Ludhiana, July 9
Acting on the new policy for the regularisation of unauthorised colonies, which was notified by the Punjab Government on June 26, the Greater Ludhiana Area Development Authority (GLADA) has served notices on 1,750 developers of unlicensed colonies in Ludhiana, Moga, Ferozepur, Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar and Phillaur to file applications for the regularisation of their colonies by August 26 along with the stipulated compounding fee and development charges or else be prepared to face dire consequences.

Additional Chief Administrator (ACA) of GLADA Baldev Singh said under the provisions of the Punjab Laws (Special Provisions) Act-2013, criminal proceedings would be launched against developers, promoters, plot or building owners in all such unauthorised colonies after the deadline if applications were not submitted by them for compounding and regularisation of unlicensed colonies developed before April 1 this year.

"In addition civic amenities like water supply, sewerage, drainage and electricity connections will not be provided to residents of these colonies and the developers/property owners will also run the risk of demolition of structures and buildings in unlicensed colonies," the ACA said, adding that no building plans for construction in unauthorised colonies would be approved and GLADA had already taken up the matter with the authorities to ban the registration of sale deeds in all such colonies.

Terming the GLADA move as sheer high-handedness and the new policy announced for the regularisation of unlicensed colonies as "flawed", the Punjab Colonisers and Property Dealers Association has asserted that the compounding fee as well as the development charges to be collected from the developers and plot holders, respectively, for both categories of unlicensed colonies, those developed before August 17, 2007, and those developed after it, are unreasonably high as well as unrealistic.

President of the body Kultar Singh Jogi, who is a member of the general council of the ruling SAD, said the threat of demolition and the ban on the registration of title deeds had come as a bolt from the blue for the recession-hit real estate market. "Neither promoters/developers nor plot or building owners are in a position to pay the exorbitant compounding fee and development charges fixed for A, B and C class towns."

He said the realtors, along with other stakeholders, would hold a statewide protest tomorrow and submit memoranda to all deputy commissioners calling upon the state government to review the policy and slash the compounding fee as well as the development charges.

Ludhiana, July 9
The Ludhiana Municipal Corporation today demolished several encroachments in the form of up ramps, green belts and sheds at the Ambedkar Colony near Model Town Extension here.

(Above) An earth-moving machine removes encroachments during a demolition drive at the Ambedkar Colony in Ludhiana on Tuesday; and (below) residents argue with Assistant Town Planner Rajinder Sharma. Tribune Photos: Himanshu Mahajan

These encroachments had come up in the area during the past several years and it was after repeated complaints by area residents that the encroachments were removed.

The Ambedkar Colony, also known as the Dhakka Colony, is located near the posh Model Town Extension in the city.

In some cases, people had encroached upon a portion of 8 to 9 ft of the public street by either constructing ramps or green belts on it. Some residents had constructed sheds outside their houses.

As soon as a team of the MC reached the area in the afternoon, residents gathered and tried to stop it from removing the encroachments. However, with the help of the police, the MC team removed the encroachments.

Assistant Town Planner (Zone D) Rajinder Sharma said the structures had to be removed as these had come up on a public street. “Residents should understand that encroachments on a public street hinder the smooth flow of traffic and cause inconvenience. Violators would be dealt with strictly,” he said.

Ludhiana, July 9
The police has booked two lawyers and a woman for allegedly demanding Rs 3 lakh as "extortion money" from a trader for not proceeding against him in a "false case".

The accused have been identified as Manjit Kaur of Sherpur Khurd, advocate Naresh Devgun and advocate Lakhwinder Singh Sood. They allegedly tried to blackmail a hardware trader. The case was registered on a complaint lodged by Ravi Singla, a resident of Moti Nagar.

Ravi Singla said he had received a notice from the two lawyers on January 19 stating that his 65-year-old father Hari Singh was involved in a molestation incident.

According to the notice, on December 30, Manjit Kaur visited the hardware store located on a link road near Dholewal Basti for purchasing nails. As soon as Manjit Kaur entered the shop, Hari Singh grabbed her by the arm and allegedly outraged her modesty.

