More than meets the eye

These migrants hardly earn two square meals a day. What would have a thief got by striking at their house. There is more to the story than meets the eye.

— A police official

Ludhiana, October 10
A Head Constable was among six persons, including two women, caught during a raid for their alleged involvement in a flesh trade racket here today.

The flesh trade racket was being run from a hotel in the Shivpuri area. Two women, who were being used as sex workers, were also caught during the raid.

The police did not try to hush up the matter to save their colleague. Instead, it made the arrest public and accepted that one of the persons caught on a charge of immoral trafficking was Head Constable Amrik Singh, who is deputed in the special branch of the city police.

Amrik Singh was officially on duty today. According to officials, he had been asked to collect crucial intelligence inputs. However, he was found in the hotel.

The raid took place this afternoon when a team, led by ACP (North) Swapan Sharma, swooped on the hotel in the Shivpuri area following a tip-off.

The police arrested four men —€” Amrik Singh, two hotel employees , Sunil and Krishan Kumar, and Narinderpal Singh. Amrik Singh could have gone unnoticed but for a lower-rung policeman, who identified him and told his seniors.

The accused were taken to the Jodhewal police station, where they were booked on a charge of immoral trafficking.

Sources said Amrik Singh tried to act smart and refused to sit in the vehicle along with the other accused.

"Amrik tried to walk away, thinking that the police will not take action against its own man. However, ACP Swapan Sharma gave him a sound rap and told him to report at the police station. Amrik was later booked for the offence," said a police officer. The police also recorded the video of the raid, which would be produced in court as evidence.

Balwinder Singh, SHO, Jodhewal Basti, said action had been initiated against the hotel owners as well.

A newly engaged couple present at the hotel found itself in an ackward position when the police detained them. However, they were let off later.

Ludhiana, October 10
The court of Additional Sessions Judge Darbari Lal has convicted a woman's husband and mother-in-law, belonging to Bhamaddi village of Khann, in a dowry death case.

The woman had died within three months after her marriage. Her body was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her bedroom.

Daljit Singh (husband) and Surinder Kaur (mother-in-law) haven been convicted and sentenced to undergo rigorous imprisonment for 10 years each.

Delivering the verdict, the Judge held that the prosecution had proved the charges against the accused. The Judge declined the accused's plea for leniency, stating that it would send wrong signals.

According to the prosecution, Sandeep Kaur got married to Daljit Singh on January 2, 2005. A few days after the marriage, the accused started harassing her for dowry. They did not allow Sandeep Kaur to visit her parental house, following which she committed suicide.

Initially, a case under Section 306 (abetment to suicide) was registered against the accused at the Sadar Khanna police station on March 25, 2005, following a statement of Sukhminder Singh, father of the victim.

During investigation, the police added Section 304-B of the IPC in the case and arrested them. The prosecution had examined 13 witnesses to prove the guilt of the accused.

Ludhiana, October 10
A 25-year-old woman committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her one-room accommodation at Kabir Nagar in the Daba area here today.

The deceased, identified as Pappu Devi, a native of Bihar, was married to Pankaj Kumar, a daily-wage worker.

According to Pankaj Kumar, his wife was suffering from depression and was undergoing treatment.

He said the incident took place this morning when Pappu Devi was alone at home.

Pankaj Kumar claimed that some people of the locality spotted his wife hanging from a ceiling fan and informed him about the incident.

The police has recorded the statement of the husband and started investigation.

Ludhiana, October 10
The auction of nine shops located in the pedestrian underpass opposite the Mini-Secretariat here has been postponed for a second time. Earlier, the auction was organised on July 23, but only one person had turned up, while today, no one came to attend the auction, due to which it had to be postponed yet again.

The pedestrian underpass is lying ready for the past four months. However, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation plans to open it only after the nine shops are auctioned.

The pedestrian underpass is the first-of-its-kind project in the state and is awaiting inauguration. The MC authorities claim that once the shops under the pedestrian underpass are auctioned, the project will be thrown open to the public.

Under the pedestrian underpass, nine shops, measuring 15.64 sq ft each, have been constructed. The MC has kept a base price of Rs 18 lakh for auctioning these shops, which will be given on a 30-year lease.

Ludhiana, October 10
Doctors at the Civil Hospital here got together today and protested against the woman employee, who had levelled allegations of sexual harassement against a dentist, Dr Pradeep Kumar Sharma. The doctors said the charges of sexual harassement and casteist remarks levelled by the woman against the dentist were baseless.

They alleged that the woman employee had misused provisions of the law meant for protection of "real victims of bias and exploitation" for settling an old score. She had levelled similar allegations against the doctor about five years ago. An inquiry had been conducted by senior doctors of the hospital in which the allegations were found to be baseless.

