The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS

50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE
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Snail mail has survived the threat e-mail posed
Bathinda, June 8
Staff at work in the Post Office located in Dhobi Bazaar, Bathinda, They start their work at 7 in the morning when most of us are either sleeping or busy with the newspapers. These men carry huge bundles and start sorting them out according to the areas. We are talking about men clad in ‘khakhi’ who work with the Postal Department. The colour of their dress has, however, now turned blue. The rest remains the same.

Staff at work in the Post Office located in Dhobi Bazaar, Bathinda, on Monday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Bridge caves in, villages cut off
Fazilka, June 8
A bridge over the seepage drain in border village Muthianwali collapsed as a heavily loaded truck-trailer tried to cross over. Even as the bridge caved in and the truck-trailer carrying 400 bags of Gypsum fertiliser fell into the seepage drain, no loss of human life was reported. The truck driver has been booked under section 431 of the IPC for his alleged negligence in trying to cross over the bridge which could not withstand a weight of more than nine tonnes.

The trophies that the Bathinda PRTC Pensioners’ Association presented to the senior pensioners as a mark of respect on Monday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

SAD infighting comes to fore
Dharamkot (Moga), June 8
Infighting in the local leadership of the SAD between the chief parliamentary secretary Sheetal Singh who is also the local MLA and his intra-party rival Kuldip Singh Dhos has come out on to the streets.

Anganwari workers gherao CDPO
Fazilka, June 8
Aanganwari workers today gheroed the Child Development and Project officer (CDPO) and did not allow her to leave the office in protest against her alleged indifferent attitude towards their demands including payment of honorarium. The situation became tense when the workers bolted the office from the outside.

Rise in theft cases lowers residents’ faith in cops
Bathinda, June 8
Despite all efforts, the district police is finding itself unsuccessful in nabbing the thieves, who are having a field day in the district day in day out.

Labour pangs in paddy season
Bathinda, June 8
Agriculturist Major Singh's three days wait at the railway station here has proved futile in finding migrant farm labour to transplant paddy saplings in his field.

Agriculturists are camping at railway stations to hire farm labour in paddy season. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

