Bathinda, February 1
The Monday evening's horrifying incident in which two motorcycle-borne unidentified youngsters allegedly threw acid on the face of a girl and her mother has become complicated as the victims' family, which had earlier claimed it was a case of snatching, has raised doubts on some old rivals with whom they were involved in a cross-case of assault.

Though acting upon the initial statement of Kirtan Singh, the father and husband of the victims, the Cantonment police lodged a case under sections 382, 326, 511 and 34 of the IPC against unidentified persons the same night, a parallel probe to check the involvement of the so-called rivals of the family has also been initiated.

However, mystery shrouded the development as no arrest could be made till this evening.

Speaking to The Tribune, Kirtan Singh informed that sensing the condition of his wife and daughter to be critical, the doctors in Bathinda had referred them to the PGIMER, Chandigarh. But fed up with the hours-long harassment there, they moved to a private hospital in Ludhiana.

"We had reached the PGIMER at about 1.30 am but till 5 am, nobody was ready to admit the daughter-mother duo. We pleaded that the DC and the Secretary, Red Cross Society, Bathinda had made arrangements for them to reach PGIMER after which they agreed to admit the patients. But we kept running from pillar to post for the completion of the formalities. Finally, giving up hope, we preferred to shift them to a private hospital at Ludhiana," claimed Kirtan Singh.

When asked about the reason behind the incident, Kirtan Singh said he had doubts that the act of the motorcyclists was only for snatching the purse. He suspected the involvement of some old rivals and goons belonging to the 'Rambo gang' in the crime.

"About one-and-a-half years ago, a clash had taken place between my kin and some neighbours. The police had registered cross cases against both the parties. My daughter and wife were also named in the FIR and they had to appear before the court on February 17. In that clash, some goons of the Rambo gang had assaulted our family members."

Speaking further, he added, "Now as the accused inflicted gruesome injuries on them, it does not appear to be a case of mere purse snatching. I have reported the whole matter to the police with a request to probe the matter in detail."

However, the investigation officer, Kaur Singh, refused to divulge details stating, "The matter is under investigation and the kin of the victims are away, so we can not ascertain the facts."

Ferozepur, February 1
The acceptance of rice, being delivered by millers after milling the paddy belonging to the state procurement agencies, by the Food Corporation of India (FCI) at slow pace, has created a controversy of sorts in the district.

Besides causing resentment among the rice mill owners, the action of the FCI authorities has also enraged the 
district heads of the state procurement agencies.

Lovkesh Sharma, District Food and Supply Controller (DFSC), has written a demi-official letter to the Director, Food and Supply, Punjab, alleging that the FCI authorities had adopted ‘non-cooperative attitude’ in acceptance of rice being delivered to them. Hence, under the prevailing circumstances, it had become difficult for them to get the entire stock of paddy milled within the stipulated period.

Sharma also pointed out that delay in milling of paddy, if caused, would cause loss running into crores to the state procurement agencies. The matter must be taken up with the higher authorities of the FCI to make acceptance of rice smooth and fast, he added.

Before writing the DO letter, district managers (DMs) of all the state procurement agencies also held a meeting last evening and passed a resolution that non-cooperative attitude of the FCI authorities in acceptance of the delivery of rice by mills had been causing a lot of problems to them. “The FCI has accepted 18 per cent of rice of its stock of paddy, which it has procured on its own. On the other hand, the FCI authorities have accepted only two per cent of rice of the total stock of paddy procured by the state government agencies in the Ferozepur district,” claimed Sharma.

He added that such a situation would hamper milling operations of rice mills.

The FCI authorities in Ferozepur district had instructed its field staff not to accept more than 270 MT rice in a day while the established practice allowed the acceptance of 405 MT of rice in a single day. The staff crunch at the FCI in its acceptance and storage wing had also been causing delay. The FCI had been running only six points to accept rice in this district despite the fact that more points could be opened for it.

Rajeev Kumar, DM, FCI, Ferozepur, said rice delivery was being accepted as per norms and no harassment was being done to millers or officials of the state procurement agencies. He added that there was staff shortage but it was still being handled properly so that rice acceptance operations did not suffer.

Meanwhile, Tejwant Singh, president, Rice Millers Association, said they could go on strike, if things did not improve as the millers were also bound to suffer heavy losses on account of overhead expenses, if they failed to mill the paddy and deliver it within the stipulated period.

Bathinda/Faridkot, Feb 1
Dashmesh Public School (Faridkot) has cornered 18 national scholarships amounting to 36 per cent of the total state's share of 50 scholarships in the NTSE-2010. The feat is significant for it made the school top Punjab consecutively for the fourth time.

