Members of his family wail. Tribune photos: manoj mahajan

Ludhiana, September 15
The body of a youngster was found near the Feroze Gandhi Market under mysterious circumstances today. The deceased was identified as Abhinav Sachdeva (20). According to Ravi, a close relative of the victim, Abhinav was missing since Thursday and his family had registered an FIR at Police Station Division No 5 yesterday. The body was recovered in a decomposed state from from a plot in the area.

SHO Division Number 5 said that Abhnav's car (a Maruti Swift) was found last evening from the Feroze Gandhi Market and the body was found today. After finding the car, the police had requested the residents to keep an eye in the area.

Eim, a domestic help, called the police today saying that his children found the body while playing in the open plot.

Nirmal Singh, SHO Police Station Division No 5, said, "The cause of death is still not clear. The post-mortem report will reveal the cause of death. We have informed to the parents of victim and started the investigation."

Sunil Sachdeva, father of the deceased, is a resident of Sant Ishar Singh Nagar, Pakhowal Raod. Abhinav helped his fathers in his yarn business.

Ludhiana, September 15
As the date of Mayoral election has been announced, the newly elected councillors have heaved a sigh of relief as they will be administered oath after more than 100 days after the MC elections. After the term of the MC House ended on September 7, the city was not having any councillors “officially”. The Mayoral election will be held on September 21.

Ever since the Municipal Corporation elections took place on June 10, hectic lobbying has been going on among the local councillors, who are eyeing posts of Mayor, Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor.

The Ludhiana MC is the richest civic body of the state with the annual budget of year 2012-13 pegged at Rs 741 crore. According to an internal arrangement between the Akali Dal and the BJP, the post of Mayor stays with the Akali Dal while the posts of Senior Deputy Mayor and Deputy Mayor will remain with the BJP.

Even as the Akali councillors had given all rights of finalising a name for the top MC post to party president Sukhbir Singh Badal, it is unlikely that any faction within the party would oppose the party president’s “nominee”.

In the present 75-member MC House, the SAD has 27 councillors, the BJP 12 and the Congress has 19 councillors. There are 17 independent councilors.

Compared to 2007, the Akali Dal has upped its tally by three, the BJP is down by one councillor while the Congress has upped its tally by two councillors. In 2007, a total of 21 councillors had won as Independents but this time only 17 councillors made it to the House.

Jagbir Singh Sokhi

Earlier, the Akali Dal wanted a Hindu face to be its Mayor and that was why senior party leader Harish Rai Dhanda was allotted the party ticket from Ward No. 28. But, due to Dhanda’s loss, the Akali Dal had to change its plan.

So now, Pal Singh Grewal, a confidant of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, is considered a front runner for the post of Mayor. But he might face opposition from state PWD Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon as both the leaders are known arch rivals. Even outgoing Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura is eyeing second term on the pretext that he has remained loyal to the Badal family as well as the Akali Dal.

Another aspirant Kamaljit Singh Karwal is a close associate of the Bains brothers, MLAs Simarjit Singh Bains and Balwinder Singh Bains. But, he might face some opposition from a section of the Akali leaders because he was first expelled and then taken back into the party fold recently. He is also one of the main accused in the Tehsildar Gurjinder Singh Benipal stripping and assault case.

Other aspirants for the Mayor’s post are councillors Jagbir Singh Sokhi and Paramjit Kaur Shivalik. Sokhi was once close to the Bains brothers, but during the SGPC elections held last year, they parted ways when Sokhi joined hands with former cabinet minister Hira Singh Gabria, a known arch rival of the Bains brothers. During the recently held MC elections, his candidature is believed to be opposed by the Bains brothers, but still he managed to win comfortably. Paramjit Kaur Shivalik is wife of Gill MLA Darshan Singh Shivalik. She has been eyeing the Mayoral post on the pretext that she is a woman as well as a scheduled caste.

