Ludhiana, June 6
Eight months after 115,796 quintals of hoarded sugar was confiscated by the food, civil supplies and consumer affairs department, it is yet to reach households.

Its second auction, scheduled for today, was cancelled amid protests by traders that it was “expired” sugar.

The process of auctioning the sugar started at the wheat auditorium of Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) at 11 am today.

A group of social workers objected to the auction of “expired” sugar without getting it tested from the state laboratory of the department of health and family welfare.

The department had kept Rs 2,700 as the reserve price, but none of the traders came forward for the auction, fearing action from the department of health and family welfare under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act.

This correspondent called up Deputy Commissioner Rahul Tewari, who promised to look into matter. He sent the ADC to the venue, who cancelled the auction.

The department had seized 97,500 quintals of “expired” sugar from Khubi Ram Johari Mal, 8,516 quintals from Yashika International and 9,780 quintals from Chandi Mal Roshan Das at Seehra, stated to be one of the biggest such seizures in Punjab.

The hoarders had specially rented godowns in the city to stock the sugar. Following raids, the city police filed a case against them under the Essential Commodities Act.

Officials of the department auctioned the seized sugar stocks on February 26, declaring that the sugar was good and safe for human consumption and asking traders to sell it in the open market within 72 hours.

Exasperated over the apathy of the department, sugar traders from various districts demanded that the department pay them back their earnest money of Rs 200 per bag, which they had deposited before the last auction.

“A total of 159 traders from Punjab had deposited Rs 1 lakh for 500 bags and Rs 2 lakh for 1,000 bags of sugar before they came to know that it was expired sugar,” said Ashwani Mittal, a sugar trader from Jalandhar, who was present today.

Ludhiana, June 6
A day after 17-year-old Parteek Bajwa took everybody for a ride claiming that he bagged a job with NASA, no action is likely to be taken against him for want of a complaint.

The police yesterday ordered a high-level probe into his claims but the Commissioner of Police today said they were not mulling any action against him.

“A claim is no crime. Parteek made tall claims but did not commit a crime," said Commissioner Ishwar Singh adding that in the absence of any complaint, the police would not be able to register a case against the boy.

"We can take action only if someone files a complaint. Otherwise, we cannot do anything against him," he said.

Parteek had on Friday claimed to have made a record-breaking discovery by which humans could live for 10-15 years more. He had also claimed to have been invited by NASA by a chartered flight and offered the job of a senior microbiologist at a salary of Rs 1.65 lakh per day. The teenager had also claimed to have figured in the Guinness Book of World Records for the discovery.

Parteek had corroborated his claims with the help of fake documents and certificates with forged signatures of the authorities at NASA as well as that of US President Barrack Obama. He had also produced a document of the Guinness Book of World Records, with forged signatures of the signatory authority.

Meanwhile, Parteek and his maternal uncle Vikas Seth are changing statements. Yesterday Parteek said he was forced to fake an achievement under immense parental pressure. His parents wanted him to excel and he wanted to make them happy.

Though Seth has been claiming he had been kept in the dark just like Parteek's entire family, his contradictory statements depict a different story.

Saharan Majra, June 6
"People who kill women should be given the worst of punishment so that nobody can dare to eliminate them.” This was a common sentiment echoed by villagers of Saharan Majra village in Ludhiana district near here, whose native Kamikar Singh Dhillon was ordered life term in Canada yesterday.

Not even a single family of the village, including relatives, showed sympathies with the alleged killer, as they said this was the right treat to him.

Visibly upset over repetition of same questions they had faced on the first day of the year 2009, when Kamikar Singh Dhillon had killed his daughter-in-law Amandeep Kaur by stabbing her multiple times, the villagers said they had snapped links with the family.

“Even if he was a native of our locality we could never think of showing sympathy with a person who was found guilty of murdering his daughter-in-law,” reacted villagers led by Gurdeep Singh.

Terming character assassination of Amandeep after her murder as another monstrous crime, villagers alleged Dhillon had acted against tenets of the village where daughter-in-laws were treated as daughters.

Showing sympathy with parents of the victim, the villagers on contrary vouched for her good moral character. Referring to information collected from residents of her locality Gurjit Kaur, sarpanch of the village, maintained that she (Amandeep) had a good moral character and there was nothing unusual about her behaviour. “Even if there was anything wrong with her behaviour her husband should have discussed it with her parents,” argued Gurjit Kaur.

