|
|
|
|
|
Faridkot Abduction
Case
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Chawla attacks govt for refusing to build Dhingra memorial
No separate benefits for parents,
children under rehab plans:
HC
Probe against officers misusing govt
property
Moga boy’s kidnapper surrenders in court
Deputy CM demands drought relief package
HC notice to Punjab on appointment of Lokpal
Buy power meters from 7 listed firms
Sufi fest in Amritsar from today
Photo exhibition of
anti-Sikh riots at Jallianwala Bagh
Facing staff crunch, villagers lock
govt school’s gate
CM backs Army Institute’s plea
3 drug peddlers arrested in Patiala
Gang of vehicle thieves busted
The recovered vehicles. A Tribune photograph
|
|
Faridkot Abduction
Case
Chandigarh, October 19 The Deputy CM was talking to mediapersons here. He was accompanied by state police chief Sumedh Singh Saini. He claimed that he was closely monitoring the case and that the main accused, Nishan Singh, would be arrested “at any cost”. He said the Home Department was examining the conduct of officers involved in the investigation and that action would be taken against anyone found to have committed lapses. Saini admitted that there had been laxity in the investigation in the initial stage. He said two police officers (then Deputy Inspector-General Paramraj Singh Umranangal and Senior Superintendent of Police Gurinder Singh Dhillon) had been transferred for their lack of sensitivity in handling the case involving a minor. “We have received directions from the government to be sympathetic to the girl and her parents”, he said, indicating there was no pressure on the police to help the accused as claimed by the Congress. Sukhbir said his government was fighting a war against drugs and had put peddlers on the backfoot with record seizures in the last six months. He said the survey quoted by Rahul was conducted in 2006 when Capt Amarinder Singh was Chief Minister. Moreover, it was a sample survey of drug addicts and 70 per cent were young boys and girls. The Deputy CM said for the first time, he had appointed an Inspector-General of Police (IGP) as head of the anti-narcotics cell. Similarly, a special operations cell had been opened in Amritsar which had the authority to check narcotic activities all over the state. He said drugs, including heroin and smack, had been seized in large quantities and his government had urged the Congress-led Rajasthan Government to stop the open sale of poppy husk.
Reward for info on key accused Chandigarh:
Sukhbir Badal has announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to anyone facilitating the arrest of Nishan Singh, the main accused in the Shruti abduction case. Nishan Singh,19, is at large. Search teams have been sent to Rajasthan and Nepal to track him down. The Deputy Chief Minister has also directed the authorities to attach the properties of Nishan Singh's family.
— TNS
|
|
|
Fund-starved govt has enough to construct heliport for Badals
Muktsar, October 19 Sukhbir, who holds the portfolio of civil aviation, has already given a go-ahead to the project and desired an immediate action in this regard. There is already a helipad for the Badals at Kaljharani village, 5 km from Badal village, in Bathinda district. After landing at Kaljharani, the VVIPs have to travel by road to reach Badal village. Sources said the Defence Ministry and Air Force authorities have also given no-objection certificates (NOCs) for the proposed heliport, but with some conditions. These include:
Only visual flight rules shall be undertaken, vertical extent shall not exceed 650 m above the sea level, all flights will operate in coordination with the Bhisiana Air Force station and no separate airspace shall be earmarked for the heliport. Going through the departmental communiqués, it has been learnt that the project, moved by Capt Abhey Chandra, Adviser, Civil Aviation, Punjab, was issued the NOC on August 28 for the next five years by AS Chaudhary, Under Secretary, Ministry of Defence. Similarly, Ankur Moudgil, Wing Commodore, issued an NOC on behalf of the Air Force. Even the state departments like Town and Country Planning, Forest, Water Supply and Sanitation, Power, Canal, PWD (B&R), Agriculture, Mandi Board and District Development, all have issued NOCs for the proposed heliport. The Revenue Department has also prepared satellite maps of suitable locations of nearly 125 acres along with land records so that it could be acquired at the earliest. Recently, a meeting of senior officials of the departments concerned was held where the project was discussed at length. Muktsar Deputy Commissioner Paramjit Singh said: “The heliport is proposed to be built at Mann village. But I am not aware of its purpose”. Talking over the phone, Capt Abhey Chandra said: “We have been told to obtain NOCs from all the departments concerned and the process has started. The heliport will facilitate VVIPs, but the public can also avail of the facility after getting permission from the Deputy Commissioner”.
