Chandigarh, December 1
Countering allegations of an increasing police-politician nexus in the state, Punjab’s Director General of Police P S Gill today denied all such reports and dismissed them as a “figment of imagination”. He said the police was working independently and his focus was to introduce accountability, improve policing, provide modern technology and impart training, which included taking the help of Israeli trainers.

Gill, in his first interaction with the media at the state headquarters, said his force was fully aware and prepared to deal with the designs of Pakistan’s ISI to revive militancy in the state. “Both Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir are the priority of the ISI given the political situation in Pakistan,” he said. For this, he said, the ISI was luring Punjabi youth to travel abroad and trying to instigate them against India.

Gill said he had worked on improving the force and preparing it to be better “first responders” in any given situation. The state police was setting up special weapons and training teams (SWATs) at all six police ranges to deal with crisis situations.

As part of the stepped-up vigil on militants, the state police, Gill said, had busted nine terrorist modules and arrested 46 terrorists. Besides, the state police had prepared itself for delivering better police services and combating among other issues drug trafficking, upgrading the equipments and weaponry and introducing innovative practices along with strengthening the intelligence network.

He said anti-riot squads were also being raised. All personnel of the squads would be provided with complete anti-trauma body suits with level-2 protection, riot control helmets, gas masks, shock shields and laser guns.

The Punjab police was also setting up an anti-Naxalite unit within the force. This unit would be headed by an SP-rank officer in the Intelligence wing for monitoring the activities of Left Wing Extremist (LWE) elements. Also, an IGP rank officer had been appointed to head the Anti-Narcotics Task Force for acting as a single nodal authority on drug matters within the department.

The DGP ruled out any operation of underworld don Dawood Ibraham from Punjab’s soil, saying, “Nothing of the kind has come to our notice”.

Gill further confirmed that the jurisdiction of the police stations in Punjab was being reorganised based on the increase in population and constituency profiles. “This was long overdue and will take place soon. But there is no political motive behind the move”, he added.

Jalandhar, December 1
Resurgence India and the Human Empowerment League of Punjab (HELP) has lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer to initiate criminal proceedings against those candidates who have filed false election expenditure affidavits in the state.

As per data collected by the NGO, no Lok Sabha candidate crossed the prescribed limit of Rs 25 lakh and the highest amount spent by a winning candidate was by Amritsar MP Navjot Singh Sidhu (Rs 17 lakh). However, his opponent Om Parkash Soni spent Rs 20 lakh.

The candidates allegedly submitted false affidavits and the amount spent by them on their election, including media campaign, was many times more than the declared amount. Resurgence India is also pursuing a PIL in the Supreme Court in this context.

Many district electoral officers provided the information to them only after orders from the state Chief Election Commissioner, says Parvinder Singh Kittna of HELP.

He said it was ironical that a high-profile campaign run by Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa would be possible without spending a single penny on placing advertisements, banners and other poll paraphernalia. Som Parkash (defeated BJP candidate) from Hoshiarpur too has not incurred any expenditure on this account.

In the case of Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa and Gurcharan Singh Galib, it was not clear from their affidavits what amount they had spent on advertising.

Similarly, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal has shown an expenditure of just Rs 40,136, while Raninder Singh “incurred” Rs 66,408. Patiala MP Preneet Kaur spent Rs 53, 000, Prem Singh Chandumajra Rs 56,779, Dr Daljit Singh Cheema Rs 40,240 and Ravneet Singh Bittu Rs 50,013.

Hitender Jain of Resurgence India said strict action should be taken against such candidates since such people had sabotaged an important initiative towards electoral reforms and “they do not deserve to represent us”.

“It is a serious malpractice and the guilty deserve no leniency and it has serious consequences for the future of the country,” he pointed out.

Kittna said in case the Punjab CEO did not take action against the defaulters, they would approach the Election Commission of India.

