Amritsar, April 9
The Amritsar (Rural) police has quietly quashed the FIR registered against the son of the district president of the BJP. The former, along with two accomplices, was accused of gangraping two Dalit sisters, one a minor and another a widow, following an inquiry, conducted by former SP Amrik Singh.

Earlier, Ram Sharn Pal, the district president BJP (Rural) had alleged that his son was a victim of a “deep-rooted” conspiracy, hatched by some senior Akali leaders of the Ajnala assembly constituency.

Though Vikram, alias Vickey, son of the BJP leader, Rachhpal, alias Sonu, and Goldi were arrested on January 24, the police entrusted the inquiry to the then SP Amrik Singh, who, after a few days, gave a clean chit to the accused.

Gurmit Singh Chohan, SSP, Amritsar (Rural) confirmed that FIR against Sonu and Goldi had been quashed when they were found “innocent” in the inquiry, conducted by Amrik Singh.

The registration of gangrape charges had given rise to bitterness between the coalition partners, the SAD and the BJP in the last week of January. Senior BJP leaders, including Balbir Punj, in charge of the party’s Punjab affairs, state party chief Rajinder Bhandari, MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, and Manoranjan Kalia, a minister, held a closed-door meeting with Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here on January 29 to resolve “differences” between the coalition partners in the district.

The Chief Minister had to assure the senior BJP leaders that the FIR would be quashed. Talking to The Tribune, Ram Sharn Pal claimed that his son was released following submission of an application by the police in the Ajnala court that the case was cancelled in February itself.

The district BJP president alleged that certain Akali leaders had been looking to frame him or a member of his family in some false case due to the tussle during the previous panchayat elections. He said after the Lok Sabha election, he would reveal the names of certain senior leaders of the ruling party who were allegedly instrumental in the registration of a “baseless FIR” against his son.

According to the FIR lodged under Sections 376 and 120-B, IPC (which stand quashed), the three accused were overpowered by the public when they were allegedly gangraping the Dalit sisters.

The FIR was lodged on the complaint of the victims, belonging to Mamo Mahal (Ajnala) village. However, Ram Sharn Pal claimed that both the girls had recorded their statements that his son was not involved in the gangrape.

Pathankot/Gurdaspur,April 9
The Bharatiya Janata Party brought actor Salman Khan to canvass for third- time party nominee Vinod Khanna in Gurdaspur Lok Sabha cnstituency. Salman Khan was drafted by the Congress to campaign for its candidates in Uttar Pradesh. 

Today he came here for his ‘friend’ Vinod Khanna which surprised many political pundits and people . He was taken in open mini truck decorated with BJP flags from Pathankot to other towns.

On his dual role to campaign for the Congress and the BJP at the same time Salman said Vinod Khanna was his dear friend and wanted support in elections so he specially flew from Mumbai today to appeal the voters to elect him again.

Addressing people at rallies during the road show organised from Pathankot to Batala Salman urged people to vote for Khanna tried and tested candidate of the BJP who had done good job for his border constituency.

He said Khanna enjoyed clean image and was sincere towards his electorate which made him the most acceptable candidate for Lok Sabha elections.

Young fans who lined up in large numbers to have glimpse of the actor shouted at him calling him “ Radhe Radhe” reminding him of his role of mentally retarded person in Tere Naam. Enjoying adulation of fans Salman reciprocated with gusto and responded asking public to vote for Vinod Khanna and make him victorious for the third time.

Clad in white T-Shirt and black jeans Salman was raising slogans in favour of Khanna, BJP candidate but the crowd responded with Salman zindabad to the embarrassment of Khanna . He was also offered white turban by a fan at Sarna and the star accepted and wore it.

The road show of the BJP got lukewarm response at various places with the exception of Dinanagar and Gurdaspur.

Many young enthusiasts and school students after the closing hours waited for hours for the hero but were disappointed due to late arrival of Salman at Gurdaspur, Batala and other places.

Guru Har Sahai (Ferozepur), April 9
Member of the Central Working Committee of the Congress Jagmeet Singh Brar, who is fighting the Lok Sabha elections from Ferozepur, has managed to win over all his main rivals within the party in the area and they have sunk their differences on the directions of the party high command to put up a collective fight to ensure his win. 

