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Drug racket kingpin Behl was Dawood’s aide in ’80s
SAD leader held amid high drama for youth’s murder
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Reliance set to invest Rs
3,500 cr
High Court raps cop’s ‘attacker’ for seeking relief
Sikh bodies fortify Mohali protest site
Sukhbir: NDA to seek kabaddi’s inclusion in Olympics
Tourism sops to benefit Sukhbir’s project: Khaira
Sikh leader forgery case remains unsolved
Indian-origin rapist’s case sets precedent in UK
Ruby Dhalla’s initiative to offer legal aid to deserted NRI brides
Mega project to check waterlogging begins in a month, says Badal
Jathedar takes up Gurbaksh’s arrest with Sukhbir
Singer Babbu Maan detained in Manila
Notice to ex-DGP Gill for ‘harassing’ Canadian citizen
3 Ludhiana firms booked for money laundering
7 arrested for Dhudike violence
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Drug racket kingpin Behl was Dawood’s aide in ’80s
Patiala, December 7 But due to differences with Anees and
declining profits in gold smuggling, Behl quit the venture and started
dealing in second-hand cars to legalise his ill-gotten wealth. “Dev had met Anees and Dawood many times during this period. He was in touch with Dawood even after their partnership broke up in 1988. He even went to Dubai to meet Dawood. They used to smuggle eight to 10 kg of gold every month,” Mann said. He said Dev started operating a drug racket in 2000. He had obtained chemicals like ephedrine, pseudoephedrine and ketamine in a huge quantity to manufacture synthetic drugs in factories located in Himachal Pradesh and other states on a large scale. He was recently working on one of his biggest consignments of 300 kg of ICE worth Rs 1,500 crore, he said. “Dev preferred handling large consignments. In 2004, he had obtained 700 kg of pseudoephedrine from Hyderabad, manufactured ICE from it and pumped it into the international market,” the police official added. Crime profile
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SAD leader held amid high drama for youth’s murder
Jalandhar/Phagwara, December 7 Bittu had allegedly gunned down Vijay Kumar of Dhilwan during a clash that had erupted following the killing of Sant Ramanand in Vienna (Austria) on May 25, 2009. The councillor, who claimed it to be a case of self-defence and had been evading arrest for quite some time, was held when he had gone to Phagwara to seek damage claims (related to the clashes post-Vienna violence) for three of his accomplices. The action reportedly came after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) activists mounted pressure on the police. A four-member Claims Commission team was in Phagwara today to hear the affected parties for the damages suffered in arson following the clashes. Amidst incidents of gherao and stone-pelting, the councillor was detained by the Phagwara police for more than four hours and then handed over to their Jalandhar counterparts. He was produced in the court amidst tight security before being sent to Kapurthala jail. The BSP had held a massive protest against the councillor in Jalandhar on November 19, blocking the national highway at PAP Chowk for five hours. Several BSP activists gheraoed the car of the second-time councillor on the rest house premises when he was returning to Jalandhar after appearing before the commission. Led by state general secretary Jarnail Nangal, the BSP activists raised slogans against the police and demanded Bittu’s arrest. A case was lodged against him at Rama Mandi police station in Jalandhar. The BSP activists even raised their demand with the commission members. Station House Officer (Phagwara City) Ravinder Singh tried to pacify the protesters but to no avail. A police official later drove Bittu to the police station. Tension again flared up when the Phagwara police handed over Bittu to the Jalandhar police. As he stepped out of the Phagwara police station, the protesters pelted the vehicles carrying the councillor with stones. Deputy Commissioner of Police Rahul S. said, “The arrest warrants had already been issued for January 1. Today, we received a call from the Phagwara police that they had detained the councillor. So we sent our team and got him arrested.” Arrest amid high-voltage drama n Evading arrest in the case, Bittu had arrived in Phagwara on Saturday for the hearing of a Claims Commission. His arrest came amidst massive protests and stone-pelting by BSP activists who accused the police of sheltering Bittu. Third councillor to go behind bars Balbir Bittu (Shiromani Akali Dal) is the third Jalandhar councillor to go behind bars in five years. Former Congress councillor Sukhmeet Deputy was convicted on August 5, 2011 for extorting Rs 1 crore in a 2008 kidnapping case. Ram Simran Makkar, former SAD councillor and nephew of former Akali MLA Sarabjit Makkar, is also behind bars and facing trial for the alleged murder of hotelier Gurkirat Singh Sekhon alias Gikki on April 21, 2011 Claims panel member visits Phagwara One-and-a-half years after the constitution of a two-member Claims Commission to assess damage to property in violence post-Vienna incident, commission member CR Goyal on Saturday visited Phagwara. He heard grievances of at least six affected persons. Goyal said he would visit all the places hit by the violence in next couple of months. The panel would submit its report to the Punjab and Haryana High Court for a final decision on compensation, he added.
