Amritsar, April 18
In a shocking incident, a student of hotel management course was kidnapped and gangraped by several persons after hacking her maternal uncle to death and injuring his friend. The victim lodged a complaint with Tarsikka police. A case was registered against four unidentified persons on chargers of murder (302), rape (376) and other relevant sections of IPC.

The victim stated in her complaint that she along with her maternal uncle Manpreet Singh and his friend Amrinder Singh alias Sunny were going to Chandigarh from Muchhal village. She said when they reached a filling station near Chauhan village on the main GT Road to fill petrol, four unidentified persons intercepted their vehicle and attacked them with sharp-edged weapons.

She alleged the accused bundled her into their SUV vehicle and raped her one by one. She said they abandoned her near Batala. She said she somehow reached her house at Muchhal village to find her uncle Manpreet Singh dead. She said she came to know that his friend Sunny was critically injured in the attack and was admitted in a hospital.

SPS Parmar, district police chief, Amritsar rural police district said the matter is under investigation and it will become clear within a couple of days. “Preliminary investigations have raised many questions over the victim’s statement. Moreover, the man who was killed by unidentified persons was a drug peddler. We are investigating in to the case and nothing concrete can be said at this moment,” said Parmar. A special investigative team headed by SP (Detective) and DSP (Detective) has been constituted in this regard, he said. He said the medical examination of the victim is yet to be conducted.

DSP (Detective) Nahar Singh said as per the initial probe the accused hit the vehicle in which the victims were travelling near Rayya. “One of the victims is in the hospital and is not fit to record his statement,” he said.

Amritsar, April 18
Avtar Singh was killed after he was hit by a speeding bus near Kairon market inside Hall Gate area here late last night. The police party on patrol duty rushed him to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. He succumbed to his injuries at the hospital.

The police has registered a case against the driver of the bus. The accused fled from the spot leaving the bus behind. He has been identified as Sansar Chand Sharma, a resident of Feru Chak, Tehsil Heera Nagar, Kathua.

Head constables Gurdeep Singh and Sarwan Singh called the emergency ambulance service which rushed the victim to GNDH. Later a slip found from the pocket of the victim helped in establishing his identity as Avtar Singh. The police is yet to find his residential address. The post-mortem examination has not been conducted so far. Investigating officer Gurmej Singh said the victim’s body has been kept for 72-hour for identification. He said raids on to nab Sansar Chand who had been absconding since the incident.

In another incident, Amritpal Singh (13) of Guru Ram Dass Nagar, Kot Khalsa, sustained serious injuries when he was hit by a speeding car. The incident occurred near Putlighar area on April 12. However, the case was reported to police only yesterday evening. He along with his father Hardial Singh was going towards Putlighar when the accused came from the opposite side and hit their vehicle. Amritpal was rushed to nearby private hospital while the accused identified as Raj Kumar escaped from the spot.

Amritsar, April 18
The health teams today raided Goove In, a food and drinking bar at district shopping complex and seized nine hookahs and flavoured tobacco of 50 different brands besides taking food samples.

Assistant Civil Surgeon Dr Arjun Dhawan led the team. The employees of the restraint fled when the teams reached the spot. The team detained few customers at the bar. They were later handed over to their parents.

Drug Inspector Anupama Kalia said they had seized flavoured tobacco of 50 brands, hookah pipes and other apparatus used for hookahs.

Food Inspector Amit Joshi said the team had collected three samples of paneer, wheat flour and cooked pulses from the spot. He said the samples will be sent for tests.

Civil Surgeon Dr Manjit Singh Randhawa said action has been taken under The cigarettes and other tobacco products (Prohibition of advertisement and regulation of trade and commerce, production, supply and distribution) Act. He said the district administration and the police were informed about the raids. He said the department will challan the manager and owner of the establishment.

The team later raided another restaurant named Verandah-The Seeshah Lounge in the area but could not find anything objectionable. The health department had previous week seized eight hookahs from Berco's restaurant in Ranjit Avenue area.

Amritsar, April 18
While the state government is not doing much to promote tourism here, even the tourists visiting the holy city are not safe as they have become a soft target of snatchers who seem to be striking at will and looting these tourists of their cash and valuables at regular intervals.

Since March 1, eight cases of tourists being targeted by snatchers have come to light in the city. These also include tourists from foreign countries. Most of these crimes were committed when the tourists were commuting in cycle rickshaws in the areas around the Golden Temple. The modus operandi of the perpetrators of these crimes is simple. Riding on a motorcycle, they speed away after snatching the purse/bag of a tourist commuting in a cycle rickshaw.

