Jalandhar, September 18
Over a month after a Khambra village resident lodged a complaint against a travel agent for allegedly duping his son, the anti-fraud cell of the city police yesterday nabbed the Lambra-based travel agent.

The travel agent is a Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader and is in charge of Kartarpur Assembly constituency of the party. The BSP leader, Jaswinder Kumar, alias Bindi, runs a travel agency, Munish Trade Test Centre, in Kalyanpur, near Lambra, the police said.

Balwinder Kehlon, in charge of the anti-fraud cell, revealed that Jaswinder Kumar, a resident of Hussianpur village, near Lambra, and his partner Surinder Kumar of Saffipur and Harjit Singh, a Chandigarh-based travel agent, duped the youth of Khambra village.

He said Jaswinder Singh was rounded up from Hussianpur village as a case under Sections 406 and 420 of the IPC and Sections 10 and 24 of the Immigration Act, 1982, had already been registered against him at the Sadar police station in August.

Kehlon revealed that Bal Mukand, a resident of Khambra village, in a complaint to the city police alleged that Bindi and Surinder had duped his son Bhagwan Das of Rs 1.30 lakh in the name of providing him job in Iraq. Though the duo sent his son to Iraq through a Chandigarh-based travel agent, Harjit Singh, but dumped him there, he alleged.

Bal Mukand had alleged that his son along with 40 other Indians was detained in a camp at some undisclosed forest area.

The youths were made to clear the wartime debris and ammunitions to make the land fit for cultivation. They had to pull out live and misfired bomb shells and wreckage of missiles from battlefields, he alleged.

Kehlon said the police was trying to nab the other accused in the case.

A file photo of Olympian Mohinder Singh Munshi with wrestler Dara Singh

Like many other major tournaments, this one was a simple affair. It was three family members of Mohinder Singh, all from a very humble background, and star hockey players who made the day special with their presence. In fact, it is for the first time that such a tournament was conducted in his memory, which saw the presence of big names. Till last year, his family had been conducting small school-level tournaments on this day. Talking to The Tribune, Satpal Singh, the younger brother of Mohinder Singh, said that since his family lived a hand-to-mouth existence, it was simply out of question for them to be able conduct grand tournaments in the name of my brother. “It was indeed an honour for us to observe his death anniversary with a match between the veterans and our team”, he added.

Team members of the Olympian Surjit Club and Mohinder Munshi Club pose with a picture of Olympian Mohinder Singh Munshi in Jalandhar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Satpal has been working as a Class IV employee at the local Doaba Khalsa Senior Secondary School. It was at this school ground that Olympian Mohinder took his baby steps in the field of hockey. His family has been managing to conduct various hockey tournaments under the banner of Olympian Mohinder Singh Munshi Hockey Association in the city.

“Thanks to some good samaritans who came forward to raise funds for the tournaments, we have been able to conduct tournaments in Mohinder Singh’s name. We are especially thankful to the president of the association, Devinder Singh Garcha, an NRI, who has been giving prize money in the name of brother. Even the association was also formed by some of his old school friends”, he said. Every year in the month of December, his family

conducts the All-India Olympian Mohinder Singh Munshi tournament for Under-19 boys. “We invite school hockey teams from almost every part of the country. And this year we have plans to raise the prize money to Rs 5 lakh for the winning team. We are also planning to invite some foreign teams in this hockey tournament”, he added. Sharing memories of his brother, Satpal said that he was an amazing player who knew the very meaning of “hockey by chalaki” (playing hockey smartly) but sadly his promising life was cut short. “At the age of young age of 23 he had carved a niche for himself. He was one of the important members of the 1975 Kuala Lumpur World Cup winner squad, besides the Montreal Olympics of 1976 and the Asian Games”, he said. Despite the efforts by his supporters and friends, they feel neglected at the hands of the state government, which failed to even announce a trophy or a tournament in his name. “Sadly neither the state government not the Sports Department ever gave any award to Mohinder Singh posthumously. It really pinches to see that the government has huge funds to spend on various tournaments but not a single penny for my brother. Probably, we are too financially weak to be considered for any such honour”, he said with tears in his eyes.

A product of Doaba Khalsa Senior Secondary School, Jalandhar, Olympian Mohinder Singh’s father was posted as a Class IV employee. Later, his brother Satpal started working here. Mohinder was born on April 3, 1953 and first joined the Army and later the Punjab Police. It was due to his passion for the game that within a short span of time he became a big name in the world hockey.

Jalandhar, September 18
The Olympian Surjit Club beat Mohinder Munshi Club by 12-11 goals in the ongoing Gold Gym Punjab Veteran Six-a-Side Hockey League at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium here today.

The match was played in the memory of 1975 World Cup gold medallist Olympian Mohinder Singh Munshi. Tributes were paid to Mohinder Singh by chief guest Iqbal Singh Sandhu, SDM-I, veteran players and other hockey enthusiasts.

