Mohali/Panchkula, January 4
The Delhi police today did another Hawara and picked up dreaded militants from right under the local police’s nose.

While the Delhi police arrested Baljit and Tirlochan, suspected Babbar Khalsa International militants, from Patiala and Panchkula respectively, the local police of these areas seemed to haveno clues about their plans.

The Delhi police today claimed that the two, along with two other militants, were arrested as they were planning to kill Baba Piara Singh Bhaniarawale.

Baljit, who is the was the area commander of the militant outfit at Patiala, was picked up two days back.Tirlochan Singh was arrested from his native village Manka in Panchkula district on January 2.

Baljit Singh was on bail following his arrest for involvement in seditious activities. A resident of Kurrhi village that falls under the jurisdiction of the Lalru police station, Baljit alias Bhau is a postgraduate in history from Chandigarh. He had started as a parking contractor in Chandigarh and has a checkered criminal record.

Son of an Army officer, Baljit was first booked for an economic offence by the Chandigarh police in 1994 when he failed to execute a parking contract for the PGI. Then he was booked for rioting in Patiala in 1997. He surrendered in 2001 and was sent to Burail Jail where he came in contact with Jagtar Singh Hawara. Baljit came out of the jail in 10 months and got involved with the Tota gang of Chandigarh with whom he indulged in a highway dacoity in 2003.

He had, along with Hawara and Gurdip Singh, allegedly attempted to kill “controversial” Baba Piara Singh Bhaniarawale in a bomb blast at Dhamana village in Ropar on January 9, 2005. Other than this, Baljit Singh, who was also known as Mota Singh, one Kuljinder Singh and Bai, had been reportedly involved in cases of kidnapping and dacoity in the area.

Hawara, following his escape from the jail, contacted Baljit in July, 2004. Hawara started having regular meetings with Baljit, Gurdip and Sukhdev Singh and declared Baljit as the area commander of the BKI for Patiala, Sirhind and Sangrur. Baljit was instrumental in getting Hawara married to a minor girl of a village in Dhuri, introducing Hawara as Sahib Singh, his NRI brother from California. Baljit Singh arranged for a house for Hawara in Ahlowal road Patiala.

“When Hawara was arrested in June 2005, Baljit was named during interrogation, was arrested and sent to jail,” said the SSP SAS Nagar R.S.Khatra

Agency reports add that Baljit Singh, in his interrogation, revealed that he had also came in contact with Daya Singh Lahoria, a top militant of the Khalistan Liberation Front. Baljeet had allegedly received a consignment of 10 pistols from Tara in Pakistan through Lahoria for carrying out terror activities in Punjab. The mentors of Babar Khalsa International, based in several countries, were providing financial and logistic support to the militants, state agency reports.

Baljit Singh was in judicial remand for 14 months and was released on bail recently, said the SSP. Baljit is said to have entered the liquor business after his release from jail.

Tirlochan is an employee of the Haryana Roadways and a former TADA suspect, who is currently posted at Ambala. A pistol, magazines and some live cartridges were seized from him on his arrest, the sources added.

While confirming the arrest, SP Sanjeev Khirwar informed that Tirlochan, who was booked under TADA in 1995, was later acquitted in the case.

Khirwar claimed that the anti-extremist cell of the local police had been keeping a close watch on the extremists.

Chandigarh, January 4
The year 2007 saw a jump in the crime graph in the city, admitted UT IGP SK Jain during the annual press conference in Sector 26 Police Lines here today.

However, he cited "free" registration of cases as the main reason behind the rise, which indicated that during the past attempts were apparently made to avoid registration of cases to keep the crime rate under control.

Jain maintained he already knew there would be a rise, but it would later help in bringing down the crime rate, as it would send a signal to those indulging in breaking the law that they would not be spared even if they are involved in petty crimes. Earlier the police believed in the practice of making the parties involved reach a compromise to avoid proceedings, which encouraged criminals, who escaped from the clutches of law.

