Jalandhar, October 22
The Shahkot police is yet to record statements of the injured persons in a recent Gurdwara clash case at Dhandowal village in Shahkot.

Four persons had sustained injuries in a clash that took place in the Gurdwara over holding an “akhand path”.

Three injured persons of a Sikh body, Panthak Sewa Lehar, were identified as Sandeep Singh of Kania Kalan, Sukhdev Singh of Nangal Ambia and Sarabjit Singh of Badala village. They were undergoing treatment at Nakodar Civil Hospital. All these injured were among five booked in attempt to murder case and for outraging religious feelings. One of their accomplices Major Singh of Manakpur village was already arrested by the police.

Police sources said raids were being conducted to nab the accused at large.

Paramjit Singh of a rival group, Dera Icchadhari, was undergoing treatment at the Shahkot Civil Hospital. On his statement, the police had booked the above said persons.

DSP Shahkot Mukhwinder Singh could not be contacted on his phone despite repeated attempts.

Jalandhar, October 22
The Police Division No. 8 today brought Bhai Daljit Singh Bittu on production warrant from Nabha jail to interrogate him about his links with the arrested militant Jaswant Singh. Azad was recently arrested by the city police.

Bittu was a president of the Akali Dal Panch Pardhani. He was arrested by the Ludhiana police from his residence in Gurdev Nagar, Ludhiana, on September 21, along with Kulbir Singh Barapind, for their alleged involvement in anti-state activities to revive terrorism in Punjab.

Police sources said Bittu was sent on three-day police remand and the city police would grill him to explore his links with Jaswant. — OC

Jalandhar, October 22
Buckling under pressure from property dealers and politicians involved in the sale and purchase of land, the Punjab Government has extended the time period for allowing the issuing of registries on the basis of Power of Attorneys for another two months.

The district administration had curtailed the procedure of illegal transactions of land by devising and implementing a foolproof method of evasion of huge amount of stamp duty on August 4.

However, the reform introduced for the Revenue Department turned out to be a big headache for the city’s top realtors, councillors and local politicians involved in such deals, who perhaps took up the matter with the state’s top bosses and got the implementation of the reform postponed for two months on August 29. The reason cited was that the government wanted it to be implemented across the state uniformly.

As the time frame of two months was to lapse on October 29, the government has yet again postponed its implementation to December 31. Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti confirmed having received a missive in this regard.

No registry was done on the basis of Power of Attorneys between August 4 and August 29. The orders had been passed after it was being seen that the number of registries done in a month were almost equivalent to the number of Power of Attorneys, which meant that there were a few genuine buyers and the properties were just changing hands. The district revenue authorities had then directed the sub-registrars to get filled a new proforma of transactions from all applicants coming for getting Power of Attorneys done.

The sub-registrars had been directed to also register the documents, which reflect the transaction, seek details of the bank account of the buyer and seller, get copies of bank statement, amount paid and received and PAN number of the buyer and seller to verify the mentioned details. The details thus furnished were also being passed onto the Income Tax Department for checking the further evasion of taxes.

Jalandhar, October 22
In a broad daylight incident, two motorcycle-borne youths targeted a septuagenarian woman at Guru Nanak Nagri locality today. After leaving her injured, the duo snatched her gold bangles and escaped from the scene.

The victim was identified as Jai Rani, wife of Ram Sharam Das, resident of Harnamdas Pura.

She told the police that she was returning home after paying obeisance at Shri Ram Mandir located in the locality. The moment she reached near the Workshop Chowk, two motorcycle-borne youths, with their faces covered, stopped her on the way. After indulging in talks, they forcibly snatched her two gold bangles.

After stopping her, one of the youths first wished her good morning and then asked whether her bangles were of gold or artificial, the victim said.

Jai Rani said the moment she told them that she was wearing gold bangles, the youths suddenly pounced on her and attempted to snatch the same.

“When the miscreants could not snatch my bangles, they used sharp-edged iron cutter for the purpose and in the attempt, I sustained injuries on my hands,” she added.