A major incident involves Balbir Kaur of Patiala on March 14. Balbir, who was commuting on a cycle rickshaw along with her husband, fell from it while resisting the snatching bid before the snatchers took away her purse having Rs 8,000 cash, two gold chains, two pair of earrings, and a mobile phone.

Amritsar Hotel and Restaurant Association general secretary APS Chatha said there has been a significant increase in snatching cases in the city and tourists have become an easy target for the snatchers. Blaming the police for failing to curb the menace, he said these criminal activities will leave a bad impact on the city's tourism industry. "Instances like these spread fast as tourists these days are quick to share their experiences on social networking sites," he said. He said the police can at least put up

hoardings at key points like Golden Temple, railway station, bus terminal etc, listing do's and don'ts for tourists. He said the number of snatching incidents involving tourists may be higher as various cases go unreported.

Amritsar, April 18
The CIA staff today arrested two notorious robbers allegedly involved in 83 snatching and robbery incidents in various parts of the city. The accused have been identified as Baldev Singh (25) alias Lamba, a resident of Kot Atma Ram and Sandip Singh (19) alias Sajan of Kot Salig Ram, at Sultanwind road area. One of their accomplice Raju Giani fled from the spot.

The police has also seized two country-made pistols, 850 gram of narcotic powder, 22 pairs of gold earrings besides three stolen motorcycles from their possession.

The accused were also allegedly involved in a robbery of Rs 4 lakh at the office of Garg consultancy at Gill Chowk, Ludhiana after injuring the owner Pawan Garg.

RP Mittal, police commissioner, said the police had arrested both the accused at a naka near the telephone exchange at Chamrang road. They were riding on a stolen motorcycle when they were intercepted by the police.

The police also seized a .303-bore country-made pistol with three live cartridges and 500 gram of narcotic powder besides 17 gold earrings from the possession of Baldev Singh. The police also seized one more country-made .12 bore pistol along with two live cartridges from Sandip Singh.

The CIA staff also seized 400 gram of intoxicant powder and five gold earrings on the information provided by the accused.

A case under Section 382, 379, 411 IPC, 21/22/61/85 of NDPS Act and 25/54/59 Arms Act against them at B-division police station in this connection. 

Amritsar, April 18
The city may be known as a religious centre the world over but its residents need to give a serious thought to how much they themselves value the great treasure of history that the old lanes of the city have. The day was celebrated as Heritage Day but the local administration and its residents have so far failed to preserve various heritage structures in the walled city. Owners, occupants and tenants of these heritage buildings have frequently been noticed altering these structures, thus, tampering with the original structures and design.

Defeating the very purpose of the much talked about Heritage Walk launched just six months back many buildings of heritage value on its route, including 14 points for sight seeing are being tampered with. Glaring anomalies were noticed a week back when two-and-a-half century old Udasi cult centre Chitta Akhara, near Harmandar Sahib, was undermined as one of its walls made of Nanakshahi bricks was rebuilt. Extremely dilapidated condition of the wall which could have fallen any time was cited as the reason. The frescoes of the Akhara have been damaged to a great extent as they have been painted. Intricately-carved doors and windows have also been brightened up with green paint.

Another vital spot on the Heritage Walk route is Thakurdwara Dariana Mal, situated near Patel Chowk. Its unique view of a wooden system installed at a window on the first floor to draw out water from the well beneath the ground floor has been lost as a concrete roof and walls have been raised around it. It is being taken care of by Shri Durgiana Temple Committee.

INTACH Punjab State convener Dr Sukhdev Singh said if this continues, soon the city will lose many private structures with heritage value falling on the route of the Heritage Walk. Those not mentioned as the key spots are being replaced with the new ones.

He recalled that the INTACH had found that there were over 300 structures of heritage value in the walled city and over 35 per cent of them needed conservation. He said the next year his organisation managed to get the Country and Town Planning act amended as per which tampering with heritage structures was made a punishable offence. He said at this juncture they felt that the rules of local bodies must be amended to consolidate civic laws regarding repair and construction in the heritage buildings.

He said a heritage cell must be formed in the municipal corporation especially in Amritsar where many such buildings are located. Besides, the state government has kicked off two walks to lure tourists to visit these places. He advised that the Punjab Heritage and Tourism Promotion Board must come out with conservation plan of those buildings on the route of heritage walk.

