B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

BCA students left in lurch as college stops course
Fazilka, July 10
A self-financed course of Bachelor in Computer Applications (BCA) has been abruptly discontinued from the current academic session (2012-13) in the local MR Government College leaving nearly 80 students in the lurch.

Murder accused escapes from judicial custody
Faridkot, July 10
A hardcore criminal, involved in two murders and many other crimes and lodged in Faridkot Central Jail, escaped from police custody yesterday when he was being taken to Delhi for a court hearing.

Abohar residents protest against sewage sufferings
Abohar, July 10
Though the city is yet to experience this season’s first rainfall, most of its entrance roads have become cesspools with sewers overflowing.

Malout-Muktsar road blocked
Muktsar, July 10
A large number of people today blocked the Malout-Muktsar road at Rupana village for nearly two hours demanding action against some influential persons, who had allegedly demolished two meat shops constructed along the road in the village on Saturday.

Man who ‘kidnapped’ siblings held
Abohar, July 10
Daleep Meghwal (25) of village Bhagsar, 10 km from here, who had allegedly kidnapped two siblings from ward number 12 in the neighbouring Tibbi segment on June 12, has been arrested.

BCA students left in lurch as college stops course
College authorities cite shortage of qualified teachers as reason
Praful Chander Nagpal

Fazilka, July 10
A self-financed course of Bachelor in Computer Applications (BCA) has been abruptly discontinued from the current academic session (2012-13) in the local MR Government College leaving nearly 80 students in the lurch.

The authorities cited shortage of qualified teachers as the reason for discontinuing the course. “We had to take the decision to discontinue the course as we could not fulfill the norms of the university in the absence of qualified teachers,” explained Prof Gurnam Chand, in-charge of the BCA department.

Another reason for discontinuing the course is stated to be the prevailing differences between the faculty members of the BCA department.

Instead of introducing new courses and filling up the large number of vacant posts of teachers in the only government college in the area, the old courses are being discontinued on one pretext or the other. Five years ago, the Bachelor in Commerce (BCom) course was stopped while the Post Graduate Diploma in Computer Application (PGDCA) course was discontinued in 2010.

This year, the BCA course was put to an end. The decision came as a bolt from the blue for as many as 80 students of BCA part I, II and III. “The college authorities have tried to spoil our career by taking the decision in an arbitrary manner. Now, we have to pay more fees to finish our course by taking admission in private colleges,” lamented Rajinder Singh, a student.

While the state government makes tall claims about providing quality education in the state, the local government college set up in 1940 paints a picture of utter neglect.

A large number of posts of lecturers have been lying vacant since long. As per official sources, out of the total 31 sanctioned posts of lecturers, 27 are vacant.

Imparting education to over 2,300 students is mainly being done by the guest faculty. The lecturers are engaged afresh every year using the PTA funds. The drawing and disbursing powers have been given to the principal of the Government College of Zira in Ferozepur district as the post of principal has also been vacant for long.

The parents have demanded that the discontinued courses should be resumed immediately in the college.

Murder accused escapes from judicial custody
Was being taken from Faridkot jail to Delhi for a court hearing
Balwant Garg
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, July 10
A hardcore criminal, involved in two murders and many other crimes and lodged in Faridkot Central Jail, escaped from police custody yesterday when he was being taken to Delhi for a court hearing.

The four-member police party which was escorting this criminal from Faridkot has also not yet returned, said Tejinder Singh Maur, the jail superintendent. The police party, led by an ASI, is searching for the fugitive, he said.

A native of Panipat in Haryana, Vikram is involved in many crimes including two murders. One of these murder cases has been registered at the railway police station in Abohar and the other case is in Delhi. He was being taken to Delhi for hearing in the second murder case on July 9.

There have been many incidents of such escape from the judicial custody in Faridkot in the last eight months after the new Central Jail started functioning and a large number of undertrials and prisoners from the other overcrowded jails in Ferozepur, Moga and Bathinda were shifted to Faridkot. Almost all the incidents took place when the  criminals were being taken to other towns for hearing in court cases.

