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Shruti taken ill, shifted to hospital in Faridkot
Inaccessible despite Badal’s claim
PCC to reassess chances of sitting MPs
Capt hits out at Bhattal
Monitor Central funds given to Punjab, Jakhar urges PM
Not just weddings, Ludhianvis spend tidy sum on challans too
Police Commissioner Ishwar Singh at a press meet. A Tribune photo
Cold store plan comes a cropper
3 sewer men die in Kapurthala
Rescue operation in progress at the mishap site. Tribune photo
799 ITI trainees picked
by auto majors: Joshi
Punjab ups efforts to nail drug peddlers
Chemists refuse to file monthly return
Punjab Govt okays Rs 140-cr road widening projects
Adarsh school staff on warpath
Four years on, no action against guilty officers
Sarabhdyal’s remand extended by a day
Army job racket busted; 1 arrested
Spurious milk unit raided in Fatehgarh Sahib
Officials of the health and police departments with seized material in Fatehgarh Sahib. A Tribune photograph
Highway robbers on prowl
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Mysterious killer strain haunts Batala colony
Batala, October 28 Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Dr Abhinav Trikha rushed to Batala today and visited the affected Gandhi camp area with a team of officials from the Health, Local Bodies and Revenue departments. Addressing the media later, Trikha claimed that the deaths were not because of gastroenteritis. "My statement is based on the Civil Surgeon's report, which says the deaths that have occurred in the last four days are not due to gastroenteritis, as was being made out by a section of the society. However, just to be on the right side, I have deputed a team of senior doctors of the Batala Civil Hospital to do a door-to-door survey in the Gandhi camp area," he said. The Deputy Commissioner's statement has virtually opened a Pandora's box with residents asking the officials and doctors that if not gastro, what exactly could be the cause behind the 14 deaths in a particular locality. "More than 30 people have died in the Gandhi camp area alone in just a fortnight. Is it possible to have so many natural deaths in a single locality as is being claimed by the doctors and other district administration officials, including the Deputy Commissioner. Whenever a death occurs, politicians make a beeline to our locality, promising us precautionary measures. But, their assurances have failed to address the problem. Doctors themselves are confused," said Rakesh Kumar, a relative of a victim. Another resident, Leela Devi, said, "There appears no end to the dance of death. Doctors say it is neither gastro nor cholera. Then how can so many natural deaths occur in just one colony?" Senior Medical Officer of the Civil Hospital Dr Sukhdeep Singh too attributed the deaths to natural causes. However, he could not explain as to why all these casualties were happening in Gandhi camp area alone and nowhere else. He claimed that the three deaths reported today were due to an assortment of ailments, including heart attack and brain haemorrhage. "A 102-year-old woman died today. It was a natural death. How can we say she died due to gastroenteritis?" he said. unanswered questions Can 14 natural deaths, as is being claimed by the health officials, occur in a particular colony in as many days Why no such deaths have been reported in colonies adjoining the affected Gandhi Camp area in Batala Is the administration and the health department trying to indulge in a face-saving exercise by claiming that all the deaths were natural What district administration has to say victim version “Whenever a death occurs, politicians make a beeline to our locality. But, their assurances have failed to address the problem. Doctors themselves are confused”
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Shruti taken ill, shifted to hospital in Faridkot
Faridkot, October 28 Before taking her to the hospital, a police team produced Shruti before the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Faridkot, for taking the court’s permission. Escorted by heavy police force, Shruti was first taken to the local Civil Hospital and later shifted to GGSMCH. A panel of five doctors, including a radiologist, gynecologist, and a psychiatrist, has been constituted for her medical examination. Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat and Senior Superintendent of Police GS Toor also rushed to the hospital. A heavy police force was deployed outside the hospital as a large number of action committee members, who have been fighting for justice to Shruti’s family, also gathered there and raised slogans. A police team also rushed to bring Shruti’s parents to the hospital. Family to move HC Talking to mediapersons here today, committee members Sarbjit Bhana and Buta Singh said that the committee, along with 40 other organisations, would hold a dharna at the Nari Niketan, Jalandhar, on October 31 where Shruti is lodged. The committee members alleged that the police was not allowing anyone to meet the minor girl who, despite being a victim, she being treated as a criminal. The members said a rally would be held in the constituency of the CM's daughter-in-law Harsimrat Kaur (Bathinda) on November 9. " Harsimrat runs Nanhi Chhan. We are sure she will show kindness to the poor girl," they added. The joint action committer has approached the National Woman Commission on the matter.
