Chandigarh, October 6
The Council of Ministers today approved extending benefits to the dependents of martyrs/disabled soldiers after January 1, 1999. It also removed the condition of defence services personnel having been disabled or killed in “notified operations” with retrospective effect, January 1, 1999.

Consequently, the appointment of honour and gratitude and other financial benefits admissible under rules and instructions of the Punjab War Heroes Family Relief Fund will be given in all cases of “battle casualty” as declared by the Army authorities irrespective of any operation or any “specified area of operation”.

It may be recalled that benefits given to the families of war heroes on account of their death or disability included an ex-gratia grant of Rs 2 lakh and a plot at a reserve price of Rs 5 lakh in lieu of plot and a job in case of death or disability from 75 per cent to 100 per cent; Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia grant and a job in case of disability from 50 per cent to 75 per cent and an ex-gratia grant of Rs 50,000 for disability from 25 per cent to 50 per cent.

The Council of Ministers also approved to amend the Punjab Recruitment of Ex-servicemen Rules, 1982, to give benefit of annual increments and pension to those ex-servicemen who joined military service during the Second Emergency between December 3, 1971 and March 25, 1977, for a period during which they rendered the military service and subsequently joined the Punjab Government Civil Services on regular basis.

It further gave a green signal to bring the game of chess within the ambit of the Sports Gradation Policy to enable the state government to issue sports gradation certificates to those sportspersons who had participated and represented the state in Olympic Games, World Cup, Asian Games, Common Wealth Games, Afro Asian Games and Asian Championship in 33 disciplines already notified under the policy.

Besides first three positions, holders of international/ national/inter-university/state and district-level competitions were also given sports gradation certificates provided competitions were recognised by International/ National Sports Federations/ Indian Olympic Association/ Association of Indian University/ Sports Authority of India/ School Federation of India/ State Sports Association/ Punjab Olympics Association and Punjab Sports Department.

The game has not so far been included in the Sports Gradation Policy of the state though it has gained tremendous popularity in the state and the country in recent years. Even the Punjab Olympic Association has already granted recognition to the chess.

The state government’s recognition to the game is likely to open several new opportunities for chess players in the state and will also lead to marked improvement in standards of the game.

Chandigarh, October 6
Distress sale of paddy has started in Punjab with the arrangements made to procure paddy coming apart due to the ongoing strike by rice millers besides the problem of moisture content due to inclement weather.

Reports coming in from various parts of the state reveal that state agencies are reluctant to purchase paddy because it cannot be lifted from the mandis unless the millers end their strike. Farmers, who are the victims of the stand-off between the millers and the FCI, are accusing the “farmer-friendly” SAD-BJP government of failing them by not resolving pending issues before the procurement season. Government officials are at present camping in Delhi, trying to win some concessions for the millers who want an increase in the damage quotient in milled rice so that 7 lakh tonnes of rice of the last season can be accepted by the FCI.

In Amritsar, Gurdev Singh of Mihoka village said paddy was being bought at a rate of Rs 800 per quintal against the maximum support price of Rs 980. “This despite the fact that we used diesel generators to ensure irrigation for our crops due to excessive power cuts this season”, he added. Mandi officials in Amritsar, however, claimed that excessive moisture of 20 to 22 per cent was the main reason why the parmal variety was not being procured. Around 2.32 lakh quintals of paddy has arrived in mandis in Amritsar but state agencies have been able to purchase only 630 quintals so far.

In Jalandhar, reports said state agencies had not started mounting pressure on commission agents to give an undertaking that the latter would be responsible for the entire stock and any shortage before they take it into their possession. Ranjit Singh, a farmer of Kangniwal village, said he had been camping at the local mandi for the past three days. “The moisture content of my crop is slightly high and the officials have refused to buy it. The crop could not be fully dried due to the inclement weather. Now they are trying to dry it here and I do not know when I will go home,” he lamented.

Punjab Arhtiyas Association president Ravinder Singh Cheema said the procurement situation was pathetic in the state. “The condition is the worst in the Malwa belt with mandis flooded with arrivals. Farmers are camping in the open and the arrangements made by the commission agents, too, have proved inadequate in view of the heavy inflow”.

