Amritsar, September 25
Paddy farmers are forced to sell their produce way below the MSP to private players even as the state mandis have received 65 per cent less paddy this year compared to last year.

The shortfall was being attributed to the late sowing of paddy and the statewide rainfall during the first few days of September, which left the crop damaged and led to an increase in its moisture content.

Farmers in the border belt were allegedly being forced to resort to distress sale of paddy at a much lower price, ranging from Rs 875 to Rs 950 a quintal at a number of places even as the MSP of the A-grade and B-grade paddy was fixed at Rs 950 and Rs 980 per quintal respectively by the government.

The farmers were also made to undergo a long wait of two to three days in certain mandis to sell their produce. “We are suffering as our crop had matured well in time as we had adhered to the government- stipulated paddy sowing time, starting from June 10. We had no option but to head towards the mandi with our produce and it is none of our fault if the crop has matured before the official procurement date. The government should enter markets for procurement from September 15. If we get late in selling our crop, we will not be able to sow the next crop of peas,” rued Balwinder Singh, a farmer, at Bhagtanwala grain market here.

Sarvan Singh, another farmer, complained that though the farmers’ input cost had increased, nothing was being done to increase the MSP.

Girish Chhabra, a Faridkot-based leading paddy trader, said paddy was being purchased at an average price of Rs 940 a quintal in Faridkot district. “In fact, there are not many buyers as yet and everyone is keeping his fingers crossed.”

Mandis of Punjab, according to DS Grewal, director, food and supplies, have received just 52,000 tonnes of paddy so far whereas, the figured had crossed 1.49 lakh tonnes last year.

The police after recovering the bodies had registered a criminal case under sections 364, 302, 506 and 120-B of the IPC and took into custody a local woman for investigations. A medical board was constituted by the administration to conduct post-mortem examination of the children.

DSP (City) Bhupinder Singh revealed that two brothers Aman (11) and Om (5), both students of RKS Public School, studying in Class IV and LKG, respectively, had left for tuition on Thursday evening but did not return home.

After a hunt was launched by the family members for more than two hours, the father of the children Rakesh Kumar in a complaint lodged before the police last night had feared that his children had been kidnapped but the police allegedly did not take it seriously.

On Friday morning, the bodies of both the children were found lying in the fields adjoining the industrial area near the Moga-Ludhiana railway track on the outskirts of the town.

Only after when the tragedy struck the family that the senior officials of the police including the DIG of Ferozepur range RP Mittal, Moga SSP Ashok Bath and their subordinate officials swung into action.

The police had reportedly taken into custody a woman, Sanju, wife of Ranjit Kumar, a resident of Beant Nagar of the town who was said to be a close friend of Aarti, the grief-stricken mother of the children.

During preliminary investigations, it had come to light that both these families were once very close friends when Aarti used to live near their house a few years back. Recently, Rakesh and Aarti shifted their residence to Nanak Nagri, a nearby locality in the town. As time passed, they did not enjoy the same friendly relations with each other.

A few days back, Aarti and Sanju argued over some issue, which might have affected their friendly relations. It had come to the notice of the police that Sanju had threatened to kill Aarti's children some days back.

A senior official of the police said that they were still investigating whether Sanju and her husband had any hand in the kidnapping and brutal murder of these children or not. "As of yet, we cannot say that Sanju and her husband Ranjit have strangulated the children to death. The matter is still under investigation and the police will leave no chance to solve this case," the official added.

Jalandhar, September 25
Simmering factionalism in the Congress came into the open at the state-level dharna held here today with leaders and workers owing allegiance to Captain Amarinder Singh staying away from it. The dharna was held in protest against the government for its “failure” on all fronts.

In a major embarrassment for PPCC chief and MP Mohinder Singh Kaypee, who had organised the dharna, attendance was thin and senior leaders from his constituency, including MLA Amarjit Singh Samra and former legislator Kanwaljit Singh Lalli, too skipped it.

Those who expressed solidarity with Kaypee were former PPCC chief SS Dullo, MP Partap Singh Bajwa, former MP Jagmeet Brar, former ministers, Avtar Henry and Sardul Singh, Ashwani Sekhri, Brij Bhupinder Singh Lalli, Gurbinder Singh Atwal and Raj Kumar Verka.

