Amritsar, September 25
The yesterday's daylight looting in which an employee of a money exchanging firm received bullet injuries before being robbed of Rs 41 lakh in Gali Karmowali has testified that all is not well as far as the law and order situation in the holy city is concerned.

Meanwhile, the police today registered a case under Sections 394/34 of the IPC and 25/54/59 of the Arms Act at the police station E Division against three unknown persons.

As an immediate action, the SHO of the E-division Dilbagh Singh was shifted out of the area today and the SHO of Civil Lines Sukhwinder Singh Randhawa has been directed to take the charge and investigate the incident further. On the other hand, Ram Bagh SHO would be looking after the affairs pertaining to the police station Civil Lines.

Even as the police claims to be on its toes to catch the culprits, it miserably failed to get any breakthrough just as in an earlier instance, when the robbers shot dead a 32-year-old trader Munish Khanna a few yards behind his home at Rishi Vihar area before fleeing with a cash ranging between Rs 10-12 lakh on August 7.

Even as following the Rishi Vihar episode, the Police Commissioner Ram Singh, had deployed extra police force in areas like Majitha road, Rishi Vihar and Shastri market after identifying these as "sensitive" zones, several loopholes in police arrangements come to the surface, if the yesterday's instance is any indication.

Gali Karmowali, located in the walled city area, is a narrow lane with little opening on the other side. The way the looters escaped conveniently through the congested lanes also testified that they had done flawless recee of the area. They took advantage of an adjoining open land, reportedly belonging to some religious organisation, which is without any gate. This vacant plot, which touches a temple, facilitated them to cross over to Katra Sher Singh to have their way out.

Ironically, the accused never felt like concealing their faces. Their "confidence" showed that they were absolutely sure of having no encounter with the police party at any point.

The sequence of the crime also portrayed that the criminals were well aware of the movements of the victim. It has been learnt that the police is working out on the theory of involvement of some insider in the crime, who had apparently informed the looters about the timings of the victim's leaving the office with the cash bag. The police is also tracing the mobile call details of the suspected persons.

Police Commissioner Ram Singh said special patrolling had been chalked out in the interior areas of the walled city. "It is a matter of investigation, so we cannot reveal our strategy," he said.

Amritsar, September 25
Anxiety grips the trading community which was shocked by the daylight robbery that witnessed a money exchanger being shot at and robbed of Rs 41 lakh in a narrow street of the walled city yesterday.

The faith of traders is fast eroding in the police, as the daring robbery was the second such incident within the past two months. Earlier, a cloth trader Munish Khanna was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside his residence in Rishi Vihar on August 6. The miscreants had decamped with his bag containing lakhs of rupees.

Members of various trader associations of textile and even adjoining gold markets of Guru Bazar and Patel Chowk today held a meeting and expressed their concerns to Police Commissioner Ram Singh, who was also present there. They demanded the setting up of a police chowki in Shastri Market, to which they got a positive response from the Police Commissioner.

Two robbery incidents with murderous attempt occurred in a space of two months and that, too, executed in the densely populated areas of the city had shocked the trading community, said Shastri Market Cloth Dealer and Manufacturing Association General Secretary Deepak Mehra. He recalled that the earlier incident had resulted in the permanent deployment of a couple of policemen in Shastri Market. He said it was natural for the trading community to panic and get concerned over their security as the incidents of snatching, looting and now killing for looting had become the order of the day. “It was high time that the administration carved out a plan to arrest these miscreants and ensure traders' safety,” he added.

He elaborated that a good number of traders travel to different parts of the country for sale and purchase purpose and many a time they carry cash with them. “Trade could not be sustained in an insecure environment, and the government and the administration have a duty to provide safe existence to ensure a trouble-free environment to earn their livelihood in a peaceful environment”.

Shopkeepers from Shastri Market, Katra Jai Mal Singh, Gurdwara Tahli Sahib bazaar and Katra Ahluwalia also joined in the meeting.

He rued that neither any compensation was given to Munish Khanna's family nor his killers were nabbed so far. He demanded that culprits of both incidents must be brought to book to infuse a sense of security among the traders. He said the police offered assistance in the shape of an escort to traders while carrying huge cash.

A textile trader PL Seth said traders not only from textile but also from various trades like gold and silver ornaments, grain, spices merchants etc travel to various parts of the country to discharge their jobs.

“In order to perform trade liabilities, it is necessary to carry cash in many situations. Traders carrying huge amount of money could seek the assistance of the police to seek escort, but small traders would remain vulnerable, as they would not go ahead seeking the same. Moreover, it is not practical that the police can guard each trader individually.

A textile trader Sumit Kumar said the gruesome incident occurred during the ongoing season in which sales had picked up ahead of festivals.

He said it jolted their psychology when traders and manufacturers were engrossed in meeting deadlines.

Amritsar, September 25
The district health department seized around 60 kg of adulterated khoya (skimmed milk) from a market near Lohgarh. The department also collected samples of adulterated milk products from various shops of the area.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Shivkaran Singh Kahlon said a special drive was carried out to check the adulteration of food products in view of the upcoming festive season.

