B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Police rescues kidnapped Barnala kid 
Bathinda, July 12
The Barnala district police on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday rescued a two and half years old boy from the clutches of two motorcycle-borne unidentified kidnappers. He was rescued by the police within eight hours of receiving the information about the kidnapping of the child.

Teenager skips school, concocts abduction story
Ferozepur, July 12
Thirteen-year-old school boy, identified as Satnam Singh of Onjha village in Fazilka, concocted a story of abduction when cops found him roaming alone near the octroi post number 7 on the Ferozepur-Moga road here last night.

Shopkeepers in Muktsar protest encroachment drive
Muktsar, July 12
A large number of shopkeepers today blocked the Kotkapura chowk, in the heart of the city, for about four hours in protest against the administration's decision to clear the encroachment on both sides of the Kotkapura and Malout roads.

4 kg heroin recovered
Ferozepur, July 12
Alert troops of the BSF foiled an attempt by cross-border drug peddlers to push drugs and narcotics inside the Indian territory.

Police rescues kidnapped Barnala kid 
Sushil Goyal
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 12
The Barnala district police on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday rescued a two and half years old boy from the clutches of two motorcycle-borne unidentified kidnappers. He was rescued by the police within eight hours of receiving the information about the kidnapping of the child.

According to the police, Akashdeep Singh, son of a Bhadaur resident Pola Singh, was kidnapped by two unidentified motorcycle-borne persons when he was returning to his house along with his six-year-old sister Jaspreet Kaur after purchasing some eatables at about 2.30 pm yesterday. He was kidnapped near the temple of Shani Dev and was taken towards Majhuke village.

Talking to this reporter over the phone this afternoon, the Barnala senior superintendent of police (SSP) Surjit Singh said Akashdeep had been kidnapped by the unidentified persons from Bhadaur at about 2.30 pm yesterday.

He said when the police got information about the kidnapping, it formed four teams to trace the kidnapped boy. All the four teams had been sent in different directions to the suspected places, he added.

He further said the police got a clue from a missed phone call that had been received by Akashdeep's father on his mobile phone around midnight. After this, the police traced the location of the kidnappers from the mobile towers and intercepted their motorcycle, but the kidnappers managed to flee from the spot, leaving the kidnapped boy behind.

The child had been handed over to his parents, he added.

To a query, the SSP said till now, no motive behind the kidnapping had come to the fore as the kidnappers had not demanded any ransom from the father of the boy.

He said, however, the police had some clue about the kidnapping and on the basis of that, it had been investigating the case.

He expressed the hope that the kidnappers would be nabbed soon.

The Bhadaur police has registered a case against the unidentified kidnappers under Sections 363 and 34 of the IPC.

Teenager skips school, concocts abduction story
Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, July 12
Thirteen-year-old school boy, identified as Satnam Singh of Onjha village in Fazilka, concocted a story of abduction when cops found him roaming alone near the octroi post number 7 on the Ferozepur-Moga road here last night.

Jagjit Singh Saroya, DSP, said at around 11:30 pm on Wednesday, the police was on routine patrolling spotted a boy who was crying and roaming alone at the octroi post near the cantonment. The DSP said a police team, led by SHO Dalbir Singh, immediately brought the boy to the police station and enquired about his whereabouts. The boy told the police that he belonged to Onjha village from where he was kidnapped in the morning while he was on his way to school, by four unidentified persons in an Alto car.

The boy said the kidnappers later brought him to Ferozepur and left him here after giving him a warning.

The DSP said he smelt a rat in the story narrated by the boy and further enquiry was conducted in the matter. Later, it was revealed that the boy had concocted the story just to skip the school as he was not interested in studies, said Saroya.

The DSP said the father of the boy, Bhajan Singh, was informed and the boy was handed over to him. Bhajan told the cops that his son was not keen to go to school. So, he took a train from Theh Kalander railway station and came to Ferozepur on his own without informing anyone.

Shopkeepers in Muktsar protest encroachment drive
Archit Watts/TNS

Muktsar, July 12
A large number of shopkeepers today blocked the Kotkapura chowk, in the heart of the city, for about four hours in protest against the administration's decision to clear the encroachment on both sides of the Kotkapura and Malout roads.

Shopkeepers along with some politicians and other local organisations, sat on the road demanding extension in the notice period for vacating the land. Today was the last day as per the notice. It was mentioned in the notice that if shoppers failed to vacate the land, the administration would demolish the encroachments.

Taking a preventive measure, a huge police posse was deployed at the dharna site.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the protesters met SDM Dalwinderjit Singh and sought extension in the notice period. The shopkeepers claimed that the administration had extended the time to vacate the land till Monday but the SDM denied the same.

Ashok Chugh, who was spearheading the agitation, said, “The demolition drive will affect over 200 shopkeepers. Most of us have the land registered in our names. But suddenly, the administration has asked us to vacate it.”

Meanwhile, the shopkeepers decided to meet Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and also to file an application in the court.

Muktsar ADC Baldev Singh said, “The municipality officials have been told by the Director, Local Bodies, to remove all encroachments on the schedule roads, as per the orders of the High Court.”

Till the filing of this report, not even a single structure was razed.

4 kg heroin recovered

Ferozepur, July 12
Alert troops of the BSF foiled an attempt by cross-border drug peddlers to push drugs and narcotics inside the Indian territory.

BSF officials said last night, the BSF sleuths observed suspicious movement of two Pakistan-based smugglers along the Zero Line near border outpost (BOP) Muthianwali in the alignment of BP 174/15.

The officials said this morning, a search operation was carried out in the area and four packets of heroin, weighing one kg each, were recovered.

BSF sources said till date, 190.93 kg of heroin has been seized from the area along the border. — OC