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Now, Libya dreams go sour
40 Punjabi youths want to return home

Nawanshahr, September 20
As many as 65 Indian youths, including 40 Punjabis, who have gone to work as labourers in CKG Company in Libya about one and half years ago, are allegedly been exploited by their Pakistani contractor as they have not been paid their salaries for the past six months.

Jeet Ram and Sheesho, parents of Harbhajan Dass and residents of Rasulpur village in Nawanshahr, await safe return of their son from Libya. Photo: Parmod Bharti

Tikshan Sud plants saplings on his birthday
Hoshiarpur, September 20
Punjab Minister for Medical Education and Research, Forest, Labour and Parliamentary Affairs Tikshan Sud yesterday celebrated his 55th birthday in a slum locality at Ajowal village located on the periphery of the city by planting saplings in the vacant area. He also inaugurated 60 streetlights installed in the village.

Woman commits suicide, 3 booked
Hoshiarpur, September 20
An alleged torturing by the sister-in-law and her daughters compelled a housewife to commit suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of the roof at her house in Panj Graian village last evening.

Three arrested for looting mobile phone shop
Batala, September 20
Three persons were nabbed for robbing a mobile phone shop here and one computer set, internet box, 24 mobile sets, 9 chargers, 20 head phones, 141 batteries and 29 sim cards worth Rs 1,00,000 were recovered from them.

PTU postpones MBA exam
Jalandhar, September 20
Punjab Technical University on Friday postponed its MBA examination for distance education course after the officials received an information that the paper had got leaked at a centre in Lucknow.

