Bathinda, June 25
A cop, accused of obstructing a candidate during a race at the recruitment drive of jail wardens, allegedly beat up the candidate, Jasvir Singh, in full public view at Mall Road on Saturday night.

According to the candidate’s relatives, the cop held a grudge against the candidate for his accusations during the recruitment drive held on May 2 at Police Lines, Bathinda.

The candidate had accused the constable of obstructing him and letting another candidate, known to the constable, running ahead of him to cross the end line.

Police, however, said two drunken boys, Varun Kumar and Jasvir Singh Rai, both residents of Harbans Nagar, were creating nuisance on the Mall Road and were quarrelling with a roadside vendor. The boys are also accused of attacking the police party and tearing the uniform of constable Gurpal Singh.

A case under sections 353, 323, 186 and 34 of the IPC has been registered against Varun and Jasvir at the Kotwali police station on the complaint of constable Gurpal Singh.

Subhash, brother of Varun, said the cops first beat up the boys at Mall Road and then at Kotwali police station. “Cops inflicted injuries on them using batons. Their head, face, back, legs and thighs bar injury marks,” Subhash said.

Narrating the incident, he said his brother Varun and neighbour Jasvir had gone to see his ailing son who is undergoing treatment at a private children’s hospital on Mall Road. The boys were returning on a bike at around 11.30 pm when they were spotted by the constable on Mall Road.

The constable was in a police vehicle on the other side of the road. The constable shouted at the boys and asked them to come near. As soon as the boys came closer, the constable abused Jasvir and reminded him of his conduct during the recruitment rally.

Soon, Jasvir and the constable entered into an argument. The cops then beat up the boys and called up more policemen and thrashed the boys with batons, Subhash said. The boys were then taken to the Kotwali police station where they were again beaten by the cops.

Jasvir’s father, Angrez Singh said that he and his wife went to the police station on Sunday morning and pleaded with the cops to allow them to see their children. “We were not allowed to see them. We saw the complainant getting his uniform, badges and other things torn by his colleagues,” said the father. He said his son is a father of two children including a seven-month-old baby.

Angrez claimed that the cops offered liquor to Jasvir and Varun at the police station. The cops allegedly told the boys to consume liquor, as they were hurt badly. The cops also demanded for the boys’ clothes so that they may be produced clean in the court, he said.

“The judge was shown the injury marks and he ordered the police to get the medical examination of boys done at the local Civil Hospital,” said the father. He added that the family would move against the erring policemen and will write to the senior police functionaries and Punjab Human Rights Commission.

While Kotwali SHO, Jaspal Singh, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts, DSPO City-1, Gurmeet Singh refuted the allegations of a tiff at the recruitment rally.

“The family members of the accused are preparing false ground. He claimed that the boys were drunk and entered in quarrel with a roadside vendor,” he added.

Bathinda, June 25
Answering the national call of strike against the Central Government, the Bathinda unit of the Indian Medical Association (IMA) today observed a strike, took out a procession and submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner, Bathinda.

Addressing the medicos at a gathering of IMA members held at Dunes Club, the president of IMA Punjab, Dr Shiv Dutt Gupta, said the body was agitated over the move of the Central Government to bring National Council for Human Resources in Health (NCHRH) Bill 2011 in Parliament, which curbed the right to freedom of personal liberty of doctors.

“The bill proposes to abolish all democratically-elected autonomous bodies regulating the medical profession like the Medical Council of India, Indian Dental Council, Paramedical Council, Nursing Council of India, etc. In place of these regulatory bodies, the bill proposes to bring in certain boards or committees under full control of the government, which is a 
retrograde step and centralises all powers in this regard,” he said.

According to the new bill, the doctors would not be allowed to be engaged in any other occupation. They would be allowed to practice only in the state of their registration. Besides this, the law has many more such proposals.

IMA also opposed Clinical Establishment Act, which will increase the cost of treatment manifold. IMA Punjab appealed to the state government not to implement this act in Punjab in its present form.

