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PIMS students stare at uncertain future
ED summons two police officers in hawala case
PM to lay stone of Mullanpur cancer facility on Dec 30
Fog throws flight, train schedule out of gear
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Govt under fire over recruitment test lapse
Rahul immature to lead nation: Badal
Kapurthala Science City bags green award
The protesters in Tarn Taran on Tuesday. Tribune photo
Sikhs rally for release of detainees
Gurbaksh Khalsa’s supporters protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Mohali on Tuesday. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu
Surprise check finds health officials absent
Fly ash emitted from thermal plants like slow poison: Bhabha experts
Elementary teachers’ stir enters second day
Govt misleading on atta-dal: Bhattal
Police rule out foul play in attack on RTI activist
RTI activist Amar Nath Chetiwal in a hospital in Fazilka
on Tuesday. Tribune photo
Man accused of beheading child ends life
Left parties protest over property tax
HC: Check illegal liquor vends along highways
State told to buy equipment to test contraband
2 women jailed for Sikh’s murder in New Zealand
HC quashes FIR against principal
161 convicts have completed life term in state, court told
French national among three held guilty in illegal arms case
Day after boy’s death, SUV driver
arrested
Narayan Sai taken back to Gujarat
Proclaimed offender nabbed with
Rs 20-cr heroin
Body recovered in Australia that of Phagwara woman
Two booked for abetting nephew’s suicide
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PIMS students stare at uncertain future
Jalandhar, December 17 With the government failing to resolve issues affecting the institute, the future of 300 budding medicos is at stake. There are serious differences among directors of the PIMS Medical and Education Charitable Society, headed by Rural Development Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra. The MCI has already denied permission to the institute to fill 150 MBBS seats in the current academic session. The ongoing tussle between the doctors and other staff with the management could give another reason to the MCI to deny permission for admissions in the next academic session as well. The striking teachers say the PIMS management has declared holidays for the MBBS students to refrain them from joining the protest. Dr Kulbir Kaur, Director-Principal, said students of the first batch were on holidays after their final examinations while those of the second batch were preparing for their term examinations scheduled for December 23 onwards. When asked if the doctors' strike would hamper their studies and that the PIMS might not get approval for admissions for the next batch of 150 MBBS seats, she said the management was trying its best to set the things right at the highest level. The 450-bed PIMS is left with just 12 patients in different wards of 19 faculties, way below the Medical Council of India's (MCI's) norms. All the operation theaters are closed. Laboratories and other facilities too are non-functional. Only emergency cases are being attended by the doctors. The staff nurses, ward boys and junior residents have been performing their duties without salaries for the last couple of months. Three factions of the PIMS Medical and Education Charitable Society, one led by Jaspal Singh Dhesi, another referred to as the NRI (Andhra Pradesh) group and the third led by Cabinet Minister Surjit Singh Rakhra, have been at the loggerheads over the institute's control. While Rakhra has already expressed his inability to run the institution, Dhesi claimed that the crisis would be over by December 20 with the induction of certain new members to the society. Raj Shekhar, a director and a member of the NRI group, too claimed to have made sincere efforts in running the institute. Dr Vimal Sikri, the government-appointed director of the PIMS Society, said: "There is no provision for subletting the institute to a third party. The issue is with the Chief Minister and certain amendments to the contract between the government and the PIMS Society could help sort the issue".
The controversy
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ED summons two police officers in hawala case
Jalandhar, December 17 The ED is already investigating the alleged links of two senior Punjab Police officers, Bathinda IG Paramraj Singh Umranangal and Mohali SP Balwinder Singh, with drug baron Raja Kandola, who had named them as his “friends”. The hawala case involving Happy Forex Pvt Ltd may be the biggest in the region involving “shady” transactions worth more than Rs 400 crore. The case surfaced in February when ED officials recovered alleged hawala money to the tune of Rs 1.31 crore from Jalandhar-based owners of Happy Forex, including Jeewan Kumar. Sources in the ED revealed that Bakshi, posted at the Police Training Centre, Jahan Khelan, and Sarbjit Singh, posted at Nawanshahr, had been summoned to explain their position after their names surfaced during the ongoing investigations into the hawala case. They have been asked to furnish details of assets as per provisions of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). The officers have denied any role in the case. Bakshi said: “I had only bought air tickets for the UK from Happy Forex. I had made the payment through cheque. I have no link with Happy Forex or its owners. I will go to the ED to explain my position whenever asked to do so.” Sarbjit Singh too said he had nothing to do with any transaction related to the case. “I have not received any communication from the ED so far,” he said. Official sources said the two officials had allegedly received or sent huge money from and to the US, Canada and other countries through Happy Forex based at Adda Hoshiarpur locality of Jalandhar. The call details of the two officials were investigated and matched with that of the operators, they said. The sources said hawala operator Jeewan Kumar had been in the business for over two decades. He had allegedly developed proximity with some police officials, it is learnt.
In a spot
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PM to lay stone of Mullanpur cancer facility on Dec 30
Chandigarh, December 17 This will be the first tertiary care cancer research and treatment centre to come up in the state, which has seen spurt in cases of the disease in recent years. Sources in the Punjab Government said the Prime Minister's Office had confirmed his arrival to lay the stone of the 400-bed hospital and research centre. The centre, to be constructed at a cost of Rs 400 crore, will be constructed by the Department of Atomic Energy and will be based on the national cancer grid system. Confirming the development, Vini Mahajan, Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, said the Punjab Government has allotted a 50-acre plot in Medicity, Mullanpur. "Initially, this will be a 100-bed hospital, but will be scaled up to 400-bed facility. The hospital has been approved because of intervention of the Prime Minister himself," she said. Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai, is the national comprehensive cancer facility for the prevention, treatment, education and research in the disease and is recognised as one of the leading cancer centres in the world. It is learnt that as the centre will be based on the national cancer grid system, it will connect multiple cancer centres for a uniform standard treatment of the disease. This means that if a person is getting treated in Mullanpur, he will be offered similar facilities as are being offered in any other Tata Memorial
Centre.
