Ludhiana, January 19
The nine-year-old boy whose mutilated body was found on Tuesday lying on a vacant stretch of land near the train tracks in Hussainpur village in the Ladhowal area yesterday was apparently a victim of a gruesome sacrificial killing. The deceased, identified as Niranjan, was reportedly picked up from outside his home on Kakowal Road on Monday evening.

A Northern Railway official told The Tribune the larynx (vocal cords) was missing from the boy’s throat. “It seems it was scooped out with a sharp-edged weapon when the child was alive”, he added. The weapon used in the murder has also been recovered from the scene.

The police is said to suspect the involvement of three people, two of whom gripped the boy’s hands and legs while the third, whom they assume to be a ‘tantrik’ (a practitioner of black magic and witchcraft) scooped out his vocal cords.

“There are clear signs the boy’s limbs were tightly grasped, which indicates he resisted and wanted to free himself from the clutches of the suspects,” said Government Railway Police (GRP) station house officer Baldev Singh Randhawa.

The boy was probably beaten up before being overpowered as his two front teeth were broken and blood was oozing from his mouth. The body was spotted yesterday by residents of Hissainpura village who had gone near the rail tracks to defecate. They immediately informed the police and GRP personnel along with the Ladhowal police soon arrived at the scene.

Ludhiana, January 19
After two days of endless search, parents of nine- year- old Niranjan, who seems to have been sacrificed, requested the cops for food, after giving their statement in the GRP police station here today.

The trio-Mahesh, Anita and their six- year daughter Nirmala-were seen gobbling food offered by the cops, who were visibly moved by the tragedy.

Mahesh, a rickshaw- puller from Smastipur in Bihar, who came to the city about a month ago in pursuit of a better future, said, “We have been searching for our child since Monday evening. We forgot to eat food. It was after my six - year- old girl Nirmala cried that I realised we haven’t had food since then.” Hell broke lose when the family was shown the child’s body.

Anita, Niranjan’s mother, was in shock. She was cursing the moment when her family caught the train to the city.

“Though, the income was less, but we were leading a happy life. Niranjan was studying in Class II when he opted out of a government school in Samistipur, Bihar. He was good at studies and did not want to accompany us to the city,” Anita added.

The dejected family is planning to return to Bihar. Mahesh said: “We have nothing left here. My son is no more, for whose future I decided to come to the city.”

Nirmala, sister of Niranjan, was unaware of the tragedy. “I will fight with my brother as soon as he is traced. I don’t know why my parents are crying since yesterday.”

While Mahesh was working as a rickshaw puller, Anita was employed in a factory unit. Their two children, Niranjan and Nirmala,

used to be alone during the day. “When my child went missing, I was working in the factory. Initially, I thought he might be playing with the boys in the colony.

But when he did not return till late in the evening, both of us went out to search for him and came to know this morning that he had been killed,” Anita added.

Government Railway Police SHO, Baldev Singh, said: “We will crack the case soon.”

Ludhiana, January 19
Laboratory tests conducted on the samples of flavours used in ‘hookah’ and ‘sheesha’ smoking collected during a raid carried out almost two months ago at Mr Beans, a coffee shop in the city’s Sarabha Nagar locality, have failed. A team of health officials led by district health officer Dr Jagpal Singh had undertaken the search operation on November 24.

Jagpal said a case had been filed against the coffee shop’s owner under the Prevention of Food Adulteration Act. "A team from Chandigarh and Delhi (from the health & family welfare directorate) will soon initiate action against coffee shops guilty of supplying ‘hookahs’ or ‘sheeshas’ to customers in blatant violation of the Anti Tobacco Act”, he stated.

"We have received reports that the coffee shops are mixing cocaine, 'charas' (a hashish form of cannabis) and ‘smack’ (heroin) in the flavours used for ‘hookah’ and ‘sheesha’ smoking. The health department has decided to send samples collected from various coffee shops to the government laboratory in Jaipur for chemical analysis as this facility is not available in Punjab”, Jagpal added.