The situation could take a turn for the worse when paddy arrivals increase in Ludhiana district, which is still reporting slow arrivals. Only 13,400 tonnes has been procured from the district since the start of the season on September 29 with 4,200 tonnes being procured yesterday. Rain has also affected quality with around 100 tonnes being damaged in the Ludhiana mandi itself. In Khanna also arrivals are low with only 1,000 tonnes being procured till now. Farmers coming to the mandi have to wait to dry the produce due to which many are delaying bringing it to the market.

Arrivals continue to be highest in Muktsar, Tarn Taran and Faridkot districts with Muktsar recording 94,358 tonnes, Tarn Taran 69,812 tonnes and Faridkot 56,940 tonnes. The state agencies are lifting paddy from mandis in these districts to avoid a glut but out of the 4.11 lakh tonnes of paddy procured till now as much as two lakh tonnes has not been lifted till now. Food and Supplies Department Director D. S. Grewal said efforts were on to lift paddy with 28,000 tonnes being lifted yesterday.

Punjab Rice Millers Association president Tarsem Saini said the government was storing stocks in “single custody” which usually got heated up and affected the quality of the grain. He said even this type of storage would end in another day or two due to the limited capacity. Saini claimed the state government had been silent on the demands of the millers for the past two days and said unless all issues were sorted out, farmers would be forced to sit on roads in the next few days.

(With inputs from Jangveer Singh, Amarjit Thind, P. K. Jaiswar, Charu Chhibber and Gurdeep Mann)

Chandigarh, October 6
The Punjab Congress today said the state government had failed to ensure procurement in mandis with huge quantities of parmal and IR 108 varieties of paddy lying in grain markets across the state.

PPCC spokesman Ashwani Sekhri, who undertook a survey of mandis in Gurdaspur and Batala today, said around 80,000 bags of various varieties of paddy were lying in the Batala mandi alone.

The Congress spokesman said the strike by rice millers was adding to the agony of the farmer whose produce was lying in the mandis at the mercy of the inclement weather.

“The farmer has already suffered due to scanty rainfall and the failure of the government to provide adequate power supply to tubewells.

Now when the farmers have been able to grow the crop against all odds, the government apathy towards procurement is adding to their woes”, he added.

Sekhri claimed that during the Congress regime every grain was lifted from the mandis and payments made to farmers within 24 hours.

He said the Congress would launch a statewide stir and hold dharnas in mandis to force the state government to take the necessary steps in this regard. He asked the Chief Minister to visit the mandis and intervene for the early lifting of paddy. 

Sangrur, October 6
The Communist Party of India (CPI) today asked the Union Government to earmark at least 35 per cent of its total annual budget for protecting and maintaining the country’s food security. Food security could only be maintained by earmarking 35 per cent amount of the budget for the agricultural sector, he added.

Talking to The Tribune a member of the national executive of the CPI, Dr Joginder Dayal, expressed surprise over the non-declaration of any district of Punjab as drought-hit by the Centre despite the fact that due to deficit rain this year farmers had to spend huge amounts on diesel for the survival of their crops. He asked the Centre to announce special compensation for Punjab’s farmers.

Dayal said the CPI and the CPM would jointly hold a rally on December 2, probably in Ludhiana, on the issues of rising prices of essential commodities, drought relief for Punjab, food security of the country, the deteriorating law and order situation and problems being faced by the industrial and farm sectors.

Lashing out at the Centre Dayal said due to the open market economy and liberalisation policies of the UPA government the prices of essential commodities had gone up in a big way. He said due to the “wrong” policies of the Centre traders had succeeded in hoarding essential commodities like sugar. He demanded the strengthening of the public distribution system for below the poverty line and above the poverty line families.

Dayal said Punjab’s financial situation had been deteriorating due to non-productive expenditure by the men in power and bureaucrats. He said the law and order situation was also in bad shape in the state due to an alleged nexus among political leaders, government officials and smugglers. 

Malout, October 6
A 110-foot beam forming part of a railway overbridge fell on the Gidderbaha-New Delhi railway line at Malout in Muktsar district and disrupted traffic on the Bathinda-Ganganagar section with the 4526 Ganganagar-Ambala mail, 326 Gaganagar-Ambala passenger and the Hardiwar-Ganganagar special halted at their respective destinations.

The Gidderbaha and Abohar passenger trains were also cancelled. However, no loss of life was reported.

Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal and senior Railway officials from Bathinda reached the spot. Sources said the beam was laid down just two days ago.

