Bathinda, December 29
Acting swiftly, the Bathinda police today claimed to have recovered the class VIII girl who was allegedly raped after being kidnapped by two persons. The girl was kidnapped from near her house. SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar said the girl has been recovered within five days of the incident.

The medical examination of the girl was conducted at the local Civil Hospital where reports confirmed the rape.

A complaint was lodged with the police in this regard by the girl's father Mengal Singh. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Bhucho, Baljeeet Singh said the main accused, Gurwinder Singh Mithu, a resident of Dhaula village in Gidderbaha, had kidnapped and raped the minor with the help of his cousin Lakhdeep Singh of Kotkapura. The police also arrested Jaspal Kaur, the mother of the main accused, for helping her son commit the crime. The police have also booked one Soma Kaur of Fakkarsar village, in whose house the girl was allegedly kept. While the police had arrested Lakhdeep Singh and Jaspal Kaur earlier, they were sent to jail today after their one-day police remand got over.

The DSP said the accused belong to poor families and the boy had forcefully taken the girl away on the pretext of marrying her. The accused do menial work and the family members of the girl are also quite poor. Police said the main accused would be produced in court tomorrow.

Woman alleges rape

Police have registered a case against three persons for raping a woman. In a complaint to the police, the woman, from ward number nine of Maur Khurd, said the accused, Leela Singh and his two cousins, raped her at Maisarkhana village. Police have registered a case under sections 376 and 34 of the IPC at Maur police station. 

Man booked for sexually exploiting woman

Police have registered a case against a resident of village Naruana in the district for sexually exploiting a girl from Sirki Bazar in Bathinda. In a complaint to the police, the girl Madhu said the accused Sukhdeep Singh exploited her for five years on the pretext of marrying her. When the girl asked the accused to marry her, the man allegedly married her at a temple in the city. The accused, however, did not stay with the girl and even got a house that was in the name of the complainant, transferred in his own name. Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) City-1 Gurmeet Kingra said the case was registered after a detailed investigation. The DSP said that the girl belonged to the backward classes and a case under sections 494, 495, 420, 376 and 3(2) (V) of the SC/ST Act has been registered against the accused at the Kotwali police station. The accused Sukhdeep Singh has been arrested and will be sent to judicial remand.

Bathinda, December 29
The United Christian Welfare Association, under the Methodist Church, today decided not to hold New Year festivities because of the death of the Delhi gang rape victim.

George Masih from the Methodist Church said illumination outside all the churches will be switched off to pay tribute to the victim. Also, a peace march will be taken out in the city tomorrow that will culminate at St. Joseph's Convent School. — TNS

Bathinda, December 29
The wrong use of fire-arms is reported more among people in the rural areas than in urban centres. This is among the findings of a study conducted at the Adesh Institute of Medical Science and Research (AIMSR) and published in the Journal of Research in Medical Education and Ethics, Volume 2, Number 2, July 2012.

The study was conducted by Dr Pramod Kumar Goyal from the department of forensic medicine, Dr Monika Gupta from the department of anatomy and an intern, Dr Karun Khanna. They studied the firearms cases received at the AIMSR over the last six years.

"We received 40 cases of firearm injuries, which is higher than the number of cases I witnessed during my post-graduation in Amritsar from 2001 to 2004," said Dr Goyal.

Firearm injuries in Punjab are more common among the rural Sikh male population and are homicidal in nature. As many as 77 per cent of the injured belonged to the rural areas while 62 per cent were young people in the age group of 21-40 years, which could be attributed to fact that this happens to be most active period in an individual's life, with the maximum outdoor activity.

The study observed that fewer incidence of fire-arms injury in urban areas may be because of the presence of more security forces. In 90 per cent cases, the patients were Sikhs as the Sikh population is thickly concentrated in the rural areas of Punjab. None of the Sikhs had any history of drug addiction. No Christians and Muslims were involved, because of their meagre population in and around Bathinda.

About the kind of weapons used, the study found that smooth bore firearms dominated over rifle firearm injuries and males outnumbered females. In 90 per cent of the cases, the patients were males because of cultural factors and access to firearms.

The study also came across fabricated cases, though fewer in number, wherein doctors could not ascertain the arms used in the crime. Around 65 per cent cases received at the hospital were referred ones, while only 35 per cent were reported straight away owing to fact that AIMSR is located 12 kms away from the city. 

Bathinda, December 29
The Punjab Civil Medical Services (PCMS) Association today opposed the new post-graduate eligibility criteria for admission in MD and MS courses and incomplete notification of PG increments to specialist doctors.

PCMS doctors from all over Bathinda held a meeting and demanded immediate rollback of the eligibility criteria for admissions and demanded that PG increments be given to all specialists without any condition.

The meeting was held to elect the office-bearers of the district association. State president Dr Hardeep Singh, joint secretary state Dr Gagandeep Shergill and finance secretary state Dr Nishan Singh attended the meeting.

The association requested Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Health Minister Madan Mohan Mittal to provide justice. It threatened that in case the demands were not met, PCMS doctors will be compelled to adopt the path of agitation.

In a press statement issued here, the general secretary of the association, Dr Jagroop Singh said the new PG eligibility criteria of rural service for MD/MS courses, discriminatory post-graduate increments in pay of specialist doctors, pending implementation of pay commission to doctors, delay in probation periods and time scales of 4, 9, 14 years, dissatisfaction over routine service matters, stagnation in promotions and security problem of doctors at night duties etc were discussed in detail during the meeting.

