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Toddler kidnapped from park in Model Town
Worried residents raise queries over security in Model Town area
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Post abduction, panic grips residents
Health Dept confiscates sweets in Balla Ram Nagar
Pollution Board says Lasara drain water fit for irrigating crops
Dengue dampens diwali spirit
Admn orders release of over 100 jailed Farad Kendra employees
Strike delays land records of 211 villages in dist from going online
DPS students rally for anti-cracker Diwali
One booked after road mishap turns fatal
Two booked for burning paddy stubble
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Toddler kidnapped from park in Model Town
Bathinda, October 22 The child, Kartik, was playing with his eight-year-old brother Dhruv, a student of class I at around 12:30 pm. Dhruv told the police that two motorcycle-borne youth came to the park, asked Kartik to come closer and took him away on the motorcycle.
The child's panic-stricken mother raised an alarm and informed her husband Rupinder about the incident. Rupinder then informed the police about the abduction. On the basis of Rupinder’s complaint, police have admitted a complaint against unidentified miscreants. Kartik is one year and seven months old. Sources in the police said that the family reportedly has old enmity with some people and expressed doubts over their role in the incident. Senior police officials including the Bathinda SSP Sukhchain Singh Gill, the area SHO, local political leaders including the Congress MLA Harminder Singh Jassi and a large number of people also gathered outside the family's house. "Due to the ongoing vacations, the children are almost free. Many children come out of their homes and play in the park. While two or three kids, including Kartik, were playing, others were yet to come out of their homes as the park is full of greenery and parents do not feel worried about the rising temperature," said Om Prakash, a resident of the area While the family members are tight-lipped over the issue of getting ransom calls, police officials too said that the family has not got any call or message pertaining to the kidnapping, till the filing of the report. However, sources added that raids were conducted at various places in the satellite towns of the city. The neighbors said that Kartik's mother's condition was worrisome and she lost her consciousness upon hearing the news.
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Worried residents raise queries over security in Model Town area
Bathinda, October 22
"There has never been any police patrolling in the area. Police officials are so busy with VIP duties that they have no time to safeguard the interests of the locals,” said Om Prakash Chaudhary, the family's neighbour. Last year too, a three-year-old child was abducted from the area located at the rear of the market in Model Town phase-II. Following this, the municipal councillor of the area had installed gates at both ends of the street. "Now would gates be installed in our street too? How far can we go on installing gates. The need of the hour is to ask the police control room to ensure that intensive patrolling is conducted in our area," demanded the residents of the area. Meanwhile, municipal councillor Arvinder Kiran was not available for comments. People said that there is no control over vehicular traffic and visitors to the area, which also houses a senior secondary school and a middle school. They demanded that traffic should be especially navigated in the morning and afternoon when the schools witness a rush of students and vehicles. "Either a police post should be set up in the area or cops should be specially deployed to ensure that no untoward incident happens here," he added. The park, from where the child was abducted, is also in a state of neglect. A month ago, the local residents' welfare society contributed and got the lights repaired. "Before that, the park was plunged in pitch darkness. It seemed insecure for kids and women," said the others.
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Post abduction, panic grips residents
Bathinda, October 22 As the news of kidnapping spread, people start enquiring into the incident and kept their children either inside their homes or in safe range. "It is a shocking incident that an innocent child has been kidnapped by unscrupulous elements in broad daylight in front of his house. This is the second such incident during the last few years in Model Town area and people do not feel safe," said MS Sekhon, a resident of Dabwali road. Sekhon's relatives reside near the house of the kidnapped child who narrated the kidnapping incident. He said people should not leave their child, especially the toddlers, alone in park or while playing outside their homes, he said. Also, outsiders should not be allowed to enter homes in view of the rising crime in the city. Ajay Saluja, a resident of Model Town, Phase-III said his bike was stolen from outside his house three months ago and now people think twice before parking their vehicles, especially two-wheelers, even during the day time. Despite the fact that many houses are situated close to the police station, people used to steal fuel from the vehicles. Demanding regular police patrolling, residents from different localities of the city said there has been a considerable rise in the number of incidents related to car lifting, snatching and theft and most of them go unchecked. Terming the rising criminal activities as a fall-out of drug addiction, unemployment and lack of proper policing, Surinderpal, a lecturer, said people need to gear up and unite to tackle such problems. SSP SS Gill could not be contacted for his comments, DIG Paramjit Singh Grewal claimed that the police have been patrolling in all the residential and commercial areas of the city. "Even then, I would ask for a review.”
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Health Dept confiscates sweets in Balla Ram Nagar
Bathinda October 22 The samples of the sweets have been sent to the public analyst at the State Laboratory in Chandigarh. The results of the samples are expected after the Diwali after a fortnight. The sweets confiscated include Barfi, Kalakand and Patisa and their quantity is near about two quintals. District Health Officer (DHO) Raghubir Singh Randhawa said, "On the information provided by Deputy Commissioner KK Yadav, the Health Department conducted a raid in the house of Arun Kumar, a resident of Balla Ram Nagar, where the making of sweets was going on in unhygienic conditions." "The household from where the sweets were confiscated has been sealed and action will be taken as per the law," he added. The District Health Officer said there is no detail with the Health Department about which all areas and sweet shops these people were supplying the adulterated sweets to. According to sources, last year too, a raid was conducted at the house of Arun Kumar, who was involved in the same practice of making adulterated sweets when he was residing in Paras Ram Nagar.
