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Another arrest in passport scam
FAKE ENCOUNTER CASE |
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Record procurement of wheat in Punjab
Dirba SHO missing
12 PCS officers shifted
SAD stands exposed on diversion of funds: Cong
Nod to 6 projects worth Rs 993 cr
Canada-based NRI’s death
Flood protection measures initiated, says Sekhon
Won’t allow pvt buses on reserved routes: PRTC
1984 anti-Sikh riots
Plea against ban on bullock cart race
Ferozepur college teacher held for bribe
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Another arrest in passport scam
Moga, May 10 Accused Balwinder Singh of Karial village got his passport made in 2006 by allegedly changing his name and address. He mentioned his name as Kulwinder Singh and showed his residence at Gandhi Road in Moga even though he never lived in the town. He managed to get a three-year work permit and a Philippines visa on the basis of his “fake” passport through a travel agent. He continued to stay illegally at Manila even after the expiry of his work permit. Eventually, the Manila police arrested him and deported him back to India earlier this week. He was kept in the Mumbai police’s custody for a few days till a local police team went to Mumbai and brought him to Moga. So far, the SIT has arrested 84 NRIs on their arrival from various countries during the past three years. They allegedly forged the documents or changed their names to make their passports. As many as 15 travel agents, three cops, an employee of the passport office, an employee of the local body and a postman had also been arrested in this scam. Lookout notices had also been issued against 400 persons who had fled the country on fake passports. Behind bars, finally
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FAKE ENCOUNTER CASE
Chandigarh, May
10 The verdict shattered 73-year-old Tarlochan Singh, father of victim Kulwinder Singh, alias Kid, who fought a legal battle for 23 years, alleging that the policemen killed his son in a fake encounter. “I have been waiting for justice ever since the death of my son. My entire life has been spent moving from one court to another. Justice has not prevailed and the verdict has left me shattered,” he said. The CBI court had in 2010 slapped the murder charge against the then Punjab SP (Vigilance) Surjit Singh Grewal and SI Amarjit Singh. Earlier in 2002, the court had framed an abduction case against the two while a murder case was lodged against five other policemen - Birbal
Das, Gurcharan Singh, Nikka Ram, Chanan Singh and Dayal Singh. It was alleged that
Grewal, then posted as Inspector, Crime (CIA), Patiala, and Amarjit Singh , along with other CIA personnel, raided a house in Mohali’s Phase V on July 22, 1989, while searching for terrorists Dhyan Singh, Kulwinder Singh and Jagbir Singh, alias
Panjola. During the raid, Palwinder, Kid’s acquaintance, was shot dead. Kid was picked up by the raiding party. Later, he was killed in a ‘fake’ encounter on the Tangori-Kurda road under the Sohana police station. Of the seven policemen accused of the crime, Birbal Das died during the course of trial. During the course of arguments in 2010, the CBI pleaded before the court that the murder charge must also be slapped against Grewal and Amarjit Singh.
Defence counsel Rajan Malhotra said Kulwinder’s body was never found. “The victim is still a proclaimed offender of the Ropar court. Kid’s father Tarlochan Singh had filed a petition in the High Court in September 1989 for production of his son, who, according to him, had died two months ago. There was no material evidence in the case to prove the murder charge,” he added. Timeline
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Record procurement of wheat in Punjab
Chandigarh, May 10 While the record harvest is due to the prolonged cold wave, the Agriculture Department, particularly the team headed by former Director Dr BS
Sidhu, is also to be patted for creating the protocols that have resulted in this achievement. Congratulating the farmers of the state for maintaining the pre-eminent position of Punjab, Food and Supplies Minister Adaish Partap Singh Kairon said they had made every Punjabi proud of them. The state government has set up more than 1,750 procurement centres and activated its total machinery to ensure smooth procurement of wheat, an official said.
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Dirba SHO missing
Sangrur, May 10 Sangrur DSP Sharanjit Singh said: “Pannu’s ties with his family were strained.” The DSP maintained that the inspector had left in his private car after borrowing cash (totalling Rs 1 lakh) and was missing since then. But Pannu’s cell phone records show he was in the nearby Anmol village till last evening. SSP HS Bhullar said: “Enquiries have revealed that he borrowed cash, fetched liquor and drove away in his personal Swift car. We are trying to locate him.” Highly placed sources in the department, rubbishing the family discord argument, said the role of certain police officers from Sangrur was under the scanner as Pannu was being pressurised by them. However, SSP Bhullar denied this. Paramjit Singh Gill, IG, said he would look into the matter. “I will pursue the case. If the SHO is found erring, we will take strict action against him and if any lapse is found on the part of any officer, he will not be spare either,” he added. Gill stated.