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Reliance set to invest Rs
3,500 cr
Chandigarh, December 7 The top management of Arcellor Mittal too is expected to participate in the two-day mega event, beginning Monday. The company has already submitted a proposal to set up a petrochemical unit near Bathinda refinery with an investment of Rs 2,300 crore. HPCL-Mittal Energy (HMEL) runs Guru Gobind Singh Refinery at Phulokheri. Its byproducts will be used as raw material for the proposed petrochemical unit. The state government is keen on developing the area near the refinery as a petrochemical and ancillary hub. Once the petrochemical unit by the Mittal group is announced, it would speed up the government’s efforts in this direction. The refinery produces LPG, petrol and diesel, and value-added products like polypropylene, food-grade hexane, solvents, naphtha and aviation fuel. A study has indicated growth in the state GDP in the range of Rs 5,000 crore to Rs 7,000 crore if the associated downstream industry comes up in a petrochemical hub. RIL sources told The Tribune that Mukesh Ambani was scheduled to fly in the city on December 9 to participate in the morning session of the summit. He is expected to announce the roll out of 4G services across the state with an investment of Rs 3,500 crore-Rs 4,000 crore. The services will be rolled out in the state before March 2014. RIL, which also has its cash-and-carry business through group company Reliance Retail, is also going to announce the setting up of its large format cash-and-carry stores in Punjab. It is learnt that the company proposes to open over 30 such stores in the country, of which five will be opened in Punjab. While two stores are likely to come up in Ludhiana, one each will be set up in Jalandhar, Mohali and Bathinda, said a company spokesman. Vital targets
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High Court raps cop’s ‘attacker’ for seeking relief
Chandigarh, December 7 The ruling by Justice Naresh Kumar Sanghi came on a petition by accused Manjinder Singh. He was seeking the quashing of FIR number 291, dated November 15, 2009, under Sections 152, 153, 186, 307 and 353 of the IPC registered at the city police station, Tarn Taran. Directions were also sought to quash the order of framing charge and the charge-sheet. The case was registered after ASI Balraj Singh alleged six-seven persons started raising slogans against the government, when dignitaries were addressing the gathering during the inauguration of animal fair in Tarn Taran’s animal market by the Deputy Chief Minister. He advised Manjinder Singh and others known to him to sit down, but was assaulted with an intention to kill. In the process, his uniform too was left in tatters. As the crowd stood up, the assailants slipped away. After hearing the parties, an Additional Sessions Judge on May 4, 2011, concluded that the offence of obstructing public servant in discharge of public functions and assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty, punishable under Sections 186 and 353 of the IPC, were made out. He remitted the case to the area judicial magistrate as the offences were to be tried by magisterial court. Dismissing the petition, Justice Sanghi asserted: “The petitioner not only disturbed the meeting being addressed by the Deputy Chief Minister, but when ASI Balraj Singh tried to make the petitioner and his co-accused understand, the petitioner grappled with ASI Balraj Singh, assaulted with an intention to kill him, and tore his official dress. The allegations levelled in the FIR clearly spell out that the petitioner had committed the offences as defined under Sections 186 and 353”.
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Sikh bodies fortify Mohali protest site
Mohali, December 7 On fast-unto-death, Gurbaksh was whisked away around 12:15 am by the police two days ago. He had been protesting since November 14, demanding release of Sikh youths languishing in various prisons across the country despite completion of their jail terms. After his detention, Sikh bodies decided to continue the protest and deputed Ludhiana resident Damandeep Singh to continue the indefinite fast. Harpal Singh Cheema, member of Shiromani Akali Dal (Panj Pardhani), said: “Around 100 Sikhs carrying traditional arms, including swords and spears, will remain guard at the site to prevent any such action by the police. Twenty-four teams of Sikh youths have been constituted.” Cheema said a ‘jatha’ of about 125 armed youths stood guard at the site yesterday. In his first list, Khalsa has demanded release of six persons: Lakhwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh, Shamsher Singh (all Patiala residents and lodged in Burail jail), Gurdeep Singh Khera (of Taran Tarn and lodged in a Karnataka jail), Wariyam Singh (Uttar Pradesh resident and lodged in Pili Bheet jail) and Lal Singh (Kapurthala native and lodged in Nabha Jail).
