Bathinda, November 11
Infrastructure development in Bathinda has got a shot in the arm after the approval of six new projects for the city by Central government. These projects include four railway overbridges and two projects for widening of roads. Work on the widening of roads is expected to start in December this year and will take six months to complete.

Speaking to TNS, Ashok Goel, XEN, Public Works Department (PWD) said that the Bathinda to Bajakhana stretch of the national highway 15 will be widened by almost 10 feet. ``The total cost for this project will be around Rs 9 crore and a 19 kilometer stretch of this road will be widened. The second road to be widened is the one that leads from Bathinda to Gidderbaha till Muktsar road. The length of this road is 5.5 kilometer and the project cost is an estimated Rs 2 crore. After the widening, both the roads, which are at present 23 feet wide, will become 33 feet wide.’’

The Bathinda to Bhucho road has already been widened and it was also learnt from sources that there is another proposal in the pipeline for the widening of road from Bathinda to Faridkot.

Regarding the railway over bridges, Goel said they will come up at railway crossings on Bathinda to Dabwali road, Gidderbaha to Bathinda road (near thermal plant), on Mansa Road (near Industrial Growth Centre) and on Badal-Ghudda road.

``The executive committee of the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) has already approved these projects and now they have been sent to the Rail India Technical and Economic Services Ltd (RITES) for technical advice. RITES will also prepare the project reports,’’ Goel added.

As per sources, the construction of one railway overbridge (Patiala railway line) on Bathinda to Dabwali road is already under process. The second overbridge, approved recently on Sirsa railway line, is also being constructed.

Sources informed that both Patiala and Sirsa railway lines are less than one kilometer in distance. As per rules, to have two overbridges on the same road, its distance should be at least one kilometer.

Now, the PIDB is leant to have written to RITES to join the two overbridges with each other. So instead of having two overbridges, PIDB wants to construct only one.

Bathinda, November 11
The situation was tense as a fire broke out in a huge pile of straw in the Baba Farid Nagar, just next to polytechnic college, here this evening.

The migrants from Rajasthan had reportedly collected the pile of straw for their cattle. However, no casualty has been reported.

The owner of the pile, Mohammad Din said, “We have collected 40 trolleys of the straw for our animals. It was an air cracker, which supposedly ignited the flames. Almost one-third of the mound has been burnt.”

Sources at the spot said the fire-brigade had sent three fire tenders to douse the flames. Two fire tenders had been pouring water from the side of the college also. The residents of the colony helped a lot in partitioning the dry and the burning straw.

The fire brigade officials reported that all the tenders had been sent after filling them almost thrice.

Only two policemen from the Civil Lines police post were spotted while efforts to bring the flames under control was going on.

Abohar, November 11
Seetogunno may not be the choice for the proposed thermal power plant in this sub-division, well-placed sources indicated.

Chief minister, Parkash Singh Badal, had listed this village, where billionaire relatives of some top Haryana leaders reside, for developing one of the four thermal plants in the private sector to meet the deficiency in power generation.

But the experts, during a visit to Seetogunno village, found the arguments convincing that being located at a distance of 25 km from Abohar and Malout, the site was not fit for transportation of fuel by rail. Also, thermal plants need a canal close by, but Seetogunno lacks this facility also.

Another team of experts has now visited half a dozen other villages, including Balluana and Kerakhera, which are closer to the railway track and canal water distributaries.

The plant, if located in such villages, will have to develop only a small stretch of rail line for goods trains, experts feel.

The employees will certainly enjoy easy access to Abohar town also, they added. The plant will be the first major project to be gifted to the area.

The Rs 20 crore agro juice plant, inaugurated after the present government came to power, had already been dedicated to the public, though before its completion, by the then Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh.

Muktsar, November 11
The people here today participated in a religious congregation to pay tributes to Guru Tegh Bahadur.

The congregation was organised at the Gaoshala Mithanlal Kalra Memorial School here in Muktsar.

The devotees listened to ‘shabad gurbani’ and the school children recited poems dedicated to the lives of the Sikh Gurus at the congregation, which 
was organised by the Bharatiya Vikas Parishad Vivekananda.

The organisation’s president principal Chaman Lal Kamra highlighted the values of the philosophy of Sikhism on the occasion.

He also appealed to the masses to follow the message of the Gurus in which they propagated the principles of humanity.

Barnala, November 11
In order to lodge their protest against the alleged high-handedness of the state government and to secure justice for those affected in the Bhadaur gurudwara clash, a rally was organised at Bhadaur here today.

The Bhadaur Gurudwara Kand Virodhi Action Committee, after forming its new panel to bring the guilty to book, seemed in an upbeat mood. The low crowd strength at the rally was not enough to deter their spirits.

Daljeet Singh Bittu accused police officials of violating human rights while Gurmail Bhutal, secretary of the action committee, condemned the incident.

Hari Singh Bawa, president of the action committee, said the committee would not settle for less and would do its best to bring the guilty police officials to book and withdraw cases against innocent persons.

It may be recalled that the Bhadaur gurudwara clash took place on October 11, 2006 over the demarcation of land between two village gurudwaras, Baba Kahla Singh and Nanksar Thath. In the police-public clash that lasted for a week, one person was killed and several persons sustained serious injuries.

