Nawanshahr, April 1
Taking his SAD-BJP rival - Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, head on, for his speeches during poll rallies (in which he had targeted Bittu for his low educational qualification), Ravneet Singh Bittu, Congress nominee for the Anandpur Sahib parliamentary constituency, said though he could not continue his studies as his family was the main target during the period of terrorism in the state, he was fully capable to serve the people.

Bittu was addressing a meeting of party workers, organised by former parliamentary secretary, Parkash Singh, at his residence at nearby Sloh village on Tuesday to kick start his election campaign. “I belong to the family, which had made sacrifices for restoring peace in the state. My grandfather, Beant Singh, had not only spearheaded a campaign against the terrorism as the PPCC chief, but was also instrumental in restoring peace in the state as Chief minister,” said Bittu.

“While I am the first ever elected state president of the youth Congress having membership of lakhs of youth workers, the SAD-BJP nominee, Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema, could not even win the municipal council polls,” said Bittu.

Taking a dig at Chief Minister, Badal, for nominating his chief advisor, Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema for the LS polls, Bittu said after his family members, he had started adjusting his ‘employees’ into politics.

Making mockery of development as the major poll plank being projected by the SAD-BJP combine, Bittu said whatever developmental activities had been undertaken during the past two years in the state, had been possible due to the funds allocated by the Congress-led UPA government at the centre.

The contribution of the SAD-BJP government in the development of the state was largely negligible, he said, be it the museum at Khatkar Kalan to commemorate Shaheed Bhagat Singh, the birth centenary of Guru Ravidass memorial at Khuragarh, development of Anandpur Sahib, etc. Factionalism in the local Congress also surfaced at the meeting as the newly appointed district president (urban), Vipan Taneja, district youth Congress president, Rajwinder Singh Lucky and former MC chief, Lalit Mohan Pathak (Ballu), though present at the meeting, were not given time to speak.

Jalandhar, April 1
A speeding vehicle crushed two labourers to death while they were asleep inside a tea stall near Verka Chowk on the Jalandhar-Amritsar highway here last night. The incident occurred at 1.30 am when a Scorpio rammed into the tea stall after jumping over the road divider killing the two tea stall occupants on the spot. The deceased have been identified as Baldev Singh (40), a resident of Pandori Riyan in Bholath, Kapurthala, and Dalbir Singh (45), resident of Ashok Vihar in Maqsudan.

The vehicle driver, Niranjan Singh, a resident of Fatehpur village, Gardhiwal in Hoshiapur district, and two other passengers also sustained injuries.

The Maqsudan SHO claimed that the vehicle was heading towards Kapurthala when its driver lost control over the wheal resulting in the mishap.

The injured have been admitted to a private hospital in Maqsudan. The bodies of the deceased were handed over to their families after post-mortem examination at the local Civil Hospital this evening. The police has impounded the vehicle involved in the crime and a case of rash and negligent driving causing two death has been registered against the Scorpio driver at Maqsudan police station.

Jalandhar, April 1
Protesting against police inaction, scores of members of the Punjab Muslim Front (PMF), Jalandhar, today held a protest in front of the SSP office this morning. The protestors claimed that certain unidentified assailants attacked Mohammad Kalim Azad, president of the front, on March 24 and left him critically injured.

The assailants were still threatening him and his family of dire consequences. The protestors apprehend another attack on Azad and his family members.

They alleged that police had been trying to hush up the matter instead of putting the culprits behind bars. The protestors claimed that if Azad’s family suffers any losses, the police administration would be held responsible for it.

A delegation of protestors later met SP (headquarter) Satinder Singh who assured them of rapid action against the suspects. 

Amritsar, April 1
The district police today solved the blind murder case of one Satnam Singh of the Guru Nanak Pura area here where illicit relations were found to be the cause behind the brutal murder.

The police has arrested one of the accused, Raju, a migrant who had developed illicit relations with the deceased’s wife, Ranjit Kaur.

The body of 35-year-old Satnam was found bundled in a gunny bag and dumped on a roadside in the outskirts of Dashmesh Nagar locality of Kot Khalsa here in the intervening night of March 30-31.

The blood stains near the body right to the way to the house of the accused where he was murdered led to the solving of the case.

The Homicide Cell of the police, which was entrusted with the inquiry, led by SI Sukhwinder Singh, first traced the identity of the deceased.

The investigating team found that the Raju (22), who originally hailed from Rani Ganj Kothana, district Partapganj, Uttar Pradesh, was a tenant at Adarsh Nagar, Islamabad, killed Satnam in connivance with Ranjit Kaur and another migrant Hari Ram.