Several coffee shops located in Sarabha Nagar and other localities are reportedly providing ‘hookahs’ and ‘sheeshas’ to young boys and girls, charging them Rs 350-450 for every 30 minutes. In a writ filed in the Punjab & Haryana Court against ‘hookah’ joints, a city resident had complained about groups of boys and girls from affluent families getting hooked to narcotic substances.

Protesting against the police’s role, a young couple living in Sarabha Nagar said: "The so called hookah joint is fleecing the youth in the name of mint, guava and peach flavours which is a farce as one doesn't get addicted to these flavours. The ‘hookah’ and ‘sheesha’ flavours have narcotic substances, which is why young people get addicted to them and end up spending more than Rs 1,000 a day at such joints”.

Ludhiana, January 19
The state government may claim that the agriculture sector remains their top priority but more than 1,000 posts of the agriculture development officers (ADOs) are lying vacant in the agriculture department for the past 10 years. The young agricultural technocrats of Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), sore over apathetic attitude of the state government, staged a dharna on the campus today.

The students protested outside MS Randhawa Library, took out a rally and raised slogans against the state government. The agitating students said not a single post of the agriculture development officers had been appointed for the past one decade in the agriculture department. The same scenario prevails in all major departments of the agriculture sector, including livestock, horticulture and the soil.

Ludhiana, January 19
The big fat Punjabi weddings can never be complete without the opulence show of money. With wedding season in full swing, banks are facing shortage of currency notes below the denomination of 100. These currency notes are either used for making garlands or during the traditional ritual “vaarna”.

Although the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has imposed a ban on stapling of the currency notes, a number of dealers in the city are openly flouting the law and selling garlands of Indian currency notes.

A bank official said currency notes below the denomination of 100 are not easily available these days. “The main reason behind the same is the ongoing marriage season. People are getting these notes issued in bulk for different rituals, while some dealers are also getting them issued for making garlands of currency notes,” he said. Though the RBI has issued directions against the making of garlands of currency notes, the practice goes unabated in the city.

Mukesh Kumar, a shopkeeper at Barsati Bazar, said, “I had purchased currency notes from the bank by paying 5 per cent extra”. He was not aware of the ban by the RBI and said he was into this business from the past many decades.

While those in whose families there is a wedding are finding it difficult to arrange currency notes of less denomination to be used during various rituals. “I have been making rounds of the bank but have failed to arrange the currency notes of less denomination. There is a shortage due to the marriage season,” added Saurabh Singla, a city resident.

While another city resident, Gurmukh Singh said he managed to get the currency notes of the denomination 50 and 20 after making many rounds of the banks. “It is due to the ongoing marriage season that notes of less denomination are not easily available,” he added.

COMMUNITY

After Maghi, it’s Majitha now
Govt seeks pvt buses for today’s rally
Shivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 19
After Maghi mela, which was held on January 14 at Muktsar, it is now Majitha! Once again, bus operators in the district have been asked to provide their “services” to ferry villagers from Majitha and nearby villages to Amritsar, where a rally of ruling party will be held tomorrow. If the bus operators are to be believed, the gunmen of one of the senior officials in the district administration have been asking them to provide their vehicles for three days for ferrying villagers to the venue of the rally. And for this empty buses are being “forcibly” sent to Majitha.

Not just bus operators but people from Pakhowal, Rara Sahib, Kohara, Mullanpur etc, too, have registered their protest against the move. One of the bus operators disclosed that a former Akali MP was taking “keen interest” in sending buses to Majitha. “But why should we be held on ransom every time? They are not paying daily wages. About four days ago, our buses came from the Maghi mela, now again they have asked us to send them to Majitha. About 40 to 50 mini as well as district buses have been sent for the venue today. Some will be sent by evening while remaining will leave early morning tomorrow,” the bus operator added.

