Jalandhar, August 22
In a twist to the August 16 Vicky murder case, the parents of the deceased have now sided with the accused claiming that they did not suspect them to be behind the attack and rather wanted a probe to be conducted against complainant Raj Kumar Jhona.

Jagat Ram, Vicky’s father, today gave a written representation to ADCP-I Naresh Dogra seeking a probe into the matter. He claimed that while their house was just a few hundred metres away from the site of the clash, neither the complainant nor the police had informed them about the episode.

He said instead of police lodging a complaint on their statement, Jhona, who was there at the time of attack, had been made the main complainant. “Nathpal and his son Amit Kumar whom the police has arrested may not necessarily be the ones behind the murder. We even suspect Jhona with whom Vicky was there,” he has said.

The father has presented a four-page complaint to the police narrating the sequence of events to his knowledge and the political background, including an alleged link of MC councillor Balbir Singh Bittu in the case. He has made 11 points in his appeal while making a demand of seeking call details of the mobile phone of Jhona, his mother, Vicky and three persons who had taken Vicky's body to hospital.

Kapurthala, August 22
Taking a very serious note of running away of as many as 40 students of Class XII from Sainik School here three days back, the authorities have started an inquiry into the matter.

An investigating officer of the rank of Group Captain from New Delhi visited the campus today and reportedly reprimanded the students who had scaled the high walls of the campus on August 19 and gone to the railway station. The officer is inquiring as to who among the bunch of boys had prompted the rest to show mass defiance against the strictness of Headmistress Lt-Col Sumita Mishra.

The insiders hinted at chances of disciplinary action up to rustication of one or more boys from the school. While most other private schools would have taken a lenient view of the matter, such indiscipline is far beyond the acceptance level of the officials of Sainik School, which aims at preparing students for induction into the armed forces.

The headmistress is said to have noted that five to six students of the class had turned up late for evening preparatory class on August 19, which was to be held at 6.30 pm. She admonished them. One of the students, who came even more late, led to further annoyance of the headmistress. The student is said to have even argued with her, who then reported the matter to Principal Col Sudhanshu Arya. The principal also took a strong exception against the boy for daring to speak in front of officials.

Upset at the whole episode, nearly 40 of the total 60 students planned to run away from school. They scaled the high walls of the campus, went to the railway station, where from some were picked by their families and the rest 20 went to a gurdwara. The gurdwara management recognising them as Sainik School students did not allow them in and they went to a temple. The matter got reported to the school authorities, who then brought the students back, took an undertaking from their parents and got an inquiry started.

The school staff is siding the headmistress, who they say had been bringing in good reforms. A 10-day SSB training capsule too is underway on the campus currently.

None of the officials, including principal and registrar, were available for comments as they were busy in meeting till late evening.

Jalandhar, August 22
Even as Parliamentary polls are some months away, the city has already got abuzz with political activities.

While Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa paid his fourth visit to the city today within this month, the SAD-BJP alliance, too, has started its party strengthening exercise.

State president of the BJP Kamal Sharma is slated to be in the city to address a workers’ meeting at a marriage palace on Dhilwan Road. In charge of the Parliamentary polls for Jalandhar (Urban) Harish Rai Dhanda today held two meetings with party workers this evening.

While the first meeting was held at a gurdwara in Guru Amar Dass Nagar, the second was held later at a marriage palace near the Pathankot bypass. The exercise was aimed at mobilising the workers for the forthcoming circle president polls. All leaders who addressed the gathering demanded that the jathedars to be appointed be people’s men with an ability to lead.

Among those present at the meetings were MLA (Jalandhar Cantonment) Pargat Singh, SAD district president Gurcharan Singh Channi, Senior Deputy Mayor Kamaljit Bhatia, SGPC member Kulwant Singh Manan, former Chairman of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust, Baljit Singh Neelamahal and former Mayor Suresh Sehgal.

General secretary of the state BJP Rakesh Rathour said extensive party consolidation exercise had begun. “We are in the process of strengthening our workers’ base. The district may see a new party president soon,” he added.

Jalandhar, August 22
The owners of the 15 shops which were sealed yesterday have criticised Municipal Corporation (MC) officials for allegedly making them victims due to none of their faults.

An MC team sealed 15 shops located on the Harbans Nagar road in the Shastri Nagar falling under Senior Deputy Mayor Kuldip Singh Bhatia’s ward (number 44) on Wednesday as they had been constructed by violating building bylaws.

Some of the shopkeepers, Pankaj, Bipin and Vivek, have raised several questions about sealing their shops. Firstly, they said they had not been issued any prior notice for sealing their shops. The shops were sealed early in the morning. Had they been issued a prior notice, at least they would have removed important material from the shops. One of the shopkeepers was a vegetable seller and his vegetables worth about Rs 10,000 were rotting in his sealed shop, they added.