The doctors said the woman employee had made a written complaint to the Civil Surgeon, Ludhiana, and an inquiry was marked to the Deputy Medical Commissioner. However, when Dr Pardeep Sharma asked for an affidavit from the complainant and lodged a complaint against this employee for her personal and professional misconduct, she backed away and roped in the employees' union, which pacified both parties and a compromise was reached.

The doctors said in the present case, if an employee had been transferred after more than 18 years of stay in a place to another station, just 40 km away, that too on the request of another employee, what wrong had been committed. "Every doctor has to oversee the work of junior and subordinate employees and if a senior points out deficiencies in their working, this cannot be construed as sexual harasment. The mischievous allegations have vitiated the atmosphere of the hospital and added to the woes of the doctor community," said Dr Sharma.

The doctors have submitted their representation to the Health and Family Welfare Minister, Punjab, the Principal Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare and the Commissioner of Police.

Ludhiana, October 10
Nine more patients have been tested positive for dengue. Of them six are from Ludhiana district.

According to the District Epidemiologist, Dr Puneet Juneja, "There are six patients of dengue from Ludhiana district. These include Gurdeep (30) from Pohir, Jashandeep (15) from Jagraon, Rambha Devi from Mundian village, Paramjeet Kaur 
from Dugri, Pushpa (55) from Janta Nagar and Suman (53) from Pavittar Nagar."

by Sandeep Joshi

Suggestions for mothers

• Always go for responsive feeding. Have an eye contact with the child.
• Leave them with eatables independently.
• Serve food to the child along with your food.
• Feed the child slowly, patiently with good humour.
• Wait till child stops eating.
• Stay with the child throughout the meals.
• Add variety to food, including non-vegetarian, especially fish and liver (if family circumstances permit)

Ludhiana, October 10
The government’s move to grant duty-free access to 48 garment products from Bangladesh has baffled the local hosiery and textile industry.

The industry feels that since labour cost, infrastructure, bank interest, power cost and production costs are cheaper in Bangladesh, so there should be no level playing field between India and Bangladesh.

“Due to the foresaid facilities, the export from Bangladesh is cheap and buyers facilitate towards those products. It has raised the question of existence of the industry,” said Vinod Thapar, chairman of Knitwear Club.

The knitwear industry is the second largest employment generator in India after agriculture. Millions of people are dependent on this industry.

This treaty will strike the roots of our economy and labour would loose millions of jobs, added Darshan Dawar, president of Knitwear Club.

Due to these facilities, Bangladesh has been emerging as an investment centre for companies based in Europe and Asia. Large textile companies and big brands will set up their production units in Bangladesh with profit motive.

This criterion will affect the manufacturing sector as well as overseas. Buyers would turn to suppliers in other countries like China and Bangladesh and would result in loss to the industry and the country at large, said Jatin Gandhi, a hosiery manufacturer.

“Such treaties will ruin our prospects in the national and international market. The Government of India should provide the atmosphere of equality to Indian industrialists such as zero per cent custom duty on machinery, to lower labour cost, power cost, bank interest, etc, for a healthy competition and to help the existing units to survive in a healthy way, as they are a source of major state government revenue and employment,” added Narinder Miglani, general secretary of the Knitwear Club.

Ludhiana, October 10
Burdened with heavy taxation and less facilities, the industry in the state is left with no other option but to move to other states, which are giving them subsidies and other facilities.

States like Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat and Karnataka are giving subsidies to the industry and tax exemptions for 10 years. In addition to this, labour and power in these states is cheap as compared to Punjab.

“With so many taxes imposed on us from the Central and state government, we are forced to move out of the state. When other states are providing us the facilities, then why should we not move out of the state? Since we are small-scale units, so we are planning to move out in clusters,” added Kulwinder Singh, a manufacturer of auto components.

“The taxes are mounting, while the facilities provided to us are meager. Even power is not provided to us round the clock. Our machine tool cluster is also exploring the opportunity to set up units at one of the other states, as the government of other states is providing us land at the subsidised rate and tax exemption for 10 years,” said Parminder Saggu, a small manufacturer.

Meanwhile, Anil Joshi, minister for industries, said they would not let the industry move from Punjab. “I am aware of the fact that the industry is facing many hardships. The state will come out with packages for the industry soon, so that they do not shift from Punjab,” he said.

Ludhiana, October 10
Former councillor Inderjit Singh Gill has been appointed as the Adviser to Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria. Gill has been associated with the Shiromani Akali Dal (Badal) for several years and remained a municipal councillor from ward number 45 of the city from 2007-2012.