Ludhiana, December 1
A victim of stripping and a murderous assault, Tehsildar GS Benipal today said the constitution of yet another Special Investigation Team (SIT) was aimed at facilitating the release of SAD councillor and accused in the case Simarjit Singh Bains and the other accused, Kamaljit Singh Karwal.

Reacting sharply to the constitution of SIT, Benipal while talking to The Tribune from Chandigarh said the police was trying hard to help Bains, Karwal and their aides and consequently another SIT was formed.

‘‘I am sure in these circumstances, justice cannot be guranteed to me. They are forcing me to move the high court now,’’ he said, adding that the fact that they constituted another investigation team spoke volumes about their ‘‘designs.’’

‘‘What are they trying to tell the world? That the earlier SIT did not do anything? I want the police to come out publicly on the issue and say what it wants. It means they are not satisfied with the earlier report that indicted Bains and Karwal,’’ he said.

Meanwhile, the SIT today summoned Benipal to appear before the team tomorrow for further investigation into the case. SP-III Harjinder Singh while talking to The Tribune today said they had summoned him and his clerk Chetan Khanna.

On the other hand, Benipal said he was in Chandigarh today to appear in a case in the high court. ‘‘How can they hand me over the summons here? I have not received them. Why should I appear before them tomorrow?’’ he asked.

SP Harjinder Singh said they were re-investigating the entire case. They were depending on the phone call details of Bains, Karwal and their associates. They had also procured video footage of the incident from several mediapersons to find out whether Bains was present on the spot or not. He said they would submit the footage in the court as evidence. ‘‘We will also submit pictures in the court as evidence to show the presence of various accused at the spot,’’ he said.

Chandigarh, December 1
The Punjab government has announced the launch of a massive recruitment drive in various departments to fill existing posts. The Departments that will benefit include Education, Transport, Food and Supplies, Local Bodies and the Police.

Approval to go ahead with the drive in a phased manner has been granted at various levels by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The state government has said that it will fill nearly 11,000 vacancies in schools over the next one year. Badal has also approved the recruitment and regularisation policy of the Pepsu Roadways Transport Corporation (PRTC) and has asked the Punjab Roadways to follow the same. He has asked the Principal Secretary, Transport, to implement the policy to ensure the recruitment and regularisation of the staff both in the PRTC and the Punjab Roadways.

The policy aims at recruiting drivers, conductors and workshop staff initially on a contract basis, which will be later on regularised in a phased manner.

The CM also approved similar steps in the Departments of Food and Supplies, Local Government and the Mandi Board. Nearly 2,500 vacant posts will be filled in these departments.

In the Mandi Board, the CM has approved 54 posts of secretary and 12 of assistant secretary besides 14 posts of sub-divisional officer (Civil), 14 of JEs and 30 posts each of clerk and steno typist. He also approved four new posts of executive engineer, along with the supporting staff, including 28 JEs and nine draftsmen, in the engineering wing.

The state Chief Secretary has been directed to constitute a committee to undertake the recruitment process in a transparent manner. Badal also gave nod to the process of direct recruitment in the Department of Local Government. He asked the department to initiate the process for filling 54 vacant posts of executive officer in the Municipal Councils, 88 posts of inspector, 25 posts of clerk and 15 posts of sanitation inspector besides 25 posts of SDO and 54 posts of JE in the water supplies and sewerage wing of the department.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Chief Minister has also announced recruitment in the departments he heads. He said the experiment of Jahankalan to train Punjabi youth for the post of armed guards had been internationally recognised, adding that the state would soon set up a second guards training centre in the Malwa area.

Patiala, December 1
The Patiala police today arrested two Ludhiana residents for allegedly strangulating a 32-year-old married woman. One of the accused had lured her into running away with him. The woman, a “bored” wife of a rich businessman, however, had to pay for her freedom with her life when the two killed her for the Rs 28 lakh, she stole from her house to help her build a new life.

Following the arrest of the accused, the police recovered the victim, Shivani Bansal's, body from the bushes on the bank of the Neelon canal where the two had thrown it after murdering her in the car.