A perusal of figures revealed that 2007 saw a rise in crime of almost every category. In all 4,496 cases were registered in the year in comparison to 2006 in which 4,043 cases were registered. The year witnessed a steep rise in vehicle thefts as 852 vehicles were stolen from the city. Besides 888 incidents of other thefts were reported. The snatchers gave sleepless nights to the cops, who busted a few gangs, which failed to impact the rising incidents.

As a record 179 cases were registered against 118 in 2006-this despite the fact that time and again there were reports that the police tried to push these incidents under the carpet. Incidents of burglaries remained almost the same during last year.

The incidents of hooliganism and rioting also increased in 2007 from 55 in 2006 to 78. The traffic police realised over Rs 2.47 crore from violators during the year, but could not make any significant progress in making the city roads safer especially during the night hours. Despite the drives against drunken driving, reckless driving continued to snuff out lives on city roads during night hours. In a substantial number of cases, the drivers of the vehicles involved in the accidents were found to be drunk.

Sharing his views about the rise in crime graph, the IGP termed economic disparity and unemployment as main perpetrators and expressed concern on it. Praising his force, Jain said the police solved 63 per cent of the cases registered, which was better than the national figure. On the other hand, talking about corruption, he admitted that the rise in the number of policemen caught by the CBI certainly tarnished the image of the police. He said two sub-inspectors, four assistant sub-inspectors, two head constables, and four constables had been dismissed from service while 126 others were punished for indiscipline. Besides, the police disbursed over Rs 12 lakh to policemen as rewards during the last year.

The IGP stated that they got random feedback from complainants, out of whom 86 per cent had expressed satisfaction with the functioning of the police. 

Chandigarh, January 4
A controversy has erupted over promotions in the Army’s Remounts and Veterinary Corps, with allegations that some officers, who should have been relegated in seniority, picking up ranks in normal course of time.

According to two separate petitions filed in the Delhi High Court, some officers should have lost two or three years of seniority for not qualifying in mandatory promotion examinations within a stipulated period of time. This aspect, however, was allegedly overlooked when they were promoted to the rank of colonel along with others who had passed the examination on schedule.

Besides senior officers, the petitions have listed nearly 15 officers of the rank of colonel and lieutenant colonel as respondents. Passing in Part-D examination is mandatory for a major to get further promotion.

In case an officer does not qualify in the examination within a specified number of years, then his original seniority is relegated to the extent of the extra number of years taken for qualifying the exam.

Taking up the petitions, filed by Lt Col D.V. Nehra and Lt Col Ranbir Singh, a Division Bench, comprising Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice S. Misra, today issued notices returnable on March 31. Colonel Nehra is of the 1987 batch, while Colonel Ranbir Singh is from the 1989 batch.

Counsel for the petitioners, Maj K. Ramesh (retd), contended that in view of the legal embargo, the respondents should not have been considered for promotion along with officers of the original batch.

They have contended that the limited vacancies in the Remounts and Veterinary Corps have been “illegally usurped” by the respondents.

The petitioners have claimed that despite having a good service profile, they were not cleared for promotion.

It was later while scrutinising the results of Part-D examinations of various Remounts and Veterinary Corps officers along with associated regulations, that it was found that contrary to regulations, the respondents were not relegated in seniority.

Major Ramesh pointed out that one of the respondents is now posted in Army Headquarters where, despite the lacuna, he is responsible for the career management of Remounts and Veterinary Corps officers.

The petitioners have sought that the respective selection board results of the officers be quashed and the petitioners be considered de novo as fresh cases of their respective batches in the selection board scheduled for April.

Meanwhile, in the case of Lt Col Mukul Dev, who had moved the high court on grounds that the Army had disobeyed a Presidential order transferring him from the Artillery to the Judge Advocate General’s Department, the high court issued contempt notices to defence secretary Vijay Singh, Army chief Gen Deepak Kapoor and the military secretary Lt Gen P. Gangadharan.

The officer had moved the court contending that an order issued by Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice S.L. Bhayana in August 2006, directing the Army to transfer him to the JAG department forthwith, had not been implemented. The court has fixed January 21 as the next date of hearing.

Mohali, January 4
Doctors at the civil hospital here are shirking responsibility by referring patients to the PGI, Chandigarh, and other hospitals.

