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Unending wait for PoW’s family in
Faridkot
Abohar at more risk as fire tenders grounded for want of repairs
Forest staff manhandled in Ferozepur village |
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Stubble Burning
Two held under NDPS Act
Two held with Rs 1.99 lakh in fake currency
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Unending wait for PoW’s family in F’kot
Faridkot, May 6 After its visit to some Pakistani jails, the Indo-Pak judicial committee had reported that many of the Indian prisoners in Pakistan jails had turned into mental wrecks and many others were on the verge of losing their sanity. Desperate to know about Surjit's health, his wife in Faridkot, Angrej Kaur and son Amrik Singh, are trying to contact the members of the judicial committee. Surjit Singh, a BSF sepoy, is a POW in Pakistan. He went missing during the 1971 Indo-Pak war. In the first week of April 2011, when Gopal Dass, a prisoner languishing in Pak jails for 27 years, was released following the intervention of the judicial committee, the wife and son of Surjit Singh approached him to know about his condition. Later, they never heard a word about Surjit Singh. The Indo-Pak Joint Judicial Committee was formed in January 2007 to recommend measures for the humane treatment and speedy release of prisoners in Pakistan and India. Having eight retired Supreme Court and High Court judges from both India and Pakistan as its members, the judicial committee become inactive following the strained relations between the two neighbouring countries following the 26/11 attacks. However, in March, 2011, the committee was revived for providing consular access to the prisoners of both the countries. After Sarabjit Singh was attack in Kot Lakhpat jail in Pakistan, the Indian members of the judicial committee had visited a comatose Sarabjit Singh and interviewed many other Indian prisoners languishing in jails in the neighbouring country, it is reported. "We are hopeful of hearing about the condition of my husband Surjit Singh from the members of the committee but reaching them is proving to be a difficult task," said Angrej Kaur, Surjit Singh's wife. "After Sarabjit’s death and the revelation that many Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails have lost their mental balance, we are sinking into despair," said Amrik Singh, Surjit Singh's son. "My son was barely one-year-old when my husband was captured along with 54 other missing persons in the 1971 war," said Angrej Kaur. "The entire childhood of my son and my youthful days were spent waiting for my husband, hoping that one day he will return and embrace us," she added.
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Abohar at more risk as fire tenders grounded for want of repairs
Abohar, May 6 In most of the villages, farmers have been suffering due to burning of wheat straw (stubble) by their neighbours, reports indicated. A house in Thakur Abadi, mostly inhabited by BPL families, was gutted due to a short circuit during the wee hours today. The owner of the house, Shivraj Singh, and his six-year-old daughter, who were sleeping outside the room in which entire households were reduced to ashes, escaped unscathed. Shivraj too was told by the fire brigade office that it had no equipment to help him. A farmer, Mewa Singh of village Gidderanwali, was ruined economically as wheat crop spread over 3.5 acre and a kinnow orchard on three acres were gutted on Sunday evening after his neighbour allegedly set ablaze the stubble in his farm. The fire engulfed the neighbouring farmlands. Meanwhile, a fire tender run by the Abohar Municipal Council (MC) forwarded the distress call to the fire brigade office in the district town of Fazilka. The authorities in Fazilka said firefighting was in progress in another village. Even as the state government and the Punjab Pollution Control Board had banned burning of wheat stubble following the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court issued on April 17, 2012, most of the farmers in the region are indulging in the unethical and environment-unfriendly practice in the evening. No action has been initiated against the offenders so far. The district administration had forwarded the request made by the Abohar MC to the state government seeking special grant to replace the fire tenders but a response is awaited.
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Forest staff manhandled in Ferozepur village
Ferozepur, May 6 Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sanjeev Tiwari said the land had been illegally allotted to one Balwant Singh, an ex-sarpanch, earlier by some revenue officials. However, the allotment was later cancelled following a court order. Thereafter, the forest department took possession of the said land on which it was trying to plant the trees to increase the green cover. The DFO said in the meantime, Balwant along with 60 other persons came to the spot where they manhandled the forest staff and threatened them with dire consequences. The DFO said the miscreants who were dropping the names of some senior politicians, even destroyed the pits dug by the forest department on the said land. He said that soon thereafter, a written complaint was filed at the Sadar police station. However, an FIR has still not been registered against the acused. “I have personally reported the matter to the SSP Ferozepur and demanded police force to save the valuable government forest land,” the DFO said, adding that almost 400 acres of valuable forest land worth around Rs 100 crores has been vacated from those who had encroached upon it in the last few months. A few days back also, some persons had intercepted the forest officials and took away a tractor impounded by them at gun point after threatening them with dire consequences near the flood protection bundh in Gatti Harike area. Another similar incident was also reported from village Mand Kirian last month where the forest staff had been manhandled by some people.
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Stubble Burning
Muktsar, May 6 The administration is well aware of the fact that stubble burning causes mishaps and loss to the farmers by gutting their standing crop, but no action is forthcoming. While travelling on any major or link road in the district, one often comes across a large number of fields that have turned into black patches. The situation turns worse during the night when a majority of the farmers, unaware of the harm it causes to the environment and the health of the people, flout the orders. The agriculture experts have also pointed out that this illegal practice causes loss to the fertility of the soil. But when someone asks any farmer about the reason behind the stubble burning, the answer that one gets is that fire is the cheapest and the easiest way to clear the fields for the next sowing. A farmer said on the condition of anonymity that the approach of the district administration was lax due to the upcoming Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti polls, as most of the staff is busy there. “Even the ruling Akalis do not want to annoy the farmers by registering a case against them in this season of elections,” said the farmer. The officials in the fire department, when contacted, revealed that so far they had received information about 32 cases of stubble burning in the fields. Deputy Commissioner of Muktsar, Paramjit Singh, said, “A ban has been imposed in this regard and the police has to act strictly. I will check the situation and ask the police to swing into action.”
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Two held under NDPS Act
Muktsar, May 6 The police said six bags of poppy husk weighing 20 kg each along with the weapon and ammunition was recovered from Mandeep Singh and Nirmal Singh during search of the car they were travelling in near Husnar village on Sunday. The police seized the car, poppy husk, the revolver and cartridges and registered a case against the duo under the NDPS Act at Gidderbaha police station. Officials of the Narcotics Control Cell are investigating the case. Meanwhile, the Kabarwala police caught three residents of Hanumangarh in Rajasthan for allegedly carrying a .32 bore revolver and six live cartridges, after they failed to produce arms
licence. A case under the Arms Act has been registered against Ramesh Kumar, Chander Bhan and Jaswinder at the Kabarwala police station.
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Two held with Rs 1.99 lakh in fake currency
Ferozepur, May 6 Giving the details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Varinder Pal Singh said the operation was carried out on the basis of a secret input following which a special naka had been laid by the BSF and police officials along the Indo-Pakistan border near village Tindiwala. The SSP said two persons, identified as Harpreet Singh alias Gora and Harbans Singh alias Bansi, were apprehended by the team who revealed that a consignment of FICN had arrived from Pakistan. Based on the information provided by the duo, a search operation was carried out during which FICN worth Rs 1.99 lakhs besides a Pakistani SIM was recovered.
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