Inaccessible despite Badal’s claim
Jalandhar, October 28 Badal had said at a function in Bathinda yesterday that there was no restriction on anybody meeting Shruti and that she was not being tutored by the police to speak against her parents to save Nishan Singh, son of an Akali leader who was in police custody. Badal's media adviser Harcharan Singh Bains proved of no help in the matter, claiming he he was in Delhi. State Director-General of Police (DGP) Sumedh Singh Saini was said to be busy at a meeting. Daljit Singh Cheema, SAD spokesperson, said since Shruti was at the Nari Niketan on the orders of the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Faridkot, court permission would have to be sought for meeting her. Nari Niketan sources said Shruti was in solitary confinement in a guest room on the top floor of the shelter home. “She is not allowed to come out of the room and interact with any other girl. Not even a counsellor has been allowed to talk to her. Police personnel in plainclothes are maintaining a vigil over her. Only a woman Assistant Sub-Inspector attends to her needs ”, the sources said.
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PCC to reassess chances of sitting MPs
Chandigarh, October 28
Besides re-assessing the chances of its sitting MPs, the party has to come up with new candidates for the Amritsar and Khadoor Sahib seats with its former candidates OP Soni and Rana Gurjeet having been elected to the state assembly. In Amritsar, the party is toying with the idea of fielding a celebrity and may approach Ajay Devgan. There is a perception that the party is weak in all the four reserved seats of Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Faridkot and Fatehgarh Sahib. The party may allot the Faridkot seat to the Left in the 2014 Lok Sabha poll in case of a tie-up with the Sanjha Morcha. The PCC is keen on changing its candidates in both Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur represented by Mohinder Singh Kaypee and Santosh Chaudhary, respectively. A number of Dalit ministers who lost the assembly elections, a Youth Congress leader and a retired police officer are prospective candidates from these seats. In case of Fatehgarh Sahib, a change may have to be effected because of sitting MP Sukhdev Singh Libra's old age. The PCC is also wary of the victory prospects of its young MPs, including Sangrur MP Vijay Inder Singla and Anandpur Sahib MP Ravneet Singh Bittu. But it is yet to be seen how much leverage the PCC will have in the allocation of the party ticket as these young MPs are Rahul Gandhi's nominees. The party is also considered on a weak wicket in Ludhiana. This impression is likely to change with Manish Tewari, Ludhiana MP, being inducted into the Union Cabinet. PCC president Capt Amarinder Singh, when questioned on the issue, said the PCC had conducted a survey of candidates for the 2014 parliamentary elections and would be sending its panel to the high command, Sonia Gandhi. Amarinder said he was keen to finalise ticket allotment at least six months prior to the parliamentary elections so that the candidates got enough time to turn the tide against the SAD-BJP alliance.
Capt hits out at Bhattal
Chandigarh, October 28 In a statement today, Capt Amarinder said if Bhattal had any views on the functioning of the party, she should place these before the party high command. The PCC president said the high command had asked all leaders not to air their opinion on the party functioning in public and a senior leader like Bhattal should follow these guidelines, lest it led to confusion in the party rank and file. Amarinder said Bhattal had been a party to all decisions, whether it was election campaign or ticket distribution, and that he was surprised at her claim that wrong ticket distribution was responsible for the assembly poll debacle.
