Guru Ki Dhab (Faridkot), September 17
Celebrating the holy occasion of annual Jor Mela here, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today announced a government college for Jaito and a polytechnic college for Faridkot. He gave an assurance to initiate the construction soon.

Though a religious stage due to the presence of Guru Granth Sahib, it got a political colour as the speakers were fully loaded with political sarcasm against the SAD (B)'s arch-rival, the Congress.

Known for his approach to dominate the Sikh affair in the region, Badal said the SAD (B) would not allow a separate SGPC for Haryana at any cost. He accused the Haryana government of trying to divide the Sikhs on religious lines by setting up a separate SGPC.

Apart from the CM, other party men also raised the issue of SGPC and trained their guns at the Congress at the Centre and in Haryana saying, "Besides dividing the Sikhs, the separate SGPC is intended to take control of the 72-odd gurdwaras and Sikh institutions in Haryana."

Badal alleged, "Punjabis have always been given step-motherly treatment on social, religious and economic fronts by the Congress-led Central government."

"It is just due to the negative approach of the Central government that farmers in Punjab, despite putting a major share in the total food production of the country, are now under the debt of Rs 25,000 crore," alleged the CM while addressing a conference on the occasion of a religious fair at the gurdwara.

Later, while addressing media, the CM expressed delight as he quoted a magazine that declared Punjab as the number one state in the country. But he hushed up a query about the future of most major projects launched in the state.

Among others, Balwinder Singh Bhunder, Mantar Singh Brar and Gurdev Badal were the prominent persons who addressed the gathering.

Bathinda, September 17
The ongoing lawyers-transporters tussle in Bathinda took a fresh turn today with the district police giving in to the days-long protest of the lawyers. Accepting the lawyers’ demand, the police booked all accused transporters and their staff under the sections of law, which the advocates had asked for.

The advocates were unaware about it till this evening. Earlier, they staged a dharna outside the SSP office and accused the police of indulging in corrupt practices. They played in public an audio-recording of a sub-inspector hurling abuses at a person on telephone.

However, on receiving the information about the acceptance of their demand, they postponed their state-level dharna, which was slated to be held here on Friday.

Meanwhile, transporters have taken a stand against the police for registering an ‘unjustified’ case against them. They accused the police of booking them just to please the agitating advocates.

Issuing a press release, officials of the Private Bus Operators’ Union, Bathinda, warned the police not to take any action against their men.

They stated that after the incident took place on September 14, the police had registered a case against unidentified persons. But under the pressure of lawyers the very next day, the police added section 342 of the IPC to the FIR. Yet again on September 16, the police added section 364 of the IPC to the FIR and booked their district president Happy Singh along with five other staffers of bus companies by names. And today, section 307 (attempt to murder) was added to the FIR.

Irate over the happenings, the bus operators announced that they would lodge a peaceful dharna outside the Mini-secretariat here on Tuesday. They added that if any of their colleagues was arrested, they would hold a ‘Chakka Jam’ rally throughout the district.

The transporters have also written to the Punjab and Haryana High Court Bar Council to look into the matter. They claimed that both the parties had played an objectionable role, but the situation turned nasty only when advocates started damaging their buses, resulting in a clash.

The transporters demanded that the police should act in a fair manner, and added that the case would have been registered only after going through the video clippings of the incident. They maintained that they were ready to bear punishment, but only if they were found guilty in a fair investigation.

Abohar, September 17
Sriganganagar-Haridwar Express special train will be back on the track by Friday, a spokesman for the Ambala Railway division informed Hanuman Dass Goyal, joint secretary of the railway Passenger Association (North Zone) on Thursday evening.

Speaking over the phone, the spokesman confirmed that the train that had run successfully from July 10-31, will be restored on September 18 following persistent demand from different NGOs.

There will be no change in the timetable. The train is scheduled to leave Sriganganagar by 5.10 pm to reach Abohar at 6 pm, Bathinda at 8 pm and Ambala at 12 pm. It will reach Haridwar by 3.30 am and take return trip at 4 am to reach Sriganganagar by 4 pm.

The train will leave Sriganganagar on Friday, Saturday, Monday and Wednesday only, there will be three days-off.

The railways have decided to run the train till October 19. The extension will depend on the number of passengers, who chose to travel during the month-long trial. — OC

Bathinda, September 17
With the arrest of two persons, the city police today claimed to have cracked six cases related to snatching and robberies registered in the past three months.

According to the police, accused Gagan Deep Sharma of Harpal Nagar and Dinesh Kumar of Dhobiana Basti were arrested with Rs 80,000 in cash, a motorcycle, a knife and some mobile phones apart from a fake Press identity card.

During preliminary interrogation, the accused admitted to a robbery of Rs one lakh committed on September 11. Further, they accepted snatching Rs 40,000 from a trader near Ganesh Basti by inflicting injuries to him on September 12. — TNS

Bathinda, September 17
In an old case, the Rampura police has booked 10 officials of a bank and the Punjab Financial Commission (PFC) for committing a breach of trust with a factory owner of the town.

According to details available, the officials, in an attempt to recover some loan from one Rajnish Goyal of a rubber manufacturing company, had seized his factory.

Lodging a complaint with the police, Rajnish Goyal alleged that the officials hatched a criminal conspiracy and changed the lists of articles took in possession.

Acting upon the complaint, the Rampura police registered a case against all accused under sections 409 and 120-B of the IPC.

However, no one could be arrested.

Bathinda, September 17
The Xavierites of Bathinda have earned yet another feather in their cap. Armaan Bhullar of class IX has done the school proud by securing first position in Punjab and 13th position all over India in National Talent Search Examination (NTSE).

Rajat Garg of class IX too has excelled in the same and both the boys are proud recipients of scholarship till doctorate. The management and principal have conveyed their heartfelt wishes to both the students, their parents and staff members wished them luck for their future endeavours. — TNS