Jalandhar, February 13
Dowry has claimed another life, this time the hapless father of the victim dying of a heart attack, unable to bear humiliation at the hands of his daughter’s in-laws.Raman Bhalla, reportedly collapsed when he was approached by his daughter’s in-laws at his shop on February 11 at 7 pm, with a demand for more dowry.

Incidentally, the marriage of his daughter Sakhshi with groom Ashay took place here in November only.

A case under section 304, 498 A of the IPC has been registered against Akshay and his parents Surinder and Vandana Chabra.

Sakhshi, a resident of Jaswant Nagar, in her FIR registered at police station division no 3, alleged that she had been harassed for bringing inadequate dowry ever since she got married to Akshay Chhabra, resident of Gujral Nagar on November 17, 2009 at Bath Castle.

She alleged that due to unabated harassment at the hands of her in-laws, she was forced to live with her parents for the last one month.

While narrating the incident, that lead to her father’s death, she revealed that her husband, along with her in-laws reached her father’s shop and started abusing him and asking him to give them a luxury car in dowry (although they had already been provided with a Swift car at the time of marriage).

She further alleged that her father had been under tremendous mental strain ever since she started living with her parents and this humiliation proved to be the last straw.

Unable to bear the verbal abuse, he collapsed and was rushed to the hospital. Former Mayor Suresh Sehgal, who is the brother-in-law of the deceased, alleged that their family had agreed to hold the marriage at Bath Castle, in addition to giving a Swift car, besides a handsome dowry.

However, the demand was further raised to a Honda Accord luxury car, diamond jewellery.

He also added that the police was yet to nab the accused who were still roaming freely. 

Jalandhar, February 13
Three relatives of Advisor to Punjab CM Dr. Daljit Singh Cheema were killed in a road mishap at Dhilwan on the Jalandhar-Amritsar national highway on Saturday evening.

The deceased persons have been identified as Manjit Kaur, her husband Avtar Gill Singh and Rajendar Kaur. Two wounded persons Lakhwinder Singh and Prince have been admitted to a nearby hospital.

The accident took place when their car hit a tanker near the rest house of the Forest Department.

They were going from Jalandhar to their house in Batala.

Amritsar: Three persons, including an army man and his eight-month old daughter, died in two separate mishaps which occurred here late last evening.

According to information, Surjit Singh, an army jawan, who had come on leave, and his daughter were crushed to death while his wife Jyoti was critically injured, when their motorcycle was hit by a tractor trolley driven by one Jasbir Singh, a resident of Dhulka village. Jyoti was rushed to the hospital.

Satnam Singh, brother of the deceased, and resident of Jallupur Khera village, in his complaint, stated that Surjit had come from Srinagar on a 10-day leave.

He said the speeding tractor trolley collided with the motorcycle head on. They were returning to their village from Bhinder village when the incident took place. A case has been registered at the Beas police station under relevant sections of the IPC. In another incident, one Channa, resident of Gandhi Nagar was crushed to death when his cycle was hit by a bus. He was going to Dera Beas when the incident occurred. Bhola Singh, the son of the deceased, in his complaint, alleged that the bus was being driven by one Pannu. The police has registered a case while no arrest has been made so far. 

Gurdaspur, February 13
The district police is fighting with its back to the wall as far as women policing is concerned. The force is managing just with 128 policewomen.

Stats obtained from the police department revealed that the district police was woefully understaffed as far was women employees were concerned. This seems to be a bit ironic for a police district which only recently has been rated as No 1 in the state, based on several parameters.

Out of 128, this police district has 105 are constables, 15 head constables, five Assistant Sub-Inspectors (ASIs) and three Sub-Inspectors (SIs).

In Gurdaspur sub-division, there are just 21 women cops while the district Women’s Cell has a meagre staff of four employees. The Women’s Cell primarily caters to cases relating to matrimonial disputes, victims of crime and domestic violence. Sources disclosed that this district has been known to have reported a significant number of such cases which go to the women’s cell for being redressed.

The Pathankot sub-division, which falls under Gurdaspur district, has just 23 women cops out of which 22 are constables and one is working as a Sub-Inspector.

To compound matters, 19 women employees are undergoing training at the Punjab Police Academy at Phillaur.

However, Gurdaspur SSP Lok Nath Angra seemed to be unfazed. “Despite shortage in Non-Gazetted Officer (NGO) ranks, we are putting our best. We have been very watchful when it comes to crimes being committed against women. It is here where we need women cops and we are doing well with whatever resources we have,” he claimed.