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Monitor Central funds given to Punjab, Jakhar urges PM
Jalandhar, October 28 During a brief interaction with Dr Manmohan Singh at Adampur airbase here today, Jakhar said: “The UPA government has taken bold initiatives to make India’s growth more inclusive. But there is an urgent need to ensure that the benefits of welfare schemes reach the targeted section of society”. A delegation of eight Punjab Congressmen, led by Jakhar, welcomed the Prime Minister during the latter’s brief halt at Adampur en route to Una in Himachal Pardesh. Other members of the delegation included Jalandhar MP Mohinder Singh KP, Punjab Youth Congress president Vikram Choudhary, District Youth Congress (urban) president Arun Walia, District Youth Congress (rural) president Kamaljit Singh Lalli, former ministers Jagjit Singh, Amarjit Singh Samra and Adampur Congress incharge Satnam Singh Kainth. Dr Manomohan Singh arrived in a special aircraft at Adampur airbase at 2.45 pm and left for Una in a helicopter at 3.05 pm. On his way back, he landed at Adampur at 4.55 pm and left at 5.02 pm. Jakhar also informed the Prime Minister that the exercise to enroll people under the UID Aadhaar project was yet to be completed in the state. He urged the PM to ensure 100 per cent coverage of the state’s population under the project. The CLP leader said since more than 30 per cent of the state’s population belonged to the Scheduled Caste, direct transfer of cash subsidy to them should be a priority. The move would help curb corrupt practices and benefit the targeted section of society, he said. Saying that unemployment was driving the state youth towards drugs, he requested the PM to allocate heavy industry projects to the state to help generate employment opportunities for the unemployed youth.
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Not just weddings, Ludhianvis spend tidy sum on challans too
Ludhiana, October 28 At a press conference here today, Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh said: “The strict implementation of traffic rules has started yielding results. Last year, we generated Rs 2 crore from traffic challans and this year we have generated a revenue of over Rs 4 crore already.” He said the police had collected Rs 67 lakh from its tow-away drive and realised Rs 1.5 crore from criminals in the past nine months. “We have been able to bring down the crime rate in the city substantially, having busted 172 gangs and arrested 517 notorious criminals. We have also solved 17 murder cases. Our biggest achievement has been foiling carjacking attempts,” said Ishwar Singh. He said police efficacy would improve further with 200 women constables all set to join the city police. “Our biggest achievement has been uprooting the notorious biker gang which had spread panic in Focal Point areas. “We have seized 46 pistols, 33 quintals of poppy husk, 22 kg charas, 40kg of poppy husk and 65 kg of ganja worth several crore of rupees in the past nine months and nabbed at least 299 proclaimed offenders," Ishwar Singh added.
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Cold store plan comes a cropper
Chandigarh, October 28 Despite 40 per cent subsidy offered by the Union Government under its capital investment subsidy scheme for construction, modernisation and expansion of cold storage facilities, not many individuals have come forward to set up controlled atmosphere cold stores in the state. In fact, only one such storage facility has been built in the state: at Hoshiarpur (Leeca Controlled Atmosphere Cold Store with a capacity of 1,000 tonnes). Another veggie store with a capacity of 5,000 tonnes is under construction in Kharar. These two stores belong to private parties, thus, signifying that over the past decade since the scheme was introduced, no cooperative society, agriculture produce marketing committee or marketing board has come forward to set up any such facility in the public sector. Sources in the state Horticulture Department said the store that had been completed too was non-functional, mainly because of lack of awareness among farmers about the facility and unwillingness of traders to pay slightly higher cost for storage. Col (retd) GS Sandhu, one of the partners in Leeca store, said though the store would have been of great help, traders were not willing to shell out an extra amount for using the facility. “Traders are happy paying storage charges of Rs 12 to Rs 14 per box in normal cold stores rather than paying 75 paisa per month per kg of produce in our cold store. As the operational cost of running a controlled atmosphere cold store is much higher, we cannot operate it till there is enough demand,” he said. About 25 to 30 per cent of our farm produce is lost due to lack of post-harvest losses. Besides, the quality of a sizeable quantity of the left-over produce deteriorates by the time it reaches the consumer.
About the scheme * The Union Government provides 40 per cent subsidy under its capital investment scheme * The plan envisages construction, modernisation and expansion of cold storage facilities * However, the state government's agricultural wings have failed to promote the scheme * As such, not many individuals have come forward to set up high-tech cold stores in the state
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3 sewer men die in Kapurthala
Kapurthala, October 28 Sources said the three had been hired for cleaning a main sewer on the Kanjli road. Jojo was the first to go inside the sewer. When he did not re-emerge, his brother Gora entered the sewer.When both failed to return, their friend Sonu went inside. None of them were wearing a safety kit such as a gas mask and gloves. At this, Sonu’s friend Ramesh got alarmed and rushed to inform the authorities concerned. Employees of the Kapurthala Municipal Municipal Council reached the site but they too did not have any safety equipment. Hence, none of them dared to enter the sewer. Meanwhile the police also arrived at the spot. Two JCB machines were pressed into service and the sewer was broken. It reportedly took about two hours to pull out the sewermen who were taken to the local Civil Hospital but were declared “brought dead” by the doctors. An FIR has been registered against those who had hired the sewermen. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has announced an ex-gratia grant of Rs 1 lakh for the kin of the deceased.