Ravi Singla said the advocates and the woman demanded Rs 3 lakh to settle the matter.

Ravi Singla then reported the matter to the police. After an investigation, Naresh, Lakhwinder and Manjit Kaur were booked under Sections 384 and 120-B of the IPC for extortion and criminal conspiracy.

District Bar chief sees red

The registration of a case against the two advocate has not gone down well with PS Ghuman, District Bar president. Ghuman said, "I am unaware about the matter. Before going ahead with the registration of the case, the police officer concerned could have brought the matter to my notice. I will now go through the case and decide on the future course of action accordingly." 

Ludhiana, July 9
Two motorcycle-borne youths allegedly broke open the glove compartment of a scooter and decamped with a bag containing Rs 5 lakh near Vishwakarma Chowk here today.

Satvir Singh, a cloth merchant, comes out of a police station after lodging a complaint regarding the incident that took place at Vishwakarma Chowk in Ludhiana.Tribune photo: Himanshu mahajan

The incident took place in the afternoon when two employees, Kuldip Singh and Charanjit Kumar, were retuning home after withdrawing cash from Punjab National Bank (PNB) near Miller Gunj.

According to the duo, it suddenly started raining heavily and they decided to park the scooter on the roadside and take shelter.

They said in the meantime two youths came on a motorcycle and the one riding pillion alighted from the bike and broke open the glove compartment of the scooter and took the bag containing Rs 5 lakh.

Kuldip and Charanjit claimed that they tired to chase the youths, but they managed to escape. They informed the police and their employer Satvir Singh about the incident.

Satvir Singh, a cloth merchant, said Kuldip and Charanjit were his old and trusted employees and used to withdraw cash from the bank on a regular basis.

The police has not ruled out foul play. It is suspecting that the incident could be a concocted story to pocket the amount.

The investigating officer said the case was being probed from all angles. 

Ludhiana, July 9
In an alleged case of police apathy, a 13-year-old Dalit girl of Heeran village near Chandigarh Road, who was allegedly gang-raped by four youths, was made to do the rounds of a police station along with her mother, a widow. Despite this, the police did not register a case. The victim today visited the house of BJP leader and former Health Minister Satpal Gosain and sought his help.

Gosain said the mobile phone of the Commissioner of Police was switched off. He spoke to DCP Harsh Bansal and informed him about the incident and the "callous" police action.

The incident took place yesterday evening when she was on the way to a shop to buy a notebook.

Four car-borne youths stopped the vehicle and asked her about the road leading to Kohara.

They pulled her inside the car and sedated her. She said when she woke up, she was in tatters. She said a woman sarpanch of the nearby Panglian village helped her reach her home.

The victim's mother said they approached the Kum Kalan police, but it did not register a case following which they came to the minister's house, seeking his help in the matter.

"It is shocking that a girl was gang-raped and the police did not register a case. How can the police be so thick skinned," said Satpal Gosain.

Ludhiana, July 9
The Government Railway Police (GRP) seized cash and gold worth Rs 70 lakh from two passengers here last night. The cash and gold was recoverd from the two passengers, Jagtar Singh and his nephew Amandeep Singh, both residents of Amritsar, during a routine checking on the Garibrath train.

Investigating officer Balbir Singh Ghuman said the duo was detained after a huge amount of cash and gold ornaments were found in their briefcase during the checking.

He said Rs 31 lakh and 1.1 kg of gold biscuits and jewellery were recovered from the duo and the Income Tax Department had been informed about it.

Jagtar Singh told the police that he was a goldsmith and was heading for Samastipur in Bihar. They, however, refused to provide information regarding the source of the gold ornaments and cash.

"We have informed the Enforcement and the Income Tax departments about the seizure and these departments will now conduct the investigation," said SHO Blair Singh Ghuman.

