Ludhiana, April 22
The sensational Rs 27 lakh robbery incident in the city has turned out to be a story concocted by three youths.

The trio has been arrested and an amount of over Rs 20 lakh has been recovered from their possession.

The accused have been identified as Loveneet Singh, Ravi and Saurabh Kaushal.

While Lovneet and Ravi were working for a Mohali-based cash collection agency, Saurav was working as a sales executive at a city-based shopping mall.

On April 20, Loveneet had created a flutter by claiming that four motorcycle-borne youths allegedly took him hostage while he was visiting an SBI branch near Fountain Chowk to deposit cash and robbed him of Rs 27 lakh. However, the police suspected foul play. Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh said it was a conspiracy to usurp the money. According to the plan, Loveneet had collected Rs 27 lakh from a prominent car dealer in a sealed packet. The money was to be deposited in the SBI branch at Fountain Chowk. However, on the way to the bank, he opened the seal and took out Rs 6.5 lakh and deposited the amount in various ATMs. The cash packet was sealed again and Loveneet and Ravi reached near the bank. Loveneet kept roaming outside the bank and entered when the cash counter was closed. He didn't inform his seniors about the closing of the cash counter and instead enacted the robbery drama.

During questioning, the accused confessed before the police that Saurabh Kaushal had taken the bag containing the cash from him from outside the bank. The police then arrested Saurabh and recovered over Rs 20 lakh from him.

The cash-collection company for which Loveneet works deals in loading money in ATMs. Loveneet had been assigned the task of loading ATMs. During the loading of the ATMs, he had fraudulently taken out Rs 6.5 lakh from the amount. To make up for this gap, he deposited money collected from the car dealer in these ATMs so that he could not be caught, but that was not to be.

"I want residents to verify the credentials of their servants, tenants and employees to check such crime incidents. In a large number of cases, people are hired on less salary and given the responsibility of carrying huge cash, which often leads to fake complaints of robbery in a bid to usurp the money," said the Commissioner of Police.

Ludhiana, April 22
Loveneet (24), the main accused who enacted the Rs 27 lakh broad daylight robbery drama, is also a member of the notorious Fortuner gang.

The police was in for a major shock when Rajan, an arms dealer from Azamgarh in UP, identified Loveneet during questioning.

Sources said Rajan happened to be sitting in the same room when the police was questioning Loveneet in connection with the Rs 27 lakh robbery case.

Rajan reportedly told the police that Loveneet was a close aide of Suraj Parkash, alias Davi, a key member of the Fortuner gang.

It is learnt that Bunty and Davi were planning to commit a bank robbery with Loveneet's help.

They were arranging a job in a bank for Loveneet, who was supposed to give them crucial information for carrying out the robbery.

However, the plan could not be executed as Davi was arrested by the police during a hot chase near Khamano last year while he was trying to escape after a carjacking incident in Model Town.

According to the police, Loveneet is tech savvy like Jatinder Singh, alias Bunty, who is an engineer.

After parting way with Davi, Loveneet took up a job with the cash collection agency.

Ludhiana, April 22
A day after the city police arrested a dreaded criminal and kingpin of the notorious Fortuner gang, Jatinder Singh, alias Bunty, alias Langra, from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, the police today took measures to prevent the escape of hardened criminals while they are being taken to court for hearings.

Bunty had escaped from police custody while he was being brought back to the jail after a court hearing in Phillaur on March 6.

The Commissioner of Police today ordered the officer concerned to maintain a list of hardened criminals so that extra security could be provided to them while they were taken for a court hearing.

It is learnt that the jail authorities did not specifically inform the city police that Jatinder was being taken to Jalandhar for a hearing.

That was perhaps the reason why only two policemen were providing security cover to the accused when he was taken to Phillaur for a court hearing in connection with a robbery case.

“We have told the jail authorities to inform us about the hearing of dreaded undertrial criminals so that we can take adequate security measures,” said Commissioner of Police Ishwar Singh.

Jatinder was arrested in a joint operation with the Uttar Pradesh police on Sunday night from a hotel in Varanasi.

Jatinder, who was arrested last year, was behind many sensational robberies, including the Rs 44-lakh Bonn Bread robbery and the Rs 29-lakh Kitty Bread robbery.

The police had announced a reward of Rs 10,000 for any information on Jatinder's whereabouts. Jatinder is a chronic drug addict and reportedly takes heroin worth thousands of rupees in a single day. The robber used to target luxurious cars.

He is facing at least 24 criminal cases, including those of murder, robbery and dacoity.

