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Slow Movement of Foodgrains to Other States
Arrest Ludhiana violence accused: Sant Samaj
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Atta-Dal Scheme
CM: 2010 to be year of governance reforms
Loyalty pays in SAD, Speaker’s son adjusted
Major fire breaks out at Bathinda power plant
Sidhu seeks meeting with PM on DMIC
Cong protests against ‘police atrocities’
Congress workers stage a protest in front of the SSP’s office in Tarn Taran on Wednesday. Tribune photograph
PIMS to be run like pvt institute
SGPC should emulate Halifax example: MS Gill
Tarlochan: Sikh leaders should focus on education
Nanakshahi Calendar
Heritage Status
for Amritsar
Kharar-Banur Road
Pilgrims throng Anandpur Sahib, Naina Devi
4 Pak children repatriated
Fake Bill Scam
‘Assault’ on
Professor
Ginners threaten to boycott auctions
Metros ‘need global infrastructure’
3-yr-old girl rescued from debris
Grants given to 20 villages
SSP’s kin among 12 booked for firing
Broken glass of the two cars parked at the residence of Inderjit Singh. A Tribune photograph
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Slow Movement of Foodgrains to Other States Sarbjit Dhaliwal Tribune News Service
Jalandhar, December 30 At the end of March 31 this year, Punjab had stocks of 55 lakh tonnes of wheat and 45 lakh tonnes of rice. In April about 110 lakh tonnes of wheat was added to the stock. However, the movement of wheat to other states was about 6 lakh tonnes per month. At present about 80 lakh tonnes of wheat is stocked in the state. As the preparation of rice from paddy has already been started by rice millers, there will be need to stack 70-80 lakh tonnes of rice in the covered stores in the state by the end of April, 2010. In all, Punjab will contribute about 95 lakh tonnes of rice to the central pool by the end of the shelling season in June, 2010. Besides, open space will be required to stack about 112 lakh tonnes of fresh wheat in April, 2010. The harvesting of wheat begins in the first week of April. “ We want that at least 80 lakh tonnes of wheat should be moved to other states from Punjab in the next three months to make space for the fresh wheat crop in April. At present, neither open nor covered space is available for the stacking of foodgrains”, said Dharamvir Singh Grewal, Director, Food Supplies, Punjab. However, the Food Corporation of India( FCI) has a programme to move 6 lakh tonnes of wheat from the state in January. And an equal stock is likely to be sent out in February and March, respectively. That means at the time of the arrival of the fresh crop of wheat in April, there will already be an existing stock of about 60 lakh tonnes of wheat and 70-80 lakh tonnes of fresh rice in the state. The movement of rice from the state is just about 4 lakh tonnes per month. “We have told the FCI as well as the Punjab Government that covered space will be required to stack 65 lakh tonnes of rice by March-end. However, the available space will for stacking only 15 lakh tonnes of rice”, said Tarsem Saini, President of the Punjab Rice Millers Association. As the movement of rice is very slow from the state, the next three months will be critical for the state government as well as for the rice millers.
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Arrest Ludhiana violence accused: Sant Samaj
Fatehgarh Sahib, December 30 Also, the protesters submitted a memorandum to the Punjab Governor, accepted on his part by a representative near Landran. Sant Samaj head Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma led the protest, which started from Gurdwara Jyoti Swarup in Fatehgarh Sahib. Other religious bodies, too, participated. Dhumma said their motive was to seek justice for the lone Sikh killed in the incident and for those who were injured. While the protesting Sikhs were booked under various sections, he alleged the accused continued to roam free despite assurance from Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner. He said “every religious community had the right to promote its religion and those who opposed it would not be accepted by the Sant Samaj”. Other members of the Sant Samaj said if the government failed to initiate any action against the accused, a meeting would be called soon to chalk out further action plan. Former Jathedar Bhai Jasvir Singh demanded an immediate ban on those “calling themselves gurus to befool the masses”. Meanwhile, commuters were seen getting into arguments with the cops deployed at nakas in and adjoining Fatehgarh Sahib during the march. The police had sealed the Landran-Sirhind road, besides other entry points.
