Bathinda, April 19
Acting swiftly on the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s move of dismissing 35 cases filed against the Bathinda Improvement Trust under its 16.44 acres and 25.21 acres scheme, the Trust authorities have started taking possession of its property.

Today afternoon, the Trust authorities tried to vacate the encroachments opposite Rose Garden near the Sirhind Canal. Unhappy with the drive by the Trust, the owners of 32 shops in the vicinity, as well as the rehri wallahs of the subzi mandi, squatted on the road.

The protesting shopkeepers blocked the road leading to traffic chaos. Buses, two-wheelers, trucks, cars and even ambulances had to be diverted. The entire traffic on the road had to be diverted from near Mittal Mall on GT road and from near the Sirhind Canal near market.

The commuters had a tough time navigating their way through the streets and the chaos, the protesters tried their best to buy time from the Trust officials for removing encroachments.

Executive Officer Harinder Singh said the shops and temporary structures has encroached upon the 16.44 acres scheme of the trust. The Trust officials added that the area, from where the encroachments were being removed, had been earmarked for shops-cum-flats.

A delegation of the shopkeepers met Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sarup Chand Singla, demanding some time to vacate the shops. The Trust officials said the shopkeepers had been given time till May 10 to vacate their shops, failing which, the Trust officials will knock down the structures.

Earlier, during a late evening operation on Wednesday, the Trust authorities had removed the encroachments from the proposed 60-feet road adjoining its office and had taken possession of the entire area.

The authorities started work of laying the 60-feet road at around 10 pm, which continued till past midnight. By Thursday evening, the road had been laid.

The 60-feet road project had been in limbo for the past 22 years due to litigation. EO Harinder Singh said, “The cases have been pending since 1990 in the court. The court has dismissed all the 35 petitions and we are acting as per the rules.”

On Wednesday evening, a police team accompanied the Trust officials and two JCB machines that knocked down the lone room standing on the aforesaid piece of land.

With the laying of this 60- feet road, traffic bottlenecks on Mal Godam road would get some respite. Now, the heavy traffic plying from the railway overbridge near Paras Ram Nagar and Santpura road would not have to move through the city.

Taking the new road, traffic will directly be navigated to the GT Road. Even the Army vehicles plying on the Mal Godam road (while coming from the railway station) need not enter the city.

These vehicles can now take the Vishal Nagar-new 60 feet road-100 feet road to reach the Barnala bypass. It would also help ease heavy traffic congestion in many residential areas.

Chandigarh, April 19
Twenty-three years after a Single Judge of the Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the acquisition of land in Bathinda, a Division Bench has set aside the orders.

Allowing a bunch of the writ petitions, the Single Judge on October 20, 
1989, had quashed the acquisition of land “notified as 16.44 acres Town Planning Scheme between Panj Rattan Hotel and Sirhind Canal on Goniana Road”.

But the Division Bench of Justice Hemant Gupta and Justice AN Jindal has categorically ruled that “The order of the Single judge is not sustainable. The same is set aside and the appeals preferred by the Bathinda Improvement Trust are allowed.”

A notification under the Section 36 of the land Acquisition Act was initially published on September 9, 1976, but was quashed by the High Court on December 3, 1982, as subsequent notification under Section 42 was not published within three years.

On January 6, 1984, the Improvement Trust passed a resolution, recommending the publication of Town Planning Schemes, as notified earlier. The Deputy Commissioner passed an order on January 30, 1984, suspending the resolution of the Improvement Trust, but notification under Section 36 of the Act was published.

Subsequently, notification under Section 42 was published on January 28, 1987; and the award was announced on December 23, 1988. The Single Judge allowed the writ petitions for the reason that the writ petitioners or the landlords were not served with the notice under Section 38 of the Act.

After hearing senior advocate Salil Sagar and Samarth Sagar on behalf of the Trust, the Bench ruled: “There is absolute prohibition of publication of a notification under Section 42 of the Act beyond three years of the first publication of notification under Section 36 of the Act.

Since the prohibition is absolute, the publication of notification within three years is mandatory. Though the serving of notice as provided in Section 38 is mandatory, but the time during which the notice is required to be served cannot be said to be mandatory. The time period to serve notice under Section 38 is only directory.”

Bathinda, April 19
Bathinda police today claimed to have arrested three persons, including two women, under the Gambling Act at the Canal police station. The accused have been identified as Santosh Rani of Chandsar Basti, Usha Rani of Ganesha Basti and Harbans Lal. They have been booked under the sections 13-A, 3 and 67 of the Gambling Act.

Investigating officer in the case, Jail Singh, while revealing the modus operandi of the accused, said the two women used to sell tickets to customers with their signatures on the tickets.

The customers were then told to choose a number between 1 and 100 or more. The customers were charged depending upon the number chosen and the return on it.

As the number increased, the price of the ticket and the return on it, too increased accordingly. If a person purchased a ticket for one rupee, he may get `70 the next morning.

Jai Singh said many of the regular customers claimed that they had in fact doubled their money in a day. He added that the organisers have their network all over the state of Punjab and the number announced remained the same across the state.

