B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Judicial inquiry begins in police
custody death
Faridkot, June 12
Four days after the death of a 70-year-old person in a police lock-up in Faridkot, the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) today started an investigation into the causes of the death. While the family members of the deceased Surjit Singh accused the police of torturing the old man, resulting in his death, the police officials, including the SSP, DSP and SHO today claimed before the JMIC that cardiac arrest was the prima facie reason for the death.

District Red Cross Society makes Rs 25.18 lakh from arms licence seekers
Muktsar, June 12
The District Red Cross society has become richer by Rs 25.18 lakh in the last nine months through the fee deposited by the applicants seeking arms licences alone. The district administration has made it “mandatory” for all arms licence seekers to get a donation receipt of Rs 5,000 issued from the District Red Cross society, before applying for the arms licence file. Only after producing the donation slip is the file being given to the arms licence seekers, which has increased the funds of the society.

District Sports Officer suspended on charge of discrepancies in diet bills
Muktsar, June 12
The sports department has suspended the District Sports Officer (DSO), Muktsar, Balwant Singh for alleged discrepancies in submitting the daily diet expenses of nearly 63 students for the last six months, which amounted in lakhs.

Narcotics smuggler dies in road mishap
Muktsar, June 12
A “narcotics smuggler” lost his life when the tyre of a Xylo vehicle, in which a huge quantity of poppy husk was allegedly being smuggled, burst and the vehicle overturned near Aadhnian village on the Malout-Delhi highway late last night. According to the police, the driver was killed and another occupant of the vehicle sustained injuries.

3 die under mysterious circumstances
Abohar, June 12
Three youths were found dead under the mysterious circumstances today. As per information, Shanker and his friend Rajinder of Amarpura village, located on the Abohar-Hanumangarh road, were found dead in the fields of a revenue collection agent.

Couple attempts suicide, wife dies
Abohar, June 12
A couple made attempt to immolate themselves in Ward Number 10 of border town Anoopgarh in Sriganganagar district late last night. SHO Amarjit Chawla said the couple's daughter informed her grandfather about the incident over the phone. The latter informed the police and the Health Department officials swung into action. Pawan and his wife Raj Kumari were admitted to a hospital but Raj Kumari succumbed to her burn injuries today. The couple's relatives said their relation was not going smooth for the past few months and they tried to commit suicide following a petty argument last night. Pawan's condition is stable. — OC

Judicial inquiry begins in police custody death
Balwant Garg/TNS

Faridkot, June 12
Four days after the death of a 70-year-old person in a police lock-up in Faridkot, the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMIC) today started an investigation into the causes of the death.

While the family members of the deceased Surjit Singh accused the police of torturing the old man, resulting in his death, the police officials, including the SSP, DSP and SHO today claimed before the JMIC that cardiac arrest was the prima facie reason for the death.

Denying the allegations of third-degree torture, the police officials claimed that there was no reason for the police to exert any physical or mental pressure as Surjit Singh was arrested on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The police officials claimed that Surjit Singh was arrested in a 27-year-old drug smuggling case after the High Court upheld his conviction in the case under (Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The death of Surjit Singh in police lock-up on June 8 led to traffic blockade by the family members and relatives of the deceased. The protesters were demanding legal action against the police for his custodial death.

Charanjit Kaur, a daughter of the deceased, had alleged that the Faridkot police declared her father dead two hours after his arrest. “The clothes on the body of my father had blood stains, giving hints of police torture in the lock-up,” she alleged.

However, the police claimed that Surjit was arrested after the High Court upheld his conviction in a drug smuggling case of May 25, 1986, in which he was arrested by the police for the offence of smuggling 60 kg opium. In this case, Surjit Singh was awarded 10-year jail sentence by a Faridkot court in December 1987.

However, Surjit Singh challenged his conviction in the High Court and the court allowed him bail till the decision of his appeal. Some days back, the High Court, in its decision, upheld Surjit’s conviction in the drug smuggling case and the court issued directions to the police to arrest him before June 14, 2013 to send him to jail, revealed police sources.

While the police were making rounds of his house to arrest Surjit Singh as per the High Court directions, he was reportedly evasive, alleged the police. It is alleged that the police rounded up Surjit’s daughter to force him to surrender.

Charanjit Kaur, the deceased's daughter, alleged that the police misbehaved with her and put her up in a lockup to force her father to surrender. "After my father surrendered before the police today in the afternoon, he was given a severe thrashing, causing his death," she alleged.