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799 ITI trainees picked by auto majors: Joshi
Chandigarh, October 28 Anil Joshi, Technical Education and Industrial Training Minister, said the state ITIs were focusing on employability of trainees and training them accordingly. He said the department had organised employment fairs at Patiala, Rajpura and Batala in which more than 2,021 trainees/students had participated and 799 were selected by the two auto majors. He said there were 111 government and 294 private ITIs in the state providing training to over 64,000 students every year. Emphasising on training 30,000 heavy vehicle drivers annually, the minister said the demand for skilled drivers was high both in India and abroad. —TNS
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Punjab ups efforts to nail drug peddlers
Jalandhar, October 28
Hayer claimed traffickers had been smuggling poppy husk, opium and other dry drugs from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir to Punjab while heroin and other such drugs were being brought from areas bordering Pakistan. Rajinder Singh, Superintendent of Police, said the amount of drug seizures in the current year was alarming. He said as many as 180 smugglers were arrested in 176 cases from March 1 to October 27 last year. The police had recovered 62 quintals of poppy husk, 638 gm of smack, 18.8 kg of opium, 3.53 kg of heroin, besides 2.7 kg of intoxicant powder. From March to October 27 this year, the police had arrested 432 smugglers in 315 cases under the NDPS Act and seized 184.7 quintals of poppy husk, 39.1 kg of methafitamine (ice or rave party drug) and 14.1 kg of chemical, 46.8 kg of opium, 1 kg of smack, 2.18 kg of charas, 11.02 kg of heroin, 1.5 kg of cocaine, 12.85 kg of intoxicant powder and synthetic drugs in bulk. Rajinder Singh said the drive of the state police against the drug menace had been intensified and more arrests and seizures were likely to be made in the coming months. 2 held with 10 kg opium in Patiala The local police today arrested two members of an inter-state gang with 10 kg of opium worth Rs 5 lakh. Patiala SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill said a police team under Nabha DSP Rajwinder Singh Sohal and Sub-Inspector Amanpal Singh nabbed the duo from the Satsang road and seized 5 kg of opium each from them. The accused had been identified as Ishwar Singh, son of Ganga Ram, and Manohar Singh, son of Sultan Singh. Gill said a case under NDPS Act had been registered. He said they were members of an inter-state gang which was active in Punjab and Haryana. — TNS
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Scheduled HX drugs
Amritsar, October 28 In a meeting held here, the association threatened to go on a strike all over the state in case the government failed to pay heed to their demands. It has also decided to submit a memorandum to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. Surinder Duggal, association president, said the Drug Controller had asked all the chemists to submit their reports on the sale and purchase of Scheduled HX drugs by the seventh of every month. He said the government should act as per the Drugs and Cosmetic Act. Such orders were meant to harass the chemists, he said. Rajesh Suri, zonal licensing authority, said the department had issued a notice to all chemists who had been asked to submit their monthly reports in time. “In case of failure on their part, necessary action will be initiated by the department,” said Suri.
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Punjab Govt okays Rs 140-cr road widening projects
Chandigarh, October 28 PWD Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon said both these projects had been allotted. The work would be started in April next year and completed by December 2014. He said the Kotkapura-Sri Muktsar Sahib road widening project would have two high-level bridges. The minister said the widening of the Kotkapura-Sri Muktsar Sahib road would help ease traffic on NH-95 (Ludhiana-Ferozepur Road) to NH-15. Similarly, the four-laning of the Batala-Mehta-Beas road would eliminate traffic congestion on this route, besides benefiting commuters on the NH-1 (Jalandhar-Amritsar) and the NH-15 (Amritsar-Pathankot). He said four-laning of the 56-km-long Ropar-Chamkaur Sabhib-Neelon-Doraha road was being executed at a cost of Rs 240 crore along the Sirhind Canal and the project would be completed by August 2014. "The four-laning of a 30-km-long stretch of the Morinda-Kurali-Siswan-Baddi road would be completed by June 2014," he said.
