B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Central team to visit affected areas
Muktsar, June 26
After the recent visit of Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to the waterlogged areas of the Malwa region, a 15-member central team of experts comprising members of the Planning Commission and the Central Water Commission is scheduled to arrive on a three-day visit to the region beginning July 1.

Army jawan jumps out of moving train to nab thief
Abohar, June 26
An Army jawan showed an exemplary courage by jumping out of a moving train to catch an escaping thief. The effort did not go in vain.

5 booked for making fake certificates
Fazilka, June 26
The City police has booked five persons including two residents of Hisar for allegedly making and selling fake certificates. Three of the accused, Bhupesh Pandey, Ankur and Dharmpal, all residents of Fazilka, have been arrested.

Central team to visit affected areas
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, June 26
After the recent visit of Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh to the waterlogged areas of the Malwa region, a 15-member central team of experts comprising members of the Planning Commission and the Central Water Commission is scheduled to arrive on a three-day visit to the region beginning July 1.

The team will visit Sikhwala, Rattakhera and Behmanwala villages and study the problem of waterlogging in Bathinda, Muktsar, Faridkot, Fazika and Ferozepur districts.

The team will reach Bathinda on the night of July 1 and return to Delhi on the morning of July 3.

After visiting the affected areas, the team will recommend to the Planning Commission the extent of special financial package required to rid the state farms of the rising sub-soil water.

The Irrigation Minister, Janmeja Singh Sekhon, and chief engineers of the drainage and irrigation departments would accompany the team.

The 15-member team will be headed by Dr Mihir Shah, member, Water Resources and Rural Development, Planning Commission, and comprise Dr Tushaar Shah, senior fellow, International Water Management Institute, Gujarat; Dr Himanshu Kulkarni, ACWADAM, Pune; Dr Karam Singh, retired professor and head of Economics and Sociology, PAU, Ludhiana; a member of Central Water Commission, New Delhi; the chairman of the Central Ground Water Board, Haryana; the commissioner of the Ministry of Water Resources; a representative of the Department of Science and Technology; a representative of the Department of Land Resources; the director of the Water Resources and Environment Irrigation Department of Punjab; a representative of the PAU, Ludhiana; the chairman of the Punjab State Farmers’ Commission; a representative of the Union Ministry of Agriculture; and Avinash Mishra, joint adviser of the Water Resources Division, Planning Commission.

Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Paramjit Singh, who gave the details of the central team’s visit, said he along with officials of the irrigation department visited the area to arrange things for the scheduled visit of the central team.

During union minister Jairam Ramesh’s visit to the state in May, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had highlighted the issue of waterlogging. Later, the union minister took up the issue with the deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, who had promised to constitute a team to finalise the plan.

Army jawan jumps out of moving train to nab thief
Our Correspondent

Abohar, June 26
An Army jawan showed an exemplary courage by jumping out of a moving train to catch an escaping thief. The effort did not go in vain.

It is learnt that sepoy Dharmender Singh, attached to a unit at Lalgarh military station near Sriganganagar, was travelling by the Udyan Abha Toofan Express when at Tohana railway station at 5 am, he heard a lady passenger shouting for help as two persons tried to flee with her purse. The alerted soldier jumped out of the train and chased the thieves barefoot. The GRP personnel on duty also swung into action. During the chase, the thieves pelted stones on the jawan and the GRP men, crossed the FCI godown and reached the Moonak road.

One of them was finally caught by sepoy Dharmender Singh. He was identified as Surinder alias Kala of Danauda Khurd village (Jind) and was handed over to the police. The purse carrying valuables amounting to `2.5 lakh were successfully recovered.

The offender was produced before a court and has been sent to remand for three days in the GRP custody, officials confirmed. The police has initiated action to nab his accomplice who had managed to flee, sources said.

North Zone Railway Passengers Association vice-president Hanuman Dass Goyal, Rail Road Seva Samiti secretary Gurprasad Behal, All Retail Consumer Movement chairman Satpal Khariwal and Wholesale Traders Association chairman Ashwani Kumar Jhunthra said the NGOs had submitted memorandums to the IG, GRP, expressing concern over the incidents of burglaries in the New Delhi-bound trains.

5 booked for making fake certificates

Fazilka, June 26
The City police has booked five persons including two residents of Hisar for allegedly making and selling fake certificates. Three of the accused, Bhupesh Pandey, Ankur and Dharmpal, all residents of Fazilka, have been arrested.

The police claims to have busted the gang selling fake certificates. The other two accused are Manpreet and Subhash. The police seized six fake appointment letters and 12 fake identity cards from the possession of the accused.

City police in-charge Surinderpal Singh said a local resident, Ram Manohar, had lodged a complaint that Bhupesh Pandey had cheated him of `36,000 on the pretext of getting his son Amit a job in the Railways. Bhupesh Pandey, in connivance with his associates, Ankur and Dharampal, gave them an appointment letter to join the railways, which proved to be fake. — OC