Ludhiana, September 15
With the date for the Mayoral election having been finalised by the state government, the Congress councillors have intensified their activities. Though less than a week has left for the Mayoral election, the Congress has not yet decided the name of councillor who will become the Leader of the Opposition in the MC House.

Certain Congress councillors have been trying to establish a “contact” with independent councillors to seek their support, but it would be interesting to see which Independent councillor joins hands with the opposition.

But, party sources say it is likely that the Congress might face factionalism over the selection of the Leader of the Opposition in the MC House.

In the 75-member Ludhiana Municipal Corporation House, the Congress has a total of 19 councillors, two more than its tally in 2007.

After the 2007 MC elections, Prem Mittal, a councillor from ward number 51, was made the Leader of the Opposition in the MC House. During the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, Mittal, along with his political mentor and Congress heavyweight Gurcharan Singh Galib, joined the SAD. At present, Prem Mittal is the Akali MLA from Mansa. He resigned from the MC in April this year after being elected the MLA.

After Prem Mittal joined the Akali Dal, Hem Raj Aggarwal was made the Leader of the Opposition for one year while Sham Sunder Malhotra had remained at this post for around 18 months.

In the outgoing MC House, Sham Sunder Malhotra was the Leader of the Opposition. But this time, Malhotra lost to Gurpreet Singh, an independent from ward number 37.

If we talk of seniority, Congress councillors Balkar Singh Sandhu from ward number 55, Hem Raj Aggarwal from ward number 27 and Jai Parkash Sharma from ward number 30 are four-time councillors. Sanjeev Kumar Talwar from ward number 39 is a three-time councillor and Gurpreet Singh Bassi from ward number 53 has remained councillor twice while his wife Sukhchain Bassi has been councillor once.

Ludhiana West MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu will also play an important role in the selection of the Leader of the Opposition because of a total of 19 Congress councillors in the MC house, nine councillors are from his group.

These include Deepika Bhalla from ward number 54, Narinder Sharma from ward number 52, Mamta Ashu from ward number 49, Balkar Singh Sandhu from ward number 55, Gurpreet Singh Bassi from ward number 53, Maharaj Singh Raji from ward number 28, Jai Parkash Sharma from ward number 30, Rakesh Prashar from ward number 36 and Sanjeev Kumar Talwar from ward number 39.

On the other hand, local MP Manish Tiwari and District Congress Committee (Urban) president Pawan Dewan, both might support Hem Raj Aggarwal as the Leader of the Opposition.

Aggarwal’s candidature might face opposition from MLA Ashu and his group because they want their supporter for this post.

Ludhiana, September 15
The officials of the Municipal Corporation building branch were pulled up by the MC Commissioner during a review meeting held today. The MC Commissioner, Rakesh Kumar Verma, warned the building branch officials to “mend their ways” and take action against illegal buildings, which are mushrooming without check in all parts of the city.

But the building branch officials acted smart enough and showed their helplessness in checking this menace due to alleged “political interference”. They told the MC Commissioner that interference by politicians is the main reason behind the mushrooming of these illegal buildings.

“Whenever an illegal building is still under construction and our staff visit the spot, the area councillors or other politicians contact us and ask us to leave the spot. Even if we challan any building, the politicians don’t let us recover the penalty amount from the owner of an illegal building,” said the officials the building branch.

It is learnt that MC Commissioner Rakesh Kumar Verma told the officials categorically that they still needed to check this menace. Senior MC officials suggested that that if any politician interfered in their official duty, they could file a police complaint against him or could even get an FIR registered.

During the meeting, it is learnt that the MC Commissioner told the building branch that even if they improve their honest working by at least 50 per cent, results will start showing up.

Ironically, the illegal building menace has engulfed almost the entire city areas, and it seems that the building branch, which is responsible for checking this menace, has closed its eyes, either intentionally or unintentionally. But, the moral of the story is that despite several court orders, the building branch is functioning poorly.