Another operator complained that they were getting regular calls from gunmen of the official. “If we will refuse, they will challan our vehicles. They are forcibly taking our buses. I feel local politicians and officials, close to higher-ups, in order to remain in their good books harass us unnecessarily,” he added.

District president of the Mini Bus Owners’ Association, Jaswinder Singh Grewal, said: “We will prefer not to comment and land ourselves in trouble.”

Mandi Ahmedgarh, January 19
Despite tall claims of the education department about success of various quality improvement programmes, the administration has failed to persuade heads of all government run schools to implement these projects.

In absence of appreciation, the heads taking extra care have started leaving things on teachers concerned.

The tendency has emerged as major impediment in overall development of students. Taking cognisance of the situation, the higher authorities in the department have directed all district education officers of the state to ensure that principals and headmasters take special care in implementing various development programmes in their respective schools.

Investigations by the Ludhiana Tribune revealed that the education department had failed to persuade heads of all government schools to take personal interest in implementation of various quality improvement programmes in their respective schools.

Those heads, who had been putting in extra labour, were a disappointed lot, as their work had not been appreciated by their seniors.

Quality improvement programmes in science, mathematics and English, though being implemented in almost all schools of the area, were yet to show results in majority of institutes.

Quiz competitions, exercise to repeat tables and handwriting competitions were turning out to be nothing but rituals.

While some teachers and heads were seen taking special interest in helping students prepare models under Inspire Awards programmes, but team spirit was conspicuously absent.

Feeling ignored these teachers have started conceiving the programmes as a burden. “How can we put in extra energy and resource when there is no recognition for our work,” said principal of a government senior secondary school of the area. Claiming that he has been working beyond duty hours and spending money out of his pocket, the principal regretted that he was reprimanded by his seniors for not deputing the teachers concerned.

The parent department looking after quality improvement programme has also taken serious note of the situation.

Perusal of records revealed that the director general (school education) had directed the DEOs of the state to ensure that heads of all institutes under their jurisdiction take special interest in implementation of the programme.

“While subject teachers are making some efforts, the heads are neither aware of the progress nor do they give any attention towards implementation of these programmes,” reads the communication sent by DG (SE) to DEOs of the region.

Reminding that a head was supposed to perform a key role in academic activities, besides his administrative function, the DG (SE) pointed out that the alleged laxity had emerged as impediment in overall development of students.

Ludhiana, January 19
Buoyed by the tremendous response to offers for sale through open auction of commercial properties and residential plots last November and December, which yielded a whopping Rs 17.77 crore, the Ludhiana Improvement Trust will put another 34 commercial sites and built-up properties along with four residential plots under the hammer on January 27.

After a gap of more than five years, the trust led by its new chairman, Madan Mohan Vyas, sold 13 commercial properties and four residential plots on November 30 for Rs 9.8 crore, following it up with another auction of eleven commercial properties and four residential plots on December 29 which netted Rs 7.97 crore.

The LIT properties now being offered for sale through public auction include 18 constructed booths at different locations in the Model Town Extension (Part II) scheme, three double storied shops in Rajguru Nagar, one built-up shop-cum-flat and four built-up booths in the Bharat Nagar Extension scheme, two constructed booths and two booth sites in Maharishi Valmiki Nagar, four built-up booths in Bhai Randhir Singh Nagar and four residential plots of 100 square yards each in Kitchlu Nagar (24 acre) scheme.

According to Vyas, holding two auctions of commercial and residential properties in the past two months and making yet another offer to the public was a move to dispose of built-up properties, sites and unsold residential plots.

“It will raise much needed funds for development works in LIT’s existing colonies as well as for proposed projects at different stages of planning and execution. Disposal of trust properties by public auction will be a continuous process that will yield funds to speed up development projects, while also safeguarding vacant built-up properties and sites from encroachment and unlawful occupants," Vyas added.

Ludhiana, January 19
In what is probably a one-of-its-kind endeavour, Nankana Public School, Gill Road, has introduced a new software that would not only help parents keep track of their wards’ academic performance but also enable them to keep tabs on their day-to-day activities. This school has become the first in Punjab to have undertaken such an initiative.