Patiala SSP RS Khatra today said, “The ‘bored housewife syndrome’ was catching up with the woman as she was a typical victim of a sharp man, who, though married himself, lived off such married women.”

Khatra said the main accused, 29-year-old Sunil Kalra, alias Shall, lived at railway colony, Ludhiana, and ran a marriage bureau. “Three months ago, he accidentally called up Shivani, a resident of Bhadson. It was a wrong number but she responded to it and the two became phone friends.”

Shivani’s husband Nalesh Bansal is a big businessman in Bhadson and has several mattress factories in North India. His two children are studying in a boarding school in Delhi.

“Sunil even came to meet Shivani several times and when he realised that she was a rich woman, he, along with his friend Umesh, planned to lure her into leaving her house with her husband’s money. They were expecting her to bring a couple of lakhs which they would spend in a few weeks and then leave Shivani to her fate.

The stage was set for November 25 evening when, according to the police, Sunil came from Ludhiana to Bhadson and handed over some sleeping tablets to Shivani to mix with her husband’s food. “She mixed these tablets in his food, water and milk and when he was fast asleep, she called up Sunil who, along with Umesh, came to pick her up in his Innova car. She was ready with her bags, one of which contained money,” said the SSP.

Sunil had reportedly told Shivani that he would take her to Thailand and they would never come back. But in the car, Sunil told Shivani that their tickets could not be booked and they would have to go to Ludhiana and stay there for a few days. When Shivani told Sunil that she had brought Rs 28 lakh, his plan changed. “It is at this point that the two decided to kill her. Sunil went on the rear seat of the car, acting as if he wanted to sleep. He took out a string and strangulated Shivani. They threw the body out of the car near the canal, hoping that it would wash away,” said Khatra.

In the meantime, Bansal reported that his wife was missing on November 26. The next day, however, the police booked him on the complaint of his mother-in-law, who alleged that he had killed Shivani.

“We constituted a SIT. The two were arrested yesterday and Rs 25 lakh has been recovered from the two, along with the jewellery of the victim,” said the SSP.

The mobile phone records discloded that they were using five mobile connections taken on fake identity. “We will book the dealers, who gave the fake IDs to the accused,” added Khatra.

The two were presented before the magistrate today and remanded to six days of police custody.

Jalandhar, December 1
Navjot Singh Sidhu is not in the race for the presidentship of the state unit of the BJP. An MP for the third successive term from Amritsar, Sidhu said here today he was not a candidate for heading the party in the state.

The incumbent president of the BJP, Prof Rajinder Singh Bhandari, will complete his term in the second week of December. There is a practice in the party to appoint or elect the new president of the party in December to enable him or her to take the new assignment from the beginning of a new year. Bhandari has already announced that the new president will be elected this month.

“I’m not in the race for presidentship of the state unit,” said Sidhu talking to The Tribune here this afternoon. “I’m already an elected Member of Parliament and am not aspiring for anything else from the party,” said Sidhu. Asked that reports have appeared in the media regarding his being in the race for the presidentship, Sidhu said he was not aware of such reports. “I am happy being an MP of the Lok Sabha,” he added.

Harjit Singh Grewal, Vijay Sampla and Kamal Sharma are said to be among the other probable candidates. However, the BJP is a divided house in the state.

Factionalism in it is as rampant as in the Congress, the main opposition party in the state. At present the Kalia faction calls the shots. The other group is of Avinash Rai Khanna, Harjit Singh Grewal and Vijay Sampla. Besides it, there is the Sidhu faction.

Even at the national level, the party is facing problems. A struggle for power is at its peak in the party. Some relatively young leaders are trying hard to capture the party whereas the old guard is not prepared to move away from the centre stage. In fact, the party has no leader in its younger lot having acceptability and recognition across the country.

Ferozepur, December 1
“Munnawar maa ke age kbhi khulkar nahin rona, jahan buniyad ho itni nami achhi nahi hoti.” These lines were read out by Janab Munnawar Rana, who inaugurated the second All-India Mushaira held in the memory of the late Indian spy Mohan Lal Bhaskar last night.