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Adarsh school staff on warpath
Bathinda, October 28 The protesters lifted the dharna following an assurance by the SDM, Bathinda, Rambir, to bring a solution to their problem by discussing it with senior functionaries in the government. The protesting teachers alleged the sanctioned salaries do not reach the teaching staff and others working at Adarsh Schools. "At many schools, the teachers are told to repay a certain amount. This should be probed by government agencies concerned to punish the guilty. Though the practice has been curbed at several schools, it is still continuing in some schools of Punjab,” said association president Nachhattar Singh. The issue of irregularities in disbursal of salaries and misuse of other funds had already been brought to the notice of the Punjab Government but no action has been taken so far, he alleged.
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Community centre scam
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 28 The project remained mired in controversies right from its initiation. The then Local Bodies Minister Manoranjan Kalia had even ordered the suspension of junior engineer HS Jandhu in 2008 and sought action against other officers indicted by the Vigilance Bureau. However, no action was taken against them. The then Vigilance Director in his report in 2008 had stated: “Even as the community centre is situated at a hilltop, Jandhu spent Rs 4,83,306 on earth work. Similarly, Rs 72,038 were paid to a contractor for the removal of 848.69 cubic metre of malba from the site, which could have been used for filling purposes”. Last month, the Principal Secretary, Local Bodies Department, handed over the probe to retired IAS officer MM Oberoi. The Executive Officer, Municipal Council, confirmed that an inquiry was being held by Oberoi. RTI activist NK Syal said Jandhu, who was suspended on June 6, 2008, was reinstated on March 2, 2009, even as an inquiry was pending against him. The building of a community centre has now developed cracks allegedly due to substandard material used in its construction. Interestingly, not a single function was held at the community centre since its completion in 2008. The centre, built with financial assistance from the Centre under the Integrated Development of Small and Medium Towns (IDSMT) scheme, has turned into a safe haven for drug addicts.
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Sarabhdyal’s remand extended by a day
Amritsar, October 28
Sarabhdyal would now be produced in the court tomorrow. The public prosecutor produced before the court records gathered by the Vigilance Bureau, which showed alleged embezzlement of Rs 47 lakh. After hearing the arguments, the duty magistrate asked the prosecutor to deposit the documents in the court. The Vigilance Bureau had sought a two-day police remand for further investigations but going by the arguments of the defence counsel, the court extended Sarabhdyal's police remand only by a day. It sent four other, including Harjit Singh, Jagtar Singh, Balwinder Singh and Sushil Kumar, to judicial custody. Jagtar Singh, Balwinder Singh and Sushil Kumar were arrested yesterday by the Vigilance Bureau for allegedly bungling discretionary funds amounting to Rs 47 lakh. While Harjit, Jagtar and Balwinder allegedly prepared fake bank accounts, Sushil was instrumental in getting these accounts opened in connivance with other bank employees arrested in the multi-crore scam.
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Army job racket busted; 1 arrested
Ferozepur, October 28 The police today arrested Parkash Singh, a resident of Muktsar district, and booked two Army personnel, all of whom were allegedly involved in the racket. The army authorities had organised a recruitment rally last month. After several rounds of medical and fitness tests, 1,135 candidates were shortlisted for written examination, which was held today. Sources said the members behind the racket collected admit cards of the candidates appearing in the test and later took money from them for facilitating their selection. Police has recovered five admit cards from Prakash Singh, besides cash reportedly taken from an aspirant. The Army personnel allegedly involved in the racket have been identified as subedar Kundan Singh and havildar Sukhwinder Singh, both of whom have not been arrested so far. "The extent of their connivance has not been ascertained yet," said an intelligence official. A case under Section 420 of the IPC has been registered at the cantonment police station and further investigations are on. modus operandi
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Spurious milk unit raided in Fatehgarh Sahib
Fatehgarh Sahib, October 28 The team seized 2 quintals of skimmed milk, 50 kg of chemicals, tins of refined oil and ghee and synthetic milk. The district police has registered a case and arrested the culprits. Dr Jaswant Singh said on a tip-off, the health officials raided a house in the village. During a search, a huge quantity of raw material, including chemicals, used in preparing synthetic milk was found, he said, adding samples of the material had been sent for a chemical analysis. District Health Officer Dr Tarsem Singh and Food Inspector from Ludhiana Harpreet Kaur were part of the raiding team. The Civil Surgeon said due to a rise in the demand for milk during the festival season, anti-social elements were indulging in preparing synthetic milk. He urged the people to give information about adulteration on mobile phone number 8872090950. The name of the informer would be kept secret, he added.