Local MLA Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, who was his bête noire, joined hands with Brar at a public rally here today. Another influential Congressman Hans Raj Joshan, who was also an aspirant for the party ticket, also announced to extend wholehearted support to him.

Earlier, Sunil Jakhar and Sajjan Jakhar, the two sons of veteran Congress leader Balram Jakhar, had announced to abide by the party decision to field Brar.

Until recently, it was believed that Brar’s fate would largely depend on the Sodhi, Jakhar and Joshan families. Notwithstanding, the earlier two defeats he had faced from this constituency in the 1989 and 2004 Lok Sabha elections, Brar now looks confidant of his win.

Brar is facing the electoral battle mainly with SAD-BJP candidate Sher Singh Ghubaiya, MLA from Jalalabad and chief parliamentary secretary.

Sodhi said there was a great disillusionment among his people for having failed in getting party ticket, but had not given up the hope and would wait for the next time to get it.

Gurnaib Singh Brar, district president of the party, Usha Chopra, district president of the women wing, Shavinder Sidhu, block president, Hardip Sodhi, elder brother of Rana Sodhi, and many others, addressed the gathering.

Brar said if elected to the Lok Sabha he would put up his best efforts for the development of this district.

He said Mayawati had given the ticket to Rehman saying that representation to the Muslim community was a must. Jameel-ur-Rehman said though he had joined the BSP on March 18, earlier he had contested the Assembly elections in 1992 unsuccessfully on BSP ticket from Malerkotla. 

Jalandhar, April 9
Top leadership of the Youth Wing of the Shiromani Akali Dal came under attack from its rank and file for ignoring the grassroot workers at a state-level meeting of the outfit here this evening. This was evident from the tone and tenor of the address by the aggrieved persons who implied that their high-profile patron Bikram Singh Majithia and president Kiranbir Singh Kang had not been able to keep their flock together.

The development has raised a question mark on the functioning of the youth brigade in the run up to the parliamentary polls.

The senior leaders seated on the dais were virtually taken aback at the accusatory tone of many leaders who spoke and the former could be seen animatedly discussing the same among themselves.

Many of the district-level leaders openly aired their grievances that they were being treated like doormats and that their leadership was power drunk. It is only when events like this are organised or when the polls are around the corner that we are asked to ensure decent gatherings, they alleged.

Most of the time the leaders do not even receive our calls. Many of our party nominees also do not bother to inform us to make preparations for the functions they would be attending. How can we work for ensuring their victory in such a scenario, they pointed out.

And why would people come to us when the officers in the districts do not listen to us or do our work. The grass root workers were a dejected lot and this is bound to reflect in party tally of LS seats, they added.

The age factor was also highlighted by many leaders who said that there should be a time limit so that the youngsters are adjusted on higher positions. Those who are overage should be adjusted in the SAD so that there are adequate vacancies among the youth wing for deserving persons, they added.

Jalandhar, April 9
Downturn in global economy has halted participation of the NRIs in Lok Sabha elections in Punjab. Only a few NRIs have turned up this time to canvass for parties of choice in the state. For a few years, substantial number of NRIs have been coming to canvass for Congress and SAD candidates especially in the Doaba region and also Moga Ludhiana region of the Malwa area.

Even funds from the NRIs to the candidates of main political parties in the fray is negligible this time. “Most of the NRIs are facing tough time in the UK, Canada, theUS and Germany and other countries due to economic crisis in developed and developing countries ,” said Daljit Singh Sahota, president of the Overseas Congress, the UK.

The NRIs in Canada and the US, who are in construction business, are facing bad times. The huge investments made by them in the housing sector have gone down the drain.

And those who have taken loan from banks are in more trouble, said Sahota. “I am here for a few days but would leave for the UK on April 15 as I cannot take risk of my business at this juncture,” he remarked.

Besides him, other senior leaders of the Overseas Congress, including Gurbir Singh Atkar, Gurpal Singh, Dr Mahesh Arora from the UK, Sukhwant Padda and Narinder Singh Sunni of Germany are here to canvass during the elections ..