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Atta-Dal Scheme
Chandigarh, December 30 The Punjab State Civil Supplies Corporation (PUNSUP) is going in for a change in the distribution of wheat under the scheme due to complaints that the required quantity of wheat was not being provided to the around 13 lakh consumers covered by it. Each consumer is at present entitled to 25 kg of wheat and 2.5 kg of pulses under the scheme. PUNSUP Chairman Ajaypal Singh Meerankot, while speaking on the issue here today, said the corporation had distributed flour instead of wheat in Ludhiana and Tarn Taran districts under a pilot project with considerable success and it had been decided to extend this to the entire state. Meanwhile, despite a decrease in the prices of pulses, Meerankot said there was no proposal to increase the quantity distributed under the scheme. Earlier eligible consumers could get of 35 kg of wheat and 4 kg of pulses under the scheme. PUNSUP has also reduced its bill under the scheme by not going in for the purchase of moong, which has been replaced by black gram and chana pulses. While the price of moong is around Rs 6,500 per quintal that of black gram is Rs 2,700 per quintal. Owing to this changeover the average rate of purchase of pulses, which had gone up to Rs 4,064 per quintal in July this year, is at present down to Rs 3,220 per quintal. PUNSUP is at present spending Rs 8 crore to Rs 9 crore every month to provide both wheat and pulses to the consumers. Earlier, when more quantities of both products were being given, the expenditure was between Rs 15 crore and Rs 16 crore. Meeerankot said the corporation would now make products like cooking oil, soaps and detergents, which were available at its shops in Chandigarh and Mohali, available at its depot shops also. He said all items would be subsidised. PUNSUP is distributing both wheat and pulses through 14,280 depot shops in the state.
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CM: 2010 to be year of governance reforms
Chandigarh, December 30 Stating this here, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal said 2010 would be a "year of governance reforms". He said administrative reforms were overdue and that there was a need to make government machinery fully accountable and responsive to the needs of the
common man. The Chief Minister said, " Never in the history of post-Independence has the state seen such path-breaking and ambitious development activity”. He said projects of over Rs 2 lakh crore were already at various stages of completion, many of these on or even before schedule, like the oil refinery at Bathinda. Critical areas which were lying " in a state of neglect", like canal rejuvenation, fighting water, soil and air pollution and international aviation had been put firmly on the agenda, he added. Badal said for the first time a concrete initiative had been taken to make day-to-day governance more responsive, accountable and transparent. He said offices of revenue officials, like patwari and tehsildar, as well as other points of public delivery like the offices of deputy commissioners, SDMs and DTOs would be made totally people-friendly and accessible with automatic and in-built time frames for work. Badal said 2009 had several achievements to the credit of the SAD-BJP government included an ambitious programme of Rs 1,388 crore for the cleaning of the Satluj (Rs 1,076 crore), the Beas (Rs 222 crore) and the Sirhind canal (Rs 90 crore) to provide clean water from the river/canal system within the next two years. He said on the power front, the state government had embarked upon a massive programme to ensure a reduction in the demand of 1,850 MW and better reliability of supply, thereby saving nearly Rs 8,000 crore by the end of fiscal 2010-11. The scheme involved the replacement of incandescent lamps with high-quality CFLs at a subsidised rate of Rs 15 per lamp. The Chief Minister said the total demand of power in the state was 9,786 MW against the total installed capacity of 6,841 MW with a shortfall of 2,379 MW, which was being overcome by initiating four new thermal power projects in the state. He said work on the 540 MW Goindwal Sahib and 1,980 MW Talwandi Sabo thermal plant was in full swing. Machinery worth Rs 1,000 crore had been ordered for the Talwandi Sabo thermal plant and an order for the same had already been placed by the GVK group for the Goindwal Sahib plant. In the sphere of roads, the state government had planned to invest more than Rs 25,000 crore to improve the efficiency of the road transport network. On fiscal management, revenue collection increased under VAT and CST from Rs 5,871 crore to Rs 7,043 crore in 2008-09. These collections were likely to touch nearly Rs 8,000 crore during the current fiscal year showing a revival of the state's economy. A system of e-filing and e-payment had been introduced to help traders.
