Jalandhar, June 24
A girl in her twenties was hacked to death by some unidentified persons. Her blood-bathed body was found near the link road at Raipur-Rasulpur village here this morning.

The police claimed that the accused had hit on her head with some sharp-edged weapon and also strangulated her with a duppata.

The deceased, who was still not identified, was clad in a salwar kameez with a set of colourful bangles on her hands, which indicated that she might have been recently married.

Raghunath Singh, the investigating officer, said the police was informed by Pyara Singh, a farmer, who noticed the blood-bathed body lying near his fields and raised an alarm.

The circumstantial evidence revealed that she was attacked on her head with sharp edged weapon and later was strangulated to death with duppata, the police revealed. There were deep injury marks on deceased's head and her throat was still tied with a duppata.

Villagers, who were invited to identify the body, told the police that the deceased was not from their village. Even police did not recover any circumstantial evidence from the spot which could establish her identity.

After initial investigation, the police suspected that she was murdered at some other place and miscreants dumped the body in the village to puzzle the police.

Police stations across the district have been informed.

The body would be kept at the local Civil Hospital for the next 72 hours for identification after which the postmortem would be done.

A case under Section 302 of the IPC has been registered against the unknown persons at Maqsoodan police station.

Sandeep Kumar (17) of Kupur village in Adampur, and Sandeep Singh (16) were taking a morning walk when the speeding car (in picture) hit them from behind. They were rushed to a hospital where they were declared brought dead

Jalandhar, June 24
Two cousin brothers were crushed to death by a speeding car in Adampur today. The deceased were taking a morning walk when the tragedy struck.

The deceased were identified as Sandeep Kumar (17), son of Ishwar Chandar, a resident of Kupur village in Adampur, and Sandeep Singh (16), son of Virsa Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran.

The police said the accident occurred at 5.30 am on Sunday. The duo was taking a morning walk on Kathar-Adampur road when a speeding car hit them from behind.

Passersby took them to the nearby hospital where the doctors declared them brought dead. Deceased's relatives said Sandeep Singh had come to Adampur on his school summer vocations.

The police had arrested the errant driver, identified as Kamal Arora. A case of negligent driving under Section 304 A and 279 of the IPC was registered against him.

Jalandhar, June 24
The Jalandhar rural police and Crime Investigation Agency arrested Sukhwant Singh, managing director of Sukh Sagar Entertainment, in a Rs 200-crore ice-drug haul case.

This was 17th arrest in the case.

Raja Kandola, a key player in the racket, is still absconding. His wife, son and various confidants including an IT professional girl from Delhi had already been arrested.

Sukhwant Singh, who owns a music entertainment company, is said to be the main conduit in running the drug racket in international market. The arrest of Sukhwant is likely to throw light on others in the racket.

During investigation, the accused revealed that under the garb of his cultural troupe, he had developed links with NRIs and foreign nationals and to whom he used to supply ice, heroin and smack in rave parties.

Police sources said Sukhwant has also engaged a Behram-based girl, who used to supply drugs in the area. The police is likely to grill her.

It also came to light that Sukhwant, who was a small farmer at Gakhla village here, now owns big farm houses, luxury cars including Limousine, Mercedes etc, police sources said.

He was also planning to produce a Punjabi movie. Few months ago, he had held a press conference at Punjab Press Club here in this regard.

Sources said Sukhwant, who was a student leader in one of the colleges in Jalandhar, is considered close to a top Congress leader in Haryana.

He is also considered close to one of the youth leaders of the city Congress.

Jalandhar, June 24
A family of labourers was rescued from a potato farm in Ghug village in Kartarpur when the naib tehsildar, Bhogpur, raided the said farm here on Sunday. A family of six, (a couple and their four children) who were allegedly made to indulge in bonded labour, were rescued from the Aman Potato Farms by the Satinder Singh, duty magistrate-cum-naib tehsildar, Bhogpur.

The family included labourers Hari Prasad, Maya and their children Sanjay (7), Sonu (8), Rajkumar (12) and Geeta (15).

The couple revealed that they had been working at the fields and the well of the Amar Potato Farms for the past five years for its owners Sadhu Singh and Ranjit Singh.

Labourer Hari Prasad alleged, “We had been hired five years ago with an advance payment of Rs 2,000, for which their thumb impressions were also taken on a paper. It was decided that we would be paid Rs 5,000 per month. But instead of being paid the said amount, they were only paid Rs 500 per month.”

