Jalandhar, September 21
Truck operators’ unions from across the state disrupted traffic at PAP Chowk for over one hour here today as they protested against the excessive night checking and repetitive high-amount challans issued to them by officials of the DTO department.

The traffic was blocked at 12.30 pm and the commuters could not move at the T-point for over one hour. The diversion in routes too caused a lot of inconvenience as traffic remained jammed on other alternative passages as well.

The truckers rued that they were being challaned to the tune of Rs 10,000 or even more that too at several points. They said in case their trucks were overloaded by 2 tonnes, it was amplified as 10 tonnes of excess load without weighing, thereby increasing their penalties as many times.

The truckers claimed that they were finding it difficult to pay Rs 40,000 as monthly loans of their trucks owing to heavy challaning. They said their trucks were often kept at police stations for two to three days.

They alleged that the DTOs had been given a target of making collections to the tune of Rs 40 lakh per month, which they were meeting by doing excessive challaning. They lamented that it took them five days to reach an adjoining station. The truckers were later pacified by DSP Rajinder Singh. The dharna was lifted after 1.30 pm, but traffic woes continued for another one hour.

Jalandhar, September 21
UK-based steel tycoon and owner of Caparo group Lord Swraj Paul will visit Punjab Technical University’s Caparo School of Manufacturing and Material Technology, Jalandhar-Kapurthala road, here tomorrow afternoon.

Lord Paul will formally inaugurate the already functional school. He would be visiting the campus for the first time ever since the construction had started almost a year back. During his visit to the site in February last year, he had signed an agreement with the PTU authorities. Lord Paul is expected to sign an agreement for carrying on the project further. Officials of the PTU are likely to discuss with him the issue of starting postgraduation on the campus from next year.

Originally hailing from the city, Lord Paul showed interest in the project as he wanted to pay back for his hometown. He had even committed on sending faculty from UK colleges to the campus for exchange of ideas and introduction of courses and training in advanced application of material technology such as laser drilling, inert gas welding, plasma welding, steel making, super alloy manufacturing, heat treatment, forging, making of robot and other intelligent machinery and manufacturing of rolling mills.

In February this year, Lord Paul had sent two delegates from the University of Westminster, where he himself has been working as the chancellor for monitoring the progress at the Caparo school. Vice-chancellor and rector of the University of Westminster Geoffrey Copland and director of scholarships Colin Matheson had come to visit the site and examine whether the project was coming up as had been perceived by him. 

Jalandhar, September 21
The police has arrested three persons who were allegedly members of a gang of contract killers.

Addressing mediapersons here today, SP HQ Satinder Singh said the trio - Harjinder Singh from Uttar Pradesh and Avtar Singh and Paramjit Singh, both from Tanda - were members of a gang that killed people for money.

The accused, riding triple on a motorcycle, were signalled to stop by a police party led by inspector Vibhor Kumar at a naka on Ladowali Road. Instead of stopping they tried to flee but were nabbed after a short chase.

The police seized one 9-mm pistol, 48 live cartridges, one country made pistol, two daggers and one machete.

During investigations, they admitted to being members of the gang and were going to execute a contract given to them by Amarjit Singh Sweety, an NRI, who is imprisoned in Patiala jail on the murder charge. They were to kill three persons for Rs 20 lakh. Amarjit is a resident of the local Punjabi Bagh area.

The persons to be killed by them were Sweety’s sister-in-law Rajwinder Kaur, her father Baldev Singh and brother Balwinder Singh, all residents of Ajnoha, near Phagwara. — TNS