The DC said the beam fell due to vibrations from a passenger train that had passed seconds earlier.

Eyewitnesses said some bicycles buried under the beam due to which there was a speculation that several people might have lost their lives.

However, the Railway authorities and officials of the district administration refuted their claims.

Kapurthala, October 6
The Rail Coach Factory (RCF) here used substandard material a few months back in several Shatabdi trains being run from Delhi to different destinations.

Actually, some auxiliary units allegedly supplied to the RCF here the substandard material a few months back. So much so, this substandard material was used during manufacturing of several coaches despite being inspected.

Though the RCF administration has already de-listed two such firms, including Delhi -based Flexo Foam and Noida-based Asian Arc Electrode, RCF GM Pradeep Kumar has also directed an internal inquiry into the matter. The GM said if connivance of any officer was found in the inquiry report, action would be taken against that officer.

Flexo Foam supplied seats for 35 LHB coaches being used in several Shatabdi trains being run to different destinations from Delhi. The foot rest, spring and screw used in the seats of these coaches were not up to the mark.

To a query, the GM said the RCF had approved only change in the colour of the fabric used in these coaches and not allowed any change in its specifications. Corroborating his statement, Chief Mechanical Engineer (CME) Charanjit Singh said the Tender Committee had approved the change only in the shade of the fabric.

Interestingly, Flexo Foam was asked to supply the seats for these coaches after cancelling the order given to one Kapurthala-based company Sahai Enterprises. The order to Sahai Enterprises was cancelled on the ground that it could not supply the seats in time and subsequently the company was delisted, the RCF administration said, adding that however, orders for seats for two coaches were given to this firm after it was relisted in the recent past as several manufactured coaches were already with this firm.

In yet another case, the field staff reported the low quality of MS welding electrodes but the laboratory took around 16 days to confirm the report during which a part of sub-standard material supplied by Asian Arc Electrode was consumed.

Interestingly the RCF Staff Council had brought this matter to the GM’s notice in writing a few months back. It stated that about 8,000 electrodes were being consumed daily in the RCF but late inspection by the officials concerned led to consumption of the stock.

However, the CME said that the company had been de-listed after confirmation and they had even written to the RDSO about it, which had approved the company. The RDSO has been asked to review the status of Asian Arc Electrode.

Meanwhile, the RCF administration said the Chief Quality Manager had issued confidential letters to two RCF employees in this regard on June 1, 2009 in which they were asked to avoid undue delay in inspection in future.

In the meantime, some deficiencies have also come to fore in copper coated CO2 welding wire supplied by a Ghaziabad-based unit. 

Chandigarh, October 6
The Punjab Council of Ministers today rejected a proposal to implement the land-pooling scheme with retrospective effect. The proposal was reportedly being pushed by the state’s Advocate General (AG) to include a handful of litigants in the scheme, who had been protesting against the acquisition of their land in Mohali.

The issue, which has been inviting a controversy for two years, had come up for consideration in the Cabinet meeting in September, but a final decision was deferred following strong objections raised by the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA).

A lobby of landowners, including some VIPs, whose land was acquired in 2003 to develop Sectors 76 to 80 in Mohali have been protesting against the acquisition and have been fighting their cases in the courts.

United under the aegis of the Hit Bachao Committee, these landowners, who together owner 102 acres of land, had asked the government to extend the land-pooling scheme mooted by the government to them as well.

In case this is done for every acre that is acquired by the government, the landowner stands to get developed residential plot, a commercial plot besides some monetary compensation. The GMADA objected to this request contending that if the pooling of land was allowed with retrospective effect, it would make the government liable to pay compensation to the tune of Rs 4,500 crore as all other land owners, whose land had been successfully acquired, would want to be compensated similarly.

“Nearly 1,164 acres of land was acquired to develop Sectors 76 to 80. Of which, the possession of 1,062 acres of land is with the GMADA and the same has been developed. The high court stayed the dispossession of only 102 acres. The action of acquisition has been completed and the award has been announced in this case. Different attitudes cannot be adopted with different parties in the same award. In case a different package is granted to the owners of 102 acres of land then the rest of the owners, who have handed over possession to the GMADA, will get a fresh cause of action and they will also demand compensation on this pattern,” states the agenda item placed before the Cabinet today.