The software, called pariksha.com, has been launched by the school recently and will keep parents updated on the all-round development of their children.

Talking to The Tribune, Harmeet Kaur Waraich, the school’s principal, said: “The system works like Intranet and involves creation of individual profiles of all students with unique IDs and personalised passwords. Through this software vital information about each student will be posted to his profile, which only he or his parents can access, thereby enabling them to keep track of their performance at school.”

Information like attendance, date sheets, marks, achievements and other sundry details will be uploaded to each student’s profile.

The software will be supported by SMS whereby all information uploaded to the profiles will be sent to parents on their mobile phones through the software on a daily basis.

“Now parents can monitor the progress of their child while sitting at home and can be in constant touch with the school just with a click of the mouse,” said Waraich. She claimed the system, apart from being greatly beneficial for parents, would also prove to be a great source of information for the students.

All assignments, sample test papers and important exam related questions will be provided by respective teachers to the students online through this software. “This will simplify things to a great extend and speed them up as well,” Waraich said.

“The system would benefit parents of senior students the most as, it has been noticed very often these students tend to hide facts and marks from their parents. Moreover, no one will now be able to bunk school,” she averred, parents had “whole-heartedly” welcomed claiming her initiative.

Talking about the idea behind the initiative, Waraich revealed that she had been looking for a system to bridge the gap between parents, students and the school for quite some time. “However, it was last year during a national conference of school principals in Gurgaon that I came across this Delhi-based company called pariksha.com that was providing this software. I liked it because it was student as well as parent friendly besides being easy on the school’s pocket,” she remarked.

She added the operational cost of the software came to around Rs 50 per student, which would be a one-time expense, and parents would not have to shell out any extra money for it.

To ensure proper operations, the school’s staff has been trained to handle the software and Waraich plans to hold a special session to acquaint all parents with the system. “It’s very simple and parents aren’t facing any problem in accessing it, but for those who aren’t tech savvy we’ll hold a special session soon,” she stated.

Meanwhile, many parents said they were happy with the latest imitative. “This software will ensure our complete involvement with our child’s development and also make things transparent,” said a parent.

Ludhiana, January 19
Pulkit Arora, a student of Class X of BCM Arya Model Senior Secondary School, Shastri Nagar, participated in a project on “Effect of heavy metal contamination (cadmium) in waste water on soil and plants” at the national-level Children Science Congress 2010 held at VELS University, Chennai.

This project was targeted at the local water body, Budha Nallah where maximum contamination of heavy metals coming from electroplating industry is suspected, according to PAU authorities, thereby contaminating soil and plants growing in agricultural fields in the vicinity.

The project ranked among the top 30, out of 700 such projects presented from all over India. It was awarded A+ overall performance grade.

The project was taken up by five students of the school under the leadership of Pulkit Arora. The other team members included Ketan Kohli, Preetika Handa, Gurjap Singh and Himani Sharma.

The project was also exhibited in the Indian Science Congress at SRM University, Tamil Nadu, by Himani Sharma and received wide appreciation by top scientists present there.

“It is rewarding when a project gets recognition at such levels,” said elated Paramjit Kaur, principal of the school.

Ludhiana, January 19
A statue of Mai Bhago was unveiled on the premises of Mai Bhago College for Women at Kohara yesterday.

The statue has been set up with the efforts of an NRI, Gurdeep Singh. Dr Harshinder Kaur and Dr Gurbhajan Gill, president, Sahit Akademy unveiled the statue. This is the first statue of Mai Bhago to be installed in any educational institution. The director of college, Hardev Singh Grewal, welcomed the guests.

In his address, Dr Gill said we should respect the mother, mother earth and mother tongue. Dr Gill also exhorted students to come forward to curb the unethical practice of female foeticide.