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Loyalty pays in SAD, Speaker’s son adjusted
Chandigarh, December 30 The Chief Minister has also sent out a clear signal with the appointment that Congress charges against the Speaker, which led to unruly scenes and even violence during the last Assembly session, have not affected the government. Despite the controversy over the denial of permission to the CBI to prosecute the Speaker, the Chief Minister has gone ahead and appointed the former’s son as Chairman. Besides adjusting the Speaker’s son in governance, the Chief Minister has also rewarded the youth leadership in the party. Ravi Karan is the Vice-President of the Youth Akali Dal. When questioned on the issue today, the newly appointed Chairman said the Chief Minister had, by appointing him Chairman, reposed faith in his father. Ravi Karan, who is also the Managing Director of the Central Cooperative Bank, Gurdaspur, will take charge of his new post once Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal returns from his foreign trip. Ravi Karan is the second leader from the Youth Akali Dal to be adjusted in governance. Earlier Youth Akali Dal former President Sharanjit Singh Dhillon was appointed Chairman of the Punjab Agro Industries Corporation. Dhillon, however, also got his post due to his “sacrifice” in making way for former Congressman Gurcharan Singh Ghalib who was given the party ticket for the Ludhiana parliamentary seat. According to sources, a third youth leader --- Gurpreet Singh Bhatti, who is the President of the Youth Akali Dal’s Fatehgarh Sahib district unit, is also likely to be adjusted in some post in the coming days. Earlier another youth leader,Gurpreet Singh Raju Khanna, was made the Chairman of the newly created Punjab Youth Development Board.
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Major fire breaks out at Bathinda power plant
Bathinda, December 30 According to eyewitnesses, the blast was loud and flames nearly 100 ft high leapt into the air. Fortunately, there was no casualty. It took about 45 minutes for half a dozen fire engines to douse the flames. PSEB officials said the fire damaged the unit transformer. The board officials further said that as the unit transformer was damaged, the auxiliaries would be shifted to the station transformer. According to the officials, the problem occurred in coal mill number III A, which then damaged the motor of the unit, leading to the blast and fire. This further damaged the bus bar, major equipment of the plant. Member (Generation) of the PSEB G.S. Sra today said that all requirements to repair the unit had been sent to BHEL. “We are not in a position to suffer more
losses. So as soon as BHEL intimates us about the availability of the components, we will airlift them. Once the spare parts are arranged, the bus bar will be repaired within 24 hours.” When asked about the repair work of the unit, he said it might take time and the board was thinking of replacing it.
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Sidhu seeks meeting with PM on DMIC
Jalandhar, December 30 Sidhu said today, it was most disappointing that Punjab had not been included in the proposed industrial corridor, whereas seven states- Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharastra- would be a part of the project, on which an investment of about Rs 4,23,000 crore would be made to develop infrastructure as well as combination of production units, public utilities, residential areas, social infrastructure and administrative services. Japan had joined hands with India to fund the project. The agreement to set up the project was signed on December 28 when the Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama visited Delhi. He said Punjab should be a part of the project, the first phase of which was likely to be completed by 2012. Sidhu said Punjab could not survive on agriculture alone. There was a need to develop the manufacturing sector in a big way and inclusion of Punjab in the project would be a right thing to do. He said in all developed economies of the world, only 5 to 10 per cent people were engaged in agriculture. He said Punjab, which was a land-locked state and had locational disadvantages of being a border state, should be made a part of the national growth story. Its exclusion from the national growth projects, such as industrial corridor by the Central Government was disturbing, he added. “Being predominantly an agricultural state, Punjab was among the slowest growing states as compared to other big states such as Gujarat,” said Sidhu. He said he would urge the PM to give assurance that the rail freight corridor would be extended to Amritsar.