The customers, most of them poor rickshaw pullers, labourers and uneducated people had even been visiting various religious places and babas to know their lucky number.

Policemen said the accused had a base of a minimum of 20 to 30 customers and had been operating for the past at least three to six months.

The arrested were later released on bail and a challan would be produced in the court against them and the court may sentence them to jail or impose a heavy fine.

In a similar incident, Jagmohan Singh, a resident of Kikkar Das Mohalla, too was arrested for gambling. He was arrested from near the Maal Godaam road.

A case under the sections 13-A, 3, 67 of the Gambling Act has been registered against him at the Kotwali police station. He was also released on bail later.

Money matters

* The customers were sold tickets with the accused’s signature on them.

* The customers were then told to choose a number between 1 and 100 or more. The customers were charged depending upon the number chosen and the return on it. As the number increased, so did the price of the ticket.

Bathinda, April 19
In 2008, the Bathinda MP, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, had inaugurated a prestigious `29 crore drinking water augmentation and improvement of water supply project, a joint venture between the state and the Central Government.

The Centre was to contribute `22 crores, while the state and Municipal Corporation Bathinda (MCB) were to give the remaining `7 crore.

The Centre released a `10 crore grant using which the capacity of the existing waterworks was increased. However, the Centre refused to release the next grant as the Punjab government was giving free water supply to people living in areas below 125 sq yards.

“We have received just 50 percent of the grant of `10.57 crore, while the rest is awaited,” said the XEN, Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board (PWSSB), Jagdev Singh.

Meanwhile, sources in the corporation said the centre government scheme could not be run in areas where free sops are already being given. And hence, the centre raised objections and the next grant was never released.

The MC, Uma Shankar Gupta, has appealed to the people to use water judiciously. He said the Sirhind canal would remain closed till May 5 and the water supply would remain affected for 25 days starting from April 10. He appealed not to use the water works supply for washing floors, vehicles and gardening. 

Bathinda, April 19
For starting the process of opening the bank accounts of the rural beneficiaries of social security schemes (old-age pension and financial assistance to widows, dependent children and disabled persons) of the Punjab Social Security Department, the district social security office today sent a CD (compact disc), containing the data of about 78,000 rural beneficiaries, to the Axis Bank here.

Talking to TNS here today, District Social Security Officer (DSSO), Bathinda, Rajwinder Singh Gill said the CD had been sent to the Axis Bank's branch here for implementing the state government's decision to make the payment of the old-age pension and financial assistance to the widows, dependent children and disabled persons (worth Rs 250 per month each) through electronic benefit transfer (EBT) system from June 1. The amounts would be paid to the beneficiaries by the bank by using biometric machines, he added.

The DSSO also appealed to the beneficiaries to cooperate with the employees of the bank in getting their accounts opened so that the process to make the payments of the old-age pension and financial assistance to them could be started within the stipulated period.

It may be mentioned here that there are about 96,000 beneficiaries of the social security schemes in Bathinda district. Of these, about 78,000 are residing in the villages while the remaining 18,000 are living in the urban areas of the district. In the first phase, the rural area beneficiaries will be covered under the EBT system while the same system will be implemented in the urban areas later.

After the receipt of the CD from the district social security office, as per the information, the bank will now send its business correspondents (BCs) to the villages to open the bio-metric saving accounts of the rural beneficiaries. These accounts will be opened without getting any deposit money from the beneficiaries.

Every beneficiary will have to produce an identification proof, like ration card or voter card, for getting the account opened. The BCs will also click the photographs and take the finger impressions of the beneficiaries to generate their accounts. All account numbers will be made available to the DSSO by the bank. On the basis of the accounts, the DSSO will send the amount to the bank to make the payments to the beneficiaries through the EBT system. Then the BCs will visit the beneficiaries door-to-door in the villages to distribute the pension and financial assistance with the help of the biometric machines.

When contacted, Director, Social Security, Punjab, Gurkirat Kirpal Singh said the bank would be given two per cent of the total amount, disbursed by it among the beneficiaries as the bank would appoint BCs and provide biometric machines to them for the distribution of the old-age pension and financial assistance in the villages. He said he was hopeful that despite some hurdles the EBT system would be made functional from June 1 as announced by the Chief Minister. 

Bathinda, April 19
The city police seem to have failed in curbing the rising incidents of vehicle theft in various areas. Victims of theft incidents said despite the registration of cases and many other instances going unreported, police have failed to curb the rising menace.

While the graph of chain snatching and vehicle lifting in the city is touching new heights, the police claims of having initiated steps in this regard is nowhere to seen, said the victims of such thefts.

While police officials said rise in drug addiction is the root cause of the problem, residents of the area said it is due to the lackadaisical attitude of the Bathinda police.

Shuttling between the police station and the police headquarters for the past nine months, a victim of vehicle theft, Mohan Lal of Model Town phase-1, regretted that the police is yet to take any initiative in this connection.

Sushil Kumar, in whose name the jeep was registered, said the jeep was commercially used by the family and was the only source of earning. "Now, we have lost all hope of getting back the jeep or getting the guilty arrested," Sushil said.

