Chandigarh, May 8
Punjab Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla’s demand for a CBI probe into the allegations levelled by Batala MLA Jagdish Sahni has put both the BJP high command and the Akalis in the dock and is expected to have major political implications at the national level.

The BJP’s consistent stand, that the CBI is a tool in the hands of the Congress-led Central government, flies in the face of Chawla’s open challenge that even the CBI is free to probe the allegations of corruption levelled by her colleague in the party.

LK Advani is on record that the CBI is a political ‘handmaid’ of the ruling UPA. The Akalis have also openly expressed their distrust on the CBI, especially with regard to the Sajjan Kumar case. This is probably the first time that a BJP minister has, despite the Congress being in power at the Centre, chosen to be probed by the CBI.

Known for her forthrightness and honesty, Chawla is ready to battle it out with Sahni, her aides informed The Tribune that though she has refused to be probed by the state police, she was ready to present herself before the chief justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court and has told this much to state BJP president Ashwini Kumar today.

The fact that Chawla has shown more faith in the CBI than the state home department headed by Sukhbit Badal has been seen to be an implicit indictment of the fairness and neutrality of the state police.

“There are all kinds of allegations being levelled against Sahni. Now, his family is facing charges of female foeticide. Can he come out in the open and say that he is also ready for a probe like this?” pointed out Chawla’s aides.

“She is a blot on womanhood,” said Sahni in a TV interview, as part of his caustic, no holds barred tirade against Chawla. Among other things, Sahni had levelled allegations of corruption against Chawla in the purchase of generators and having given the contract of supply of opium to a single firm.

Chawla, on other hand, has chosen to keep quiet, waiting for justice to be delivered by the two-member committee of the BJP. But political analysts say she might not be given even a chance to prove her innocence. Indications trickling from the BJP high command were that both Sahni and Chawla face a serious possibility of being asked to resign from their current posts.

Chandigarh, May 8
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Mohinder Singh Kaypee yesterday demanded the resignation of Health Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla following the spat between her and her own party’s Chief Parliamentary Secretary Jagdish Sahni, who have accused each other of indulging in corruption.

He said: “Skeletons in the cupboard of the Parkash Singh Badal government had started tumbling out.”

He further alleged that corruption was rampant at every level in the Badal government and this issue was now being raked up by the very people who are part of the government.

He said according to his information, the state of affairs in the administration had also been conveyed to the Akali Dal senior leadership by leaders at the district level.

Kaypee said it was not for the first time that the issue of corruption in the Badal government had cropped up. What was more important this time was levelling allegations against the leader occupying the office of the Chief Parliamentary Secretary in this very government. He said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal must own the moral responsibility.

The PPCC chief said the issue had not just remained confined to the levelling of allegations as Sahni had even threatened to stage a dharna outside the residence of the Health Minister whose supporters burnt his effigy in Amritsar.

What was more shocking was that Chawla was a minister who comparatively enjoyed a clean image and whose political career till now had been unblemished. If a person considered to be of high integrity was facing the charges of corruption from her own colleagues, one could well imagine the state of affairs in the Badal government. He added that the BJP had appointed a two-member panel to probe the veracity of charges levelled by Sahni against Chawla and the related issues.

However, such a probe would not suffice as only a high-level inquiry would bring out the truth. He said though Chawla had offered to get the charges probed from the CBI, she must resign in the interest of the fair probe.

Pradesh Congress general secretary and the media in charge Parminder Singh said the Chief Minister should not treat it as a matter concerning the alliance partner as it had direct bearing on the functioning of his government.

Chandigarh, May 8
Lagging not far from its neighbouring state, Haryana, where 20,000 applications were lying under process for the last two years, the Punjab government also failed to deliver the amount of scholarships and funds under the means-cum-merit scheme for students belonging to minority communities. Interestingly, the state government received a major part of these funds, last year only, from the Centre.