48-year-old Indian Canadian Dhillon was earlier employed as a salesman in the Cooperative Department of the state government. Not being able to adjust in the village he had shifted to local town and then to Canada in search of greener pasture. He got his son married to Amandeep of Issru village in 2005.

Dhillon pleaded guilty to stabbing Amandeep Kaur to death on January 1, 2009, saying he feared she would leave his son for another man with whom she was having an affair.

Ludhiana, June 6
To keep a tab on snatchers and eve-teasers, the city police installed eight close-circuit television cameras (CCTVs) in the posh Sarabha Nagar market here today. The CCTV cameras were installed in collaboration with shopkeepers. A mini-control room with televisions to monitor activities was also installed in the market.

Sources in the police disclosed that CCTVs were installed following a rise in snatching and vehicle-theft cases in the area.

A public announcement system had been launched recently, with which cops made visitors aware of the presence of pickpockets and eve-teasers in the market.

The physique of miscreants and the clothes they wore were also being announced on loudspeaker to alert visitors.

Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh had expressed zero tolerance against snatchers and eve-teasers.

Giving details, the Sarabha Nagar SHO said the police was planning to connect the CCTV cameras directly to the control room for effective policing. The police would use CCTV footage as evidence against rowdy elements, often involved in creating ruckus in the market.

If the experiment was successful, CCTV cameras would be installed near educational institutes and religious places in the area, a favourite hunting ground for snatchers.

Sources said the footage of CCTV cameras would be helpful in keeping a tab on criminal activities in the area.

Due to the increase in anti-social activities, families had stopped visiting Sarabha Nagar, which affected the business of a majority of restaurants.

“The business of the Sarabha Nagar market thrives on visits of couples and children. I hope that the experiment will be successful,” said Dheeraj, a resident of the area.

Ludhiana is a city burdened with traffic, accidents are a norm here and administration has no solution. Ferozepore road being the busiest road causes a lot of trouble for the commuters.

Despite the efforts of traffic police there seems to be no solution. The road has turned into protesters venue. Employees are often seeing marching and obstructing the traffic, causing inconvenience to commuters.

Shifting of the venue for protesters may work to some extent. Protesters should be allowed to address their problems at some park or open place like anajmandi or allow them to submit their memorandum in a group of not more than eleven persons.

Secondly, political rallies should not be permitted on the road.

Ludhiana, June 6
Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB), Ludhiana, has launched a plantation drive on the World Environment Day. The campaign was started by planting saplings at Ason Industries, Bhagwan Chowk, Ludhiana, by Lalit Sharma (board member) and MChauhan (Xen), PPCB, in co-ordination with the United Cycle and Parts Manufacturers Association, Ludhiana.

As many as 1,000 plants were planted in the Industrial Area.

Doraha, June 6
The PSEB class X merit holders of Guru Nanak Model Senior Secondary School (GNMSSS) were felicitated at a function organised on school campus here today.

President Roop Brar, vice-president Prof Balwant Singh Pangli, secretary Tarlok Singh Jaggi, director Jaswant Singh Gill, Harjiwanpal Singh Gill and principal DP Thakur bestowed a commendable honour on Jaspreet Kaur, who had brought laurels to the school and district by standing first in the science group and securing overall second position in the state at the same time. Similarly, Navpreet Kaur who secured 20th position and Abhishek Mohindra, who secured 24th position in commerce, were also honoured. — OC

Khamano, June 6
A combined annual training camp under the aegis of the 19 Punjab Battalion NCC, Ludhiana, is being held at JNV, Farour, near here,

The camp is being attended by 500 NCC cadets from 35 educational institutes from district Ludhiana, Moga, Abohar, Ferozepur, Sangrur and Fatehgarh Sahib. The camp is being organised under the directions of Col GPS Sawhney, Group Commander, NCC Group HQ, Ludhiana.

The cadets are being trained to develop character, comradeship, discipline, leadership, community living, secular outlook, and spirit of adventure and the ideals of self-less service.

The cadets are also being trained for active participation in the inter-battalion competition, Thal Sena camp, and Republic Day camp by Commanding Officer LT Col VK Singh.

During the camp, drill competition, debate, firing, weapon handling competition, drawing, painting and other competitions are also planned.

Ludhiana, June 6
The eighth divisional conference of the Northern Zone Insurance Employees Association (NZIEA), divisional committee, was held today.