He alleged that during the work, Sanjay’s finger broke due to an injury, but even after getting him treated, the children were made to work all day.

“We were also threatened that if we quit work, we will be indicted in a false police case. The owners also threatened to seize our belongings,” Prasad said.

Hari Prasad and Maya further said they wanted their kids to study that is have we have admitted Sonu and Sanjay to a government school at Lakhan.

But they alleged, “Like our son Rajkumar, who had to be taken off school, the owners were discouraging the rest of our children from studying and wanted them to work.”

The couple said when the family asked for a leave and clearance of dues on June 22 from the owners, they were beaten up and when she protested, Maya, too, was thrashed.

Maya then brought the matter to the attention of Pendu Mazdoor Union activist Kashmir Singh Ghugshore.

The matter was finally taken to the notice of SDM-2, Jalandhar, Isha Kalia, who then designated naib tehsildar, Bhogpur, to look into the matter.

Activists of the PMU and Naujawan Bharat Sabha criticised the fact that though the family had been freed from the clutches of the owners after the raid, adequate action had still not been taken against the owners and the family’s belongings also still lay with the owners.

They said strict action should be initiated by the administration against the owners and the labourers’ requisite pay and belongings be made available to them.

Speaking on the issue, Satwinder Singh, naib tehsildar, Bhogpur, said, “During the raid, we took the versions of both the parties concerned and it was after mutual agreement between the owners and labourers that they left the place.”

“The owners did not seem to have any problem with the labourers leaving. Their belongings were also handed over. There was some confusion over the belongings, which both the parties claimed as their own,” he added.

When asked when an FIR will be registered in the case, he said, “It will be decided upon by the SDM-II.”

Owner Ranjit Singh, when contacted, said, “You can talk to other workers at our farm. The labourers were instigated to make false statements. We spent well on them. Matters were even resolved and Maya even wanted to stay back, but Hari Prasad stayed adamant so they left.”

Notably, an FIR wasn’t registered despite the presence of an ASI on the site.

Naib tehsildar Satwinder Singh said it was because the ASI was from the Kartarpur police station while the area falls under the jurisdiction of Maqsoodan police station.

Jalandhar, June 24
The suspense over the Mayor’s name is likely to continue at least for another week, as MLAs are busy with the assembly session. The BJP is likely to finalise Mayor’s name after June 29.

Sources said the announcement of the name would be done only after the final meeting of the BJP party high command later this month or in the first week of July. The MC elections were held on June 10.

Local Bodies Minister Bhagat Chunni Lal said the BJP core committee comprising senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar and other local politicians would deliberate on the name of the mayoral candidate. “Final decision would be taken by the party high command,” he added.

At present, intense lobbying is on for the names of Ravi Mahendru from Ward 38, Sunil Jyoti from Ward 5 and greenhorn Minta Kochhar from Ward 27.

Local BJP leaders-Jalandhar Central MLA Manoranjan Kalia and Chief Parliamentary Secretary and MLA Jalandhar North KD Bhandari, have been vouching for their candidates Ravi Mahendru and Sunil Jyoti, respectively. Local leaders also said the announcement of Mayor’s name could get further delayed as the term of the present MC house was coming to an end on September 9.

“The Municipal Corporation house is yet to be dissolved and it depends on the Punjab Government to decide that when the new Mayor would be appointed”, said a councillor.

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, Ravi Mahendru said it was too early to say anything on this matter.

“MLAs are busy with the assembly session and the party high command is yet to take a final decision in this regard. The exact picture would be clear next week,” he said.

On the other hand, Sunil Jyoti maintained that he would love to welcome any decision of the party high command.

“It will be good if I get a chance to become a Mayor. And it is fine even if I don’t become the Mayor. I am ready to perform any duty assigned to me by my party,” he added.

It is pertinent to mention here that the BJP Core Committee recently met at Chandigarh on June 15. However, the meeting remained inconclusive.

Even the recent visit of Shanta Kumar during the BJP’s ‘Jail Bharo Andolan’ was also seen as an occasion to discuss the Mayor’s name, but nothing materialised.

Jalandhar, June 24
The city police arrested a person who duped a retired Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Gurmail Singh of Rs 11 lakhs by selling him some land which belonged to someone else.

The accused was arrested from his residence.

