Faridkot, May 6 
A tea vendor’s efforts helped foil a bank robbery at Bargarhi village in Faridkot district this evening. Three youths equipped with pistols entered the State Bank of Patiala branch in Bargarhi at about 4.30 pm and locked the bank staff in a room after snatching away their mobile phones. They took away approximately Rs 28 lakh from the bank chest, put the cash in a bag and then started looking for more money, local police sources revealed.

In the meantime, as per the routine, Nikku, a teenaged tea vendor, entered the bank to serve tea to the employees. He was roughed up by the robbers. His mobile phone was snatched and he was also locked in a room along with the other bank staff.

Fortunately, Nikku had another mobile phone, from which he called up his friends—shopkeepers nearby— who locked the main gate of the bank. Nikku also alerted the police.

The local police reached the spot immediately. When they opened the main gate of the bank, the robbers fired two shots that did not hit anybody. Within minutes, the cops managed to take the robbers into custody.

Two 9-mm pistols, 60 live cartridges, Rs 28-lakh in cash and a Swift car has been recovered from them. An FIR under Sections 395, 307, 452, 353, 186 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against them at the local police station.

During preliminary investigations, the arrested robbers, in their twenties and thirties, were identified as Arminder Singh, Sukhdeep Singh and Sarabhjit Singh, all residents of Bathinda district.

Further investigations were in progress, police sources said.

Bathinda, May 6
Even as a number of politicians are minting money for their kin by exploiting their positions to the fullest, the family of late Harditt Singh Poohli, a three-time MLA of the Shiromani Akali Dal from Bathinda district, is facing starvation.

Winning the Assembly polls for three consecutive terms since 1962 — once from Pakka Kalan and twice from Nathana — the leader with a mass base made numerous efforts for the welfare of the region. For want of money, his son Balvir Singh died after a prolonged illness as the family could not get him the required medical aid.

A loyalist of the then top SAD leaders, Poohli was also an active member of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee from 1961 till he breathed his last in 1990. But hardly any of the successive leaders lent a helping hand to his family in its difficult times.

A daughter-in-law of the ex-MLA, Dyal Kaur, a widow, who is in her seventies, has suffered several setbacks. After losing her husband, Dyal Kaur hoped that her sons Bhola Singh and Beant Singh would set things right. But her hopes and expectations dashed a couple of years ago when Bhola suffered a hip fracture in a road mishap while Beant received an electric shock that left him paralysed.

Finding that both her sons were not in a position to earn, she started collecting garbage from people’s houses, a chore which she performs even today. Her sons, after regaining their health, are working as daily wage labourers and striving to make the both ends meet. Poverty also forced the family to discontinue Beant’s daughter’s studies after she her matriculation last year.

Ironically, the former MLA’s kin have a number of certificates issued in his name but their kitchen does not have enough utensils. The condition of house is also poor. Many of the family members sleep on the floor. The doors of the two-room house are also damaged. Speaking to TNS, Dyal Kaur claimed she had approached the ruling Badal family many a times, but she was snubbed by the local leaders and their personal staff.

Interestingly, despite being neglected by the successive leaders, the family is committed to the SAD (B). “We request the party leaders with folded hands to help us. But even if our request is not accepted, none of us can even think of turning against the party,” said Dyal Kaur.

Senior vice-president of SAD (B) Charanji Lal Garg hailed the honesty of his departed colleague and expressed his pain after learning about his family’s condition “I will take up the matter with the party president as well as the chief minister to ensure the best possible help to the family,” he assured.

Bathinda, May 6
Markets in the city were abuzz with activity on Akshaya Tritiya today, with people, especially Hindus, making investments in precious metals like gold and silver, because of the belief that valuables bought on this day appreciate in value.

Because of the decline in the price of gold and silver for the last few days, jewellers were waiting for this day, to bring in a heavy rush of customers. Their expectation was not without reason as people spent hefty amounts in purchasing the yellow metal for different purposes including self use, gifts and investment.