Gurinder Pal Singh Dhanula alleged that the Shiromani Akali Dal had then criticised the police brutality but now the state government was trying its best to shield an officer from the Indian Police Service who was indicted in the inquiry conducted by SP, Crime Branch, Ranjeet Singh Dhillon.

Abohar, November 11
One Rehmat Ali was allegedly murdered by relatives in Kheruwala village on Abohar-Sadulshehar road to grab around 33 bigha agricultural land, the police said today.

Sriganganagar police chief Alok Vashishth had formed a special investigation team, which included DSP Satpal Midha, IPS probationer Ashok Meena and SHO Richhpal Charan, to solve the case of blind murder.

Jafar Ali, a nephew of the slain woman, had lodged a report with the police that Rehmat Ali was missing. A former CPI(M) MLA had been requested by the complainant to use his influence in tracing the woman.

However, Munsif Ali, the second nephew of the victim, reportedly approached MLA Gurjant Singh Brar to convey to the police that Jafar Ali was the killer.

Jafar had been cultivating the land but the woman was trying to sell the same to a Jat Sikh farmer. Sleuths finally told the police officials that Rehmat Ali was last witnessed going to Jafar Ali’s house along with his sister Gulama. As the special team interrogated Gulama and Jafar Ali, they reportedly confessed to the crime.

As per police sources, Jafar Ali had planned the murder. His son Dodu and Gulama’s son attacked Rehmat Ali with sticks, strangled her to death, put the body in a tractor trailer, covered it with grass and waste, and finally threw the body in the canal. The body was recovered near Gharsana, last Friday. Jafar Ali had recognised the body.

The post-mortem report indicated death due to strangulation. This prompted the special team to deploy sleuths in the village to unfold the mystery. Investigation reportedly revealed that Gulama was used to escort the victim to Jafar’s house. Jafar had left for Sriganganagar before executing the plan and met some people to create an alibi.

Jafar on the same evening returned home and reportedly threatened sister Gulama of the same fate, as she wanted to make the disclosure. In fact, Rehmat Ali had no child. Her husband had died 10 years ago, leaving 33 bighas of land at her disposal.

Bathinda, November 11
Gurdit Singh of village Burj Sema complained to the police that Mewa Singh and Raman Singh of the same village and two unidentified persons assaulted him late at night on Friday.

Police sources said the complainant was going somewhere when the accused attacked him with Lathis and sharp-edged weapons.

Kotfatta police registered a case on Saturday under sections 323, 341 and 34 of the IPC. Investigation officer Tarlochan Singh said, “The offence was bailable so the accused were arrested and bailed out on Sunday.”

In another incident, Malkit Singh of village Kotbhara complained to the police alleging that his family members Jasvir Singh alias Sira, Harjiwan Singh and Gurtej Singh of the same village, attacked him with lathis and axe on Saturday.

Police sources said there was an internal dispute among the two parties.

All the accused were arrested in Kotfatta police station under sections 323, 324, 34 of the Indian Penal Code and later bailed out on Sunday.

Bathinda, November 11
Gulshan Kumar of Dabwali lodged a complaint with the police alleging that his Maruti car bearing registration number (DL-3CN-7575) had been stolen from near hotel Classic, here on Saturday. Kotwali police has registered a case of theft against the unidentified person. Police is further investigating the matter.

Bathinda, November 11
The Bathinda unit of Government Teachers Union, Punjab, has condemned the government’s decision on pre-approval of casual leave. The union is of the view that casual leave is taken in case of an emergency and so it is not possible to give the application in advance.

The union further said that the Punjab Chief Secretary, in a press release, clearly stated that the teaching faculty will not be involved in non-teaching assignments, while the district administration have deployed them as BLO. The union also castigated the government for not paying salaries to computer teachers. 

Muktsar, November 11
A 55 -year-old man was shot dead by his neighbours, following an altercation, while his family members sustained bullet injuries in Ghamiara village of Lambi tehsil near here late last night, reports said today.

The deceased, Mengha Singh, died on the spot while his daughter Laxmi Kaur (22) and son Lachhman Singh (28) were hospitalised as they were severely injured when the accused sprayed bullets on them, police said.

The accused, Kulwant Singh and his two sons, Jasminder Singh and Sukhminder Singh, were absconding. A case has been registered at the Lambi police station under the IPC and the  Arms Act . — TNS

Mansa, November 11
In order to instill confidence in people and ensure their security, the police today staged a flag march in different parts of the city.

The flag march came after 30 persons were injured when some miscreants attacked labourers at the Durga Cotton Factory and looted residents in various other parts of the city on Diwali night.

The deputy commissioner and the senior superintendent of police along with other officials visited the hospital to enquire about the well-being of the injured and assured of strict action against the culprits. Cases against 32 persons have been registered, sources said

Bharatiya Janata Party workers who were injured in the attack criticised the authorities for poor law and order situation in the city. The CPI (ML) state secretary, Rajvinder Rana, has demanded strict action against the assailants. He also demanded compensation for those affected.