Amritsar, October 1
Five-year-old Simranjit Singh was rescued within four hours of his kidnapping last night from outside his residence. He was playing with his grandmother outside his house in the Hall Bazaar area when he was abducted.

Simranjit’s father is in Dubai, while his uncle is an Army jawan posted in Jammu and Kashmir.

SSP Kunwar Vijay Partap Singh said immediately after the information regarding the incident was flashed, police teams swung into action and a red alert was sounded in the city with all entry and exit points being sealed with nakas.

The SSP, along with ASP Pardeeep Kumar, also reached the spot and took stock of the situation. The pictures of the child were circulated among all the nakas while police teams were formed to keep track of kidnappers who had also taken with them a mobile phone from the victim’s house. The kidnappers were engaged in negotiations, he said.

Singh said during preliminary investigations it was found that only one person took the boy away while two or three of his accomplices hid watching the action from a distance during the kidnapping.

He said as the process was still on, constables Kashmir Singh and Kuldeep Singh spotted the child at Chowk Malkan Butt and rescued him. A case of kidnapping has been registered at Kotwali police station, while further investigations were still on, he added.

Meanwhile, it is learnt that the police took a person, reportedly a relative of the victim, into custody for investigations. 

Phagwara, October 1
A student of Lovely Profession University (LPU) committed suicide in his hostel room this evening.

According to information, Shitanshu Singh, a student of biotechnology, first semester, was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his room in Boys Hostel-II, at about 6.30 pm.

The exact reason for the extreme step could not be ascertained immediately.

Hailing from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh, Shitanshu Singh, son of Ajay Kumar Singh, had joined the hostel nearly 15 days ago. His three roommates found the body hanging with a rope from the ceiling fan after they returned from the common room. The boys raised an alarm and the hostel warden was informed.

The boy had locked the room from inside and security guards of the university had to break open the door.

Talking to The Tribune, Sub-Inspector Narinder Singh of the Kapurthala police, who is the investigating officer of the case, revealed that the boy was still alive when brought down. He was rushed to the Civil Hospital, but was declared brought dead.

Aman Mittal, a Director of the LPU, expressed shock over the incident. He said the parents of the boy had been informed and were expected to reach here by tomorrow morning.

He, however, claimed that the boy was fine till afternoon and even had his breakfast and lunch with his three roommates. He preferred to be in his room in the evening, while his friends went to the common room to watch TV. 

Pathankot, October 1
Sandip Singh was killed and at least six youths sustained injuries in a group clash in Nangal Choudharian village, 25 km from here, late last evening.

According to the police, the two groups belonging to the same village had clashed earlier too on the occasion of Dusherha festival over some remarks passed by a youth belonging to the one group on a village girl who was the sister of one of the youths of the rival group.

Taragarh SHO Jagdish Raj said last evening when Sandip Singh was on his way to his residence near Nangal Choudharian chowk, the youths of the rival group pounced on Sandip Singh. Meanwhile, more youths of both groups reached the site and clashed with sharp-edged weapons. Sandip Singh was killed on the spot and at least 6 youths were injured, who were later admitted to the civil hospital.

The SHO said a case under sections 302, 341, 348 and 149 of the IPC had been registered against the Sushil Kumar of Sohara Kalan, Dalip Singh, Romesh Rana, Vikrant Katal, Chetan, Deepak Singh, Amandeep Singh, Bagga, Tarsem Singh and some unidentified persons belonging to both groups. 

Hoshiarpur, October 1
There are more than 7 lakh income tax (IT) assesses in the IT region of Ludhiana, comprising Moga, Khanna, Jalandhar, Phagwara, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana districts of Punjab, and a revenue of Rs 1,450 crore was collected during the last year.

Disclosing this while talking to mediapersons here this afternoon, Chief Income Tax Commissioner of the Ludhiana range R.K. Tiwari said a target of collecting Rs 1,671 crore IT revenue had been earmarked for the current financial year.

More than 200 surveys were conducted in the region through which assesses surrendered more than Rs 100 crore during last year. Assesses also surrendered Rs 40 crore in 86 surveys during the current financial year.

Replying to a question, Tiwari said refund for year 2007-08 had already been issued whereas refund for 2008-09 was being finalised and would be released very shortly. The IT collection in tax deduction at source had also been increased to some extent. 30 per cent target for deepening tax collection up to Rs 10 lakh had been earmarked for which motivation of assesses was being done.

The Chief Commissioner admitted that 20 per cent to 25 per cent shortage of staff in the department in all categories caused deficiency in the work. To improve the functioning, all districts were fully interconnected, said Tiwari, appealing to people to pay actual income tax on their earnings and should not conceal them.

Later, he had a meeting with the local income tax staff. He also met members of the Taxation Bar Association and listened to their problems. 

Amritsar, October 1
The Health Department seized 36 quintals of spurious khoya from a godown during a raid conducted on a tip-off here today.

The team also seized 30 tins of spurious rasgullas. The team included two food inspectors Sukhrao Singh and R.P. Singh and the police party of Vijay Nagar police station.

The police has arrested one Pawan Kumar in this connection. And action has been initiated accordingly, said an official.

The department also took samples of sweets kept in the godown. 

Jalandhar, October 1
The police has nabbed five youths for their alleged involvement in terrorist activities with abroad-based top brass of Babbar Khalsa International (BKI), a terrorist outfit.

The suspects from Bhogpur areas were sharing the BKI ideology through Internet and were roping in more youngsters in the outfit. The suspects have been identified as Ranvir Singh, alias Saabi, Manjit Singh, alias Jeeta, Mandeep Singh, all from Bhogpur, Kuldeep Singh of Basti Bawa Khel in Jalandhar and Dinesh Kumar of Alawalpur.

The police today brought their accomplice Jaswinder Singh, alias Joni, on production warrant. He was lodged in Central Jail, Jalandhar.

SSP R.K. Jaiswal claimed that the suspects were associated with Harminder Singh, alias Mintu, a Germany based top activist of the outfit. The suspects were also in touch with Paramjit Singh Pamma in Germany. Mithu and Pamma belong to Bhogpur.

Jaiswal said they had even been to Rajasthan for procuring explosives but returned empty handed. The police has been tracking records of the suspects and their communication with the BKI activists to collect more details about their network.

The suspects have not disclosed much about their future plans and strategies. They were even getting funds from the BKI activists residing abroad for the purpose, the SSP claimed.

“We are working on various theories to get some startling facts,” the SSP added.

All the six are in the police custody till October 3.