Hoshiarpur, April 26
With the arrest of three persons, the district police claimed to have solved the much-publicised double murder case of an old NRI couple here.

Gurmail Singh and Amarjit Kaur, both residents of Mohalla Tibba Sahib, were found brutally murdered at their residence on August 11 last year. The bodies bore wounds on the head and strangulation marks on the neck, SSP Dr Sukhchain Singh Gill said here in a press conference on Saturday.

The house of the victims was found ransacked and valuables missing, which indicated that robbery was the reason behind the twin murders, said the SSP, adding that an FIR under section 460 of the IPC had been registered at the Model Town police station in this connection.

The arrested persons were identified as Upkar Hans alias Vicky alias Johan of local Model Town area, Rajiv Kumar alias Lucky and Deepak alias Gian, both of local Bhagat Nagar.

The police claimed that during interrogation, the accused confessed that they, along with two more accomplices of theirs, committed the said crime.

Their accomplice Munish Kumar alias Meshe of Bhagat Nagar, hatched a plot to commit a theft three days earlier and on the intervening night of August 10 and August 11, 2007, all the accused, along with Sunny of Bhagat Nagar entered the house of Gurmail Singh by scaling the main gate.

The couple was woken up by some sounds following which the thieves brutally murdered them by strangulating them and hitting them on their heads.

After killing them, they searched the house and decamped with cash and gold jewellery, which they later divided among themselves, they revealed.

Upkar Hans and Rajiv Kumar further confessed that on April 21, 2008, they, along with Munish Kumar and Mohinder Singh alias Ajay of local Labh Nagar, looted Rs 1,925 and a mobile phone from a person near the industrial area here, for which a case under sections 382, 420, 506 and 120 B of the IPC had been registered in Model Town police station.

Raids are being conducted to nab the other accused and further interrogation of the arrested youths is in progress.

Some more revelations are expected from the thieves regarding the crimes that they have committed, added the SSP.

Jalandhar, April 26
Despite a plethora of laws to safeguard the interests of non-resident Indians (NRIs), the ground reality is that they are at the receiving end at the hands of various government departments and law enforcing agencies.

Notwithstanding the creation of NRI cells and even the state-backed NRI Sabha in Punjab, a group of NRIs have taken upon the task to provide credible and effective alternative to the diaspora.

Under the banner of the Non-resident Non-aligned Indian Organisation (NRNI), NRIs Dr Mandip Singh Sandhu, Varinder Singh Parmar, Chain Singh Khera, Dr M.S. Dhaliwal, Ranbir Singh Rana, Tirath Ram and Harvinder Singh Kalra have decided to work for the fellow brethren in India.

Talking to The Tribune, Sandhu said they thought of a separate outfit because the present ones were not working according to their potential. The only activity organised by these outfits were the so-called sammelans.

He said NRIs mainly faced problems pertaining to land and property disputes and alleged that the officers concerned either turned a blind eye or demanded bribe to get the work done. “We are not antagonistic to the government, but there are numerous instances where land mafias - bureaucrats -police nexus has come to surface. Interestingly, no action has been taken by the government in such cases,” he added.

Besides, there were NRIs who had been pursuing their cases as they were implicated and jailed under trumped up charges, he pointed out.

Sandhu said a large number of NRIs were contributing to the development and welfare of the society in India. They were building schools, hospitals and fulfilling other needs of the community voluntarily. But they were hurt when treated as soft targets, he lamented.

Parhar said they were getting in touch with other like- minded people and proposed to establish a central office in Jalandhar with branches in other parts of the state.

Other activities to be undertaken by the NRNI includes helping NRIs with immigration and police centres, assistance for health care, monitoring legal disputes, education in professional colleges and helping Punjabi youth to legally settle abroad.

Hoshiarpur, April 26
The lax attitude of the local authorities of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) towards the telegraph services has led to great inconvenience among the general public in the Hoshiarpur telecom circle.

With the recent revolution in telecom services, utilisation of telegraph services has been reduced to a great extent. As a result, the telegraph offices at Dasuya, Mukerian, Talwara, Garhshankar and Balachaur towns in the circle have been closed.

Only a telegraph office at Hoshiarpur is functioning currently. The army personnel, medical representatives, insurance companies and common people are still utilising the services of the local telegraph office.

According to the official sources, three telegraphists are available at the office. All of them have been granted five advance increments to do the job specified to them.

They are getting Rs 2,000 per month, more than their other colleagues of the same pay scale, for the services being rendered by them.

According to sources only one of the above said telegraphists has been put on the job whereas the other two have been deputed on non-technical posts. Whenever the existing one is on leave or a weekly off, the authorities simply close the office.

The notice board displayed on the main gate of the telephone exchange cum telegraph office says that the timings for the working days are 9 am to 5 pm and on Sundays (or telegraph holidays) from 8 am to 3.30 pm.

For example, during the last one month, the office remained closed from March 28 to March 31and during the present month, on April 6, April 12 to April 14 and on April 20.

On an average, around 60 telegrams are sent and received daily. The union government had already declared telegraph services as essential services. Therefore, the concerned authorities have to make this facility available to the customers.

General manager, telecom, Charna Dass told this correspondent that on account of reduction of work, the services of two existing telegraphists were being utilised on other seats. The recent revolution in the telecom sector has reduced the importance and work of telegraph services.

Amritsar, April 26
A case of attempt to murder against 100-150 unidentified persons was registered at the Mehta police station, falling under the Amritsar (rural) police district, on Saturday. The case was registered against the people who gheraoed the police station and indulged in ransacking after the death of one Jagtar Singh, who committed suicide in the lock up by hanging himself on Friday.

Jagtar was arrested by the police in connection with the alleged kidnapping of a minor girl of the same area. His sister and another person were caught by the police.

Harjit Singh, SHO of the police station said around 150 persons attacked police persons and ransacked the police station.

The family members and locals had protested against the police and held a protest dharna as soon as the news of Jagtar’s death spread in the area.