Jalandhar, September 30
A day after the ransacking of the local office of a Mohali based Punjabi daily, `Spokesman’, district police failed to arrest even a single assailant.

When contacted, SP City ISK Kalia said the police conducted raids at the possible hide-outs of the accused but no one could be arrested so far. “They would soon be nabbed,” he said.

“The police is trying to identify most of the assailants by watching the photographs and video recordings of the ransacking of the office, procured by it,” he added.

Earlier, an FIR under various sections, some of which deal with non bailable offences, was lodged against the women responsible for ransacking the office. The FIR was registered under sections 452, 379, 148, 149, 427 and 506 of IPC at police station number four, said DSP Mukhwinder Singh.

Meanwhile, in a press-note issued here today, the state president of Yuva Parivar Sewa Samiti Amar Srivastva said the representatives of the newspaper were responsible for the incidents in different parts of the state as a derogatory news-item was carried by them. Demanding de-recognition of the newspaper he said a case of defamation should be registered in this regard.

It may be recalled that over 150 women belonging to Nari Shakti Jagran Samiti reportedly connected with Nurmahal based Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan, had ransacked the local office of the Mohali based Punjabi newspaper on Saturday afternoon.

They were protesting against the publication of a news item which had appeared in its Saturday edition in which a former driver of the Sansthan had leveled serious allegations against its chief.

Tarn Taran, September 30
Three members of a family of village Chaudhariwala (Naushehra Pannuan) have been booked by the Sarhali police for demanding dowry.

According to police sources, a case under section 498 A, 406, 506 IPC, 5/31 of domestic violence act has been registered against the accused. The accused have been identified as Amarjit Singh, the husband of the complainant Rajwinder Kaur, her father-in-law Dilbag Singh and mother-in-law Gurmit Kaur.

The complainant Rajwinder Kaur, daughter of Pargat Singh of Hothian village, was married to Amarjit Singh just one year back.

She, in her complaint, alleged that the accused had been torturing her mentally and physically for more dowry and had been demanding cash in lakhs. The accused have not been arrested 
as yet.

Hoshiarpur, September 30
The National Human Right Commission (NHRC) has shown its deep concern over increase in cases of missing children in the country.

The commission, after discussing the situation with various institutions and law enforcement agencies, said the issue of missing children is a serious problem, which also a matter of human rights.

The NHRC has recently written to the DGP of all the states in the country to issue strict standing instructions to their law and order controlling agencies and ensure their explanation in this regard.

The NHRC has further suggested DGPs to constitute a missing persons squad, desk and depute a registration officer in all the police stations in their respective states. Registration office would be responsible for the investigation.

Help from juvenile and local police unit could be taken for locating the missing child. The NHRC has stated that the missing of a child is not a crime in which police could interfere.

But in some of the states including Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, FIRs were being registered for missing of children. To make thorough investigation in the missing cases, registration of FIR was a good step.

The NHRC suggested to the state governments that in case the missing child did not return after 15 days, then it should be presumed that there was something wrong and FIR should be registered.

The NHRC has also suggested to the media to introduce lost and found columns in the newspapers and publish the reports regarding recovery of missing child by the police as a good story to encourage the police and local administration.

The NHRC showed its anguish over the non-availability of exact number of missing children in the country. It further instructed the DGPs to provide complete information about the missing of children of their respective states to the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) within 24 hours after the missing.

In case any of the police headquarter of state did not provide information to the NCPCR, it would be presumed that police is trying to hush up the case.

It has also suggested to make national level survey in the villages to ascertain the actual number of missing children in the country.

It is suggested that village Panchayats in rural areas and municipal councils in urban areas should be included to conduct the survey.

Jalandhar, September 30
He was the hero of many a wins the country savoured in the hockey arena. But Olympian Dharam Singh Mann, who scripted many success stories for his country abroad, found himself on a losing ground on home turf.

Reason: The man dared to raise his voice against a system which paid no heed to justice seekers. For 14 long years, the man — who served as a distinguished police officer for 34 years before retiring as superintendent of police in 1992 — had to bear the mental agony and harassment after a false murder case was slapped on him. Finally, his stand was vindicated on September 17 this year when the apex court acquitted him of all charges.

“I suffered because I wanted to bring those to book who were responsible for killing of my son-in-law Kuljit Singh Dhat,” says Mann, whose eyes mirror his pain. Dhat, son of Shaeed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh’s sister, was allegedly killed in the police custody in 1989. “It was proved in the Supreme Court that Kuljit was innocent and cops had wrongly detained him. The court also ordered the suspension of five guilty officers,” says the hockey star, who got prestigious Dhyan Chand Award in 2003.

“Though the SC decision has restored our faith in the judiciary, no one can fathom what me and my family had to go through,” rues the veteran. Mann’s outstanding achievements include a gold medal in 1964 Tokyo Olympics, a bronze in the 1968 Mexico Olympics.

He was also part of the team that bagged a gold medal in the 1966 Bangkok Asian Games.

He was the highest scorer at the Lyons International Tournament held in France in 1963 and was part of the winning team at the International hockey tournament held at Hamburg, Germany, in 1966. Mann led the team in the India-Japan test series held at Mumbai in 1967.

Hoshiarpur, September 30
She became paralytic after a car accident but that didn’t stop her from attaining her ambition. Paramjit Kaur (36) always wanted to do something for the society and when the help of Red Cross came her way, she materialised what she wanted.

So far she has organised four eye donation camps and has donated her 95-year-old grandmother’s eyes. And lauding Paramjit’s efforts, Punjab Medical and Research Department honoured her recently in a function during 22nd eye donation camp at Hoshiarpur.

But at one point of time, doing all this work looked almost next to impossible, when she met with an accident in November 1998 at Mumbai which left her lower portion of the body impaired.

Being bed-ridden, she felt helpless but she didn’t lose hope. She approached the District Red Cross Society, which assured her support for social work. After which she met Prof Bahadur Singh and Jang Bahadur Behl, activists of the local eye donation association, which motivated her to donate eyes of her 95-year-old grandmother, Wattan Kaur, to Rajindra Medical College and Hospital, Patiala besides pledging her eyes.

Meanwhile, Sonalika Group of Industries MD Deepak Mittal has come forward to help Paramjit and would provided an attendant to look after her.

Phagwara, September 30
More than 1500 Anganwari karamcharis held a demonstration and protest march in support of their long standing demands here on Sunday afternoon.

The demonstrators, led by Hargobind Kaur, were stopped by the police near the residence of Punjab Technical Education Minister Swarana Ram.

Later, local tehsildar Amanpaul Singh reached the site and the demonstrators submitted a detailed memorandum to him.

Their major demands included setting up of welfare funds and opportunities of promotions.