It was organised by the Mohan Lal Bhaskar Art and Theatre Festival Committee in his memory, who carried a special affection for Urdu poetry. Eminent Urdu poet Janab Munnawar Rana, who was nominated as Sab-Re-Sadar of the mushaira, made the audience shed tears when he ended his poem with the recitation of “Jab bhi meri kishti selab me aa jati Hai, maa dua karti khawab me aa jati hai” and “abi zinda hai maa meri, muze kuch nahi hoga, main jab bhi ghar se niklta hun, duaein sath chalti haein.”

The lamps were lighted by DIG, Ferozepur range, RP Mittal; DIG, BSF, Ferozepur sector, RK Gupta; Deputy Commissioner Kamal Kishore Yadav and Ferozepur SSP SPS Parmar. Tariq Qama of Lucknow earned appreciation from the audience by reciting “Kagaj ki ek naav agar paar ho gayi, is mein samandron ki kahan haar ho gayi”.

Shabina Adeeb, poetess from Kanpur, impressed the audience when she recited, “ Jo khandani raees hai wo naram rakthe hain mizaz apna, tumhara lehja bta rha hai, tumhari daulat nai-nai hai”.

Other Urdu poets who attended that mushaira included Meeruthi MF Farooqi, Dr Nashir Naqvi, Prof Mehmood Alam, Mohinder Ashk, Sawtanter Arif, Ritaz Maini, Akhgar Panipati, Ajmal Khan Ajmal Sherwani, Robina Shabnam and Tasna Kanpuri.

Chandigarh, December 1
Less than a fortnight after the Punjab and Haryana High Court asked the lawyers to be above board, at least three advocates have been held at fault for crucifying the process of law, while giving a fillip to their professional practice and securing financial interests.

Passing strictures, Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain warned the lawyers against repeating the “unethical practice”.

The scathing observations came during an anticipatory bail petition’s hearing in a case registered on December 26, 2007, in Patiala district under Sections 447, 458, 427, 506, 148 and 149, IPC.

The order says the petition filed through Vishaldeep Goyal on August 21, 2008, was returned, as another petition 20700-m-2008 was pending for August 28, 2008. While refilling, the knowledge regarding earlier filing was denied. When the petition came up for hearing subsequently, the state asserted 20700-m-2008 was dismissed on August 28, 2008.

The court observed 20700-m-2008 was filed by Amarjit Singh, Mohan Singh and Tejpal Singh through advocate S.S. Grewal and Gaurav Goel and the grounds were settled by senior advocate Jagmohan Singh Chowdhary. The two stated on August 23, 2008, petitioner Tejpal Singh took away the brief of 20700-m-2008.

Justice Jain asserted: “SS Grewal has not acted as an officer of the court in the true spirit as he did not appear in 20700-m-2008 to make a statement that the brief/papers of the case were withdrawn/taken away by his client Tejpal against a receipt dated August 23, 2008.

“It is at least expected of an advocate practicing for the past 22 years that he should assist the court and apprise the court of the factual position, even if brief had been taken away from the client”.

Justice Jain added: He is being warned not to repeat the unethical practice, where the grounds of appeal have been shown to be settled by a senior advocate, who is not aware of the case at all.

Justice Jain said: Vishaldeep Goyal should have insisted his appearance in 20700-m-2008 and asked the petitioner to get a no objection from the previous counsel before superseding him, but since he knew Tejpal Singh had not paid his fee, he designed a novel way and filed a fresh petition on behalf of the petitioner, whose petition was already pending and alleged therein that they had not filed the earlier case”.

Justice Jain concluded: Apparently, it is a case of fraud having been played on this court by filing a frivolous and vexatious claim.Therefore, the present petition is dismissed with costs quantified at Rs 30,000 to be shared and paid to the state of Punjab by petitioners Tejpal Singh, Amarjeet Singh and Mohan Singh.