J A L A N D H A R

Undertrial dies, cops point finger at hospital staff
Jalandhar, September 17
Following allegations levelled by the jail authorities against the doctors at civil hospital regarding the death of an undertrial, the medical superintendent (MS) today ordered an enquiry into the matter.

Land Fraud
Dead NRI woman shown alive to forge sale deed 

Jalandhar, September 17 Two Malaysia-based NRI women have complained to police that the sale deed of a land worth lakhs belonging to their mother Jeet Kaur was fraudulently registered in the name of Impact Projects four years after her death. Jeet died in Malaysia in 1999.

40 officers face music for withholding information
Jalandhar, September 17
The state information commission has penalised 40 officers for willfully withholding information from the public.

Minor girl raped by neighbour
Jalandhar, September 17
A minor dalit girl was allegedly raped on Sunday afternoon by one of her neighbours of the same caste at village Nal falling under Lohian police station.

Clerk caught taking bribe
Tarn Taran, September 17
The vigilance bureau today caught red handed Harbhajan Singh, a clerk in the office of the SDM Khadoor Sahib, while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a resident of Munda Pind. The clerk, posted in the relief branch, was demanding the amount from one Sakattar Singh of Munda Pind for the issuance of a cheque amounting to Rs 1.50 lakh. 

Youth duped of Rs 96,000
Hoshiarpur, September 17
A dismissed bank branch manager allegedly duped Rs 96,000 from, Baljinder Gopal, a resident of Naloyian Chowk, on the pretext of getting him a bank loan of Rs 4 lakh. Sadar Police has registered a case under sections 420 of the IPC against Brahmjit Singh.

Students Relieved
CBSE-Mayor School deadlock resolved 
Jalandhar, September 17
The long-standing row between the local Mayor World School and the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) got resolved with the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashing the board directions for disbanding of 10th class and asking the students to appear in some other school for their examinations.

Undertrial dies, cops point finger at hospital staff
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 17
Following allegations levelled by the jail authorities against the doctors at civil hospital regarding the death of an undertrial, the medical superintendent (MS) today ordered an enquiry into the matter.

Rashpal Singh, an undertrial, today died in jail. He was booked in a case of snatching and had been arrested recently. An addict, the accused was showing intense withdrawal symptoms. Alleging negligence on part of the civil hospital staff, the jail authorities said had Rashpal been admitted in the hospital and properly looked after he would have been saved.

Talking to The Tribune, medical superintendent Dr Ranbir Singh said a senior doctor would be appointed to enquire about the incident.

Revealing abut the incident, assistant jail superintendent Lalit Kohli said Rashpal, a drug addict, was showing withdrawal symptoms ever since he was lodged in the jail on September 13.

“When his condition deteriorated, he was referred to the civil hospital twice on Sunday but the doctors on duty rather than admitting sent him back to the jail,” he said.

“The condition of Rashpal, son of a head constable Makhan Singh posted in Kapurthala, again deteriorated at around 10.20 am on Monday. The jail doctor referred him to civil hospital where Dr Raj Kumar, the doctor on duty, declared him brought dead,” said Kohli.

Responding to the allegations, Dr Ranbir said if the doctors on duty were found guilty of sending Rashpal back without proper medical investigation, appropriate action would be taken against them.

Rashpal was arrested a few days ago along with four other youths in different cases of snatching purses, mobiles and golden chains. An FIR under section 382 of Indian Penal Code was registered against him. Meanwhile, the police said a routine action under section 174 of Criminal Procedure Code would be taken. 

Land Fraud
Dead NRI woman shown alive to forge sale deed 
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 17
Two Malaysia-based NRI women have complained to police that the sale deed of a land worth lakhs belonging to their mother Jeet Kaur was fraudulently registered in the name of Impact Projects four years after her death. Jeet died in Malaysia in 1999. The land is located in Khan Kot village of Amritsar district.

Talking to mediapersons here on Monday, Rajdeep Singh sub-attorney of Amrit Kaur and Harpreet Kaur, alleged that a retired brigadier Gurcharan Singh in connivance with the cultivator of the land Shaminder Singh Shammi of Gill Vihar village have committed the fraud. The duo allegedly presented an impersonator as Jeet Kaur before sub-registrar to get the sale deed of 32 kanal and 12 marla land registered on Janauray 1, 2003.

Another impersonator, presented as Balbir Singh, Jeet’s father, was one of the two witnesses of the sale deed. Gurcharan Singh was the other witness.

Rajdeep Singh said while an FIR had been registered against Gurcharan Singh, Shaminder Singh Shammi, directors of Impact Projects Karanjeet Singh Bajwa, Sukhjeet Singh, Ajay Singh Cheema, Sunil S. Singh, Pankaj Kumar Malhotra and additional director Harpal Singh at civil lines police station on September 9, no arrests have been made so far.

Showing documents to mediapersons, the NRI’s lawyer further claimed that the payment of Rs 48,90,000 against registration of the sale deed was made through a cheque by Impact Projects in the name of Jeet Kaur. The conspirators might have opened a fake account in her name, he alleged.