"We have confiscated the gold while the money has been handed over to the Income Tax Department, which will investigate the matter. The Excise Department will impose a penalty at the rate of 50 per cent of the value of the goods," said Parminder Singh, Excise and Taxation Officer.

He said the department had got the value of the gold evaluated from a surveyor, according to whom the gold recovered was worth Rs 26.26 lakh.

In yet another incident at the railway station, the department seized 99 cartons of goods containing readymade and artificial jewellery, and cosmetics.

"The bill for the goods was not produced following which the goods were seized by the department and a penalty of Rs 2.40 lakh imposed," said Parminder.

Ludhiana, July 9
For just 40 seats of MCom Business Innovations Course, a total of 166 candidates had appeared in the examination. As per the results declared by Panjab University, Chandigarh, 104 students have qualified the test.

Now, the students will have to submit their applications for seeking admission to the principal of the SCD Government College, Ludhiana, by July 13 and the final list will be prepared on the basis of 50 per cent weightage to the marks in their last qualifying exam and 50 per cent weightage to the entrance test examination. The interviews will be held on July 16.

Prem Sagar, a parent whose ward has qualified the test, said: “Despite crossing all the hurdles, I am not sure whether my ward will get the admission here or not as there are so many candidates for just 40 seats. Out of these 40 seats, just 20 seats are for the general category.”

Principal of the college Prof Rajinder Singh said, “Only those students, who have qualified the entrance test, will be considered for admission to the course who submits their admission application forms to the office of the principal by July 13 by 2 pm.”

He said MCom Business Innovations course was a UGC approved professional programme which has interdisciplinary and industry oriented approach focusing on research, training and placement.

“As the course is being financed by the University Grants Commission, the college will be charging normal fee for the programme (approximately Rs 3,700) annually,” said the principal.

He said the course was a highly innovative programme and the last year results had shown excellent results. Summer internship programme for MCom (Business Innovations) students of SCD Government College, too, had shown excellent outcome. Later, students were placed in leading companies and financial institutions.

“The State Bank of India has offered Rs 8,000 per month per student as a stipend for the two-month training programme,” said Prof Ashwani Bhalla, senior faculty member at SCD Government College. 

Ludhiana, July 9
The very saying by Robert H Schuller: “Never cut a tree down in the wintertime. Never make a negative decision in the low time. Never make your most important decisions when you are in your worst moods. Wait, be patient. The storm will pass. The spring will come,” sounds very good. 

Perhaps this is a suggestion for all old people who lose patience and land at any old-age home after misunderstandings with their children. In this fast moving world, when families have gone nuclear and all are busy, the expectations of old people have increased manifold. All this leads to depression, aggression and even constant source of irritation among the old people.

It has been observed that minds of old people who have enough time, but lack good company, remains crowded with negative thoughts. A living example of this is Nishkam Sewa Ashram, Daad, which keeps receiving such persons from time to time. While talking to The Tribune, Sharwan Kumar, founder of Nishkam Sewa Ashram, said: “Old people who lose their patience very quickly, fight with their children on petty issues and land up at our Ashram. Their first complaint to us is that their children do not take care of them, do not respect them and even do not give them food of their choice. They stay with us for some days withholding grudges against their own family members. I counsel them not to lose patience. We call to their children here to arrange a meeting and send them back to their respective homes.”

Sharwan said: “At times some children are too greedy and want to take away everything from parents. Also, they do not want to take care of them. But most of the time it is the parents who are at fault, who do not try to understand circumstances and dreams of their own children.” The children should also spend some time with their parents, he added.

Dr Rajiv Gupta, a city-based psychiatrist said: “In old-age, expectations of parents increase. The brain starts shrinking and they suffer from dementia which gets irritable. They become demanding and suspicious.”

He suggested that old persons should make groups of their own friends, where they may spend their time by sharing their experiences with each other when their children are away to work. 

Ludhiana, July 9
A message in circulation "This is a new drug known as Strawberry Quick" via WhatsApp is leaving local residents in a fix.