The accused was earlier a tenant in the house of the deceased Satnam Singh and during that period developed illicit relations with Ranjit. Few months back Raju changed his residence and started living as a tenant in the house of one Sarabjit Singh at Adarsh Nagar locality. However, Satnam somehow learnt about their illicit relations and felt offended over this.

On the evening of March 30, the three accused hatched a conspiracy to kill Satnam and as per the plan, Hari Ram at about 8:30 pm took Satnam Singh to Raju’s place where they had drinks. Ranjit Kaur, alias Rani, also joined them at Raju’s place and murdered him with sharp-edged weapons.

In the wee hours of the day they wrapped the dead body in a gunny bag and threw at a secluded place at a Dashmesh Nagar. Dattar used in murder has also been recovered while raids are being carried out to arrest the remaining accused. The accused had washed the blood from the room in which murder was committed.

Jalandhar, April 1
Girl students outshone boys in the class V examination results declared here yesterday. Maninder Kaur of Government Primary School, Lassuri, stood first in the district by scoring 436 marks out of 450, followed by Jaskiran Kaur of Government Primary School, Sunder (438 marks) and Sandeep Kaur of Government Primary School, Patto Kalan (431 marks).

Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan (SSA) Project Coordinator Rajeev Joshi said the overall pass percentage was 81.40. The pass percentage of government schools was 73. 25 and that of the affiliated schools, including the aided ones, 81.40. Meanwhile, Director-General of School Education (DGSE) Krishan Kumar along with education officials today visited various government schools in the state on the occasion of the beginning of the new academic session of class VI.

Various teams of officials inspected the functioning of the schools in 20 districts. The visits were conducted to check distribution of books by under the SSA, the DGSE said.

In Jalandhar, the DGSE was accompanied by DEO (Secondary) Joginder Dass, the Deputy DEO, the Circle Education Officer and other officials. 

Nawanshahr, April 1
Divisional railway manager, Ferozepur division, Satish Kumar, today visited Nawanshahr, Rahon and Jejjon railway stations to take stock of the condition of railway tracks, amenities at railway stations and the ongoing construction of the freight-loading-platform at the Nawanshahr railway station here on Wednesday.

Residents submitted a memorandum demanding the extension of trains up to Amritsar and increase in number of trains from Nawanshahr to Jalandhar and Amritsar etc.

“The trains were reduced from 20 to 6 in 1984 due to militancy in the state but they had not been restored even after peace and normalcy returned to the state about more than one and half a decade ago,” lamented the residents adding that since then the number of passengers had increased and keeping in view the religious importance of Amritsar and Beas, the extension of trains would not only prove to be a boon for the passengers but it would also earn a handsome revenue for the railways.

Besides, the residents have urged to link Jejjon-Hoshiarpur-Una, Garhshanker-Kiratpur Sahib and Rahon-Khanna via railway for the convenience of the people and to give a boost to trade activity as well as railway revenue.

Amenities like platform surfacing, covering, benches, proper fencing, light at Nawanshahr, Behram and Banga railway stations should also be provided, further urged the residents.

DRM, Satish Kumar, while talking to mediapersons, said the criterion for augmentation of rail facilities was primarily based on the number of passengers.

At the Nawanshahr railway station, about 500 tickets are being sold daily and the amenities would be provided accordingly, he said, adding that for the time being there was no plan under consideration for linking Rahon-Khanna via rail link.

Answering a query about conducting a survey for linking Jejjon-Hoshiarpur-Una and Garhshanker- Kiratpur Sahib in the recent past, the DRM said he was not aware about any such survey conducted by the railway department.

However, he would inquire about it from the special cell meant for conducting such surveys, he further added.

“The railway department has launched a drive to get rid of unmanned railway crossings to curb the incidence of accidents,” further said the DRM adding that as many as 31 unmanned railway crossings were manned last year and this year 25 railway crossings were being manned.

Besides, an anti-encroachment-drive is also going on and encroachments at 225 places on railway land in the Ferozepur division are being removed, he added. 

Amritsar, April 1
PNB would invest Rs 2,395 crore and would give 12 per cent more loans than the previous year. This was revealed by Deputy Commissioner Bhagwant Singh while launching the annual credit plan-2009 for Amritsar district here today.

He said out of the total investment, Rs 1,259.44 crore would be invested in the agriculture and allied activities while Rs 575.79 crore and Rs 559.78 crore would spent in non-farm and other priority sectors, respectively. — TNS