The police have registered two cases of motorcycle theft at the Kotwali police station and at the Civil Line police stations today. Raman Kumar, a resident of Amreek Singh road said his bike (PB-03S-1654) was stolen from outside the Doordarshan Kendra on April 10. The bike is worth nearly Rs 40,000.

Raman said the registration of the FIR got delayed as the policemen said they would try to locate bike after registering the DDR. "The cops told me that if I got the FIR lodged, then the bike, if recovered, would be released only after completing all the formalities which usually take too long. The police, however, failed to trace either the bike or the thieves and an FIR has been lodged," he said.

In another incident, Rakesh Kumar of Nai Basti, said he had parked his bike, bearing the registration number of Bathinda (PB-03-W-5833) in front of his shop on March 31. It was stolen by some unidentified persons. The bike is worth nearly Rs 36,000. The police have registered a case under section 379 of the IPC at the Kotwali police station yesterday. Though Rakesh could not be contacted for his comments, the investigating officer in the case, Gurmukh Singh, when contacted, said the registration of the case got delayed for over 19 days as he was suffering from some ailment.

"The inquiry regarding the stolen bike was marked to me but since I was not well, the registration of the case got delayed," Gurmukh said. When enquired about the possibility of recovering the bike, he said, "One should not lose hope as the bike must have been stolen by some drug addict. He might have parked the vehicle somewhere after extracting some material from its engine or body." He added that efforts are on to nab the thieves behind the theft.

Civil Lines police station in-charge Gurdev Singh Bhalla claimed he has arrested two thieves in the past 20 days and recovered a stolen motorbike from their possession. The thieves were arrested from Amritsar, he said.

He added that five cases of NDPS Act have been registered against the drug peddlers and 17 motorbikes have been impounded from unscrupulous elements. He also claimed the patrolling has been intensified in the city in view of the rising theft and snatching incidents. Bhalla, however, regretted that they have been provided with only one vehicle (Scorpio) by the government at the police station and the number of policemen deployed too is less.

Expressing his concern over the rising drug menace, he added that maximum number of thefts is reported from Model Town and the areas falling around the court complex. "Earlier, there was a parking contractor in the court complex and all the vehicles parked were safe but now the criminals visiting the area steal vehicles in the absence of the parking contractor," he said.

He added that efforts are on to trace the criminals out on bail and their involvement in vehicle lifting and cases of snatching. 

Bathinda, April 19
Three persons have been arrested by the police for stealing household material from the local Housefed Colony. The accused have been identified as Surinder Kumar of Goniana Khurd, Ranjit Singh of Guru Ki Nagri and Mandeep Singh, a resident of Housefed Colony. The complainant in the case, Kulwant Singh of Joganand Nagar, complained that the accused had been stealing household material in the colony. Police have recovered iron material worth nearly Rs 2,000 from the possession of the accused. A case under sections 457, 380 and 411 of the IPC has been registered in this connection at the Canal Colony police station.

Mobile phone recovered from jail inmate

A jail inmate has been booked by the police for possessing a mobile phone. An undertrial at the Bathinda Central Jail, Daljeet Singh, has been booked by the police in this connection on the complaint of the jail superintendent. The jail superintendent said the mobile phone was found functioning and was lying under the pillow of the accused.

A case under section 188 of the IPC has been registered in this connection against the jail inmate at Civil Lines police station.

Copper worth Rs 20,000 stolen from transformer

Copper material worth nearly Rs 20,000 has been stolen from a transformer in Dhade village. The complainant in the case, Major Singh of Dhade village, said some unidentified persons had stolen the copper from the transformer. A case under section 379 of the IPC has been registered against unidentified persons at the Balianwali police station.

Employee booked for pocketing Rs 5.4 lakhs

The worker of a company managing the accounts has been booked by the police for pocketing Rs 5.4 lakhs. In a complaint to the police, Dharam Singh said the accused, Binay Kumar Pandey, a resident of Champaran in Bihar, took away Rs 5.4 lakhs belonging to the labourers.

A case under sections 406 and 408 of the IPC has been registered against the accused at the Raman police station.

Household goods stolen

Household material worth nearly Rs 5,500 was stolen from a house in Kotshamir village.

The complainant in the case, Jagdeep Singh said he along with his wife, had gone out of the house for some work.

When they returned yesterday, they found the entire house ransacked and material worth Rs 5,500 was missing.

A case under sections 454 and 380 of the IPC has been registered in this connection at the Kotfatta police station. Further investigation in the case is on. 

Bathinda, April 19
Under its ‘Jail Sudhaaro Abhiyaan’, a city-based NGO, Bathinda Vikas Manch, will be organising a free-of-cost homoeopathy camp at the Bathinda Central Jail on Saturday.

The camp will be organised under the supervision of the jail superintendent Prem Kumar Garg and deputy superintendent, Kaur Singh. The chief guest on the occasion will be the district and sessions judge, SK Aggarwal.

At the camp, homoeopath Dr Raj Kumar Garga will check the inmates and provide free-of-cost medicines to them. The inmates will also be told about how to take care of their health. Apart from the homoeopathy camp, a blood donation camp and an eye check-up-cum-donation camp will also be organised at the Central Jail. — TNS