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shital factory case
A week later, police yet to act on principals’ complaint on security issue
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Alternative routes, parking arrangements for I-Day function
Seminar on drug
awareness organised
Man detained for suicide bid
Retail outlet sealed
Unhygienic conditions in Nakodar
Two proclaimed offenders arrested
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shital factory case
Jalandhar, August 13 Three witnesses, who had identified the dead, appeared in the court of the Civil Judge (Senior Division)-cum-Additional CJM Harreet Kaur Kaleka during a hearing today. Those who deposed before the court included Guddu, Chaman Lal and Varinder Yadav, who had recognised the deceased Parmod Kumar, Arvind Mandal and Sonu Yadav, respectively. The fourth witness in today's hearing was SI Amarjit Singh, who was then posted as the investigation officer at the Division No. 8 police station. Of the total witnesses, 18 have appeared before the court so far. Labour inspector Jatinder Pal Singh was the last one to have shown up on July 5 to corroborate the statement he had given at the time of the registration of the case against the six accused in FIR No. 63 lodged under Section 304-A of the IPC. The six accused include owner of the factory Shital, building contractors Ram Singh of Mohalla Santokhpura, Hans Raj of Santokhpura, Sarwan Singh of Joti Nagar, JCB operator Jagdish of Pathankot, who had reportedly dug up trenches of 8x10 feet dimension in the adjoining plot along the pillars of the existing building, and supervisor Ranjit Kumar of Bihar. The other witnesses in the case include ACP North Balkar Singh, ADCP Headquarters Navjot Mahal, the then SHO of Division No. 8 Jaswinder Singh, SI Harbans Singh, MHC Hardev Singh, two eye witnesses at the spot Varinder Sharma of Uttam Singh Nagar and Ramesh Kesri, Deputy Director Factories Parmal Singh, Dr Mukesh Chander of the Civil Hospital, Dr Sumit Aggarwal of Devi Talab Hospital and persons who identified the 23 dead and kin of the 27 injured. The Timeline
Factory collapsed on the intervening night of April 15-16, 2012 April 17, 2012 Shital Vij arrested under Sections 304 of the IPC, 120-B and Prevention of Corruption Act. April 17, 2012 SIT constituted under ADCP Hq Navjot Mahal April 21, 2012 Contractors of the building arrested April 23, 2012 Eight-day rescue operation by the NDRF and Army finally winds up May 5, 2012 SIT findings approved by the Commissioner of Police. Report did not point to any direct culpability on the part of the owner. Section 304 changed to 304-A of the IPC. Other sections were removed. The report however, pointed out that mandatory permissions had not been taken,
thus indicating criminal liability on the part of Shital Vij related to the alleged violation of different acts and laws. May 7, 2012 Shital Vij bailed out on Rs 50,000 bond. June 5, 2012 Report on samples of construction material of the collapsed building submitted by the Testing and Consultancy Cell of Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana. September 3, 2012 An application by Shital Vij, four contractors and supervisor, for discharging them from case, dismissed by the court. Trial goes on Next date of hearing on September
13, 2013. |
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A week later, police yet to act on principals’ complaint on security issue
Jalandhar, August 13 A week after principals of 10 educational institutes of repute in the district demanded that a police station be established in the area near the DAV Railway halt to counter regular clashes, brawls and activities of hooliganism reported in the area, the police is yet to respond to the requests of these academicians. So far, there has been no initiative by the district police to increase the security in the area or provide any additional support from a neighbouring police post, leave alone contemplating about setting up a new one. While Commissioner of Police Gaurav Yadav said the police would be looking into the complaint and seek solutions, the commissioner could not provide any clear reasons for the delay in providing redress even after a week. However, the commissioner promised action. Sources said a large number of educational institutes and students studying in the city were partly the cause of the police dilemma. Sources in the department said, “If security is provided to one institute, others might demand the same. The cooperation of the public is also important for the police to get to the root of the problem.” Sadly, the history and magnitude of complaints and attacks near the DAV railway halt reaffirms one’s belief in the fact that there is a sound threat that needs to be addressed. As stated in the August 5 complaint, the more than 10 institutes in the area have 25,000 students studying in them. The audacity of the area goons has only increased over the past few years, with miscreants attacking a security guard last year and entering a college premises during an exam during this one. While these were the only incidents in which FIRs were lodged, complaints regarding the demand for the removal of the tea stall go back to 2010 and 2011, when written requests (The Tribune has a copy) had been made to the SHO of police station No.1 as well as the Deputy Commissioner of Police to remove the shady vend selling tobacco products, operating within 100 yards of Mehr Chand Polytechnic College and close to Mehr Chand ITI and Dayanand Model School. The complaint went on to mention that addict elements sitting constantly at the vend often fought with students. Today, the threats have increased to eve-teasing and addiction among students, as institute sources claim. The education and health departments have also not initiated any sort of action in matters under their jurisdiction. |
