B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Farmers allege harassment by PSTCL officials
Faridkot, November 3
About 20 months after they objected to an alleged forcible collection of Rs 500 against each tube well connection from farmers in four villages of Faridkot by some officials of Punjab State Transmission Corporation Ltd (PSTCL) to fund the foundation stone-laying ceremony of a transmission and distribution (T&D) system by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, two farmers of Kaler village are allegedly facing harassment at the hands of PSTCL officials.

Erring official of postal dept nabbed
Ferozepur, November 3
The erring postal department official, who had allegedly decamped with savings of the villagers amounting to crores, has reportedly been apprehended by the police, though no official arrest has been made so far.

Four contract killers surrender, sent to police remand
Ferozepur, November 3
The four contract killers, who were allegedly involved in the murder of a prominent businessman Pramod Mittal last week, surrendered before the court that sent them to the police remand till November 6.

Trader’s son dies under mysterious circumstances
Ferozepur, November 3
Following the murder of a leading industrialist last week, a 33-year-old son of a local businessman died under mysterious circumstances in this border town today.

Rajasthan police foils bid to smuggle narcotics into Punjab
Abohar, November 3
The Rajasthan police today foiled a bid to smuggle narcotics into Punjab by  nabbing Tarsem Singh of Daulewala village and Gurbux Singh of Sadawali  village falling under police station Kulgarhi of Ferozepur district.

Govt-aided school teachers skip classes
Abohar, November 3
Studies were affected in government-aided schools as teachers stayed away from classrooms and staged a sit-in in response to the call given by their state union.

Labourers electrocuted
Fazilka, November 3
Two young labourers were electrocuted while they were laying an iron net for constructing a lintel at the border village of Mauzam this afternoon.

Farmers allege harassment by PSTCL officials
Had raised voice against ‘forcible’ collection to fund a stone-laying ceremony
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, November 3
About 20 months after they objected to an alleged forcible collection of Rs 500 against each tube well connection from farmers in four villages of Faridkot by some officials of Punjab State Transmission Corporation Ltd (PSTCL) to fund the foundation stone-laying ceremony of a transmission and distribution (T&D) system by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, two farmers of Kaler village are allegedly facing harassment at the hands of PSTCL officials.

In a complaint to the higher PSTCL authorities, district administration and the state government, farmers Rakesh Kumar and Mangat Arora alleged that as an act of reprisal, the PSTCL officials ‘intentionally’ diverted a straight power supply line to cover their field so that it caused an adverse impact on the market value of the property.

The farmers alleged that the diversion in the high-voltage power-supply line divided their land into two parts, thereby lowering the market value of the property.

The act of the PSTCL officials also caused a loss of over Rs 4 lakh to the corporation itself as an ‘unnecessary’ curve in the supply line increased its length by 200 metre. Further, the curved supply line would cause a recurring transmission loss due to the increased length.

Dalbir Singh, SDO, PSTCL, declined that there was any intentional or targeted diversion in the laying of electric line. He said the work was done as per the norms.

Faridkot Deputy Commissioner has already asked the Faridkot Tehsildar to visit the area for inspection and submit a report about the alleged intentional curve in the power supply line.

Installing a curved line to target Rakesh Kumar and Mangat Arora was in a violation of rules and norms pronounced by the Punjab State Electricity Regulatory Commission (PSERC) regarding initial installation loss as well as permanent transmission loss, said Avtar Brar, Congress MLA from Faridkot, who visited the field at Kaler village today.

The PSERC has even recommended underground electricity lines, but with a curved transmission line, the PSTCL officials were only targeting the two farmers, alleged Brar.

Erring official of postal dept nabbed
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, November 3
The erring postal department official, who had allegedly decamped with savings of the villagers amounting to crores, has reportedly been apprehended by the police, though no official arrest has been made so far.

When contacted, SSP Surjit Singh said a special investigation team under the DSP (Detective) was constituted to trace the postmaster, who had been taken into custody. He added that the police was able to track the accused down with help of mobile intercepts.

Several villagers belonging to Khai Pheme Ke and nearby areas had complained that Rakesh Kumar, who was posted as postmaster in the village, had allegedly issued them fake receipts against the post office saving schemes. 

The police had entrusted the matter to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), which registered a case against Rakesh for misappropriation of funds to the tune Rs 85,89,346 on the basis of a complaint lodged by the officials of the postal department.