|
|
|
Chawla attacks govt for refusing to build Dhingra memorial
Amritsar, October 19 Former Minister Laxmi Kanta Chawla, who is the founder of Shaheed Madan Lal Dhingra Smarak Samiti, said the martyr was perhaps the first Indian to have been executed in London during the freedom struggle. Dhingra was put to death on August 17, 1909, at the age of 26. He had gunned down Sir William Curzon Wyllie on July 1, 1909. "Yet, it is intriguing that the state government is dithering from acknowledging the Dhingra’s sacrifice," she quipped. Urging Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal to review the decision, Chawla said the Samiti would wait for the state government's response till October-end. "If the decision remains unchanged, we will take to protest path from next month," she said. Members of several youth organisations active in the area, including Sarb Bharat Naujawan Sabha, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Naujawan Sabha, Naujawan Bharat Sabha and Janwadi Naujawan Sabha, have also decried the state government's decision. Earlier, these organisations had joined hands to seek a halt on construction at the site where the ancestral house of the martyr once stood. Sarb Bharat Naujawan Sabha president Prithipal Singh said about two years ago, the government had announced that the plot where the house stood would be bought for the construction of a museum in Dhingra's memory. He said now the government was claiming that the plot was owned by an individual and could not be converted into a museum. He claimed that if the government was serious, it could have procured the plot at market value from the owner and raised a memorial there.
|
|
Probe against officers misusing govt
property
Patiala, October 19 Sources confirmed that senior police officers and administrative officers posted in the state had kept more than one official accommodation available for themselves. Enquiries revealed that two senior IPS officers had retained prime government properties in Patiala for the past many years while another IAS officer had kept a property in the city to himself despite being posted outside Patiala. Another politician had been getting extensions against vacating a property, despite losing the Assembly elections. Estate officers are scared of evicting these officers. On the other hand, many government employees are running from pillar to post for the past many months to get accommodation. “As per my entitlement, I had applied for an E type house long time ago but my application is still pending,” claimed one such applicant. Investigations by The Tribune revealed that many government houses had been wrongly allotted to officers and bureaucrats against government rules. Dhillon said he would mark a probe by a senior officer into the scam. “The entire list of allotted houses will be scanned and the guilty will have to pay penal rent and will be asked to vacate,” he said, warning officials from his department of meting
out favourable treatment to anyone.
|
|
|
Moga boy’s kidnapper surrenders in court
Moga, October 19 Grewal said the investigating officer would file an application in the court to get his custody for interrogation. It is learnt that Ashu had also tried to kidnap a child from Ludhiana a couple of days ago. An FIR was also registered against him following which he came to Moga. The Ludhiana police had also raided a few locations here to arrest him. Ashu later kidnapped Sukhdev Muni, a student of Arya Public Model School, when the latter was on his way to home after school hours on October 8. Ashu took the boy on his motorcycle and the two roamed around in the city for a couple of hours. They later went to the local bus stand where Sukhdev was served a Chinese dish. He fell unconscious after eating it. The next morning, he found himself in a hotel room in Jalandhar. The boy told the police that when he got up, Ashu tried to strangulate him and he again fell unconscious. Some waiters got suspicious and informed the police. The police recovered the boy, but the kidnapper managed to flee. Sukhdev is son of Varinder Jaidka, the head of a local dera. Ashu was known to the family. The motive behind the act could be personal enmity between Ashu and the boy’s father, the police said.