“This time about 40 per cent fewer NRIs have come,” said Kamaljit Singh Hayer, president of the Punjab NRI Sabha.

Bathinda, April 9
Guru Nanak Dev University has claimed that high uranium content have been found in water samples collected from Bathinda and its suburbs and it is the main reason of a high incidence of cancer among local people. 

Sources from university’s department of physics told The Tribune today that high uranium content had been found in samples taken from tube-wells and hand-pumps.

Dr Surinder Singh, senior professor of physics, said they tested water for uranium content and other metals seeing the increasing number of cancer patients in this area. Kidney cancer, lung cancer, retarded development in children and high blood pressure were attributed to uranium.

He said: “The World Health Organisation states that 15 micro gram of uranium in one litre of water is safe for drinking but samples from Bathinda and nearby places contain 100 micro grams of uranium in one litre of water. 

Such a high content does severe damage to our kidneys. This is the main reason for a single village in the Malwa belt having 100 cases of cancer. We had surveyed 22 villages of this region”.

A main reason cited by the sources for the high uranium contents in groundwater was radioactive rich granite present in Tosham hills of Bhiwani district in Haryana. They would be conducting a research for finding out other areas affected by radioactive activity.

“Uranium also has the capability of coming with the wind and wind coming from Afghanistan can bring uranium as it can have an affect within 1,000 km from where it is used,” Dr Surinder added.

The sources said they had been informing to the Department of Atomic Energy about the presence of uranium in groundwater for quiet sometime, but no attention was paid. “It is only now that the presence of uranium in groundwater in Faridkot district has woken them up and they visited there to collect samples,” a source said.

“There is no way we can remove uranium from drinking water. Aquaguards and RO systems can’t possibly remove uranium. It can’t be filtered because its chemical nature is such that it penetrates in water. We are trying to find out a chemical process by which uranium can be removed,” the sources added.

The sources said parts of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh might be affected by uranium.

Sangrur, April 9
Led by Congress MLA from Dirba Surjit Singh Dhiman, farmers and arhtiyas today blocked traffic on the Sangrur-Delhi national highway at Dirba village, about 25 km from here. 

The traffic blockade started at about 6 pm against the alleged non-procurement of wheat by the government procurement agencies for the past some days and non-lifting of the wheat procured by various agencies from the grain market.

Talking to The Tribune over the phone, the MLA alleged officials of the procurement agencies had not been participating in the auction of the wheat lying in the grain market at Dirba for the past several days. Besides, the lifting of the procured wheat had also not been started yet. Gunny bags were also not available in adequate quantity, he added.

Sunam SDM Baldev Singh and the DSP Pritpal Singh Thind pacified the protesters, who lifted the blockade at about 7.15 pm.

Thind said the administration had assured the arhtiyas and others that the auction of the wheat would start from tomorrow morning in the grain market. Besides, there would be no problem of the gunny bags even, he added.

Jalandhar, April 9
Jalandhar has emerged as destination for medical tourists in over a decade. With a large number of health care institutions with state-of-the-art facilities, the city is known not only in India, but in Asia too.

Medical tourism has picked up in the city with a large number of non-resident Indians (NRIs) from Doaba and Majha regions of Punjab preferring hospitals in city for the treatment of serious ailments at reasonable charges.

The hospital industry in the city got a boost with treatment cost hiked in countries like America, Canada, Norway, England, Germany, Italy, Holland, Austria, Australia, Dubai, the Philippines, the Netherlands and Pakistan in over five years. The NRIs living in these countries choose to visit home for medical treatment.

A majority of the NRIs have been preferring hospitals with super-specialties and multi-specialties, besides skilled doctors and paramedical staff. Moreover, their visits to India, especially Punjab, serve a dual purpose. Here they get treatment for one/10th of the cost in the respective countries and can enjoy holidays with families and relatives.

Dr Yash Sharma, president, Indian Medical Association (IMA), Punjab, said the multi-speciality centres were providing super-specialist services for heart, trauma, eye, brain, kidney and other chronic diseases.