Another senior police officer, preferring anonymity, disclosed, “Gurdaspur is surely understaffed as far as women employees are concerned. We need more employees to fight the menace of domestic violence and matrimonial related cases which have to be tackled primarily by women cops. However, having said that, the Gurdaspur police was still doing a good job as far as handling cases against women was concerned.”

However, things are not at all rosy among women employees. A woman employee revealed, “Staff shortage is taking a toll on our health. Sometimes we are also sent for VIP duty. The stage government should initiate a recruitment drive so that we are better staffed and are able to perform at optimal level.”

Nawanshahr, February 13
SSP Rakesh Aggarwal, while addressing mediapersons here on today claimed that the police had busted an inter-district gang of robbers by arresting its five members.

The arrested members had been identified as Ranjit Singh of Sohal Jagir village, Shinda of Ali Chak village, Salig Ram of Saidpur village, Harvinder Singh, alias Sonu, of Gatti Raipur (all belonging to Jalandhar district) and Raju, resident of Muktsar. The police had seized a stolen canter, a Tata 407, three .12-bore country-made pistols and 250 bags of paddy from them.

The gang comprised 20 members.Two of their accomplices, Vijay Kumar and Shivcharn Singh, both residents of Jalandhar district, had already been arrested by the police and sent to jail. The gang had been active in stealing transformers from the fields during night. The gang used to take out wires and diesel from the stolen transformers for selling it to the scrap dealers.

Besides, the gang used to steal wheat, paddy, etc, from the godowns and rice mills by overpowering chowkidars during night. The accused confessed to have stolen transformers from Kamam, Mazari, Hakimpur, Jagatpur, Sarhal Qazian, Bazidpur, Garhi Ajit Singh, Rakkeran Dhahan, Rail Mazra Poonian and Heon villages, 243 bags of paddy from Luxmi Rice Mills, Rahon, and 133 bags of paddy from Shiv Rice Mills, Balachaur, said the SSP, adding that a case under sections 399, 402 and 379 of the IPC was registered against them at Banga police station.

The SSP claimed that the police had busted a gang of vehicle thieves by arresting two persons, Sanjiv Kumar, alias Happy, of Chak Kalal village, and Davinder Kumar, alias Kapil Kumar, resident of Banga. The police had recovered three Hero Honda motorcycles from them.

Besides, the gang was involved in snatching of gold ornaments from women at village link roads. A case under sections 382 and 34 of the IPC was registered at Banga police station.

The SSP claimed that the police had busted an inter-state gang of drug peddlers by arresting two persons, Darshan Singh of Kishangarh village, and Vinod Kumar, alias Titu, of Mazari village in Kurukshetra district, Haryana, at separate police nakas at Bullowal and Beeka villages, respectively.

The police seized 1.5 kg and 2 kg of opium, respectively, from them. A case under sections 18 , 61 and 85 of the NDPS Act was registered at Banga police station.

Amritsar, February 13
The women wing of District Youth Congress today held an awareness rally against the rampant drug abuse, female foeticide and dwindling sex ratio in the region.Dinesh Bassi, President District Youth Congress flagged off the rally from Tarn Taran road.

It passed through various bazaars of the city, including Himmatpura, Gilwali Gate, bus stand, Gurdwara Shaheed Baba Deep Singh, Sultanwind Gate, Bhandari Bridge and concluded at Company Bagh.

Veerpal Kaur Dhillon, National Secretary of Youth Veerangna (women wing), speaking on the occasion, said Punjab, is one of the prominent states suffering from the social evil of female feticide and drug abuse.

Pathankot, February 13
The police today arrested two youths involved in withdrawing money from the ATMs using fake ATM cards. Gurdaspur SSP Lok Nath Angra said the Sadar police nabbed two persons, identified as Vijay Krishan and Ram Lal Yadav, both residents of Johnpur of Uttar Pradesh near a canal at Sarna, 5 kms from here on the Pathankot-Amritsar road.

He said policemen deployed on the duty watched the youths in the age group of 22 to 25 years hovering around the ATM of State Bank of India branch at Sarna. As soon the duo withdrew cash from the ATM by using fake card, the policemen informed the Sadar police. SP Bhupinderjit Singh Virk and DSP Naresh Dogra along with a police party nabbed both the burglars.

The police seized a amount of Rs 35,000, ten ATM cards of different banks, two mobile phones and two passport from their possession. During preliminary interrogation the accused confessed that they were withdrawing money using fake ATM cards of different banks. They further disclosed that they had been operating in the different cities of the state for the last four months and had withdrawn more than Rs three lakh using fake ATM cards. A case under sections 420, 380, 411, 467, 468, 471 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against them.