Jalandhar, November 18
The rural wing of the Crime Investigation Agency (CIA) today nabbed two youths and seized three pistols, live cartridges and 100 grams of heroin from their possession. The accused were wanted in several criminal cases in the past.

The accused have been identified as Ranjit Singh, a resident of Talwandi Sanghera village near Mehatpur, and Avtar Singh of Khadur Sahib. The accused, Ranjit, had recently shot at a youth of his village leaving him critically injured. The youth is still undergoing treatment at a hospital.

Angrej Singh, Inspector, CIA, said he along with his team had been patrolling near Gandra village. They intercepted two motorcycle-borne youths at Pandori village. On suspicion, he signaled them to stop for checking. Instead of stopping, the alleged youths attempted to flee, but their bike slipped off the road and they fell down.

When searched, police personnel seized 100 grams of heroin and a mouser of 7.65 bore with three live cartridges from Ranjit and .315 bore pistol with two live cartridges from Avtar.

During preliminary investigation, it was found that the accused had committed several crimes in the recent past and had several cases against them at various police stations of the district. Interrogation of the accused also led to the recovery of .32 bore revolver from the house of Ranjit.

The accused told the police that they had bought the weapons from Uttar Pradesh at Rs 70,000 and purchased .315 bore pistol with cartridges at Rs 7,000 from Singhpur village in Rajasthan.

The CIA inspector said the accused had been keeping weapons as they had enmity with several youths of the village. They were also active in drug smuggling. He said youths were notorious in the village as they often indulged in clashes with their rival groups.

A case under Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act and 21, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act was registered at Nakodar police station.

He said some of their accomplices were also identified and raids were on to nab them.

Arrested

The accused have been identified as Ranjit Singh, a resident of Talwandi Sanghera village near Mehatpur, and Avtar Singh of Khadur Sahib.

Recovery

100 gram heroin, one motorcycle without a number plate, a mouser 7.65 bore with three live cartridges, .32 bore revolver and a .315 bore pistol with two cartridges.

Procurement of arms

They bought weapons from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan

Latest crime

On Divali night, Ranjit had fired at Gurvinder Singh of the village leaving him injured. He was hit on his leg.

Jalandhar, November 18
A free medical check up camp was held at the local Kot Ram Das Abadi by the NGO Bachpan Bacaho Andolan and the Shaheed Ajit Singh Naujawan Society.

People (including children) sewing footballs for a living in the area were kept in mind as targets for the camp.

Dr Anurag Julka, eye specialist from Vassal Hospital, orthopaedician Dr Rajesh Saigar and specialist Dr SS Gautra from the Astha Hospital were the special team of doctors conducting check ups at the camp presided over by Manoranjan Kalia.

BBA activist Dinesh Kumar said the eyesight of people sewing footballs was adversely affected due to the long hours they spend doing the intricate work. He said such camps shall regularly be held in areas where people do the work of sewing footballs.

Deepak Mahendru of the Naujawan Society said as many as 380 people were checked on the occasion, of which 50 were children.

Notably, the people of the area have been interested in more such camps because they say their health is adversely affected by the camp. Talking to The Tribune, Dr Anurag said almost all the 380 people checked had eye problems and many of the children checked on the occasion had bad eyesight. The team of doctors noted that lack of awareness had lad to many problems among the people of the area and both health awareness and reach of medical facilities in the areas was very little.

• A free medical check up camp was held at the local Kot Ram Das Abadi by the NGO Bachpan Bacaho Andolan and the Shaheed Ajit Singh Naujawan Society
• Almost all the 380 people checked had eye problems and many of the children checked on the occasion had bad eyesight
• The team of doctors noted that lack of awareness had lad to many problems among the people of the area and both health awareness and reach of medical facilities in the areas was very little

Jalandhar November 18
Though Divali is over, but still vendors and shopkeepers of Jyoti Chowk and Phagwara Gate are resorting to encroachments by placing their products on the road. Due to these encroachments, the roads of both the markets have turned into narrow lanes, causing huge inconvenience to the commuters.

Due to the huge traffic, there are often chaos on these roads. Before Divali, shopkeepers and other vendors had erected temporary stalls on the road and now the festival is over, but these markets are still adorning the festive look. Due to Divali, the MC authorities and traffic men were lenient to the shopkeepers and other vendors, but now the leniency of these authorities is adding to the problem of everyday traffic chaos.