President of the International Sikh Confederation Lieutenant General (retd) Kartar Singh Gill, while interacting with media here at the Chandigarh Press Club, said the Kalgidhar Trust, Baru Sahib, in its efforts to create awareness among such students, reached out to the schools and other educational institutes.

Under the schemes, the students belonging to poor families of minorities, including Muslims, Sikhs, Christians, Parsis and Buddhists, were entitled to get scholarships and financial assistance for studies at various stages. Students from Class I to post graduate and professional courses could get benefits. Full course fee was reimbursed for 70 listed institutes, including IITs and IIMs to the eligible students under the scheme.

The trust distributed a booklet containing the information and application forms regarding schemes among the students, following which more than one lakh students studying up to Class X filed the applications last year. Out of this, however, 65,634 cases were approved by the Social Welfare Department and recommendations were made to release the funds, which were supposed to be disbursed before March last.

Same was the case with the students, who were eligible for the post matric scholarship and merit-cum-means scheme. A total of 13,571 cases of post-matric students approved and 1,746 students were chosen to extend grants under merit-cum-means scheme. These students belonged to the Sikh families. In addition to it, more then 5,000 students from other communities were to get the assistance and scholarships worth over Rs 20 crore.

The government, however, failed to release even a single penny against these cases till now, while the trust has started collecting fresh applications from other students as well, said Gill.

Lieutenant Colonel JS Multani, a member of the confederation, who played a big role in creating awareness among the students said there was a total ignorance about the schemes in the schools of the rural area and staff members at the school level and the government departments concerned needed to be motivated, he said.

Director, social welfare, Punjab, TR Sarangal said the department has taken many steps to create awareness among the students regarding such schemes and it yielded good results, as the number of applications reaching his office has increased to manifold. Moreover, the funds for the purpose could be released any time by the government, he said.

Bathinda, May 8
Just days after controversial posters motivating people to join the Naxalite movement were found pasted in Zira town of Ferozepur district, the same were witnessed here today.

The incident created a flutter among the people of the Malwa belt, which had already witnessed the stirrings of the Naxalite movement in the early 1970s.

Unidentified persons, who pasted the posters, opted for selective spots as most of them were witnessed at the entrance of the district courts complex, the Multania road and the grid sub-station of the electricity department, located on the Power House road.

The posters were reportedly pasted late on Friday evening but taking immediate action, senior police officials issued directions for their removal.

Many of the posters stuck on the walls of the district courts complex were removed at midnight but the posters pasted on walls and boards at the bus stand as well as the grid substation were lying intact, till media persons reached there.

The posters have been issued in the name of Camposa (Coordination committee of the Maoist parties and organisations of South Asia) and it carries the names of allied organisations as the Nepali Ekjut Communist Party (Maowadi), Purba Bangladesh Sarvhara Party (Kendri Committee), Purbi Bengal Di Communist party (MLM), Lal Jhanda Communist Party Bhutan (MLM), CPI (MLM), CPI (ML) (Naxalbari) and CPI (Maowadi). They mainly focus upon mustering support from the people to oppose “Operation Green Hunt” launched by the Centre against the Maoists in various states. Among other issues, it asks all to unite to spread the Maoist movement in South Asia.

Bathinda SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill said, “We are firm about not allowing the movement to emerge. We have lodged a case against unidentified persons under the Prevention of Unlawful Activities Act for pasting such controversial posters.”

Ludhiana, May 8
The Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) will file a criminal complaint against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal for hatching a “conspiracy” and ensuring the expulsion of Capt Amarinder Singh from the membership of the Vidhan Sabha by adopting unconstitutional means.

This was stated here today by Raninder Singh, son of Capt Amarinder Singh, who is also general secretary of the PPCC. He was in the city to appear before a court in the City Centre scam.

Stating that since a legislator of the Congress was expelled from the Assembly, Raninder said they were taking legal opinion about how should they go ahead with the case.

A deputation of senior Congress leaders was also preparing to meet the Governor of Punjab over the issue. “They made a mockery of the entire democratic system. We will not take this lying down. We are just waiting for my father to return from abroad and things will start moving then,” he said.