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Cong protests against ‘police atrocities’
Tarn Taran, December 30 Former MP Rana Gurjit Singh, while addressing the party, said if the police failed to mend its ways then they would gherao Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, whenever he arrives in the district. The Congress leader said the party would soon submit a report of the alleged false cases registered against the Congress workers to the Chief Minister. He also demanded an enquiry into the criminal cases against the Congressmen in the district. Rana alleged that the police has become a puppet of the ruling SAD, and on the directions of the ruling MLAs and the ministers, Congress workers have been implicated in false criminal cases in a big way. Rana further said the Congress workers may gherao the SSP office for indefinite period to lodge their protest. He demanded immediate removal of SP Malwinder Singh Sidhu for allegedly harassing Congress workers at the behest of a local minister. Others who spoke on the occasion include Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa ,Harpartap Singh Ajnala, ex-MLA Sukhjinder Singh Butter, Dr Dharambir Agnihotri and Harminder Singh Gill. A memorandum was also presented to the SSP regarding the grievances of Congressmen. SSP Sukhdev Singh Brar refuted the allegations of the police atrocities on the Congressmen, and said he had already formed a three-member Special Investigating Team (SIT), comprising an SP and two DSPs to probe any case of ‘police atrocity’ in the district.
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PIMS to be run like pvt institute
Jalandhar, December 30 same document suggests very opposite about the status of the medical college, which will be run by PIMS Medical and Education Charitable Society. If the concession agreement is to be believed, the medical college, expected to commence from July 2010 with an intake capacity of 100 students, will be run like any other private medical college. The concessionaire shall follow the various guidelines issued by the state government with regard to admissions test, eligibility criteria, reservations and fee structure for private medical colleges, reads the schedule II of the concession agreement, entitling the concessionaire to generate revenue from the project. Both government and medical aspirants will be the end losers as difference of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 3 lakh exists between the fee structure of government and private medical institutes. According to the notification issued by the government for private medical colleges in August 2007, annual fee is Rs 1.15 lakh for 50 per cent seats, treated as government quota seats. Moreover, fee structure for remaining 35 per cent seats, falling under management quota seats, is Rs 3 lakh. Rest of the 15 per cent seats are reserved under the NRI quota. This status will also influence the reserved seats in the institute. Criteria of reservation of 34 per cent of half of the total number of seats will be applicable during seat division in the private medical college against 40 per cent of total seats in government-run institutes. Regarding dental, pharmacy and nursing courses, it is clearly mentioned that concessionaire shall levy, demand and collect the academic fees from students taking admission to these courses. Though it is written that successful bidder shall be required to follow the academic fees stipulated by the government, the agreement is silent on the status of these institutes. Besides, it is clearly mentioned in the schedule that the concessionaire will have the option of charging market-driven charges for various services and treatments provided at multispecialty hospital, which will be set by concessionaire itself. Charges of other health care facilities like canteen, food court, faculty club and rest house will also be market driven. Status of PIMS will be same as that of institutes like DMCH and other private medical institutes. The government issued no fresh notification yet regarding change in the status of the institute, said Director-cum-Principal of PIMS AS Padda. However, Director of the Research and Medical Education Dr Jaikishan refused to comment on the issue.
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SGPC should emulate Halifax example: MS Gill
Chandigarh, December 30 Responding to The Tribune news report about the Halifax gurdwara in Canada electing an all-women team to run its day-to-day management, Gill said the SGPC should draw a leaf from the book of the Halifax Sikhs. “It was Guru Nanak Dev, the founder of Sikhism, who talked and preached gender equality. Now when the Halifax Sikh sangat in general and women in particular have taken the initiative and followed the preaching of Guru Nanak Dev in letter and in spirit, the SGPC should reserve 50 per cent of the total seats in its general house for women members. This would be a real tribute to Guru Nanak Dev,” said the Union Minister. Further, suggests Gill, the SGPC should adopt a convention that men and women members would take turns as the President of the SGPC. In fact, the SGPC had already taken the initiative when it elected Jagir Kaur as the first woman President of the apex body of the Sikhs. “As a humble Sikh, I salute the Bibis of Halifax for taking the lead and setting a precedent for others to emulate. I personally feel that equal representation of women in the SGPC and the managing committees of gurdwaras will definitely be a progressive step in the right direction. With women around, it would also ensure improved working of the Sikh religious bodies,” he added.
