Jalandhar, June 29
With the arrest of five persons, the police today claimed to have foiled kidnapping of a leading bookshop owner.

Talking to mediapersons here, SP (city-I) S.K. Kalia said five of the seven-member gang had been arrested. They had been identified as Jeewan Verma, Kulwinder Singh, Raj Kumar, Balbir Singh and Amritpal Singh. However, those who fled were Harbinder Singh, alias Binder, and Surendra. He said the gang used to operate from a kothi for the past some time and the site was raided after a tip-off.

Kalia said during preliminary interrogation, the accused revealed that they had planned to kidnap the owner of Subash Book Depot located at Mai Heeran Gate for ransom. Besides, they had asked a gang member to keep an eye on him to execute their plan. The gang was also planning to loot Jeewan petrol station on Amritsar Road, he added.

The police seized five pistols, 39 live cartridges and a stolen Maruti car from the gang.

He said the arrested accused had committed several crimes in various parts of the city like robbing a liquor vend located at Focal Point, stealing a car from Vikash Nagar, snatching a purse containing Rs 3,000 and a mobile phone from a woman.

He said they also confessed that a few days back they had thrown a box filled with potash from a flyover near Pathankot Chowk to know how much blast it could cause.

An FIR under sections 399 and 402 of the IPC and section 25 of the Arms Act has been registered.

Nawanshahr, June 29
A father-son duo, identified as Jasbir Singh (50) and Dilraj Singh (18), died in a well at Garh Padhana village on Sunday.

According to information received here, at around 6.30 am Jasbir along with his son went to his fields and found the motor of the tubewell non-functional. Dilraj went into the well to repair a motor valve but did not return. After about half an hour, his father too went down the well to help his son. However, both of them could not come out as they fell unconscious and died of suffocation due presence of some poisonous gas in the well.

When farmers of the nearby fields saw Dilraj’s motorcycle and could not find the father-son duo, they became suspicious and started searching for them. They recovered the bodies from the well.

Jalandhar, June 29
Exactly a month after they started their hunger strike against the malpractices of the ruling SAD-BJP combine in the recently concluded panchayat elections in Saiddupur village of Nakodar block and Gillan village of Jalandhar (West), members of the Valmiki Mazhabi Sikh Morcha have decided to continue with their indefinite fast until free and fair elections were conducted in these villages once again.

The members have been sitting outside the District Administrative Complex (DAC) since May 30.

Talking to The Tribune, morcha president Mohinder Singh Hamira said, “Our candidates started witnessing problems right from day one. The SAD-BJP combine, in an attempt to get the maximum seats in the panchayat elections, used unfair means. This continued even on the day of polling. None of the poll officials dared to speak against this practice at polling booths. Those who objected to this system were thrashed by the police and false cases were registered against them.”

With 90 per cent of the community being Dalits, the residents of Saiddupur village fielded Balbir Kaur in the poll fray. On the other hand, the ruling alliance fielded Sarbjeet Kaur who was declared winner unopposed.

“This was a major setback for us. We wanted to field Balbir Kaur in the general ward category but the poll officials on duty refused to accept her fee of Rs 100 (an amount mandatory for a general category candidate) and rather asked her to submit an amount of Rs 50 as she was an SC candidate.

“The SAD-BJP combine and the polling officials were all hand in glove as a result of which our candidate could not contest the elections”, he said, adding that they would continue with the strike until the elections were conducted once again.

Similar was the scene at Gillan village. “The poll officials were mute spectators. On the other hand, influential people from the ruling alliance, with the help of their supporters, used thumb imprints for votes starting from number 601 to 651, thereby barring the Valmiki community from their fundamental right of vote as well. All this happened right under the nose of the SP rank official on duty,” Hamira said.

At present the strike was being supported by the Pendu Mazdoor Union, the Rangretta Dal, the Democratic Bharatiya Samaj Party, the Bhagwan Valmiki Sardar Gyan Ashram Volunteers and many other groups. The members have now formed an action committee to launch a statewide agitation in the coming days.

Deputy commissioner Ajeet Singh Pannu said, “Ever since the strike began, we have been convincing the members of the morcha to call off the strike and instead file an election petition.”