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Six CCTV cameras get functional at BMC Chowk
Jalandhar, August 13 Chauhan said the cameras at this stage would not be used for challaning traffic rule violators, but would serve several other purposes, including any visible lapse at the time of occurrence of accidents, studying the traffic pattern, congestion in certain lanes and reasons for the same, peak rush hours, any requirement in the adjustment of traffic lights during any specific time period and eventually intercepting over-speeding vehicles and nabbing them at next two-three naka points through timely communication. The IG said the existing cameras after much zooming could help in getting a fair idea of the registration number of vehicles, but high-powered cameras were required for issuing challans on the basis of camera images on Chandigarh pattern. “That will be the next stage. As of now, we are sure that the commuters would be more watchful for fear of being seen by the hidden eye,” he added. Chauhan said ideally, the cameras need to be installed in all major intersections. “In Bangalore, they now have 500 road intersections covered by cameras since a drive that started in 2010. We too want to catch up with them,” he said. While the Jalandhar Welfare Society has installed the cameras, Chander Kumar, owner of TTL travel agency at the chowk, has provided power connection, power back up and systems for monitoring and recording video images, including an upper view from the flyover. On the issue of no speed radars available with the traffic police and only two of 10 alchometers in working condition, the IG said, “We have a plan to provide new alchometers, speed radars on GPS-equipped vehicles across the state by the end of this financial year. The equipment would be distributed as per the requirement which may vary from city to city. He, however, said there were no companies to repair the available gadgets. Alchometers go out of order quickly since these needed to be calibrated every three months.” He added that there were a lot many Central schemes available through the Bureau of Police and Ministry of Road Safety which were now being taken. Regarding the issue of cancellation of licences of risky drivers, the IG said the matter required much attention. He said efforts were also being made to nab the offenders who tried to get a new licence issued after such an episode. He said schemes were also being devised to ensure safety of schoolchildren by insisting upon the authorities to take on record the experience certificate of driver of previous school before giving him an appointment. |
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Alternative routes, parking arrangements for I-Day function
Jalandhar, August 13 The car parking arrangements on Independence Day will be on both sides of the Dera Satkartar road, the stretch from Milk Bar Chowk to Masand Chowk and the road from Masand Chowk to Geeta Mandir. Bus parking arrangements will be made on both sides of the road from City Hospital Chowk to Geeta Mandir. The road from Milk Bar Chowk to Nakodar Chowk T-point will also be reserved for the same purpose. The parking of two-wheelers will be on both sides of the road from City Hospital Chowk to Apeejay College of Fine Arts. A release issued by the traffic police requests the public to stick to the aforementioned parking arrangements on August 15 to avoid inconvenience to them and other commuters. Vehicles coming to the city from Nakodar shall be routed via the Partapura village to CT institute - Phase 2 Jalandhar route. The same route shall be reserved for vehicles travelling from Jalandhar to Nakodar. Buses travelling from the bus stand to Kapurthala will be routed via the BMC Chowk - Guru Nanak Mission Chowk - Nakodar Chowk route. The coming to Jalandhar from Kapurthala will go through Nakodar Chowk - Guru Nanak Mission Chowk - BMC Chowk Flyover route and vehicles going to the bus stand will take a U-turn from the BMC chowk. School students coming through Workshop Chowk, Football Chowk to Guru Gobind Singh Stadium will come via Nakodar Chowk T-point (Nakodar Road) to Milk Bar Chowk. The police has also appealed to people to refrain from using the Masand Chowk to Milk Bar Chowk to City Hospital stretch from 6 am to 1 pm on August 15. The residents around the stadium have also been directed to park their vehicles inside their homes on the day. The police has specially released traffic helpline number 0181-227296 for the people who undergo any additional difficulties or have doubts regarding routes. |
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Non-functional fountains mar city’s beauty
Jalandhar, August 13 When The Tribune team made a visit to the city, it did not find even a single fountain in a working condition. Even the fountain installed at the Company Bagh Chowk located just a stone’s throw away from the MCJ office is also not working. Same was the condition with fountains installed at Namdev Chowk, Guru Nanak Mission Chowk, Skylark Chowk and other roundabouts. The MCJ has itself admitted in response to an RTI application a few months ago that over 60 per cent of the total 39 fountains installed at various roundabouts are non functional. According to the information provided by MCJ in response to the RTI application, only 15 out of the total 39 fountains are in a working condition, the rest are non functional. On the contrary, the leader of opposition in the MCJ house, Jagdish Raj Raja, said “I have conducted a survey regarding the fountains