After the Akali Dal gave party ticket to Kamaljit Singh Karwal from ward number 45, Inderjit Singh Gill was made the in charge of SAD (B) head office at Ludhiana.

Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria yesterday announced that Inderjit Singh Gill would be his Adviser.

Inderjit Singh Gill said he was thankful to Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria as well as the Akali Dal for showing faith in him.

Ludhiana, October 10
The city police is going to impose a one-way traffic route at roads leading towards Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) Hospital in Model Town.

According to traffic police official, vehicles leading from Ismeet Chowk would have to go through the main market located near Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital, while the vehicles heading from the bus stand area would have to travel through Deep Hospital to visit Tej Bahadur Hospital. The trial run would be conducted on Friday. The decision to impose the one-way route has been taken, as the congested stretch often leads to frequent traffic jams. — TNS

Ludhiana, October 10
The Income Tax Department has urged taxpayers who have filed their returns for assessment year 2012-13 and have defaulted on payment of committed tax, as self assessment tax of any amount, to immediately come forward and pay the due taxes without any further loss of time.

It is also been brought to the notice of such taxpayers that default in the payment of self-assessment tax may invite penal consequences.

“Analysis of e-filed returns filed in the current financial year reveals that nearly 29,000 taxpayers where committed tax payable was in excess of Rs 50,000 have defaulted on the payments aggregating to approximately Rs 3,770 crore. Such taxpayers are urged to come forward and pay their pending amount,” said Kavita Pandey, media spokesperson of the Central Board of Direct Taxes.

Jagraon, October 10
The Revenue Department courted a new controversy when a private man, hired by a patwari, who is serving at Sidhwan Bet office of the department, was found working in place of the patwari. Sources said, the man was performing the duties of a patwari for many months.

Patwari Vinod Kumar hadbeen physically disabled due to an ailment some months ago, but instead of reporting to the higher authorities about his disability, he hired a private man to performing his duties.

Earlier, Kulwinder Singh, a resident of Sidhwan Bet, had brought the issue to the notice of the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner and senior officials of the Revenue Department but no action was taken in this regard.

Kulwinder Singh said, "Despite the fact that I had brought this issue to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner office and senior officials of the department, no action had been taken." Kulwinder Singh added the patwari should have informed the senior officials of the department but he did not inform the department.

When contacted, patwari he admitted of hiring a private persons. He said, “I hired a private man because I am not in a position to work due to disability. I am not alone who has hired private person to perform my duties. There are others also who are doing it.”

Naib tehsildar, Kanwalpreet Puri, confirmed that he had received a complaint regarding this issue from the Deputy Commissioner's office and that he was looking into the matter. "If the facts are true, a strict action will be taken against the said patwari," he added.

SDM Gurmit Singh said he had instructed naib tehsildar Kanwalpreet Puri to conduct medical examination of the patwari and submit a report within two days. "If any other government official is found involved in such kind of activities, we will take a strict action against him too," SDM said.

Phillaur, October 10
Residents of Kahna Dhesian village, Phillaur, on Monday protested in front of the newly opened police post, which was established recently at the village community centre.The villagers raised slogans against the excessive attitude of the police and said that the community centre was established to organise social and religious congregations, which could not be done as the police post was being run from the centre.

Meanwhile, Surjit Singh Mangat, SHO of the police post, said the village panchayat had urged the police to make alternative arrangements for the police post. — OC

Ludhiana: The Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) organised a one-day brain storming session on “Sustainable cane and sugar production in Punjab” at its Regional Station (RS) of Faridkot, recently, to deepen the synergy between the sugar industry and the PAU. The representatives of various sugar mills and sugarcane scientists of the university attended the session.

In his presidential remarks, Dr. BS Dhillon, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said that sugarcane is a potential crop for diversification as it has the matching minimum support price (MSP) with wheat/rice. In his keynote address, Dr SS Gosal, Director of Research, PAU, highlighted the achievements of the university in sugarcane research and said that 18 varieties of the crop have been released till date. Speaking on the issues pertaining to sugarcane research, Dr Ranjit Singh, Cane Commissioner, Government of Punjab, apprised the participants of the state government’s current concerns for crop diversification. — TNS

Ludhiana: Indian army officials visited the campus of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College and interacted with the pre-final year students. The session consisted of a presentation that promoted the army trend among the students.

Various modes of entry into the army were discussed in detail and a video to motivate the students to join Indian Army was also played. The visiting officials, Col SS Bal and Col Ajay answered to the queries of the students and discussed both short service and permanent service criteria with the students. —OC

Mandi Ahmedgarh, Oct 10
The Sadar police has booked four members of a gang of miscreants that had been duping innocent people by organising fake nakas by wearing police uniforms.