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Pollution Board says Lasara drain water fit for irrigating crops
Bathinda, October 22 The recent reports of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) have made these startling revelations. More than six municipal bodies are dumping their untreated raw sewage waste into this drain. As per the rules, no untreated water can be released into any water body. Taking notice of this blatant violation, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had ordered the PPCB to collect water samples and table its report. In September, the department collected 27 samples from various places. These samples were tested at the PPCB laboratories, Thapar College and the state chemical laboratory. According to the norms, the permissible biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) in the water bodies is 30. The reports have shown just a slight variation from this 30 BOD norm. The water being released by the Bathinda Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been found to have 66 BOD content as the corporation has yet not installed a sewage water treatment plant. Similarly, the Rampura Municipal Council is dumping untreated sewage with 36 BOD content. The Rampura local body is currently working on the setting up of a sewage treatment plant. In the same way, the local bodies of Barnala, Tapa Mandi and Dhanaula are dumping untreated sewage into the drain with a much higher BOD content. The PPCB report states that the samples of the Trident Group of Industries also have a high BOD content. Water from the Lasara drain is being given to the farmers for irrigation purposes. The PPCB also took 20 samples of soil from the village Pathrala and Shergarh. The team also took samples of vegetation of those villages that the Lasara drain irrigates and of those where the Lasara drain water is not being used. The PPCB got these samples tested from the labs of the Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), Ludhiana. The results show that areas irrigated by the drain do not have any alarming remarks and crops are healthy. More than 36 pumps are installed at the Lasara drain that provides water for irrigation in the villages of Pathrala, Kotbhara, Jassi Bagh Wali, Kishanpura and others. The Punjab government will present the PPCB report before the Punjab and Haryana High Court on November 1.
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Dengue dampens diwali spirit
Bathinda October 22 "Dengue has spoiled the festival mood among the public. Not only sweets shops, it has rather affected the entire market. As far as public response is concerned, there is a huge difference between the last year and this year. The market has become dull this time due to the epidemic," said Manoj Goyal, the owner of Manoj Sweets. He added, "The slump in the market is not only in our region, even wholesale dealers in Delhi, who never send the stock on time, are asking us repeatedly if we required their products." The owner of Kapoor Sweets, Sandeep Kapoor, echoed similar sentiments. He said, "Till yesterday, we had nothing to do. However, today, people have started coming to the market. A huge amount of money has been lost in the treatment of dengue patients. Therefore, the customers, who have a patient under treatment, would naturally think twice before buying anything. As the dengue patients are advised to take liquid diets and avoid solid foodstuff. So, this Diwali, customers are asking for liquid gifts such as juices, which are also affecting the sale of sweets as well as dry fruits. Sandeep said, "Today, a customer asked for a gift pack of juices, which he wanted to give to his sister, who is suffering from dengue and doctors have advised her to take light stuff only." The owner of Bhiwani Misthan Bhandaar, Gopichand, also lamented the lesser footfall of customers due to spread of the disease. He said, "Earlier, the business used to increase even 15 days prior to the festival. But this time, we have estimated a loss of about 40 per cent." Not only sweets shops, other businesses have also been hit this year. The owner of the LG showroom near Hanuman Chowk, Jagdish Maheshwari, said, "Till last year, we used to display our various electronic items on a stall outside the showroom some days prior to Diwali. However, no such attractions have been planned this time." Balwinder Singh of Ranjit Poultry at Gol Diggi said, "We used to get orders in advance during Diwali but this year, sale is down even during routine days." Ashwani Malhotra, owner of the Hotel Five Rivers, said, "The business of nearly 120 hotels and restaurants in the city has been hit due to dengue, as people are refraining from eating outside." |
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Admn orders release of over 100 jailed Farad Kendra employees
Bathinda, October 22 Bathinda Tehsildar Avtar Singh Makkar offered juice to Satinder Kaur, Inderjit Kaur, Avtar Singh and Mukesh Kumar (all from Ludhiana), and Sahil Mehta and Pawan Kumar (both from Hoshiarpur) to end their fast. Talking to TNS this evening, Makkar said he had issued orders for the release of over 100 employees of Farad Kendras, who were lodged in the Central Jail here under Sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC since October 13. He added that the orders have been sent to the Superintendent, Jail. All the protesters would be released by tonight. Earlier, a meeting between the leaders of the protesting employees and the civil/police officials was held near Hanuman Chowk where the protesters had blocked the traffic for about an hour and a half demanding release of their more than 125 colleagues, and regularisation of their services. The protesters lifted the blockade but remained present near the intersection till the meeting was in progress. After the meeting, Makkar addressed the protesters and assured them that over 100 employees lodged in the Central Jail would be released today. Meanwhile, the process for the release of remaining about 26 employees would be started and they would be released in due