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Abohar-Fazilka rail link
Commissioner, Rly Safety, begins inspection in Abohar
Abohar, July 11
To clear the decks for the long-awaited operations on the Abohar-Fazilka rail link, scores of officials led by Commissioner, Railway Safety (North Circle), Raj Kumar Kardam arrived by a special train here today.

Commissioner, Railway Safety, Raj Kumar Kardam (second from left) and other officials arrive at Abohar on Wednesday morning. Photo by writer

Five killed as truck parked on roadside hit by another truck
Ferozepur, July 11
Five persons died in a road accident after two trucks collided near village Lohgarh under the Kulgarhi police station, around 15 kms from the district headquarters on the Ferozepur-Zira road last night.

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	Abohar-Fazilka rail link Commissioner, Rly Safety, begins inspection in Abohar Raj Sadosh Abohar, July 11 To clear the decks for the long-awaited operations on the Abohar-Fazilka rail link, scores of officials led by Commissioner, Railway Safety (North Circle), Raj Kumar Kardam arrived by a special train here today. Hundreds of citizens gathered at the railway station cheered as the train arrived at 8.30 am, the scheduled time. However, Kardam alighted from his saloon at 9.15 am after having preliminary discussions with senior officials. He politely refused to be caught on the cameras as two officials greeted him with a bouquet. The CRS team included AGM’s commercial officer Dharam Singh, chief engineer SC Jain, deputy chief engineer Rajeev Saxena, Ferozepur divisional manager Naresh Chander Goyal and senior divisional commercial manager MM Singh. Also present were station superintendent Tarun Kumar Srivastva, chairman of the Consumer Movement Satpal Khariwal, a member of the Northern Railway Users Consultative Committee Hanuman Dass Goyal, chairman of the Teachers Club Captain SK Dutta (retd) and Ashok Garg of “India Against Corruption” besides the commuters. Notably, the 42.11-km rail link has been completed at a cost of Rs 260 crore about eight years after the then railway minister Nitish Kumar laid its foundation in 2004, few days ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. The officials used fresh painted trolleys to inspect the track up to the Choohriwala Dhanna railway station that had been damaged due to high velocity squall and heavy rain last year. Before taking up the inspection, Kardam and others performed rituals and sought blessings of the Almighty for safety and success of the new rail link. The railway station got a fresh coat of paint, fans and lights were repaired and water taps were made functional. The inspection will conclude by tomorrow evening.
	Five killed as truck parked on roadside hit by another truck Our Correspondent Ferozepur, July 11 Five persons died in a road accident after two trucks collided near village Lohgarh under the Kulgarhi police station, around 15 kms from the district headquarters on the Ferozepur-Zira road last night. According to the information available, a truck was coming from Pathankot carrying stone chips when one of its tyres got punctured. The truck driver, Satnam Singh, along with his assistant Gurnam, parked the truck along the roadside so that they could replace the tyre with help of the jack. Meanwhile, another truck carrying potatoes, which was also coming from the Zira side barged into the parked truck following which Satnam Singh, the driver and his assistant, Gurnam, who were changing the tyre, got crushed under the truck. The driver of the other truck, Anwar Singh, was seriously injured while his son Gurbachan Singh, besides two others, identified as Mohinder Singh and Jugraj Singh, died on the spot. They had taken lift in the truck at Zira. The bodies were handed over to their families after the postmortem which was conducted at the Civil Hospital today.
	Criminal managed to flee as cops took the bait Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, July 11 Four Punjab police personnel’s urge to buy fancy apparels at the expense of a dreaded criminal in Delhi on Tuesday resulted in the criminal fleeing and the cops cooling their heels in a police lockup in the Rohini district of Delhi. A native of Panipat in Haryana, Vikram (40) alias Paras alias Goldy, a hardcore criminal, escaped from the custody of four Faridkot police personnel yesterday when he was being brought from the Rohini District Courts in Delhi after a hearing in a murder case. For the last many months, Vikram was lodged in the Faridkot Central Jail after he was arrested for committing a murder in Abohar area. It is learnt that after