|
|
|
|
|
‘PPP will play the kingmaker’
Traffic chaos continues to haunt Moga’s main square
Week after polls, bureaucrats yet to return to seats
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
Police remand for independent candidate in Fazilka
Undertrial escapes Punjab police custody
SIT to arrest arms licence scam accused
|
|
‘PPP will play the kingmaker’
Bathinda, February 10 Manpreet, along with his father Gurdas Singh Badal, was here today to express condolence over the demise of Pritpal Singh Bhinder, father of the PPP candidate from Bathinda (Urban) Assembly constituency, Sukhdeep Singh Bhinder. Manpreet said there was a triangular fight between the Congress, the SAD-BJP, and the PPP in the Assembly elections. However, he claimed that the results would be unexpected as the people had voted silently this time. He was hopeful that his party and other constituents of the Sanjha Morcha would perform well. To a question about his victory prospects from Gidderbaha and Maur Assembly seats, from where he had contested, Manpreet said, “You better ask the punters as I don’t know.” However, the PPP chief added that he had stayed in both the constituencies for just two days during the last 20 days of campaigning. So, it was there for all to see as to how confident was he about his win. On whether he would extend support to any party for the formation of government, in case of a hung Assembly, Manpreet said his party is for the implementation of its agenda, not for the formation of government. He said his party did not hate any party emotionally but it did not like the results shown by these parties during the last 64 years. He also hinted that the party that would agree to the agenda of the PPP might be considered. Regarding the victory prospects of Gurdas Singh Badal, the PPP candidate from Lambi, Manpreet said, “If we see the name of the SAD candidate from Lambi, Parkash Singh Badal, then Parkash Singh Badal would win. But if we rely on the answers of the people about the election results, then Parkash Singh Badal will taste defeat.” Regarding his ailment, Manpreet said the cyst in his throat had receded up to 50 per cent with steroids, but the doctors had told him that they would evaluate the disease after two weeks. However, he was of the view that surgery was needed for permanent relief.
|
||
|
Traffic chaos continues to haunt Moga’s main square
Moga, February 10
They stopped their buses along the roadside on the highway within the municipal limits on Friday creating problems for not only for the daily passengers but also for the local residents who faced hardships due to the traffic chaos caused by the halting of the buses. District Magistrate B Purushartha yesterday asked the traffic police to ensure the smooth passage of vehicles on the main square and stop the 'illegal' practice of halting the buses but the adamant private operators are allegedly unwilling to cooperate. They stop buses on the Ludhiana and Ferozepur road in the town with the sole purpose of taking passengers on board leading to a traffic jam even as the bus stand is just a few meters from the main square. An official spokesman said that the private bus operators have been asked to take the passengers from inside the bus stand instead of stopping the buses on the main square. Adding that the administration has taken the initiative to ensure the safety of the passengers by regulating the traffic, the spokesman said there is no ban on buses crossing through the main square. The drivers should not halt the buses for taking on board passengers. In the last few years, it was witnessed that the cops on traffic duty granted liberty to the buses to stop and take on board passengers, posing dangers to the lives of the commuters. Meanwhile, it has also been seen that the traffic rules are not enforced here in other parts of the town, home to about 1.5 lakh people, thanks to the apathy of the authorities concerned and poor infrastructure facilities. Commuters could often be witnessed riding on two-wheelers without helmets, without wearing seat belts in a car, jumping red lights in a hurry and crossing the railway crossings even when they are being closed by the gatemen. The cops on traffic duty act as silent spectators to all these happenings. They hardly bother to control the haphazard traffic even when accidents have become a common feature in the town. The traffic problem has been compounded in the recent years as most buildings have flouted rules and regulations by not providing parking space as per the PUDA rules and building bylaws.
