B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Drugs, mobiles recovered during raid at F’pur jail
Ferozepur, June 28
On the instructions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Manju Rana, Additional District and Sessions Judge, along with Karnail Singh, CJM, Raghubir Singh, SP (Detective), besides a team of senior judicial and police officials, conducted a surprise checking of the various wards of the local Central Jail during which a large amount of drugs, intoxicating tablets, mobile and other prohibited items were found from the possession of the inmates.

A team of senior judicial and police officials conduct surprise checking at the Central Jail in Ferozepur on Thursday evening. A Tribune photograph

Transformer thefts
PSPCL Muktsar circle incurs loss of 247 units
Muktsar, June 28
The increasing number of electricity transformer thefts has become a headache for the Muktsar circle of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). As many as 247 transformers worth nearly `78 lakh have been stolen between January and May this year.

Abohar-Fazilka rail link
Ex-MP Kataria to spearhead ‘rail roko’ agitation on July 1
Abohar, June 28
As the ultimatum given to the railways early this month for making the 42.11 km Abohar-Fazilka rail link operational expires by the end of this month, volunteers of various NGOs here will launch the second phase of their stir by going ahead with the rail roko call on July 1. Former member of Rajya Sabha and ex-president of the Pradesh Congress Committee, Virendra Kataria, said he would be visiting his hometown on June 30 to lead the rail roko stir at Abohar and Fazilka the next day.

Aunt booked as youth ends life
Moga, June 28
A 25-year old youth identified as Manjinder Singh, son of Balwant Singh, has allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison at Dosanjh village in the Dharamkot sub-division of Moga district, yesterday.

Three shops at Abohar grain market gutted
Abohar, June 28
In one of the major fire incidents in recent times, three shops located close to the main bazaar in the old grain market area here were reduced to ashes late last night.

Drugs, mobiles recovered during raid at F’pur jail
Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, June 28
On the instructions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Manju Rana, Additional District and Sessions Judge, along with Karnail Singh, CJM, Raghubir Singh, SP (Detective), besides a team of senior judicial and police officials, conducted a surprise checking of the various wards of the local Central Jail during which a large amount of drugs, intoxicating tablets, mobile and other prohibited items were found from the possession of the inmates.

As per the information, the surprise raid was conducted on the instructions of Justice Ranjit Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which caught the jail officials totally unaware.

The raiding team even took the help of BSF sniffer dogs to search for drugs and other psychotropic substances which were in possession of the inmates. Sources said that around 3000 grams of opium besides heroin, smack, intoxicating tablets like Alprex, Lomotil and mobile phones were recovered during the checking of new barrack number 5 and 6.

Raghubir Singh SP (Detective), while confirming the seizure of drugs from the jail inmates, said the police has registered a case against those inmates from whom drugs have been seized. Manju Rana said a report regarding the surprise checking of the jail was being prepared which would be sent to the High Court for further action.

When contacted, Ramandeep Singh, Superintendent (Jail), said since there were over 1400 inmates lodged in the local Central Jail, in the wake of shortage of manpower, it becomes extremely difficult to check every food and other articles being brought in inside the jail premises.

“As per the jail manual, we allow the inmates to bring food articles collectively and despite all precautions, drugs do at times make their way inside the barracks,” said Ramandeep Singh.

Transformer thefts
PSPCL Muktsar circle incurs loss of 247 units
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, June 28
The increasing number of electricity transformer thefts has become a headache for the Muktsar circle of the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). As many as 247 transformers worth nearly `78 lakh have been stolen between January and May this year.

The Muktar circle comprises six divisions — Muktsar, Malout, Gidderbaha, Abohar, Badal and Fazilka. In the Fazilka division, 180 transformers worth nearly `57 lakh have been stolen during the period.

Sources in the PSPCL said the thieves had expertise, as it was not an easy task to steal a transformer because it was welded. Secondly, there was also a risk to life because of power transmission. The sources said most of the thefts had taken place in rural areas. The thieves sell copper wires and oil from transformers to scrap dealers, they added.

A perusal of the records procured from the PSPCL revealed that 63 transformers were stolen in January, 81 in February, 34 in March, 31 in April and 38 in May across the Muktsar circle.

The records further revealed that not even a single transformer was stolen from Muktsar, Gidderbaha and Badal divisions. As many as 57 transformers were stolen from Malout division, 10 from Abohar division and 180 from Fazilka division.