On May 27, Gurjinder Singh, a prisoner serving life term in Faridkot jail, escaped when he was being taken to Nawanshahar for hearing in another case.

Some time back, five dreaded criminals, involving in various incidents of loot and robberies in Punjab and Rajasthan, escaped from the custody of the Faridkot police after throwing sand in the eyes of the policemen.

On June 28, a police party, escorting three prisoners, confronted seven youths in Faridkot who made a futile attempt to get the prisoners released, using sharp-edged weapons and firearms. The incident happened when the prisoners were being taken to Faridkot from Jalandhar for a court hearing.

Another convenient place for such criminals to escape is the hospitals. After they are admitted to a hospital for indoor treatment, they dodge the police guards and vanish. Last month, an undertrial in a rape and kidnapping case, escaped from Guru Gobind Singh Medical College and Hospital, Faridkot, where he was under treatment for a renal problem.

Abohar residents protest against sewage sufferings
Our Correspondent

Abohar, July 10
Though the city is yet to experience this season’s first rainfall, most of its entrance roads have become cesspools with sewers overflowing.

Anguished over the apathy of the Municipal Council (MC), hundreds of citizens today held demonstrations, disrupted vehicular traffic on the Kandhwala, the old Fazilka and the Seetogunno roads while scores of persons, mostly women, from Basant Nagar, marched to the sub-divisional complex.

The protesters aired their grievances against the sanitation department before Divisional Commissioner Raminder Singh.

The residents said neither the MC president nor the executive officer (EO) was accessible while sanitary inspectors turned a deaf ear to their repeated complaints.

The Divisional Commissioner has asked ADC Darshan Singh to summon the EO and get the problem solved.

Consumer Movement chairman Satpal Khariwal, Rama Goyal and Gurpreet Ahuja led the dharna as protesters jammed the traffic on the Seetogunno road. The MC was ill-prepared to meet the challenge that monsoon might pose, Satpal Khariwal said.

Malout-Muktsar road blocked

Muktsar, July 10
A large number of people today blocked the Malout-Muktsar road at Rupana village for nearly two hours demanding action against some influential persons, who had allegedly demolished two meat shops constructed along the road in the village on Saturday.

The blockade started around 9:15 am after the accused allegedly tried to remove debris. The situation had turned ugly when one party reportedly fired some shots in the air. In the scuffle, some persons sustained minor injuries.

On Saturday, Rajveer Singh and Jagjeet Singh had lodged a complaint with the police about their shops being demolished.

Sources said the shops were said to be constructed on the village’s shamlat land but the shopkeepers claimed that they had got the ownership of the shops from the court. Some landlords adjacent to the shops demolished the same claiming that they were constructed illegally and were obstruction in front of their land.

Sadar Muktsar police station SHO Jasvir Singh said, “We have already registered a case and are investigating the matter. Now, we are recording fresh statements so that necessary legal action could be taken against the accused and a fresh case be registered in this regard.” Harpreet Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Beera Sandhu, Pawan Kumar, Dyal Chand, Ravinder Kumar, Gurtej Singh and nearly 40 unidentified persons have been booked. — TNS

Man who ‘kidnapped’ siblings held
Raj Sadosh

Abohar, July 10
Daleep Meghwal (25) of village Bhagsar, 10 km from here, who had allegedly kidnapped two siblings from ward number 12 in the neighbouring Tibbi segment on June 12, has been arrested.

The accused had abandoned Rahul (10) and his sister Nisha (8) at Gurdwara Nanded Sahib on June 18 as his ‘girlfriend’ informed him that the police was chasing him. He had been dodging the sleuths by diverting the calls made on his mobile phone to his girlfriend’s cell phone. The investigating team had brought the kidnapped children from Gurdwara Nanded Sahib on June 20 where they were in safe custody of the gurdwara managing committee.

Police officials confirmed that following a tip-off, Daleep was arrested from his relatives’ place in village Dhanur (Kesarisinghpur) last evening. Interrogation reportedly indicated that Daleep had planned to sell the kids to human traffickers in Mumbai who had been smuggling minor children to Arab countries.