The school felicitated the 20 NTSE scholars. Anurag Bahetra of this school topped in Punjab and also secured the fourth position in India. Harmanpreet Kaur, Sukhpreet Kaur, Antim, Cherry Bansal, Mohita Mahajan, Pratibha, Richa Sharma, Shivani Sachdeva, Akrambir Singh Brar, Avneet Singh Sangha, Chandeep Singh Bajwa, Dishant Gera, Jashvarinderpal Singh, Jaskirat Singh Makkar, Karan Jindal and Kunal Bansal were the other NTSE scholars from the school. The school’s another branch, Dasmesh Public School, Kotkapura, contributed its share of two national scholars Sharandeep Kaur and Sidharath Goyal. — TNS

Bathinda, February 1
Nearly a hundred acres of standing wheat crop was damaged after a 20-feet wide breach occurred in a canal distributary at village Ghuman Kalan of the district, in the wee hours today.

Farmers of four villages, namely, Sukha Singh Wala, Burj Rathi, Kharak Singh Wala and Ghuman Kalan were at the receiving end as the administration apparently failed to check the gushing water that ruined their crop, by this afternoon.

According to information collected from villagers, the breach had occurred at about 5 am and at that time, it was nearly 10-feet wide.

Immediately after witnessing the breach, people started calling up the administration but to no avail. They made public announcement through the loudspeakers of Gurudwaras located in the nearby villages and within a short time, hundreds of people assembled there and took up the task to erect a temporary embankment to check the flow of water.

Later, the matter reached the Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda, who rushed a team of irrigation department officials to the spot. But by the time the irrigation officials reached the spot, water had entered into about 400 acres of wheat fields.

Ironically, the irrigation officials, who reached the spot, expressed their inability to plug the breach saying they were ill-equipped for this. Listening to their indifferent reply, villagers started fuming and even had a verbal duel with the officials.

Amid the public resentment, irrigation officials asked the staff concerned to check the flow of water from a dam located at some distance but lent no other help to the farmers struggling to fill the breach with sand bags.

Farmers informed that water had entered into 400 acres of their fields but it had damaged the crop in nearly 100 acres as knee-deep water had accumulated there. They held the irrigation officials responsible for the loss.

"They were well aware of the situation as the distributary was running above its normal level for the past few days and it needed cleanliness which they did not bother to do and the breach took place," alleged the villagers.

Speaking to the media, Bathinda Deputy Commissioner S. Karuna Raju said an investigation had been ordered into the matter and the officials found guilty would not be spared. Meanwhile, he added that a girdawari had also been ordered to assess the actual loss to the farmers.

Abohar, February 1
Ramesh Chander, a migrant labourer from UP, employed as guard in a kinnow orchard located in Pattibilla village of the sub-division, was allegedly beaten to death by the owner of the orchard Devinder Singh and his farm assistant Harjinder Singh.

Devinder Singh had leased his orchard to two contractors. On January 26, Devinder and Harjinder were plucking kinnows. Ramesh stopped them from doing so. He was beaten up by them. Ramesh was taken to the hospital on January 27. A case under section 323 of the IPC was registered on the basis of Ramesh’s statement while he was undergoing treatment. As Ramesh succumbed to his injuries yesterday, the offence was converted into murder. No arrest has been made so far.

RI for drug couriers: Two smugglers, Hardeep Singh and Gurdev Singh, acting as courier of an international gang of smugglers, supplying narcotics and weapons to terrorists, were sentenced to 12 years of rigorous imprisonment by JS Bhinder, additional sessions judge, today. A fine of Rs 1.5 lakh each has also been imposed on them. If they default in payment, three more years would be added to their original sentence. — TNS

Abohar/Sriganganagar, February 1
Santosh Devi (26), was killed by her brother Radhey Shyam Meghwal (24) inside her parental house at Sadulshehar, about 30 km from Abohar, yesterday.

She allegedly fled with a youth Shravan Kumar (18) of village Ghamoorwali about three weeks back. Her in-laws traced them on the basis of call details at Rohtak.

Radhey Shyam allegedly tied Santosh’s legs with a bed and attacked at her neck with a spade resulting in her death.

The city police team led by SHO Sunil Jhajhria rushed to the spot and took Radhey Shyam in custody. A case was filed under section 302 of the IPC against the accused, the SHO said.

Sriganganagar, February 1
Some writers and poets, who belong to the sleepy village of Parlika, have launched a website depicting its history, geographical status, social and cultural growth. The website was inaugurated by celebrity comedy star Khyali Saharan, who has made his mark in Bollywood at a function, recently.

“I feel proud having traversed a long distance from Mumbai to launch the website that would spread the fragrance of this remote village where I grew up playing traditional games,” said Khyali.

Those present included eminent writers Dr Satya Narain Soni, Vinod Swami, Ajay Soni and Basant Rajasthani. A warm welcome was accorded to Khyali Saharan — OC