B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Another prisoner dies in Faridkot jail
Faridkot, July 5
Three days after a Moga youth allegedly committed suicide in the Central Jail, Faridkot, another prisoner from the district died at the jail today. Nachhatar Singh of Saleena village of Moga was incarcerated after he was awarded six-year jail term in an attempt to murder case.

11,000 take part in Army recruitment rally
Bathinda, July 5
Youths of Punjab facing the stigma of drug abuse and declining physical standards now have a reason to hold their heads high. The recruitment officers at the two-day Army recruitment rally for Bathinda, Ferozepur and Fazilka districts found the candidates 'well-built'.

Panchayat poll
CM’s kin defeated
Muktsar, July 5
Paramjit Kaur, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's kin, lost the panchayat elections from Ward No. 4 of Warringkhera village in the Lambi block. She remained on the second position after securing 89 votes, while winner Harwinder Kaur got 122 votes. Another contestant, Gurmeet Kaur, got 53 votes. Paramjit Kaur is the daughter of Harbans Singh Dhillon, a resident of Kaljharani village and the Chief Minister's cousin. 

Another prisoner dies in Faridkot jail
Tribune News Service

Faridkot, July 5
Three days after a Moga youth allegedly committed suicide in the Central Jail, Faridkot, another prisoner from the district died at the jail today. Nachhatar Singh of Saleena village of Moga was incarcerated after he was awarded six-year jail term in an attempt to murder case.

The jail authorities are examining the cause of the death.

On July 2, Deepak Kumar of Sadha Wali Basti in Moga district had committed suicide in the jail here. He was lodged here for the offence of abetment to suicide after his wife Suman killed herself on June 15. Besides Deepak, his mother and sister were also named as accused in the case. After his arrest in Moga, Deepak was sent as an undertrial to the Central Jail here. He was found hanging in a bathroom of the jail.

A day after the alleged suicide by Deepak, his relatives staged a protest dharna in front of the City police station-2, blaming the jail authorities for his death.

Nachhatar Singh's was the fifth death case that occurred in the jail during the past four months.

Besides an increased number of suicides, the death of inmates in the Central Jail is a big challenge for the police and the jail authorities.

In the last incident of death of a prisoner on April 20, the jail had witnessed massive outrage by the prisoners. An increased number of drug addicts in the jail is believed to be the main cause of the high number of death and suicide cases taking place in the jail.

Jail warden awarded 3-yr RI

While holding a jail warden guilty of selling drugs to prisoners in the Faridkot Central Jail, the court of District and Sessions Judge today awarded him three years of rigorous imprisonment. The jail warden, Harjinder Singh, was arrested by the police in February last year after the jail superintendent in his complaint to the police claimed to have had recovered 600 sedative tablets and 6 gm of smack powder from the possession of the jail warden when he was entering the jail.

11,000 take part in Army recruitment rally
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Bathinda, July 5
Youths of Punjab facing the stigma of drug abuse and declining physical standards now have a reason to hold their heads high. The recruitment officers at the two-day Army recruitment rally for Bathinda, Ferozepur and Fazilka districts found the candidates 'well-built'.

Nearly 11,000 candidates took various tests for the posts of general duty soldier and for technical posts.

The problem of wearing tattoos by youths that is not allowed by the Army was also not witnessed much in the rally that concluded here today.

A number of youths admitted that they had visited skin doctors before the rally to remove tattoos.

In the last year or so, the Army has started a massive awareness against tattoos. At one such rally in Akhnoor in Jammu and Kashmir, hundreds of candidates were rejected because they sported tattoos.

Colonel PF Nikkam, Director, Recruitment, said he was happy with the physical standards of the youths at the rally, “During the last few years, we faced the problem all over the country, especially in Punjab. However, youths are tall and well-built in this region of the state. Most of them fulfill the physical standards.”

He said the recruiting officers were also happy to note that most of the candidates seemed to have practised a lot for the tests, “They had build good stamina by running long distances.” Colonel Nikkam said there were a good number of candidates for technical posts.

Panchayat poll
CM’s kin defeated
Tribune News Service

Muktsar, July 5
Paramjit Kaur, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal's kin, lost the panchayat elections from Ward No. 4 of Warringkhera village in the Lambi block. She remained on the second position after securing 89 votes, while winner Harwinder Kaur got 122 votes. Another contestant, Gurmeet Kaur, got 53 votes. Paramjit Kaur is the daughter of Harbans Singh Dhillon, a resident of Kaljharani village and the Chief Minister's cousin. 

Villagers’ protest enters day 2

Faridkot, July 5
Residents of Warah Ka Daraka village continued the blockade on the Kotkapura-Muktsar road for the second day today. They are protesting against a Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) for declaring his defeated supporter in the panchayat elections in the village as winner by allegedly cancelling 25 ballot papers of the winning candidate. The traffic on the road was diverted to the link roads due to the blockade. All attempts of the district police and the civil authorities to end the protest proved futile. — TNS