When contacted, the deputy chief engineer of the PSPCL’s Muktsar circle, Dilwar Singh, said, “We have lodged all the theft reports with the police, which has been investigating the cases.”

“As a precautionary measure, we have even welded the clamps of transformers, but the miscreants seem to be quite an expert as they still succeed in committing theft. Though we have alerted our employees, it was not possible to keep an eye over all the transformers throughout the day,” added Dilwar Singh.

Abohar-Fazilka rail link
Ex-MP Kataria to spearhead ‘rail roko’ agitation on July 1
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, June 28
As the ultimatum given to the railways early this month for making the 42.11 km Abohar-Fazilka rail link operational expires by the end of this month, volunteers of various NGOs here will launch the second phase of their stir by going ahead with the rail roko call on July 1. Former member of Rajya Sabha and ex-president of the Pradesh Congress Committee, Virendra Kataria, said he would be visiting his hometown on June 30 to lead the rail roko stir at Abohar and Fazilka the next day.

Speaking to The Tribune here last night, Kataria said a day-long tour of the track on Wednesday caused dismay. Even after spending `276 crore, the railway officials had callously ignored the project that had been languishing for the last eight years. During his meetings with the Railway Minister Mukul Roy, Minister of State for Railways KH Muniyappa, Railway Board chairman Vinay Mittal and other senior officials at Baroda House, he had informed them about the sentiments of the people and the stir launched at Abohar and Fazilka by the NGOs.

In the recent meeting, he had invited Muniyappa to inaugurate the rail link latest by July 15 and issue a letter of consent so as to motivate the NGOs to call off their stir. He was asked to wait for two-three days but an on the spot visit has convinced him that the railway officials had taken things in a casual way, said Kataria.

Kataria said he did not find administrative staff on duty at any of the railway stations on the Abohar-Fazilka rail link yesterday. Only a few technical workers and electricians were found working at the Khuikhera railway station. No supervising engineer was found on the track that needs major repairs due to vandalism and pilferage. As of now, no security arrangements have been made to prevent further vandalism.

The India Against Corruption has regretted that the Powercom had released connections illegally from the transformer that was installed exclusively to ensure power supply at the railway complex here. This too will be highlighted during the stir as it affects the interests of the commuters.

Aunt booked as youth ends life
Tribune News Service

Moga, June 28
A 25-year old youth identified as Manjinder Singh, son of Balwant Singh, has allegedly committed suicide by consuming poison at Dosanjh village in the Dharamkot sub-division of Moga district, yesterday.

The police had registered a criminal case of abetment to suicide under Section 306 of the IPC against the deceased youth's aunt, Malkit Kaur, wife of Joginder Singh, a resident of Kothe Kehar Singh village of Jaito sub-division, Faridkot and one Bikkar Singh, son of Thakur Singh, a resident of Dosanjh village under the Mehna police station.

However, no arrests could be made in this connection so far.

The deceased youth's father, in a statement recorded before the police, alleged that Manjinder's aunt adopted him as her son a few years back and he started living with her. She promised to give 2.5 acres of land to him. Recently, she sold the said land in connivance with Bikkar Singh, a resident of Dosanjh village. She also started abusing him and threatened to throw him out of her house due to which he became depressed.

Yesterday, he consumed some poisonous substance and ended his life. He left behind a suicide note accusing his aunt of forcing him to commit suicide.

Three shops at Abohar grain market gutted
Our Correspondent

Abohar, June 28
In one of the major fire incidents in recent times, three shops located close to the main bazaar in the old grain market area here were reduced to ashes late last night.

Eyewitnesses said smoke and flames were noticed emanating from a bamboo shop after 9 pm. Municipal fire brigade and the owners of the shop were informed immediately.

As a huge quantity of rope and other highly flammable material had been stacked in the shop, the fire spread rapidly. Hundreds of volunteers of the Shah Satnam Green Social Welfare Force pitched in to control the fire that had engulfed the neighbouring shops of two pesticides dealers too. Another shop was vacated as it too had inflammable material.

Fire tenders from Malout, Muktsar, Gidderbaha and Bathinda later joined the operation that was monitored by DSP Raj Kumar Jalhotra and heads of some NGOs. The fire could finally be controlled at 2 am on Thursday night. Again at 5 am, some sparks flew causing panic but the local fire brigade rushed to control it.