B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

CM urged to order vigilance probe
Abohar, June 30
Even as all the main canals were running to their capacity, scores of villages located at the tail-end of the system in Abohar and neighbouring Sriganganagar district in Rajasthan were not getting the prescribed quantity of water for irrigation and drinking.

‘Biggest ever’ gang of burglars busted by police in Fazilka
Fazilka, June 30
The district police claimed to have busted the biggest ever gang of thieves, burglars and chain snatchers. The police have recovered a huge quantity of arms, vehicles and stolen material.
The members of the gang that was busted by the police in Fazilka on Saturday. A Tribune photograph

Mob sets liquor shop ablaze
Abohar, June 30
Hundreds of people led by former sarpanch Ganga Bishan Poonia gheraoed the community health center at Rawla in neighbouring Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan and staged dharna to express anguish over death of two motorcyclists and non-availability of medical aid to a cyclist after they were hit by a speeding Bolero jeep owned by liquor contractors late last night.

Mansa PHC staff booked for kidnapping girl
Mansa, June 30
A class IV employee of a primary health centre (PHC) deployed at Joga in Mansa has been booked by the police for kidnapping a girl from Shimlapuri area in Ludhiana.

CI staff nab drug smugglers
Bathinda, June 30
The Bathinda-based counter intelligence (CI) wing today smashed an interstate gang of narcotic smugglers and recovered 5.50 kgs of opium that they smuggled into Punjab from Madhya Pradesh.

CM to launch Green Punjab campaign today
Fazilka, June 30
To bring more area under afforestation and to make the state free of pollution, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal shall launch a state-level Green Punjab campaign from Fazilka on July 1. To mark the beginning of the programme, Badal shall plant a sapling on Malout road near village Chaurianwali and would distribute free plants to officials of different departments, panchayats, NGOs and religious organizations.

CM urged to order vigilance probe
Kisan Sangharsh Samiti says canal water being pilfered
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, June 30
Even as all the main canals were running to their capacity, scores of villages located at the tail-end of the system in Abohar and neighbouring Sriganganagar district in Rajasthan were not getting the prescribed quantity of water for irrigation and drinking.

A team of progressive farmers representing tyhe Rajasthan Kisan Sangharsh Samiti today braved the soaring mercury and the dusty wind to inspect the length and breadth of the canal system in both the regions. Spokesman of the samiti Subhash Sehgal said Harike headworks today received 21760 cusecs of water.

Out of this, 10500 cusecs was released to Rajasthan (Ferozepur) feeder, 5260 to Sirhind feeder, 3000 to Eastern canal and 2000 to Gang (Bikaner) canal, and the rest to small canals.

All the main canals were running to their capacity but the loss in Gang canal from Ferozepur to Khakha headworks located near Abohar-Sriganganagar border was more than 400 cusecs.

The team found that the villages located at the tail- end of the canal system in Abohar sub-division and neighbouring Sriganganagar were falling short of supply.

About one lakh acres of agricultural land in Sriganganagar and 60,000 acres on this side of the border belonging to Abohar sub-division remain un-irrigated.

This had caused the dropping of kinnow fruits in the orchards besides affecting cotton the crop.

From May 10 to June 30, canal water was made available for irrigation and drinking only for 20 days. Some of the farmers had to sow cotton again. The problem with the farmers in Punjab was that frequent power cuts affected them even as the government had promised eight hours of uninterrupted supply to run the tubewells.

The Samiti alleged that influential farmers are indulging in evasion of canal water in connivance with the officials of the irrigation department.

Intriguingly no evasion has so far been detected. The officials were nowhere to be seen patrolling the canal system, Sehgal regretted.

The Samiti urged the Punjab Chief Minister to order an inquiry by the Vigilance Bureau to find where the water was being siphoned off. 

‘Biggest ever’ gang of burglars busted by police in Fazilka
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, June 30
The district police claimed to have busted the biggest ever gang of thieves, burglars and chain snatchers. The police have recovered a huge quantity of arms, vehicles and stolen material.

A head constable posted at local city police station, who was allegedly patronizing the members of the gang, has also been placed under suspension.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Fazilka, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, at a press conference held in his office today, disclosed that during the intensified campaign during the last few days, the district police nabbed 28 anti-social elements in the last three days including gang leader Jaswinder alias Kali. Five scrap dealers of different four inter-linked gangs, who were carrying out their criminal activities in Fazilka district, have been booked.

SP (Headquarters) MK Sharma, DSP Fazilka Sukhdev Singh Brar, DSP Jalalabad Sulakhan Singh, DSP Abohar Raj Kumar Jalhotra were also present at the press conference and explained the achievements in their respective areas.

"The police have recovered three .12 bore pistols, 14 live cartridges, a half dozen sharp-edged weapons including small swords and knives, five four wheelers including Maruti, Scorpio and Tata Sumo, two motorcycles and 800 kg of copper extracted from 180 stolen small transformers installed by the Powercom in the fields of the farmers. Besides, the police parties of Fazilka, Abohar and Jalalabad sub-divisions have also recovered 30 dry batteries which were stolen from the mobile towers," said the SSP.