appearing before the court in Delhi yesterday, Vikram threw bait to the cops escorting him with an aim to escape their custody. He offered them to purchase fancy apparels at a Reebok showroom at his expense. The cops readily picked up the bait and before they had entered the showroom, Vikram coaxed them further to remove his handcuffs. Minutes later, while the cops were flipping through the clothes in Shastri Nagar, Vikram fled in a car that was waiting for him outside the showroom, said Kishore Kumar, a sub-inspector in the Rohini police and the investigation officer in the case. Vikram was wanted in many police cases lodged in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, he added. The Delhi police has registered a criminal case under Sections 223, 224 and 225 of the Indian Penal Code (negligence on the part of government employees leading to escape of an accused) against three constables and an ASI of the Faridkot police. Today, an inspector-rank officer of the Faridkot police left for Delhi to further investigate the case, said Dilbag Singh Punnu, SP (D) Faridkot. Interestingly, Vikram made two attempts in a row to escape from the police custody that day, revealed sub-inspector Kishore Kumar. Earlier, after boarding a train from Faridkot late on Monday evening, when the cops and the criminal reached the Delhi railway station yesterday morning, two of the cops were heavily drowsed as they were served food laced with drugs while in train. Escaping police custody Murder accused Vikram was being brought back from a court in Delhi after a hearing there. The accused offered the four Faridkot cops, who were escorting him, to buy apparels from a showroom in Delhi at his expense. The cops — an ASI and three constables — fell for the bait. The accused fled in a car waiting for him outside the showroom.
	Deadline nears, drains still choked in Muktsar Archit Watts Tribune News Service Muktsar, July 11 With the deadline fixed by Irrigation Minister Janmeja Singh Sekhon to clean the drains just days away (July 15), a number of drains in Muktsar district are still lying choked. In the past few years, heavy rains had caused widespread losses in the district where most of the villages are already affected with the problem of waterlogging. While visiting a few villages in the district, it was found that huge wild growth choked a number of drains, including Jhabelwali drain that caters to several small drains of waterlogged villages like Jhabelwali, Charewan, Bahmanwala, Takhat Malana, Sarai Naga, Warring and Bariwala. The farmers of the villages nearby alleged that officials of the drainage department did not even come once this year to clean up the drain. “Last year, the rainwater had caused huge losses to the farmers by inundating their fields. Still, the officials concerned have not paid any heed to our plight,” said Gurmel Singh, a farmer of Chauntra village, informing that a number of small drains in the area from Muktsar up to Kotkapura merge in the Jhabelwali drain. Another farmer Jagmohan Singh said, “During the previous monsoon, water overflowing from the drain inundated my fields and rendered the land infertile. The rainy season is about to start again, but the department is yet to take any pre-emptive step.” The condition is almost similar in the Chand Bhan drain, which is one of the biggest drains in the district. Iqbal Singh Buttar, an advocate and a farmer, said, “The government has ordered to clean all the drains but the officials are neglecting their duties, which will definitely wreak havoc on farmers. The higher-ups in the department should immediately pull up their subordinates so that the clean-up process of the remaining drains could be started soon.” However, AS Mann, superintending engineer, Muktsar drainage circle, said, “We have cleaned up various drains falling in our circle and the work is still on. We hope to complete the work within a week.” To a query, he said, “It is not possible to clean up the entire Chand Bhan drain, because it requires huge funds. We have located some stretches where we will start the work soon.” Prem Chand, superintending engineer, Faridkot drainage circle, while admitting the shortage of funds, said, “We got almost 50 per cent of the required funds. So, half of the drains have been cleaned. When we will get more funds, the rest of the drains would also be cleaned.” On the other hand, Rajinder Singh, superintendent engineer, Gidderbaha drainage circle, said, “We cover most of the parts of the Gidderbaha and the Lambi blocks where almost all drains have been cleaned. We had covered 90 per cent of the cleaning work by June 30, the deadline fixed for our circle.”