The message says "Strawberry Quick" is a type of small crystal ball. It smells like strawberry and is being handed over to schoolchildren through miscreants. It comes in chocolate, cherry, butter- cocoa, grape, orange flavours. Please instruct children not to accept candies from strangers as they are harmful and take it immediately to their teachers and parents.”

Rita Verma, a worried parent, said: "Even if it is not true, it is very scary. I have asked my eight-year-old daughter not to accept any sweet or any other eatable from a stranger."

Principal of Kundan Vidya Mandir, Navita Puri, said there are always two ways to look at such a situation. "Either we can ignore it or take precautions. Even if it is a rumour still a warning has been sent. We must ask our wards not to take or consume such sweets," said Puri. 

Ludhiana, July 9
Revising the decision on the transfers of medical officers and specialists in the state, the Health and Family Welfare Department has transferred 53 medical officers.

The department has tried to pacify the doctors who were hit by June 3 transfers. According to Manmohan Singh, Under Secretary, Health Department, the transfers have been effected in public interest.

In the new orders of adjustments and postings, ENT specialist Ramesh Kumar, who was transferred from the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, to the Subdivisional Hospital, Budhlada, has now been adjusted at the Subdivisional Hospital, Khanna.

Dr Vinay Anand, who was transferred from the Community Health Centre, Kartarpur (Jalandhar), to the Machhiwara centre, has been sent back to the EMU, Jalandhar. Meanwhile, child specialist Renu Gupta, who was transferred from the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, to the Civil Hospital, Moga, has been sent back to the Civil Hospital, Ludhaina. Dr Ravi Ram Sharan has been transferred to the Community Health Centre, Sudhar. Earlier, Dr Ravi Ram, who was posted at the Community Health Centre, Sidhwan Bet, was transferred to the Community Health Centre, Kot Isse Khan, Ludhiana, on June 3.

Meanwhile, Dr Jaskawal Kaur has been transferred from the Subdivisional Hospital, Samrala, to the Subdivisional Hospital, Rajpura

Dr Hardeep Singh, president, Punjab Civil Medical Services Association, said: "We are satisfied with the move of the government. After objections from medical officers, the government has agreed to review the cases of transfers on an individual basis. The process is going on". 

Ludhiana, July 9
To make sure that sewer cleaning work is completed on time, Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria today took stock of the situation and asked the contractor to complete the job within the stipulated period.

The first phase of sewerage cleaning using super suction machines on a stretch of 1.8 km (starting from Hanuman Temple on the GT Road) is to be executed at an expected cost of Rs 54 lakh. The work had started on June 25 and a 300-metre sewer line has been cleaned. The work has to be completed within one month.

But, in the first 15 days, the contractor has managed to clean only a 300-metre sewer line.

Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria admitted that the first 300 metres took 15 days to complete, “but I have clearly told the contractor to complete the remaining sewer line within the stipulated time,” said the Mayor while speaking to The Tribune.

Once this 42-inch sewer line is cleaned, areas, including Dhandari Kalan, Giaspura and industries on the main GT Road, will benefit to a large extent.

“The contractor today showed us the cleaning work using a CCTV camera and I hope that the area residents will not have sewer related complaints for the next atleast 10-15 years,” claimed Mayor Harcharan Singh Gohalwaria.

The Mayor was accompanied by former Mayor Hakam Singh Giaspura.

Before visiting the spot, the Mayor, accompanied by MLA Ranjit Singh Dhillon, inaugurated the newly constructed streets in the Mayapuri area that falls in Ward Number 6.

“We have dedicated this project to Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal as today is his birthday. These streets have been constructed at a cost of around Rs 50 lakh,” said Gohalwaria.

Ludhiana, July 9
Bus operators here continue to be a harassed lot as they have been doing rounds of different offices to get their payments for Zila Parisahd election duty. The elections were conducted more than a month ago. The operators said though the payments had been approved by the State Election Commission, the ADC (D) staff was dilly-dallying on their release.