“Any compromise with the petitioners at this stage will be a reverse discrimination with those farmers who have already surrendered their land to the government,” adds the agenda item.

The AG’s opinion given in May this year, however, was in favour of extending the benefits of this scheme to only these 70 odd litigants “as a one-time measure” to “alleviate problems being faced by the landowners who by and large do not belong to the effluent section of society.”

Interestingly, many of these “poverty-ridden landowners” are industrialists, property dealers or businessmen and a senior police officer of the state.

Other than the GMADA, the Finance Department, the Department of Industries, the Department of Local Bodies and the Revenue Department had also objected to the implementation of this scheme from a back date. 

Chandigarh, October 6
The Punjab Government today effected an administrative reshuffle by transferring five IAS officers, including Punjab Agro Additional Managing Director Vikas Pratap, besides 21 PCS officers.

Vikas Pratap, who also holds charge of Commissioner, NRI Affairs, becomes Special Secretary, Finance; Dr Abhinav has been posted as SDM, Khanna; Pradeep Kumar Aggarwal goes as SDM, Fazilka; Mohammad Tayyab is the new SDM, Dasuya; Harbhupinder Singh will be the new Additional Secretary, Finance, and in addition Director, Lotteries, Punjab.

Paramjit Singh-I becomes ADC, Amritsar, and will also hold additional charge of Commissioner, MC, Amritsar; Pritam Singh goes as SDM, Phillaur; Gurwaryam Singh has been posted as Additional Director (Administration), Information and Public Relations, and ex officio Additional Secretary and in addition MD, Punjab Film and News Corporation, and Controller, Printing and Stationery.

Indu Malhotra will be the new ADC, Barnala; Ashwani Kumar goes as DTO, Ludhiana; Ritu Aggarwal is the new Additional Secretary, Local Government; G.S. Ghuman becomes Additional Managing Director, Punjab Agro Industries Corporation; Pradeep Kumar will be the new Deputy Director, Urban Local Bodies, Jalandhar; D.P.S. Kharbanda goes as ADC, Tarn Taran, and H.K. Nagpal has been posted as Additional Secretary, Excise and Taxation, and also holds charge of Additional Managing Director, MARKFED.

T.K. Goyal goes as Joint Secretary, Welfare, and in addition Joint MD, Punjab State Warehousing Corporation; Jasbir Singh-I has been transferred as DTO, Amritsar; Upkar Singh becomes SDM, Sangrur; Jasdeep Singh Aulakh will be the new Assistant Commissioner (Grl), Faridkot, and in addition SDM, Jaito, and Jagwinderjit Singh Grewal goes as DTO, Gurdaspur, and will also hold additional charge of SDM, Dera Baba Nanak.

Paramjit Singh-II has been posted as SDM, Pathankot, and will hold additional charge of SDM, Dharkaian; Vimmi Bhullar becomes General Manager, Punjab Bhawan, New Delhi; Rahul Gupta goes as Joint Commissioner, MC, Jalandhar; Karanbir Singh Mann is the new Deputy Secretary, Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs; Manmohan Singh Kang has been posted as SDM, Amritsar-II; and Balbir Singh will be transferred as SDM, Mohali.

Jalandhar, October 6
Gearing up its campaign against the sale of adulterated milk products, a team of health officials raided two different places and seized a huge stock of suspected spurious milk products.

Giving the information, Dr SPS Sohal, Director Health Services, said their drive against the sale of adulterated milk products would continue even after the festive season was over.

A team of officials in Lehragaga (Sangrur) seized 20,000 liters of synthetic milk from a sweets shop, he said. Approximately 150 tins of refined oil were confiscated out of which 90 tins were empty. As many as 52 packets of starch powder, 12 bags of lactogen powder and a half bag of caustic soda were taken into possession.

In another raid, conducted by Dr Rakesh Gupta, Deputy Director of Health Services, Dr SS Walia, Civil Surgeon, Jalandhar, and Food Inspectors of Jalandhar and Kapurthala districts, in Kartarpur, two units of Arora Dairy were raided. The team has seized five quintals of suspected adulterated milk, 3.8 quintals of cheese and 50 kg of caustic soda and skimmed milk. The team has sent the samples of milk, cheese, caustic soda and skimmed milk for laboratory tests.

The same team has also raided sweetshops at Rama Mandi and the Jalandhar Cant area.