The complainant had alleged that the accused Dalwinder Singh of Bakarpur village in Kapurthala had shown him a plot of 26 marla.

"After the deal was struck, I paid him Rs 11 lakh, but the accused then deliberately delayed the transfer of ownership of the land," Gurmail Singh alleged. Later, it was found that the land belonged to some poor people who got the same from the government quota. — OC

Jalandhar, June 24
Terming the NCHRH Bill as undemocratic, the city doctors respondent to the nationwide call to go on strike tomorrow. The services across private hospitals in the city will remain suspended, causing difficulties to city residents.

Only emergency services will be available, while the OPD and surgical services shall be unavailable for patients, said sources.

The call has been given by the Indian Medical Association (IMA), National Integrated Medical Association (NIMA) and Nursing Home Association, Jalandhar.

The doctors reacted to the NCHRH (National Commission on Human Resource Management and Health) Bill. They say the different yardsticks for government and private doctors and many binding proposals of the bill have forced them to go on strike.

The bill proposes that persons nominated by the government will control the affairs of the medical profession. These nominated members could be from any profession.

The doctors demand that the supremacy of the Medical Council of India must be maintained at any cost. The doctors also say the bill would spell doom for the medium level hospitals.

Talking to The Tribune, general secretary of nursing association Dr BS Johal said, “The provisions of the bill will cripple us and will rob us of our basic rights. Our priority is to be regulated by council comprising doctors, not people from another profession.”

Other demands of the doctors include, restoration of autonomy to the MCI, an independent council for the medical profession, to make sure that Clinical Establishment Bill is not enforced in its current form, safeguarding of doctors’ human rights, complete tertiary care at all government hospitals, special focus on small or medium scale hospitals and health insurance for all, among others.

All hospitals nursing homes and clinics of the said associations will remain closed on June 25, barring emergency services.

Jalandhar, June 24
The announcement of Rs 40 crore fund for setting up of Punjab Institute of Sports has rekindled the hopes of players and the sports fraternity at the Government Sports College in the city.

A dream project of former Director of Sports (Punjab) Pargat Singh, the Punjab Institute of Sports would usher in a new era, where international level players will be produced. The players will get world-class sports facilities at par with the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala.

The Punjab Sports Department had sought an estimated budget for the institute from the District Sports Authorities ahead of the Punjab budget. While the budget has been passed, the tenders will be floated soon to begin the construction work.

Talking to Jalandhar Tribune, District Sports Officer Rakesh Kaushal said, “We have sent a proposal to the State Sports Department around 10 days ago. A need for upgrading the Government Sports College was felt for the past many years and now that the grant has been announced, we hope to see the project getting completed soon.”

According to the proposal, the upcoming sports institute will have athletics turf, an all-weather swimming pool, a multi-purpose hall for indoor games, including basketball, volleyball, badminton and gymnastics. It will also have two sports hostels with a capacity of 250 students each and a rehabilitation and physiotherapy centre. “Once the centre comes up it would definitely help in increasing the number of seats in different disciplines, hence an improved strength of the institute. It would emerge as a model sports institute with state of the art facilities to promote sports and produce international level players,” Kaushal added.

Olympian Pargat Singh, a product of the college and present Jalandhar Cantonment MLA, said, “The Rs 40-crore budget would give the much needed fillip to the sports and players in the state.”

Not only the sports infrastructure but also the hostel needs to be renovated. The students taking admission from across the state were forced to stay in shabby and dilapidated rooms with poor facilities.

Jalandhar, June 24
Ahead of the large scale Army recruitment drive in Punjab, the District Sainik Board Office has decided to hold a six-week long pre-recruitment training for the youth.

Recruitment for districts of Ferozepur, Bathinda, Muktsar and Faridkot will take place from August 1 to 8, while the recruitment for remaining districts of Majha belt, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran will be held from August 18 to 24.

The sainik board will be organising pre-recruitment training for Ferozepur, Bathinda, Muktsar, Faridkot, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Tarn Taran from July 2. The initial screening would be held on June 29. The candidates have to bring their educational certificates and age proof along with them. Wards of ex-servicemen are required to carry the discharge book of their father.

“SC/ST candidates should bring their caste certificates. The candidates coming from far off places will be provided free hostel facilities. All those candidates who have engraved tattoos on any part of their bodies would not be admitted,” states a press release.