Secondly, they claimed that “none of the owners of these shops is at fault as they had not constructed any shop, but purchased it from other persons.”

The shopkeepers asked, “Why the MC officials did not take action against these shops at the time of their construction and will action be taken against those erring officials?”

“The Revenue Department should have not registered sale deeds of these “illegal” shops. Why they did so at that time?” they asked.

The shopkeepers said they had purchased these shops after paying a huge amount and were earning their livelihood by doing different businesses, including selling vegetables, repairing mobile phones and computers, etc. They demanded that their shops should be immediately unsealed and the MC authorities should take action against such shops when they were being constructed.

They said a number of illegal shops were still being constructed in various parts of the city, including near Jhandia Wale Peer. The MC should take action against those shops instead of taking action against already constructed and running shops.

Joint Commissioner, MC, Anupem Kler passed an order for sealing these shops on Tuesday and the team, led by Assistant Town Planner Sham Sunder, sealed the shops at around 6.30 am on Wednesday.

Sham Sunder claimed, "We had given notices to the owners and we sealed the shops on Wednesday morning and put notices outside the shops. These shops were constructed illegally violating the mandatory norms."

Actually, the MC acted on a complaint filed by local Congress councillor Gurvinder Kaur last year. Former Congress councillor Kuldip Mintoo’s wife Gurvinder Kaur later moved the complaint to the Director, Local Bodies Department, alleging MC inaction.

Jalandhar, August 22
Even as Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal had asked the Akali leaders across the state to elect their Zila Parishad chairmen by August 23, the programme has been withheld in Jalandhar and is likely to take another month.

Reason: Minister for Jails Sarwan Singh Phillaur, who also represents the Kartarpur Assembly constituency, is away to Canada on a month-long visit. Recently elected Zila Parishad member Rajinder Singh Nagra from the Wariana zone, who is among the front runners for the post, too has been sent to Canada to mobilise NRI supporters and to prepare for the visit of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal there.

Even as the visit of the Deputy CM to meet the business community there, which was scheduled for sometime in September, now stands postponed, Phillaur and Nagra are likely to stay back at least for another fortnight or even more.

Meanwhile, the tussle between Phillaur and Transport Minister Ajit Singh Kohar, representing the Shahkot constituency, is still on with both adamant on getting their man elected as the Zila Parishad chairman. While Phillaur is supporting Nagra, Kohar wants his man Tarshinder Singh Raunta, winner from the Bajwa Kalan zone, to be Zila Parishad chairman.

The post got unreserved this year. In the last term, SC candidate Mahla Singh, who had Kohar’s support, was chosen for the post. Nagra’s candidature seems stronger going by the fact that Kohar had had his say in the previous tenure and the Badals could go for Phillaur’s choice this time. The CM had gone out and out to help Nagra when he was in deep trouble over the imposition of wealth tax.

It is also learnt that most other SAD MLAs, including Pawan Tinu and Pargat Singh, are in favour of Nagra, who also is the circle jathedar of the SAD. Nagra’s sister-in-law Jaspal Kaur Nagra is MC councillor from Ward 39.

Others in the fray are former MC councillor Paramjit Singh Reru, who has got elected from the Naugaja zone, and Sukhwinder Singh from the Jamsher zone. Three of the 21 zones of the Zila Parishad had gone to the SAD unopposed. Of the remaining 18 zones, where the elections were held, 14 had gone to the SAD and only four are with the Congress.

Jalandhar, August 22
In what may be termed as eyewash, Deputy Director Local Bodies Pritam Singh visited Today the site where the BJP was running its local office as a part of his inquiry entrusted to him by DC-cum-DEO Shruti Singh after directions by Election Commission of India (ECI) on the basis of a complaint by local Congress leader Sanjay Sehgal.

Alleging that the BJP is running its office form a temple premises, Sehgal demanded appropriate action against the party but the Inquiry Officer visited the site today, weeks after the BJP closed its office fearing action.

When contacted, Pritam Singh said he would submit his report to the DC-cum-DEO within a day or two. Local BJP chief Subash Sood and others were present at the time of his visit.

Complainant Sanjay Sehgal was also asked to be present there but he did not go there deliberately terming the visit as an eyewash. He said action should be taken against the BJP for running its office from temple premises for several decades.

Earlier, in May, the ECI had directed Shruti Singh to take necessary action as per the law on the basis of her inquiry report on the complaint of Sehgal against the BJP for running its local office from a temple premises. Shruti, in turn asked Pritam Singh to conduct an inquiry who visited the site three months after the instructions from the ECI to the DC- cum-DEO. In between, the BJP closed its office.

In the one-page letter sent to Singh on behalf of the Punjab Chief Electoral Officer, state electoral officer Harpal Singh stated, “I am directed to forward herewith a copy of letter number 39/PB/2013/NS-I dated 9th May 2013 of the ECI, along with enclosures, for taking necessary action as per the law on the basis of your enquiry in pursuance of the Commission’s attached instruction.”