INTACH celebrated the World Heritage Day today showcasing traditional dresses and folk songs of the state by giving power point presentations on various monuments of Majha at Bhawan's S.L. Public School. Cambridge Public School, DAV International Public School, Millennium Public School, Ram Ashram Public School, DAV Police Public School, Holy Heart Presidency Public School, Sri Guru Harkishan Public School, took part in the Heritage Day celebrations.

Amritsar, April 18
The Academic Staff College (ASC) of Guru Nanak Dev University has announced the new dates of the refresher course, scheduled for session 2011-12.

Director of ASC Dr TS Banipal said the refresher course would be held from May 4 to May 24. “Earlier, this refresher course was to be held from January 23, 2013, to February 12, 2013, but on the request of participants, the university has rescheduled the dates,” he said. “The aspirants for this course will have to submit their forms along with the requisite fee through a demand draft with the ASC, with in a week,” he added.

Amritsar, April 18
Col RS Batth, Commander, NCC Group, Amritsar, inaugurated a 10 m indoor shooting range at Luvdale Senior School, Loharka Road, for NCC cadets. Col SS Mand, Commanding Officer and Lt Col PS Sandhu, Administrative Officer of 11 Punjab Battalion NCC were also present. Col RS Batth said Col Rajyavardhan Rathore and Anjali Bhagwat both of whom were world champion shooters had begun firing as NCC Cadets. — TNS

Amritsar, April 18
Parents of school children and school managements are in a fix after the Punjab and Haryana High Court decision to ban ferrying of school children in auto-rickshaws. With only a few days left before the deadline to implement the decision, no alternative arrangements have been put in place so far. Negotiating the narrow lanes of the walled city area is not an easy task. Concern over overloaded auto-rickshaws putting lives of school children in danger has been replaced with the tension of finding an alternative mode of transport.

Father of two school going children Raminder Singh says his family is perplexed at how to drop his daughter and son to Sri Guru Harkrishan Public School on GT Road once auto-rickshaws are taken off the roads permanently. His daughter studies in Class IV while his son is in a student of Class II. “My house is at Daal Mandi in the inner portion of the walled city and auto-rickshaw is the most convenient mode of transport,” he claimed. He said the idea of school buses picking and dropping children at the Ring Road encircling the walled city is not very encouraging. He said even a minor delay could cause snapping of the link between guardians and the children. This could heighten the risk of them going missing.

Meenakshi Malhotra said her house was located at Jagdambay Colony on Majitha road. She said the lanes and by-lanes in the areas on Majitha Road are not wide enough for buses as the roads were only up to 20 feet wide.

DAV Public Schools, Amritsar, regional director Dr Neelam Kamra said there are 18,000 students studying in seven public schools in the city. She said 60 per cent students prefer auto-rickshaws. She said with due respect to the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court but there are many parts of the city which do not have adequate infrastructure for bigger vehicles to move easily.

Amritsar, April 18
The number of applicants seeking registration of sale deeds has witnessed a decline at the DC office complex with the increase in collector rates. Dalvir Singh, a property dealer, said: “The increase in collector rates has resulted in increase in fee. Residents are not ready to pay the increased fee. Perhaps, they are waiting for a rollback.” Dalvir said though the collector rates are revised every year, but this time there has been a steep increase.

Jangpartap Singh, a city resident, said: “Last year, the collector rates were revised three times. It is unfair to increase the rates so often. The dream of owning a house in the city is becoming costly every year.”

The collector rates have gone up from 15 to 30 per cent for different areas. The collector rates for commercial properties in the city have increased more in comparison to the rates of land in nearby villages.

Gulab Singh, a farmer, said: “Land prices will further increase as the collector rates have been increased. Buying a land for agricultural purposes has become impossible. Only colonisers are buying land in villages as prices are beyond the reach of the common man.”

However, officials said things would come to normal in a few days. “Every year, when collector rates are increased, the rush of applicants decreases for a few days. But after two or three days, things are back to normal,” said an employee at the DC office complex.

Amritsar, April 18
Rajasansi police has arrested seven members of a gang allegedly involved in vehicle theft. The accused sold them after forging documents and putting fake number plates on the stolen vehicles. The police has registered a case under Section 399, 402, 379, 471 IPC and 25/54/59 of the Arms Act against the accused.

The accused have been identified as Amritbir Singh and Jaskaran Singh of village Sainsaran Kalan, Rahul, Fatehbir Singh, Gori Shankar, Harchand Singh and Shera, all residents of village Rajasansi here.

The accused are drug addicts and were armed with sharp-edged weapons. A police team was immediately rushed to the spot and arrested the accused.