Mansa, March 26
In a gruesome incident, a man killed his three-year-old daughter at village Gehle in Mansa. The accused committed the crime in a fit of rage as his wife failed to fulfill his wish of giving birth to a son.

Police arrested the accused Satnam Singh and charged him with committing the crime under various sections like 302 (murder), 506 and 201 of the IPC on Friday.

SSP Mansa Hardial Singh Mann said that four years ago, the accused Satnam Singh married a widow, Rekha Rani of Bhatha Basti (Mansa), who had a daughter from her first marriage. After marrying Satnam Singh, she gave birth to two more daughters.

Since the birth of the youngest daughter, about a year ago, their relations soured as Satnam wanted a son. Irked, Rekha along with her two daughters— the eldest and youngest one — went to her stay with her parents, leaving her second daughter with Satnam Singh.

In his statement to the police, Gaja Ram, father of Rekha Rani, said that one day, he went to his son-in-law asking him to change his attitude and live happily with his family but a furious Satnam Singh threatened to kill his three daughters to resolve the matter.

"Next morning, Satnam took his three-year-old daughter, Gurpreet Kaur in his arms and moved towards the canal distributary. Suspecting his intentions, I chased him but before I could do anything, he threw the girl in the canal at Ghrangna bridge and threatened me with dire consequences if I disclosed the matter to anyone," Gaja Ram said in his statement to the police.

Meanwhile, Satnam Singh lodged a report with the police that his daughter was playing near the canal distributary when she slipped and drowned. Acting upon his statement, Mansa police initiated the inquest proceedings under section 174 of the CrPC 
and handed over the girl's body to him.

However, after a few days, Rekha Rani urged the district police to investigate the matter in depth.

During the probe, the women's cell staff of the district police found Satnam guilty of killing his daughter.

After lodging a case against him at Kot Dharmu police station, police arrested him on Friday.

Bathinda, March 26
With the theft of cash worth Rs 14 lakh from the chest room of the Bathinda depot of the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), in the wee hours today, a number of PRTC employees have come under the scanner.

Prima facie, finding it a case of grave negligence, police rounded up nearly half a dozen employees for inquiry. Even after day-long interrogations, police had failed to crack the mystery at the time of filing the report, late in the evening.

It came as a surprise for the staff¸ when after reaching the chest room at about 6.30 am¸ they found the almirah, where the cash was kept, damaged. Finding the cash missing, the matter was immediately reported to the general manager of the Bathinda depot and the Kotwali police.

General Manger Iqbal Singh informed the police that it was due to the negligence of the staff that the incident had taken place as the cash was carelessly kept in an ordinary almirah instead of putting it in a safe installed there.

After recording his statement, the police officials, including the ASP (City) Bikramjeet Singh Bhatti and SHO Kotwali Ranbir Singh inspected the spot and collected clues to nab the accused.

Suspecting it to be the handiwork of persons within the department, police rounded up six persons from the spot for investigation, including the cashiers and the gateman of the depot workshop.

The General Manager of the depot, Iqbal Singh, claimed that the total estimated loss was around Rs 14 lakh that included the daily collection from tickets (Rs 13.05 lakh).

"I have written to the head office for departmental action against four cashiers and a gateman as they were careless towards their duty that led to the mishap," he said..

Meanwhile, the leaders of the employees union of the PRTC said that they would co-operate with the police in the investigation but suspecting some foul play, they warned the police and the GM that if any of their members was harassed or falsely implicated in the case, then they would lodge a strong protest and paralyze the functioning of the depot.

SHO Kotwali Ranbir Singh said, "There are a number of suspects and we have been interrogating each of them to solve the case at the earliest possible."

Bathinda, March 26
With the death of two swine flu patients from the Bathinda district at the DMCH, Ludhiana, in the last one week, the total number of swine flu deaths since December 2009 till date has risen to nine in the district while a total number of 25 patients have been tested positive for swine flu during this period.

Mandip Singh (25), a resident of Shekhu village (Sangat block), had died on March 23 at the DMCH, Ludhiana while Urmila Devi (55), a resident of Chak Ruldu Singh Wala village (Sangat block) had died on March 19 at the DMCH, Ludhiana. Both had been admitted there as suspected cases of H1N1.

However, during a survey, conducted near the houses of both the cases of swine flu, no new patient, suffering from H1N1, was found by the district health authorities. Despite this, Tamiflu capsules had been distributed among those who had come in contact with the swine flu patients who succumbed to the disease.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr RS Randhawa said here today that in 2009, as many as 12 persons had tested positive for H1N1 from the district. Of them, five had died. In 2010, out of the 10 persons tested positive for H1N1, two had lost their lives. However, during the current year, three persons from the district had been tested positive for swine flu. Of them, two had died.

With regard to the death of Mandip Singh and Urmila Devi, the DHO said the health authorities had found no history of swine flu in their cases.