However, they have not done anything in this regard. Apart from this, they also held meetings with ADC S.S. Murar, SP S.K. Kalia and other officials but nothing substantial has taken place so far. — TNS

Batala, June 29
The police arrested two accomplices of the five assailants who attacked Ranjit Singh here on Friday. According to information, Ranjit Singh met Raman, Bunty and patwari Naresh Kumar on Friday and all of them had liquor together. The drink was followed by a quarrel and all of them went to the house of ex-municipal councillor Sunil Kumar Sareen to resolve the issue. However, the dispute could not be resolved and Naresh, Raman and Bunty, along with their accomplices Johnny and Sonu, attacked Ranjit with base bats and iron rods. Ranjit received severe injuries and succumbed to them while undergoing treatment at Guru Nanak Hospital.

Talking to mediapersons today, SSP Naresh Arora said a case was registered in this regard and the police had succeeded to nab Raman and Bunty. However, their three accomplices were still at large. — OC

Amritsar, June 29
Austrian universities have expressed keen interest to have academic exchange programmes with Guru Nanak Dev University, especially in the disciplines of biomechanics, sports psychology and physical medicine and neurophysiology.

This was stated by Prof Jaspal Singh Sandhu, dean faculty of sports medicine and physiotherapy of the university.

He was recently on a visit to Austria as OED scholar under an Austrian exchange service to explore possibilities of conjoint research with various Austrian universities.

Sandhu said, “The University of Graz is interested to ink an MoU with the department of sports medicine and physiotherapy for research in kinesiology.”

Similarly, the University of Vienna and the University of Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, had also expressed the desire to sign a pact with the university, he added.

Director of research S.S. Chahal said the university was always ready to collaborate with reputed institutes and universities to promote exchange programmes for development of research.

Chandigarh, June 29
A joint committee of home secretaries and legal luminaries from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh will soon evolve a  “compassionate and humanitarian mechanism” for redressing the grievances of runaway couples and their parents.

Trudging towards the formulation of the mechanism for preventing the couples from hiding behind the pillars of law in the corridors of justice, and the parents from sobbing their hearts out, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has ordered the constitution of the committee.

It is expected to comprise advocates-general of  Punjab and Haryana, besides the standing counsel for Chandigarh, along with the homes secretaries of the two states and the Union Territory.

Besides this, it has been proposed to include three Bar members - senior advocates Rajinder Singh Cheema and M.L. Sarin and advocate Rajiv Godara.

Haryana advocate-general, being the senior-most, would act as the convener.

Till the committee submits its report, the high court has ordered stay on the proceedings in cases registered against couples before the court. The protection to the petitioner-married couples, earlier granted by the court, too, would continue.

The directions for constituting the committee follow the high court’s suo motu cognizance of the rising number of cases involving runaway couples. Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia had made it clear that the high court wanted the states to evolve a “compassionate” mechanism to redress the grievances of the couples and the parents, and to reduce backlog.

Justice Ahluwalia had even asked the home secretaries to inform the court on the system they intended to develop.

Taking up the matter again, Justice Ahluwalia observed: “Counsels appearing for the three states have submitted that the police intervention is not the answer to this kind of problem.”

He said the police, non-government organisations, family counsellors, senior officers and this court should all contribute in harmony to evolve a compassionate and humanitarian mechanism, which is not only friendly to the couple performing marriage but is also sensitive to the concerns of the parents.

Justice Ahluwalia also observed: “After thoughtful deliberations, as consensus, it has been suggested that this court should appoint a committee which, after discussing various facets and dimensions of the problem, should report the matter to the court for further action.”

The judge asserted: “Since the proposal has emerged not only as a consensus but unanimously from the Bar members - about 50 Bar members are before me - I want to make an effort and try this proposal. Therefore, I accept the joint prayer made by counsel for the parties. Accordingly, a committee, including officials and the members, as suggested be constituted.”

Jalandhar, June 29
The Lovely Institute of Distance Education (LIDE) organised its fashion show “Dhoom Machale” on the Lovely Professional University campus. As many as 60 designers of LIDE displayed their talent in various themes like traditional, casual, nightwear and western during the show.

Sharing their experiences, fashion show designers Kulwinder Kaur and Gagandeep Kaur said, “We had been working day and night to present our best. It was a great experience, especially when you see models walking down the ramp wearing outfits designed by you.”

Punjabi singer Master Saleem and his brother Parvaz entertained the audience with their melodious songs. Besides, “Awaz Punjab Di” winner Simranjit too enthralled the audience with her spellbound performance.

LPU chancellor Ashok Mittal gave away prizes to the designers.