The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Inter-state gang of car lifters busted Transport Dept employee among five arrested, 16 vehicles recovered Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, October 28 With the arrest of five persons, including a transport department employee and recovery of 16 stolen fancy cars from their possession on Monday, the Faridkot police claimed to have busted an inter-state gang that has been stealing fancy cars from Metro cities, changing the vehicle identification number (VIN) and engine numbers and preparing fake registration certificates (RCs) in connivance with some employees of the transport department at Moga to sell these cars in the area. The police is expected to recover more stolen cars with many other arrests expected after the interrogation of the accused and the transport department employees. The investigation by the Faridkot police revealed that the members of the gang were operating in big and small cities to steal and sell these cars. Moga was the centre for preparing the fake registration certificates and ownership documents of these stolen vehicles. Apart from a clerk in the District Transport Office (DTO), Moga, a peon in the office was also working in tandem with the members of this gang to prepare fake documents, said Gurmeet Singh Randhwan, SSP, Faridkot. The preliminary investigation by the police revealed that while one section of the gang was operating in Metro cities, the other was changing the VIN and the engine numbers of vehicles while the third group was preparing fake RCs and selling these in the area. As the VIN and engine numbers of the stolen cars were changed smartly and the fake RCs also appeared to be genuine, the potential buyers of these cars could never imagine that these vehicles had been stolen, said the SSP Faridkot. Besides preparing fake RCs of these cars, the accused were even tampering with the ownership record of these vehicles in the transport office with the help of a clerk and a peon. After accessing the records of the transport department with the help of a peon, these accused made changes in it so that not an iota of doubt remained during the inquiry about the genuine ownership of these stolen vehicles. The police has arrested Malkit Singh, Inderjit Singh, Gurwinder Singh, Amandeep Singh and Chhinda. The police investigation in the modus operandi of the scandal revealed that the gang members operated so smartly that there was no scope for suspicion for a potential buyer of these stolen cars. After scratching the engine number and VIN in a very refined way, allotting new numbers and preparing fake documents using these new numbers, no buyer could doubt the genuineness of these cars. The police believed that the network of the gang is spread across the state and the recovery of more stolen cars is expected in the coming days.
	Infantry Day: Abohar remembers its war hero Our Correspondent Abohar, October 28 The Army on Sunday paid homage to its martyrs on the occasion of Infantry Day. The day marks the landing of the 1 Sikh Regiment at Srinagar Airfield during the 1947-48 operations. As part of the celebrations, a wreath laying ceremony was organised at Major Surinder Prasad Memorial here. Brigadier SK Sangwan led the Army authorities from the Abohar Military Station in paying homage to Maj Surinder Prasad. Senior civil and police officials of the sub-division besides some ex-servicemen were also present. Born here on November 5, 1938, Surinder Prasad was the only son of former legislator Master Teg Ram who was also a veteran Bhoodan leader and a close associate of Vinoba Bhave. Surinder was an alumni of the Municipal Board High School, now known as Government Senior Secondary Model School. A post-graduate from DAV College, Jalandhar, he was commissioned into the 19 Maratha Light Infantry on December 17, 1961. During the 1965 Indo-Pak War, the 19 Maratha Light Infantry was tasked to capture the village of Thatti Jaimal Singh which was heavily fortified by the enemy. The battalion captured the village on September 20, 1965 but the enemy retaliated by launching a counter attack supported with heavy artillery, mortar and tank fire. Despite being wounded, Major Surinder Prasad held on to the post and kept fighting till the time the enemy was completely decimated. Major Surinder Prasad laid down his life in the line of duty exhibiting the highest traditions of the Indian Army on September 23, 1965. He was decorated with the Vir Chakra posthumously on November 2, 1966 for his unrelenting courage and fierce determination in the face of enemy fire. Former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri’s wife Lalita Shastri had specially arrived here to unveil Major Surinder Prasad’s memorial located in the corner of the school where he had studied till matriculation. Another memorial was also developed as Major Surinder Prasad Park at the the place of his cremation.