Jalandhar, October 6
Taking note of the news item in The Tribune with regard to the non-payment of pension to handicapped and other needy persons for the past several months, the Punjab Human Rights Commission has issued notice to the Director, Social Security Department, Punjab, for filing a reply in this regard.

The case will come up for hearing again on November 25. The commission members, who have issued notice are Justice Baldev Singh, LR Roojam, KK Bhatnagar and Avinash Rai Khanna. The commission said that it had gone through the news item dated October 3 appeared in The Tribune under the headline “ Differently abled not paid pension for past 7 months”.

The director has been directed by the commission to go through the contents and submit a report in this regard. It was reported that Vir Chand and his wife Surjit Kaur, both physically challenged persons have not received pension from the state government since March this year.

They were unable to pay even the fee of their daughter Komal because this reason. The state government pays Rs 250 per month per head to physically challenged persons.

Not only Vir Chand and his wife but other 4,400 physically challenged persons did not receive their pension since March this year in this district. Besides it, more than 1,00,000 other persons, including widows, dependent children and old-aged persons also have not received their pension. 

Lehra Mohabbat (Bathinda), October 6
With certain power plants in the state experiencing generation blues, the Lehra Mohabbat 920 MW coal-based power plant is riding high on cloud nine as all three of its operational units have generated a record output 44,219 lakh units of power this year.

The fourth unit has not been commissioned and will become operational once Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) hands it over to the Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB).

Engineers at the power plant, located 24 km from Bathinda on the Bathinda Sangrur highway, have reasons to smile as this year’s figure is much higher than last year. Another feather in the cap of the power plant is that, till yet, the plant has achieved a plant-load factor (PLF) of 94.89 per cent. PLF is a measure of average capacity utilisation and is based on certain factors like maintenance shut down, non-availability of fuel and unplanned breakdowns. Factors like operating availability factor (OAF) and PLF are normally taken as main indices for the purpose of overall performance analysis of coal based plants and the plant tops in both of them. Engineers are naturally elated as the PLF achieved by the plant is much higher than the national average. This figure is also higher than the PLF achieved by the Guru Gobind Singh Super Thermal Plant at Ropar and the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal plant here in recent years. Another vital statistic pointed out by engineers is the high level of economic efficiency and operational efficiency achieved by the plant.

Economic efficiency is the ratio between production costs, including labour, coal fuel, services and overall energy output recorded by the plant over a period of time.

Senior Engineers also speak highly about the high level of operational efficiency achieved by the plant. Operational efficiency is the ratio of total electricity produced by the plant during a period of time compared to the total potential electricity that could have been produced if the plant operated at 100 per cent in that period.

Patiala, October 6
The state is all set to induct women into the state transport department as conductors.

An indication to this effect was given by state Transport Minister Master Mohan Lal. He said he was not averse to the idea of recruiting women as conductors.

The minister said he had asked managing director of the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation Manvesh Sidhu to invite applications from aspirants to fill vacant posts of conductor in the corporation.

Sidhu said today that the corporation had made some appointments on compassionate grounds and 55 women were recruited as conductors, but they had been given office jobs.

The transport minister said work on the new bus stand of Patiala on the Patiala-Rajpura road would start soon.

He said the corporation would launch a cab service, which would help in improving the financial condition of the corporation.

He said the corporation had also been planning to introduce luxury buses.

Patiala, October 6
For his significant contribution in the field of Punjabi language and art and culture, noted littérateur and journalist Prof Gulzar Singh Sandhu has been bestowed with honorary fellowship by Punjabi University, Patiala.

Disclosing this here today, the Vice-Chancellor, Dr Jaspal Singh, said Prof Sandhu had carved a niche for himself by establishing new landmarks, innovative practices and original ideas.

Recipient of the prestigious Sahit Academy Award, Prof Sandhu has published eight original anthologies of short stories besides translating many quality works.

Besides working at senior posts for various print media houses, including Editor, Punjabi Tribune, Prof Sandhu also remained as the Head of the Department of Mass Communication, Punjabi University, Patiala and Director, Communication Centre, PAU, Ludhiana. His other important assignments include, Chairman, Punjab Arts Council and Director in the Ministry of Rural Development, the Government of India.