Repeated meetings and written communications to the higher officials has not yielded any result leading to discontentment among the PCMS cadre, he added.

Doctors acused the state government of giving a step-motherly treatment to it. President of the PCMS Association, Bathinda, Dr Beant Singh Maan said although the CM had encouraged the PCMS doctors to serve in rural areas and remote districts of Punjab, the Punjab bureaucracy was on its way to decrease rural incentive being given to the PCMS doctors.

He added that recently the government had increased the eligibility of number of years of rural service for PG admission from 3 years to 4 and 6 years but the number of difficult (remote stations) and more difficult stations (border areas) has been decreased. The new rural service condition for this PG eligibility has demoralised doctors serving rural areas.

Association members said majority of specialist PCMS doctors had also been discriminated against while giving PG increments. Experienced doctors who have done post-graduation January 1 2006 have been refused increments.

At the same time, the doctors who had been given increment are without existing basic pay plus non-practice allowance (NPA).

Issues of delay in routine service matters, stagnation of promotions, lack of a uniform policy in emergency duties, VIP duties etc, were also discussed in detail.

Doctors demanded an immediate rollback of the notification regarding the eligibility criteria for PG admission and re-allocation of eligible stations. They demanded PG increments for all specialists doctors without any discrimination and on existing pay including the NPA. 

Fact file

The new PG eligibility criteria of rural service for MD/MS courses, discriminatory post-graduate increments in pay of specialist doctors, pending implementation of pay commission to doctors, delay in probation periods and time scales of 4, 9, 14 years, dissatisfaction over routine service matters, stagnation in promotions and security problem of doctors at night duties, delay in routine service matters, stagnation of promotions, lack of a uniform policy in emergency duties, VIP duties etc, were also discussed in detail.

* Doctors demanded an immediate rollback of the notification regarding the eligibility criteria of PG admission and re-allocation of eligible stations.

Bathinda, December 29
As many as 320 patients were examined on the first day of the two-day health check-up camp which started at the Max Super Speciality Hospital in Bathinda today. Mayor Baljit Singh Bir Behman inaugurated the camp.

At the camp, patients are being given free consultations by experts from the fields of gastroenterology, cardiology and laparoscopy. A variety of health complaints and medical histories were assessed through detailed consultations with doctors. The camp offered free tests of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C considering the severity of ailments in the country.

Gastroenterologist Dr Gagandeep Goel said the camp aimed at promoting the habit of regular health check-ups among people. “With the arrival of winter, it is witnessed that heart ailments rise. People often suffer from gastric and liver problems in winter due to excessive intake of alcohol. To cater to these concerns, we are mobilising the residents of the region to undergo regular health check-ups,” said Dr Sharad Gupta.

The cardiac check-up at the camp helped people understand the risks of heart attack and other cardiac problems like breathing troubles, chest pains and high rate of heart beat.

The camp also spread awareness about gastric problems like stomach and liver pain, blood in stool or while vomiting or problems relating to the food pipe 

Bathinda, December 29
Burglars broke into a house in village Kangar and decamped with gold jewellery. In his complaint to the police, Darshan Singh stated that some unidentified persons broke into his house and took away gold jewellery, worth Rs 75,000. He added that the jewellery had been kept in a trunk.

After recording the statement of Darshan Singh, the police registered a case against unidentified persons under Sections 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code. at the Dyalpura police station.

Despite repeated assurances by the police, cases of thefts and snatchings are being increasingly reported in Bathinda district.

Police has been attributing the rise in criminal activities to drug addicts who, it says, are also hard to track as they are homeless.

Bathinda, december 29
Members of the DAV Colleges Retired Teachers’ Association will meet the DAV College Managing Committee in New Delhi on December 31.

President of the Bathinda unit of the association, Rajnish Kumar, said the meeting was meant to sort out the long-pending issues concerning the retired DAV employees. He said the retired teachers had been agitating against DAV College managing committee to get benefits like enhanced gratuity, leave encashment and arrears on account of revision of grades with effect from January 1, 2006.

Press secretary NK Gosain stated that the Punjab and Haryana High Court had decided on October 1 this year in favour of the retirees and appealed to the DAV managing committee to stick to the directions.

General secretary Satish Chander said a meeting of the retired teachers’ association was scheduled to be held at DAV College in Jalandhar on January 6 to discuss the outcome of the meeting with DAV managing committee. It would also chalk out its plan of action in case the meeting with DAV Managing Committee remained inconclusive.

Bathinda, december 29
Police have registered a case against a youth for cheating his elderly mother. The daughter-in-law of the woman has also been booked by the police for being an accomplice in the case.

In her complaint to the police, Savitri Sharma, a resident of Satjot Nagar, Ludhiana, said Sukhwinder Sharma and Ritu Moudgil, her son and daughter-in-law, sold her house in Bathinda for `20 lakhs.

She added that the duo promised her that the house in Ludhiana would be given to her but instead of registering the house in her name, Sukhwinder got the house registered in the name of his wife, Ritu.

After recording the statement of the complainant and the witnesses, the police registered a case under Sections 420 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the couple at the Kotwali police station.