Terming the move to introduce Bachelor of Rural Health Care (BRHC) in the country as a move to produce half baked doctors for rural population, IMA member opposed it. They reasoned that with the introduction of this course doctors for rural population will be studying for 3 years only while doctors for urban population come after studying for 6 years. “Even veterinary doctors who treat animals study for five years. Why this discrimination with the rural people?” asked Dr BD Bajaj.

Doctors threatened that the strike held on Monday was just a token strike and if the government did not concede to their demands, IMA would launch an agitation.

(See pic on P2)

Bathinda, June 25
Krishna, a student of class IV in the St Joseph’s Convent, Bathinda, has cleared a general knowledge Olympiad organised by Silver Zone, New Delhi, with flying colours.

Krishna scored 95.8 marks out of a total of 100 marks. The result placed him not only at rank one in his school, but also at fifth number at the state level. He secured an overall 19 Olympiad rank.

Krishna, son of Prem Bhushan, a resident of Pukhraj Colony in the city, was one of 15 lakh children who had appeared for the test.

His parents have expressed their joy at his achievement and hope it will be one of his mant achievements with which he make his school and family proud. 

Bathinda, June 25
A woman received bullet injuries at her house near the local Grain Market today in the morning. She was rushed to the local Civil Hospital in a serious condition and was then referred to a private hospital on the Barnala road.

The injured has been identified as Amandeep Kaur, wife of Avtar Chamak. Avtar Chamak is a local singer.

The woman had been residing with the singer and an eight- year-old son. Cops from the Kotwali police station reached the house and started the investigation by recording the statements of the neighbours and relatives of the injured woman. Her condition is stated to be critical. Policemen said the exact reason behind the incident is yet to be ascertained and an inquiry is on. The investigating officer in the case, ASI Gurjeet Singh, said the woman fired a gunshot using a country-made pistol. It is yet not clear from where the weapon came to the house.

The weapon appears to have been illegally brought to the house. "We may register a case of attempt to commit suicide against the woman and a case under the Arms Act for procuring an illegal weapon," he said.

The ASI added that the statements of the injured woman's mother has been recorded wherein she stated that her daughter may have committed suicide. The couple had been living with the eight-year-old son.

The police officials said local residents informed that the singer had a second marriage with the woman. His earlier wife took away most of the property of the singer. It is also the woman's second marriage.

Policemen said the facts provided by the local residents are yet to be verified with the close relatives of the couple. The cops said the son and the singer were present in the house when the gunshot was fired.

While her husband was preparing tea at the first floor, the woman was on the ground floor. The bullet pierced through the left side of the woman's chest and the floor of the room was stained with the woman's blood. She was rushed to the hospital with the help of the local residents.

Bathinda, June 25
Three people lost their lives in separate mishaps in Bathinda. Their bodies were found lying and volunteers of the NGO, Sahara Jan Sewa, shifted them to the local Civil Hospital.

Some passengers at the Bathinda railway station found a man lying unconscious and informed the volunteers of the NGO.

The volunteers said the body was lying near the ATM machine of the waiting hall of the railway station.

They said the deceased was a drug addict and it seems that he slept in the scorching heat under direct sunlight after consuming some intoxicants.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) was informed about the death and efforts were on to identify the deceased.

In another similar incident, a man in his late thirties or forties was found dead due to excessive heat. His body was found near the Multania overbridge.

Volunteers of the Sahara rushed him to the Civil Hospital.

The volunteers said the deceased was a ragpicker and despite calling on the phone numbers recovered from his pocket, his identity could not be established. The matter was brought to the notice of the railway police and inquest proceedings were initiated in this regard.

Bathinda, June 25
Bathinda police have booked four persons including two Jalandhar residents and a resident of Ghaziabad. The complainant, Ashwini Jindal of Basant Vihar, said Amandeep and Amanjot, both residents of Jalandhar, Pushpinder of Ghaziabad, and Sunny Rai cheated him by pocketing Rs 95,000. He said the accused made false claims of Rs 25.40-lakh jackpot and told him to deposit the money in different bank accounts.

The complainant deposited Rs 25,000 and then Rs 35,000 twice in different bank accounts at the behest of the accused to claim the lottery amount.