Ludhiana, October 22
The immediate transfer of the Atam Park police post in-charge along with a head constable and a SPO this morning has raised eyebrows.

The transfer of the trio -- the police post in-charge Sukhbir Singh, head constable Sukhwinder Singh and SPO Jaswinder Singh -- is believed to have taken place in the wake of the Police Commissioner’s meeting during which he had allegedly warned the SHOs to act against those receiving gifts and kickbacks during Diwali.

Sources said a drug peddler, who was recently arrested by the CIA, had levelled the serious allegation of having bribed the trio. But both the trio and senior officials had categorically denied the allegations.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ashish Chaudhry said the three policemen had been transferred out after their conduct was found unfit for public dealing. All three policemen denied any wrong doing and termed the allegations levelled by the drug peddler as baseless.

“Every time a cop is transferred to the police lines, such stories are spread. I will not comment on this issue,” said head constable Sukhwinder Singh.

Ludhiana, October 22
Till recently men used to indulge in gambling during Diwali. They used to bet several lakhs in one sitting. Winning or losing the bet was of no importance to them. Their better halves used to accompany them as their “lucky charm” for winning the game. Now, the trend has changed. City-based women, too, have started playing cards for high stakes during the festival season.

Gambling has always been one of the favourite games for passing the time among city residents. Starting from small-time gamblers to the elite class, majority of residents prefer to try their luck in cards during Diwali as they consider it to be a “good omen”.

Get together, lunches and high teas are organised by the women in their houses and farmhouses as Diwali falls on Wednesday. During these get togethers, the services of leading caterers and cooks are hired for serving eatables and drinks to the guests.

Separate tables are laid for guests who play cards on low, medium and high stakes. Wife of an industrialist disclosed that she and her close friends long for such get togethers during Diwali.

Ludhiana, October 22
After receiving the report of “petha”, the samples of which were sent on October 12, the district health department today finally destroyed 10 quintals of it. These were seized from the Bhure Lal’s factory on the Tajpur Road.

Dr Kulwinder Singh, District Health Officer, and Manoj Khosla, Food Safety Officer, Ludhiana, said, “We destroyed the ‘petha’ in a dump near the Tajpur Road. We dumped it in a big pit so that no one could consume it.”

Thirteen insects were found in the “petha’ sample. Khosla said the owner had been booked under the Food Safety and Standard Act.

Today, the health department took three samples of sweets from different sweet shops. These include “Chum chum” from Bikaner Sweets on the Tajpur Road, “Rasgullas” from Shri Sweets, “burfi” from Dhodha Sweets near Ghumar Mandi.”

However, the report of 225-quintal sweets seized by the health department, which was seized on October 19, is still being awaited.

Samples of ‘rasgulla’ and ‘burfi’ were also collected from Rana Sweets on the Karabara Road. Samples of “burfi” were taken from Khushi Ram sweets.

Ludhiana, October 22
While their fathers immune to firearms, but the children of these men in Khaki are not in favour of bursting firecrackers this Diwali. The children of policemen, who study in the Police DAV Public School, were seen campaigning for a smoke-free and noiseless Diwali. They also campaigned for cracker-free Diwali and spread awareness about the hazard of air pollution caused due to the bursting of crackers, which spells doom for children suffering from asthma and bronchitis.

Dheeraj and Vishavjot, both students of Class V, said, “Though, we like crackers, but not the ones which make loud noises and creates air pollution. I want to celebrate clean and not a polluted Diwali.”

Kanishka, a student of Class III, said she would support the anti- cracker campaign. She is suffering from bronchitis and last year she suffered from breathlessness.

The students latter visited Red Cross Bal Bhawan and expressed empathy with the deprived ones. The students holding posters and placards also took out a rally at Sarabha Nagar Market.

“I met a few children at Red Cross Bhawan. They didn’t have money for buying crackers. I was told their parents deserted them when they were young. I offered them sweets and promised to buy crackers for them,” said Ankit, a student of Class V.

