Jalandhar, April 3
Claiming of ridding people of their problems by black magic, six migrant tantriks landed themselves in the police net on the charge of cheating a villager.

The anti-fraud cell of the police nabbed the six sorcerers for duping Rajkiran Singh of Rs 15,000 for getting his impounded car back, said cell in charge Manjit Singh.

He said the tantriks were working from a shop located at the back of Narinder cinema near the bus stand and Rajkiran came to know about them through a TV advertisement. The accused claimed that they could provide relief from any problem with “tantra-mantra”.

Rajkiran along with his sister went to “Mian Sulemani tantrik” on April 1 and told the accused that he was facing problems to get back his impounded car from the police. The sorcerers assured him that he would get his car by April 1 evening and he would have to pay Rs 21,000 for it. The complainant gave them Rs 15,000 on the spot and said he would give them the remaining amount after getting his car.

However, when the victim reached Amritsar he could not get his car back and he called the tantriks and informed them who, in turn, asked him to pay the remaining amount of Rs 6000.

Rajkiran went to the shop again on Thursday and asked the thaumaturgists to return his Rs 15,000 as they failed to get him his car. “The accused instead of returning the money thrashed and threatened him,” alleged the complainant.

Rajkiran felt cheated at this and submitted a complaint to anti-fraud cell in charge Manjit Singh.

The cell raided the shop and nabbed the six tantriks, identified as Riasat, Mohammad Qasim, Yusuf, Aas Mohammad, Mohammad Jamsed (all from Uttar Pradesh) and Mohammad Vakil of Delhi. A case has been registered. 

Jalandhar, April 3
Even as the project of construction of elevated road from Football Chowk to Kapurthala Chowk is yet to take off, it has already got mired in a controversy with residents claiming that it is not at all required, especially after the state government’s recent proposal of coming up with a ring road around the city.

The residents have been saying that the elevated road would be a sheer wastage of public money to the tune of more than Rs 40 crore since the proposed ring road would be a better project and help easing the traffic simultaneously at most connecting roads, including Nakodar road, Kapurthala road and Amritsar bypass.

While the municipal corporation is yet to receive any document regarding the already sanctioned Rs 600 crore project of the state government, it is learnt that the 35 km road would start from Paragpur village and end across Bidhipur railway crossing on the Amritsar highway.

The residents say the elevated road on a small portion of the Bhagwan Mahavir Marg would provide an alternative route to those crossing over to Kapurthala side but the local traffic on the lower road would rather become more chaotic thereafter.

Bakshish Singh, a resident of Basti Bawa Khel, said, “The road is already 75 feet wide and traffic here remains streamlined most of the times. The only time that a jam occurs is because of haphazard parking, a religious or a political procession or some blockade on a connecting road.”

A sports goods manufacturer, Ravinder Dhir, said, “Rather than constructing an elevated road, the traffic control system across the road needs to be worked out.

The passage has already been declared a tow away zone and in case anyone parks the vehicles along the road, his vehicle should be immediately taken away and the owner be challaned heavily.

There are several other intersections across the city where an elevated road is required on priority, including BMC Chowk, but not this one.”

The residents pointed out that there are a few points, including a bank and a non-veg eatery, where heavy footfall coupled with inadequate parking space created hurdles for the passersby. The residents have gone a step ahead alleging that local bodies minister Manoranjan Kalia is keen on it owing to his vested interests.

Deputy director, local bodies, and acting chairman of Jalandhar Improvement Trust Vinay Bublani said owing to paucity of funds with the municipal corporation, the elevated road project would be funded by the trust. He said since he was not aware of the detailed plan or status of the ring road project, he could not equate the importance of the two projects.

Corporation commissioner C.S. Talwar said no documentation from the government regarding ring road had yet reached his office.

Phagwara, April 3
Two persons were killed and 26 pilgrims of Uttar Pradesh injured when a private tourist bus they were travelling in overturned near Khatti village here on Thursday. The pilgrims were returning to their native place Hathras, near Aligarh, in UP after paying obeisance at the Vaishnodevi in Jammu and Kashmir and Chintpurni and Kangra temples in Himachal Pradesh.

While bus driver Mukesh Bharti and assistant driver Pratap Singh died on the spot, 26 pilgrims, including six women and three children, received injuries.

The injured were rushed to the civil hospital, from where some of them with minor injuries were discharged after first-aid.

The ill-fated bus belonged to Har Har Mahadev bus service of UP.

Jalandhar, April 3
Lyallpur Khalsa College won the “Teja Singh Samundri trophy” for 2007-2008 at the recently concluded inter-college sports championship at Guru Nanak Dev University.

Students participated in 42 sports events, including archery, boxing, chess, gymnastic, handball, kabaddi, softball, swimming, water polo and scored 137 points leading the final tally.

They secured the first position in 17 disciplines, second in 12 and third in 10. Besides, the role of honour was presented to athlete Shamsher Pratap Singh for his outstanding performance during the event. A long jump champion, Shamsher had won the gold medal in all-India inter-university championship, senior national championship and had participated in the senior national camp where the PAP, the Indian Railways, the Army, the BSF and the CRPF participated.

Another champ Azadbir Singh, who stood first in 400 metre race at the inter varsity championship at Annamalai, said, “College’s victory is a result of support from the college authorities and coach Sarabjit Singh ‘Happy’. Sarabjit has been my pillar of strength.”