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12 PCS officers shifted
Chandigarh, May 10 A government spokesman said Jaipal Singh had been shifted as SDM Dharkalan along with additional charge of Deputy Commissioner (R&R), Ranjit Sagar Dam, Shahpur Kandi and LAC, Shahpur Kandi. He would also have the charge of Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Pathankot. Balwinder Singh Dhaliwal had been posted as ADC (General), Hoshiarpur, while Vinay Bublani had been made Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar. Puneet Goyal had been transferred as SDM, Chamkaur Sahib, while Amit Talwar would now function as Manager (Personnel & Admn.), Punsup. Rajesh Tirpathi’s new posting would be as SDM, Malerkotla, with additional charge of SDM, Dhuri. Likewise, Subhash Chander had been posted as SDM, Lehragagga, with additional charge of SDM, Moonak. Paramjit Singh is the new SDM at Khandoor Sahib while Satish Kumar Singla had been posted as Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Phagwara. Baljit Singh, PCS (Retd), had been posted ADC (G), Gurdaspur, while Ashok Kumar Sikka, PCS (Retd) had been posted Deputy Director, Urban Local Bodies, Patiala. Gurjit Singh, PCS (Retd), goes as
SDM, Ferozepur.
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SAD stands exposed on diversion of funds: Cong
Chandigarh, May 10 In a statement issued here, Congress legislators, including Parminder Singh, Gurkirat Singh Kotli, Bharat Bhushan, Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa, Navtej Singh Cheema and Sukhbinder Singh Sukh Sarkaria, said the party only wanted accountability and responsibility to be fixed against "misutilisation" of central funds. They alleged that instead of doing this the Deputy CM was trying to confuse the people by claiming discrimination in central funds. The Congress leaders said they were all for grant of more central funds to Punjab. Parminder Singh said the Congress wanted to take the state to the next level in development. He said the state must, however, ensure proper utilisation of central funds. The Congress leaders also demanded that local area development funds should be given to legislators on the pattern of Maharashtra, Jharkhand and Assam. They said in Jharkhand each MLA was allocated Rs 4 crore per annum and in Maharashtra and Assam legislators were given Rs 2 crore each for the development of their constituencies. They said even in Chandigarh, a councillor was given Rs 40 lakh per annum for the development of his ward.
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Nod to 6 projects worth Rs 993 cr
Chandigarh, May 10 Badal directed the Industries Department, being the nodal agency to hold monthly meetings of the empowered committee on mega projects, to cut down pendency of cases in future, besides ensuring timely resolution of other issues related to implementation of mega projects. A spokesperson said the government had also decided to grant first extension of six months to the letter of intent/signing of agreement to the incharge minister concerned. Earlier, this extension was granted by the empowered committee on the recommendations of the screening committee. This new step would hasten the process for grant of extension. The spokesperson said the committee approved four new manufacturing industrial mega projects worth Rs 580.39 crore, besides one mega project each in housing and agro sectors with an outlay of Rs 370 crore and Rs 42.79 crore, respectively. These projects were likely to generate direct and indirect employment for about 3,000 persons. The mega projects approved under manufacturing category included the units of M/s Vallabh Tinplate Pvt Limited at Beopror village near Shambu
(Patiala) worth Rs 121.95 crore, M/s Nirbhai Textiles Pvt Ltd at Hedon village (Ludhiana) worth Rs 127.44 crore, M/s Satish Estates Pvt Ltd & Laghu Udyog Bharti at Phagwara
(Kapurthala) worth Rs 156 crore and M/s Oliver Engineering Pvt Ltd at Sandhrasi village
(Patiala) worth Rs 175 crore. The empowered committee also approved a mega housing project to be developed by M/s Innovative Housing & Infrastructure Pvt Ltd at Togan village and Teera in SAS Nagar under Mullanpur Planning Area of Greater Mohali Area Development Authority over an area of 101.18 acres at a cost of Rs 370 crore. In another decision, the committee approved an agro based industrial project to be set up by M/s Malbros International Pvt Ltd at Mansoorwal Kalan village in Feorzepur district with an investment of Rs 42.79
crore. Rs 37 cr for Rajpura
The Punjab Government would spend Rs 37 crore for the overall development of Rajpura town during this fiscal. The decision was taken by Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal during the meeting of PEPSU Development Board, which is chaired by
him. Badal directed PDB administrator to get the works of potable water supply, sewerage and sewage treatment plants executed on priority and to ensure its timely completion. The Chief Minister also asked him to undertake the construction of the roads simultaneously to ensure better connectivity to the residents. New ventures