Those working in the office of the ADC (D) maintain since the Zila Parishad elections were immediately followed by the Panchayat Elections, the entire staff was put on duties again and they could not tally the logbooks sent by the respective returning officers. By the end of next week, the operators will get their payments both for Zila Parishad and Panchayat elections online.

Talking to The Tribune, GS Grewal, president the Mini-Bus Operators Association here, said they had gone to the office of the ADC (D) where they were told since bills were not sent by the District Transport Department, payments could not be made. "The official concerned had told us that once they got the bills, payments would be released," said Grewal.

The bus operators also visited the DTO's office today where the officials concerned told them that the bills had already been sent and they could come tomorrow again to get a clear picture. "The officials told us that tomorrow one of their employees would go to the office of the ADC (D) with the bill receipts," said Grewal. It may be a callous attitude or deliberate attempt but the bus operators were suffering, said Grewal.

Meanwhile, Harpal Singh, from the office of the ADC (D), said the State Commission had released the budget and the payments would be released by the end of next week. "Being the only person here, I can find no time to check the log books/bills, etc. Since results of the panchayat elections were sent today, we will now focus on clearing the bills," said the employee. 

Ludhiana, July 9
Import duty on sugar has been increased to 15 per cent from 10 per cent to help the industry clear Rs 9,000 crore arrears of cane farmers. The hike would make the commodity costlier for the common man.

The sugar imports have been putting pressure on the domestic prices and have prevented millers from clearing cane farmers' arrears. In a notification issued by the Central Board of Excise and Customs (CBEC), it has been mentioned that duty on both the raw and white (refined) sugar has been raised to 15 per cent.

"The hike in duty is aimed at curbing import of sugar and improving the bearish sentiment in the domestic market. This will, however, lead to a rise in sugar prices across the country," said a market expert.

At present, sugar prices are between Rs 40 and Rs 50 per kg.

"The price of sugar will increase definitely as import duty on it has been increased. People will now have to shell out more for adding sweetness to their dishes," said Deepk Garg, owner of a department store.

Ritika, a homemaker from South City, said vegetable prices were already burning a hole in the common man's pocket and now the prices of sugar will also increase. All this has disturbed my kitchen budget. If things continue the same, I wonder what should anybody have in meals. The government should make efforts to control inflation but instead it is increasing the prices of essential commodities," she said.

Ludhiana, July 9
People continue to write on the watermark window of currency notes paying no attention to the "clean note policy" of the Reserve Bank of India.

Some write their names just for the sake of writing and to remember where they have to pay the said amount while others get names of bride and bridegroom printed on the watermarks. People are forced to write their contact details on the higher denomination notes by the telecom and other service providers at the time of bill clearance so as to trace the origin of the note if it turns out to be a fake one.

According to the RBI guidelines and Banking Regulation Act, writing on the watermark window of bank notes is a punishable offence.

Under the ‘Clean Note Policy’ notified in November 2001, instructions were given to all the banks to do away with the stapling of note packets and to the general public to stop writing on the currency notes.

"A few days ago, I got a currency note on which Anju weds Ajay was printed. It was sufficient to reveal that these were meant to be distributed at a marriage ceremony. I was curious to know if anybody can get such printing done on the watermark and contacted my bank branch. A bank official said this act was illegal but they cannot do much in this regard," said a senior citizen from the city.

Mandi Gobindgarh, July 9
Bharat Bhushan Jindal has been unanimously elected president of the Gobindgarh Steel Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GSCCI) the fifth consecutive time during the elections held today. The other office-bearers are general secretary Sushil Sharma, senior vice-presidents Jagmail Singh Matharoo and Satnarayan Singla, cashier Somnath Dua. Ramesh Kumar Goel and Mohinder Singh have been nominated as secretaries of three wings of the GSCCI.

As many as 21 members have been elected for three wings of the GSCCI out of the 2,631 members. Three members have been elected from alloyed, industry and trade while six members have been elected from rolling industry whereas 12 members have been elected from trade house. 