Before conducting the awareness drive, school principal Anu Verma along with an NGO conducted a poster-making competition.

Vishal Chauhan, wife of Commissioner Police Dr SS Chauhan, and Shruti Singh, Deputy Commissioner, Nawashahar, presided over the function and encouraged the students in their endeavour.

Ludhiana, October 22
Sounds of celebrations emanated from all around the Government College for Women campus with the DJ, ceremonial Swiss wedding bands welcoming guests, cultural dances and folk dances.

“Dheeyan Da Mela” at Government College for Women turned out to be feast of festivities as there were celebrations.

The wax statues by Chandarshekhar from Prabhakar's Wax Museum in the college were catching the attention as the celebrated people like Parkash Singh Badal, Mehar Mittal, Kalpana Chawla, Ishmeet Singh and Anna Hazare stood in wax. Girls thronged the food stalls and the vehicles stands were all transformed into kiosks, selling footwear from clothes to computers with girls browsing through the markets.

Ludhiana, October 22
An inmate of Central Jail located on the Tajpur Road died under mysterious circumstances in the wee hours today.

The inmate identified as Sanjiv Singh (24), a native of Muradabad in Uttar Pradesh was facing murder charge.

He was in the jail term since January. According to jail authorities, Sanjiv Singh was living in Jeevan Nagar of the city. He had killed a person in Salem Tabri in January and was booked under Section 302 of the IPC.

The jail authorities said the health of Sanjiv Singh deteriorated last night. He was admitted to the local Civil Hospital where he died later on.

The cause of death has not been ascertained so far. The jail authorities said an autopsy would be conducted and viscera sent to a special laboratory to ascertain the cause of death. 

Ludhiana, October 22
A youth who was arrested for a traffic violation turned out to be fake journalist today. The incident took place this morning when the youth, Rishu Dawer, who was riding a motorcycle, was caught jumping the red light. Instead of admitting his mistake, the violator tried to wriggle out of the tight spot by claiming that he was a correspondent with a vernacular daily.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sajjan Singh Cheema was present at the scene at that time. The senior police officer asked the youth to show the ID, but the youth denied having one.

Later, the officer contacted the authorities of the vernacular daily to cross-check the youth’s antecedents. During verification it was found that the youth was not a reporter. He allegedly told the police that he had prepared a fake ID to intimidate the police. The youth was taken to the police station for further investigation.

Ludhiana, October 22
Trials to select the Punjab handball squad (junior girls) will be held at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Punjab Agricultural University campus, on October 24 from 11 am onwards.

According to a press release issued by the Punjab Handball Association, girls born on or after January 1, 1992 are eligible for the trials. Players can attend the trials by presenting their date of birth certificates. The selected girls will represent the state in the Junior National Handball Championship scheduled to be held from November 10 to 15 in Goa.

Ludhiana, October 22
Raikot Public School quelled a stiff challenge from Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, before coming out triumphant 1-0 in the final of the Ludhiana Sahodaya Schools Complex Football Tournament (boys u-19) at Bhartiya Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School, Kitchlu Nagar branch, here today.

Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, finished third, as their opponents, St Thomas School, failed to turn up.

In the matches played yesterday, Sacred Heart Convent School, Sarabha Nagar, recorded victories in two matches.

In the first match, Sacred Heart School boys emerged victorious 3-0 against Green Land School, Sector 32, branch.

They then beat St Thomas School 2-0 to stamp its authority.

In other matches, Guru Nanak Public School, Sarabha Nagar, sneaked past Maharaja Ranjit Singh Public School, Phillaur, 1-0, while Raikot Public School, Raikot, thrashed Delhi Public School, Ludhiana, 5-0.

OP Sabharwal, manager of the managing committee, BVM Schools, along with host school principal Santosh Mehra gave prizes to the teams