He got married to a college lecturer from an affluent family in Kolkata.

On March 6, he escaped from police custody with the help of his accomplices, including Ajay Kumar, a resident of Chauri Sarak, Bakshish Singh, alias Bagicha, of Sidhwan Bet and Jagminder Singh, a resident of Model Town.

The trio of Ajay, Bakshish and Jagminder was arrested recently along with an arms dealer, Rajan, of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.

Ludhiana, April 22
Following a protest by residents and politicians, the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation had to postpone its demolition drive in the Haibowal area here today. The MC had planned to remove 56 encroachments in the area.

Accompanied by a large number of policemen, MC officials had gone there to remove the encroachments. However, following a protest by area residents, Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu, BJP leader Rajinder Bhandari and several other councillors, the MC team had to return without accomplishing the task.

Before the MC could start the drive, a large number of residents, including women, gathered at the spot. Ludhiana (West) MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu, BJP leader Rajinder Bhandari and councillors Balkar Singh Sandhu, Maharaj Singh Raji, Gurpreet Singh Gogi, Narinder Sharma and Jai Parkash Sharma also reached the spot.

As soon as the MC team, led by Assistant Town Planner Rajinder Sharma, tried to start the drive, the protesters stopped them and urged them to postpone the drive claiming that some of the so-called encroachers possessed registries of the land concerned.

Speaking to Ludhiana Tribune, MLA Ashu clarified that he was not against the MC drive. "All we want is that the MC should conduct a thorough survey of the area before proceeding with the demolition drive. Several residents possess valid registries of the land concerned. MC officials should check the authenticity of these revenue documents and if any person is actually proved to be an encroacher, they can go ahead with the demolition. We will try to bring a resolution in the MC for allotting the land to the people having its possession. This will not only bring respite to the residents, but will also generate revenue for the civic body," he said.

ATP Rajinder Sharma said they had given a time of one week to the residents to submit their documents in support of their claims. The MC would study these and take necessary action, he said.

Interestingly, both Ashu and Bhandari had contested the last Assembly elections against each other on the Congress and BJP ticket, respectively. As MC officials reached Haibowal to demolish the encroachments, both leaders seemed to have teamed up against the MC officials.

Ludhiana, April 22
The action plan against encroachments prepared by the Ludhiana Municipal Corporation seems to be in doldrums as the civic body has failed to act according to its own plan, which was prepared following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Today was the fifth consecutive drive that was postponed due to a protest by the local residents.

This action plan was prepared by the MC following the directions of Punjab and Haryana High Court on a civil writ petition of 2003. But after the February 26 drive, in which encroachments were demolished in the Jawahar Nagar Camp area, all other MC drives, which were scheduled according to this action plan, had been postponed for one reason or the other.

After the Jawahar Nagar Camp drive, the next demolition drive under the plan was to be carried out in the Gur Mandi area on March 13 during which 30 shops were to be demolished. The MC officials, accompanied by a duty magistrate, had gone there but had to return without carrying out any demolition after the shopkeepers claimed that shops were the property of a temple and the issue took a communal colour.

Then again on March 21, the MC drive went bust when the authorities failed to demolish 22 shops in the Talaab Bazaar area. The shopkeepers of the area had claimed that the shops were the property of a temple, not of the MC. Since then, the MC has not been able to carry out any demolition as scheduled in the action plan.

The drive to remove 64 encroachments from Sem Wala Nullah at Haibowal on April 2 was postponed as the MC officials could not get adequate police force.

Another drive to demolish 406 encroachments in the Industrial Area A and Textile Colony from April 9 to 12 was also postponed, first owing to a strike by the MC drivers and later due to a protest by the local residents.

Now, all eyes would be on the April 30 drive, when the civic body officials have planned the removal of 10 encroachments from the Saban Bazaar, Brown Road and Jail Road areas of the city. Of these 10 encroachments, seven are in Saban Bazar, two on Jail Road and one on Brown Road.

Ludhiana, April 22
Chemists in the city kept their shops closed for the second consecutive day today in protest against alleged police interference, leaving patients at the receiving end. However, the chemists called off their strike and opened their shops around 2 pm after getting an assurance from their office-bearers that they would take up the issue with the authorities concerned.

The strike caused a lot of inconvenience to patients and their attendants in getting medicines. Attendants of some patients preferred to visit nearby hospitals to buy medicines from medical stores situated on the hospital premises.

