end the relations. But all her efforts went in vain and out of frustration and fearing social stigma, Jasbir Kaur committed suicide by consuming poison on Saturday evening. Police has recovered a suicide note written by Jasbir. — OC

Trade union workers stage dharna

Hoshiarpur, September 16
On the call of the Joint Action Committee of the national trade unions, hundreds of factory workers from Jalandhar, Adampur, Kapurthala, Mukerian, Talwara, Dasuya and Hoshiarpur led by their state convener Hari Muni Singh, staged a dharna near the residence of minister for labour, Punjab, Tikshan Sud, at Civil lines here on Sunday afternoon in support of their various demands. The district administration deployed heavy police force and erected barricades on the routes towards the house of Tikshan Sud.

“There is no implementation of labour laws in the industrial sector in Punjab and no attendance record of the employees is being maintained by the employers,” alleged the representatives of various trade unions. — OC