The shopkeepers were using synthetic khoya to meet the increased demand of sweets.

The insiders of the business revealed that as the process of making synthetic khoya is simple. With the help of urea, refined oil and sugar, one can easily prepare synthetic milk products.

Urea is added to give white colour to the solution, while the sugar is added to add the sweetness and refined oil helps in adding fat to it.

An insider said, “Even if a customer skims the milk and tries to get butter, the refined oil would start floating above the solution which could easily be mistaken as butter.”

Apart from synthetic milk, adulterated khoya is also sold in city under the nose of the district administration. The khoya is prepared using the substandard milk powder which is mixed with the milk to thicken it.

“After boiling the milk for more than one hour, the water contents in it start separating from the fats, and then milk powder is added. The khoya prepared with this technique gives the look of pure. But when it is eaten, it differs in taste and is not good for health. The makers add milk powder to increase the quantity and save time,” an insider said.

Another shopkeeper confided, “In this technique there is no need to heat the milk. The khoya can be prepared with in five minutes.” The shopkeeper quipped that making synthetic milk and khoya is easier than rearing a cow.

Dr Kahlon said the general public could provide clues to his office so that raids could be conducted. “We would adhere to each and every complaint. The department is committed to secure the health of the residents,” he said.

Amritsar, September 25
Sparing a thought for the convenience of those who intend to get their properties registered, the district administration here has conceptualised the idea of setting up a "token system" at the Sub-Registrar office I and II.

Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal said both buyers and sellers would be issued a specific token, which would facilitate them to get the formalities done at the first instance. The token would depict the serial number of the applicant, date and time on which the parties must be present before the sub-registrar for the registration of the document. The maximum number of documents that can be registered per day in a sub-registrar office is 200.

These tokens can be obtained from counter No. 1 in the sub-registrar/tehsil offices between 8 am and 12 noon. Besides, special counters have been established at Suwidha Centre which would exclusively cater to senior citizens, handicapped and NRI citizens in issuing them tokens between 9 am and 12 noon. Twenty tokens per day will be reserved for them and they can get their documents registered from 9 am to 9:30 am on the date specified in the token issued to them.

It is clarified that either buyer or seller has to be from the above class of applicants and document has to be submitted at Suwidha centre itself.

For general categories, three copies of registries must be submitted at counter No. 1. Incomplete documents will not be entertained. After that, the parties must be present at counter No. 2 at the office of the Sub-Registrar on the date and time allotted to them. After presenting these before the Sub-Registrar, they must go to counter No. 3 for signing the documents.

After signatures, the applicant must move to counter No. 4 to deposit government fees and registry will be delivered at counter No. 5 on the next working day after 2 pm.

Aggarwal said parties, either seller or buyer, must submit documents, complete in all respects, before obtaining their token and that nobody will be accommodated out of turn. ?We have chalked out this methodology while keeping in mind the infrastructural constraints and convenience to the public. This will avoid unnecessary crowding at the office of the sub-registrar. I request the applicants to cooperate with the district administration to make this scheme a success," he said.

Amritsar, September 25
The MC launched an anti- encroachment drive last night on the Majitha road. A MC's team led by Land Supervisor-cum-Estate Officer Vishal Wadhawan removed around 25 temporary vends located adjacent to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital.

These vendors had encroached upon the public land. The vacated place would now be utilised to erect footpaths alongside the newly-laid Majitha road. Due to the encroachments by these vendors, there was hardly any place left for the pedestrians.

The dark side of this drive was that the vendors, who used to sell tea, snacks or running small-time repairing vends etc. for the past over two decades, lost their livelihood. They claimed that the MC staff conducted this drive without giving them any prior information otherwise they could have saved their belongings kept in these vends.

A 60-year-old Baba Hardev Singh resented that he had lost his only source of income as his only tea stall was demolished by the MC staff.

"I have been providing tea to the patients and their attendants who visit the GND Hospital for the past 15 years. Now, I have no source of income to feed my family members," he added.

Echoing the same views, Kashmir Singh (45), another vendor who sells snacks, complained that his utensils and burner were damaged in this drive.

Like him, others also said, "Had they informed us earlier, we could at least save our belongings so that we could shift to some another place."

Defying this, Estate Officer Vishal Wadhawan said these vendors had been warned verbally many a time, but they never bothered to vacate the place voluntarily and they could not be claimant on any grounds.

"The drive started at about 11.30 pm and went uptil 1 am and we removed around 25 vends being operated illegally on the Majitha road stretch," he said.

Wadhawan clarified that the MC's motive was not to snatch the livelihood of anyone, but for that they would have to follow certain rules and regulations.

"We have no objection if they do a makeshift arrangement for earning livelihood like they can engage a rehri with a provision for installing canopy. They can sell any eatable or any article they deal in. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that they would have to leave the place in the evening and would not be allowed to establish a permanent encroachment on any public place. Secondly, they would have to maintain hygiene while doing business. The vendor would have to share the liability of keeping his surroundings neat and tidy," Wadhawan stated.

