B A T H I N D A    E D I T I O N

Police in a fix over Punsup paddy embezzlement 
Faridkot, October 24
Over a month after Punsup, a procurement agency in Punjab, lodged a complaint with the Faridkot police, demanding registration of a criminal case against an SGPC member and her son for the alleged pilferage of paddy worth Rs 6.27 crore, the police are caught in a bind.

Moga Bar goes on two-day strike against newly-enacted Punjab Rent Act 
Moga, October 24
Lawyers in the district court complex and the judicial court at Nihalsinghwala, besides the revenue courts in Moga district, proceeded on a two-day strike on Thursday protesting against the transfer of the power of rent controller to the sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) instead of the judicial courts. The president of the District Bar Association Ramesh Grover and general secretary Sukhwinder Singh Ramuwalia said the SDMs were not law graduates and it would be difficult for them to handle such cases.

Minor gang-raped, accused at large
Moga, October 24
A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by two youths at Meenia village in Nihalsinghwala sub-division of Moga district yesterday. The victim, in a statement recorded before the police, has complained that she was forcibly taken to a tube-well by two youths, identified as Sukhbir Singh, a resident of Kussa village and another unidentified youth, where she was raped by the two.

Kidnapping case: Kingpin arrested
Abohar, October 24
The city police today arrested Gurwinder Singh of village Dharangwala describing him as the “mastermind” behind the kidnapping of a property dealer, Chamkaur Singh Sekhon, on Tuesday. The kidnappers had demanded Rs one crore as ransom, the victim said. Sekhon originally belongs to village Dharangwala but later settled in the Green Avenue colony here. He had gone to Sai Vihar on receiving a phone call in connection with the property deal. But on entering the house, he was allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapons and kidnapped after making him unconscious. The miscreants made him talk to his partner Jawahar Lal over a cell phone to arrange Rs one crore as ransom. But later, the deal was settled for Rs 5 lakh.

Two held with poppy husk
Muktsar, October 24
The district police today claimed to have arrested two drug peddlers and seized one quintal of poppy husk from their possession. The police spokesperson said that acting on the basis of a tip-off, a police party had got success in intercepting them and they were found to be carrying narcotics. 

Police in a fix over Punsup paddy embezzlement 
Balwant Garg/TNS

Faridkot, October 24
Over a month after Punsup, a procurement agency in Punjab, lodged a complaint with the Faridkot police, demanding registration of a criminal case against an SGPC member and her son for the alleged pilferage of paddy worth Rs 6.27 crore, the police are caught in a bind.

After making the complaint to the police on September 9, while the Punsup is waiting for a criminal case against the SGPC member and her son, the proprietors of Farid Cotton Ginning Factory, for embezzling over 27,000 quintals of paddy, the police are buying time so that a negotiation between the procurement agency and the Akali leader can help them out of the predicament.

But as negotiation between the food agency and the Akali leader are falling apart, the police is facing a tough time in dealing with the situation.

Some days back, under a compromise reached between the Akali leader and Punsup, the former agreed to pay Rs 6.27 crore to the latter in four installments in lieu of the misappropriated paddy that Punsup had stored in the rice mill of the Akali leader in October 2011 for milling and shelling purposes. As a guarantee to this agreement, the SGPC member agreed to pledge her properties with Punsup. In the first installment of the payment, the SGPC member gave four cheques, two for Rs 50 lakh each and two for Rs 28 lakh each. But when Punsup deposited these cheques with the bank for encashment, the cheques bounced due to insufficiency of funds.

Feeling cheated, the Punsup filed a complaint in a local court against the Akali leader under Section 138 of the Negotiable Instruments Act after the cheques bounced. The Punsup moved an application in the court of the additional district and sessions judge, Faridkot, to pledge the properties of the defaulter. In the last one month, the court sent the notice four times to the SGPC member and her son to summon them to the court, but the notices were returned to the court with a comment that the accused did not reside on the given address.

Now, the Punsup has moved another application in the court, demanding the auction of all properties of the Akali leader to recover the principal amount.

  Moga Bar goes on two-day strike against newly-enacted Punjab Rent Act 

Moga, October 24
Lawyers in the district court complex and the judicial court at Nihalsinghwala, besides the revenue courts in Moga district, proceeded on a two-day strike on Thursday protesting against the transfer of the power of rent controller to the sub-divisional magistrates (SDMs) instead of the judicial courts. The president of the District Bar Association Ramesh Grover and general secretary Sukhwinder Singh Ramuwalia said the SDMs were not law graduates and it would be difficult for them to handle such cases.

The lawyers passed a resolution stating that the newly-enacted Rent Act was against the “interests of public at large and detrimental to the interests of the lawyers' community.”

Grover said the other states too were transferring the power of rent controller to the judicial courts but in Punjab, the Act has transferred the powers to the executive. The Bar Association has decided to hand over a memorandum addressed to Chief Minster on Friday demanding the immediate withdrawal of the Act. — TNS

Minor gang-raped, accused at large
Tribune News Service

Moga, October 24
A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped by two youths at Meenia village in Nihalsinghwala sub-division of Moga district yesterday. The victim, in a statement recorded before the police, has complained that she was forcibly taken to a tube-well by two youths, identified as Sukhbir Singh, a resident of Kussa village and another unidentified youth, where she was raped by the two.

After the incident, the girl informed her parents about the incident, the police said. After the medical examination of the girl, the police registered a criminal case under Sections 376 and 34 of the IPC against two youths in the Badhni Kalan police station. However, both of them were yet to be arrested, said a police officer. 

  Kidnapping case: Kingpin arrested

Abohar, October 24
The city police today arrested Gurwinder Singh of village Dharangwala describing him as the “mastermind” behind the kidnapping of a property dealer, Chamkaur Singh Sekhon, on Tuesday. The kidnappers had demanded Rs one crore as ransom, the victim said. Sekhon originally belongs to village Dharangwala but later settled in the Green Avenue colony here. He had gone to Sai Vihar on receiving a phone call in connection with the property deal. But on entering the house, he was allegedly attacked with sharp-edged weapons and kidnapped after making him unconscious. The miscreants made him talk to his partner Jawahar Lal over a cell phone to arrange Rs one crore as ransom. But later, the deal was settled for Rs 5 lakh.

The money was paid near the divisional complex in Malout town. Sekhon was thrown in an unconscious state on the link road here later. Preliminary investigation indicates that the gang had rented a house in Sai Vihar. Gurwinder was allegedly assisted in the crime by Deepak Sharma, his brother Pankaj Sharma besides Happy of Thakur Abadi, Ravinder Kumar of Kandhwala Road and Munna Malhotia. The police has booked them under various sections. Efforts to nab the other culprits were being intensified, police said. — TNS

Two held with poppy husk

Muktsar, October 24
The district police today claimed to have arrested two drug peddlers and seized one quintal of poppy husk from their possession. The police spokesperson said that acting on the basis of a tip-off, a police party had got success in intercepting them and they were found to be carrying narcotics. 

They were identified as Kala Singh and Sukhmander Singh of Jandwala Charhat Singh village. A case under various sections of the NDPS Act has been registered.— TNS