The boycott of the dharna is being attributed to the statement of Kaypee in which he had alleged that the former Chief Minister was not cooperating with him since he was a Dalit. Many leaders were of the opinion that it was an attempt by the PPCC chief to divide the secular party on caste lines.

Earlier, addressing a gathering, speakers lambasted the government for its failure on all fronts, but Brar and Dullo could not resist taking potshots at Amarinder by saying that aristocrats in the party had resulted in their defeat at hustings.On the absence of several senior leaders, they said the dharna was called by the party president and it was the duty of every leader and worker to attend it.

Ludhiana, September 25
Principal secretary to Chief Minister, DS Guru, along with principal secretary, local bodies, DS Bains, and principal secretary, Industry, SS Channi, visited various clusters and sites proposed for setting up of Common Effluent Treatment Plant (CETP) to stop discharge of polluted water in Budda Nullah. 

Talking to The Tribune, Guru said, “Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is very keen to save rivers from pollution in the state and Satluj is one of them. Since Buddha Nullah is one of the major sources of pollution for the river, he has deputed me to study the whole problem and than gave him a report”.

He added that the CM has already taken three meetings in Chandigarh regarding the issue. The IAS officer said the Chief Minister was trying his best to minimise water pollution because these rivers feed canal. Since canals are being used for water supply to cities and villages in various projects, the CM wants that rivers should have potable water, said Guru, adding that he had discussed about various sites with other officers.

Revealing about the nullah, he said, the city dyeing units have been divided into five clusters . “We have visited the CETP sites and I would submit my report to the CM for his final decision,” he added.

Mohali, September 25
Acting on the leads given by the Rajasthan police on the arrest of notorious smuggler Lunia alias Sodha Khan, the Mohali police today claimed to have busted a module of the Babbar Khalsa International that was mobilising resources to revive terrorism in Punjab.

A Kharar resident, Harpreet Singh alias Heera, a contact person of the UK-based BKI activists, who had been visiting Rajasthan to collect the consignment of arms and explosives has been arrested with a .30-bore pistol and 15 cartridges.

Addressing a press conference, DIG, Patiala range, SK Asthana, and SSP, Mohali, JS Aulakh, said interrogation of Jagmohan and Darshan, Bassi Pathana residents arrested yesterday, had led to the arrest of Harpreet. A case under has been registered at the Phase 8 police station.

Police sources said the three suspects had been picked up a few days ago before being interrogated, a fact denied by the police. Refusing to share further details about the future plans of the arrested BKI activists, the DIG said all three module members had visited Rajasthan in August and September. But they could not collect the consignment due to its seizure.

In the investigation carried out so far, it has come to light that it was a multi-layered conspiracy with persons sitting in Pakistan and UK pulling strings through their India-based modules. Paramjit Singh alias Pamma, a mastermind in the assassination of Rulda Singh, is also involved in revival of the BKI. The central intelligence agencies were also involved in the questioning of the suspects.

The DIG further said that Jagtar Singh Tara, one of the absconding assassins of former Punjab CM Beant Singh was in contact with Pamma for the past six months to fund the module. He, however, could not reveal the location of Tara.

Under the provisions of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act, the police was tracking down the channel through which the money was handed over to the local activists. Some relative of Pamma, who had received the money before giving it to Happy, was also being questioned. A search was being carried out at the house of Pamma’s mother in Phase 3 B 2 here. 

Ludhiana, September 25
Claiming to be innocent, two persons booked in the case of stripping and launching a murderous attack on tehsildar-cum-executive magistrate, Ludhiana, Major G S Benipal, yesterday moved a local court seeking directions for conducting their identification parade.

The applications were moved by Gurpreet Singh and Satnam Singh, who were behind bars for a long period. Taking congnisance of their request, additional chief judicial magistrate JPS Wehniwal has issued notice to the state for October 9.

Meanwhile, the same court provided copies of the charge sheet filed by the police to SAD youth wing president Simarjit Singh Bains, Kamaljit Singh Karwal and sacked Akali councillor Sarabjit Singh among others.