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Underweight wheat bags seized
Muktsar, May 10 Markfed inspector Jaswinder Singh said on a tip-off a tractor-trailer loaded with 250 wheat bags was checked and all of them were allegedly found underweight. The tractor-trailer was owned by Tirath Trading Company. During the inspection, the Markfed inspector found that five weights of 100 kg had been placed in an empty bag in the trailer to cover up the shortage. Tirath Trading Company has already supplied 4,000 wheat bags to Markfed. Now, questions are being raised whether the earlier bags were underweight. Markfed Branch Manager Manohar Lal said, “The tractor-trailer was loaded with 250 wheat bags, which were less in weight. Rules suggest that each bag must weight 50.6 kg.”
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Canada-based NRI’s death
Ludhiana, May 10 Tajinder, a native of Jalandhar settled in Bramption, Canada, met police officials in Jagraon today. He alleged that the police was insisting that Amanpla had committed suicide. "My brother had told me on the phone that he wanted to return to Canada, but Kulwant Singh, Aman and Karamjit
Kaur, alias Kammo, had confiscated his passport. He was not someone who could commit suicide," said
Tajinder. The police has initiated its probe on the suicide theory merely on the statements of the accused even as the dead body has not been recovered so far, he added.
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After kabaddi, Sukhbir to promote horse racing
Chandigarh, May 10 Alike kabaddi, the Deputy Chief Minister is set to market the race in Ludhiana as one where the prize money will be highest in the country. The Kabaddi World Cup organised by Punjab offered Rs 1 crore prize the first year, which was doubled to Rs 2 crore the next year. “We will offer double the prize money being offered by top players in horse racing,” Sukhbir told The Tribune. At present, the Indian Derby offers highest prize of around Rs 2.5 crore in the country. Sukhbir himself is a horse breeder with his stud farm at Lambi village winning several prizes in state championships. There are over a dozen quality stud farms in the state, including Dashmesh stud farm managed by the family of former Chief Minister Harcharan Singh Brar and AB stud farm in Patiala managed by Pradesh Congress president Capt Amarinder Singh and Major Brijindra Singh. The Deputy Chief Minister said tenders for the racecourse would be released within a year. “We want to encourage horse breeding, which is already done in the state, as well as make Ludhiana an international centre for horse racing,” he said. Once a racecourse came up in the city, more farmers would take to horse breeding, he said, dubbing horse breeding as another form of agriculture. Sukhbir said Punjab also had a tradition of dog races. He said dog races would be organised as per international specifications and this too would give another earning option to farmers.
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Flood protection measures initiated, says Sekhon Chandigarh: The government has taken elaborate flood control measures to prevent the threat of floods in the ensuing monsoon season. Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon said instructions had been issued to all divisions to ensure strengthening of river embankments by May-end. They had also been asked to clean and repair canals and drains by June 15. He said to monitor the execution of flood control measures, committees had been constituted under the supervision of the deputy commissioners. Sekhon said fortification of the embankments of main rivers would be the sole responsibility of these committees. He said a special strategy had been chalked out to solve the problem of waterlogging in areas such as Muktsar, Gidderbaha and Faridkot. — TNS
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Won’t allow pvt buses on reserved routes: PRTC
Patiala, May 10 DPS Kharbanda, managing director, PRTC, said it was important to ensure that no private transporter was allowed to run his bus on monopoly routes of the PRTC. "To stop private transporters from running their buses on the routes reserved for the PRTC, we have constituted six squads, each having two officers of the rank of inspector. The teams will on the move to nab the defaulters," he said. He instructed all general managers of the corporation to ensure they kept a strict vigil on private transporters so that PRTC's income could be increased up to Rs 80 lakh per day. He said out of the 150 buses lying defunct at PRTC workshop, 53 had been repaired. The PRTC was planning to sell 45 buses that were in miserable condition. Kharbanda said: "The state government has approved Rs 22 crore for the corporation. Besides, out of Rs 64 crore pending against various government departments, Rs 17 crore has been recovered which will be utilised to clear pending payments of retired employees. The management is also planning to take a loan". He also urged the government to clear pending payments pertaining to the Police Department, student passes, senior citizens etc.
