Jalandhar, June 23
Expressing solidarity with Ludhiana Tehsildar G.S. Benipal, revenue officials of Jalandhar went on an indefinite mass leave and staged a dharna to demand strict action against the accused.

Led by District Revenue Officer (DRO) Bhupinderjeet Singh, members of the Revenue Officer Association, the Kanugos Association, the Patwar Union and the Ministerial Staff Union staged a dharna in the District Administrative Complex here on Tuesday.

Bhupinderjeet Singh, Kanugos Association President Jarnail Singh, Punjab Patwar Union Senior Vice-President Baldev Singh and its district President Dalbir Singh demanded that the inquiry into the stamp-paper scam unearthed by Benipal should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

NAWANSHAHR: Employees of the Revenue Department started a dharna to protest against the attack on Major G.S. Benipal by political leaders and the inaction of the senior civil and police officials, here on Tuesday.

Activists of the Revenue Patwar Union and the Kanugos Association took a mass casual leave to join the dharna.

Various organisations, including the Punjab Ministerial Staff Association, the Deed Writers Association, the Ex-Servicemen Union, the Punjab Human Rights Organisation, the Typists Union, the Bar Association, the Class-IV Employees Union and the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Naujwan Sabha, also joined the dharna.

The protesters resolved to continue their stir till the acceptance of their demands which included stern action against the accused in the assault case and suspension of the Deputy Commissioner and the SSP for remaining mute spectators.

HOSHIARPUR: All the revenue officials here, including Kanungos and Patwaris, remained on leave here on Tuesday on the second day of their agitation in protest against the alleged murderous assault on Major G.S. Benipal at his office in Ludhiana.

Due to the agitation the work in the revenue offices came to a standstill, causing not only great inconvenience to the public but also heavy loss to the state exchequer. Activists, led by Hoshiarpur Tehsildar Harminder Singh and Bhunga Tehsildar Manohar Lal and Naib-Tehsildar Manjit Singh staged a dharna in the tehsil complex from 11 am to 2 pm.

They were demanding transfer of the Deputy Commissioner and the SSP of Ludhiana, who allegedly failed in performing their duty to protect Benipal. They further demanded arrest of all the accused and provision of security to Benipal. 

Nawanshahr, June 23
With the twin aims of preserving the glorious tradition of serving the “gau mata” (cow) as well as to save residents of a number of villages situated in the Shivalik foothills falling in Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, Hoshiarpur and Ropar districts from the menace of stray cattle, Acharya Chetnanand has launched a drive “Each one, adopt one” for ensuring active participation of the masses in the “gau raksha andolan” (save cow drive). 

The drive is getting momentum day by day as the enthusiastic followers of the Bhuriwale Trust have so far caught more than 500 abandoned cows for adoption and protection.

“With this the abandoned cows have started getting proper shelter, fodder and care in the houses and the villagers have been relieved of the nuisance being created by the stray animals by damaging their crops or causing,” said Tirath Ram Bhumbla, spokesman of the Maharaj Lal Dass Brahmanand Bhuriwale Garibdassi Trust, Tapparian Khurd, and the Maharaj Bhuriwale Garibdassi Educational Trust, Pojewal. He said the families coming forward for rearing up stray cows were being supported by the trusts. Proper medical care is also being provided to the cows.

Though there are proposals for providing funds for setting up “gaushalas” by the Central and state governments in the area, Acharya Chetnanand is of the view that merely setting up of “gaushalas” would not serve the purpose in its true spirit. “Spending huge amounts on ‘gaushalas’ and bearing recurring expenses would be futile sans active participation of the people. Hence, he thought of launching a motivation drive which would not only ensure active participation of the people but would serve the purpose of ‘gau raksha’ in a very simple and economical manner,” Bhumbla said and added that the Acharya had been visiting the villages for motivating the followers to achieve the target of rearing at least 1,000 stray cows. 

Hoshiarpur, June 23
Relatives of deceased NRI Chanchal Singh and residents of Mehmowal village and local Mohalla Akash Colony (led by Manjit Kaur, president of Mahila Mandal, Akash Colony, and Jarnail Singh of Mehmowal) staged a dharna and blocked traffic for more than an hour after placing the body of Chanchal Singh in front of the Sadar police station here today.

Their protest was aimed at pressurising the police to arrest Chanchal Singh’s wife Sukhwinder Kaur and her relatives Gurmit Kaur, Simarjit Singh, Manjinder Kaur, all of Akash Colony, and Ranvir Kaur, wife of Bablu of Mukhliana, for allegedly harassing Chanchal Singh and ultimately causing his death.

According to the complaint of Jarnail Singh, brother of Chanchal Singh, the latter had returned to his house from Dubai on June 21, 2009. Jarnail alleged that Sukhwinder Kaur used to harass Chanchal Singh which compelled him to commit suicide by consuming some poisonous substance here yesterday.

State vice-president of the Shiv Sena (Bal Thackeray) Ranjit Rana, district president Harish Bhalla and Mahila wing president Kamaljit Banger, who were also participating in the protest, alleged that the police first arrested Sukhwinder Kaur after her name figured in the FIR but released her after some time due to reasons best known to it. Later, the police informed the demonstrators that Sukhwinder Kaur had been arrested under section 306 of the IPC.

Then the protesters demanded the arrest of all the other accused and lifted the dharna and blockade. They took the body of Chanchal Singh to their village for cremation.

Meanwhile, on being informed of the death of Chanchal Singh, his sister Pushpinder Kaur suffered a shock and died at her residence in Adampur today morning.

Jalandhar, June 23
Unaware of the withdrawal of the bandh call, given by various organisations of the the Valmiki community, certain activists blocked the Nakodar-Kala Sanghian road at Uggi village and smashed windowpanes of a private buse parked at a petrol station this morning.

According to the police, the protesters blocked the road early in the morning and restrained the vehicular traffic from crossing the road.

The SHO, accompanied by a police party, reached the spot and tried to pacify the protesters, but certain activists smashed windowpanes of a private bus parked at a nearby petrol station. However, no such other incident occurred in the district today.

Following assurance by the Punjab Chief Minister, Parkash Singh Badal, the various organisations of the Valmiki community withhold the Punjab bandh call on Monday.