Sumit Jain, a government employee, said due to these encroachments, traffic remained stuck on the road and they faced a huge difficulty to cross the stretch, “As I live in Sabzi Mandi, so every day, I encounter a huge traffic jam near the chowk due to these encroachments,” he added.

“The distance, which I can cover in just 10 minutes, now takes half an hour and it has now become an everyday affair,” Nitin, a local businessman, said.

The traffic load remains high in the morning and evening and the traffic police should at least deploy sufficient policemen to regulate the traffic, he urged.

The traffic scene on Sunday is worse than other days due to the Sunday market, in which vendors of secondhand clothes put temporary stalls on the road.

The Mayor could not be contacted on his phone.

• The roads of both the markets have turned into narrow lanes due to these encroachments causing huge inconvenience to commuters.
• Due to huge traffic, there are often chaos on these roads. Before Divali, shopkeepers and other vendors had erected temporary stalls on the road and now the festival is over, but these markets are still adorning the festive look
• The MC authorities and traffic police were lenient to shopkeepers during Divali, but now the leniency of the authorities is adding to the problem of everyday traffic chaos

Jalandhar, November 18
The government authorities have not bothered to improve the condition of the dilapidated Lamhapind-Jandusingha road for the past several years. Commuters are bearing the brunt of the lackadaisical attitude of the authorities.

Commuters are facing a huge difficulty in plying their vehicles on this 5 km-long stretch. The motorists have to encounter dust, potholes and traffic chaos on the stretch.

Sources said the road was carpeted about six years ago and since that day the authorities concerned did not pay any heed to its dilapidated state.

Balwinder, a shopkeeper in the area, said during rain the road often turned into a pool of water, which caused huge inconvenience to the motorists, “Due to the flooding, we sometimes face problems in reaching our shops. It also affects our business as the inflow of the customers also decline due to the problem,” he said, adding that the road should be re-carpeted immediately for the convenience of commuters and nearby shopkeepers.

Another major problem the shopkeepers face due to the dilapidated state of the road is dust. Due to the huge traffic on the road, their shops often got filled with dust, another shopkeeper alleged.

Sources said the road comes under the Public Works Department (PWD) and the tenders for the laying of new road had already been passed.

• Residents face difficulty in commuting on this 5-km stretch. The motorists have to encounter dust, potholes and traffic chaos on the stretch
• The road was carpeted about six years ago and since that day the authorities concerned did not pay any heed to its dilapidated state

Jalandhar, November 18
The PSEB Engineers Association has urged the PSPCL management to speed up its activities to commission 2x660 MW thermal plants at Mukerian within the stipulated timeframe.

At a meeting of the executive committee of the PSEB Engineers Association held in Jalandhar, its members said the thermal plants should be commissioned in the stipulated timeframe as generation under the state sector is urgently required. For the purpose, adequate coal is also available in captive coal mine allotted to Punjab at Pachhwara in Jharkhand.

Association president Baldev Singh, senior vice-president Bhupinder Singh, general secretary Sanjiv Sood and organising secretary Harjinder Singh Bansal were present in the meeting.

The executive committee meeting was followed by its zonal meeting attended by over 200 engineers.

In its meeting, the association urged the PSPCL management to frame the blueprint for the execution of the plant and create the necessary infrastructure to avoid exceeding of its cost.

The engineers also discussed the urgent need to augment the transmission and sub-transmission system in Punjab keeping in view the commissioning of the upcoming power plants both in the state as well as central sector plants in which Punjab has a share, in the next two to three years so as to ensure round-the-clock power supply to the consumers of the state.

“At present, the system is highly overloaded and is not sufficient to ensure extra generation to reach the end consumers. Enormous work has to be executed to strengthen the transmission and sub-transmission system which require adequate infrastructure for timely execution of these works. PSPCL and PSTCL managements are not taking enough measure to create infrastructure required to tackle this issue,” the members said. The association called upon the managements to look into the issue on a top priority. 

Jalandhar, November 18
Fifteen-year-old Varinder Kumar got a new lease of life when some local do-gooders took up his cause and got his treatment conducted from the PGI, Chandigarh.

While his family had almost lost hope and were scared he wouldn't see Divali, the help has changed their lives.