Ludhiana, July 9
A cooking LPG cylinder exploded at Sunet village here on Tuesday evening. Mohammed Alam said her wife was preparing tea when the explosion took place.

No one was injured in the accident though the house was damaged. A leakage in the gas pipe suspected to have led to the explosion. —TNS

Ludhiana, July 9
A discussion between a delegation of Master Cadre Union and the Punjab Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka was held today regarding the issue of problems being faced by the teachers. 

Seminar on knowledge management

Ludhiana: Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College organised a seminar on “Knowledge Management” for library staff of the college. Dr JN Jha, coordinator, accorded a warm welcome to resource person Dr MP Satija , former professor and Emeritus Fellow of the Department of Library and Information Science, Guru Nanak Dev University. Explaining the difference between information and knowledge, Dr Satija said, “Knowledge is formed on the basis of Information whereas Information lies in records and is codified.” Deliberating on the subject, the resource person said knowledge management was one such procedure to harness knowledge. He discussed the role of libraries in knowledge management. He said knowledge management promotes and enhances organisational efficiency. In the end, Satija gave tips to enhance personal knowledge management. Director of the college thanked the resource person for his Interactive session with the college library staff. Speaking on the occasion, Dr MS Saini said that as a learning organisation, libraries should provide a strong leadership in knowledge management.

Students bring laurels

The department of Youth Welfare, Panjab University, Chandigarh, organised a seven-day youth leadership training, hiking, trekking and rock climbing camp at Dalhousie from June 29 to July 6. As many as 114 students from different colleges of the Panjab University participated in the camp. Nine students of Sri Aurobindo College of Commerce and Management (SACCM) also participated in the camp. Students from SACCM excelled in the camp and bagged several prizes in various competitive events including hiking, trekking, debate, singing, declamation, poem recitation, dancing and quiz. Taruntej Singh and Chhavi Jindal were adjudged the best camper (boys) and best camper (girls), respectively. These students will represent Panjab University in the National Youth Leadership Camp to be held later this year. The students had an adventurous experience in the camp where they enjoyed trekking to the Kala Top, Khajjiar and Dalhousie market as well as participated in various leadership training activities. Taruntej won first prize in debate, first prize in poem recitation, second prize in poster making, second prize in cartooning, second prize in singing and third prize in declamation. Chhavi bagged second prize in dancing, quiz and third prize in singing. Vasu Gupta won first prize in debate, first prize in declamation and first prize in quiz and Mahesh Kumar bagged the third prize in quiz. College principal Dr RL Behl said that SACCM imparts quality education and also encourages holistic development of students by sending them to various camps.

Students shine in BSc-III (fashion designing) exams

The declaration of BSc-III (fashion designing) result by the Panjab University, Chandigarh, was a matter of pride for Guru Nanak Girls College, Model Town, as the college bagged six university positions. Kamalpreet Kaur (84.75 per cent) brought laurels to the college by securing second position in the university. Reetika (81 per cent) securing fifth position in the university, Tishu Dhawan (80.5 per cent) by bagging seventh position in the university, Suman (79.75 per cent) by securing eighth position in the university, Meghna Verma (79.5 per cent) by bagging ninth position in the university and Rajwinder Laddi (78.87 per cent) secured tenth position in university. Principal Dr Charanjit Mahal and President Gurbir Singh congratulated the staff and students for their outstanding performance.—TNS 

Ludhiana, July 9
The robbery incident at GK Vihar in Manekwal turned out to be a concocted story by a youth. The police has nabbed the youth identified as Arpit Gosian for misleading the police and recovered the gold ornament and cash from his possession.

The matter came to light this afternoon when Arpit (20) of GK Vihar told his father Vijay Gosain that two youths had barged into their house and locked him in a room and decamped with cash and gold ornaments.

Vijay informed the police officials about the incident. Vijay told the police officials that he had gone to the market with his wife when the incident happened and at that time Arpit was sleeping in his room.