The match began on a fast note with the Mohinder Munshi Club taking the lead. For the Mohinder Munshi Club, Baljeet Saini, Sanjeev Kumar, Gundeep Kumar and Daljit Singh displayed good hockey skills. In the Surjit club, Mohan Singh, Surinder Singh, Shamsher Singh Shera and Rajinder displayed good hockey. Till lemon break the Mohinder Munshi Club was leading by 7-4 goals.

In the second half of the game, the Surjit Club tried to capitalise on some good moves. For the Surjit club, Shamsher Singh Shera scored three goals, Rajinder Singh, Kulbir Singh and Surjit Singh Mitha scored two goals each. The team also gained from the timely one goal each from the sticks of Mohan Singh, Jaswinder Sangha and Bhupinder Singh.

Jalandhar, September 18
The gymnasium located in the health club of the prestigious Jullundhur Gymkhana Club will soon be upgraded. Rs 25 lakh has been earmarked for its renovation.

The Jalandhar Divisional Commissioner a well as the president of the club, Anurag Verma, said that the latest health equipment worth Rs 25 lakh would be purchased soon. This is likely to be installed at the gymnasium within a month.

It was also decided in the club’s executive committee meeting that low-budgeted events, like dance and painting competition, would be held every month for the member and their families.

Verma said, “I want the club to be the social hub of the city where the member families can get every type of enjoyment.”

The club president appealled to the official to ensure that not even a single penny of the club members’ money should be frittered away. It was also decided that a full-fledged spa, with five-star facilities, will be set up in the club.

Verma expressed displeasure on the club’s failure of not initiating the process for a new advertisement contract well before the expiry of existing one. He has asked the The Deputy Commissioner as well as the senior vice-president of the Club, Priyank Bharti, to fix this lapse.

It was decided that they will encourage proposals from event managers for organising events through out the year. The event manager would be asked to bring in sponsors, he added.

Verma also constituted a committee consisting of Dr. Pawan Gupta, Junior Vice President, and Daljit Chhabra and AK Kundra. The Committee has been asked to look into the details of the promotional liquor received since April 1, 2009. 

Jalandhar, September 18
Industries of various categories are moving out of Punjab due to the ‘bad policies’ of the Parkash Singh Badal-led SAD-BJP government.

The newly appointed Chairman of the industry and trade cell of the Punjab Congress, Daljit Singh Ahluwalia, and its secretary Sohan Lal Banga alleged this during a visit to Jalandhar on Saturday.

Ahluwalia and Banga said the cell representatives would meet the industrialists and traders to know their grievances to include them and their possible solution in the Congress manifesto to be issued for the forthcoming Assembly elections.

A report regarding the problems of industrialists and traders of the state would be handed over to the Punjab Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh within a month as per their directions, he added.

Daljit Singh Ahluwalia alleged that the industrialists were facing problems even in getting power connection for their units and most of them were not even paid subsidy for past several years.

The imposition of too much Value-added Tax (VAT) on various items was also adversely affecting the industrialists and traders of the state, he added.

The district-level and block-level committees of the cell would soon be constituted within a month in consultation with the district Congress presidents and current or former Congress MLAs of the areas, he added.

Jalandhar, September 18
Union law minister Salman Khursheed will visit Jalandhar in October. Jalandhar District Bar Association (DBA) president and state co-convener of Legal Cell of Punjab Congress, Advocate GK Agnihotri, stated this here on Sunday.

Soon after returning from Chandigarh after attending a one-day meeting of Punjab Congress Legal Cell on Saturday, Advocate Agnihotri said “All India Legal Cell will organise its first public meeting in Punjab in last week of October, the date of which will be finalised later on.”

Among others, senior Congress leaders Salman Khursheed and Abhishek Manu Singhvi will attend this public meeting, he added.

Advocate Agnihotri said that it had been decided in the Chandigarh meeting to spread awareness among Punjabis regarding the “fake” cases registered against Congressmen during the current Parkash Singh Badal led SAD-BJP government.

Further, it was also decided in the meeting to a launch a campaign against the “anti-public” policies of Badal government, he said, adding that the proposed public meeting in October in Jalandhar would be a part of this campaign.

Advocate Agnihotri said that among others, the All-India Congress Committee Legal Cell secretary, KC Mittal, and Punjab Congress Legal Cell convener Harpreet Singh addressed the gathering in the Chandigarh meeting. The office bearers of Legal Cells of various District Congress Committees of Punjab were present in the meeting.

Employees of Radisson Hotel donate blood at a camp in Jalandhar on Sunday. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

67 hotel employees donate blood
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, September 18
It was a celebration of the colours of India as the students of the KMV College, Jalandhar, teamed up for a glorious fashion show- Sukriti 2011- on the premises of the college here yesterday.

Designs in Victorian gowns and frocks, teamed with elegant georgette and lace hats, in monochromes wowed the audiences in the first round. The second round took a peek into the glory of Indian culture with beautiful tie-and-dye creations on sarees by the fashion department students.

The show also brought forth the experiments of students alive in the vivid sari patterns and myriad colours. A round showcasing little children dressed up in beautiful frocks was also loved by all. The college principal Atima Sharma congratulated the participants.