The conference was presided over by Harbans Singh, divisional president. Annual report of the Ludhiana divisional committee was presented by Amarjit Singh, divisional secretary, on behalf of the outgoing committee.

Kamal Kumar presented the accounts of the past three years.

AK Bhatnagar talked in detail about the attempts of the international finance capital to capture the domestic insurance industry. He explained the ill-effects of the two insurance bills, which would jeopardise not only the interest of policy holders, but also the national economy.

Ludhiana, June 6
"New genre writers/poetess have come out of the shackles of subjugation by men and have become assertive of their rights as is evident from their written accounts," said Dr Sukhjit Singh during the release of Dahleez, a book by Kamalpreet Sanghera.

The book was released at a special function organised at Punjabi Bhawan yesterday.

Dehleez, an anthology of poems, implies to the age old "parameters" set up by men for women and the newfound aggression in them, which prompts them to "rebel" against the dictates.

The book is a self-retrospection of the poet wherein she has imbibed her turmoil as an individual at every step of life. "Be it as a daughter, be it as a sister, be it as a mother or be it as a wife and daughter- in-law, a girl/woman is expected to step aside for the sake of men in her life," says Sanghera.

A homemaker from Bilga near Jalandhar, Kamalpreet has taken 20 years to come out with the poems, which are evocative of the "rights" of a common Punjabi girl which for long have been suppressed in one way or the other.

Dr Gulzar Singh Pandher while referring to the poems "jhanna", "mirgtrishna", "dosti", "dhukdi agg" said that every phrase points towards the self-hurt which gradually becomes the voice of various. "But it is the intensity in the progression of thoughts that unveils the fury that has been masked for long,”observed Pandher.

Another woman writer present on the occasion stated that the new era of capitalism had given women a chance to prove their worth outside the four walls of their homes adding, "sensing the winds of change, men are trying hard to give up on their chauvinism and accommodate women in every venture."

A large number of writers, poets and critics of Punjabi language had come to attend the function.

Khamano, June 6
Residents of 52 villages in Fatehgarh district can now hope to get uninterrupted power supply with a 66 kV grid having been commissioned in Hargana village near here a few days ago. The grid was inaugurated by former Lok Sabha deputy speaker Charanjit Atwal.

“Since 1992 we have been struggling to get this power grid set up and have held demonstrations and sit-ins besides forwarding several representations to senior officials. Many politicians sought votes after making promises to set up the grid but none fulfilled them,” said Kuldip Singh, director of Milkfed, Ludhiana and a resident of Hargana village.

The inhabitants of these 52 villages have been reeling under acute power cuts for the past many years with the proposal to set up a 66 kV grid in Hargana hanging fire since 1992.

A 400 kV grid in nearby Bhari village was serving all the 52 villages since 1970. Since then the demand for electricity has risen tremendously and people began demanding a separate power grid to relieve the load on the Bhari grid.

The area residents had resorted to agitations and blocked roads and organized rallies besides giving numerous representations to the department officials concerned and even the Punjab chief minister to get the proposed grid functional.

With the grid being commissioned residents of Hargana village will get round the clock electricity. Three feeders have been set up under this grid in Lohar Majra, Hargana and Dullawan villages.

Villages that have been connected with the newly constructed grid include Suhavi, Burj, Loharmajra, Hargana, Baur, Dullwan, Bhamian, Dholewal. Eight more villages - Kheri, Kalewal, Raipur, Majri, Mullapur, Kotla Maksud and Muskabad - would also be connected soon.

Ludhiana, June 6
Hira Singh Gabria, minister for jails and tourism, Punjab, yesterday said the state government was spending Rs 241.30 crores for providing sewerage facilities to the city residents. Gabria made this statement while laying the foundation stone of sewerage lines at Preet Nagar, ward number 7. The cost of laying 6-km sewerage lines at Preet Nagar and Baba Jeewan Singh Nagar will be about Rs 1.75 crores.

Gabria claimed that in the next two years, all basic facilities would be provided in Ludhiana, which would bring it into the category of the developed cities. He said the work of widening of the Ludhiana-Ferozpur road was at full swing. Once it was completed, residents would be able to get rid of the traffic congestion problem.

Ludhiana, June 6
Five passengers were injured following a collision of auto-rickshaw and scooter at Baba Than Singh Chowk, here, this afternoon.