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Tarlochan: Sikh leaders should focus on education
Patiala, December 30 While talking on the sidelines of the convocation of Punjabi University, in which he participated yesterday, Tarlochan Singh said Sikh leaders raised trivial issues for debate and ignored important issues like employment etc. During his tenure as the chairman of the National Commission of Minorities, Tarlochan Singh said, he had followed up with the Centre the issue of grant of scholarships to Sikhs and other minority students. Tarlochan Singh further said the Centre had sanctioned a grant worth Rs 4.57 crore for students belonging to the minority communities like Sikhs, Buddhists and Muslims under the scheme of scholarships on merit-cum-means basis. He added that under this scheme, the students would be reimbursed the fee paid for pursuing professional courses. The Sikh leaders should take up important issues like education and employment whereas other issues should be taken up on a secondary basis, he added. The need of the hour is to providing better education and job avenues in the competitive era, Member of Rajya SabhaTarlochan Singh said.
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High priests refer issue to SGPC’s executive panel
Neeraj Bagga Tribune News Service
Amritsar, December 30 Jathedar Akal Takht Giani Gurbachan Singh, coming out of the second meeting held at Akal Takht secretariat, said the Singh Sahibans (Sikh high priests) would discuss the changes in the calendar only after the approval of executive committee. The Sikh high priests gathered to discuss the amendments suggested by the two-member committee comprising SGPC head Avtar Singh and President Sant Samaj Harnam Singh Dhumma. Apparently, the Sikh high priests could not arrive at a mutually agreed decision. Besides, many sikh organisations came together to flay any move resulting in modification of the calendar.
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Heritage Status
for Amritsar
Amritsar, December 30 He stated this while answering queries from mediapersons in the Golden Temple complex here today. He said the Amritsar Development Authority would be formed soon. When asked about differences between the SAD and the BJP on the issue of the power tariff hike, he said relations between the two parties must not be seen in the context of a topic and issues. The ties had existed for a long time and these would continue. He said the decision on power tariff would be taken keeping in view benefits to the state and its residents. He said work on three projects for producing more power was in progress and hoped that these would make the state self-reliant in electricity. The Chief Minister held the Congress-run UPA government and its policies responsible for inflation. He said no serious effort was being made to bring down the prices of commodities, especially essential items.
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Completion term expires, dept seeks extension
Tribune News Service
Kharar, December 30 The private construction company involved in the project has sought an extension of six months from the Central Works Division that is executing the project. The work of widening the Landran Bridge, construction of water drainage and re-carpeting the road leading to Kharar is still pending. As per the project, a new bridge parallel to the existing one was to be built, for which the work had begun this February. The officials concerned decided to carry out maintenance work of the existing structure. While the work was on, the spans under bridge developed cracks and had to be removed. Being an old structure, it failed to withstand repairs; hence, the construction company closed it completely providing an alternate route to the traffic. The project was initiated on September 1, 2007, and had to be completed by December 29, 2009. The Central Works Division officials said the department had planned to extend the time frame by just four months. However, a decision in this effect is yet to be taken. The main reasons for the delay are: Land acquisition and shifting of electricity poles from the acquired land to various places along the road. The 39-km-long road is being widened at the cost of Rs 109 crore under the Punjab State Road Sector Project aided by the World Bank Project.