Col Jagdish Singh Brar (retd), president of the NGO Maha Sabha Ludhiana and member of the MC monitoring committee on encroachments, stated, “Just by claiming that political interference is hampering their work is all baseless. The truth is that our building branch officials are themselves hand in glove with the land mafia as well as the owners of such buildings. Whenever an illegal building is being constructed in the city, some senior officials of the building branch themselves suggest them ways with which the building can come up easily.”

He further alleged that after conniving with some building branch officials, politicians as well as several other persons have encroached upon MC land. “A chunk of MC land in Sunet village has been grabbed by a local politician for several years and till now, he has earned lakhs out of it. Moreover, if any politician creates hurdles in their functioning, they can take NGO’s into confidence so that such politicians can be exposed. But, the truth is that the building branch officials will never name the politicians because they are themselves hand in glove with them,” alleged Col Jagdish Singh Brar.

Meanwhile, Verma said he had categorically told the building branch officials that he would not tolerate any illegal buildings to come up in the city. “They better mend their ways, else I will be forced to take strict action against them.”

Ludhiana, September 15
The paddy procurement will begin in the state from October 1. The agencies concerned and the officials must ensure that the farmers do not face any problem while selling their produce in markets and mandis, said chairman Mandi Board, Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, here today.

Addressing the mediapersons at Circuit House, Lakhowal asked the board officials and agencies to make all the arrangements for the paddy procurement. Lakhowal said he was visiting various districts in Punjab to take stock of the situation about the procurement procedure.

The MLAs from different constituencies said more funds would be provided to them for the widening of the roads in their respective constituencies. Lakhowal condemned the Central Government for the increase in the rates of diesel. He said Centre had put Punbjab in drought-hit category, suitable compensation be provided to the state, stressed the chairman, Mandi Board. He said the Central Government always gave step-motherly treatment to the farmers in Punjab.

He also stressed Swaminathan report must be implemented for the benefit of framers.

Ludhiana, September 5
Finally, the traffic police has started a drive against violators, who purchase new vehicles but do not registered them within stipulated time and also those people having fancy or VIP numbers without registration from the District Transport Office.

On the first day of drive, the traffic police laid a naka at Malhar road. The policemen challaned over 325 vehicles and impounded six two-wheelers and one car today.

The police had warned the violators one week ago and suggested the residents to complete all their documents.

Beant Juneja, SHO traffic police station, “It is the common tendency among two-wheeler owners that they buy new vehicles but do not registered them within stipulated time. According to the norms, they have to get registration from the DTO office within one month of the purchase of vehicle.”

Meanwhile, the police has also checked the vehicles with fancy or VIP numbers.

“We have observed that some of the people hold the fancy/VIP numbers on vehicles without registering the vehicle from transport authorities. We have checked such 25 vehicles and impounded one of the cars,” said Juneja.

Ludhiana, September 15
As Engineers Day is being celebrated, many of the students of engineering colleges in the city rue the lack of adequate facilities for technical education and placement for the development of the city as a technical hub.

Most of the students say that the city lacks good placement and absorption for students passing out from engineering department.

“Despite the presence of industry here, there is no engineering institute of the repute of IITs,” says Simran, pursuing B.Tech in computers. “Even the placement scene in the city is miserable, if you look at the number of students studying at engineering colleges here,” says Deepak, a third year engineering student.

The problem is the government is not doing enough to attract the industry to the city, complained another student. “Even though Ludhiana has been an industrial hub yet the industry is gradually moving out of the city, moving to the states like Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat and other parts of the country. The future of the new engineering talent passing out from engineering colleges is only possible if adequate industry is there,” he said.

There should be a check on the number of private engineering institutes opening, and only institutes with proper infrastructure and ensuring quality education, as many of the seats remain vacant because these do not provide quality education.

There should be an IT park here, for the proliferation of information technology in the region, said another student. But nothing is being done by the government on this front, he said.