He claimed that foreigners and NIRs had been coming to Jalandhar hospitals for treatment due to cheaper treatment, no waiting list, world-class treatment, high success rate, no language barrier and home-coming.

Procedures like open-heart surgery, interventional heart procedures, brain surgery, kidney transplant, removal of eye glasses (zypotics), cosmetic surgery, hip and knee transplant, endoscopic sinus surgery, laparoscopic surgery and bronchoscopy by competent professionals attract patients.

Embryologist Dr SPS Virk for 20 years has been treating people for infertility. He claimed that not only NRIs, but foreign childless couples also have been coming to his hospital for treatment through in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technique.

“The cost of one treatment cycle is Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1.5 lakh in Jalandhar, while abroad it is around Rs 10 lakh to 15 lakh. Moreover, success rate in India attracts patients here,” claimed Dr Virk.

Dr Puneet Paschrich, micro-vascular surgeon, said NRIs came to him for hair transplant, nose job, breast shaping and anti-ageing surgery. Cosmetic surgery here was cheaper for NRI patients than in Europe and the US. The cost here was almost one-third compared to what it was in those countries, he added. 

Chandigarh, April 9
It was a closed-user-group scheme, which remained closed for years! A host of employees of the Punjab government using BSNL mobile phones who were given special tariff rates for being a part of a closed user group (CUG) have alleged that the scheme was never implemented.

The employees were to be charged at a discounted rate for calls made within the group but actually the BSNL kept charging them the normal tariff for all calls, claim these employees.

The anomaly came to light when a Sunam (Sangrur)-based NGO Sankalp gathered information under the RTI Act from the BSNL regarding the CUG scheme of the BSNL.

According to Sankalp volunteers, the scheme was launched for the Punjab government employees in August 2006 and its registration closed in November, the same year.

During this period, thousands of employees registered themselves for the scheme. Initially, the call charges and SMS charges between two members within the CUG were nil but later, in 2007, the call charges were fixed at 10p per minute and 40p per sms.

Several Punjab government staff, registered for the ‘Punjab government mobile plan’, discovered that even when they called other Punjab government employees, the calls were charged at the normal tariff.

“After this, an application under the RTI Act was filed with the BSNL for information on the employees registered under the scheme,” said a Sankalp volunteer.

The BSNL sources pointed out many employees did not give specific instructions for being part of the CUG due to which they could not be included in the scheme.

“The Punjab government mobile plan is a common plan available for the state employees. Once the plan is offered, the employees have to specifically give in a request to be included in the CUG. Once they are in the CUG, they will get the benefit the scheme. But till then, they will be charged at normal tariffs,” said a BSNL official.

The employees feel cheated. We will move court for return of charged by the BSNL for years," said an employee.

Chandigarh, April 9
The SAD today accused the Congress of trying to take the high moral ground by allowing Jagdish Tytler to ‘stage manage’ his withdrawal from the electoral fray even as the Punjab Congress heaved a sigh of relief at the turn of events.

Badal, in a statement here, also upped the ante by saying that the core issue was and still remained punishment for those guilty for the 1984 anti-sikh riots. He also asked the Congress high command to explain the circumstances under which the CBI gave a clean chit to Tytler.

The Chief Minister alleged that by stage-managing Tytler's ‘tamasha’ today, the Congress was showing an utter lack of moral and political courage even to take action against him. “They are deliberately allowing him an honourable exit and this is bound to outrage the Sikh sentiments even further," he said.

Badal also demanded a full-scale inquiry into allegations made by former Congress leader and Deputy Speaker Bir Devinder Singh that the Congress had been forced to act because Tytler had threatened to expose the party high command about the “persons at whose behest he organised the anti-Sikh pogrom”.

Bir Devinder, in a statement on the issue, said an external non-biased agency like the FBI or the Scotland Yard should be engaged under the aegis of the United Nation’s Rome Statute of setting up an International Court of Criminal Justice of which India is not yet a signatory.

He said this was important as the core issue of when justice would be finally administered still remained to be answered. He termed the withdrawal of the ticket to Tylter as only an “interim relief”.

