No clue about drug lords, police fails to cut the supply chain
Amritsar, February 10
At a time when incidents of seizure of habit-forming drugs and narcotics have seen a rise, the police has failed to identify the drug lords who maintain the supply chain.

Amritsar, February 10
In yet another instance, the on-duty Municipal Corporation officials and employees had to face the wrath of encroachers.

The MC personnel, who had gone to paste a notice against illegal structures at Heera market, were allegedly abused and manhandled by several persons. The attackers also tore down the notice pasted on the illegal kiosks.

The officials said the MC, a couple of days back, had pasted notices on illegal structures at Heera market asking the violators to remove their structures on public land.

But when the MC team visited the market on Saturday, it came under attack from one Bhupinder Singh, his brother and some unknown persons. The accused not only tore the official notice pasted on one of the illegal kiosks, but also used abusing language against the officials.

The MC lodged a complaint with the police following which seven persons were booked under Sections 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 341 (Punishment for wrongful restraint), 186 (Obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions), 506 (Punishment for criminal intimidation, if threat be to cause death or grievous hurt, etc), 201 and 34 of the IPC. Nobody has been arrested so far.

Prem Pal Singh, investigating officer, E Division police station, said the case was lodged on the basis of complaint registered by MC clerk Amit Sharma.

Amit Sharma alleged the accused not only tore the official notice, but also threatened to kill MC officials who had gone to warn them against encroaching upon public land. “We again went to paste the notice, but the accused not only tried to manhandle us, but threatened us with dire consequences. The matter was brought to the notice of the higher authorities following which the police was informed and a case was registered,” he said.

Amritsar, February 10
A private bus conductor was thrashed by six persons over a dispute that arose after a girl was fined for travelling without a ticket.

The conductor was identified as Major Singh of Lahian village.

The police has registered a case against the unknown persons in this connection, but no arrest has been made so far. Major Singh, admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital, alleged that the accused also took away the cash available with him.

The incident took place near IDH market located close to Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT).

Major Singh told the police that the bus was coming to the city from Patiala when an 18-year-old girl was caught by the staff travelling without a ticket. She was fined for the lapse.

He said at about 7.30 pm, six youths entered the bus carrying sharp-edged weapons and a pistol. He said the attackers abused and threatened the bus staff over issuing fine to the girl. They said they belonged to a particular hotel located close to the bus stand. He alleged that the accused snatched Rs 17,000 which they had earned during the day.

Rajinder Singh, investigating officer and in charge of the bus stand police post, said a case under Sections 323, 382, 506, 148 and 149 of the IPC and Sections 25, 27, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act has been registered on the statement of Major Singh.

He said the police has started the process to identify the accused.

“It is yet to be ascertained whether the accused belonged to the particular hotel or not,” he said while adding that further investigations were under progress.

Amritsar, February 10
The education department would conduct an inquiry into the alleged thrashing of a student at Government Senior Secondary School Rajasansi, said District Education Officer Rasal Singh Malhi. The incident had occurred two days back.

The girl’s family members went to the school where they entered into an altercation with the teaching staff. During the process, the teacher, who was accused of beating up the girl, and the student fell unconscious.

Meanwhile, the DEO visited the hospitals where student Neha Sharma of Class X and her teacher Tajinder Kaur were admitted.

While Neha is admitted to a private hospital, Tajinder Kaur was admitted to Guru Nanak Dev hospital.

Malhi said he would mark a formal inquiry on Monday. He said the matter has been reported to the higher-ups in the department.

He said corporal punishment was strictly prohibited in schools and department had taken a serious note of the incident.

Both the groups have filed complaints with the police. However, the police has not registered a case so far in this connection.

The girl’s family had alleged that the teachers had beaten up the girl following which she sustained a head injury and fell unconscious. Meanwhile, the school authorities had alleged that parents had tried to slap the teacher, who had asked the girl to summon her parents on a disciplinary matter.

Amritsar, February 10
There seems to be no end to the illegal sand mining in the district.

A truck and a tractor trailer loaded with sand were impounded in two incidents on Saturday.

The Amritsar rural police arrested two persons in the first case, but the driver of the tractor trailer gave police the slip.

The Majitha police nabbed Paramjit Singh and Tarsem Singh, both residents of Kotla Saida village, and impounded the truck carrying 400 square feet of sand.

A police party, headed by ASI Satinder Pal Singh, had laid a naka near Chetanpura bus stop.

“The police party saw a truck coming from the Sangatpura side and signaled to stop. But instead of stopping, the accused pressed the accelerator. However, they were chased down by the police party near Majitha railway crossing,” informed Satinder Pal Singh.

He said a case under Sections 4 (1)-A of the Mining and Mineral Act and 379, 279, 188 of the IPC has been registered against them.

In the second incident, Mining Officer Gurdev Singh who along with a police party, signaled a tractor trolley to stop near Kot Sidhu. But the driver of the trolley escaped leaving the trolley behind. The trolley contained 200 square feet of sand.

A case under Sections 379 of the IPC, 21 (1) of Mining and Mineral Act has been registered against the unidentified driver at Bhindi Saida police station in this regard.

It is pertinent to mention here that about a week back, the police seized 10 trucks carrying sand.

Generally, the sand was illegally excavated during night. The mining department had though claimed that they have stemmed the problem to a major extent, but the authorities have expressed their inability to check the illegal mining during nights owing to shortage of staff.

Amritsar, February 10
At a time when incidents of seizure of habit-forming drugs and narcotics have seen a rise, the police has failed to identify the drug lords who maintain the supply chain.