Amritsar, September 25
After the hike in brick prices, a steep increase in sand prices has hit the dreams (of a house) of the common man who is already reeling under inflation.

Those building their houses are worried as the prices of sand have skyrocketed again from Rs 1200 per 100 cubic feet to Rs 3,500. Earlier, prices of sand had appreciated in June for 100 cubic feet of sand. It rose from Rs 900 to over Rs 3,000 in the local market.

With realty boom, many residential projects are underway in and around the city. People blame it on an alliance between politicians and 'babus' (enjoying political clout) to control the mining activities.

High prices of sand have forced many people to halt construction and repair work of their houses. A teacher Suresh Sharma said about a fortnight ago he initiated the construction work on a plot at Green Field near Majitha road. He said it took four years to save money to start its construction.

"The sudden rise of sand price has upset his entire calculation and budget for raising the house. With the prices of sand after bricks skyrocketing, there is no alternative but to discontinue the construction. I would resume the construction once the prices will subside," he shared his plans. He lambasted at the government for increasing and imposing new taxes. "How a middle-income family will chase a dream of a house, if the government can able to curb rising inflation?" he stated.

A ready-made garments showroom owner Vijay Kumar said sudden and steep surge in prices of construction material had sent his budget haywire but he could not stop construction work in a midway as his business would hamper.

Ramandeep Singh, a resident of Ranjit Vihar, said about a fortnight ago the price of 100 cubic feet of sand was Rs 1,200, then to climb to Rs 1,500 and then Rs 1,800 and now Rs 3,500. He rued that gradually construction of a house was slipping out of the reach of the salaried class.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on August 18 had imposed a ban on mining without environment clearance in all operational quarries less than five hectares in area. This order is in tandem with the Supreme Court's order of February 27. The order says that permission from the Ministry of Environment and Forests is mandatory for quarrying of minor minerals on land less than five hectares.

When contacted Dharam Pal Bhagat, GM, Department of Industries and Commerce, Amritsar, who also holds the mines'portfolio, said as per the high court directions, efforts were being made to seek environment clearance from the State Environment Commission, Patiala. He said once the procedure is finished, the quarries would be auctioned for a three-year period. He stated that there are two big quarried at Wazir Bhullar village in Beas and Gaggarwal village in Tarn Taran besides 13 quarries with less than five acres of area.

Amritsar, September 25
Coming in support of a man who was arrested by the Lopoke police with 10 gm of heroin, residents of Kuwali village stated that the case was framed by police at the behest of a local influential person.

The villagers, around 200 in number, met SSP Rural Pritpal Singh Virk and demanded an impartial and fair inquiry into the incident. They were supported by the Kisan Sangarsh Committee (KSC).

The KSC convener, Kawalpreet Singh Pannu, at a press conference, today said, “Kulwinder Singh was falsely implicated in the case. A local person, who is close to some police officials, had something against Kulwinder, after which the entire drama was enacted.”

Kulwinder Singh owns around one and half acres and works as a driver of a private bus. “The police had arrested him while he was driving the bus, but later he was shown to be arrested at a police check-post,” he said.

He added that a few travellers in the bus at that time had also appealed to the SSP to cancel the case. Kulwinder was later sent to judicial custody after the registration of a case on September 18.

The villagers claimed that Kulwinder had nothing to do with the drugs and he had a good reputation in the entire area.

SSP Pritpal Singh said a probe had been ordered to bring out the truth out.

He confirmed that a delegation of residents had met him and demanded an inquiry into the incident.

Amritsar, September 25
International Nursing College, run by Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD), built at a cost of Rs 5 crore, commenced its operation today. Mayor Bakshi Ram Arora inaugurated the college, having a building with an ultramodern outlook and spread over three acres.

He credited the Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD) for fulfilling its mission to provide professional and quality education to students of the city. He anticipated equally excellent career growth for the students.

College principal Darshan Sohi said, “We have highly qualified and experienced faculty to impart quality education to students. The college will meet all the requirements and norms of the Indian Nursing Council, Punjab Nursing Council, Punjab government and Baba Farid Medical University.â€� She said the college would offer courses like ANM, Post Basic B.Sc (Nursing), GNM and B.Sc (Nursing). She stated that a girls’ hostel is also under construction. CKD president Charanjit Singh Chadha, who presided over the function, stated that the college aspired to prepare students with quality of commitment for volunteering service. 

Amritsar, September 25
Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Mall, won the third state-level basketball tournament (under-16 and under-18 categories) at Ludhiana.

The tournament was organised by the National Basketball Association. The local u-16 team outplayed APJ school, Jalandhar, by 31 points and u-18 team overwhelmed Government Senior Secondary School, Sardoolgarh, by 20 points.

Principal of the school Mandeep Kaur said u-16 and u-18 teams had won the event for three and two times respectively. The under-18 team will represent Punjab at National NBA Tournament to be held at New Delhi.