	Baby lost & found case Blood samples sent for DNA test Rajay Deep Tribune News Service Bathinda, June 8 To end all speculation about the identity of the newly born that was stolen and later recovered and reunited with his mother on June 4, the district police today deposited the blood samples of the child and his mother with the PGIMER, Chandigarh, for DNA test. As per the details of the case, police had nabbed the accused woman, who had kidnapped the baby from the Civil Hospital in Bathinda, from Barnala, the same day. Further, the police have been conducting raids to nab the two other accused, the husband of the arrested lady and her paramour, involved in the case. According to the police, the arrested woman, Kiran Kaur of Sohal Patti in Barnala had mischievously taken away the baby from his grandmother. Immediately after, she fled with the infant in a rickshaw to the bus stand from where she boarded a bus to Rampura Phul, where her husband, Manpreet Singh was waiting for her in a hired taxi. On the other hand, the baby’s family had raised an alarm and the police had launched the investigations. Meanwhile, the taxi driver, who dropped them at their house, watched the news of the missing baby, on a TV news channel. Suspecting that the couple was involved in it, he informed the police that nabbed the the woman along with the baby in question. After that, the police reunited the baby with his mother on the night of June 4. Since that day, a number of questions were being raised over the identity of the baby. Confirming the details, SHO Kotwali, Harmeek Singh Deol said, “We have deposited the blood samples for the DNA test today. We are hopeful of receiving the report within a week. Once the report arrives, all questions will be answered and it will be an evidence that would be submitted in the court proceedings.”
	Sexually abused minor Dalit refuses to give blood samples Kulwinder Sandhu Tribune News Service Moga, June 8 Police today summoned the minor Dalit girl, who was sexually abused by the wards of influential families, in the office of the DSP (D) here to persuade her to give blood samples of her baby girl for DNA examination to find out her parentage. However, the girl, in a written statement given to the DSP (D), has refused to give the blood samples stating that she did not want to get involved in any controversy and lead a peaceful life. Her parents, relatives, some villagers and a former sarpanch accompanied her to the DSP office. A resident of the nearby Ramuwala Kalan village, she gave birth to a baby girl in the district hospital on April 19, this year. Initially, the police did not register a criminal case probably under political pressure but when the incident was reported in The Tribune, an FIR was lodged against six persons on secret information under sections 376 and 506 of the IPC. The Punjab State Commission for Scheduled Castes took a suo motu notice of the news item in The Tribune and pulled up the police authorities, following which ASI Gurmail Singh, responsible for adopting an insensitive attitude towards the incident, was immediately suspended and the figure of the accused persons was reduced to two, besides adding the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. Meanwhile, member, SC Commission, Dalip Singh Pandhi told TNS that the statement of the minor girl had no 'legal value' and as per the law, it was the prime duty of the district magistrate and the sub-divisional magistrate to find out the actual culprits and take this case to a logical conclusion. “The DNA test of the baby and all suspects are essential in this case to find out the actual culprits," he said. On the other hand, it was learnt that the police has not arrested any person and also did not proceed further to investigate this case on the pretext that the victim had refused to identify any person who abused her. Even in the magisterial inquest conducted by the additional deputy commissioner Mahinder Singh Kainth, the victim has refused to identify the culprits.
	Snail mail has survived the threat e-mail posed Anjali Singh Deswal Tribune News Service Bathinda, June 8 They start their work at 7 in the morning when most of us are either sleeping or busy with the newspapers. These men carry huge bundles and start sorting them out according to the areas. We are talking about men clad in ‘khakhi’ who work with the Postal Department. The colour of their dress has, however, now turned blue. The rest remains the same. Some years ago, when the e-mail system came into being, there was a belief that the postal system would slowly vanish. But the system still remains and is flourishing. Thanks to the banks that believe in the postal system and send ATM and bank statements through post. Mobile companies sending bills to subscribers through these men had been equally supportive. Bits of papers containing emotional expression have definitely vanished from the bundles of the mail that the Postal Department receives because we have limited them to e-mails and mobile phones. While talking to the post master and other employees of the Bathinda’s main Post Office, TNS tried to delve into the details of how the postal system sustains itself in the era of e-mail and internet. It was found that 41 employees work from 7 am till 9 pm and handle almost 6,000 mails daily. The received mails are sorted and the postmen collect the mails of their respective areas. They deliver them ignoring the weather conditions. Letterboxes throughout the city are opened, the mail inside is collected, sorted and sent to the railway station twice a day, i.e. at 2 pm and 6 pm. Apart from handling the postal mail, the Post Office employees also open and maintain saving bank accounts, recurring deposit accounts, term deposit accounts, national saving certificate and Kissan Vikas Patra. These schemes are very popular in the rural areas because villagers generally do not have bank accounts to handle their money. The latest with the post offices are electronic money order, the Western Union Money Transfer which is booming as most of the Punjabi youth that migrated to foreign lands utilise its services. The advantage of the Indian postal system over private postal services, as stated by the post office employees, was that post offices were more systematic. “We are systematic, and guarantee delivery of your mail or parcel, which is missing in private services,” the post master said. Certain facts about the Indian Postal Service — India is the first country to issue a postage stamp; it is also the first country to fly a plane carrying mail from Allahabad; and the highest post office in the world is also in India, at Sikkim.
	Bridge caves in, villages cut off Our Correspondent Fazilka, June 8 A bridge over the seepage drain in border village Muthianwali collapsed as a heavily loaded truck-trailer tried to cross over. Even as the bridge caved in and the truck-trailer carrying 400 bags of Gypsum fertiliser fell into the seepage drain, no loss of human life was reported. The truck driver has been booked under section 431 of the IPC for his alleged negligence in trying to cross over the bridge which could not withstand a weight of more than nine tonnes. General Reserve Engineering Force (GREF) had clearly set up a board displaying the warning, "weak bridge, capacity 9 tonne." The truck driver ignored the warning and drove away the vehicle with more than 20 tonnes loaded on it to the bridge which ultimately caved in. Had the driver adhered to the instructions, the mishap could have been prevented. Since this was the only connecting bridge, the border villages have virtually been cut off from the Fazilka town.
	SAD infighting comes to fore Tribune News Service Dharamkot (Moga), June 8 Infighting in the local leadership of the SAD between the chief parliamentary secretary Sheetal Singh who is also the local MLA and his intra-party rival Kuldip Singh Dhos has come out on to the streets. A majority of the municipal councillors at the behest of Dhos had today raised the banner of revolt against the council president Pritpal Kaur who is a loyal supporter of the MLA. As many as 10 out of the total of 13 councillors met the executive officer Devinder Singh Toor and gave him a memorandum requesting to call a meeting of the council so that they could bring a no-confidence motion against the woman president. Earlier, Dhos called a meeting of the councillors in which eight SAD-BJP councillors, one each of the Congress and the CPI, participated and pledged to remove the woman president against whom they levelled allegations of non-performance. It may be mentioned that Sheetal Singh is the son-in-law of veteran Akali leader Gurdev Singh Badal. He has become the MLA for the third consecutive term from Dharamkot assembly constituency, which was earlier a reserved constituency. The MLA belongs to the reserved category and thus there was no competition against him. Now, the delimitation of the constituency has made it a general seat. Dhos, belonging to a Jat Sikh family who could not earlier contest the assembly elections was eying a party ticket to contest the assembly election. Therefore, for the past few months, he has been using his influence in every possible way to emerge stronger among the Akalis in the area. The revolt by councillors in the Dharamkot local body against their own president is seen as a political gimmick of Dhos among the political circles to emerge stronger within the party in his area.