|
|
|
Deputy CM demands drought relief package
Chandigarh, October 19 He was apparently referring to the assurance given by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar that the Centre would sympathetically consider giving relief to Punjab farmers for the extra cost borne by them to raise their paddy in near-drought conditions. Addressing a press conference here, along with ministers Bikram Majithia, Sikander Singh Maluka and Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Sukhbir said a high-powered team led by Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had visited the state and promised a package for the loss suffered by the farmers which had been calculated at Rs 5,112 crore. Sukhbir said the SAD would raise the issue in the winter session of Parliament and urged Punjab Congress MPs to express their feelings on the issue to the party high command "if they have the guts." Asked whether the Agriculture Minister had told the state that it would no longer need its paddy, he said this might be the case but the Centre should not be a fair weather friend. " "Only two years back the Centre had expressed its gratitude to Punjab for filling the national coffers in time of drought." Sukhbir said the Punjab farmer needed money for diversification which could only happen gradually. He said the Centre could support the state farmers by giving them minimum support price (MSP) for alternative crops.
|
|
|
HC notice to Punjab on appointment of Lokpal
Chandigarh, October 19 The notice for November 7 to the State and Punjab Lokpal Registrar by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain came during the hearing of the PIL filed by advocate HC Arora seeking directions to the state government to initiate the process of appointing Lokpal in the state. Arora said the post had fallen vacant on April 1, 2012, after demission of office by Justice DS Dhaliwal. But, the Punjab Government was yet to initiate steps for appointing a Lokpal. He claimed that approximately 100 complaints against ministers, legislators, and former ministers and MLAs were pending before the Lokpal. Arora also alleged that the government, instead of appointing a new Lokpal, had relieved the Registrar, Joint Registrar, reader and personal assistant. As a result, the Lokpal's judicial wing, responsible for scrutinising and recommending investigation into complaints, had also stopped functioning. Issuing the notice to the respondents, the High Court took note of the petitioner's contention that the Chief Justice should send the name of a retired Judge to the Chief Minister for consideration, instead of the state government proposing the name of a retired Judge.
|
|
|
Buy power meters from 7 listed firms
Patiala, October 19 The corporation would only install the connections according to the seniority list. For instance, consumer figuring at number 58 in the seniority list would have to wait for the first 57 connections to be installed before getting his connection. Most new connection seekers are of the view that PSPCL had done this to save its skin. “If even a single consumer in the seniority list is unwilling to purchase the meter, the rest won’t be able to avail the facility,” said a PSPCL official, preferring anonymity. Furthermore, only consumers seeking a new connection can purchase their own electricity meters and not those with defective/burnt meters. Despite repeated attempts, senior PSPCL officials were not available for comment.
|
|
|
Sufi fest in Amritsar from today
Amritsar, October 19 Geetika Kalha, Principal Secretary, Culture and Tourism, said 30 academicians from eight countries would explore and analyse the fundamentals and ideology of Sufism while 50 musicians, singers and dancing ‘darveshs’ would perform on the first day. There would be a poetry session on the concluding day in which 30 poets from different countries will take part, she added. She said ‘malangs’ from Pakistan, singers from Bangladesh and Afghanistan, dancers from Uzbekistan and an instrumental group from Turkey would be the highlights of a cultural performances. Adding to this international mix would be the folk orchestra of students from the college, she said. — TNS
|
|
|
Photo exhibition of
anti-Sikh riots at Jallianwala Bagh
New Delhi, October 19 A seminar on “Effective legislation against communal and sectarian violence" would be held on November 4, said senior advocate of the Supreme Court HS Phoolka. He said the photo exhibition and the seminar were being organised to pressurise the government into punishing the guilty as not one accused in the anti-Sikh riots had been convicted. He said there were only five cases being heard by courts, the rest having
been dismissed for want of evidence or witnesses. — TNS
|
|
|
Facing staff crunch, villagers lock
govt school’s gate
Sangrur, October 19 After this, the villagers along with students reached the Lehra-Sunam main road and blocked traffic by staging a dharna there. There are about 550 students in the school. But, half of the sanctioned posts of teacher, including that of principal, were lying vacant, a villager claimed. Traffic on the road remained suspended for more than two hours from 1 pm to 3 pm. Mohinder Singh, a member of a sangharsh committee constituted by villagers for taking the issue to a logical conclusion, said 20 posts of teaching staff were lying vacant at present. Deputy District Education Officer (Secondary) Balwinder Singh said the department would try to address the issue at the earliest.