Raninder said the complaint would not be out of vengeance but in these circumstances, some reaction was being expected by the people of the state. “We want to set an example so that such an attempt is not made in future. We know how they assassinated my father’s character. They cannot get away with it,” he said.

While commenting on the recent case against the relatives of the former media adviser of Capt Amarinder Singh, Raninder termed it as the outcome of political vendetta. “What else is it? They could not do anything against BIS Chahal and found his relatives to be an easy target. Now they are paying the price of being Chahal's kin.

Ludhiana, May 8
Without obtaining sanction from the government to prosecute former Local Bodies Minister Chaudhry Jagjit Singh, he could not be prosecuted, as at the time of alleged commission of offence he was minister and falls under the catergory of public servant.

It was mandatory for the Vigilance Bureau (VB) to get sanction from competent authority, as required by law for launching prosecution against the public servant. But no such sanction was obtained, argued Choudhry's lawyer stressing for not framing charges against the ex-minister.

The defence lawyers also questioned the credibility of star witness of VB in this case, namely RD Awasthi. He said in his first statement recorded with the VB, he never named the ex-minister. But he kept on changing his statements later on under the pressure of bureau for implicating other persons, including former minister.

The charge, that the Congress party high command had demanded a sum of Rs 100 crore from this project, was nothing but frivolous, the defence counsel added. After hearing the arguments, the court of Sessions judge SP Bangath adjourned the hearing of the alleged multi-hundred crore Ludhiana City Centre scam for a short period till May 15. 

Chandigarh, May 8
BJP state president Ashwani Sharma has announced party’s state executive, comprising seven vice-presidents, three general secretaries, one general secretary organisation, eight secretaries and one treasurer and 56 members of state executive and others. The names of morcha presidents and conveners of different cells, besides some other functionaries and members will be announced later.

The state vice-presidents include Vinod Sharma, Virender Kaur Thandi, Saroj Malhotra, Kewal Kumar, Santosh Kalra, Som Parkash and Raghunath Rana.

The state general secretaries include Kamal Sharma, Manjit Singh Rai, Rajesh Bagha and Ajay Jamwal. The state secretaries include Ravi Mahindru, Reena Jaitely, Jeevan Gupta, Sandeep Rinwa, Sumita Gautam, Neelam Mahant,. Jatinder Singh Atwal and Jagdeep Singh Sodhi.

Jalandhar, May 8
In a significant development, two influential Congress Members of the Lok Sabha from Punjab have urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to constitute a special investigation team (SIT) under the command of the Ministry of Home Affairs to re-examine the CBI’s report on the basis of which a Delhi court had closed the anti-Sikh riots case against Congress leader Jagdish Tytler.

Sources today said Partap Singh Bajwa and Ravneet Singh Bittu, the Congress MPs from Gurdaspur and Anandpur Sahib respectively, had held a meeting with Prime Minister in this regard.

The Prime Minister, the sources said, was told by both MPs that an impression had been gaining ground among the Sikh community that the CBI’s investigation against Jagdish Tytler’s involvement in anti-Sikh riots was not satisfactory. There was an impression that the CBI worked to establish the innocence of Tytler instead of gathering evidence against him. To bring out the truth, it was emphasised that SIT be set up at the earliest. At the meeting with the PM, both MPs, the sources said, raised questions over the manner in which the CBI conducted the investigation.

It is the first time that the two Congress MPs from the state have met the Prime Minister in this connection. The sources said that in a written submission made to the PM, both MPs have referred to the Nanavati Commission report. The commission, in its report in February 2005, had stated that there was enough evidence against Tytler regarding his alleged hand in organising attacks on Sikhs. In its report, the commission had made the statements of Gurbachan Singh and Govind Narain as the basis of evidence against Tytler.

But the CBI had filed the closure report in the court, taking the legal stance that Surinder Singh, a main witness, had passed away. Countering this argument of the CBI, both MPs, the sources said, had told the PM that the CBI should have made legal efforts in the court to make Surinder Singh’s statement admissible as evidence even after his passing away.