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Sukhbir: NDA to seek kabaddi’s inclusion in Olympics
Jalalabad, December 7 He said the state government would soon make an announcement for the promotion of basketball and soccer in the state besides promoting hockey and athletics. After dedicating the multi-sports stadium worth Rs 7 crore to the people of Jalalabad, Sukhbir said now kabaddi was not a game played in India and Pakistan only. Sukhbir was here to watch the match between Pakistan and England women teams.
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Tourism sops to benefit Sukhbir’s project: Khaira
Chandigarh, December 7 Addressing mediapersons here today, Khaira said before seeking outside investment from top corporate houses, the government should have made efforts to ameliorate the lot of the state industry. “Because of high land prices and high taxation vis-à-vis other states, industry in Punjab is on the verge of closure. Many units are shifting base to other states, but it seems that the government is unaware of their plight. This is evident from government’s move to give concessions to only new projects,” he said. Quoting RTI information from the Industries Department, he said since 2007 when the SAD-BJP government assumed power, 34,922 small and medium units and 70 medium and large units had either shut down or migrated to other states, leading to huge unemployment. Khaira said 31 iron and steel units in Mandi Gobindgarh, 1,400 foundries in Batala, 20 in Goraya and 1,000 knitwear units in Ludhiana had closed down. “Industrial growth in the state has shrunk from 15.90 per cent in 2007-08 to just 5.19 per cent in 2012-13,” he said. Cong slams ‘clean chit’ to Maluka Reacting to a ‘clean chit’ to Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka by the Justice AN Jindal Commission in the book scam, Congress spokesperson Sukhpal Singh Khaira alleged that the very purpose of the probe was to exonerate Maluka.
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Sikh leader forgery case remains unsolved
Wellington, December 7 Daljit Singh, a former Labour Party candidate, who was running for elections to the Otara-Papatoetoe local board in Auckland Council in 2010, was charged in the high court in Auckland with a total of 38 counts of using the forged documents, Radio New Zealand reported on Friday. Seven other men, who helped Daljit, are also on trial for the same charges, but on fewer counts. Daljit Singh, a real estate agent and senior member of the Supreme Sikh Council, has pleaded not guilty in the case. The court heard that Daljit had falsely changed addresses of a large number of people on the Electoral Enrollment Centre's website so that they came under his constituency, the Otara-Papatoetoe board. According to the report, most of the people whose address Daljit changed were Sikhs with the surname Singh. The prosecutor also told the court that the Electoral Enrollment Centre had contacted the police when they found anomalies in the addresses "of people being registered in one electorate" and that "forms were being downloaded from just a couple of computers". — IANS
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Indian-origin rapist’s case sets precedent in UK
London, December 7 Harbinder Khatkar was found guilty of 18 offences, including five rapes, by Derby Crown Court yesterday. The judge ordered that he should serve at least 14 years in prison before he can be considered for parole. The 37-year-old had been acquitted of four offences last year but was tried again after being arrested for new attacks. This is the first time that fresh charges secured permission for a new trial and the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) believes it could help other victims in future. "We asked the Court of Appeal to consider whether he should be retried for his original offences on the basis that his subsequent offences provided new and compelling evidence…," said Steve Chappell, chief crown prosecutor for CPS East Midlands. Prosecutors found that the way Khatkar attacked women after his acquittal was similar to allegations he had previously faced. A court had cleared Khatkar of repeatedly raping and sexually assaulting a woman in Derby in December 2011. However, six weeks later, he attacked six other women in one night, raping two of them. A 2005 change in "double jeopardy" laws enabled a retrial after an acquittal if "new and compelling" evidence emerged against the accused. The double jeopardy law in England and Wales had earlier prevented people from being tried for the same crime twice for more than 800 years. The quashing of acquittals in the past has taken place because of fresh DNA evidence coming to light, or following a confession made by a suspect. The principal legal adviser at the CPS, Alison Levitt, said Khatkar's case was a "really significant development" that demonstrated the importance of circumstantial evidence. — PTI
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Ruby Dhalla’s initiative to offer legal aid to deserted NRI brides
Amritsar, December 7 Talking to mediapersons after paying obeisance at the Golden Temple today, Dhalla said initially she would set up offices in Zirakpur and Mohali in January. “We will first hold counselling for the affected women and their parents to make them aware about their rights as well as the action they could initiate in such a scenario, besides guiding them to access legal aid,” she said. She said there were a number of families which could not afford the cost of litigation, adding that her organisation would offer them legal aid. She said they would also initiate measures to make these women self-dependent. She said the Canadian government had put stringent laws in place to curb the problem and had taken up the matter with the Punjab government.