course. He also said the Bathinda Deputy Commissioner would present their case before the government for regularisation of services. He also sought a promise from the protesters that they would neither breach peace nor hold any demonstration to which the latter replied in affirmative. Earlier in the day, the agitating staff held a protest march while raising slogans against the government, from the Mini-secretariat to Hanuman Chowk, where they blocked the traffic by forming a circle. As always, it was innocent public that had to face the inconvenience due to the protest. The motorists and bikers had to take long alternative routes to reach their respective destinations. The traffic policemen diverted the heavy traffic from the Fauji Chowk. As many as 108 jailed employees were released by late in the evening. Out of these, 105 were booked under preventive action while three were booked under Section 309 and were released on bail. Twenty-five protesters were still incarcerated. |
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Strike delays land records of 211 villages in dist from going online
Bathinda, October 22 The new deadline has been fixed as November 1. Following the strike, it would also be difficult for the PLRS to meet the latest deadline. In other words, the facility of seeing the online Jamabandi records would delay by at least one month more. There are a total of 292 villages in the district whose Jamabandi data was to be computerized. The data of 211 villages has been computerised so far. Officiating District System Manager of the PLRS Sandhaya Birla revealed to the TNS that the data of the Jamabandis of the villages was to be uploaded on the website by the head office of the PLRS at Jalandhar. "Due to the strike, the data of 211 villages could not be sent to the PLRS at Jalandhar so far. Besides, updating of the data had also been adversely affected for a month," she said. The strike in the Farad Kendras has badly affected the work at seven places including Bathinda, Rampura, Talwandi Sabo, Nathana, Sangat, Maur and Bhagta. Due to which, the PLRS and the state government had faced financial loss to the tune of Rs 3.5 lakh on account of issuance of the Farads of Jamabandi from the Farad Kendras. For the time being, the Patwaris are issuing the farads, she said. Meanwhile, the CMS Computers Limited, Bombay, has appointed 15 new data entry operators at the Farad Kendra (Bathinda) to run the Farad Kendra. The training of the operators is going on. District Manager of the company Ram Singh said the training of Jamabandi had already been imparted to the operators while training for mutation cases would be completed in four to five days. He said the operators had been appointed after the termination of services of those operators who were observing strike. He said the functioning of the Farad Kendra here would start in the first week of next month.
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DPS students rally for anti-cracker Diwali
Bathinda, October 22 The rally was flagged off by Abhinav Trikha ADC (Development). He urged the students to abide by their pledge of not bursting crackers. Nearly 150 students participated in the event. The school thanked the district administration, traffic police and Civil Hospital for their cooperation.
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One booked after road mishap turns fatal
Bathinda, October 22 In his complaint, Harbhajan Singh said that on October 9, his brother Gurbachan Singh collided with the bullock cart of the accused near Jida village due to negligence of the cart driver. The complainant said the cart took a wrong turn and came in the way of the bike resulting in collision. The biker succumbed to his injuries at a private hospital in Mohali. A case under section 304-A of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against the accused at the Nehianwala police station. No arrests have been made in this regard so far.
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Two booked for burning paddy stubble
Bathinda, October 22 In his complaint to the police, Kuldeep Singh of Har Raipur village alleged that the accused, Gurpreet Singh and Malkit Singh, had burnt paddy stubble despite a ban. The complainant said the flames damaged his standing cotton crop. A case in this connection has been registered under Sections 188 and 427 of the IPC. No arrests have been made in this regard so far.
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Panic gripped residents of the Model Town area following the kidnapping of a toddler today in the afternoon.
As the news of kidnapping spread, people start enquiring into the incident and kept their children either inside their homes or in safe range. 
The Health Department today confiscated and destroyed the adulterated sweets which were being made in unhygienic conditions in a household in Balla Ram Nagar of the city.
The samples of the sweets have been sent to the public analyst at the State Laboratory in
Chandigarh.
The results of the samples are expected after the Diwali after a fortnight.
The sweets confiscated include Barfi, Kalakand and Patisa and their quantity is near about two quintals.
The black water of the Lasara drain, a 225-km long water channel, originating from village Dhamot in the Ludhiana district, is fit for irrigating crops.
The recent reports of the Punjab Pollution Control Board (PPCB) have made these startling revelations. More than six municipal bodies are dumping their untreated raw sewage waste into this drain.
The Delhi Public School, Bathinda, wished the residents of the city a pollution-free
Diwali. An anti-cracker cycle rally was taken out by the school today to create awareness about the hazards of bursting crackers.
The park from where the child was abducted houses a public RO water system and a school a stone's throw away. Hardly a kilometer away is the residence of Congress MLA Harminder Singh Jassi, while the area's municipal councillor Arvinder Kiran lives just two streets away from the spot where the incident took place. 
official Speak