It could have been done under Sections 32 and 60 of the Indian Evidence Act. The CBI did not record the statement of Jasbir Singh’s father, Satto Singh, another witness in the case. The CBI did not rely on the statements of Gurbachan Singh (witness no 137) and of Govind Narain (witness 150), who had given statements to Justice Sikri of the Citizens Committee.

Amritsar, May 8
Bikram Singh Majithia, patron of the Youth Akali Dal and MLA from the Majithia constituency, today dared Captain Amarinder Singh to resign from the Congress in protest against “securing safe acquittal” by the Congress-led UPA government for Jagdish Tytler, the alleged main architect of the anti-sikh carnage.

Majithia, in a statement issued here today, said Amarinder was a puppet in the hands of the 10 Janpath and was deliberately keeping silent on this issue with an eye on the party post.

He said the person who could deliberately forget the “mass slaughter” of 7,000 innocent Sikhs, anticipating the gain of a party post, had no right to enter the state before demanding justice for them.

Ridiculing the poor “political acumen” of Congress leaders, who were beating drums to sing praises for Amarinder Singh, Majithia said how could a person be the saviour of Sikhs who never spoke a single word against the “butchers” of Sikhs.

“Has Amarinder ever demanded punishment for Jagdish Tytler or Sajjan Kumar, who played the key role in the massacre of Sikhs during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots,” questioned Majithia.

He had no concern for the wounds of Sikhs given by his party men, he alleged.

Bikkon (Ropar), May 8
A team of the Punjab Pollution Control Board today visited the clinker ground of Jaypee Cement here and collected samples of soil after The Tribune highlighted that the waste from cement clinker is harming the health of nearby residents.

The team collected three samples. One was collected from the village, another from near houses situated in the vicinity of clinker ground and the third from near office of the Jaypee Cement clinker yard.

The team included scientific officer Dr Charanjit Singh and SDO Ramji Dass from Mohali PPCB nodal office.

Ramji Dass said the Jaypee Cement had applied for seeking a no objection certificate from the PPCB, but had not been issued the same yet. “The PPCB was yet to conduct an on-the-spot inspection and decide whether to issue an NOC ornot,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Ropar Operative Goods Transport Society had jumped into a controversy of the cement yard. Members of this truck union today had an altercation with the truck operators whose trucks carry clinker.

President of the society said only trucks in Ropar be authorised to pick clinker from the dump.

“Presently, the trucks are being over loaded in clear violation of laws. Trucks destined to carry 17 tonnes are being loaded with 40 tonnes of clinker,” he alleged.

The local truck operators, however, reasoned that small vehicles could not pick the clinker and it was only heavy trucks that could be used for this.

ASP Nilambri Jagdale reached the spot and pacified two factions involved in a heated argument. 

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 8
Acting swiftly to The Tribune report that highlighted the plight of commuters plying over Sirhind railway overbridge, the district administration and the police today installed reflectors on both sides of the ROB. The curve on the flyover has taken many lives during last few years as vehicles fail to overtake and see the approaching vehicle from the other side at the top.

The commuters fail to ascertain width of the bridge due to raised platforms adjacent to the railing, as there were no reflectors. Most vehicles, especially two wheelers, met with accidents due to this.

Commuters face problems while coming from Bhatti road and Chandigarh bypass adjoining the overbridge and met with accidents as vehicles coming from the flyover collide with them due to sharp turns.

Besides, the SDO of the PWD, B & R who helped in executing the work of this bridge was killed in an accident on the same stretch about 9 years ago. 

Ropar, May 8
Cash strapped Punjab State Electricity Board (PSEB), unbundled recently, has been using fuel additive worth lakhs in its thermal plants, without testing its efficiency, chemical composition and utility.

Additive fuel christened as Thermact, bought from a Mumbai-based firm, is being used in second stage boilers of Bathinda Thermal Plant while super-thermal power plant has been using it for the past four months.