	Firecracker dealers yet to obtain permission from fire safety office Archit Watts Tribune News Service Muktsar, October 28 The countdown for Diwali has begun, but except for one, no firecracker dealer has so far obtained the no objection certificate (NOC), from the fire safety department in Muktsar district, required to sell and store the explosive material. According to the firemen, in the three sub-divisions - Muktsar, Malout and Gidderbaha - only one dealer in Malout has got the NOC to store and sell the crackers. But one can easily find a number of shopkeepers involved in the business of selling firecrackers in residential areas and putting the lives of residents at risk. Surprisingly, there is no fee required to obtain the NOC. Still, no one has shown the willingness to apply for it. Narinder Singh Bhullar, Fire Safety Officer, Malout and Gidderbaha, said, “As of now, just one dealer in Malout has obtained the NOC from us. No other dealer has even applied for it.” “As per the rules, the storage and sale of firecrackers in residential areas is banned. The dealers have to get the licence issued from the Deputy Commissioner, who directs us to issue a NOC after inspecting the site that the area is non-residential and in case a mishap occurs, the fire tenders can easily reach there,” he added. Chaman Lal Sharma, Fire Safety Officer, Muktsar, said, “As of now, not even a single application has come up before us regarding the NOC to sell fire-crackers.” However, he said the firemen were fully prepared to tackle any kind of situation. “We have sufficient staff and fire tenders to deal with any mishap, if it happens anywhere,” said Chaman Lal. Similarly, Narinder Singh Bhullar said, “We have sufficient staff in Malout with a total of 32 persons. But in Gidderbaha, there is a problem of staff shortage, as there are just 10 men.” It may be mentioned here that the situation was almost similar last year too, when just two days before Diwali, only two dealers had obtained the NOC in the entire district. Sources said that it was in 2011, when the district administration had sealed a firecracker shop in Muktsar town, because the owner had not obtained the permission. But thereafter, the situation started worsening. On the other hand, some local residents alleged that the officials of the departments concerned and firecracker dealers were hand in glove and were openly flouting the norms. “The illegal activity is rampant, which may even claim innocent lives. But neither the cops nor the district administration has so far swung into action,” said Pooja Khunger, a housewife.
	PNDT Act case Two docs, 4 others awarded jail term Balwant Garg Tribune News Service Faridkot, October 28 Convicting two doctors of a private nursing home and four others under the Pre Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT) Act, the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM), Faridkot, today sentenced all of them to 30 months in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 each under Sections 23 and 25 of the PNDT Act. The convicted doctors, Sneh Prabha and her daughter-in-law, Dr Alka Gupta of Singla Nursing Home, Kotkapura, were held guilty of terminating the pregnancy of a married woman of Panjgrain village of Faridkot in May 2011. In a complaint to the police, Jaspreet Kaur, the victim of illegal termination of pregnancy, had accused her husband Baljit Singh, a resident of Panjgrain, his mother Jaswant Kaur and his two sisters, Mohinder Kaur and Simarjit Kaur, for forcing her to undergo termination of her pregnancy at the nursing home of these doctors. The police had forwarded the complaint to the Civil Surgeon, Faridkot, for investigation under the PNDT Act and the latter had constituted a committee comprising three doctors to probe the allegations. After the investigations by the committee, the Civil Surgeon, Faridkot, lodged a complaint in the court of the CJM, Faridkot, accusing six persons, including two doctors and four family members for committing an offence under the PNDT Act. However in their defence, the doctors claimed that Baljit Kaur had less than cordial relations with her in-laws and husband, so she lodged a false complaint against them and the doctors to trap them. During the trial of this case, the victim and the complainant, Baljit Kaur, had got divorce from her husband Baljit Singh. Sources revealed that some months after her divorce, Baljit Kaur died. Though it was believed that the death of the prime witness and the complainant in the case will weaken the prosecution's case against the accused, giving no benefit of doubt to the accused doctor and the in-laws, the court mainly relied on the date of ultrasound scanning of the pregnant woman and the termination of her pregnancy to reach a decision.
	Stray cattle claims two lives Our Correspondent Abohar, October 28 Two bikers were killed by stray cattle near Military Station here on Fazilka road last night. It is learnt that Anil Kumar of Rajiv Nagar along with Rakesh Kumar and Sonu of Arya Nagar were returning from a cotton factory at 9.30 pm on a bike when they rammed into a stray cattle. While Anil Kumar died on the spot, others were shifted to the Civil Hospital by some passersby. The doctors on emergency duty referred Rakesh and Sonu to Sriganganagar as their condition was reportedly unstable. Rakesh succumbed to his injuries later. Notably, NGOs had last week urged the administration to tackle the stray cattle menace that had resulted in the death of six persons in less than a year.