While the kingpin, Jaspreet Singh, was arrested from Khanpur village, the others managed to give the police the slip. A country-made pistol was recovered from the possession of the arrested accused identified as Jaspreet Singh of Bilga village.

Deputy Superintendent of the Police, Amargarh Sukhdev Singh Virk, said a police party led by SHO Sadar Gurpartap Singh busted a gang of swindlers and nabbed its kingpin when they were going to lay a fake naka to cheat passerby on Malerkotla-Khanna road on Tuesday afternoon.

The police became suspicious on seeing a stranger in police uniform, who could not prove his identity when asked.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused, including Dalwinder Singh of Doraha and Happy of Jaspal Bangar used to dupe owners and drivers of vehicles plying on highways and link roads of the area.

They used to organise nakas at deserted places located away from the police stations and chowki of the region. Their target points included spots on intersection of different police districts.

Overload trucks, tractor trolleys and youths driving without valid license, were among their victims.

Though the gang had been active in the region for many months yet the police could not nab any of its members as they used to shift the nakas before the beat officer of particular area could receive information and act.

The investigation team is trying to identify victims of the gang and tailors who stitched uniforms for its members.

More cases will be registered against the accused at the various police stations falling under jurisdiction of Sangrur, Barnala, Khanna, Ludhiana and Ludhiana (Rural) police districts if victims duped by them come forward to seek action against them.

Jagraon, October 10
The Jagraon police has arrested two persons for allegedly duping a Canada-based NRI of Rs 12 lakh. The suspects have been identified as Rashid, alias Imran, and Sikandar, both residents of Malerkotla. The police has also recovered the money.

At a press conference held here today, the DSP, Jagraon, Surinder Kumar, said Canada-based NRI Subhash Kumar had borrowed Rs 12 lakh from Ranjit Singh of Jagraon two and a half years ago. Subhash Kumar handed over the documents of his house situated in Atam Nagar locality to Ranjit Singh as security.

In the meanwhile, Subhash Kumar returned to Canada and after some days he transferred Rs 12 lakh to his daughter Poonam’s bank account and asked her to return the amount to Ranjit Singh. But when Poonam and her husband Gulam Ahmad visited Ranjit Singh to return the money, the latter refused to accept the money and insisted that they get the house registered in his name.

Gulam Ahmad discussed the matter with his friend Rashid, a resident of Malerkotla. According to the police, Rashid told Gulam Ahmad that he knew a renowned lawyer who could help them to get back the documents from Ranjit Singh.

"The very next day, Rashid, along with Sikandar, came to Gulam Ahmad's residence and introduced him as a famous lawyer. After discussing the whole issue with Gulam Ahmad, Sikandar assured him that he would get back the property documents from Ranjit Singh," stated the DSP.

"On October 2, Rashid called Gulam Ahmad and told him that Ranjit Singh had agreed to return the documents. He asked them to come to the Jagraon court complex along with the money supposed to be returned to Ranjit Singh. When Poonam and Gulam Ahmad reached the court complex, Rashid and Sikandar took the bag containing the money from them stating that Ranjit Singh is not ready to accept the money in their presence. They left the place asking the couple to wait for a few minutes and after that they would get back the property documents. But they never returned," added the DSP.

A couple of days after the registration of the case, a police team, led by the SHO of Jagraon city, Mohammad Jamil arrested both the suspects from on the Raikot Road, Jagraon, claimed the DSP.

Mohammad Jamil said during the course of investigation it was found that Sikandar was not a lawyer.

Jagraon, October 10
The Sidhwan Bet police has confiscated two tractor-trailers involved in illegal quarrying and smuggling of sand from the Sutlej riverbed. These were impounded during a raid conducted by a police team led by ASI Jaspal Singh near Sidhwan Bet.

Ludhiana, October 10
Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) outplayed the reigning champions Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) in all departments of the game to win the 8th All-India Guru Gobind Singh Gold Cup Hockey Tournament which concluded at Prithipal Singh Astro Turf Hockey Stadium at Punjab Agricultural University here today. The team won by 6-3.

Even though the BPCL dominated almost throughout the match, the defending champions also fought tooth and nail to the extent that till the 64th minute of the match, the two teams were level at 3-3.

It was the brilliant performance by BPCL forward Amir Khan who scored a hat-trick (44th, 66th and 70th minutes) that virtually tilted the scales in favour of the winners. At half time also the score was level at 2-2.