Dr Harshinder Kaur said that Punjab was in bad name due to depleting female sex ratio. “If this is not curbed, lakhs of boys in Punjab will not be able to find girls for getting married,” said Dr Harshinder Kaur.

Students also presented a cultural show and the college honoured five meritorious students on the occasion. Sarabjit Kaur, a college lecturer, also recited “Lori”, a poem written by Dr Gurbhajan Gill.

Ludhiana, January 19
Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana, will organise 2nd Animal Husbandry, Dairy and Fisheries Officers’ Workshop tomorrow for the officers of Punjab.

The aim is to exchange latest research findings of GADVASU, extension methodologies for effective transfer of technologies and sharing scientific knowledge with the field-level functionaries for enhancement of the productivity of animals.

Usha R Sharma, secretary, animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries departments, Government of Punjab will be the chief guest.

Dr VK Taneja, Vice-Chancellor, GADVASU, will preside over the function.

Dr Kulbir Singh Sandhu, director of extension education, said different technical sessions would be held for animal husbandry, dairy and fisheries officers so that the latest technical knowledge and new recommendation will be exchanged between university scientist and official of the three departments.

About 300 delegates from the state animal husbandry, dairy development and fisheries department from all the districts of Punjab are expected to take part.

Ludhiana, January 19
Tributes were paid to the late Punjab Education Minister Joginder Pal Pandey on his 24th death anniversary at a prayer meeting organised by the District Congress Committee (DCC) at Rising Star Playway School on the Jassian road here today.

Remembering the sacrifice made by the Congress stalwart in his fight against terrorism in the state, Leader of the Opposition and former Punjab Chief Minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal said martyrs were one of the biggest assets of a nation and their names would always be written in golden letters in the history. “Pandey fought a valiant battle against terrorism and laid down his life to safeguard the unity and integrity of the country.”

She spoke about militancy in Punjab by elaborating the manner in which Pandey and other Congress leaders took the challenge posed by anti-national and disruptive forces. “Pandey and others who faced the terrorists with great courage and determination, were the ones who inspired the people of Punjab to root out the separatist elements.”

Rakesh Pandey, Former Punjab minister and son of the slain leader, described his father as a true soldier of the Congress party, who strived to strengthen and consolidate the organisation throughout his life and didn’t hesitate to sacrifice his life.

The DCC president Jagmohan Sharma said Pandey was a farsighted politician to the core and played the role of trouble shooter for the party, both at local and state-level.

Congress councillor Parminder Mehta, Ravi Nandan Sharma, Simmi Pashan, Shashi Sood and other speakers said it was due to the sacrifices made by Pandey and his likes that peace could be restored.

Former DGP, Punjab Police, DR Bhatti, Ashok Parashar Pappi, Sanjay Talwar, Rakesh Parashar, Surinder Lilly, Shila Masih, Ashwani Bhagi, Suresh Sood, Sohan Lal Chadha, Banwari Lal Rajasthani, Satish Bhardwaj, Sita Ram Shankar, Priyanka, Walaiti Ram Kundra, Chander Shekhar Sahota, Mohammed Naseem Ansari, Jatinder Pal Singh Saluja, Jiwan Dhawan, Amarjit Kalkat, Amarjit Singh Tikka, Veena Sobti, Gagnesh Parbhakar and Rakesh Likhi were all present.

Thieves decamp with cash, grocery items
Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 19
Thieves struck at a grocery store at the Dugri road and decamped with cash and grocery items worth Rs 20,000.

The incident came to light when Davinder Singh, owner of Jolly Grocery Store located on the Dugri road, arrived at the shop this morning.

“The moment I opened the shop, I was shocked to find it ransacked and immediately informed the police about the incident,” said Davinder Singh.

He further added that he left nearly Rs 20,000 cash in the safe before leaving the shop last night.

He suspected that the thieves might have struck in the midnight and fled before the breaking of dawn.

He told the police that the thieves entered the shop by breaking the wall on the top floor of the store.