Rise in theft cases lowers residents’ faith in cops
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, June 8
Despite all efforts, the district police is finding itself unsuccessful in nabbing the thieves, who are having a field day in the district day in day out.

On Sunday only, the police recorded more than half a dozen theft cases. Such a huge number is leading to residents losing faith in the police.

On the one hand, residents of the district are reeling under terror while on the other, they are accusing the police of being hand-in-glove with the thieves, as the percentage of cracking theft and snatching cases is almost nil.

One Baldev Singh of the Power House road complained to the city police that an unidentified person stole his red-coloured motorcycle from outside the bus stand on Sunday.

Similarly, one Bir Inder Singh of Kotfatta lodged a complaint with the police about the theft of his white Maruti-800 car.

One Narender Singh of Jujhar Singh Nagar locality complained that some unidentified persons broke open his house on Sunday morning when he had gone to a Gurdwara.

On return, he found the things scattered and an 'almirah' open. About the loss, he stated that it could be assessed only when his wife and son return to the city.

In yet another case, Babu Ram, inspector with the Punjab Agro, lodged a complaint with the Rampura police about the theft of wheat that was lying in a store at Lehra Dhoorkot village. He estimated the loss at Rs 3.38 lakh. One Rajinder Singh accused some unidentified persons of stealing copper worth Rs 10,000 from an electricity transformer at Gill Kalan village.

An ex-Sarpanch of Balianwali village reported to the city police that some unidentified persons stole the Maruti-800 car of his kin who came here today to buy some medicines from a shop on the Mall road.

In all these reported incidents, the police registered cases under the sections related to theft.

However, despite installing check-posts across the district, the police could neither arrest anyone nor recover any of the stolen articles.

Ashish Chaudhary, SSP Bathinda, said, “We are putting in our best to nab the miscreants — installing check-posts and gearing up the detective work. One gang had been busted recently but it is apparent that there are some other groups, who are involved in these activities.”