Four contract killers surrender, sent to police remand
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, November 3
The four contract killers, who were allegedly involved in the murder of a prominent businessman Pramod Mittal last week, surrendered before the court that sent them to the police remand till November 6.

Senior Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh confirmed that the accused, identified as Deepak Chopra alias Deepu, Rakesh Saluja alias Mony, Sonu Bhatti and Shallu, had been taken into custody.

The deceased’s son, Manuj Mittal alias Montu, had already been arrested. Manuj had allegedly entered into a deal with the four contract killers to eliminate his own father.

The SSP added that Manuj has also been sent to the police remand till November 6.

Trader’s son dies under mysterious circumstances
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, November 3
Following the murder of a leading industrialist last week, a 33-year-old son of a local businessman died under mysterious circumstances in this border town today.

The deceased has been identified as Amit Aggarwal alias Rinku, son of Suresh Aggarwal. The deceased’s family runs the Subhash Chander and Company in the Cantonment area.

The family members said Amit had gone to immerse some religious material in the Rajasthan feeder canal near Ghal Khurd village on the Ferozepur-Moga road, around 22 km from the district headquarters, when he lost his balance and slipped into the canal. They said the driver of the deceased and some other persons immediately raised an alarm and threw a turban into the canal to help Amit come out. Though Amit was brought out of the canal, he died on the way to the hospital.

SSP Surjit Singh said the police had recorded the statement of the family members and started inquest proceedings. He added that the exact cause of death would be ascertained after the post-mortem examination report arrives.

Asked if there was a possibility of foul play in the incident, the SSP said, “If any such information comes to our notice, we will investigate.”

Rajasthan police foils bid to smuggle narcotics into Punjab
Our Correspondent

Abohar, November 3
The Rajasthan police today foiled a bid to smuggle narcotics into Punjab by 
nabbing Tarsem Singh of Daulewala village and Gurbux Singh of Sadawali 
village falling under police station Kulgarhi of Ferozepur district.

It is learnt that following a tip-off, the Rajasthan police had set up a naka near Bhanipura police station. As an Innova car bearing registration number PB 29 L 9079 was signalled to stop outside the police station, it allegedly tried to crush head constable Nazir Khan before speeding away.

However, the occupants of the vehicle were nabbed after a long chase. On searching the vehicle, the Rajasthan police recovered 10 bags of poppy husk weighing about four quintal along with a kg of opium.

The accused have been arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and the vehicle used in the crime had also been seized, the police confirmed this evening.

The head constable has been admitted to the Civil Hospital with multiple injuries.

Govt-aided school teachers skip classes
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, November 3
Studies were affected in government-aided schools as teachers stayed away from classrooms and staged a sit-in in response to the call given by their state union.

The Government Aided School Teachers’ Union said teachers in nearly 484 government-aided schools in the state had not been paid salaries for the past six months due to delay by the Punjab Government in releasing the 95 per cent grant-in-aid to majority of aided schools in the state.

This, the union said, was contrary to the claims of the state government of promoting education in the state. The fate of state government-aided schools, which are the backbone of pre-college education in most big cities and towns, is in a limbo.

Notably, on November 1 last year, the Punjab Government had decided to implement the pension scheme for aided school teachers from April 1, 2011.

An in-principle decision to this effect was taken by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during a meeting with an 11-member delegation of the Punjab State Aided School Teachers Front and other employees’ organisations at the Chief Minister’s residence.

It was also decided at the meeting that arrears to retired teachers would be given in five installments over a period of five years and the first installment would be paid on April 1, 2011. However, it was not implemented.

The government had directed the heads of these schools to ensure total free education. Even Red Cross Fund cannot be charged now. How the schools would pay for electricity, sewerage, and water charges besides salary to the teaching staff that had to be recruited on ad-hoc basis, the union questioned.

Labourers electrocuted
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, November 3
Two young labourers were electrocuted while they were laying an iron net for constructing a lintel at the border village of Mauzam this afternoon.

The deceased have been identified as Bhajan Lal (25), a resident of Mauzam village of this sub-division, and Chhinder Singh (32), a resident of Sethan village (Mamdot in district Ferozepur) who had come to Mauzam village in search of work.

The duo was laying the net at a construction site when one of the iron rods held by them accidentally touched a high-tension wire passing over the roof, resulting in their electrocution. They were shifted to the local Civil Hospital where doctors declared them brought dead. Chhinder Singh is survived by his wife and two sons.