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Pilgrims throng Anandpur Sahib, Naina Devi
Anandpur Sahib, December 30 With the Himachal Pradesh government announcing a three-day special festival at Naina Devi from tomorrow till January 2, the influx of pilgrims to the area has increased manifold. Most pilgrims are putting up at various inns here. The manager of Kesgarh Sahib
Gurdwara, Jawahar Singh, said this year; the rush seems to be four times more. Free lodging and food at langar (community kitchen) has drawn many vacationers to these inns in
Manali. The pilgrims paying obeisance at Takht Sri Kesgarh Sahib, too, have increased this year. “People prefer spending the first day of the new year at religious places,” members of the gurdwara said. Meanwhile, at Naina
Devi, the area has been divided into nine sectors with a DSP heading each. Nearly 350 policemen have been deployed to overseeing security arrangements and extending help to the pilgrims. Besides, the Naina Devi area had been equipped with facilities like dispensaries and first aid with 15 doctors.
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4 Pak children repatriated
Amritsar, December 30 Those repatriated were identified as Bilal Ahmad (18) of Lahore, Mohammad Alim (16), Mohammad Asif (17), and Shehbaz (15) of
Sheikhupura. Jagir Singh, DIG, BSF, said, they had crossed over to the Indian territory from the Sundargarh post and during the investigations it was found that they had unintentionally crossed the fence.
Bilal Ahmad, who lived in Lahore, had brought the three of his friends to see the border. However, due to absence of barbed fence on the other side of the border, they entered into the Indian land and were subsequently nabbed by the
BSF, he said. Besides personal mobiles and Pakistani currency notes, nothing objectionable was recovered from them. They were later handed over to the Deputy Superintendent of Rangers, through Attari-wagah joint check post.
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13 MC officials suspended
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, December 30 Minister Manoranjan Kalia said: “I have ordered suspension of 13 officials, including one SE, three XENs, three SDOs, two JEs, two DCFAs and two officials from the local audit branch. The action has come following preliminary enquiries conducted by the additional commissioner of the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation.” The names of the officials who have been suspended are SE Arun Sharma, XENs HS Khossa, PK Chaddha, Karamjit Singh, SDOs Rahul Gagneja, Deepak Kocchar, Rakesh Sharma, JEs Rakesh Singla, Harjeet Singh, DCFA SK Gupta and Yashpal Anand. While action against DCLA SS Brar and VK Khanna have been ordered to examine local funds.
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‘Assault’ on
Professor
Patiala, December 30 Taking a suo motu cognisance of the matter, commission chairperson Justice RS Mongia (retd) has called for a report from the state government, through SSP Sangrur, by the next date of hearing fixed for February 1, 2010. Notably, on December 26, The Tribune had reported the matter in detail. Prof SS Dhaliwal, who is working with the People for Direct Social Action (PDSA) had accused Sunam city SHO Jaspal Singh of “thrashing” an alleged eve-teaser Babbu in brutal manner. Prof Dhaliwal further accused the cops of beating him as well and keeping him in an illegal detention. Subsequently, Sangrur SSP Naunihal Singh had ordered an inquiry into the matter. Meanwhile, orders issued by the commission reads, “The police is the image of the country’s conscience. But sadly, the mindset of the police has not changed, even after 62 years of Independence.” While seeking report about the matter from the Home Department through SSP Sangrur, the orders also mentioned, “A copy of this order should be sent to PSH, ADGP/IVC-cum-Human Rights and Sangrur SSP for information and compliance.”
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Ginners threaten to boycott auctions
Bathinda, December 30 Further, they announced to hold a state-level dharna at the grain market, Bathinda, on January 4, if the government did not end its alleged biased attitude towards the small and medium units. Holding a state-level meeting here today, the ginners accused the state government of playing a biased role in granting exemption to a few ginning and spinning mills in Punjab. They said the state government exempted some ginning and spinning mills from paying the market fees and rural development funds (RDF), which is otherwise fixed at 4 per cent of the purchase, in the name of mega projects. Members of the association said that despite the fact that their small and marginal units were running in deficit, they kept on paying huge fees and taxes (about 12.5 per cent) to the state government. A member of the association Kailash Garg lamented, “It is due to such taxes that we fail to compete with the big houses. As a result, neither cotton growers get a higher price for their crop nor do we gain any profit.”