Ludhiana, September 25
The ongoing controversy over the selection of MBBS doctors for the Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) by the Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) has thickened further as the principal secretary, health, Punjab, Satish Chandra, today denied having received any documents/certificates of the recently selected candidates against 100 posts.

Satish Chandra while speaking to The Tribune said, "The department of health and family welfare, Punjab, had received only the final list of selected candidates from the Punjab Public Service Commission. None of the documents/certificates pertaining to their academic record, work experience, extra curricular activities or awareness campaigns have been sent to the department."

Following the application put up by Dr Vikas under the RTI Act, the PPSC had claimed that it cannot furnish details of marksheets, certificates and work experience of the 100 selected candidates as they had all been sent to the department concerned.

Kusum Bector, public information officer at the PPSC, had told The Tribune that the commission did not even have photocopies in its records. That is why, she said, the PPSC had been unable to entertain an application under the RTI Act.

Disillusioned by their past experience, a large number of doctors, despite having received the calls, are not appearing for the interviews being conducted by the PPSC for 212 PCMS posts.

Almost 40 per cent of the candidates are not appearing for the interviews as a lady doctor from Ludhiana stated that "out of total 40 candidates scheduled to be interviewed yesterday only 18 appeared before the PPSC selection board."

Dr M Shah with his good academic record and vast experience while registering his protest against the commission said, "I was sure of my appointment last time but was shocked to see the list as it carried the names of candidates with poor credentials. Hearing about the attitude of the interview panel from my colleagues, I chose not to appear for the interview as I don't have the required money and association (the basic qualification that PPSC is looking for appointments)" rued the doctor.

Chandigarh, September 25
The Punjab Government has decided to conduct the pre-medical entrance test-2010 online with a view to achieving fairness in the competitive examination.

A decision to this effect was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Medical Education and Research Minister Tikshan Sud here today. Senior officers of the department and principals of private and government medical, dental ayurvedic, homoeopathic colleges, representatives of the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, and the Director Ayush, Patiala, participated in the meeting.

The minister said the state government had sent a team of officers of the department to Manipal University Sikkim, which had already started conducting PMET online, to have first-hand knowledge in that regard.

The minister said the representatives present in the meeting were unanimous on holding of the test online. He said the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Faridkot, would be the nodal agency for conducting the test.

Chandigarh September 25
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today mourned the demise of Justice Harbans Singh Rai, who breathed his last on September 20.

A full court reference was held to pay tributes to the departed judge who also remained the Lok Pal of Punjab. He also headed the Punjab State Industrial Tribunal and a number of commissions, including the Delhi State Backward Classes Commission.

A two-minute silence was observed as a mark of respect to the departed soul. — TNS

Gurdaspur, September 25
A team of the State Special Operation Cell (SSOC) arrested two notorious “international smugglers” with five kg of heroin here today. They have been identified as Balbir Singh, alias Appi of Chak Pandori village in Amritsar and Tasbir Singh of Sahoor Kalan village in Gurdaspur.

They were arrested after a long chase and are alleged to be the main handlers of operations of international smugglers based in Pakistan and other countries.

Appi was wanted in three cases of smuggling of narcotics registered in 2008, where he managed to give a slip to sleuths of the SSOC.

However, heroin consignment weighing 3.5 kg, 10 kg and 15 kg were seized by the SOCC in various parts of Amritsar. Tasbir has confessed that he had taken four consignments of heroin from Pakistan-based smugglers and all consignment had entered into India through the Indo-Pak border this year.

PK Rai, Head, SSOC, said the interrogation of both accused was expected to make startling disclosures. He added that it was suspected that 25 kg of heroin that was seized by the BSF in Bohar Wadala village falling in the Kamaljit check post of Gurdaspur on the night of August 17 and 18 was meant for Tasbir Singh.

The SSOC has been trying to establish the identity of smugglers based in Pakistan, who had been sending narcotics to Appi and Tasbir and their consumers in India and other countries through mobile phones seized from them.

Meanwhile, Appi, who met with an accident while trying to run away and is under treatment at the Gurdaspur Civil Hospital, alleged that he was shot at by one of the sleuths. However, the hospital authorities said Appi did not have any shot injury.