According to Arpit, two youths entered the house and locked him in the room. Later, they broke open the cupboard and decamped with gold and cash.

From the onset, the police was suspecting a foul play. During interrogation, Arpit confessed to have committed the offence.

Amandeep Singh Brar SHO Sadar said robbey incident turned out to be concocted story. The police is investigating the matter.

The gold and cash has been recovered. 

Ludhiana, July 9
The Division No 8 police has booked a person for kidnapping a 22-year-old girl on the pretext of marriage. The accused has been identified as Akash, a resident of a colony near Jagraon bridge.The incident took place on July 3.

Ram Parshad, father of the victim, stated in his complaint that her daughter works at a cloth showroom situated at Kalgidhar Road, Field Gunj. The accused also works there. On July 3, she went to work but neither had she reached at her work place nor she returned home. The accused was also absent from his work place that day.

The police has recorded the statement of the victim's father and the investigation is under way.

Man held with habit-forming drugs

The Divison No 2 police has arrested a person and seized huge quantity of pharmaceutical drugs from his possession.

The accused has been identified as Raminder Singh, a resident of Gurpreet Nagar. The police managed to nab the accused from backside of the Civil Hospital.

The police has also recovered 11,000 tablets and 1,400 capsules from his bag.

A case under Section 22, 61, 85 of the NDPS Act has been registered against the accused.

10 persons booked for assault

The city police has booked ten persons for barging in a house and thrashing the family members in two different incidents here yesterday.

In the first incident, the police has booked Charanjit Singh alias Baba, Rachhpal Singh, Khushpal Singh, Rimpy, Rimmy, Gurbir Singh and Sarup Singh, all residents of Gobindgarh, for barging into the house of Harjinder Singh, a resident of the same village and thrashing him.

In the second incident, the police has booked Parminder Singh, Manpreet Singh and Gandhi of Lakhowal village for entering in Karamjit Singh's house, a resident of the same area and thrashing him badly.

It is learnt that dispute in the elections was the main reason behind both the incidents.

The police has recorded the statement of the victims and the investigation is under way.

Man booked for fraud

The city police has booked a man for making fake land record and other documents for duping people.

The accused has been identified as Gurmeet Singh of New Shimlapuri. He not only duped residents but also the employees of the revenue department. He has been booked under Sections 419 and 420 of the IPC on the complaint of Harpreet Singh of Shimlapuri. 

Ludhiana, July 9
A woman, who was arrested on a charge of killing her 50-year-old mother-in-law at Bazigar Basti in the Salem Tabri area on May 4, expressed no remorse for the murder. In the police custody, Amarjit Kaur said that vicim Mahinder Kaur had thrashed her nine-month-old son. In a fit of rage she killed her. T

Ludhiana, July 9
A high-altitude practice camp for Hockey players held at Shilaroo, Shimla, has been mired in a controversy as the office-bearers of the District Hockey Association, Ludhiana, have alleged that the Sports Department of Punjab has discriminated against the trainees of the Ludhiana academy during selection process.

The camp was organised by the Ministry of Sports and 70 hockey payers participated in it. The hockey association alleged that the department selected all the trainees from Surjit Hockey Academy, Jalandhar, for the camp while ignored the trainee of the other academies, including that of Ludhiana.

Niku Grewal, treasurer of the association, said: "It is unfair to select all the trainees from a single academy. There are four prominent hockey academies in Punjab and all have a good reputation. The officials at the department do not inform us about any camp. There should be some criteria for the selection process".

Malwa Hockey Academy, Shivalik Hockey Academy, Maharaja Ranjit Singh Hockey Academy and Surjit Hockey Academy are prominent academies of the state.

Deputy Director, Sports, SL Lotey said: "We found that Surjit Hockey Academy had the best players in the state. There is no discrimination against any hockey body of the state. We have selected the players on merit".

The Ministry of Sports provides accommodation and other facilities only for 70 players. So, we were not able to select more players. We will try to get permission for more payers in the coming years so as to select the players from other academies too," added Lotey.