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Metros ‘need global infrastructure’
Amritsar, December 30 President of Institute of Town Planners, India, DS Meshram said sincere efforts by policy-makers, politicians and planners were required to attain the goal. Meshram said there was a dire need to restoring the migrants to their respective settlements in order to effectively implementing decentralised government policies and protecting Indian settlements from further damage. For slums and squatters, Meshram suggested that the housing needs of the poor should be properly looked into and their infrastructure requirements must be met. About employment opportunities in town planning, Meshram said each town, whether big or small, needed a Town Planning Department for balanced growth.
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3-yr-old girl rescued from debris
Ludhiana, December 30 The girl, identified as Payal, was rescued after an hour-long rescue operation conducted by residents of the area. The incident took place when three ‘kutcha’ houses belonging to Amar Singh, Laimbar Singh and Prem Singh, collapsed after the earth caved in. During the incident, Payal was alone inside one of the houses. According to Laimber Singh’s wife Jeeto, Amar Singh’s house collapsed, followed by her house. Payal was rescued after nearly an hour-long rescue operation by the resident and was further rushed to a hospital. She is stated to be out of danger.
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Grants given to 20 villages
Amritsar, December
30 He gave development grants worth Rs 1 crore to over 20 border villages and said he would spent the funds to build and repair schools, construct new dharamshalas and for other development activities. He said local representatives and others would discuss new development plans to take the villages on the faster pace of progress. Sidhu urged the state government to pass a resolution for the grant of a special status for Amritsar. Expressing resentment over the defunct Amritsar Development Authority (ADA), Sidhu said the present body had not held its meeting in the past three years.
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SSP’s kin among 12 booked for firing
Umesh Dewan Tribune News Service
Patiala, December 30 Fearing threat to their life, the terrorised NRI family has approached Patiala IG Paramjit Singh Gill and SSP Ranbir Singh Khattra to take immediate action against the accused and also to provide them police protection. “As one of the accused is close relative of a senior Punjab police cop, we are apprehensive as how police would handle the case,” complainant Inderjit Singh said. The top brass of the Patiala police have, however, claimed that hunt to nab the accused was on. “Police will take action as per law. There is no question of working under any pressure. Law is supreme and the already matter is being probed at very quick pace”, said Patiala SSP Ranbir Singh Khattra. According to the FIR lodged at Civil Lines Police Station, Kanwarjit Singh Laadi and Jagjeevan Singh Jagga, accompanied by some eight to ten unknown persons, allegedly trespassed into the Bharpur Garden-based residence of NRI Inderjeet Singh late on Tuesday night. “The accused fired gunshots at our cars and windowpanes of the room. It was miraculous escape for my wife, son, daughter and servants,” complainant Inderjit Singh said. Inderjit claimed that Laadi and Jagga had called up his brother Bikramjit Singh in USA to get his plot, worth crores in Patiala, transferred in the name of the accused. “When we refused to oblige the accused, they tried to eliminate our family,” he alleged. Talking to The Tribune, Inderjeet said: “As the accused trespassed into our house and fired gunshots, it clearly reflects their intension. In wake of the fact that main accused Jagjeevan Singh happens to the brother-in-law of a serving SSP, the police is not making efforts to arrest the accused.” When contacted, DSP (City II) SS Attwal said a case under sections 458/307/427/148/149 of the IPC and 25/27/54/59 of the Arms Act had been registered against the accused. “We are conducting raids to nab the accused and have assured full protection to the complainant,” asserted Attwal. Khattra said, “I don’t know whether any accused is relative of any cop. What I can assure is that we will take action as per law.”
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Members of the Sant Samaj today took out a peaceful protest march here demanding immediate arrest of those involved in the clashes that took place in Ludhiana on December 4.
Tarn Taran, December 30
Patiala, December 30