So they considered these cases of sporadic nature with no history of contact. He said they had also sensitised the rural medical officers (RMOs) of Shekhu and Chak Ruldu Singh Wala villages about swine flu.

He said during the door-to-ddor survey of Shekhu and Chak Ruldu Singh Wala villages, not even a single case with H1N1 symptoms had surfaced. Besides these two cases, they had also not received any report, regarding swine flu case, from any part of the district these days. He said as swine flu became more active during the winter, so with the onset of summer season, there were less chances of its spreading further. 

Jalalabad, March 26
Hundreds of Congress workers led by former minister Hans Raj Joshan today staged a dharna at the DSP Chowk here to protest against the registration of a criminal case against its leader including Raj Baksh Kamboj, President, Jalalabad (Rural) Congress Committee and others by the local police on the basis of alleged political considerations a few days ago. The Congress workers also blocked traffic on the Ferozepur-Fazilka road for an hour. The protesters raised slogans against the SAD-BJP government and the Punjab police.

A criminal case against Raj Baksh Kamboj and seven others was registered at the Sadar police station on the complaint of Gagandeep Kaur, a resident of Chandigarh, a few days ago. Kaur had alleged that she was beaten up by a number of persons including Raj Baksh Kamboj, her husband Raj Kumar and others and her six-year-old son was also snatched away from her.

The other accused against whom the case was registered included Amir Chand, Balbir Chand, Des Raj and Milkha Singh.

Joshan, while addressing a rally at the DSP Chowk, alleged that the police had registered a false criminal case against Raj Baksh Kamboj and others under the diktats of their political opponents.

Meanwhile, the child, whose kidnapping was alleged, had stated before the judicial magistrate that he was never kidnapped and had come to his grandparents’ house to celebrate Holi.

He said the matter connected with the police high-
handedness on Congress workers had been brought to the notice of the party high command. “The police officials, acting as puppets of the ruling politicians, would be taken to task as per the law of the land after the Congress comes to power,” he said. 

Sriganganagar, March 26
Jathedar Gurbachan Singh of the Akal Takht (Amritsar) has said that the creation of the state-of-the-art hospital at Buddha Johad village will be a befitting tribute to Bhai Sukha Singh and Bhai Mehtab Singh, who had brought here the severed head of Massa Rangar after killing him inside the Harmandar Sahib for showing disrespect to the supreme place of worship for the Sikh community. They had kept the promise made to the Sikh sangat in the region.

Jathedar Gurbachan Singh exhorted the community to follow in the footsteps of great gurus. Swami Brahm Dev of Jagdamba Andh Vidyalaya lauded the role of NRI Sikhs in giving a boost to social welfare activities in the border district. Dr Gurmeet Singh welcomed the dignitaries and sought their cooperation in opening educational institutions in the rural area. Jagjit Singh, Jarnail Singh and Swami Sukha Nand spoke about the history of the Sikhs. A total of 68 units of blood were collected during the camp conducted by Dr Maya Ram Jangid of Tapovan Blood Bank. Mohinder Singh Chatha, president, Bhai Sukha Singh Mehtab Singh Seva Sami thanked the gathering. A website of the organisation was inaugurated by the Akal Takht Jathedar. 

Sriganganagar, March 26
Instead of pursuing their plan to block traffic and gherao government offices, the farmers led by the CPM MLA Pawan Duggal and the state Youth Congress secretary Kuldeep Indora separately staged dharna outside the SDM office at Gharsana today.

Meanwhile, the Bhakra and Beas Management Board had agreed to release 2000 cusecs of water in the Indira Gandhi canal to facilitate filling of water reservoirs in the region.

A senior officer of the Water Resources Department, who attended the meeting at the BBMB complex, confirmed over the phone that 1500 cusecs of water will be released in the Gang (Bikaner) canal till April 10 besides 825 cusecs in the Bhakra system canal.

Ferozepur, March 26
A criminal case was registered against the 20 relatives of two patients, Roshan Lal Puri and his son Sunil Puri, who were undergoing treatment at the local Civil Hospital, for allegedly manhandling the doctors and para medical staff on March 24 as they were not satisfied with the functioning of the staff.

Police sources said their relatives alleged that the X-ray was not done properly and also objected to the medico- legal report (MLR). Sources further said that instead of listening to the Civil Hospital authorities, the relative started breaking the window panes of trauma ward and also made an attempt to attack the staff. They held out threats when a function to mark the World TB Day was in progress on the hospital premises.

The staff of the Civil Hospital went on strike immediately after the incident. The doctors also wrote a letter to the District police chief Kaustabh Sharma demanding action against the accused. They also demanded a police post be set up in the hospital premises.

Rajinder Manchanda, vice-president, PCMS Association, Ferozepur, said the strike was withdrawn today in the afternoon after the SSP assured them of taking action against the accused. Ajmer Singh, SHO, city police station, said a case under sections 427, 186, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC and section 3 and 4 of the Damage to Public Property Act had been registered against 20 persons on the basis of the statement of an attendant of the Civil Hospital.