District Red Cross Society makes Rs 25.18 lakh from arms licence seekers
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, June 12
The District Red Cross society has become richer by Rs 25.18 lakh in the last nine months through the fee deposited by the applicants seeking arms licences alone. The district administration has made it “mandatory” for all arms licence seekers to get a donation receipt of Rs 5,000 issued from the District Red Cross society, before applying for the arms licence file. Only after producing the donation slip is the file being given to the arms licence seekers, which has increased the funds of the society.

From September 27 last year till date, as many as 492 people have deposited this “so-called” fee wih the District Red Cross Society. Of them, 18 are women and the rest are men.

Hardev Kaur Gill, Secretary, District Red Cross Society, said, “When I had taken over the charge almost eight years ago, the total funds of the society were nearly Rs 20 lakh, but now the funds are in plenty. For instance, the society has earned nearly Rs 25 lakh from the arms licence seekers alone.”

“Apart from it, we have given a number of shops on rent, cultural events including start nights have been organised, which also generate funds for the society,” added Gill.

She, however, said that the funds were being channelised in the right direction, as the society also distributes tricycles to the physically challenged.

“Besides, we have opened a craft and sewing training centre for women, a beauty parlour training centre and extra-curricular camps for school students. The society also distributes free medicines to the needy after holding camps in the villages. We also run two ambulances. The society has a library,” said Gill, adding, “All this has become possible with the help of funds.”

However, a senior official in the State Red Cross Society, Chandigarh, said though all district red cross societies have good sources of generating funds, yet a majority were not contributing their share to the state society citing lack of funds.

District Sports Officer suspended on charge of discrepancies in diet bills
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, June 12
The sports department has suspended the District Sports Officer (DSO), Muktsar, Balwant Singh for alleged discrepancies in submitting the daily diet expenses of nearly 63 students for the last six months, which amounted in lakhs.

Confirming the development, Deputy Director, Sports Department, SL Lotey said, "In the preliminary report given by the investigation team, some discrepancies have been found in the diet expenses of the last few months. Thus, the District Sports Officer, Muktsar, has been placed under suspension until the final inquiry report is submitted."

It may be mentioned here that some coaches and local sport enthusiasts had lodged a written complaint against District Sports Officer Balwant Singh and a private contractor hired to provide daily diet to the players of three wings of Midda, Mohlan and Panniwala villages, alleging that they had committed fraud in lakhs.

In their complaint, they had also alleged that the DSO, in association with some other officials, had prepared fake diet bills, after forging the duplicate signatures of school heads and students.

"After the complaint, the bills were verified and the signatures were found to be fake. Even the school heads told the inquiry committee that they had not signed the bills. The bills were made of providing diet to 63 students, but the actual number of students getting training was 43 and the remaining 20 names were added in the bills in a fake manner," alleged Jaipal Singh, a complainant.

"In further inquiry, all bills passed by Balwant Singh during his tenure as the DSO in Muktsar will also be checked," said Deputy Director, Sports, SL Lotey, adding, "The role of contractor in this alleged scam will also be verified."

Meanwhile, the sports authorities gave the additional charge of Muktsar district to District Sports Officer, Faridkot, Karam Singh.

Narcotics smuggler dies in road mishap
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, June 12
A “narcotics smuggler” lost his life when the tyre of a Xylo vehicle, in which a huge quantity of poppy husk was allegedly being smuggled, burst and the vehicle overturned near Aadhnian village on the Malout-Delhi highway late last night. According to the police, the driver was killed and another occupant of the vehicle sustained injuries.

However, the smugglers, including the injured, managed to flee before the police could arrive. The police has seized nearly 3.46 quintals of poppy husk from the damaged vehicle. The deceased was identified as Brij Mohan, a resident of Sikar district in Rajasthan, which suggested that the vehicle was coming from Rajasthan.

Lambi police has started investigations in this regard after registering a case under the NDPS Act.

3 die under mysterious circumstances
Our Correspondent

Abohar, June 12
Three youths were found dead under the mysterious circumstances today. As per information, Shanker and his friend Rajinder of Amarpura village, located on the Abohar-Hanumangarh road, were found dead in the fields of a revenue collection agent.

They had told their family that they were to attend a function in the night. As none of them returned home in the morning, the family members started to searching them.

Few emptied bottles of insecticides were also found near the bodies. Both were daily wage earners.

Meanwhile, the body of a youth, identified as Vishnu of Arya Nagar, was found at the Loknayak Jai Parkash Narayan Park in Nai Abadi today. An NGO assisted the police in shifting the body to the Civil Hospital for conducting a post-mortem.