Jalandhar, November 18
The robbery at the local General Post Office (GPO) was waiting to happen due to the negligence on the part of the postal authorities regarding the security arrangements of the building.

It may be recalled that robbers had decamped with Rs 40 lakh after tying the watchman and another employee in one of the rooms on the night of November 5.

Sources said the security lapses had been pointed out by senior postmaster M.Y. Khan immediately after he joined here. In fact, he had informed senior superintendent of post offices N.K. Meena in writing on October 11 about the various lapses that could be exploited by anti-social elements.

The lack of security arrangements in the building housing huge amounts of cash and gold coins could be gauged from the fact that it did not have an armed security guard and on that fateful night the watchman, who was only armed with a wooden staff, was on duty.

Sources said the previous security guard, an ex-servicemen, had left the job but no efforts had been made to recruit a new one even after a month.

Mercifully, the robbers could not break the safe but they took the money that had been stored in steel chests by breaking the locks.

Ironically, the GPO does not have a strongroom, the sources added.

The other inadequacies listed in the letter include no armed security guards, one non-functional embedded safe, no security arrangements at counters dealing with cash and conveyance of cash from various banks and sub-offices.It was also pointed out that a large number of migrants were working at the under-construction mall next door and that the risk factor could not be ignored.

The suggestions in the letter include the purchase of one safe that would be used to store the gold coins, the sale of which started on October 14. It was also pointed out that a strongroom should be constructed at the earliest and that an armed security guard should be present on the premises round the clock.

Meanwhile, the three employees, who have been suspended for the robbery, claim that in view of the dismal security arrangements there was little that they could do to prevent such incidents.

Had the higher authorities acted with haste to the shortcomings highlighted at the GPO, the robbery would not have happened, they pointed out.On the other hand, employees have been holding protest to press for the reinstatement of their colleagues, the sources added. 

Jalandhar, November 18
Two motorcycle-borne youths reportedly kidnapped a four-year-old boy for a ransom of Rs 30 lakh from outside his house in the Santokhpura locality here this evening. The kidnapper in a filmy style picked up the boy in the presence of the family members, put him on the bike and sped away.

According to family members, Arshnoor was playing with four other children in front of his residence when two motor cycle-borne youths struck. A girl raised the alarm after she noticed the motorcyclists speeding away with Arshnoor. The family members said the kidnappers later made a call on a landline telephone installed at the shop of Arshnoor’s grandfather and demanded Rs 30 lakh for the safe release of the boy. Sarbansh Singh, boy’s grandfather, has been running a musical instruments shop in the area. According to eyewitnesses, some boys of the locality tried to stop the motorcyclists fleeing along with the boy after hearing the shrieks of the girl but to no avail.

SP (city-I) S.K. Kalia said the police launched a hunt for the kidnappers soon after receiving the complaint. An alert had been sounded and traps laid at all entry and exit points to the city. The police of the neighbouring districts and states had been informed to help in nabbing the suspects, he added.

This is the third case of kidnapping in past over three months and second in past eight days. The kidnappers had targeted a non-resident Indian (NRI) Preetpal Singh’s son.

Three-year-old Swati, daughter of a marble contractor, was abducted for ransom by some unidentified abductors from the Bhargav Camp locality on November 10. Girl’s father Sanjay had received a call from the kidnappers from Bihar who demanded Rs 10 lakh as ransom. Earlier, some armed youths had kidnapped a schoolboy for ransom from Pratabpura under the Lambra police station jurisdictions.

Three cases of kidnapping for ransom in less than three months have put the Jalandhar police under a scanner, besides putting a question mark on the security arrangements in the city and its vicinity. The spate of kidnapping incidents has created an atmosphere of panic among the residents. 

Hoshiarpur, November 18
Hundreds of activists of the district unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union, the International Club Association Punjab and the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Krantikari Society, Punjab, led by their presidents Avtar Singh Singapuri, Dalbir Singh Billu and Onkar Singh Dhami, respectively, staged a dharna, demonstration and a rally adjacent to the ongoing protest dharna of the Revenue Patwaris Union before the mini-secretariat here today. The protests were to oppose the patwaris who had been agitating against the Vigilance Bureau for arresting Shergarh area patwari Ram Pal for accepting bribe from farmer Jarnail Singh on November 7.

The activists began raising slogans like “gali gali mein shor hai mal mehkama chor hai”, “bhrashat empoloyees murdabad” and “DSP Vigilance zindabad”, etc.

Members of the Revenue Patwar Union have been agitating and staging dharnas before the mini-secretariat following the arrest of patwari Ram Pal by the vigilance here since November 7. The patwaris were alleging that the DSP of the Vigilance Bureau had falsely implicated the patwari in a corruption case by forcibly planting Rs 500 on his table. When the patwari protested against the attitude of the DSP, the latter also beat him up, they further alleged and demanded withdrawal of a case against the patwari, action against the DSP for falsely implicating Ram Pal in a corruption case and his immediate transfer.

Keeping in view the prevailing tension in the area on account of the counter rallies, a heavy police force had been deployed to avert any mishap.

Addressing the rally, Singapuri, Billu, Dhami and many others spoke against the working of the revenue patwaris and alleged that they did not spare any of the farmers while dealing with their revenue cases. They further demanded an inquiry into the earning and properties of patwaris.

Referring to the ongoing agitation of patwaris, they said the people were suffering badly as none of the patwaris was available on their seats. They urged the district administration to deduct the salaries of patwaris for the period of their ongoing agitation.