The modus operandi of the thieves was that the gang members, after stealing the transformers, used to extract the copper wire and oil from the transformers and sell to Jaswinder alias Kali, a resident of village Ghubaya, who was the leader of the gang. Kali further sent it to another scrap dealer, Bharat Bhushan, for transporting these to big cities like Ludhiana and Delhi.

The Abohar police also crack the mystery of chain snatchers and recovered three gold chains and an equal number of ear rings from the nabbed burglars.

The seized vehicles were used for transporting the stolen material.

Acting firmly on police personnel Ashok Kumar, the head constable posted at the local city police station, the Senior Superintendent of Police today suspended him on charges of patronizing and helping the gang members in theft cases.

"With the elimination of the gang, over one and a half dozen cases of theft of transformers, vehicles and other material have been resolved," claimed SSP Dhillon.

The Senior Superintendent of Police paraded the nabbed accused before the media persons. 

Mob sets liquor shop ablaze

Abohar, June 30
Hundreds of people led by former sarpanch Ganga Bishan Poonia gheraoed the community health center at Rawla in neighbouring Sriganganagar district of Rajasthan and staged dharna to express anguish over death of two motorcyclists and non-availability of medical aid to a cyclist after they were hit by a speeding Bolero jeep owned by liquor contractors late last night.

The protest turned violent this evening after the day-long bandh as a section of the mob set the liquor shop ablaze.

The police had to use force to disperse the mob and in the melee, six protesters were hospitalised.

The protesters agreed to accept the bodies after the police registered a case under sections 302, 201 of the IPC against Inder Singh, Satnam Singh and Krishan Lal, all staff members of the liquor contractors and occupants of the Bolero jeep that had allegedly hit the motorcyclists. — OC

Mansa PHC staff booked for kidnapping girl
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service

Mansa, June 30
A class IV employee of a primary health centre (PHC) deployed at Joga in Mansa has been booked by the police for kidnapping a girl from Shimlapuri area in Ludhiana.

The girl, identified as Pinky, was kidnapped by two migrant labourers around three years ago. The labourers kidnapped the girl with the aim of getting domestic work done by her. The girl, however, raised a hue and cry following beating and teasing by the labourers.

The labourers were living as tenants in the house of the class IV employee at Maur Mandi in Bathinda. The employee rescued the girl from the labourers and kept her in her house. The employee then shifted to Thuthianwali village where she kept her as domestic help.

The class IV employee, identified as Chhinder Kaur, has been booked under sections 363 and 366-A of the IPC at the Sadar police station.

Mansa SSP Harpreet Singh said the matter was under investigation and a case was registered after the family members of the missing girl were traced in Ludhiana.

He said the family members of the girl did not inform the police about their missing girl.

"The poor family members of the girl were of the view that their girl would not be traced and did not lodge a complaint with the police," he said. He added that the family members were brought to Mansa and the girl was handed over to them.

Sadar SHO Rajinder Singh said the girl was nine years old when the two migrant labourers her. The labourers had been teasing the girl and then she started living with the accused who too did not bring the matter to the notice of the police. The matter is still under investigation and efforts are on the trace the missing labourers.

CI staff nab drug smugglers

Bathinda, June 30
The Bathinda-based counter intelligence (CI) wing today smashed an interstate gang of narcotic smugglers and recovered 5.50 kgs of opium that they smuggled into Punjab from Madhya Pradesh.

According to the IGP (Intelligence), JK Jain, three residents of Tohana in Haryana were arrested at Moonak in Sangrur when they smuggled the contraband into Punjab.

Jain said that the operation was conducted on the tip-off of a source and Ajay Maluja, SP, counter-intelligence, supervised the action. This is the fourth major haul by the wing during the past one week.The earlier was seizure of 12 kgs of heroin in Fazilka and also five kgs of opium. — TNS

CM to launch Green Punjab campaign today
Our Correspondent

Fazilka, June 30
To bring more area under afforestation and to make the state free of pollution, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal shall launch a state-level Green Punjab campaign from Fazilka on July 1. To mark the beginning of the programme, Badal shall plant a sapling on Malout road near village Chaurianwali and would distribute free plants to officials of different departments, panchayats, NGOs and religious organizations.

Forest and Labour Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani, in a press communiqué issud here, said the management of the government and primary schools and village panchayats would be given targets and made accountable for the plantation of saplings and for looking after them.

Meanwhile, Fazilka Deputy Commissioner Dr Basant Garg held a review meeting with officials of different departments and representatives of the NGOs and youth clubs, appealing them to come forward and take the responsibility to grow and look after the trees.

Badal shall also address a public gathering at the local Grain Market after inaugurating the campaign.

Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal would preside over the programme. Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon, Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka, Rural Development and Panchayat Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, Parliamentary Secretary, Forest and Labour, Nand Lal and Ferozepur MP Sher Singh Ghubaya will also participate in the programme.