Ludhiana, September 15
Trishneet Arora started it young. Going by his looks and age, he might come across as just another teenager, but the lad is raring to go when it comes to entrepreneurship and computers.

So much so that at 12, he had become a hardware expert in his own right as even neighbours and relatives would take his help to fix their computers. He had gained this knowledge on his own.

Riding his passion for computers, he completed diploma in hardware and IT security rather than attending regular school and rather completed class tenth and class XII through correspondence.

Having watched movies and read on hacking made him interested in the subject and there has been no looking back since then. He learnt it mostly on his own, and has become an expert. He started blogging about hacking. Most of the technical knowledge he has gained about IT has been through Internet only he says.

He has book about Ethical Hacking to make people aware about how to safeguard themselves from hackers in this increasingly complex and hacker-prone web world. With his book due to be released this month, he says that he plans to bring about subsequent more advanced editions of the book.

He co-founded an IT security company TAC Security Solutions with his brother Avneet Singh Arora, and claims to have multiple domestic and overseas clients for IT security. He says that he has worked with NGO's and government as well for IT security.

He is focused and clear about his goals. Even though people might not know about me, but my company would be among the respected companies in the next few years, he says.

Ludhiana, September 15
The move to allow Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail by the central government is drawing flak from the industry in Ludhiana. Most of the industrialists and retailers are criticising the decision as the economy is in a vulnerable phase and doubts over the country's economic growth are looming large.

"Most of the world is going through economic recession and every country is trying to secure the employment of its own people and cutting on outsourcing," says PD Sharma, president, Apex Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Punjab. "On the contrary, our government is displacing their own people. When Indians can set up and manage retail abroad, can't they do it here? There is no real need for Foreign Direct Investment," he said.

"As FDI in retail is a state matter, we request Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal not to allow FDI in retail in Punjab," said Badish Jindal, president, Federation of Punjab Small Industries Association. "It may be implemented in other states where it is required, but in Punjab we already have a close-knit well-established chain of buyers and sellers. And it has been working well for years now," he said. "At least 40 lakh people involved directly or indirectly in retail and trade would become unemployed with this move," he said.

The move would have a negative impact on the local manufacturing sector as well, say industrialists. "The big chains would sell products from the most cost-effective vendors from anywhere in the country, which would shut down the local manufacturing units. Most of these big chains sell products under their own brand as well. They source mass products from world-wide market and sell directly to consumers. Because of this, although consumers might get products at a lesser cost, it would have an adverse impact on the manufacturing sector in the region," said Jindal.

Ludhiana, September 15
The elections to the Panjab University Senate have always been considered "prestigious" due to the involvement of highly intellectual academicians. But, this time a change has been witnessed by veteran academicians, who feel the "political machinery" is trying to get control of the academic body. Those in the fray must not "encourage" the "vested-interests" of politicians as in later stages, the latter will call the shots, feel those who have been in the field of academics for the past several decades.

The elections are scheduled for September 23 and for the 15 seats under the graduate category, 65 contestants are in the fray this time. The number of contestants is too high compared to the previous elections when around 40 contestants filed their papers while eight seats each were there for the principal and professor (teacher) categories. The senate has around 90 members, including 35 nominated members and ex-officio members.

Prof Tarsem Bahia, who has been associated with Panjab University for the past more than three decades, said the trends of the Senate Elections were different this time. Earlier, there was no pomp and show and everything was restricted to the academic level. "But yesterday, I travelled from Khanna to Ferozepur and it was so surprising to notice that hoardings and posters of those who are contesting the Senate elections (graduate category) were put up on the roads, bus stands, etc. The appeals have been made by the MLAs, panchayats, Nagar Council members, etc, in favour of certain contestants. Since these are purely academic-based elections, we must restrict ourselves to that level only," said Bahia, adding that the problems of teachers/students can be gauged best by the academicians only.