The IOC team took the lead through Olympian Prabhjot in the 7th minute of the match. But, the joy was short-lived as the BPCL team scored an equaliser in the 13th minute as Gurpreet made no mistake in converting a penalty corner into the goal. Keeping up the attack, Tushar Khandekar tore through the defence line of IOC and sounded the board again in the 17th minute to take BPCL ahead. However, in the next couple of moves, Gurjinder scored through a penalty corner (18th) to bring parity.

The second half of the match was practically Amir's show who struck thrice in succession to seal the fate of IOC. Even though Prabhjot made several forays into the BPCL territory, and scored another goal in the 64th minute, most of the time, the BPCL goalkeeper stood his ground to the utter frustration of the IOC forwards. Pundali scored yet another goal by a brilliant conversion just as the long whistle was about to be blown to take the BPCL score to six.

In the junior section, Jarkhar Hockey Academy trounced Kila Raipur 8-2 after leading 3-0 at the breather. Jarkhar boys scored in the 12th, 14th and 25th minutes through Jasbir and Gurjit. Scoring almost at will, the Jarkhar team maintained their domination in the second half as well scoring in the 38th (Damanpreet), 45th (Ranjit), 50th (Darshpreet), 57th (Gurjit) and 68th minutes (Ranjit). In a spirited fight back, Kila Raipur players scored twice through Daspreet (45th) and Sukhchain (62nd). But it turned out to be too little and too late.

Deepak Thakur of IOC and Damanpreet of Jarkhar Academy were declared the Players of the Tournament in the senior and junior categories respectively.

Mahal Singh Bhullar, former DGP, along with Pawan Kumar Tinu, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sports, Punjab, presided over the concluding function and gave away the prizes to the winners.

Jagraon, October 10
Pugilists of Shri Ram College, Dalla, near Jagraon, brought laurels to the college as well as the Jagraon area by winning three medals in different categories of Punjab University Inter-College Boxing Championship. The championship was held at PU, Chandigarh, recently.

Principal Balwant Singh Sandhu said Sukhdeep Singh clinched gold medal in the middle weight category while Jagdeep Singh won bronze in the light weight category of the championship. In the girls' event, Amandeep Kaur of the same college clinched gold medal in the light weight category.

Ludhiana, October 10
The cagers of SCD Government College, Ludhiana, beat Punjabi University Campus 63-41 in the men’s section while the eves of DAV College, Amritsar, proved outplayed the Khalsa College for Woman, Ludhiana, 46-40 on the second day of the first IMG-Reliance Punjab College Basketball League, being played at the Guru Nanak stadium here today.

The league is being conducted by the Basketball Federation of India in collaboration with the Punjab Basketball Association.

Eight leading colleges each in the boys’ section and girls’ section are taking part in the league.

The league tournament is being played on a league-cum-super league basis.

All the eight teams in each section have been divided into two pools. Top two teams from each pool will qualify for the super league.

The following are the results:

Men’s section: SCD College, Ludhiana, bt Punjabi University Campus 63-41; Public College, Samana, bt Lyalpur Khalsa College, Jalandhar, 73-42; DAV College, Jalandhar, bt the College of Agriculture, Ludhiana, 76-35;

DAV College, Jalandhar, bt Public College, Samana, 62-45; and

DAV College, Amritsar, bt Khalsa College, Amritsar, 41-33.

Women’s section: DAV College, Amritsar, bt Khalsa College, Ludhiana, 46-40; Hindu Kanya College, Kapurthala, bt SR Govt College, Amritsar, 28-05; HMV, Jalandhar, bt Akal Degree College, Sangrur, 39-04; and GCW, Ludhiana, bt GADVASU, Ludhiana, 56-35; BBK DAV, Amritsar, bt Akal Degree College, Sangrur, 67-47; HMV, Jalandhar, bt Khalsa College, Ludhiana, 49-44; and GCW, Ludhiana, bt SR Govt College, Amritsar, 45-18.

Ludhiana, October 10
The 12th All-India BSNL Cycling Meet started at Velodrome, Punjab Agriculture University (PAU), here today. The meet is being held under the aegis of the BSNL Punjab Circle Sports & Cultural Board. The chief guest for the inauguration was G S Julka, Chief General Manager (Telecom), Punjab Circle. The event started with the flag hoisting, march past and a small cultural programme.

The results of today's events are as below:

4000m mass start: Neeraj Sawhney of Punjab first, R K Sharma of Rajasthan second and Jayanta Singh of NE-II third.

1000m individual time trial (circle position): O Bikram Singh from NE-II first, Surjit Singh of Punjab second and Jaswinder Singh of Punjab third.

4000m individual pursuit: O Bikram Singh of NE-II first, RK Sharma of Rajasthan second and Nirmal Singh of Punjab third.