These views were expressed by the managing director of the Punjab Health Systems Corporation in a communication dated December 27, 2007, a copy of which was sent to the SMO in charge of the civil hospital.

It has been pointed out that 291 patients were referred to other hospitals during a five-month period (July 1, 2007, to November 30, 2007).

Following a visit of the review committee on November 30, the SMO in charge of the hospital was asked to provide the number of cases that were referred to the PGI and other hospitals, especially at night. The speciality-wise cases referred to the PGI and other hospitals during the five-month period were medicine (140), surgery (88), orthopaedics (13), gynaecology (27), paediatrics (10), eye (2) and ENT (11).

In the communication, it has been stated that maximum number of medical and surgical emergencies, followed by gynaecological cases, were being referred to other institutions which gave the impression that “no effort was being made by the doctors on duty to provide emergency treatment to such cases and these doctors are shirking from their responsibilities by simply referring these cases”.

The MD said in order to streamline the functioning of the hospital, especially providing medical services at night, the SMO should put a gynaecologist on duty every night.

He said out of six specialists (one surgeon, two orthopaedics, two ENT specialists, one eye specialist), who could undertake minor surgical interventions, one should be put on duty every night in order to take care of minor or surgical interventions. However, the existing system of putting one emergency medical officer on night duty shall continue.

The MD further stated that with the implementation of the above system, it was expected that only minimal and very serious cases would be referred to the PGI and other institutions.

Copies of the letter by the MD have been sent to the principal secretary, department of health and family welfare, and secretary to the health minister.

However, staff at the hospital is of the view that the number of patients being referred from the hospital was not very high as compared to other secondary care hospitals.

Certain staff members said it would not be possible to implement the directions of the MD as the hospital was short of staff and also lacked the required infrastructure to provide round-the-clock medical facilities. The operation theatre did not function round the clock because of staff shortage. Attendants of patients in a number of cases, especially those suffering from heart ailments, preferred to take their patients to other hospitals where better infrastructure was available.

Moreover, many departments like medicine, surgery, eye, paedatirics, had one specialist each who had to attend to a number of other duties as well. Whenever the Chief Minister, or Governor visited any area around Mohali, a medical and a surgical specialist had to be present there. Some other specialists were members of the state medical board, board for the physically challenged persons and as such, had to attend to such duties apart from VIP duties.

Chandigarh, January 4
“All infrastructural development will prove futile unless immediate stress is laid on rebuilding ethics and values in daily life. After two wars for independence, in 1857 and 1947, there is a need to lead the nation through a third war to strengthen our roots. We have to infuse in our people core values of honesty and integrity to improve the prevailing system in order to improve quality of life. Failing this no development, howsoever significant will be meaningless”, is how former British Columbia Premier Ujjal Dosanj reacts to the state of affairs in India today.

In a passionate appeal to the people and the politicians, Dosanj, who is here on a private visit and will be attending the Punjabi NRI Samellan hosted by the Punjab Government, Dosanj said he was disappointed at the lack of ‘Kadran and keemtan’ (ethics and values) in the Indian society. “It is the aspiration of every common man to lead a peaceful existence with a high quality of life, but corruption and dishonesty continue to be prevalent making a common man’s existence difficult”.

“Mahatma Gandhi did not want to see a new India; his freedom struggle was to see a new Indian. But in a system devoid of ethics and values there can be no equality. The new Indian that has emerged in free India is worse than the Indians under the British rule because they have shun the values that were imbibed by our cultural heritage. Dosanj, a sitting MP of the Liberal Party from Vancouver south in British Columbia (Canada) poured his heart out before some media persons at the Chandigarh Press Club saying that he was not talking as a politician, but was making these observations as an individual who was born and brought up here.

“I see lack of ethics, integrity and self-esteem all across. Ultimately if the overall development of 8 or 9 percent does not trickle down to better quality of life for an ordinary person, what good are better roads or big buildings to them? One of the reasons for this is that we as Indians do not take pride in our own skin, in who we area”. Calling upon Indian people to launch a third war for freedom Dosanj said this war would be much tougher to fight than the previous two wars, but ultimately it would be worth the effort because it will have something good for everyone.

