Batala, January 20
A local youth was found bludgeoned to death in Ujjagar Nagar area, near civil hospital, here on Sunday. The deceased has been identified as Rakesh Kumar alias Titu (23), son of Avtar Dass.

According to the deceased’s relatives, Rakesh received a call on his mobile number (98880-59500) early morning and went out of the house.

A newspaper hawker was first to spot his body lying in a pool of blood. He immediately informed the family members. A police party also reached the spot. According to the police, Rakesh was hit by a heavy object on his head, as a result he died.

The body was handed over to the relatives after the postmortem examination. Officiating SSP Paramdeep Singh Teja told The Tribune that the deceased’s mobile phone has been recovered by the police. “We will crack the case soon,” he added.

Rakesh is a partner at M/s Pardeep Medical Store on Jalandhar Road. He is survived by his mother, elder brother and a sister. A large number of persons took part in the funeral procession. Rakesh was cremated at Purian Di Samadh on Jalandhar Road. 

Nawanshahr, January 20
The local PWD office is reeling under infrastructure blues. The issue was brought to the fore by a BJP leader Kamaljit Gogna during a meeting of the district grievances committee, being presided over by PWD minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa, here.

Gogna told the minister that poor facilities and staff crunch is hitting the field work as well as public utility services, including issuing of NOCs, clearing assessment cases, approving maps and bill payments. Also, the office, which issues building safety certificates, is itself housed in an unsafe building, he added.

Interestingly, while presiding over the meeting of the district planning and development board here, Dhindsa had presented a rosy picture of the governments’performance, enumerating various projects initiated for infrastructure development of the area.

Harbhajan Singh Dhillon, general secretary of the district unit of Bharti Kisan Union (Lakhowal), raised the issue of the miserable condition of rural link roads and small bridges across canals and rivulets passing through rural link roads.

He also sought widening of existing rural link roads to benefit villagers. “It will also make transportation of farmers’ produce easy,” he added. Lalit Mohan Pathak alias Ballu, a local Congress leader and president of the municipal council, raised the issue of withdrawal of unutilised grant money amounting to Rs 38.19 lakh lying with the municipal council. — OC

Jalandhar, January 20
Hundreds of Shiites across the region today participated in bloody parades to observe Moharram, which is held to commemorate the killing of Imam Hussein, a grandson of Prophet Mohammad.

Shias, including women and children dressed in black, had begun gathering since morning at Baba Dargah Qadri near Nakodar chowk to take part in the event. As the day progressed their numbers grew and finally the procession started at about 4 p.m.

Finally, the rite of tatbir began - in which followers slice their scalps and chests with knives and swords amid chants of “Ya Hussein.” To the beats of drums and chants, the penitents launched into rhythmic dancing, striking their foreheads and chests with long blades.

Drenched in blood, the followers passed through Jyoti chowk, Company Bagh, Milap Chowk, Phagwara Gate, Bhagat Singh Chowk, Adda Hoshiarpur and Patel Chowk before dispersing from the dargah late in the evening.

This was the bloody climax of several days of ceremonies marking the death of the Imam and his half brother Imam Abbas at the hands of the armies of the Sunni Caliph Yazid 1300 years ago.

Nawanshahr, January 20
A ‘dog show’ organised by the Nawanshahr German Shepherd Kennel Club, virtually stole the show on the concluding day of the four day “Lohri Mela” organised by the local club here at Doaba Arya Senior Secondary School, on Sunday. More than 100 dogs of about 35 different breeds from different parts of North India participated in the show.

A Pointer dog belonging to Kishori Lal of Garhshankar (Hoshiarpur) won the TV set at the Dog Show. SP(HQ), Jagtar Singh Kainth and Billa Shah Ji of Manadali Roza Sharif, distributed prizes to the winners of different compettions on the occasion.

DCGurpal Singh Bhatti, inaugurated the mela on Thursday. Besides, different activities like cycling rally were organised to create awareness among the masses about different social issues like female foeticide, environment pollution, drug addiction and traffic awareness. 

Hoshiarpur, January 20
On the complaint of former Mukerian tehsildar Varinder Bhatia, presently posted at Kartarpur, the police has booked four persons for allegedly defrauding the local branch of the State Bank of Patiala of Rs eight lakh in the name of providing a loan.

The accused have been identified as ML Vidayarthi, manager of the State Bank of Patiala (SBP), Mukerian, numberdar Avtar Singh, numberdar Diwan Chand and a local resident Madan Mohan Bakshi.

The complainant has alleged that Avtar Singh in connivance with the branch manager Vidayarthi got a loan of Rs eight lakh sanctioned by submitting fake documents of his land, while Diwan Chand and Madan Mohan Bakshi allegedly signed as witness on the deal papers. The police said Avtar Singh obtained the loan by mortgaging a land measuring 33 kanal and 19 marla and according to the report submitted by the patwari, the ‘Jamabandi’ submitted by Avtar was not issued by him. — OC