— TNS
|
|
|
CM backs Army Institute’s plea
Mohali, October 19 Addressing the fourth convocation of the institute, Badal said giving AIL a deemed university status would go a long way in making it one of the best institutions in the field of legal education. He exhorted the students to play a pro-active role as upholders of law and justice in society and reminded them of their foremost duty to bring justice to the downtrodden, the underprivileged and the poor sections. Conceding the request of the AIL for starting LLM classes from the next academic session, the Chief Minister asked the management to send a proposal to him in this regard so that he could take up the matter with the Vice-Chancellor of Punjabi University,
Patiala. Over 100 students from three different batches were awarded degrees.
|
|
3 drug peddlers arrested in Patiala
Patiala, October 19 Three police officials including incharge, Patran CIA, was suspended following the incident, wherein the accused had taken away their criminal records along with them. Patiala Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Gill said the accused Karnail Singh, Joga Singh and Naresh were arrested from near Patran. The three accused were earlier arrested under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act and
were being questioned by Patran CIA. Police failed to elaborate how suspended Patran CIA incharge Karnail Singh was a member of the team that arrested the accused. “We had reinstated Karnail Singh a couple of days back though he still faces a departmental probe for negligence,” Gill said. Three police officers deputed with the CIA Patran were suspended for dereliction of duty after three drug peddlers had escaped from their jail cell and taken away their
criminal records from the police station. Gill said the relatives of the accused managed to provide them with a blade hidden in their home-cooked food, which they used to cut the iron grills of the jail. Sub Inspector Jarnail Singh, CIA incharge, Patran, Assistant Sub Inspector Ajaib Singh and CIA staff member Gian Singh were suspended and an FIR was registered against the accused, who fled from the barracks. The accused cut a six-inch gap in the iron grill of their jail cell and escaped through it. The family members of the accused rubbished the theory, claiming that the police was hiding facts.
|
|
|
Gang of vehicle thieves busted
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 19 The arrested accused have been identified as Randhir Singh alias Dheera, resident of Dera Singh Cheeka, Haryana, Harbhajan Singh alias Bhajan, resident of Jind, Rosha, resident of Kaithal, Mohinder Ram, resident of Khanna (Punjab). One of their accomplices Sant Singh, a resident of Model Town, Khanna, managed to escape. Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Hardial Singh Mann said Gobindgarh CIA staff incharge Gurpinderpal Singh had received information that the gang was seen in the area. Members of the gang took away the vehicles at gun point and sold its parts after dismantling the vehicles. The police team raided the place and arrested the accused. Mann said three stolen vehicles including two Tata 407 mini-trucks and a Qualis van had been recovered from the accused. He said the police had also recovered a country-made pistol along with 3 live cartridges, one knife and few iron rods from their possession. Mann said during the investigation the accused told the police that a stolen trailer was parked in the godown, rented by Sant Singh in Mandi Gobindgarh. The police has recovered the vehicle which had been dismantled after cutting its body. The SSP said the accused had revealed that they had stolen these vehicles from Kundli barrier, Azad Nagar, Delhi and a barrier near Gurdwara Sahib Majnu ka Tilla. He said the interrogation of theaccused
was on.
|
|
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Letters | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | E-mail | |
The Central Investigation Agency (CIA) staff of the local police busted a four-member gang of interstate vehicle thieves active in Punjab, Haryana and Delhi here today.
The arrested accused have been identified as Randhir Singh alias Dheera, resident of Dera Singh
Cheeka, Haryana, Harbhajan Singh alias Bhajan, resident of Jind, Rosha, resident of
Kaithal, Mohinder Ram, resident of Khanna (Punjab).
Chandigarh, October 19