Lord Macaulay in 1883 told the House of Commons after a visit to India that the British should kill the self esteem of Indians by saying everything Indian was bad and everything foreign was good if they wanted to rule India. “The British succeeded in introducing this idea in our minds and it exists till date. We have to fight along with building our own strength of character”, he added

Talking about the changes he saw in India during his successive visits to Punjab, he said, “I find concrete replacing all the farm land. Cement and bricks are killing the fields. If this continues to happen, Punjab will have no place left for agriculture”.

Mohali, January 4
“The number of deaths due to road accidents in Punjab has increased from 2,763 in 2006 to 3,100 in 2007,” said H.S. Dhillon, IG, traffic, Punjab.

Dhillon was speaking during a workshop organised by the Punjab traffic police as part of the 19th road safety week celebrations here today.

“While the number of accidents in Punjab is less as compared to other states, the severity of the accidents is among the highest in the country. That means that the fatalities per accident in Punjab is very high,” said Dhillon. He added that this was mainly due to over speeding, drunken driving and use of non-motorised means of transport like tractor trolleys etc.

A lecture by renowned expert of road traffic Rohit Baluja was also organised for gazzetted and non-gazztted officers. Stressing the need for traffic engineering, Baluja pointed out that road construction and engineering should intergrate the system of traffic regulation. “But traffic engineering is totally missing in Punjab,” he said.

Baluja, who is president of the Institute of Road Traffic Education, and is representing India in South Asia at the Commission for Global Road Safety, also highlighted that there was very little coordination between the transport and traffic departments. “It is the transport department which has to realise its role in road safety,” he said.

Dhillon added that traffic cops had been directed to focus on traffic rule violations by trucks, buses and other vehicles instead of asking them for their road permits etc. “That is the job of the transport department,” he said.

Chandigarh, January 4
Mayor Pradeep Chhabra today inspected the progress of dumping ground at Dadu Majra where work for closing, capping and development of sanitary landfill for scientific disposal of garbage is currently in progress.

Accompanied by deputy mayor Harphool Chander Kalyan, area councillor Kamlesh, joint commissioner-II H.S. Kandhola and medical officer of health Dr G.C. Bansal, Chhabra directed the officers to complete the work within the stipulated time frame.

Chhabra later on inspected the progress of the garbage processing unit which is being set up by Jaiprakash Associate Ltd. on build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis.

The project got kick started during December 2006. Construction involving plant buildings, necessary sheds and other infrastructure activities had been completed, it was observed. Synchronisation of all machines is expected to take another month and half approximately. Test runs will be carried out after the synchronisation process has been completed followed by full-scale operation.

UT administration plan to launch cars on rent for people is a welcome one, especially for youngsters.

Not only can people enjoy seeing various places in an around Chandigarh now, youngsters can also have a lot of fun as they can freely move around.

However, before launching the scheme Chandigarh administration should thoroughly sort out how much the rent will be, on what basis it will be so that it is affordable for people, what will happen incase of any theft or accident and what compensation is to be paid if such a situation arises etc.

If these things are discussed and taken up beforehand, the idea of renting cars will gain popularity in no time.

G.K. Chopra, Chandigarh

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Mohali, January 4
A resident of Phase 10 here was shot at by an unidentified assailant late last night. According to the police, the victim, Dilshad Singh (27), who is admitted to the PGI, has been shot in the thigh and is out of danger.

The victim alleged that he and his brother were attacked barely a few feet from their house when they came back from a relative’s house last night.

According to the complaint given by Dilshad to the police, he along with his mother Surinder Kaur and younger brother Diltar Singh had gone to visit his maternal uncle in Chandigarh. They had returned at about midnight.

He alleged that when they got off their car, they saw a man lurking in the porch of their house. He started running when he saw them. He and his brother ran behind him and when they were about to catch up with him, he turned around and took out a revolver and shot at Dilshad.

Dilshad fell down and his brother came to his rescue during which time the assailant managed to flee. Dishad told the police that the assailant was looking like a migrant labourer but since it was dark they could not see his face properly. The police has registered a case under Section 307 of the IPC and is investigating the matter.