The incident took place around 3 45 pm, when the overspeeding auto-rickshaw rammed into a scooter and turned turtle at Baba Than Singh Chowk. Rajinder Kumar, a scooter rider, who also sustained injuries following collision, said the speeding auto-rickshaw plying four passengers could not negotiate a sharp turn and collided with his scooter after which it overturned.

The driver of the auto-rickshaw fled the scene, while the injured passengers were rescued by shopkeepers of the locality and were rushed to CMC hospital. While three-accident victims returned home after receiving the first aid, the condition of the fourth was stated to be serious.

Ludhiana/Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 6
If disclosures made by couriers nabbed by the police are any indicator, the industrial city and surrounding localities have become the epicenter of drug addiction. Smack, cocaine and heroine are fast replacing poppy and opium among addicts in the age group of 19- 30 years.

Despite registration of large number of cases under the NDPS Act, the police has failed to nab real culprits, who enjoy the patronage of political leaders.

Revelations made by the accused arrested in connection with a number of cases registered at the local police station and surrounding localities in the past months suggest that the region had become the centre point of drug addiction.

Narcotic and psychotropic drugs are easily available on certain roadside dhabas, restaurants and tuck shops situated near factories and educational institutes. Hospitals canteens and hostel messes are no exception to the trend.

Investigations further revealed that smack, cocaine and heroine were fast replacing traditional poppy husk and opium as they were easy to transport by couriers and they were less bulky in nature.

“While poppy husk is transported in bags and opium has to be concealed under some bulky materials, smack and other contraband can be carried in small handbags. The traffickers can easily travel in a public transport, without being noticed and can leave the material in the vehicle in case of a police raid,” Harinder Singh, Investigation officer(IO) said.

Admitting that majority of suspects, including women, nabbed with banned products were couriers only. “In majority cases, the nabbed suspects do not know the whereabouts of actual suppliers. Even if they know they do not tell the exact information. And we can not initiate action against someone without having enough evidence in our hands,” argued the IO.

Investigations further revealed that easy recruitment of couriers from middle class families had facilitated the drug mafia run their illicit business from behind the scene. Unemployed educated youths, widows and women bearing burden of their families are easy prey to allurements of illicit traders.

Jagraon, June 6
The police booked and arrested a shopkeeper on Friday for selling SIM cards on fake identities. The accused, identified as Raman Kumar of Karnail Gate, was running a provision store and a book store.

A social worker had informed the in charge of the economic offences wing, Krishan Dev, about the matter and requested him to verify the same.

Krishan Dev laid a trap through policemen in plain clothes, who identified him. The police recovered 50 SIM cards of Reliance Mobile from his bag, which he had activated prior to selling those.

All SIM cards were activated in the name of his firm. The numbers were activated from his demo number 9023751259. The police also recovered three new Reliance mobile phones.

The police also nabbed one youth, identified as Navdeep Goyal, on Saturday and recovered 41 activated SIM cards from his possession.

The police did not slap Section 420 of the IPC on him, but booked him on minor charges, making it easy for him to get bail.

Krishan Dev said Raman had activated SIM cards and gone to the market to sell those whereas Navdeep had no such intention.

An investigation by the Ludhiana Tribune revealed that the identities of unsuspecting customers were being sold for Rs 5 each in the region, including Raikot, Mullanpur Dakha, Jagraon, Hathoor, Pakhowal, Humbran, Sidhwan Bet and other villages, where photocopiers were installed.

The shopkeepers, tricking the customers, used to make additional photocopies of their identities proofs and then mkde bulk copies of those, to be sold for Rs 5 each.

All mobile companies had fixed targets for their dealers and offered attractive schemes to meet those. Shopkeepers selling SIM cards used to avail themselves of these schemes and activate SIM cards on the basis of fake identities.

In a recent incident, after a hoax call to blow the Ludhiana railway station, some sellers of SIM cards had been booked by the railway police for selling SIM cards on the basis of fake identities.

Raikot, June 6
A septuagenarian, farmer at Rachhin village, has accused his neighbour of fraudulently getting his land transferred. Jagir Singh (72), in his complaint to Ludhiana SSP (rural) Harinder Singh Chahal had stated that he used to live alone in his 17 Kanal house.

In order to meet his day-to-day expenses he agreed to sell his one bigha to his neighbour Baljit Singh for Rs 3.70 lakh. He said Baljit had an ill-intention against him and in order to grab his entire land Baljit provoked him against his only son and he, under the instigation of Baljit, turned his son out of his house and disowned him.