The information was revealed when Patiala-based retired engineer Gurnek Singh Brar sought the information under the Right To Information (RTI) Act from Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL).

As per the information, general manager of Ropar Thermal Plant had earlier rejected to use the additive and had written to the member Generation, of the erstwhile PSEB on July 20, 2004.

He said the firm had claimed they had devolved multi-functional thermo active powder and that this particular fuel increased boiler efficiency by two per cent. The firm was asked to intimate procedure by which the increasing efficiency could be calculated in comparison to the normal coal. However, it could not supply information.

In its reply to Brar, BHEL, the nodal manufacturer of boilers for these two plants, stated it had not tested Thermact at any power station. Meanwhile, a senior engineer at PSEB said there was no method to check improvement of boiler efficiency.

“Use of additive does not prove if coal consumption has reduced or not as there is no method to measure coal quantity,” he added.

Ropar Thermal Plant placed an order of over Rs 40 lakh on trial basis this month. Bathinda Thermal Plant placed a trial order of 6,000 kg coal additive in March 2008, for Rs 18 lakh for boiler unit No. 3.

“A kg of additive fuel is mixed with 15,000 kg coal during the trial run for 60 days. Earlier, Bathinda Thermal Plant authorities refused to use imported coal on plea that they do not have facilities to blend imported coal with the Indian. It needs an explanation as to how they are now blending small quantity of additive with large quantity of coal in a fixed ratio,” officials said.

Meanwhile, member managing committee, Powercom, GS Chhabra said: “Before we substantiate the efficiency of this additive, we will not use it further in both the thermal plants,” he said. 

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 8
While the district administration claims to leave no stone unturned to provide potable water and other basic facilities to thousands of devotees ahead of Sirhind Fateh Diwas, water samples of the Sirhind Municipal Council failed purity test today.

However, many areas of the district still get non-potable water. “We have written to the executive officer to immediately chlorinate the entire water released for drinking purpose,” said District Health Officer Jagpal Singh.

Meanwhile, water samples of an ice factory and two water tanks of the committee in the district also failed the test. The officials said the factory would be sealed only after getting orders from the Deputy Commissioner.

The district health authorities took 30 samples from different parts of the district, including areas adjoining Gurdwara Fatehgarh Sahib, after orders by the Deputy Commissioner, a few days back. The orders were passed to ensure that visitors should get potable water during the function. The result of a few of these samples was still awaited.

Chandigarh, May 8
While it is yet to be proved that the ultrasound scans of pregnant women in their second trimester without any reference or reason were conducted at the diagnostic centres of close relatives of Chief Parliamentary Secretary Jagdish Sahni, the issue of improvement in the sex ratio in the state is not finding mention anywhere.

Punjab had a sex ratio of 798 girls compared to 1,000 boys in the zero to six-year age group, according to the 2001 census. The situation improved to 838 girls vis-a-vis 1,000 boys according to a sample registration system conducted by the Centre in 2007. Analysis of the births in the government civil hospitals in 2009 has revealed a further increase in the girl ratio to 896 per 1,000.

Action has been taken against 461 of the 1,361 registered diagnostic centres during the last three years, including cases registered against 109 centres and 361 centres have faced either suspension or cancellation of their licenses.

A three-member team led by State Nodal Officer Dr VK Goyal, under the PNDT Act, had raided three hospitals in Batala, the constituency of Jagdish Sahni, following “orders from above” last month.

The cases against two centres have been registered under the PNDT Act and one centre’s license was suspended for one month. Subsequently, a complaint has been filed in court against the two centres, who are accused of conducting ultrasound scans of pregnant women in their second trimester without any reference or reason. The third centre was accused of not following the required record-keeping procedure.

Sangrur, May 8
The controversy over tiles continues to haunt the Sangrur Improvement Trust. This time it has been found that there is a large difference between the strength of interlocking tiles, which the improvement trust got evaluated from the PWD Research Laboratory, Patiala, and samples of tiles used, which the regional deputy director (local government), Patiala, got evaluated after a complaint by local residents.

