Jalandhar, December 7
They were a group of four happy-go-(un)lucky boys, all studying in professional colleges and staying in city away, from their homes. It was perhaps an overdose of alcohol on a fateful night that has brought great humiliation to them and their families.

While three of them, Nishant Thakur, Saurabh Katoch, both B.Tech students from CT Institute, and Kanwar Raminder, a law student from Lovely Institute, have been arrested for breaking an ATM machine to loot cash, the fourth boy, Hardeep, B.Tech student from CT Institute, is still at large.

Though they failed in their attempt, the three boys have been put behind bars after the CCTV cameras and the use of their ATM cards established their identities. The incident had occurred in the wee of hours of December 4 during when they had tried to break open the ATM machine of 
State Bank of India near the administrative complex.

The boys had allegedly entered the unguarded ATM machine counter by punching a card. They are said to have then used a screw driver to open the machine. When that did not help, they used huge stones to break it but failed in their attempt. SHO division number 4 Vibhor Kumar said he had seen the videos of the boys in which they seemed to have been on a high as they entered the counter. “The clippings show that they were performing bhangra while they had come to commit the crime”, he said.

He said the boys had been putting up together in an accommodation near the ATM branch and often used to see it lie unguarded. “As a planned mischief, they seemed to have tried to use their technical education training to open the ATM machine”, the SHO said.

SP city Dr S K Kalia said the foursome came from financially sound families. “Nishant hails from Kullu and his father is a chief pharmacist. Saurab’s father is a deputy registrar at NIT Hamirpur. Kanwar Raminder’s father is an established lawyer in Tarn Taran. Hardeep’s father is working as an irrigation officer at Nangal”, he said while giving details about their family backgrounds.

A case has been registered under sections 457, 380 and 511 of the IPC. Effort is being made to trace the fourth accused. 

Jalandhar, December 7
Life had been running smoothly for Santosh Kaur of Pandori Nijjran village till her husband Sub Major Parshotam Kumar died three months ago while on his way to Kargil. She had thought that her husband would be back after his retirement in one and a years and they would spend the rest of their life together. But fate had something else in store for her.

With tears in her eyes, she received a blanket from GOC 11 Corps, Lieut-Gen S.S. Kumar, at Punjab State War Memorial today on the occasion of Armed Forces Flag Day. There were nearly 14 other persons, including ex-servicemen and widows, who received cheques, sewing machines and blankets on the day.

The day also held eminence for Guardsman Bhajan Singh of Kukar village who had barely survived after he received enemy’s bullets on his right knee, right arm and chest in 1964 while he was posted at Nagaland. “All these years I had been limping but off late I found it hard to take even a few steps which is why the 
District Sainik Board has presented a tricycle to me,” he said.

Prior to this, Lieut-Gen Kumar laid a wreath at the memorial and paid homage to war heroes of Punjab. Senior serving and retired Army officers and civil dignitaries attended the event. Students from BD Arya Girls College sang devotional songs, following which students from Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Nehru Garden, pinned sticker flags on the dignitaries and others and took donations.

The maximum donation came from Baba Kashmira Singh of SGL Charitable Hospital, who was honoured for contributing Rs 1 lakh for the sainik welfare activities. There were scores of other persons who were honoured for donating more than Rs 10,000. Lieut-Col Manmohan Singh, deputy director, Sainik Welfare, said that he had received donations to the tune of Rs 3.85 lakh and he was targeting to collect Rs 25 lakh. He said that there had been as many as 3,100 battle casualties of armymen from the city till date. The bereaved families were beneficiaries from such contributions.

Deputy commissioner and president of District Sainik Board Ajeet Singh Pannu said he had planned to hold pre-recruitment rally in Jalandhar so that inclination of the youth to join the defence forces could be revived. “We plan to give them training in the first phase during which they would even be sent to the corps offices where they could take a feel of the working atmosphere”, he said.

During the ceremony, an NCC cadet, who was standing on duty near the stage, fell unconscious. He was attended to by Army jawans and officers.

KAPURTHALA: Armed Forces Flag day was also observed at Capt Jhaggar Singh War Memorial in Kapurthala. Brig B.B. Patil, sub-area commander, 91 sub-area, was the chief guest. He announced a donation of Rs 25,000 for a high-tech computer training centre. He motivated the participants to take the Ex-servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) which would be open till March 31, 2008. Deputy commissioner and president of the District Sainik Board J.M. Balamurugan presided over the event.

Hoshiarpur, December 7
The Animal Welfare Board of India (AWB), set up by the Union Ministry of Environment and Forest, has instructed the chief secretaries and directors-general of police of all the states to strictly implement the Prevention of Cruelty Act, 1960, and amended Act of 1982 to curb cruelty to draught animals (bullocks) in their respective states.

According to official sources here today, AWBoI vice-chairman Dr V.N. Appaji Rao stated in his letter to the chief secretaries and the DGPs that the age-old problem of several cruelties to the draught animals, especially in urban and sub-urban localities, is still existing. People have been in effect mute spectators to all the agony to this class of animals which are put on the cart daily in which heavy loads are mounted to drag on roads, brutally beaten to do it fast, bruised all over the body, poorly fed and sheltered.

The sincere efforts of animal welfare activists and the AWBoI in this regard has not met success as the rules have not been implemented effectively with the result that the agony to bullocks persists. However, the stray incidents of prosecutions by the animal welfare organisations inclusive of the SPCA has not even marginally addressed this problem.

The procedure of the local police authorities directly chargesheeting the offending cartmen will be the ideal and sure way of animal welfare.

He has urged the chief secretaries and the DGPs to issue instructions to the police that all the policemen should consider animal welfare as part of their duty. This would save lakhs of suffering bullocks from cruelty.

Sources said that after receiving the letter, the Additional DGP (Law and Order) has instructed all the SSPs in the state to take the necessary steps for the implementation of the Act in their respective districts.

The traffic wing of the district police has also been instructed to play an effective role for the implementation of the Act.

Nawanshahr, December 7
Following the assurance by the executive officer of the local municipal council that no MC land would be provided to shopkeepers, the municipal council employees union (MCEU) lifted its dharna here on Friday. However, the problem seems to be far from over.

The union, in its press note, has accused the MC president, Lalit Mohan Pathak, of trying to provide MC property to shopkeepers by “misusing his powers.”

The MC president is a Congressman and in light of such serious allegations being levelled by the union against him, the ruling SAD-BJP leaders can become active to grill him on the issue. Moreover, the contradictory statements by the president and executive officer of the municipal council further indicate that the issue would become complicated in the coming days.

Contrary to the assurance by the executive officer, the MC president while talking to The Tribune over phone, claimed that he had the signatures of about 14 councillors, favouring the proposal of providing extra land to the tenant shopkeepers for widening their shops.