Meanwhile the Punjab Congress is apparently relieved that the matter, which had the capacity of becoming a major poll issue, has been resolved with Tytler himself withdrawing from the race. The Punjab Congress is likely to take credit for prevailing upon the party to withdraw Tytler’s candidature.

Former Chief Minister and party campaign committee chairman Capt Amarinder Singh’s spokesman Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu said Tylter had taken a decision to withdraw from the race in keeping with the sentiments of the Sikh community. He said the Akalis were needlessly trying to make this a poll issue because its development plank had fallen on its face.

The decision has been largely welcomed in urban areas in the state where the Congress was expected to suffer in case it did not withdraw the nominations of both Tytler and Sajjan Kumar.

Jalandhar, April 9
Sensing threat of terror attacks on sportspersons as happened recently on Sri Lankan team in Pakistan, the Union government, sources said, would go for bulletproofing of several hundred buses and other vehicles to be used to transport the sportspersons from sports villages to stadiums during the Commonwealth games scheduled to be held in India next year.

As preparations for the games are on the Union government, sources said, had planned to get the buses and other vehicles required for the games bulletproofed. About 5,000 buses and other vehicles will be required for the games, it is learnt. The Union government is expected to hand over job of bulletproofing to the companies concerned shortly.

Earlier, organisers of the Indian Premier League of cricket had planned to get several SUVs and other vehicles bulletproofed to transport cricketers taking part in the league matches in the country. The organisers had approached a firm here for it .

As now the league will now be held in South Africa, the bulletproofing of the vehicles had been dropped. In fact, owing to perceived threat to the lives of crickets especially after what happened in Delhi, the league had to be shifted to South Africa from India where security forces were engaged in the conduct of Parliament elections.

Sunchit Sobti, Director of Laggar Industries Limited here , which had bullet -proofed rail engines, Army and police vehicles, said if the Union government wanted 1,000 vehicles for games, it would require one and half years to do the job. He said highly skilled work force would have to be mobilised for the job.

He said he was not aware of the Union government’s plan of bulletproofing vehicles for the games. He said, there could be possibility of such decision in view growing threat from radical elements to sportspersons and VIPs.

Sunchit said bulletproofing technology had improved in a few years. “ We have done hundreds of vehicles belonging to VIPs especially politicians, police, Army, paramilitary forces and other organisations”, he said.

He said most of the politicians from Uttar Pradesh had opted or bullet proofing of vehicles for Lok Sabha elections. “ It was owing to presence of mafia groups and other gangs in that area”, he said.

Besides it, politicians, police and other officers involved in operation duties from Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar where Naxalites and other radicals have presence opt for bullet -proofing of vehicles. He said vehicles were also made grenade- proof by his company.

He said his company had been busy for a few months due to heavy orders from politicians and VIPs for bullet- proofing of vehicles for campaigning in elections. However, rush was over now.

Even police force of some states is opting for bullet- proofing of helmets to avoid head injuries in operation against militants etc . 

Chandigarh, April 9
The Punjab and Haryana High Court wants the Patiala DC and the SSP to initiate civil and criminal action against those responsible for “committing fraud with a gram panchayat”. The case involves 204 kanal and seven marlas land in Bathoi Khurd gram panchayat in Patiala district.

The title of the land in dispute was declared in favour of sons, brother and nephews of former sarpanch Ajmer Singh, who at that time represented the gram panchayat in the matter.

Justice Ranjit Singh also made it clear that action had to be taken against any official found to be involved in the fraud. Copies of the order have been directed to be forwarded to the state DGP and the Chief Secretary for ensuring “proper follow up action”.

Justice Ranjit Singh observed the petition had been filed by the gram panchayat for quashing the orders dated December 22, 1994, passed by the Patiala Collector, vide which the title of the land in dispute was declared in favour of the private respondents.

“The primary ground of challenge is the earlier panchayat and sarpanch connived with the private respondents, his near relations, which led to passing of the impugned orders.

“Strange would it be to notice that sarpanch, Ajmer Singh, represented the panchayat against the private respondent, who were none other than his sons, brother and nephews.

“How the panchayat could have fairly defended the case, when sarpanch, who contested on behalf of the panchayat, was so closely related to the contesting respondents.