They appealed to the representatives of all the NGOs to join them for weeding out corruption from the government machinery.

Jalandhar, November 18
Want to access Google? Just type gghhjj.com. Wish to login to Orkut? Then type ookkmm.com. These are a couple of the many keyboard shortcuts brought out by eight net-savvy youths from Bathinda using their “angle theory”. 

According to them, the whole concept is to overcome the language barrier while surfing. So what if one does not know English. Just follow the shortcuts invented by the dotcom company to log on to your favourite sites, the youths claimed. Demonstrating their invention, managing director of www.atoall.com Sanjeev Kumar said one had to type three letters twice on the keyboard which were in a straight line, “C” or inverted “C”, “V” or inverted “V” twice followed by dot (.) com. 

For example, if one wants to open a gaming site, then he can type the keyboard letters “m, j and n” that are in an inverted “V” shape -- mmjjnn.com. Kumar said multi-language search engines had been used in the concept. Similarly, images can be opened by typing the letters which are in a “C” shape -- rrddcc.com -- and for videos, it will be “C” order but from downwards -- bbggyy.com. Yahoo can be opened by typing yyhhnn.com. The company's assistant director (marketing) Rinkle Sharma said all these come under the cyber laws. “So, there is no violation of any rule and regulation.” Moreover, there is no need to install any new software in the existing computer or laptop. — PTI

Chandigarh, November 18
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has held that Panjab University (PU) is an “inter-state body corporate”. With this finding, a Division Bench of the High Court has once and for all laid to rest the controversy over Panjab University’s status. It is now clear that PU is neither a central university, nor a centrally funded varsity, but a body corporate. The Bench of Justice Ashutosh Mohunta and Justice Rajan Gupta has asserted: “PU, which was a creation of a state Act, namely Panjab University Act, 1947, would be squarely governed by Section 72 (I) of the Reorganisation Act, 1966, and therefore, would be an inter-state body corporate.

“Section 72 (3) further alleviates any doubts in this respect by declaring that the provisions of this Section would apply to PU, constituted under the PU Act, 1947. Sub Section 4 of the Section only gives power to the central government to determine the grant to be met by the successor states in respect of PU.

“However, merely the fact that this power has been granted to the central government, should not lead to an inference that Panjab University is a central university”.The Bench further asserted: “We are not impressed by the argument of the counsel for the petitioner that since Sub Section (2) of the PU Act provides that appropriate government for the purpose of the Act would be central government, PU should be deemed to be a central university.“Merely because the appropriate government for the purpose of the PU Act is the central government and the approval of the government is required for carrying out various functions of the university, would not, in our view, lead to the conclusion that PU is a central university”.

Speaking for the Bench, Justice Rajan Gupta ruled: “In view of Section 72 (4), the successor states continue to have a role to play in respect of PU. Even grant to the extent of 40 per cent is met by the Punjab government, which is a substantial share.

Nawanshahr, November 18
Residents of Wards 2 and 3 of Balachaur today submitted a memorandum to deputy commissioner Nilkanth Avhad, urging him to take immediate effective step to stop the BAV Senior Secondary School authorities at Balachaur from raising the level of the school ground as it would create a big problem of drainage of water in their localities. The residents said the storm water of their localities was drained out by passing through the school ground. Now, the school authorities had started raising the level of the ground to 6 ft. The residents also urged the DC to issue instructions to the municipal council, Balachaur, to solve the problem of drainage of water. The DC asked the SDM, Balachaur, to take on-the-spot stock of the situation and take immediate remedial steps.

Similarly, activists of the Kandi Area Sangharsh Committee submitted a memorandum demanding waiving off tubewell bills of the Kandi farmers and to open the locks of the tubewells owned by the Punjab Tubewell Corporation so that the Kandi farmers could avail the benefit of irrigation from the tubewells. The DC told them that the locks of the corporation tubewells would be got opened soon.

Besides, as many as 17 complaints regarding BPL cards, encroachments on panchayat lands, erratic power supply, etc. were received at the “sangat darshan” which were disposed of on the spot. 

Jalandhar, November 18
A meeting of the search committee which was to finalise the name of the Punjab Technical University vice-chancellor at Chandigarh today failed to resolve the issue. Principal secretary technical education Tejinder Kaur said the next meeting of the committee would be held on November 25. “We all need to wait and watch till then,” she said, while talking to The Tribune.

Many were hoping to hear the final verdict on VC's name today. The name was expected to be endorsed in a meeting of the board of governors, scheduled for November 20. The principal secretary said there was no change in the schedule of BOG meet.

Notably, it has been over six months since the technical university, with 208 affiliated colleges in the state and over 1.5 lakh distance education students, has been functioning without a regular head. After the resignation of Dr SK Salwan, the VC's charge is with the principal secretary. The affiliated colleges want the new VC to possess strong administrative qualities to consolidate the university affairs. 

Batala, November 18
The district police today arrested a person and recovered a country-made pistol and three bullets from his possession. Talking to mediapersons, SSP Batala Naresh Kumar Arora said 494 gm of charas was also seized from the accused, identified as Des Raj of RS Pura in J& K.

During preliminary interrogation, Des Raj confessed to have committed a theft along with one Sonu at Guru Teg Bahadur Colony here last month. Notably, Satinder Pal Singh of Guru Teg Bahadur Colony had complained to the police that national saving certificates worth Rs 1,15,000, gold ornaments & some clothes were stolen from his house on the intervening night of October 30 and 31. The stolen items have been also recovered from the accused, said the SSP. A case under relevant sections of NDPS Act and Arms Act has been registered.