	LBP for strict action against human traffickers Amarjit Thind Tribune News Service Jalandhar, September 20 Alleging that both Union and state governments had bowed down under the pressure of unscrupulous travel agents, Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, chief of the Lok Bhalai Party (LBP), today demanded that stern action should be taken against such travel agents who were looting and playing with the lives of hundreds of innocent youth. “It seems that both Union and state governments have bowed down under the pressure of the lobby of unscrupulous travel agents, which could be evident from the inordinate delay in the issuing the ordnance against such human traffickers who have looted Punjabis,” he pointed out. Ramoowalia, who was accompanied by the parents of 63 Punjabi youths presently detained at the Mellilia Island off the coast of Spain, said the families had paid varying lakhs of rupees to the agents who had now washed their hands off the whole affair. The parents narrated tales of horror and abuse of their children by the agents. At least three youngsters died in the Sahara desert after being unable to withstand the rigours of the journey to Morocco. Ironically, all of them have been regularly sending money to their wards by selling their lands and other possessions, he added. “Recently, we received a fax from Spain containing list of 63 youths, who were detained and living in miserable conditions and have asked for consular access and help from the Indian Government,” he said. The former Union minister appealed to the Centre to take up the cases of such youths on sympathetic ground and instruct the Indian Embassy in Spain to get them released from detention. He demanded that the state government should form a Special Task Force (STF) to nab unscrupulous travel agents and there should a special clause in the proposed ordnance that no travel agent could charge processing fee of more than Rs 500 from any client. Presently, they are charging between the range of Rs 40,000 to 50,000 per case that was sheer loot. And all this was in the knowledge of the police and the other agencies, but they had not acted in the matter due to obvious reasons, he alleged. Ramoowalia said he would meet the Prime Minister and Union Foreign Minister to seek their intervention for the release of the detained youths in Spain in the coming days.
	Now, Libya dreams go sour 40 Punjabi youths want to return home Parmod Bharti Nawanshahr, September 20 As many as 65 Indian youths, including 40 Punjabis, who have gone to work as labourers in CKG Company in Libya about one and half years ago, are allegedly been exploited by their Pakistani contractor as they have not been paid their salaries for the past six months. They have desperately been crying for help from the Indian Embassy there as well as from the Centre and state governments here so that they could get their due salaries as well as their passports so that they could safely return to their homes, but all their cries have been falling on the deaf ears, so far. “They are not only being rebuked, but also handed over to the police when they demand their salary from their contractor,” said Sukhjinder Singh of Nawan Pind Denowal village (Jalandhar), Harbhajan Dass, alias Billu, of Rasulpur village (Nawanshahr), Natwar Singh of Hasanpur Kalan village and Pawan Kumar of Bhaini Nilma village (both belonging to Gurdaspur district), while sharing their woes with this correspondent over telephone from Libya on Saturday. All youths had come here through a New Delhi-based travel agent and had spent more than Rs 1.5 lakh in search of greener pastures, said the victims, adding that all of them belonged to poor families and their parents arranged money on loan in a hope that by settling them abroad they could change the fortunes of the families. “They are being forced to work for about 11-12 hours a day and are just being given a single meal all through the day,” alleged the victims, adding that they were desperate to return to their homes, but the officials of the Indian Embassy in Libya had not been paying heed to their problem, despite the fact that they had submitted their complaint in writing to them about a month ago. “Besides, they have also faxed their tale of woes to the Prime Mininster, Foreign Minister, Punjab Chief Minister and Lok Bhalai Party chief Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, said the victims, adding that the problem was even discussed in detail with Ramoowalia over telephone, but so far they had not received any positive sign from any quarter. Parents of the victim youths belonging to Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar district were also contacted by this correspondent. Jeet Ram and Sheesho, parents of Harbhajan Dass of Rasulpur village, Binder, mother of Krishan Ram of Garhi Ajit Singh village and a relative of Baljinder Singh of Alowal village, while sharing their woes with The Tribune, said they were very much worried about their sons in Libya. They urged the Centre as well as state governments to take immediate appropriate steps so that their sons could safely come back home. Kulwinder Singh Warraich, state vice-president, All-Indian Federation of Trade Unions (AIFTU), said he would soon establish contact with the families of the victim youths belonging to different districts in the state and a dharna would be held to raise the voice of the affected families to press the politicians and bureaucrats to initiate concrete steps in this regard.
	Tikshan Sud plants saplings on his birthday Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, September 20 Punjab Minister for Medical Education and Research, Forest, Labour and Parliamentary Affairs Tikshan Sud yesterday celebrated his 55th birthday in a slum locality at Ajowal village located on the periphery of the city by planting saplings in the vacant area. He also inaugurated 60 streetlights installed in the village. More than 2,500 saplings were planted with the help of the Forest Department. Describing the importance of forests, he appealed to the participants to do plantation on their birthdays. On the instruction of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the government school of the village was being converted into model school for which Rs 50 lakh would be spent for providing modern facilities to the students. People of the area congratulated Tikshan Sud on his birthday.
	Woman commits suicide, 3 booked Our Correspondent Hoshiarpur, September 20 An alleged torturing by the sister-in-law and her daughters compelled a housewife to commit suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling of the roof at her house in Panj Graian village last evening. According to police sources, Jasbir Singh of Subhash Nagar Jodhewal, Ludhiana, stated that his sister Baljit Kaur was married to Jagtar Singh of Panj Graian village in 1995. She had a daughter and a son. Her husband Jagtar Singh had gone to Dubai for earning his livelihood and had been there for the last many years and Baljit Kaur and her children had been residing with her her sister-in-law Balbir Kaur at Panj Graian village. About four days ago, Baljit Kaur telephoned him and told that Balbir Kaur along with her daughters Ranjit Kaur and Rajwinder Kaur had tortured and harassed her. Yesterday, Baljit Kaur’s son informed him that his mother had died. He along with his relatives rushed to Panj Graian and found Baljit Kaur dead and her body lying on a bed. Jasbir Singh alleged that following the torture by Balbir Kaur and her daughters, Baljit Kaur committed suicide. The Bulhowal police has booked Balbir Kaur and her daughters under section 306 of the IPC.
	Three arrested for looting mobile phone shop Our Correspondent Batala, September 20 Three persons were nabbed for robbing a mobile phone shop here and one computer set, internet box, 24 mobile sets, 9 chargers, 20 head phones, 141 batteries and 29 sim cards worth Rs 1,00,000 were recovered from them. Dr. Naresh Kumar Arora, SSP Batala, stated this while briefing mediapersons here on Friday. The accused have been identified as Shiv Preet Singh alias Sabbi, Gurpreet Singh alias Gopy and Simarjit Singh alias Samma all of Udho Nangal Police Station Mehta, Amritsar. On September 7, 2009, complainant Rakesh Kumar of Cinema Road, Batala, stated that on September 8, 2009, he went to Delhi with his family members for about a week. On returning back, he found his mobile shop had been burgled.
	PTU postpones MBA exam Jalandhar, September 20 Punjab Technical University on Friday postponed its MBA examination for distance education course after the officials received an information that the paper had got leaked at a centre in Lucknow. PTU Vice-Chancellor Dr Rajneesh Arora said his office had received a mail even before the examination had begun. “The mail contained the same set of questions that the paper carried, clearly proving that the question papers had been opened prior to the time of start of papers. So, we got it cancelled and began our probe,” he said. “We have now found that the paper had actually leaked at a centre in Varanasi and not Lucknow,” he said. — TNS