Chandigarh, October 6
Punjab Cabinet minister Ajit Singh Kohar is in the dock. A resident of Sultanpur Lodhi in Kapurthala has made Kohar a party in a writ petition accusing his son-in-law of taking Rs 46 lakh as bribe for getting sons of the petitioner recruited in the Punjab police.

In his petition, Bagicha Singh has asserted that two years ago he had met Kohar’s son-in-law Niarvail Singh, who had demanded the amount for recruitment. Petitioner’s counsel PPS Duggall asserted that Bagicha Singh had to sell his land for Rs 60 lakh. A total of Rs 46 lakh was handed over to Niarvail Singh at his residence. But every time the petitioner met Niarvail Singh, he was offered an excuse.

Eventually, Niarvail Singh gave two cheques, which were returned “unpaid”. “Prior to this, the petitioner also gave an application to the police, but no action was taken,” Duggall asserted.

He added both minister and his son-in-law have taken the help of the police to get the petitioner detained. “The life of the petitioner has become hell,” the counsel said, adding Niarvail Singh had even got back the cheques through force.

“Everything was in the knowledge of the minister; and now the petitioner was apprehending false implication so he may not raise voice to get justice,” he alleged.

The petitioner added: “There are many other persons who have been lured by Norplant Singh in the same manner; and under these allurements they have also parted with huge amounts of money.”

Seeking a CBI probe, the petitioner said he had lost faith in the Punjab police due to harassment at the hands of Jalandhar SSP and an SHO. As such, there was no “chance for fair investigation by the police”, he stated.

Taking up the case, Justice Harbans Lal today issued notice of motion for December 18 and has directed against the petitioner’s harassment. 

Chandigarh, October 6
Less than a fortnight after a Ludhiana resident accused her mother of detaining her six-year-old daughter for forcing her to indulge in “immoral activities”, Justice Mahesh Grover of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed Ludhiana SSP to carryout a detailed probe.

“This court is deeply concerned about the truthfulness of the allegations, and consequently deems it appropriate to direct the SSP to immediately verify the veracity of the allegations made by the petitioner,” Justice Grover observed, while directing the submission of a report within a week.

In a petition, Manpreet Kaur had alleged that mother Charanjit Kaur was “running an immoral network involving flesh trade”. Paramjit Kaur, co-petitioner and Charanjit Kaur’s daughter-in-law, had also asserted they were apprehending danger to their lives and they be sent to Nari Niketan, Chandigarh, “so that they may escape from the clutches of Charanjit Kaur, who is forcing them to participate in immoral activities”.

As the case came up today, Justice Grover observed Paramjit Kaur did not go to Nari Niketan. “The court, on the first date of hearing, interacted with the petitioners. Paramjit Kaur stated that whatever has been said in the petition was correct. Today, the court questioned her again on the veracity of the allegations. She said she did not know anything about the petition, as she was illiterate and ignorant about the allegations made therein.”

Justice Grover also asked the SHO concerned to appear before the court on October 7 and explain the lapse of not serving Charanjit Kaur. 

Amritsar, October 6
A rickshaw driver allegedly drugged and raped his 17-year-old daughter continuously for three days while, keeping his wife and other child locked in an adjacent room in their home in the Chhehrata locality near here.

Apart from having been drugged and raped, the victim was also beaten up in a bid by her father to gag her and dissuade her from telling about the incident to others. The minor victim was later rescued and hospitalised at the local civil hospital where, she was stated to be out of danger and her condition was said to be stable.

The shocking incident came to the light as the traumatised mother of the girl raised alarm and informed her relatives who, reported the matter to the police . The accused, police sources said, was absconding. “We are going to book him and are awaiting the medical report of the girl,” said the Chhehrata SHO Jagdish Lal.

The mother of the battered girl, said her drug adict husband forced her daughter to go into a separate room and outraged her modesty repeatedly. “All our protests made him more violent and he locked me and my eight-year-old son Karan in another room. He continued to rape my daughter for three days and her condition turned so bad that she started vomiting. She was rescued by our relatives who, was called by me,” she complained.

Relatives said the father of the girl fled the scene as he saw them approaching his house. “The incident has left us jolted. How can a father resort to such a heinous act?” questioned a relative of the girl.

Doctors at the civil hospital said prima facie the case was that of rape. They said the girl was so traumatised that she was hardly able to speak. The sources said the father of the victim had been a reasonably good person till a few months ago but had turned more and more violent after he took to drugs.