Retail chemists closed their shops in the morning and gathered at Gill Chowk where they held a protest against alleged police interference. They then went to the Pindi street, where all wholesale chemists also closed their shops and joined the protest.

Later in the day, after getting an assurance from Bhagwan Singh, president of the Wholesale Chemists Association, Ludhiana, and Surjeet Singh, president of the Punjab Chemists Association, the chemists decided to call of their strike.

Surjeet Singh said, "I have assured the chemists that I will meet Drug Controller Ajay Singla in Chandigarh tomorrow to take up the issue of police interference. We want that the drug department should act against chemists under the Act and the police interference should be stopped."

He said it was not in the patients' interests to keep shops closed and that was why he had requested the chemists to open their shops.

Aman Ahuja, president of the Ludhiana Retail Chemists Association, regretted the inconvenience caused to the patients.

Chandigarh, April 22
Alleging neglect due to political reasons, a village in Punjab has moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Taking up its plea, a Division Bench has set a two-month deadline for the Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner to look into the issue and implement the gram panchayat resolutions on the construction of a drain. The directions by Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Inderjit Singh came on a petition filed by Nasib Kaur and others against the state of Punjab and other respondents.

The petitioners had claimed that a resolution was passed by the gram panchayat of Khandur village in Ludhiana district for the construction of a drain to carry dirty water out of the village. However, it was not constructed due to political pressure, resulting in unhygienic conditions.

In an attempt to establish their allegations on creation of insanitary conditions, the petitioners had enclosed photographs along with the petition. Taking up the matter, the Bench asserted: “Perusal of the photographs indicates that dirty water has overflown in the passage and is giving a very dirty look, which may also create health hazards."

“Under the circumstances, we dispose of this writ petition, directing the DC, Ludhiana, to look into the matter and implement the resolutions passed by the gram panchayat to construct the drain in question. Needful shall be done within two months from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.”

Sahnewal, April 22
After BCom students, now seems to be the turn of history students to express their resentment with the paper setters who while setting the papers failed to translate it well in different mediums.

The BA final year students of this subject who have already taken Paper-A of World History (1500 -1870 AD) said, "In the English version of the paper, question no-3 of Unit -I is 'Critically explain the causes and results of the Glorious Revolution of 1688' but in the Punjabi version the paper setter asked the examinee to mention just the political, economic, social and cultural causes of the revolution of 1688 and did not ask the results and the critical explanation as asked in the English and Hindi versions. Majority of the students who belong to rural or semi-urban colleges just opened the Punjabi version and attempted accordingly. But the examiners, who generally refer to the English version while correcting the sheets, will form an impression that the students have attempted just one portion of the question while the majority part has been left out. The students will be penalised for no fault of theirs. The total weightage of the question is 18 marks but these students will be evaluated only out of 6 marks just because of the blunder made by the paper setter. We demand at least 12 grace marks in return."

"In another paper of BA Part-I (History), the University did not get the Hindi and Punjabi versions typed and instead sent the photocopies of the hand written paper of these versions. The handwriting was terrible. We could not make out as to what was being asked in the question paper," said another History student. According to Prof Ram Singh, Head of the History Department, AS College, Khanna, said: "The students who study in Punjabi medium will definitely loose 12 marks as the question was incomplete in Punjabi version. The paper setter while translating the paper should have been vigilant enough. This can land the students in trouble later on and seriously affect their percentage. Last year also the students suffered due to the fault of the paper setters. Such paper setters should definitely be penalised for the mistakes they commit."

Dr Reema Grewal, Head of the History Department, Panjab University, said: "Such problems in translation keep happening time and again and we have suggested various ways and means by which these could be avoided. If still their have been any mistakes, the students should submit a written representation counter signed by their teachers and then we shall consider same for grace marks in the meeting of the under graduate board of studies."

Ludhiana, April 22
A letter sent by the Director, Education Department (Senior Secondary), Punjab to all the District Education Officers (DEOs) in the state, says students must buy the practical note books of a particular company.

This has come as a jolt to both the teachers and students . As if it was not enough, the company, to which the "contract" has been awarded by the government, too has written to the principals/head masters in the government schools, that they must complain to the higher authorities about teachers, who fail to comply with the orders.

According to the letter sent to the schools by the printer on April 12, the practical notebooks of science, physical education, maths and computers,for the students of classes XI and XII should be of "Mittal Practical Copies".

Another letter sent by the Nodal Officer, Education Department, Mohali, to all the DEOs in Punjab says in the 2012-13, only a few districts, including Patiala, Mohali, Jalandhar, Faridkot, Fatehgarh Sahib and Bathinda, were able to get these orders implemented (to buy "Mittal Practical" notebooks) while in other districts, the students used other notebooks.