Davinder stated that it was the second incident of theft at his store. Last year on November 5, the thieves decamped with cash and grocery items.

In the meantime, the police has registered a case and started investigations.

The police is currently in a quandary as to how the thieves managed to break the wall without being noticed.

A hammer might have been used to break the wall.

“The breaking of the wall causes a lot of noise.

How the thieves broke the wall without making a noise is still a mystery,” said the investigating officer.

Ludhiana, January 19
With the arrest of three youths, the city police claimed to have busted a gang of snatchers, who were behind 70 snatching incidents occurred in the past few months.

The police aims to recover nearly ` 7 lakh from the snatchers. It was the same gang that robbed Sunil Dutt, a businessman, in Rishi Nagar area, on December 24.

The accused identified as Maninder Singh, Chaten and Amandeep Singh, alias Nonny, were nabbed by Salem Tabri police from New Shiv Puri area last evening.

According to Additional Deputy Commissioner of police (ADCP-1) Accused Harsh Bansal was nabbed by the police at a check post in New Shivpuri area.

The police received a tip-off that the accused were planning to commit snatching following which the police laid a trap and nabbed the accused.

During interrogation, the accused confessed of committing the offence.

Nonny, a chronic snatcher, has been in and out of jail in similar cases. He was currently out on bail.

The police has recovered three mobile phones and three stolen motorcycles from the accused.

The gang was active in Aggar Nagar, Rose Garden, Kitchlu Nagar, Haibowal, Jassia road, Aman Nagar, Noor Wala road, Chandigarh road, and surrounding areas.

Three jewellers were also part of the gang. The trio told the police that they used to handover the snatched gold jewellery to the jewellers, who further hand over the cash to them.

The police is on a look out for three jewellers, who used to sell their stolen items.

The city police also claimed to have busted a gang of mobile phone thieves during raids conducted by the Millar Ganj police at Tikona Park. About 45 mobile phones, 45 chargers, 42 headphones and three memory cardholders, 15 data cables, 11 batteries and seven watches were recovered from their possession.

Naginder Singh Rana, Additional Commissioner of Police, said yesterday that those arrested had been identified as Nand Kishore, Sonu and Bhoop Singh, all residents of Bharti Colony. Besides them, Sonu Kumar, a resident of Geeta Colony, has also been arrested.

The gang had tried to commit robbery at Popular Enterprises (a mobile phone shop), Gill Road, on January 6. The CCTV cameras installed inside the shop had captured their photographs and the police was searching for them. A case under Sections 457 and 380 was registered against the accused.

Ludhiana, January 19
A total of 125 players, enrolled with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) Training Centre, Ludhiana, were given sports kits during an annual function organised at Guru Nanak Sports Complex here today.

A prominent sports promoter and president, Ludhiana District Kabaddi Association, Pehalwan Gurmail Singh was the chief guest.

He handed over these kits worth Rs 4,000 each to the sportspersons which includes athletics (13), basketball (16), handball (30), judo (24), volleyball (38) and weightlifting (4).

Besides, Nirmal Singh Grewal, honorary athletics trainer, along with international judo player, Amit Kumar, star athletes- Gurpreet Singh and Hardeep Kaur were felicitated by the organisers for their contribution in the field of sports.

Harbans Singh, in charge, SAI Training Centre, Ludhiana, thanked the chief guest.

He urged players to make full use of their kits, concentrate on their respective games and bring laurels to the state in the zonal and national sports tournaments.

Shivtar Singh Bajwa, president, District Football Association, Ludhiana, Sat Pal Singh, District Sports Officer, Ludhiana, Devinder Singh Walia, vice-president, Punjab State Athletics Association, Anupam Kumaria, secretary, District Badminton Association, Ludhiana, sports promoters, Ramesh Bub, Vipan Malhotra and Pardeep Kumar Sharma were all present.

Girls from the Nav Bharti Youth Club recited the Shabad before the function started. An upcoming singer, Vicy Pasha entertained the audience.