Jalandhar, November 15
In what may be seen as ineffectiveness might be an intentional act of shielding influential persons.

The district police even after two and half months has not been able to make any headway in solving the petrol stealing case in which officials from the Indian Oil, the RPF and the Punjab police are suspected to be involved.

Interestingly, the law protecting body could not even involve the three accused to join the investigation. When contacted, the investigating officer in this case, SP (Detective) Paramvir Singh Parmar said the accused had got interim bail from the Punjab and Haryana High Court which directed them to join the investigation but none of the accused made it before the police.

Parmar claimed the police had also conducted raids at the houses of the accused but they were not found there.

Earlier the police failed to nab any of the accused during several weeks before granting them interim bail. First their plea of anticipatory bail was rejected by a court in Jalandhar.

Talking to The Tribune on September 19, Parmar had admitted that the petrol from a halted goods train could not be stolen without the involvement of Indian Oil, RPF and Punjab police officials.

Meanwhile, SSP Arpit Shukla also admitted, “Some influential persons are involved in the scam of stealing oil from halted goods train. That was why I handed over the investigation of the case to a SP-level officer.”

Shukla further said that if the accused were not joining investigation, the police would get their interim bail cancelled. He would ensure that the guilty should be put behind bars, he added.

It may be recalled that the three accused - Sudhir Kapoor of Ambika Colony, Surinder Kumar of Chohkan village and Parmajeet of Phagwara - were named in the FIR. The FIR was registered on the statement of Sadar police station ASI Lakhbir Singh under sections 420, 379, 285 and 120-B of the IPC on August 27. Interestingly, a separate FIR was also lodged in this regard at RPF thana.

After lodging the FIR at the Sadar police station, the district police handed over the investigation to the CIA staff.

The accused were loading petrol in a truck tanker by stealing it from the rail tanker with the help of a pump from goods train near Suchi Pind railway station on the night of August 26. However, the pump caught fire, following which they fled from the spot.

Jalandhar, November 15
Nearly 20 Army personnel along with their families had a providential escape when the Army bus in which they were travelling rammed into a petrol station situated right across Rama Mandi Chowk here this evening.

The boarders were on their way to the Devi Talab Temple. The incident occurred when the bus driver accidentally turned the bus towards an HP-owned petrol station instead of going straight on the GT Road.

The bus broke the front portion of the petrol station, including a huge signboard of the company and a small roundabout at the entrance.

As a result, the front portion of the bus got entangled with the hanging portions of the signboard, the recovery van of the military police helped to pull back the bus. The shocked families were rescued and were sent back to the cantonment.

Petrol station owner Amit Bhardwaj claimed the incident had caused him a loss of Rs 3.5 lakh. He said his employee Jagdish, who was filling the air, got bruises in his hand.

Meanwhile, ASI P.S. Sidhu from cantonment police station said he was still interrogating both the parties and a case was yet to be registered.

Phagwara, November 15
Three persons, including a woman, were killed in three different incidents in and around Phagwara last night.

In the first incident, a labourer, Lal Bachan, resident of local Mansa Devi Nagar, got his left arm cut off by a “toka” machine at his residence.

He was admitted to the local civil hospital, but he succumbed to his injuries due to excessive bleeding.

In the second incident, a woman, Rajni, consumed poison at her in-laws house in the local Mohalla Lamian last night.

She was admitted to the local civil hospital, but she could not survive. Depression is said to be the cause of suicide.

In the third incident, a boy, Soni, reportedly committed suicide by consuming poison at the local Mohalla Narangshahpur last night.

All three bodies were handed over to the family members of the deceased after post-mortem examination at the local civil hospital.

Phagwara, November 15
Hundreds of residents of the town held a demonstration and sat on a dharna before the civil hospital here this afternoon in protest against three doctors.

The demonstrators, led by Surinderjit Sagri, alleged that the doctors on duty had made a false report of Sagri’s mother Jaswant Kaur, who was injured by some assailants on October 14.

Sagri alleged that the doctors on duty had described a fracture to his mother as an old fracture, while doctors of a Ludhiana hospital had described it to be a new one.

Meanwhile, the hospital doctors have denied the allegation of making a false report.

Civil Surgeon Dr Ashok Nayyar said a three-member medical board had been constituted to look into the matter and verify the details.

Jalandhar, November 15
A major accident about two years back had crippled this bright girl for life. But showing immense courage and determination, the ever-cheerful Guncha Batra has been able to fight all odds to achieve her goals.

Not only is she now able to move around independently but she has also made a mark academically.

A student of Lyallpur Khalsa College, she has stood second in the MSc-I (bio-informatics) examination conducted by Guru Nanak Dev University this year. She was recently rewarded by the college management for her success.