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HC admits plea by Tota Singh against sentence
Chandigarh, May 10 Justice Bahri also issued notice for May 17 on Tota Singh’s plea for grant of bail in the case. Tota Singh has been awarded a year’s rigorous imprisonment by a Mohali court for misusing the official car of Punjab School Education Board. Tota Singh, in his appeal, argued he was given a private vehicle with unlimited fuel and there was no need for him to misuse the official car. The former minister also submitted that the lower Court, in its judgment, had cast serious aspersions on the investigating agency. The court had, rather, held that the investigating agency had deliberately not collected evidence against Tota Singh. He submitted the investigating agency was biased against him and he was implicated in the case. In its 75-page judgment, the Mohali court had also issued show-cause notices to three witnesses asking them to explain why perjury proceedings be not initiated against them for misleading the court. The three are drivers and the then officer on special duty to PSEB chairman.
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1984 anti-Sikh riots Chandigarh, May 10 Nearly 28 years after the incident, he has now moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking judicial intervention for treating his brother matter as a death, instead of an injury, case for compensation. In his petition filed through counsel Navkiran Singh, petitioner Manjit Singh of Balongi Colony has sought directions to the Union of India, the State of Punjab and other respondents to release ex gratia payment of Rs 7 lakh to the legal heirs of Gurcharan Singh as per the rehabilitation package announced by the Union Home Ministry on January 16, 2006. Burnt by a mob on November 1, 1984, in New Delhi and after remaining bedridden for 25 years, he died on February 17, 2009, Manjit Singh claimed. Taking up the petition, the High Court has issued notice of motion to the Union of India and the State of Punjab for August 7.
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Plea against ban on bullock cart race
Chandigarh, May 10 Taking up the petition filed by Malwa Doaba Bulls Welfare Association, the High Court today issued notice of motion. Taking up a petition earlier, the High Court had directed the Deputy Commissioner to look carefully into the representations submitted by an association; and if necessary, lift the ban on using bullock carts in the Kila Raipur Sports Festival at Kila Raipur village in Ludhiana. The directions came soon after the popular rural sport of bullock cart racing was banned following objections raised by the Indian chapter of International Organisation for Animal Protection (OIPA) and People for Animal.
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Ferozepur college teacher held for bribe
Ferozepur, May 10 Investigating Officer Hafiz Rastogi said a criminal case under Section 120-B of the IPC and Sections 7 and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, had been registered against him and two other college teachers. He said they were part of an expert committee formed by the AICTE, Bhopal. They were in Durg for the annual inspection of private educational (technical) institutions in Chhattisgarh. Rastogi said the teachers allegedly entered into a criminal conspiracy with owners/ representatives of various institutions and agreed to accept illegal gratification from them in lieu of a favourable report. A trap was laid. As representatives of two such institutions delivered bribe money to the teachers in their hotel room, a search was conducted and Rs 11.71 lakh in cash and 12 gold coins weighing 100 seized. Those offering the bribe were also arrested. The CBI team under Rastogi and a contingent of the Chandigarh unit of the agency conducted a joint search at the residence of Kushwaha in Ferozepur yesterday and seized a few documents. These are expected to provide information on Kushwaha’s assets. A sum of Rs 10 lakh in cash and 27 sale deeds/ power of attorney have been recovered from the residence of another expert at Bhopal in another search operation. The accused were produced in the court of Special Judge, CBI,
Raipur.
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The special investigation team (SIT) of the police headed by SP (D) Satpal Singh Bhangu has arrested a youth on his arrival from Philippines at the international airport in Mumbai in the infamous Moga passport scam. The SIT produced him before a local court today, which sent him to judicial custody for 14 days.
Moga Senior Superintendent of Police Surjeet Singh Grewal and six others accused of killing a 20-year-old youth in a fake encounter in 1989 were acquitted by a CBI court today.