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Highway robbers on prowl
Muktsar, October 28 On the night of October 26, unidentified persons snatched a truck loaded with paddy bags after thrashing its driver, who was sleeping in the vehicle after parking it on a roadside on the Jalalabad road. "Driver Mohan Lal, who had to unload paddy bags at a rice mill, had parked the truck on the outskirts of the city, waiting to deliver the stock in the morning. But around 1 am, robbers attacked him and ran away with the loaded truck valued about Rs 11.5 lakh," said the police. On October 21, five persons, including a girl, snatched an Alto car, which they had hired from Gidderbaha to go to Dabwali in Haryana, from its driver near Mehna village in Lambi assembly constituency. The police said the driver, Pardeep Kumar, had lodged a complaint alleging that the robbers posed as natives of Husnar village and hired the car for Rs 650 to go to Dabwali at about 6:30 pm on October 21. "After reaching near Mehna village, an occupant told me that he was not feeling well and I slowed down the car. Taking advantage of the slow speed and the darkness outside, they thrashed me, snatched my cell phone and fled with the car," the complainant said. These vehicle robbing incidents have created panic among the commuters who now say that the policemen must intensify patrolling, especially during night hours, so that they could travel without any fear. "The festival season is on and people have to go to their relatives to greet them. But, the increasing number of theft and vehicle snatching incidents have been stopping them from doing so. It has even become a risky job to attend a wedding at night," said Mahinder Pal Nagpal of Malout. Other residents also aired similar views saying that the attendance of policemen deployed on roads for night patrolling must be checked twice during their duty hours. Senior Superintendent of Police Surjit Singh said, "Due to the ongoing festival season, all SHOs and other officials have already been told to intensify patrolling in their respective areas. Arrangements are also being made to keep an eye on history-sheeters. Policemen have also been deployed at all busy markets."
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The recent spate of deaths, 14 over the last four days and of them three in the last 24 hours, has shocked the residents and government officials alike.
Ludhianavis are known for spending lavishly on marriage parties. It is now learnt that they spend a tidy sum on challans too. The city traffic police has collected a whopping Rs 4 crore by way of challans in the past nine months.
At a press conference here today, Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh said: “The strict implementation of traffic rules has started yielding results. Last year, we generated Rs 2 crore from traffic challans and this year we have generated a revenue of over Rs 4 crore already.”
Three sewermen, two of them brothers, were asphyxiated while trying to clean a sewer here this afternoon.
Jojo, his brother Gora of Tarlokpura locality and their friend Sonu of Ajit Nagar were private sewermen who worked for a paltry sum.
Sources said the three had been hired for cleaning a main sewer on the Kanjli road. Jojo was the first to go inside the sewer.
A team of the district health department, led by Civil Surgeon Dr Jaswant Singh, unearthed a synthetic milk preparing unit run by Balwinder Singh in Mathi village.
The team seized 2 quintals of skimmed milk, 50 kg of chemicals, tins of refined oil and ghee and synthetic milk. The district police has registered a case and arrested the culprits.
According to the party's internal assessment, the only candidate sure of being re-elected is Patiala MP and Union Minister of State Preneet Kaur. It feels another candidate who could pull through is Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa. The party feels the remaining 11 candidates MPs are on a weak wicket.
Yurinder Singh Hayer, Chief of the Jalandhar (rural) police, said a list of over 50 persons booked in NDPS cases had been prepared and the process to attach their properties was underway.