B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Gidderbaha bank robbery accused held
Bathinda, May 28
The Muktsar police has busted a gang of robbers who aspired to become the "splendid sevens" in the field of crime. The police has arrested four members of the gang for decamping with a trunk full of Rs 49 lakh in cash just outside the State Bank of Patiala, Gidderbaha branch, on May 22. The cash was being delivered to the bank. The robbers had also injured the bank guard.

Inspector-General, Bathinda zone, Nirmal Singh Dhillon flanked by DIG AS Chahal (left) and Muktsar SSP Surjeet Singh shows the rifle and cash recovered from robbers, during a press conference in Bathinda on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Pawan Sharma

Lobbying on for PRI top posts in Moga district
Moga, May 28
Hectic lobbying has begun within the ruling SAD in Moga district for the post of chairpersons of the zila parishad reserved for SC (women) and the five panchayat samitis with the local leaders making efforts to woo the elected members.

Dalit youth shifted to Faridkot hospital
Muktsar, May 28
A Dalit youth of Danewala village near Malout, who had recently lodged a verbal complaint with the Chief Minister alleging that he was subjected to third degree torture by the Malout city police when his relative refused to attend a public rally of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the recently held zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections, was today taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot.

Drugs, mobile recovered from jail inmate
Ferozepur, May 28
The Ferozepur police has booked a prisoner, who had been undergoing life sentence in the Central Jail, for possessing drugs and mobile phone.

Lawyers go on strike in Mansa
Bathinda, May 28
Lawyers at Mansa, Budhlada and Sardulgarh today struck work in protest against a case registered against a senior advocate for allegedly outraging the modesty of a woman on board a bus a few days ago.

Power grid inaugurated
Moga, May 28 Local MLA Jathedar Tota Singh inaugurated a 66-KV power grid coupled with a new transmission system at Fatehgarh Kortana village of Moga district on Monday. It has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 3.75 crore.

Gidderbaha bank robbery accused held
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 28
The Muktsar police has busted a gang of robbers who aspired to become the "splendid sevens" in the field of crime. The police has arrested four members of the gang for decamping with a trunk full of Rs 49 lakh in cash just outside the State Bank of Patiala, Gidderbaha branch, on May 22. The cash was being delivered to the bank. The robbers had also injured the bank guard.

IG, Bathinda Zone, NS Dhillon and SSP Muktsar Surjeet Singh told reporters here today that the robbers had formed a nine-member gang out of which seven grouped together to strike at the target.

Apart from the May 22 crime, they had looted Rs 3 lakh from Surjit Singh of Abukhurana from outside Punjab and Sind Bank, Malout.

The IG said out of Rs 49 lakh, Rs 33.5 lakh has been recovered along with the rifle of the bank guard, which was snatched by the accused after they shot him twice. The police also recovered a country-made pistol and a revolver from the accused.

Those arrested include Balwinder Singh alias Binder, Harpreet Singh alias Happy, Kanwarbir Singh and Sukraj Singh.

The IG said a team led by SP (Headquarter), Muktsar NPS Sidhu arrested the accused from Amritsar. A stolen Snatro car was also recovered from their possession.

Those on the run were the kingpin Nanak Singh, Gurdev Singh and Kuldip Singh. All these seven were involved in the Gidderbaha robbery.

Two other accused, Kaka and Daljit Singh, were involved in the Malout robbery. However, they met with an accident later while driving a motorcycle.

They were under treatment at the PGI, Chandigarh, for multiple fractures and injuries. The IG said they would be arrested soon.

SSP Muktsar Surjeet Singh along with SP (Headquarter) NP Singh said the accused Harpreet Singh alias Happy and Sukhraj Singh had cleared class XII exam in non-medical stream with over 70 per cent marks two years ago. However, they fell in bad company later.

The alleged kingpin Nanak Singh and two brother Gurdev and Binder belonged to Amritsar district. They had fled after forging an illegal land deal worth Rs 25 lakhs. They had started a dairy farm in Gidderbaha but wanted quick money and chose to rob banks or rich customers.

He said Nanak Singh did a recce of the targets. He found that the bank cash was transported via a Maruti Alto car to and fro Bathinda at a particular time. They struck at the car just outside the bank. The IG said they looted a person in Malout on May 13 as a "warm-up" exercise.

Meanwhile, the police has asked the banks in the region to fine-tune their security system and to keep changing the vehicles in which the cash is transported.

