Hoshiarpur, June 3
Law and order will be maintained at any cost during the funeral of Sant Ramanand at Ballan in Jalandhar tomorrow.

This was stated by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal while talking to mediapersons at the residence of former minister Balbir Singh at Miani, 40 km from here, this afternoon.

Badal said none of the mischievous elements would be allowed to repeat the violence and arson in the state.

Answering a question regarding compensation to all those persons whose properties were damaged in the recent violence and arson incidents following the assassination of Sant Ramanand, he said all the cases were being reviewed and after finalising them due compensation would be given to the sufferers.

He had met Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh yesterday and had taken up the issue of racist attacks on Indians in Australia. The Prime Minister told him that he had already discussed the issue with his Australian counterpart who had promised to take all kinds of measures for the safety and security of Indian students there.

Earlier, Parkash Singh Badal participated in the bhog ceremony on the 59th death anniversary of Baba Prem Singh at Begowal.

Tarn Taran, June 3
The controversy which started between the teachers and District Education Officer (Elementary) Sunita Kiran last week took a new turn when the police registered a criminal case against 17 representatives of different teacher organisations on her complaint for interfering in her office work.

Following this, the agitating teachers held an emergency meeting and decided to intensify their struggle against DEO Sunita Kiran who reprimanded teacher Kuldeep Kaur of Government Elementary School, Goindwal, on May 29 after which she fell unconscious and was admitted to a hospital.

According to the information, a case under sections 332, 186, 506, 511, 148 and 149 of the IPC has been registered against Block Elementary Education Officer (BEEO) Mangal Singh, centre head teacher Hardeep Singh, District President of the Adhyapak Dal Parmjit Singh Pannu, District President of the Government Teachers Union Sardul Singh, state President of the Government School Teachers Union Harbhjan Singh Johal, Punjab Subordinate Services Federation state leader Balkar Singh Valtoha, Kewal Singh and about 10 others who are yet to be identified.

The DEO, in her complaint, alleged that Mangal Singh and Hardeep Singh, who have already been suspended by the department for allegedly misbehaving with her, interfered in her duty on June 1. She further alleged that the leaders had also threatened her.

The agitating teachers’ organisations have been demanding action against the DEO. Balkar Singh Valtoha and Harbhajan Singh Johal said the DEO, on her visit to the Goindwal school on May 29 pressurised teachers to give their statement against Mangal Singh and Hardeep Singh for allegedly misbehaving with her (DEO).

The teacher leaders said they had already started agitating against the DEO for registering a criminal case against them. They alleged that the district administration was favouring the DEO as no case had been registered against the DEO on the complaint of Kuldeep Kaur who remained under treatment at the Civil Hospital for four days.

The teacher organisation warned that they would soon start a state-level agitation from here against the DEO.

SSP Surinderpal Singh Parmar said a case had been registered on the complaint of DEO Kiran against the teachers.

Jalandhar, June 3
The district health authorities today swung into action following reports of the outbreak of gastroenteritis and food poisoning in different parts of the city. On the complaint of Pooja, managing director of an academy located in the Green Park area, a team of health officials visited Headquarters restaurant and took samples of eatables which made over 55 students of the academy ill.

Talking to The Tribune, Jalandhar Civil Surgeon Dr S.S. Walia said a team of doctors led by District Health Officer (DHO) Roop Lal visited Headquarters restaurant and collected samples of burgers, french-fries and other eatables which the academy had ordered for the party.

Dr Roop Lal claimed that samples of cake were also taken from Kaypee Bakery as the academy students had also consumed cake from there.

The samples have been sent to a Chandigarh-based laboratory of the Punjab government to ascertain the exact cause of the sickness.

He claimed that reports would arrive after 40 days and action would be initiated accordingly.

There were also complaints of food poisoning from over half a dozen persons from the city. Narinder Singh, a resident of Chhoti Baradari, complained to have fallen sick along with his wife and other family members after consuming eatables from the same restaurant on Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Health Department today visited the gastroenteritis-hit areas in Basti Danishmandan and collected samples of contaminated water.

Talking to The Tribune, Dr T.P. Singh, district epidemiologist, claimed that 24 cases of mild gastroenteritis were detected in the Basti. The area residents were distributed tablets of chlorine, besides other medicines. The residents were also asked to take various precautions before consuming water. The Civil Surgeon, however, claimed that the officials of the Jalandhar Municipal Corporation had been asked to make all arrangements to provide safe drinking water to the residents, besides maintaining sanitation to prevent the outbreak of water-borne diseases.

Hoshiarpur, June 3
Believe or not but it is true that Dasuya police last evening added section 376 of the IPC after six years in an abduction case registered under sections 363 and 366 of the IPC on October 3, 2003, of a girl of Chack Bamo village who had given birth to a son and a daughter during this period.

According to police sources, Makhan Singh of Chack Bamo, presently residing in Gursian village, got an FIR registered on October 3, 2003, under the aforesaid sections of the IPC against Devinder Singh and Gurwinder Singh of Chack Suleman for allegedly abducting his teenaged daughter Babli on September 27, 2003, for marriage purpose.

The case remained unsolved and the girl was not recovered. Somehow, the police arrested Gurwinder Singh on May 5, 2009. During investigation it was found that the arrested accused had married Babli who gave birth to a son and a daughter during the period. The police also recovered Babli yesterday and after getting her medically examined by a doctor of the Civil Hospital, Dasuya, added section 376 of the IPC in the case.

Jalandhar, June 3
Two persons, including a woman, committed suicide in different areas here during the past 24 hours.

While a Model House resident, Sheetal, allegedly took the extreme step following harassment for dowry by her in-laws, the body of Amarjit Singh, a youth from Kartarpur, was found hanging from the ceiling of a shop in Mohalla Sant Nagar in Kishanpura this morning. According to the police, Sheetal had been harassed by her in-laws for dowry. A case on the complaint of the deceased’s mother has been registered against Pradeep Kumar, husband of the deceased, his mother, father and sister.

The body of Amarjit Singh was found hanging from the ceiling of a room at the terrace of shop owned by Baldeb Singh in the Kishanpura area this morning. The police has sent the bodies to the Civil Hospital for post-mortem examination.

Tarn Taran: Jaspreet Kaur (26), a married woman of Marhana village, falling under Harike police station, committed suicide by consuming poison last night.

A case under Sections 304 B and 34 of the IPC has been registered against her husband Heera Singh and his brother Darshan Singh.

Jaspreet was married to Heera four years back and had a one-and-a-half-year-old son. Ajit Singh, father of the deceased, in his statement to the police said Heera used to harass his daughter for dowry.