The "contract" for 2013-14 has again been given to the same company.

Now, strict action will be initiated against teachers, who fail to encourage their students to buy the particular practical notebooks. The rates of the practical notebooks are between Rs 28 and Rs 70 per book (depending on the class and subject).

The general secretary of the Government School Teachers'Union here Parveen Kumar said that this was a kind of "exploitation" of the students. "The company may have paid too much to the government due to which the latter was mounting pressure on the schools to buy the notebooks from the company alone. We can not force the students to buy notebooks of a particular company alone", said Kumar.

Rajinder K Mittal, owner of the company, said they had sent the letter, referring to the government's orders ."Our company got the order, for which tenders were floated.Since our rates were the lowest, we got the contract.Compared to other companies, our quality is good and rates are cheaper, too", said Mittal.

Ludhiana, April 22
Work at almost all the sub-registrars' offices in the city has been suffering in the absence of officials who register land sale deeds. Though the authorities concerned are making efforts to post tehsildars from other offices here, work has not been going on a normal pace.

According to information, as the Tehsildar (East) has gone to attend a training programme, the Naib Tehsildars (West and South) had a meeting with the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, today. The Tehsildar (South) has been transferred. No official has assumed charge so far.

Balwinder Singh, a visitor to the office of the Sub-Registrar (South), said he had come from Jagraon to get his sale deed registered but in the absence of the Tehsildar, he had to go disappointed. “The authorities should make some alternative arrangement so that the public is not harassed. Besides, no work at these offices is causing a loss of revenue to the state exchequer,” he said.

The patwaris (East and West) have gone on leave citing “excessive” work in the Sub-Registrar's offices.

Ludhiana, April 22
All preparations have been made for a smooth conduct of Zila Parishad elections in the state. This was stated by Rishipal Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner, Development (ADC-D).

Devinder Singh, Additional Commissioner, will be the returning officer for the Zila Parishad, Ludhiana while Ghansham Thori will be the returning officer for Panchayat Samiti, Samrala, Ajay Sood for Ludhiana 2, KS Mahi for Ludhiana 1, Mohinderpal Singh for Doraha, Gurmeet Singh for Jagraon, Anand Sagar Sharma for Khanna, Baldev Singh, ACA GLADA, for Sudhar, the Tehsildar Raikot for Raikot, Babita Kler for Macchiwara, JP Singh for Sidhwan Bet, District Revenue Officer, Ludhiana, for Pakhowal, Anil Kumar Garg for Dehlon.

The tehsildars/naib tehsildars will be the assistant returning officers.

Candidates will file nominations for 25 zones of the Zila Parishad here with the returning officer. The 12 returning officers for different samitis will receive papers from 226 zones. A total of 1,422 polling booths have been set up for the elections.

Kila Raipur, Sarabha, Sudhar, Ghalib Kalan, Lalheri, Beezan, Mutto, Gill, Dhandra, Mangat and Kheerniyan will be general pockets while Manuke, Purail, Neelon Kalan, Mattewara, Heera and Baddowal will be the reserved ones. Ramgarh, Sardaran, Binzal and Haans have been reserved for SC Women candidates and Kaddon, Hambran, Chakk Swaran, Narangwal and Alamgir have been reserved for women from the general category. — TNS

Ludhiana, April 22
Although the Meteorology Department of the Punjab Agricultural University has been predicting that there are no signs of rain in next two days, yet partial cloudy weather has been keeping the farmers on toes.

A sudden change in weather conditions on Sunday evening has caused a lot of worry to the farmers, who had already started harvesting their standing wheat crop. The Agricultural Department is expecting bumper crop this year. "It is not an overnight job to harvest all the wheat and keep it in storage. Every farmer will try to harvest the crop as soon as possible," said Gurmukh Singh, a farmer at Dehlon.

"We are expecting good yield this year but the partial cloudy weather causes worry to us. The weather is always unpredictable. Only almighty knows what is in our destiny," said Dalip Singh, a farmer from Baddowal. Dr SS Kukal, Director School of Climate Change and Agro Meteorology from the Punjab Agricultural University, said, "As per the forecast there are no signs of rain in next two days. There is a possibility of storm in some areas. The weather is favourable for wheat crop."

Ludhiana, April 22
The Income Tax Department has not yet notified the forms for the filing of income tax returns for 2012-13. The department notifies the form every financial year and makes necessary changes in the columns and other details as required.