A former Senate member from Chandigarh said the "political machinery" was being used to support a woman candidate, who was a close relative of a serving minister in the Akali/BJP government. "We are academicians and not the politicians and we must realise this, else we will become puppets in the hands of political leaders," said the member, adding that like any other political election, lavish parties were being thrown by many candidates to woo voters this time.

Ludhiana, September 15
It was a day of political protests in the city. While the Congress staged a protest against the SAD-BJP combine in Punjab, the BJP protested against the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre. Both the protests were related to the economic policies of the respective governments. While the Congress slammed the Akali-BJP government for imposing heavy taxes on the people, the BJP flayed the UPA Government for the hike in diesel prices and the rationing of LPG cylinders.

The Congress workers, led by the District Congress Committee Ludhiana (Urban) president Pawan Dewan, went around the Chaura Bazaar seeking alms from the people for the 'bankrupt' state government. The district president was carrying a small collection box, seeking donations for the government. Alleging that the state government had gone bankrupt, he said the government did not have money to pay employees' salaries. He added that the collections made during the protest demonstration today would be offered to the Akali-BJP government for running its affairs.

Meanwhile, the BJP slammed the Congress-led UPA Government for its "total failure" in providing good governance to the people. "The hike in diesel prices affects the common man who has to bear the brunt of the lopsided economic policies of the UPA Government," said district BJP president Parveen Bansal while talking to The Tribune.

He added that the Centre's decision to restrict the subsidy only to six LPG cylinders per family per year would hit the social and cultural fabric of our country. "The UPA government's decision goes against the joint family system. Any family where two or three generations stay together would not be able to make do with six cylinders a year," he said. "Terminating multiple LPG connections is also an anti-people decision," he added.

Ludhiana, September 15
An art workshop by ARS Group, a group of artists from the city, is being organised in the city. About 25 artists are participating in the exhibition. While some of them are freelance artists, a couple of them are fine arts lecturers, while some are students of fine arts in city colleges.

The purpose of the workshop is to bring the artists of the city together, said to Parveen Kumar, a lecturer of fine arts at the Government College for Women. All artists created their own art, with the workshop being on no particular theme. The medium of the art was acrylics. "It is more challenging to work with acrylic, as these colours dry quickly. It requires great expertise as an artist," says Parveen.

Another participant in the workshop, Meenu Mahajan, a lecturer at the Government College for Women, said that workshops like these were an effort to promote art in the city.

Most of the artists created abstract art. "I created Ganesha in an abstract form," says Meenu. Another city-based artist Ritika Gupta focused on abstract art. "I am going to create textures in the form of abstract art. Painting with acrylic gives you more freedom to form textures, as these dry quickly compared to oils," she says.

Manpreet Kaur, another artist, painted on the theme of human expressions.

"Participating in such workshops is always a nice experience, as you get to meet and interact with several artists and learn new techniques," says Parveen Kaur, a city-based artist. It also provides an enjoyable atmosphere of working together," she adds. 

Doraha, September 15
The health department has asked the residents of Doraha to monitor all cases of viral fever closely to ensure that any complications can be handled in time. This came as a precautionary measure after a case of swine flu was reported from the Gobindpura Mohalla of Doraha.

The officials from the health department visited the place and cautioned the locals against any unnecessary alarm. SMO Payal Dr Renu, said, “We are educating the people regarding the symptoms and precautions about the disease.

Sukhdeep Singh, who has been tested positive for swine flu, had come from Calcutta, and all contacts of the patient have been isolated as a preventive measure. The residents too are being advised to report any sort of viral fever."

“I am personally sending out teams regularly to educate the residents about the symptoms. The teams are also checking coolers, pots etc in houses for any accumulated water as it provides a breeding ground for dengue as well,” the SMO added.

District epidemiologist Dr Puneet Juneja said, ''Presently, the situation is far from being epidemic in any way. We just need some preventive measures. At present there is no need to issue even general guidelines. However, we have asked the residents to wash their hands before meals, take healthy diet, cover their nose before sneezing, avoid cut fruit etc."

