Pathankot, July 11
Two-and-a-half-year-old Ekta is not aware of the fact that her fate has done the worst to her.

Destiny dealt her a cruel blow when her mother died on July 6, of brain haemorrhage. As if it wasn’t enough, her father abandoned her, at the very hospital where her mother had been treated, within a few hours of her death. He left the hospital on the pretext of bringing an ambulance to shift the body to his rented house and never came back.

Desperately missing the warmth of the hands and laps of her parents, ever since her mother’s death, her innocent questioning eyes have been scanning strangers for a hint of her parents somewhere.

Ekta has been reduced to a destitute by her father Sonu Masih who has ‘permanently’ disappeared from the town without a clue of his whereabouts.

Though, Babita, mother of Ekta, has been laid to rest with her funeral being solemnised today, Ekta has found ‘refuge’ in the lap of Urmila Devi, the landlady of the house (in the Shivaji Nagar locality of the town) where she, along with her parents, had been living on rent.

After having failed to trace the whereabouts of Sonu Masih, Urmila Devi, her son Kulwinder Singh and her daughter-in-law have been putting in their best efforts to extend all kinds of care and comforts to Ekta.

Kulwinder Singh said though three families belonging to Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir and Pathankot, had approached him with a desire to adopt Ekta, he urged them to contact the district police and civil authorities for the same.

He said if Ekta did not find better parents, he would bring her up like his own daughter despite the fact that his real daughter has been married.

He disclosed that though he along with the police officials had made concerted efforts to trace out the kin of both Sonu Masih and Babita, their efforts proved futile as all the phone numbers found in the notebook of Sonu Masih and Babita were either not answering or not existing.

Nawal Kishore, SHO, police station division number two, when contacted, said Babita Masih was buried today after a case under section 174 of the CrPC was registered in connection with her death. He added the police waited for the mandatory 72 hours for Sonu Masih before carrying out the funeral of Babita.

He said so far no criminal proceedings had been initiated against Sonu Masih for abandoning his daughter.

Jalandhar, July 11
Parents of students studying in MGN Public School, Adarsh Nagar, today staged a dharna protesting against the fee hike. Sloganeering against the school management, the parents said the school had already increased the fee by 10 per cent in April this year raising it up by Rs 150 per month.

They said again they had now received a notice that the fee was being further increased by Rs 200 a month.

The agitated parents threatened that they would not let the school function on Monday unless the fee hike is rolled back. The school chairman Jarnail Singh Pasricha said that he had held a meeting with the parents and tried to convince them on the issue.

“We normally increase the fee once by 10 per cent each year but this time we have to do it again so that we are able to pay up increased salaries to our staff in accordance with the sixth pay commission. The hike in salary is costing us Rs 600 per child per month but we have asked the parents to pay only Rs 200 per month. We have three schools and the management is itself bearing a huge burden of increased salaries”, he opined.

Tarn Taran, July 11
The row between the District Education Officer (Elementary) and teachers led to the suspension of four teachers, which resulted in resentment among the teachers.

The row started about six months back when the DEO, Sunita Kiran, on her visit to Government Elementary School, Goindwal, had allegedly threatened the staff of the school and a woman teacher fell unconscious. She had to be admitted to the Civil Hospital.

Later on, when the teachers were protesting against the DEO, she lodged a complaint against more than 20 teachers, including their eight leaders, with the police for allegedly interfering in her official duty.

According to information, the four leaders who have been suspended by the Education Department are Sardool Singh Usman, Kewal Singh (both lecturers), Harbhajan Singh Johal and Paramjit Singh Pannu. Pannu is the district president of the Adhyapak Dal, a pro-SAD organisation.

An emergency meeting of the district unit of the Adhyapak Sangharsh Committee (ASC) was held here today to discuss the situation arisen after the suspension of the four leaders. The ASC decided to organise a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) on July 17 and to intensify the agitation in case the department failed to give justice to the agitating teachers.

The ASC has demanded to cancel the case registered against the teachers and sought the reinstatement of the suspended teachers.

Batala, July 11
Members of several Dalit families of Sandal Pur village, Tehsil Batala, made a self-immolation threat in protest against the excesses committed upon them by an Akali sarpanch of the same village.

Narrating the whole incident which compelled them to resort to the protest, Mohan Singh one of the members of the victimised families lamented that despite the matter being brought to the notice of the Rangar Nangal Police, no action has yet been taken against the culprits by the police.

Moreover, all the weapons which were deposited at the police station at the time of the Lok Sabha Elections had been returned to their concerned owners with him being the only exception as the police had not returned his rifle, which again is due to political pressure on the police, he said.

Hence, all the members of the seven Dalit families, which were victimised simply due to their alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) at the time of the Lok Sabha Elections, have pledged to immolate themselves at the time of visit of Chief Minister Punjab Parkash Singh Badal at Kahnuwan.

Mohan Singh said sarpanch Harpal Singh (SAD), along with his followers, had attacked seven dalit families on May 31 this year, injuring 9 members of the families. The sarpanch had again attempted to attack the families on July 5.SSP Naresh Arora assured that he would take action against the culprits at the earliest. — OC

Pathankot, July 11
The police nabbed two persons, identified as Balbir Singh and Tarsem Lal, and seized a packet containing four kg of narcotic powder.

On a tip-off, the Intelligence Wing and the police laid a naka at Kiran Chowk on the Pathankot-Amritsar road and intercepted a Maruti (DL-08-C-0667). On seeing the police, the occupants of the car threw a packet containing narcotics in the bushes along the roadside. The police took the car and occupants into its custody.

We are investigating the matter to find other contacts and main source of supply of drugs, said SP Harpreet Singh, adding that the police was also trying to trace the persons to whom the supply was to be made.

A case has been registered under the various sections of the NDPS Act.