It is expected that the forms will be notified by May. Those who are in a rush to file their returns are in a difficult situation.

"I can get a loan only after I show the details of my I-T return.Since new forms have not yet been notified,I am left with no other situation but to wait. I hope,the form is notified soon and I get my loan sanctioned," said Ramesh Kumar, a city resident.

"The department should notify the form on time so that people can submit their returns on time . I hope the form is notified by May," said Jatinder Khurana,a taxation expert.

Sahnewal, April 22
PWD Minister Sharanjit Singh Dhillon on Monday laid the foundation stone of seven schools in six villages falling under Sahnewal constituency.

The schools will be constructed at a total expenditure of Rs 2 crore.

An amount of Rs 35 lakh will be spent on Government Senior Secondary School, Dhadhari; Rs 40 lakh on Government Senior Secondary School, Mangat; Rs 20 lakh on Government High School, Mundian; Rs 30 lakh on Government High School, Ramgarh; Rs 35 lakh on Government High School for Girls, Katani Kalan; Rs 20 lakh on Government High School for Boy,s Katani Kalan; and Rs 20 lakh on Government High School, Bhagpur.

Speaking on the occasion, Dhillon said: "Education is the key to success. Education in villages is very essential. Our government will try its level best to educate each and every person in villages so that they may come out of ignorance and face life with a confident outlook."

Khamano, April 22
Additional Secretary of Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution PK Jha today inspected Khamano and Sanghol grain markets and directed the officials concerned to solve the problem of lifting the grains immediately.

Some other senior officials, including Sudhir Garg, director, FCI North; Neel Kanth S Awadh, general manager, FCI Punjab; Prabhat Kumar, protocol officer; HS Sidhu, additional director, Food and Civil Supply, Punjab; Arunachlam, general manager, quality controller, Delhi; and Gautam Kumar, quality controller, FCI Punjab and Chandigarh; were also present during the visit.

District Officials of the departments concerned told him that there was a glut in these grain markets as the arrival from the last two days was very high and there was some problem in lifting the grains.

ADC Fatehgarh Sahib Malvinder Singh Jaggi, who was present with other administrative and purchasing agencies officials, assured that the lifting problem would be solved in the next two days.

Jagraon, April 22
The police has arrested five persons, including a woman, on the charge of drug peddling, from different places in the last 24 hours and seized 71 kg of poppy husk and 15 bottles of illegal liquor.

The arrested persons have been identified as Balwinder Singh, alias Balli, of Galib Kalan village, Gurmit Kaur of Kannian village, Gurpreet Singh, alias Gopi of Jodhan village, Manjinder Singh, alias Vicky of Aaliwal village, and Anoop Singh, a resident of Ludhiana.

The DSP, Jagraon, Surinder Kumar, said a police team, led by Galib Kalan police chowki in charge ASI Balwant Singh, arrested Balwinder Singh of Galib Kalan village following a tip-off and seized 52 kg of poppy husk from him.

In another operation, a police team, led by ASI Nirbhai Singh, arrested Gurmit Kaur, a resident of Kannian village, near Sidhwan Kalan village with 7 kg of poppy husk. In the third case, a police team, led by ASI Sarabjit Singh, arrested Gurpreet Singh of Jodhan village and seized 2 kg of poppy husk form him.

Meanwhile, a police team, led by ASI Bikkar Singh from the Sidhwan Bet police station, arrested Manjinder Singh, alias Vicky, of Aaliwal village, and seized 10 kg of poppy husk from him. Another police team, led by ASI Baldev Singh, arrested Anoop Singh of Ludhiana at Malak village, near Jagraon. The police seized 15 bottles of illegal liquor from him.

According to DSP Surinder Kumar, among the accused were criminals wanted in drug peddling cases registered against them at different police stations. "The police has registered cases against the accused under the NDPS Act and investigation is on. During a preliminary investigation, all the accused have confessed to their involvement in drug peddling," the DSP added.

Amloh, April 22
The burglars decamped with electronic goods worth more than Rs 1 Lakh on Saturday night from Arora Electronics shop in main bazaar area of Amloh.

Proprietor of the shop Gurmeet Singh said the burglars after breaking the shutter lock entered the shop and decamped with LEDs and LCDs. Theft came to light at around 6:00 am today when Ajit Singh who runs a confectionary shop near the electronic shop informed the owner. DSP Devinder Singh Barar, said: “SHO Ravinder Kumar is investigating the matter. ”— OC