Dera Baba Nanak, July 4
A high-voltage drama was witnessed at Dera Baba Nanak police station this morning when thousands of Congress workers, led by Gurdaspur District Congress Committee (DCC) president and former minister Sukhjinder Randhawa, laid a siege to the station protesting against the alleged highhandedness of Dera Baba Nanak DSP Mohan Lal and SHO Malkiat Singh.

Randhawa along with thousands of his party men assembled in front of the police station and shouted slogans against the policemen, Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker Nirmal Singh Kahlon and his son Ravi Kiran Kahlon.

It is pertinent to mention here that after the delimitation exercise, Dera Baba Nanak has been carved out as a new Assembly segment and Nirmal Singh Kahlon is eyeing this segment for the next Assembly elections.

Randhawa and his supporters, who blocked the road in front of the police station for nearly four hours, claimed that the SHO Malkiat Singh and DSP Mohan Lal were playing into the hands of Kahlon and his son.

Apprehending that things may go out of hand, the harried cops were quick to close the main gate of the police station. Both Malkiat Singh and Mohan Lal were inside the police station when Randhawa and his supporters launched an offensive.

“Hundreds of frivolous cases are being registered against Congress workers and their families allegedly at the behest of the Speaker,” claimed Randhawa.

Former ministers Tripit Rajinder Bajwa and Ashwani Sekhri claimed that they had incontrovertible evidence that the Dera Baba Nanak police was working under the influence of Nirmal Kahlon and Ravi Kiran Kahlon.

On the other hand, SHO Malkiat Singh said not even a single case had been registered against any Congress worker in Dera Baba Nanak Assembly segment.

“Assembly elections are just eight months away and Sukhjinder Randhawa is playing to the gallery. He should stop indulging in petty politics. Moreover, we do not take orders from Kahlon or his son. We listen to our superior officers,” he said.

Batala SSP Gurdeep Singh, under whose jurisdiction Dera Baba Nanak police station falls, said instead of taking such a hasty step of laying siege to the police station, Sukhjinder Randhawa should have personally met him, following which he would have initiated an inquiry.

Also present on the occasion were former MLA Ashok Sharma, PPCC member Raman Bahl and PPCC general secretary Bhupinder Singh Randhawa.

Amritsar, July 4
Members of the Communist Party Marxist (Punjab), CTU, Border Area Sangharsh Committee, Jamhoori Kisan Sabha, Janwadi Istri Sabha and Dihati Majdoor Sabha held a protest march against the hike in petroleum products, cooking gas and essential commodities here today.

District secretary of the CPM Jagtar Singh Karampura said the Union Government must roll back the hike in prices of diesel, kerosene, LPG and DAP fertiliser. He appealed to the government to increase the wages of women labourers and resolve the problems of the border areas on priority.

The agitators raised slogans against the government for its policies, which they alleged were being guided by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

The protest concluded after submitting a memorandum at the office of the Deputy Commissioner.

Tarn Taran: Workers of the Communists Party Marxism (Punjab) staged a dharna in protest against the hike in the rates of petroleum products in front of the SDM office here on Monday.

Jaspal Singh Chabal, Baldev Singh, state committee members of the party, and other leaders in their address said this was the 11th increase in one year and it had made normal life difficult.

The leaders said all this was being done to protect the interests of the corporate sector.

Nawanshahr: Activists of the district unit of the CPM (Punjab), led by district secretary Sarupp Singh Rahon, on Monday submitted a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner Narinder Singh Batth for onward submission to the Prime Minister demanding the withdrawal of the recent hike in prices of petroleum products and to take effective steps for controlling the prices of the essential commodities. They also urged the Punjab Chief Minister to scrap the tax levied on petrol and LPG.

Jalandhar, July 4
At last, a solution to the problem of the toxic pollution created by the electroplating industries in this region appears to have been found. On the intervention of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB)authorities, the Ludhiana Effluent Treatment Society( LETS) has agreed to treat the toxic residue, which is released by the electroplating industry of the Jalandhar region into the Kala Sanghian drain, that further pollutes the Sutlej, at its treatment plant in Ludhiana.

The PPCB Chairman, K.S. Pannu, said today that the toxic effluents would be taken to the Ludhiana treatment plant from Jalandhar in tankers. The society would be making arrangements for it and would charge money for rendering the service in this regard. Pannu said Member Secretary of the PPCB Babu Ram had arranged a meeting of the Association of Electroplating Industries, Chief Executive Officer of the society and the operator of the treatment plant. At the meeting, various issues related to the treatment of toxic effluents were discussed.

There are about 91 electroplating units in the Jalandhar region. These discharge about 5 to 7 lakh litres of heavy metal-laden effluents into the Kala Sanghian drain daily, which had hit the headlines recently. Following this, people, led by Baba Balbir Singh Seechewal, had blocked the down stream flow of effluents into it. The treatment plant at Ludhiana had enough capacity to treat the effluents, said Pannu.

He said the tankers transporting effluents from Jalandhar to Ludhiana would be supporting the GPR system. Decision in this regard had been taken to keep the track of the movement of tankers and to rule out the possibility of disposing the effluents on the way to Ludhiana.