“The result is there for everyone to see. The present panchayat is rightly crying hoarse to seek setting-aside of these orders, ignoring the delay in its approach”.

Before parting with the order, Justice Ranjit Singh ruled: “I cannot help but make comments regarding the conduct of the then Sarpanch, Ajmer Singh.

He clearly deceived the panchayat and the entire village population and, thus, has betrayed the trust reposed in him to look after the interest of the panchayat. He favoured his sons, brothers and nephews and, thus, even himself. He, in fairness, could not have fairly and sincerely defended the gram panchayat…. His conduct, thus, can not be ignored. “

Allowing the writ petition, Justice Ranjit Singh ordered the setting aside of the impugned orders with direction to the SSP and the DC to look into the matter.

Chandigarh, April 9
Money worth crores has been embezzled in the Jagraon branch of HDFC bank, wherein the eight accused have filed a bail petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The police has registered a case of cheating against the zonal head of the bank, Vineet Arora; consultant head Kapil Dev Mohan; Amritpal Singh, Tejinderdeep Singh, Rajan Prashar, Manvir Kaur, Rajwant Kaur, Narinder Singh and Baljinder Singh, for misrepresenting a huge amount of the bank and fraudulently debiting the amount from the accounts of the account holders. Chand Singh, one of the witnesses, has stated that he had got three fixed deposits made in his son’s name.

However, Singh came to know that the FDRs had not been received from the Bombay branch and later he was informed that an amount of Rs 6.5 lakh had been debited from his account by a way of fraud.

Another witness in the case, Jatinder Singh, in his statement, said that his munim had deposited Rs 2 lakh on July 26, 2008 with the cashier of the bank. However, when Jatinder had gone to withdraw Rs 50,000 he came to know that only Rs 31,205 was outstanding in his account and officials of the bank had committed a fraud. There are several such complainants who have given their statement to the police.

The above said persons with the support of other persons had committed fraud and embezzlement of huge amount at the upper level in the bank record, regarding which an inquiry is being conducted. 

As per the information, the accused with the support of their relatives and other companion had committed embezzlement of amount with the bank and its customers at the upper level and their amount had been transferred in their account and their relations with fraud. 

Bathinda, April 9
Poverty and domestic quarrel reportedly led a woman to commit suicide by jumping into a canal along with her two daughters on Tuesday evening The bodies were recovered today by an NGO from two different places in the district.

While Sahara Jan Seva volunteers were searching the bodies, the administration remained unconcerned.Even cops reached the spot, after the recovery of bodies and expressed ignorance of the incident.

Tara Rani (26) of Guru Ki Nagri colony in the city had dispute with husband Ram Virsa on Tuesday evening. She took daughters Neenu (3) and Komal (2) along with her and left the house. When they did not return till midnight, family members started search for them. On Wednesday, they informed NGO volunteers, showing them photographs of the missing.

NGO volunteers recognised one of the girls as they had recovered a body from small canal at Jai Singh Wala village on Wednesday. After handing over the body to the bereaved kin, they started search for the rest two.

On Thursday morning, they found bodies of the woman and her daughter from th canal near Sirsa railway crossing on Dabwali road. After pulling out bodies volunteers informed the Vardhman police post, which reached late and sent bodies to the mortuary of Civil hospital, Bathinda. The cops said, “We were not aware of the incident. We have come here to follow the orders of some officer.” After an hour at the hospital, cops of Vardhman police post were yet to come for further action.

Ram Virsa husband of the deceased, man said, “We had minor altercation but she kept it in her mind and took such a grave step .”

Municipal councilor Rajinder Kaur Brar, said, “They were married four years ago .She was of good nature but stressed due to poor financial status.”

SSP Ashish Chaudhary was l unaware of the day’s development. Later, he said, “Being part of the district, where the force remains busy in VIP visits, you too know about our helplessness. But I will order my subordinate to deal with case.”

SDM, Bathinda, Dalwinderjeet Singh expressed ignorance of the incident. He said, “I have received information from you only, had we information earlier, the rescue operation would be joined by us also.”