Dr Gursaran Sidhu, founder president, Rotary Club, Doraha, said that as a precautionary measure the residents need to check that fresh water is not left undrained inside coolers, pots etc in our houses as it acts as a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

“The symptoms of swine flu range from a simple flu to life threatening emergencies. A person immunised for H1N1 last year should not consider himself to be entirely immune from the disease as the strain this time may be different from the earlier one. Everone who received immunisation earlier needs to get re-vaccinated. The test too is in no way simple and only some of the private laboratories have the provision for the same. The residents need to arm themselves against the disease completely as prevention is always better that cure.”

Ludhiana, September 15
The “gajar buti” or carrot weed also known as congress grass (Parthenium hysterophorus) is becoming nuisance not only on the bunds and field outskirts but also along the road sides, railway lines, grain market yards and water ways, causing obstructions and skin allergy to human beings and animals,” cautioned Dr MS Gill, Director of Extension Education, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU).

Calling congress grass “a hardy weed,” he said it has the ability to tolerate harsh weather. It grows vigorously during rainy season and hibernates during winter months, informed he, adding that its leaves are serrated and resemble carrot with white colour flowers in 
September.

Emphasising on eradication of this obnoxious weed, Dr Gill said it is vital to combat it by uprooting mechanically or with the use of chemical at its active growth but before flowering. The weed exists in the plots lying vacant and public places such as district/sub-divisional courts, boundary of school grounds, etc., he told, while pointing out that many students in the schools can become victims of asthma, bronchitis and dermatitis.

The Ambassador of Republic of Guinea (West Africa), Alexandra Ce Loua visited Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) today to explore possibility of collaboration with PAU for agricultural research and development in his country.

In a meeting with the PAU Director of Research, Dr SS Gosal and Additional Director Communication, Dr HS Sehgal, the ambassador said Guinea's economy was largely depended on agriculture, which employed majority of the population of the country.

He further said that rice, maize, sugarcane, sweet potato and citrus were among the major crops of the Republic of Guinea. He appreciated the remarkable research done by PAU and sought collaboration with the University for improved production and protection technologies, related to these crops.

Dr Gosal assured him of all the possible technical help. He informed the ambassador that the PAU had inked several MoUs with national and international institutions.

Recently, the university had entered into a tri-partite collaboration with Ohio State University, USA and Egerton University, Kenya, for faculty and student exchange. Similar collaboration would be possible with the Republic of Guinea, he said.

The ambassador was taken around the experimental/demonstration field area where he was shown different improved high yielding varieties of rice, maize, cotton, pulses and some fodder crops developed by PAU.

Earlier, Dr Sehgal, while welcoming the guest, said that the PAU was a premier institute of India, which had made great contributions towards the food security of the country.

Children celebrate Grand Parents’ Day at Bal Bharati Public School in Ludhiana on Saturday. A tribune photograph

Ludhiana: Bal Bharati Public School celebrated Grandparents’ Day here on Saturday. About 100 grandparents attended the function. The children welcomed them by offering flowers. The function began with a dance performance by the students. Various games were arranged for the grandparents like making snake with paper pins, throw and catch the ball, making pyramid with thermocol glasses, guess the song, antakshari, laugh out loudly, lucky dip etc.

Rally

JCI Ludhiana City in association with RS Model Senior Secondary School organised a Mass Rally on Go Green, here on Saturday. The rally started from RS Model Senior Secondary School, Ishmeet Chowk, and was taken through some prominent locations of Model Town and concluded at the school. Around 1,000 students of the school took part in the rally along with the members of JCI Ludhiana City. The rally was flagged off by the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner of Police, Gurpreet Singh Toor. Banners and placards were displayed by the participants on “Go Green” and various Environment Saving Tips. The rally was really educative and had a very strong impact on the participating students as well as the viewers.