The police has been limited to arrest the peddlers or drug addicts.

Going clueless about the sources, the police could not even launch a crackdown against suppliers.

Records with the department revealed that the city police had seized nearly 60,000 capsules of habit-forming drugs and over 53 kg of narcotic powder and has arrested 5,000 persons for possessing the contraband in 2012.

In majority of cases, the arrested persons are either consumers or small-time drug peddlers. Just a couple of them are notorious peddlers.

The police authorities on the condition of anonymity said one of the major reasons for limited success is improper interrogation of those arrested in peddling cases.

“These peddlers themselves are consumers. So, it’s bit risky to keep them in the police custody for a long period. They constantly need drugs. In the absence of drugs, their conditions deteriorate in the police custody and therefore they had to be sent to the judicial custody,” said a senior police official preferring not to be named.

“As far as the supply of heroin and smack is concerned, it is well-known fact that these are smuggled from across the border. A number of residents of border villages are lured into this illegal trade with money. A majority of drugs for local consumption is being supplied from several border villages in Tarn Taran,” he said.

Opium and poppy husk is being smuggled from Rajathan border, he added.

Just like smuggling of heroin and smack, the suppliers of habit-forming drugs run their network through mobile phones. They do not identify themselves and deliver the consignment at different locations with ease.

As far as the supply of habit-forming drugs is concerned, the recent arrests have revealed that medical store owners illegally sell the drugs to the vulnerable youths.

Another investigating officer said the probe suffers as the courts often do not send the accused in the police custody. The political interference is also another deterring factor before the police, he said.

Dr Kaustubh Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police, admitted that major kingpins use couriers and small-time drug peddlers to supply drugs.

“We require a dedicated force to nail such criminals as they were found to be operating from outside city limits. Moreover, they keep on changing their modus operandi and their team to continue their illegal trade,” he said.

Major kingpins hardly fall into the police trap as they carry out the trade with the help of their couriers, said the DCP.

Amritsar, February 10
Amidst rising chaos, number of vehicles and encroachments, there is very little space left for pedestrians on roads.

Besides walking on the roads, crossing them at traffic light points prove to be a difficult task for pedestrians in the absence of zebra crossings or vehicles occupying those spaces.

Zebra crossings are missing on most of the key squares here. The traffic police personnel seldom ask drivers to halt vehicles behind the zebra crossings to facilitate pedestrians. That is why pedestrians many a times risk their lives amidst the fast running vehicles.

A senior citizen, Sukhwant Singh said, “Nobody seems bothered about the problem. The traffic police needs to become more aware of the problem.”

He said traffic management is not all about preventing a jam, but it is about making journey systemized and safer for everyone using roads.

Residents expressed that construction of subways at few key points could solve the problem. Even the MC had in its budget for 2009-2010 proposed to construct subways at key intersections in the city with the investment of Rs 20 crore, but nothing has materialised so far.

Another resident, Harpal Singh said, “If there are zebra crossings, not only the pedestrians would be safe but even traffic flow would become smoother. In the absence of zebra crossings, even pedestrians interrupt traffic.”

Another problem for pedestrians is the absence of footpaths or encroachments on footpaths on most of the roads.

Amritsar, February 10
The district consumer disputes redressal forum has set aside the power corporation’s demand of Rs 1.8 lakh from a local consumer for unauthorised use of electricity on the grounds that renting a portion of the house cannot be termed as a commercial activity.

Earlier, the power corporation had demanded Rs 12,407 for extension of load and Rs 1,80,238 for unauthorised use of electricity for 11 months from Gurdial Singh, a resident of Kabir park area.

In his complaint, Gurdial Singh objected that he had rented out a portion of his home and it could not be termed as a commercial activity. He had further alleged that officials of the corporation had wrongly calculated the load.

He stated that his electric meter was stolen in October 2009. He had reported the incident to the police and the electricity department. After submitting the fee, the department had restored direct power supply as per the rules and bills were sent on an average basis.

However, on November 11, 2011 the officials concerned visited his house for checking and calculated the load to be 7.73 KW against the sanctioned load of 1.92 KW.

He said on his further complaint to higher officials, an inspection was conducted again and the load was found to be in the sanctioned limits.

But the corporation says “The connection is commercial as the consumer is running a paying guest accommodation.”

However, the forum while considering the rent deeds produced by the consumer held that under the rules of the power corporation giving accommodation on rent does not constitute a commercial purpose and the power corporation has failed to prove that the said accommodation was given to the students on PG basis. Thus, the demand of Rs 1.8 lakh is not justified.

About the miscalculation of the load, the forum directed to calculate the load of the complainant on the basis of rules for that purpose. The forum has also directed to pay litigation expenses of Rs 2,000 to the complainant.

Amritsar, February 10
In the absence of a technical hand to operate the radiation therapy machine, the instrument is lying unused at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital since mid-January.

The Radiation Safety Officer, whose presence is a must at the time of using the machine, was transferred more than a month ago.

Since then, the hospital has got no other qualified person to operate the machine.

Importantly, the radiation centre could be operated only after getting due approval from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, which gives licence only after it gets the required names of qualified persons to operate the machine.

With the transfer of the Radiation Safety Officer, the patients undergoing treatment at the centre are a worried lot. They demanded that the formalities including appointment of a new officer should be made at the earliest so that they do not have to spend more money at private institutions.

Government Medical College Principal Dr SS Shergill said the government had been apprised of the situation. He said they have written to the government on the appointment of another qualified person. He hoped that the appointment would be made soon so that medical services could continue without any trouble.