40 officers face music for withholding information
Tribune News Service

CIC Rajan Kashyap along with Lt Gen (retd) PK Grover, SIC, addresses press meet in Jalandhar.

Jalandhar, September 17
The state information commission has penalised 40 officers for willfully withholding information from the public.

This was stated by Punjab Chief Information Commissioner Rajan Kashyap, while talking to newspersons here today after reviewing the meeting of the Public Information Officers here today.Taking a serious note of the delayed tactics adopted by the civil servant for not providing complete information, the commission exercised the provision providing for imposing fine on the guilty officials. So far 40 officers have been penalised for their act of omissions, he added.

Terming the RTI Act as a window for a common man to understand the working of the government, Kashyap said under this act, accurate and timely information would be provided to anyone who seeks information regarding the functioning or records of the government.

However, since computerisation was yet to take place in many departments, it took some time for providing the necessary information to the public, he pointed out. 
“India is the 55th country in the world to implement RTI Act but the first to impose penalties for delaying and providing incomplete information,” he informed. For speedy trials of cases, the number of benches has been increased from five to nine which would start functioning from October 1 this year. The courts would function in the morning and evening sessions enabling them to wipe out the backlog. Out of the total 3000 pending cases, 1900 had already been disposed of, he revealed.

Kashyap said the effective implementation of RTI Act in Punjab was a role model for other states. “The commissioners make it a point to visit every district twice a month to sort out the problems faced by the officers,” he said. 

Minor girl raped by neighbour

Jalandhar, September 17
A minor dalit girl was allegedly raped on Sunday afternoon by one of her neighbours of the same caste at village Nal falling under Lohian police station.

The accused Jaswinder Singh (24) took the 14-year-old girl forcibly to his house when she had gone to fetch water from a public tap in the village. Jaswinder forced her to stay for a couple of hours at his house and raped her there. An FIR under sections 376 and 342 of IPC was registered against Jaswinder on the victim’s statement.The accused is still absconding. — TNS 

Clerk caught taking bribe

Tarn Taran, September 17
The vigilance bureau today caught red handed Harbhajan Singh, a clerk in the office of the SDM Khadoor Sahib, while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from a resident of Munda Pind. The clerk, posted in the relief branch, was demanding the amount from one Sakattar Singh of Munda Pind for the issuance of a cheque amounting to Rs 1.50 lakh. The cheque was being given as the compensation against the custodian death of his brother Boota Singh, who died during the militancy period. — OC

Youth duped of Rs 96,000

Hoshiarpur, September 17
A dismissed bank branch manager allegedly duped Rs 96,000 from, Baljinder Gopal, a resident of Naloyian Chowk, on the pretext of getting him a bank loan of Rs 4 lakh. Sadar Police has registered a case under sections 420 of the IPC against Brahmjit Singh.

The accused, Brahmjit, a resident of Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar, allegedly lured an unemployed in the name of getting him a bank loan of Rs 4 lakh from the State Bank of India to start his business. He allegedly asked Baljinder Singh to first deposit Rs 1 lakh to get a loan of Rs 4 lakh. Baljinder Singh borrowed Rs 96,000 from a financer in the Old Sabzi Mandi and gave the same to Brahmjit Singh for depositing it in the bank. — OC

Students Relieved
CBSE-Mayor School deadlock resolved 
Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 17
The long-standing row between the local Mayor World School and the Central Board of School Education (CBSE) got resolved with the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashing the board directions for disbanding of 10th class and asking the students to appear in some other school for their examinations.

The tiff between the Mayor World School, already affiliated by the board, and the CBSE started about two months ago when the CBSE authorities allegedly refused to allow 31 class 10th students of the school to take examinations in 2008 saying that the school had not got affiliation for the 10th class.

The board, however, later agreed to allow the students to appear in the All India Senior Secondary Examination (2008) on the condition that they would be appearing through some other school.

This direction upset the school management which pleaded that the students should not be made to change the school in the middle of the session as they would not be able to adjust themselves in a totally new environment, particularly, when students tend to get emotionally attached to their schools.

Since the board did not pay heed to the pleas of the school authorities, the management moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which in the August 8 order quashed the CBSE directions for disbanding of class 10.

“After that we sent another application to the court requesting that the CBSE be directed to issue the registration and examination forms for the students. The application was accepted and a notice was issued to the CBSE. The case was heard and decided in favour of the school. Subsequently, the school approached the CBSE and they issued a letter of compliance to the court orders on September 10 without contesting the matter in the Supreme Court. Accordingly, the registration forms and examination forms have been obtained by the school from the CBSE authorities,” said school Chairperson, Rajesh Mayor.

He said all the students would be able to appear in the March, 2008 examination. “Neeraj Bhargava has taken over as the new principal of the school and he was recommended by the general council of our collaborators - Mayor College of Ajmer,” he revealed.