A case under Section 382 of the IPC has been registered at the Police Division No. 2.

A police official said the victim was neither able to record the registration number of the vehicle nor identify the accused.

He said the police had launched a manhunt to nab the youths.

Jalandhar, October 22
Nearly 71 out of the 188 marriage palaces falling under the purview of the Jalandhar Development Authority (JDA) have submitted their details regarding the status of permissions and no-objection certificates (NOCs) taken from various government departments.

The exercise on the matter was initiated by the JDA last month after the Punjab and Haryana High Court had sought details of each palace in Jalandhar regarding CLUs, approval of building plans and percentage area left for parking.

While the Municipal Corporation has just sent in a readily available summary and has not done any hearing with the owners of 55 palaces falling in its jurisdiction, JDA officials have taken a lead in verifying each and every NOC claimed by them. The officials have even taken the willingness from the palace owners regarding their plans to continue with the business while persuading them to start applying for remaining requisite permissions from various departments.

Of the 71 palace owners, seven of Jalandhar appeared for hearing on October 3, representatives of 30 palaces from Hoshiarpur appeared for hearing on October 5 and nearly 15 marriage palace owners from Kapurthala turned up on October 8. A second opportunity to the palace owners of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur and Kapurthala was granted for October 19, during which 19 palace owners turned up.

Officials of the JDA are in the process of finalising a report on the matter and presenting it before the government for seeking further recommendations. All hearings were presided over by a district committee constituted for the purpose under Priyank Bharti, Deputy Commissioner-cum-JDA Chief Administrator.

Nakodar, October 22
In a tragic incident, a man and his two children were mowed down by a truck on the Jalandhar-Phagwara road here yesterday evening. The trio was returning home after paying obeisance at a local Church.

The deceased were identified as Jaswinder Pal Gharu (40), his daughter, Saleemo (14), and his son, Joshwa (12), all residents of Chakka Vendal village near here.

The truck driver, identified as Jaswant Singh of Raowal Sidhwa Gate, was nabbed by the police immediately after the incident.

Police sources said Jaswinder, a painter by profession, had gone to pay obeisance at the nearby Church on Sunday evening. While they were riding towards home on bike, they were hit by a speeding truck from the rear side. The trio fell down on the road after the accident and mowed down by the truck.

The sources said both children succumbed to their injuries on the spot, while their father breathed his last at the Nakodar Civil Hospital.

Heartrending scenes were witnessed outside the mortuary of the hospital, where their bodies were kept for the postmortem examination. The police had to struggle hard to control the mother of the children, who was trying to enter inside the mortuary.

Jalandhar, October 22
The Adampur police has booked a couple for defrauding a villager of several lakhs of rupees on the pretext of sending him abroad. The police has registered a case against the duo under Section 420 of the IPC.

The couple was identified as Gurwinder Singh and Nacchatar Kaur.

The complainant, Dalbir Singh of Alwalpur village, had complained to the police that the couple had promised him to send his son abroad and in lieu, a deal was struck at Rs 15 lakh.

Dalbir said he had also paid them Rs 7 lakh in advance.

“When they could not arrange visa for my son, I requested them to return my money. Though the couple assured me to return Rs 7 lakh, no payment was made till date,” the complainant told the police.

After conducting preliminary investigation of the complaint, the police registered a case of fraud against the couple and launched a manhunt to trace them.

Jalandhar, October 22
A small stretch of Garha Road near Punjab Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) has been in a bad shape for the past several months. Residents have been cursing the MC authorities and politicians concerned for not getting the road repaired.

The commuters rued that the Municipal Corporation had failed to initiate patching of the potholes on the road and they were forced to take a bumpy ride.

“I urge the MC authorities to initiate its repair work as soon as possible to prevent any sort of accident on the road,” said Sunny Sharma, resident of the Garha Road locality.

Manish Kumar, resident of Garha Road, alleges that due to its proximity to the ISBT, the road witnesses a huge rush of vehicular traffic and still the officials concerned have done nothing about it.