|
||
|
Week after polls, bureaucrats yet to return to seats
Muktsar, February 10 A visit to the District Administrative Complex (DAC) in the morning revealed that hardly any senior bureaucrat was present there. The offices were lying vacant and those coming to lodge their complaints or to hand over the memorandums were seen waiting for the dealing officials. Finding that no senior bureaucrat reached the offices at the DAC, a majority of the visitors had to return unattended. The staff at the DC office revealed that the Deputy Commissioner has not been coming to the office for the last few days as he is managing the affairs from his camp office at his official residence. The ADC too was found absent and he reached the office only after noon. The scene was no different in the office of the local SDM. His reader informed that the SDM was on leave yesterday but he was not sure whether the officer would turn up today or not. Similarly, when a visit was made to the office of the District Transport Officer (DTO), he was said to be away in Chandigarh to attend a meeting. On the other hand, the public, which had come after covering a long distance, was seen waiting for the officials concerned at the entrance of the District Complex. Rajesh Kumar, a local resident, who had come up with a few protesters to hand over a memorandum to the DC regarding the water pipeline, said, "Since 10 am, that is for the last two hours, we are waiting for any senior officer, who can receive our memorandum. But no one has come as of yet." Similarly, one Manjeet Singh said, "I have been coming here for the past few days, but the officials concerned are rarely found on their seats. There should be some punctuality so that the public can get some relief." When contacted, ADC Kuldeep Singh, said, "I am holding the charge of both the ADCs, Development and General. So, I go to both the offices and whenever I am absent at one seat, I can be met in the other office." Repeated attempts to contact Deputy Commissioner Arshdeep Singh proved to be futile.
|
||
|
Police remand for independent candidate in Fazilka
Fazilka, February 10 Fazilka SSP Ashok Baath said after the dismissal of the bail plea of Rocky by the Punjab and Haryana High Court yesterday in the case, the Chandigarh police had arrested Rocky there and handed him over to Fazilka sadar police. Notably, Rocky, his companions, Manohar Singh Mujedia (son of former Jalalabad Congress MLA late Manga Singh), Anurag Kamboj alias Vicky, Nitin Kamboj and 20 other unidentified persons were booked on charges of attempting to kidnap a SAD-BJP leader Rajinder Kumar, Chairman, Primary Agriculture Development Bank (PADB), Fazilka. The accused were booked on January 24 under the IPC and the Arms Act. Then, Rocky and his supporters had alleged that they were implicated in a case at the behest of the ruling party leaders as he was poised to win the assembly polls and it was an effort to keep him away from the election scene. Manohar Singh Mujedia was also arrested three days ago. He was remanded to police custody for two days followed by judicial custody for 14 days. Half a dozen counsels pleaded Rocky’s case in the court.
|
||
|
Undertrial escapes Punjab police custody
Abohar, February 10 The police team led by Ravi Kumar was escorting Satnam Singh Satta alias Paramjit Singh Pamma from Amritsar by a Punjab Roadways night bus to produce him in a court at Sriganganagar in connection with the killing of a canter driver. Ravi Kumar, Daljit Singh and Sukha Singh were found lying unconscious as the bus reached Sriganganagar in the morning. They later told the Rajasthan police at the district hospital that Satta, locked in Amritsar district jail, and impersonating as Pamma, served tea that he carried in a thermos from the jail, when the bus halted at a roadside dhaba near Hari Ke Pattan around midnight. Satta had, however, not taken away their sophisticated weapons, the cops said. A police official Kuldeep Walia had found that the Bhikhiwind (Amritsar) police had arrested Satta in a murder case but his identity was wrongly given as Pamma. He along with other friends had earlier migrated to Sriganganagar after their alleged involvement in series of crimes. They had killed a canter driver Radheyshyam and assaulted cleaner Umesh Kumar after serving them with intoxicated food on Jan 7, 2006, and took away their canter loaded with onions. The police had arrested three persons, Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Balkar Singh. They were convicted by the trial court in the case. The two accused, Satnam Singh Satta and Kuldeep Singh Deepa, had been at large. The Rajasthan police have recorded the statements of Punjab police team, presently under treatment at the Sriganganagar district hospital.
|
|
SIT to arrest arms licence scam accused
Abohar, February 10 The Punjab and Haryana High Court that had earlier directed them to join the investigation, has now rejected their bail plea as the CIA staff in-charge submitted the status report. Notably, a case under the IPC and the Arms Act was registered in May last year against them. The police had seized 120 licences pertaining to various districts of Punjab and militancy-ridden Jammu and Kashmir from their dwellings. The border district had earlier witnessed a similar scam in 2001. Another scam rocked the Ferozepur district in July 2010 as the accused prepared fake arms licences by forging the signature of the Additional District Magistrate
(ADM).
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
Predicting a hung Assembly in Punjab, the People’s Party of Punjab (PPP) supremo Manpreet Singh Badal today claimed that after the declaration of results on March 6, no political party in the state would be able to form the government without his party’s support.