Sources said on May 29, 2009, the improvement trust had submitted unsealed samples of interlocking tiles to be used by it in various development schemes to the Research Laboratory, PWD, B&R, Patiala. The strength of the tiles evaluated by the laboratory was 36.56 to 37.67 N/mm2.

Following complaints of poor quality tiles being used by the improvement trust, the regional deputy director (local government), Patiala, collected the sample of the tiles and got it evaluated from the same laboratory. The new report found the strength to be between 25.71 N/mm2 and 31.23 N/mm2.

Besides, the improvement trust has also alleged to have floated norms laid by the Bureau of Indian Standard for the use of interlocking tiles of various specifications. It used 50 mm tiles, supposed to be used in non-traffic areas, in traffic areas.

Subdivisional officer of the improvement trust Baljeet Kansal said: “There can be a slight variation in the report of the laboratory.” Regarding the use of tiles in trafficable area, he said it had been used in the small area only.

Ferozepur, May 8
Final year students of the Mechanical Engineering Department of Government Polytechnic College, Ferozepur, have designed and fabricated an eco-friendly motorcycle which, interestingly, does not use any conventional fuel. Instead, it runs on compressed air, claim the students. The engine is fuelled with compressed air stored in two tanks at a high pressure. Rather than driving engine pistons with an ignited fuel-air mixture, the compressed air bike uses the expansion of compressed air in a similar manner to the expansion of steam in a steam engine.

The compressed air is filled in two cylinders that have been mounted on the rear side of the motorcycle. These tanks supply regulated air to the engine from an inlet valve which is operated by a rocker arm and is driven by a “cam”.

The air pushes the piston back and forth, which gives rotation to the rear wheel. There is an outlet valve which is again activated by the rocker arm driven by a cam. The designing of the cam and setting valve timing was one of the main problems faced during this project, said Harjeev Khanna, lecturer in the Mechanical Engineering Department under whose guidance the concept and whole design was prepared.

Khanna said that air by itself is non-flammable and compressed air technology reduces the cost of vehicle production by about 20 per cent as there is no need to add a cooling system, fuel tank, ignition systems or silencers in the bike.

BK Srivastava, a lecturer in same department, was of the view that with this technology the engine could be reduced in size to a great extent. He said since the engine ran on air, it could be made from lower-strength, light-weight material such as aluminium or low-friction teflon or a combination.

Some of the features of the motorcycle are: The compressed air is filled in the cylinder with help of compressor pump. The cost of the cylinder depends upon its size and the material with which it is built. In this project the cost of the cylinder was around Rs 3000. The cost of the compressed air is not much (Rs 30 to 40 per filling). If one has a pump at home, it can be filled at home also.

Two cylinders are not necessary but it has been done to maintain balance. Instead of one cylinder with higher capacity, the students have used two cylinders.

The bike has been successfully tested in the college playground. It has not been taken out yet. The speed was around 20 km per hour.

In one cylinder, the bike covers between 30 and 40 km.

Project in charge says they could not find any light-weight cylinder here. If the cylinder is light weight, the mileage can be increased.

The students who worked on the project included Gurjit Singh and Gurpreet Singh. 

Amritsar, May 8
Bunga Ramgarhia, the three-storeyed marvel of the Sikh school of architecture, standing tall in the vicinity of the Golden Temple, will, as a museum of Sikh history, showcase the important historical events that occurred between 1708 AD and 1800 AD, after completion of its renovation by the end of June.

The conservation and restoration work of Bunga Ramgarhia has been allotted to experts and it is likely to be completed by the end of June. The bunga (mansion) was built by eminent Sikh warrior and Ramgarhia misl chief Jassa Singh Ramgarhia in 1794 to facilitate the stay of pilgrims on visiting the Golden Temple and to protect the complex from outsiders’ attacks.