Guncha was a final-year BSc (medical) student at Muradabad when she met with the accident. “I was driving my scooter when a speeding bus coming from the opposite side ran over my legs. I remained in hospital for more than six months during which several surgeries were performed on my legs,” she says recalling the horrifying scenes.

For Guncha, the major setback was that she had to drop one year owing to illness. “I could not step out of the bed even months after I had returned home. My father, who works with a private company at Muradabad, shifted us to Jalandhar so that I could be looked after well by my relatives most of whom are based here,” she explains.

“I first went to Lyallpur Khalsa College on a wheelchair to take physiotherapy treatment in a separate wing there. While specialists there could not restore normal movement of the left leg because of rupture of ligaments in the knee area, I started walking using the other leg and support of a stick,” Guncha beams.

Now, Guncha does not even take that stick. Keeping one knee straight she moves around everywhere and travels comfortably in bus, train and even autorickshaw.

Discussing her prospects, she says, “I am happy. I had always wanted to be independent and that I have managed. Since there are not many opportunities in northern India after studying bio-informatics, I will have to move away from home which I think will now be possible.

“My parents have already spent Rs 4.5 lakh on my treatment. They even had to sell our house for bearing my medical expenses. I do not want to burden them anymore. I am taking tuitions for six hours a day. I know that I can avail a better treatment for myself but I will first raise the amount involved on my own before going in for further surgeries,” says Guncha.

Her mother Anju Batra too is all praise for her. “She has passed through a very tough time but she has never complained. If she has reached up to this level, it is all by her own will power,” she says.

Recalling a sad moment, Anju says, “The only time I have seen Guncha crying is at a wedding. A trained Kathak dancer, she found it extremely difficult to control her emotions when she had to sit back while all her cousins were on the dance floor.”

Jalandhar, November 15
Ram Setu Raksha Manch has decided to carry out 'Ram Shila' yatra from November 20 in 700 districts of the country against the proposed Setusamundram project.

This was stated by Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) national secretary Khem Chand while talking to mediapersons here.

Khem Chand said the 'Ram Shilaa' yatra would be started to spread awareness among the general public. Carrying a floating 'Ram Shila' in a specially designed vehicle, the yatra would take place from November 20 to December 10.

VHP national secretary further said the yatra would cover major temples and streets in the cities and towns during the first fifteen days and the rural areas would be visited during the last five days.

If the union government did not give up the idea of the proposed project, the manch would also stage a protest in Delhi on December 30, he added.

The Setusamundram project would not only affect the international boundary of the country but a huge loss to the deposits of thorium would also take place, said Khem Chand.

If Ram Setu is broken, it is feared that tsunamis might take place every now and then which would not only disturb the ecological balance of the area but would also destroy Rameshwaram, he added.

Jalandhar, November 15
Students from the second year of the electrical and electronics engineering department of the CT Institute of Engineering and Technology have come up with a novel technique of producing wireless electricity.

The students have devised a working model which works on the principle of electromagnetic induction and is capable of charging batteries of mobiles and cameras placed up to a distance of 6 cm without wires.

The system includes a primary coil that takes 220 V of power when connected to an input supply.

An unconnected secondary coil is placed at a distance of nearly 6 cm from it and is able to get 6 V power from it.

The students demonstrated it by connecting the coil with a light emitting diode and mobile phone sets.

The students - Amritpal Singh, Rajesh Kumar, Sahil Chauhan and Sukhwant Singh - devised the system under the guidance of their teachers Chaman Lal, Gurkirpal Singh, Harkamaldeep Singh and Shaminder Singh Sidhu.

The students said they were working to modify the system to make it operational up to a distance of more than 5 m so that it could even function across the other room.

The modified system, working on a higher power, would even be able to light up bulbs, fans and other equipment while also charging laptops and robots, the students said.

Rajesh Kumar pointed out that there was another unique feature associated with the system.

“It will be able to simultaneously provide charge to various electrical gadgets lying next to the secondary coil like any other multi-point plug system but sans any mess of wires,” he explained.

Amritpal Singh said he and his classmates were simply attending a lecture on using the principle of “Magnetically coupled resonance” when they decided to a give practical application to the concept.

“We had heard of opera music using jal tarang system. Here, too, we have been creating a resonance although by using electro-magnetic field rather than the sound,” he explained.

Remaining seated at a place for extended periods is as bad for health as smoking or over exposure to the sun, say scientists.

Professor Marc Hamilton of the University of Missouri says people who have to remain seated at their desks for hours in their workplaces, and then place themselves in front of the television after reaching home, are increasing their chances of heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.

“The dire concern for the future may rest with growing numbers unaware of the potential insidious dangers of sitting too much. These studies demonstrate a significant impact of inactivity on a par with smoking. I view exposure to sitting...like an oncologist views exposure to unnecessary sunlight,” he said.