Professor Jaspal Singh, head of the department of sports, said, “We are proud to have such students in our institution who have brought fame to the college through their hard work”.

Among others honoured were Shamsher Paratap Singh (athletics), Amandeep Singh (shooting), Azadbir Singh (athletics), Sandeep Kamboj (archery), Gagandeep Singh (boxing), Sukhmander Singh (hockey), Kuldeep Singh (kayaking), Rohit Kumar (water polo), Rahul Saini (softball), Rajinder Singh (handball), Gurtej Singh (kho-kho) and Binay Pal Singh (basketball).

Jalandhar, April 3
The event was a car launch. The ceremonious unveiling of the only specimen of the model anywhere. In fact, swanky big car “Blitz” was a mix ‘n’ match of spare parts of various makes procured from the junkyard that cost its owner and designer Rs 1.6 lakh.

A third-year student of mechanical engineering at the CT Institute of Engineering, Management and Technology and the maker of the car, Varun Kumar Saini, said he had successfully run his petrol car on roads and even the highways and noted an average of 15 to 17 km per litre with the maximum speed of 90 km per hour.

The car has the body, dashboard and accelerator of Fiat Uno. It has most other parts, including an 800cc three-cylinder engine, 36-litre fuel tank, gear box, pedals, brakes, clutch, rear leaf springs and rear axle from Maruti Omni, steering system from Maruti Gypsy, electrical circuits from Maruti 800 car, front axle from Mahindra jeep, headlights, taillights and front bumper from Rhino, fuel tank cover from Hindustan Ambassador and footrest and ignition switches from Tata Sumo.

“Even as my car is an assembly of parts put together from different cars, the best part of it is that they have become so well fit as if they were never apart. Lot many modifications of the parts procured had to be done to achieve that goal,” Saini said as he enjoyed posing with his innovation.

Son of a workshop owner from Himachal Pradesh, he said even as his vehicle was “non-motorable” due to non-availability of registration number, he had thought he would not dismantle it. “It is my first creation and a part of my research project. I have learnt a lot about car mechanics in the past one and a half months as I was assembling it. This car may go a long way in helping me secure a placement with any good automobile company,” he is pinning hopes.

Saini’s parents, kin, foreman and labourers from his workshop in Himachal Pradesh, faculty members and institute president Charanjit Singh Channi attended the event.

Jalandhar, April 3
It’s 12 in the night, the streets wear a deserted look, except for the occasional honk of a passing vehicle or an anxious howl by a dog lying huddled up under a streetlight. A bad time for hunger to strike, but unfortunately it does. What do you do? Wait for the morning? Not really. Calling all night crawlers and midnight maniacs, “wrong-hour hunger” in the city has an answer.

Pappu Bhai has been satiating the gastro pangs of the night riders for almost 23 years now. Operating from his two-bench makeshift stall in Shastri Market, the man is quiet a hit among the city people. His fluffy brown “aloo paranthas” with “subzi” and a piping hot cup of tea are a feast for a hungry stomach in the middle of the night.

Come rain or moon, hot summers or chilly winters, you can see Pappu doing his daily ritual right from 9 pm to 7 am. Going by what he says, he never had a dearth of customers. “I started the stall somewhere in 1984 and since then customers have been pouring in,” says the man who boasts of a vast clientele ranging from cops to students and rickshaw-pullers.

Constable Gurpreet Singh, a regular at Pappu’s rehri, says, “For Rs 5, you can’t get a better meal than this.”

Chips in head constable Jaswinder Singh, “I have been coming here for the past three years. The best thing about the place is that the food is hygienic, a rarity at such roadside stalls.”

“The sales are pretty satisfactory; I sell about 500 ‘paranthas’ a day and about 300 cups of tea,” claims Pappu.

Tahir, an RJ at a local radio channel, says, “His food is almost like the one cooked at home. Since I stay as a PG, it is very convenient to have food from here at any hour.”

Pappu bhai is not the only one. At the other end of the city; dusky, grey-haired Naseema “aunty” sits in the night rendering a pretty similar service to the city folk for 25 years. “My youngest son was just 40-day old when I started making ‘paranthas’ here,” says the woman. After the death of her husband she took to this vocation to make ends meet and looking back she thinks it wasn’t a bad choice after all.

Her street kitchen runs from 10 pm to 7 in the morning at Jyoti Chowk. A haven for egg and “aloo parantha” lovers, her stall is always chock-a-block with customers.

Yet another addition to the league of nocturnal “parantha feeders” in the city is Ashok Kumar, popularly known as Ashoki among his customers. Originally from Jammu, 32-year-old Ashoki has been holding a rehri in the Milap Chowk area for the past 15 years. Like his counterparts, he too offers “aloo paranthas” with subzi and tea.

Jalandhar, April 3
Members of the National Federation of Telecom Employees (NFTE) staged a dharna to protest against the unilateral decision of the Telecom Authority of India (TRAI) to abolish access deficit charges (ADCs) to the BSNL from April 1.

Swantantar Kumar, district secretary of the outfit, said the ADCs were the earnings of the BSNL from private operators using its infrastructure for maturing the latter’s calls in the country and abroad.

The earnings amounted to Rs 7,000 crore annually and this money was used by the BSNL to improve telephony services in the villages and other backward areas of the country. The share of the BSNL for doing so was 99 per cent since no private operator was interested in investing in the unrenumerative countryside, he pointed out.

If the decision was not reversed, it would sound the death knell of their organisation that was facing hard times presently, he added. — TNS