Since it has been decided by the SGPC that after its conservation, the bunga will be used as a museum to depict the eventful Sikh history till the coronation of Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the proposed museum will contain material related to the Sikh history from 1708 AD to 1800 AD, said the SGPC chief, Avtar Singh Makkar.

The SGPC has decided to call expression of interest to utilise the services of renowned museum architects for designing the museum in the Ramgarhia Bunga. Among others, the meeting was attended by Deputy Commissioner Kahan Singh Pannu, SGPC Secretary Dalmegh Singh, member SGPC Kiranjot Kaur, representatives of Ramgarhia Sabha, officials of the SGPC and experts undertaking the job. A detailed review of the progress of work related to the conservation and restoration of the buildings in the Golden Temple Complex has also been undertaken.

The SGPC has also decided that a scientific study of the decorative features, including old paintings in Gurdwara Baba Attal and the Golden Temple, should be conducted before undertaking a conservation programme of the old paintings. 

Patiala, May 8
A soldier sustained minor injuries after an under-repair section of an old two-storey hostel building collapsed in the cantonment area on the Patiala-Sangrur Highway.

The incident occurred at 9.30 am and as per information given by Army officials, gunner Raman Sharma was injured in the incident.

He is being treated at the military hospital. “The toilet and bathroom portion of the building was under repair and it collapsed yesterday. Since, soldiers had gone out for exercise, not many were there when the incident occurred,” said an Army spokesperson.

Amritsar, May 8
The Punjab police averted a major mishap by recovering 1.8-kg explosive material fitted with detonator from an abandoned car parked outside an eating joint at the Railway link road, near Circuit House here today.

The seizure came exactly five days after explosion of a mobile set in the Sultanwind area of the city on May 2 that had left a watchman Onkar injured. The police did not rule out the involvement of terrorist organisation behind the incident.

Panic gripped the city as the rumour mill grew that RDX was seized from a car. The car was parked on one of the busiest roads of the city. Besides, the car was being run on an LPG cylinder. Had the material exploded it would have caused massive loss. The white colour Maruti car bore a Delhi registration number.

Police Commissioner, Amritsar, Varinder Kumar said they received information that a car has been lying parked for a long time on the roadside. It was found that some explosive material, along with detonator was placed in it. He said whether the material was RDX or not would be ascertained by the forensic team.

A separate probe team had been formed to investigate the matter. 

Ferozepur, May 8
The Railway authorities today placed six employees under suspension for their alleged involvement in the provident fund scam.

Those placed under suspension included Naresh Sharma, president, Cashier Union, Railway Division, Ferozepur. The other employees were Sheel Kumar, Prem Nath (both accounts assistants) and Harjap Kumar (category D employee).

The names of two employees working in the railway office, Amritsar, who were also placed under suspension, could not be known. So far, the Railway authorities have managed to detect 13 cases where the provident fund of the employees had been withdrawn from their accounts in a fraudulent manner.

Official sources said the scam came to light when an employee of this railway division went to the office concerned in connection with the withdrawal of his own provident fund and found that a number of fake pay orders for withdrawal of provident fund from the accounts of other officials of the Amritsar railway office were also lying there.

Sources added that six employees were placed under suspension after the report of a preliminary inquiry was submitted to the Financial Adviser, Chief Accounts Officer, (Northern India), Railways, by a senior functionary of the Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) office here.

KS Asla, Senior Divisional Finance Manager, DRM, Ferozepur, said the report was also submitted to the General Manager, Railways, and the Railway Vigilance Wing. He added that a full-fledged inquiry was also being conducted into the case.

It is learnt that the modus operandi of the accused was that they had been withdrawing the money from the PF of unsuspecting employees by making pay orders of less than Rs 10,000 and getting these authenticated from fake witnesses.

While on pay orders of less than Rs 10,000, the money was being given in cash to the employees withdrawing the PF, in case the pay order was of more than Rs 10,000, the cheque of the same amount was issued in the name of employee withdrawing it. It is learnt that criminal action will be taken against the accused after the full inquiry is over.