Hindi Divas

DRV DAV Centenary Public School, Phillaur celebrated Hindi Divas today. On this occasion Seema Bhanot a Hindi teacher of the school presented a Hindi thought and a flower stick to all the staff members of the school. Yogesh Gambhir, Principal of the school congratulated the students and teachers and said that Hindi is our national language.

Lecture

Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Gurpreet Singh Toor, Divisional forest Officer Daljit Brar, president Punjabi Citizens Council Varinder Kumar, besides many others addressed the students of Government Senior Secondary Model School, PAU, regarding plantation of trees, drug abuse and following of traffic rules. Ishwar Singh highlighted the importance of planting trees for a better future. He motivated all students to adopt a tree and look after it. He signalled that it was must for all the citizens to ensure a class, safe and better environment for coming generations. He also told students to inculcate good values by loving the literature and be morally strong to say “No To Drugs”.

Raikot, September 15
The narcotic cell of the Ludhiana (Rural) police has nabbed a man reported to be the kingpin of a gang of smugglers. The accused has been supplying drugs and narcotics under the garb of money exchange business.

The police also recovered 250 gm of opium from the money exchange office situated near Hari Singh Nalwa chowk.The accused and three other persons, including his two sons, were booked for obstructing the policemen from performing official duty and threatening them of dire consequences.

The main accused is known to be a close confidante of veteran political leader owing allegiance to the ruling party in the state. Tara Chand Gogi, an SAD leader running a money exchange office, his sons K V Verma and Sonu, and nephew Surinder Kumar were booked under Sections 353, 186 and 332 of IPC, and under the NDPS Act for their involvement in trafficking banned products and manhandling the policemen in the raid party led by Gurpreet Singh, incharge, Narcotic Cell, and Rajesh Sharma, incharge, CIA, Ludhiana (Rural).

High drama was witnessed when the raiding team tried to enter Gogi's office in connection with investigation of an anonymous complaint received by the district police against him.

The complainant had accused the main suspect of smuggling contrabands under garb of first a PCO and then a money exchange office. He was also accused of gathering money disproportionate to known sources of income.

The police became more suspicious when Gogi not only tried to stop the policemen from entering his office, but also asked his sons and a nephew to "teach them a lesson". The uniform was a cop was also allegedly torn in the incident.

However, the policemen succeeded in searching the office in presence of the circle officer and 250 gm of opium was recovered during the operation.

Though Gogi was arrested by the police, other accused succeeded in fleeing from the scene. Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused had been running the illicit business for many years. But due to his influence in political circles and the administration, no action was ever initiated against him.

Some police official posted at the local police station in the past could also face action for their proximity to the accused. — TNS

Ludhiana, September 15
Ludhiana Basketball Academy (LBA) boys wrapped up all their three league matches to romp home as champions in the 13th Youth Punjab Basketball Championship. The event concluded at Moga today.

In the girls' category, Amritsar came out triumphant, wining their three encounters, to lift the trophy.

In the four-day championship, 20 teams in the boys' category and 16 in the girls cateory battled it out to finish at the podium. The LBA cagers stamped their supremacy, giving no chance to their rivals In the first league encounter, the LBA team got the better of the Ludhiana district team whom they drubbed 52-34. 
They then overwhelmed Muktsar district 49-16 and overpowered Patiala district 66-47, wining the top honours.

Patiala district won two out of three matches to finish as runners up. They beat Muktsar 37-23 and Ludhiana district 47-19. The Ludhiana district team secured third position with one victory and two defeats. They managed to prevail upon Muktsar district 60-55.

Similarly, in the girls' category, Amritsar district beat Mansa district 39-23, Gurdaspur district 52-36 and Ludhiana 40-15 to top the points table. Gurdaspur outclassed Mansa district 33-21 and Ludhiana district 27-14. But they lost to Amritsar district to finish at the second spot. Mansa district, with one victory, secured third position.

Rajdeep Singh Gill, president of Basketball Federation of India and former DGP of Punjab, gave away prizes to the position holders.