Lobbying on for PRI top posts in Moga district
Kulwinder Sandhu
Tribune News Service

Moga, May 28
Hectic lobbying has begun within the ruling SAD in Moga district for the post of chairpersons of the zila parishad reserved for SC (women) and the five panchayat samitis with the local leaders making efforts to woo the elected members.

Senior Akali leader Jathedar Tota Singh seems to be having an edge over the local power centres within the party. A large number of his loyalists, including some independent candidates, had declared that they would come under his umbrella after winning the rural polls.

On Tuesday, he called a meeting at Nihalsinghwala, in which more than 90 per cent of the elected representatives participated to discuss the post-poll scenario. The local MP, Paramjit Kaur Gulshan, was also present on the occasion.

On Monday, a similar meeting was called by Tota Singh at Dharamkot in which the local elected representatives participated and vowed to stand by the Akali stalwart while paying obeisance at a local shrine.

It was learnt that a section of the Akalis, including some MLAs, may go against the nominees of Tota Singh for the top Panchayati Raj Institution (PRI) posts in the district.

Therefore, the political shows being staged by him were seen in political circles as an exercise to consolidate his power. By managing to rope in the support of the local MP, he has certainly emerged stronger leaving political uncertainty in the camps of his rivals within the party.

In the Zila Parishad elections, Amarjit Kaur Sahoke, a close confidant of Tota Singh, had won from Bilaspur zone by a huge margin of over 7,000 votes. She is a front-runner for the chairperson’s post and had resigned from her government teacher’s post to contest the polls.

Another woman, Jaswinder Kaur, who won from Gholia zone, has also locked horns over this prestigious PRI post. She enjoys the support of Nihalsinghwala MLA Rajwinder Kaur but the numbers hardly support her.

Interestingly, Tota Singh did not interfere in the Panchayat Samiti polls in Baghapurana block but may call the shots in the selection of the chairman. In Moga-I and Moga-II panchayat samitis, Tota Singh’s son Makhan Brar had campaigned for many candidates and most of them had won the polls.

SAD MLA Joginder Pal Jain, who was recently elected in the by-poll, would undoubtedly try his best to maintain his supremacy in the Moga-I and Moga-II blocks but the going does not appear to be easy for him.

In Kot-ise-Khan Panchayat Samiti, which is his home turf, Tota Singh has already been given a free hand by the party. 

Dalit youth shifted to Faridkot hospital
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, May 28
A Dalit youth of Danewala village near Malout, who had recently lodged a verbal complaint with the Chief Minister alleging that he was subjected to third degree torture by the Malout city police when his relative refused to attend a public rally of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in the recently held zila parishad and panchayat samiti elections, was today taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital in Faridkot.

The youth, Gurlal, was earlier admitted to the Civil Hospital, Malout, with the complaint of passing blood in stool. "Gurlal's condition was not improving. Therefore, the doctors advised that he should be taken to Faridkot for better treatment," said former MLA of Malout, Baldev Singh Ballamgarh.

Talking over the phone, Gurlal alleged, "It has been almost a fortnight since the police gave me third degree torture. But so far, no action has been taken against the cops who illegally confined and thrashed me inside the police station on May 15."

Drugs, mobile recovered from jail inmate
Our Correspondent

Ferozepur, May 28
The Ferozepur police has booked a prisoner, who had been undergoing life sentence in the Central Jail, for possessing drugs and mobile phone.

According to the information available, the prisoner, identified as Gurvinder Singh, a resident of Basti Ram Lal in Ferozepur, had been lodged in the jail in connection with a case registered against him under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 27 of the Arms Act on August 21, 2009.

Around a fortnight ago, on May 15, the jail authorities recovered 25 grams of opium besides a mobile phone from his possession which had ostensibly been provided to him by a visitor who had come to meet him in jail.

Ironically, though the matter was reported to the police by the jail authorities immediately, the case was registered against him by the police only yesterday on the basis of the compliant lodged by the jail superintendent.

Lawyers go on strike in Mansa
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, May 28
Lawyers at Mansa, Budhlada and Sardulgarh today struck work in protest against a case registered against a senior advocate for allegedly outraging the modesty of a woman on board a bus a few days ago.

Mansa Bar Association president Gurpreet Singh Sidhu and secretary Gurikbal Singh Manshaia said the lawyers will remain on strike till the FIR in the case is cancelled. 

Power grid inaugurated

Moga, May 28
Local MLA Jathedar Tota Singh inaugurated a 66-KV power grid coupled with a new transmission system at Fatehgarh Kortana village of Moga district on Monday. It has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 3.75 crore.