The Punjab EO also forwarded a copy of the letter to complainant Sehgal, advisory member, grievances and the RTI Cell and the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee.

Earlier, in his letter sent to Punjab CEO, ECI Under Secretary Kumar Rajeev stated, “I am directed to refer to your letter regarding complaint about violation to run a political office in a religious place. In this connection, your attention is invited to the Commission’s instructions contained in its letter number 3/1/2012/SDR dated July 27, 2012 and to request you to ask the Jalandhar DEO to take the necessary action as per the law.”

According to sources, after BJP leader Manit Malhotra moved a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding the alleged unauthorised construction of shops on the local Congress Bhawan premises, Sehgal filed the complaint with the ECI for taking appropriate action against the BJP for running its local office from a temple premises.

In his online complaint to Chief Election Commissioner VS Sampath and Punjab CEO Sehgal said, "The BJP is running its district office in Jalandhar from Sheetla Mandir complex, a religious place and in complete violation of the guidelines of the Election Commission of India."

Jalandhar, August 22
Suspected gastroenteritis patients continue to surface in Madhuban, Kabir Vihar and other residential colonies on the Jalandhar-Kapurthala road for the third consecutive day after the outbreak of the disease here today.

Teams of health workers in a door-to-door campaign today distributed thousands of chlorine tablets among residents of affected colonies and educated them to maintain hygiene.

The health workers also visited St Kabir Public School in Kabir Vihar and interacted with teachers and students. They also gave tips on "Healthy Life" and to take preventive measures against typhoid, jaundice, cholera, diarrhoea, vomiting, malaria and dengue.

The gathering was also made aware of symptoms, and treatment of the diseases that generally grips public in the monsoon, claimed Manbir Singh Chahal, a health worker.

They also asked the residents to use boiled drinking water, disinfect and prevent accumulation of water in their surroundings to kill mosquito larva and other insects. — TNS

Jalandhar, August 22
A proposal of the District Bar Association (DBA) to replace the 465 temporary, existing chambers in 4-acre leased out land near the district courts with a new multi-storey building housing 621 plush chambers today got a clearance from the building branch of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Mandeep Singh Sachdev, president of the association, said a committee of six judges, including TPS Mann, Inspecting Judge AK Mittal, Ajay Tewari, MS Bedi and Fatehdeep Singh, today approved their maps and gave a go-ahead to the phase-wise construction. The committee had said that chambers of the size 9.6 feet to 12 feet be constructed.

Sachdev said it had been decided that a meeting of the DBA be convened at the earliest to pass a resolution regarding setting up of finance committee for collection of funds for the purpose from the lawyers. He said the work would now be carried out in a quick pace with foundation stone laying likely by next month. Sachdev and DBA secretary Satnam Singh were in Chandigarh today in this connection.

The association has decided to carry out construction in three phases and dividing the cost borne equally among all the members. It has been decided to levy an estimated amount of Rs 20,000 per annum for five years for advance booking of a chamber, which would increase for those applying in subsequent years.

Sachdev said the members whose chambers get demolished in the first phase would be allotted the chamber in that phase on priority and in the meantime they would be adjusted in the library hall or other common halls of the DBA.

The members had two months back passed a resolution that after construction is complete, a decision on allotment would be taken by the then executive committee of the DBA, with preference to those applying at an earlier stage. The chambers could be taken exclusively or on sharing basis, it had been specified. The DBA has also decided to levy Rs 500 per month per chamber for the maintenance. 

Jalandhar, August 22
Having readied more than six months back, a new building for the revenue department which had been waiting for a formal inauguration is set to be opened by the staff on their own in a day or two.

The officials had since then been waiting for some VVIP to inaugurate the building which has come up at a cost of Rs 3.26 crore. The decision has been changed now as the officials apprehend that the building might not be acquired by some other department or judicial body looking for a vacant space in the city to set up more courts.

The sub-registrars and patwaris have been asked to occupy the new building by this weekend. While furniture, ACs and workstations at a cost of Rs 67 lakh are yet to come after a sanction of the amount by the Financial Commissioner, Revenue, the staff has been instructed to take their existing furniture and computer systems as of now and operate from there by next week.

The sprawling, two-storey new building is located near the Suwidha Centre. The offices of the sub-registrars and patwaris are currently functioning from dingy, congested rooms. Since there are hundreds of applicants visiting the tehsils for the registries of their properties daily and there is no proper seating arrangement, many of them have to stand for long hours to get their work done.

The new building has come up at a 11,300 sq feet area where there will be four public counters for sub-registrar offices. Four halls have also been constructed wherein as many as 400 persons can wait for their turn. The first floor of the building will have 62 cabins for patwaris, with a provision for an elevator. SDM-1 Iqbal Singh Sandhu confirmed having instructed his staff to move to new building at the earliest.