According to Ajay Kumar of Super Jewellers Pvt Ltd, the staff at his shop was so busy today that they were not even able to spare time for lunch. “If I compare the record of the last five-six days, the response we got today from the customers was much more than on any other day,” he added.

Raj Kumar Sood, another jeweller was elated. He said buyers thronged the market to pick their share of golden good luck on Akshaya Tritiya today.

“To encash the festive spirit among the buyers, we had stocked a variety of new designs of jhumki, ear-rings, finger rings, chains, bangles and bracelets that constituted a major portion of the sale on the occasion,” he said.

Meanwhile, the stores dealing in home appliances and the showrooms of vehicles also had a good day today. Some of the shopkeepers were seen to have engaged horoscope consultants, henna dyers and tattoo artists, all providing free services to the visitors.

During a random visit to some showrooms dealing in two-wheelers and four-wheelers, it was observed that their sale was almost double than on other days. The outlets of various companies selling home appliances and gadgets also recorded a good sale.

Among other articles, slim TV sets, LCDs, cameras, music devices and mobile phones were the hot choice among the people. However, contrary to the expectations of the shopkeepers, people showed less enthusiasm towards the air-conditioners, coolers and refrigerators.

Subhash Kumar of Radio Corner, a showroom dealing in multi-brand home appliances, blamed the rain on Thursday for spoiling their day.

“Had the mercury been at the same level as it was for the past few days, we too would have seen a good response from customers, who visited the market to purchase gold, silver and household articles but not the refrigerator and air-conditioner due to the dip in the mercury after the showers,” Bansal said.

Abohar, May 6
Responding to an assurance given by the district administration, the staff of the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB) and Municipal Council (MC) deferred their agitation till Monday. They were reportedly assured by Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav during a meeting here last evening that all the accused responsible for thrashing the PWSSB Sub-Divisional Engineer Hakam Singh Sidhu would be arrested irrespective of their political affiliations.

The staff has now restored disposal of sewage and supply of drinking water after four days of strike. However, many residents including Satish Munjal (Nai Abadi), Suman Bhardwaj (Jain Nagar), Navneet Garg (Street 1) and Deepak Mehta (Gobind Nagari) confirmed that the water released after four days was not even worth bathing in.

On the other hand, the sewage remains accumulated in many areas including the sub-divisional administrative complex. Erratic power supply this afternoon resulted in obstruction in pumping out water from the main disposal works and it overflowed near the Thakar Abadi railway crossing affecting Sidhu Nagari and other adjoining localities again.

The staff of the PWSSB and MC has warned the administration that strike would be resumed, if all the accused including the husband of a councillor of the BJP and woman president of an NGO were not arrested till Sunday.

From Monday onwards, the joint action committee plans to give a call for suspending the supply of drinking water and disposal of sewage throughout the district, if the authorities fail to act.

Meanwhile, video footages screened by a national TV channel indicated that a woman social activist slapped Hakam Singh Sidhu twice in the face while others dragged and thrashed him on the main road besides breaking the furniture.

Sriganganagar, May 6
A former patwari (revenue staff) Aad Ram, 90, has been sentenced to three years of imprisonment by the additional chief judicial magistrate Ajay Kumar Bhojak.

Deepak Dhingra, a resident of Purani Abadi, had in August 2008 filed a case alleging that Aad Ram had given different dates of birth while applying for pension claiming that he was a freedom fighter. The date of birth mentioned in the application for the state government job differed as well.

He had managed to get issued a blind person certificate by submitting a false affidavit at the Civil Hospital on August 1, 2005.

The sentence has been awarded finding him guilty under Sections 467, 471 and 193 of IPC. However, execution of sentence was deferred to give time for appeal.

Abohar, May 6
Parshuram Jayanti was celebrated in this remote area of Punjab and the neighbouring Sriganganagar region on Friday. Brahmin Sabha members led by Kanti Bhardwaj garlanded the statue of Bhagwan Parshuram near Sethi Place, performed rituals and served langar to hundreds of citizens later near the ancient Kesarganj gate here.

The Jaitsar unit of Rajasthan Brahmin Samaj organised a function at the Gaurisaria Dharamshala.