Some time ago Baljit took him to Registrar office, Raikot, to get sale deed of one bigha registered in the name of his wife.

He paid him Rs 2 lakh in cash and the rest Rs 1.7 lakh was to be paid to him at the time of registration, which he never paid. He used to ask him for the balance amount and one day when he was tipsy he asked him to vacate the house.

Bhupinder Kaur, Baljit’s wife, and his son Rajinder Singh also confirmed that they had bought his entire property and asked him to vacate the possession.

Taking advantage of his illiteracy, Baljit Singh duped him of his land.

Shocked of the revelation about his property and fearing his life, Jagir left the house and went to a relative. Next day he visited Patwari village and was confirmed that his land had been transferred to Bhupinder Kaur. Following which, he approached the village panchayat. Baljit said he had bought Jagir’s land for Rs 34 lakh, but could not produce any proof of the payment made. Even the deed writer and the witnesses of the sale deed also refused that any payment was made by Baljit to Jagir Singh.

The panchayat asked him to return the land to which he refused. To this the panchayat accompanied Jagir and lodged a complaint with SSP Jagraon who after a brief investigation asked to book all the three accused at Raikot police station.

The police booked all the three accused, including Baljit, his wife Bhupinder Kaur and son Rajinder Singh under Sections 420 and 120B of the IPC and initiated inquiry into the matter. No arrest has been made so far.

Jagraon, June 6
A minor girl of Chuhar Chak village near Ajitwal has complained of being gangraped by a group of youths continuously for many days after blackmailing her as they had recorded the rape scene on their mobile phone.

The girl, pursuing her class X through private examination had complained to the Ajitwal police station that when she was waiting for a mode of transport on April 23 to go to school to appear in the practical paper, she was abducted in a car by Harman and Raman of Kaunke Kalan village Jagraon.

They were known to her. She alleged that she was taken to the house of Raman where nobody was at home. Both of them raped her taking turns and shot the video film on their mobile. After showing her the video clip they threatened to expose her and called her at their house the next day.

The youths also threatened to kill her and her entire family if she revealed about the incident to anybody. These youths kept on blackmailing her, fed up, she narrated the entire incident to her parents on Thursday, who then approached the Ajitwal police. The parents of the victim along with relatives approached Moga SSP Sneh Deep Sharma, who asked DSP Balbir Singh to investigate the matter.

The Ajitwal police after getting the victim examined at the civil hospital booked the accused under Sections 363, 366, 376, 506, 120B of the IPC. No arrest has been made so far but the police parties are raiding the possible hideouts of the accused to nab them. 

Ludhiana, June 6
The Mahajan Juniors recorded an emphatic 67-run victory over the Coaching Centre to begin their campaign in a style in the 15th edition of the Chaman Lal Malhotra Cricket Cup Tournament (U-14) being played at MGM Public School, Dugri, here, today.

Batting first, the Mahajan Juniors scored 143 runs in 28 overs. The main contributors were Mohit and Rishabh, who made 34 runs each.

The Coaching Centre's Jaish captured three wickets for 25 runs, while Purnoor and Pranav Bajaj grabbed two wickets each after conceding 29 and nine runs, respectively.

Chasing the target, the Coaching Centre was bundled out for 76 runs in 26 overs. Not even a single batsman could reach the double figure.

For Master Juniors, Gokul Tiwari was the most successful bowler, chipping in four victims for 11 runs, while Shubham claimed two wickets for four runs.

Earlier, Chaman Lal Malhotra, chairman selection committee, Punjab, and senior vice-president of the Ludhiana District Cricket Association (LDCA) inaugurated the tournament. Office-bearers of the LDCA, along with parents of the players were present.

Six teams- Mahajan Juniors, National Club, Coaching Centre, Pankaj Club, Super Club and Mahajan Masters are taking part in the tournament.

Matches of 35 overs will be played during the fortnight-long tournament.

Scores:

Mahajan Juniors: 143 all out in 28 overs (Mohit 34, Shubham six, Rishabh 34, Keshav 10, Kanav four n.o., Purnoor two for 29, Pranav Bajaj two for nine, Jaish three for 25, Raghav one for 37 and Ganga one for eight).

Coaching Centre: 76 all out in 26 overs (Raghav seven, Akshit four, Purnoor four, Ketan four, Gokul Tiwari four for 11, Akshit Bhardwaj one for six, Shubham two for four and Aayush one for 10).