Approached by the family members of the boy on October 1 this year, Varinder who was suffering from a blood clot in his brain got treated due to the help of Rotary Club members.

Varinder had been suffering from attacks due to which his left side had gotten totally paralysed.

Doctors had said the third attack could be fatal. Varinder's father, a labourer earning Rs 3,100 a month, had a family of seven to feed.

"Even as Varinder's parents and grandparents were BPL card holders, Varinder was not granted free treatment at the PGI just because he is a minor and did not have a card in his name," said Nupur Sandhu secretary, Rotary Club.

"District trainer, KC Kalra offered free MRI and other checkups at his KAP Scan Centre. Dr Chhabra (neurosurgeon) directed us to PGI as Varinder needed Gamma Knife treatment and not surgery. The expenditure in PGI was Rs 77,000. While the Rotary Club collected Rs 38,000, as much as Rs 39,350 was outsourced from other organisations," she added.

The light of the eyes of his mother, Dadi and siblings a visibly happy family of Varinder are a happy lot now. The club even motivated his school at the Mithapur village, that he is a resident of, to contribute for the treatment.

Club president SK Bansal and director vocational Prabhpal Pannu also actively contributed for Varinder's treatment.

Varinder is back home and celebrated a safe Happy Divali with his family members. He shall be going to school again by April next year.

• Varinder was suffering from blood clot in his brain. His family had almost lost hope and were scared he wouldn't see Divali
• The boy had been suffering from attacks due to which his left side had gotten totally paralysed. Doctors had said the third attack could be fatal
• Rotary Club members pooled in Rs 38,000 and got Rs 39,350 from other organisations to get his treatment done at the PGI Chandigarh

Phagwara, November 18
Criticising Ireland for its draconian abortion laws that led to the death of 31-year-old Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar, Phagwara resident Rajan Zed, who is President of Universal Society of Hinduism headquartered in Nevada (US), said in view of its increasingly diverse, pluralistic and multicultural society, Ireland needed to re-look at some of its outdated laws dating back to 1861 and introduce reform.

Zed, who is on his two weeks visit to India, was talking to newsmen here today.

He said Indians worldwide were disturbed over Halappanavar’s death in University Hospital Galway (Ireland). “Ireland should ensure the world that nobody dies in similar circumstances in the future. How can one see this tragedy as ‘pro-life’?” Zed said.

Leaders of that country should exhibit strong political will and the European Union should take tough line on Ireland on this issue.

Although no amount of money could possibly match this tragedy and human loss, but Halappanavar's family should be adequately compensated, Rajan Zed added.

Earlier, Zed was honoured by a social-cum-religious organisation of Phagwara during a function in Arya Model School here. 

Phagwara, November 18
With huge number of migrants belonging to UP and Bihar residing in Punjab, the celebration of their festivals has become a visible affair.

Chhat Puja is one of the famous religious festivals of these communities where not only the rising sun, but also the setting sun is worshipped.

Devotees traditionally perform this puja, begin on the sixth day of Divali, in rivers or canals.

Sadly, the migrants living in Phagwara and surrounding areas are not too happy with the poor conditions of canals. Some of the canals near Phagwara, Goraya and Nakodar were found to be dry and dirty.

“Nobody can stand near the canal in Phagwara due to the foul smell emanating from the garbage dumped in the canal,” said Shanti, a migrant from Bihar.

Migrants from Bihar make preparations for Chhat Puja in Jalandhar on Monday. Tribune photo: Sarabjit Singh

Anil, a migrant, said, “On the first day of three days Chhat Puja, they observe “naha-kha’ (bath and eat) and they take a dip in the canal or river and carry home the holy water.”

On the third day, they perform evening Chhat Puja of the sunset and offer Aragh to the setting sun by standing in the water. He said on the final day of Chhat Puja, they go to the riverbank before sunrise, in order to make offerings (Aragh) to the rising sun and the festival ends with the breaking of the fast.

Varinder Kumar from Uttar Pradesh, who made idols of Chatt Maa with clay on the banks of a canal in Phagwara, said the migrants had approached the local administration for early release of water in the canal. It was also observed that the Urban Estate side of the canal was being used for the puja as the other side of the canal has been encroached upon.

Phagwara Sub-Divisional Magistrate PP Singh said the Irrigation Department had been instructed to make arrangements for the cleanliness of canals and for the release of water in canals before the Chhat Puja festival begins.