Jalandhar November 16
One person died and 14 others, including a Deputy Superintendent of Police (Jail), Amritsar, and four other policemen, injured, as 15 vehicles collided with each others on the Jalandhar-Amritsar highway early this morning. The deceased was a constable in the Amritsar jail.

Three injured were stated to be in a critical condition. Some also sustained fractures.

The accident occurred at 7 am this morning. Inspector Balbir Singh of the Police Division No 1 said the accident occurred due to the negligence of the driver of a truck trailer. The moment the driver took a U-turn on the highway without giving any signal, a speeding bus of the Punjab Roadways coming from the rear rammed into it and other vehicles followed. Low visibility due to fog also added to the problem as the drivers of the vehicles might not have been able to notice the truck taking a U-turn.

Soon after the collision, other vehicles - an Esteem, Verna, Qualis, Tata 407, private bus and other cars - started colliding with each other and rendered several injured.

The DSP (Jail), Amrtisar, Kulwant Singh Sidhu, along with his brother Karnail and two constables Paramjit Singh and Dilbag Singh was travelling in a Verna car, which rammed into a bus. In the collision, the DSP and his brother sustained minor injuries, while constable Paramjit, resident of Fathegarh Churia, died. Sources said constable Dilbag, who was in a critical condition, was undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

Harpreet Singh of Bath Pind, near Batala, and Sawaran Singh, a constable of IRB 4 Battalion of Jalandhar, travelling in a bus, sustained fractures in the accident. The Inspector revealed that constable Mahavir, head constable Sarabjit of Ludhiana and his wife, travelling in an Esteem car, sustained minor injuries.

Santoon Yadav of Sirsa, his brother-in-law Babu Sahib and Parmod Yadav of Ludhiana, who were travelling in the bus, sustained injuries on their noses and teeth. Sub-inspector (retd) Balwinder Singh, and a constable of 27 Battalion of Punjab Armed Police (PAP), sitting near the driver seat in the bus heading to Ludhiana from Amritsar, also sustained injuries.

Inspector Balbir Singh said after impounding the truck trailer, a case under Section 304 of the IPC was registered against the truck driver. A hunt had been launched to nab the accused.

Jalandhar, November 16
Moved by the continuing ignorance towards special persons, some city do-gooders have come together to form a club, which will be undertaking the task of conducting marriages of special persons in the city who are having difficulty in finding a match for themselves.

Titled Sanjog, the club will start a marriage bureau strictly for special boys and girls.

The convener of Sanjog, Dharam Paul Khanna, said, “It has been noticed that the families of special persons usually have to suffer humiliation, harassment and hardships when attempting to get their sons/daughters married off.”

“To ease their discomfort, our club will be on the lookout for such boys and girls willing to get married and will make matches for them. While the foremost plan of the NGO is to get special couples married, we will make matches of well-to-do special couples and will also be funding the weddings of couples from poorer backgrpunds,” Khanna said.

Founder members of the NGO Khanna, who has a 47-year-old polio-affected son, is a retired librarian from the Government College of Education.

“My son was afflicted with polio when he was eight. It was him and many other handicapped people in the neighbourhood that gave me the inspiration to do something of this sort 18 years after my retirement,” Khanna said.

“In my neighbourhood and elsewhere, I have seen people suffering from physical handicaps get an environment that also makes them mentally handicapped. Constant reminders of their physical inabilities and insensitive neighbours or relatives cause their social life to be dead. Marriage is important but scared parents think their children will never lead a successful married life,” said Khanna.

"Our attempt will be to ward off these inhibitions among both parents and such persons and encourage marriages by finding matches for such people", he said.

Khanna’s group of 15 people includes his friend Manjit Singh, also a retired gazetted officer.

There will be no membership fee and the club will run on donations only. The office of Sanjog will be at Khanna’s residence in Sant Nagar.

Jalandhar, November 16
To closely monitor cleanliness and traffic woes of commuters on all main roads of the city, Mayor Sunil Jyoti has plans to start a new project, "Adopt a road", from the next month.

As per the proposal, the Mayor will go on one main road with his official staff and listen to the grievances of residents and passersby. In three to four days' time, he will concentrate on the same road and ensure that the roads and central verges are properly swept, all encroachments are removed and any technical problem in the smooth flow of traffic is taken care of.

Divulging his plan, Jyoti said it was a low-budget project, wherein the beautification of roads, including pruning of bushes, planting of more ornamental plants, patching potholes, taking care of signage or marking on roads, would be done.

He said public participation would be encouraged to seek their valuable suggestions so that the MC was able to make some improvements in the near future.

Jyoti added that he would begin the project from the entrance roads to the city from surrounding areas, including those from Phagwara, Amritsar, Nakodar and Kapurthala. "After this, we will concentrate on main roads criss-crossing the city, including Bhagwan Mahavir Marg, Garha Road, Model Town roads and Skylark Chowk road, and so on. We will continue with the project for about 45 to 60 days," he added.

Asked if issues such as drainage would also be taken care of, he said, "With financial crunch on, I don't think bigger issues can be handled right now. Those problems would be dealt with only when we get some funds."

Jalandhar, November 16
A youth, Satpal Singh, alias Bunty (27), resident of the Basti Mithu locality, who was brutally beaten up by some youths on Divali night, today succumbed to the injuries. Acting on the complaint of the deceased’s mother, eight persons have been booked for murder. One of the accused has also been arrested.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (West) RPS Sandhu said at 11 pm on November 13 Satpal was eating a burger when he was attacked by the youths. Satpal had sustained severe injuries in the attack and was undergoing treatment at a private hospital, where he succumbed to the injuries.

Sandhu said Satpal's mother Jeet Kaur in her complaint had alleged that her son was beaten up by Mandip, Deepu, Jarnail, alias Jaila, Sunny, Aman, Rinku and Bunty, all of Basti Mithu, and Ajay of Basti Peerdass. Sandhu said one of the accused Jarnial, alias Jaila, was arrested today.

Shahkot, November 16
The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has suspended a gurdwara manager and a storekeeper for allegedly consuming drugs. The services of two other temporary employees have been terminated by the management.

The SGPC had taken the action after watching a video footage in which the manager and storekeeper were found consuming a drug.

Confirming this, manager of Ber Sahib Gurdwara at Sultanpur Lodhi said manager Satnam Singh and storekeeper Jaswant Singh of a gurdwara at Bajwa Kalan village had been placed under immediate suspension by the SGPC. After watching the video and then conducting an investigation, the SGPC found the duo guilty.

Two other temporary employees Surinder Singh and Tirth Singh were also found guilty of having drug and their services were terminated.

Baldev Kalyan, SGPC member from Shahkot, said the SGPC had recently taken the decision after going through the video footage.