installed at various places in the city. According to my survey, not even a single fountain is in a working condition.” Interestingly, while none of the 39 fountains installed at various places in the city is in a working condition, the fund starved MCJ is paying a huge amount to the Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) as the electricity bill for running them. The MCJ is paying nearly Rs 5 lakh lump sum to the PSPCL annually for running various fountains, he added. Raja demanded either the fountains should be made functional without any delay or the payment to the PSPCL for running fountains should be immediately stopped on the ground that they were not functional for months. The leader of opposition also stated that the responsibility should be fixed for this lapse and stringent action should be taken against those MCJ employees who are responsible for that. Raja also submitted a complaint in this regard to the chairman and members of the Assembly committee on local bodies during their visit to the city a few days ago. No action taken
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Roads in dilapidated state, authorities indifferent
Jalandhar, August 13 Many busy roads have virtually turned to ‘kutcha’ roads, while the knee-deep potholes are an open invitation to major tragedies. Non-functional street lights and commuters, who throw traffic rules to winds, are also a major cause of concern. The thick-skinned officers of the district administration and Jalandhar Municipal Corporation have hardly paid any heed to these problems even though the plight of these roads is being highlighted every day. The worst-affected roads are the Ladowali-Gurunanakpura-Chogitti road and the one converging at the Inter-State Bus Terminus. Gravel and boulders can be easily seen on the roads, thus proving a major traffic hazard. Similar to these is the condition of other roads that have become a nightmare for city residents. Knee-deep potholes, defunct street lights, heaps of garbage and stray animals have are a major cause of accidents. Moreover, residents are falling prey to snatchers and other antisocial elements. Municipal councillors of areas concerned have also gone silent leaving residents high and dry, said Surinder Kumar Mittal Singh, a resident of Central Town. Though authorities had done patch-work on certain roads before the onset of monsoon, the money spent on them had gone down the drains, said Sanjeev Kumar a resident of Master Tara Singh
Nagar. |
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Seminar on drug
awareness organised
Jalandhar, August 13 Psychiatrist Dr Deepali Gul discussed the upward trend of addiction among women, especially teenage school and college-going girls. “Of late, I have been getting so many girls in my clinic who claim to have got hooked to drugs. This is all because of no social taboo among families in sending their daughters to late night rave parties. The other reasons she mentioned was existing trend of drug or alcohol consumption by parents and an easy availability of cough syrups, intoxicating capsules and narcotics.
— TNS |
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Man detained for suicide bid
Jalandhar, August 13 The suspect claimed that he was fed up with his wife who fought with her and battered her unnecessarily. He said things reached a passé after he was bitten by a dog sometime back and his wife did not allow him to meet his children. He said he could not live without his children and wanted to die. SHO Division Number 3 Jatinder Pal Singh said the accused had been handed over to the General Railway Police (GRP) for necessary action. SHO Railway Police BS Randhawa said, “He was a beggar with some domestic problems owing to bad wounds in his legs. He was upset and had just sat down on tracks when the police took him off. He had refused any attempt to commit suicide.” |
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Retail outlet sealed
Jalandhar, August 13 The matter was then taken up by Surinder Mittal, general secretary, World Human Rights Protection Council. At this, Kapurthala District Health Officer Dr Guriqbal Singh raided the premises and found expired yoghurt of Amul brandname. He said the samples had been taken of the expired material and more such products from the shop. The DHO said that he had sought invoices and purchase booklets from the retail store manager who kept making excuses that these were on mail. He said the police and the SDM were called for sealing and recovery of records. |
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Unhygienic conditions in Nakodar
Jalandhar, August 13 The NGT five-member Bench, headed by its chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, issued these directions today during a hearing of an application filed by a Nakodar-based social activist Gaurav Jain on April 23 this year. The Bench comprising chairman Swatanter Kumar and Justice UD Salvi, Justice SN Hussain as its judicial members and PS Rao and Ranjan Chatterjee as expert members stated, “Some photographs have been brought to our notice which clearly demonstrate a dismal picture of the entire collection and disposal of the MSW. At most places the garbage is thrown on the roads near bus stands, hospitals and other public places.”
— TNS |
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Two proclaimed offenders arrested
Jalandhar, August 13 The police said another person, Narinder Singh, of Kamalpur village in Hoshiarpur, who was wanted in a Rs 15-lakh cheating case, too, was arrested from Sangh Dhesian. The accused had also been declared a proclaimed offender in a case lodged in Chamba.
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