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Mega project to check waterlogging begins in a month, says Badal
Muktsar, December 7 Addressing the gathering during his sangat darshan programme in the Lambi assembly segment, the Chief Minister said waterlogging had caused extensive damage in various parts of the state. The project would be launched within a month and completed before the next monsoon season, he added. The state government has sought funds to the tune of Rs 3,277 crore from the Centre to deal with the problem. The Chief Minister further said a major scheme pertaining to plantation “The state government will bear the entire expenditure of planting eucalyptus saplings and maintaining them for a year. Then they will be handed over to farmers,” Badal said. He termed the Food Security Act of the Centre as a clone of the SAD-BJP government’s flagship “Atta-dal scheme”. “A survey is being conducted for providing wheat at Rs 1 to eligible beneficiaries in the state. Currently, there are 15 lakh beneficiaries of the atta-dal scheme, which would be doubled soon,” he added. About the announcement of opposition by the Congress and Akali Dal (Amritsar) to the visit of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, Badal said, “It reflects that both the parties are opposed to democracy. All the arrangements for making the rally a huge success have been made.” Funds sought The state government has sought funds to the tune of Rs 3,277 crore from the Centre to deal with the problem. Badal said a major scheme to plant eucalyptus trees in the waterlogged areas would also be commenced soon
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Jathedar takes up Gurbaksh’s arrest with Sukhbir
Amritsar, December 7 Sources said the Jathedar lodged protest against the police's midnight swoop on Gurbaksh. However, he said staging fast-unto-death was against the Sikh tenets. As per a statement released here, the Akal Takht jathedar said though Gurbaksh’s agitation was for the “right” cause, the path adopted by him to raise his demands was not right. He said staging fast-unto-death was a suicidal move and the Sikh principles did not allow it. — TNS
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Singer Babbu Maan detained in Manila Chandigarh, December 7 The news, which was first flashed by various news portals online, quoted the Philippines Bureau of Immigration. It was confirmed to The Tribune by sources close to the singer on Saturday evening. Babbu who has numerous super-hit songs to his credit such as "Mitran Di Chahatri" and "Pind Pahra Lagda" had earlier this year come out with his music album "Talaash", which raced to the top of the charts worldwide. Babbu Maan and his troupe held a concert on Wednesday at the Cuneta Astrodome in Pasay. Sources said the troupe performed at a revenue-generating concert on December 4 allegedly without procuring a Special Working Permit from the Philippines government. Some people close to the artist claimed that Babbu Maan had already been released. But, other sources in Manila insisted that he and his group could remain at the Immigration's holding centre pending deportation order.
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Notice to ex-DGP Gill for ‘harassing’ Canadian citizen
Moga, December 7 Jagdev had accused the duo of implicating him in several false criminal cases. A few months ago, Jagdev was acquitted by the court of District and Sessions Judge of the charges of murdering the former DGP's father Nachattar Singh Gill, a Congress leader who also remained Moga MLA.
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3 Ludhiana firms booked for money laundering
Jalandhar, December 7 The ED has summoned the owners of the three firms and asked them to furnish details about their properties and bank accounts. The CBI was already on the trail of a number of Punjab Excise and Taxation Department officials and their alleged nexus with the owners of the three firms - York International, Jaldhara Exports and Trimurti Hosiery. While the owners of Jaldhara Exports and Trimurty Hosiery had obtained VAT refund to the tune of Rs 1.5 crore each, the owners of York International had obtained VAT refund worth Rs 75 lakh in the past one year by claiming that they had exported hosiery items to Bangladesh and other states. Sources said preliminary investigations by the Customs Department had revealed that the firms had not sent any hosiery goods to Bangladesh or other states. “Since they claimed to have exported goods to a foreign country to claim VAT refund, they are also likely to have obtained duty drawback from the Union Government. Prima facie, it seems that these firms have defrauded both the state and Central governments," said a source in the ED. They said the ED had filed an enforcement case investigation report against the three firms. “The owners have been summoned. It is a serious matter and cases under the Foreign Exchange Management Act could also be slapped on them,” said the source.
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7 arrested for Dhudike violence
Moga, December 7 Hundreds of policemen swooped on several houses in the village in the wee hours and took into custody Ranjit Singh, Gurvinder Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Gurpreet Singh, stated to be the supporters of Sikh hardliners, the police said. The quartet allegedly was part of the mob that attacked dera followers while the latter were preparing for their religious congregation on November 25. The mob had allegedly burnt tents set up by the dera followers and their vehicles. Six dera followers and three policemen were among those injured in the clash.
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Mohali, December 7