400-bed facility
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Fog throws flight, train schedule out of gear
Amritsar, December 17 Around 12 flights land at the airport on Tuesday for further journey. The solitary flight which took off from the airport today was Uzbekistan Airways’ Amritsar-Tashkent. Thanks to Instrument Landing System (ILS) II category, the flight took off from the airport despite the visibility hovering a little over 200 metres. The flight had landed here yesterday. ILS II category equips an airport to handle landing at 350 metre visibility and above while a take-off can be accommodated at 200 metre and above visibility. The scheduled flights did not land here as these got delayed or cancelled at the originating destinations. Besides flights, poor visibility affected the train traffic in the region. A number of trains got delayed. The Shatabdi Express arrived at 4 pm against its scheduled arrival time of 1:35 pm. Consequently, it departed at 5:30 pm against the fixed time of 4:55 pm. Similarly, Shan-E-Punjab, Tata Moori and other trains also ran behind schedule. The railway station was a picture of mess as most officials were missing from duty. Chaos prevailed as harried passengers queued up before the enquiry counter to learn the status of the trains. Despite repeated attempts, Assistant Traffic Manager, Station Master and other officials could not be contacted.
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Modi’s Jagraon rally postponed
Moga\Ludhiana, Dec 17 “Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal is of the opinion that the rally should be postponed because it will cause inconvenience to the public in chilly weather conditions”, he added. The CM said the rally would now be held in February. About his interaction with the Pakistani Punjab CM Shahbaz Sharif, Badal said, “We have written to the Centre about the permission for starting trade between two Punjabs (of India and Pakistan).” The trade will start as soon as we would get the permission, he added. A hue and cry was being raised against the rally by the Congress and other parties in the state. The Congress, the Sanjha Morcha and the Akali Dal (Mann) had announced to protest Modi’s visit to the state.
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Govt under fire over recruitment test lapse
Chandigarh, December 17 This issue is being raked up not only by some candidates but also by politicians. Their contention is that the government opted to hand over the task to PU despite having two recruitment agencies of its own --- Punjab Public Service Commission (PPSC) and Punjab Subordinate Service Selection Board (PSSSB). And, this is notwithstanding the fact that the university had erred earlier as well while preparing merit list for the same posts in 2010. Moreover, the government has been spending a huge amount on sustaining both these recruitment agencies. The PSSSB has a chairman and 12 members, each costing the exchequer around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000 a month. The Board's office is housed in a five-star like building, Forest Towers, in Mohali. It is legally mandated to conduct recruitment for all non-gazetted posts up to grade pay of Rs 3,799. Beyond this grade pay, the authority lies with PPSC, which has Lt Gen MS Buttar (retd) as its Chairman. He is assisted by seven members, each entitled for a hefty package, car and bungalow, costing the government about Rs 2 lakh a month. As the grade pay of food inspector is Rs 4,200, the recruitment fell under the purview of PPSC. But the government, for reasons best known to it, chose PU, said a job aspirant. "What are these institutions for if the government has to outsource recruitment? It's better to shut them if they are not competent enough to recruit Food Inspectors," says CPI national executive member Dr Joginder Dayal. He says the government should refund exam fee to the candidates who could not take the test. The government had charged Rs 800 from each general category candidate and Rs 200 from those belonging to reserved categories. The government collected Rs 14.88 crore as fee from 1.86 lakh aspirants who applied for 461 posts. About 70,000 candidates could not appear in the test because of traffic snarls in and around Chandigarh. "Each candidate must have spent about Rs 2,500 for appearing in the test, which is over and above the Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 spent by some on coaching," says Harcharan Kaur, a candidate from Bathinda.
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Rahul immature to lead nation: Badal
Baje Ke (Moga), December 17 “The Congress leadership lacks vision for a roadmap for development in the 21st century. The past 10 years of the Congress rule at the Centre has pushed the nation towards bankruptcy,” he told the media after laying the foundation stone of the Punjab Institute of Technology at Baje Ke village in the district today. Badal said Congress Vice-president Rahul Gandhi was an inexperienced leader who was “misfit” for the Prime Minister’s post. In a reference to Rahul, the Chief Minister said: “If the driver’s seat of our country’s bus is manned by a person holding a learner’s licence, he will certainly put at risk the lives of people.”
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Kapurthala Science City bags green award
Chandigarh, December 17 On behalf of the Science City, the award was received by Director-General Dr RS Khandpur from President Pranab Mukherjee during a function held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhi, yesterday, an official press release said. Union Minister of Power Jyotiraditya M. Scindia was also present. The Science City has received the award in recognition of its achievement to reduce energy consumption while enhancing its performance with improved energy efficiency. The annual saving achieved is to the tune of Rs 12 lakh per year. The energy audit was done by a consultancy group of Punjab State Council for Science and Technology and its recommendations were fully implemented by the Science City. In addition, the Science City has also set up a 100 KW solar power station on the campus with technical advice of Punjab Energy Development Agency.
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Protesting farmers detain DC, SSP
Tarn Taran, December 17 But, Dhaliwal denied they were 'detained'. He clarified that they were at the office to hold talks with the protesters. The farmers, under the banner of Kisan Sangharsh Committee (KSC), Punjab, had sat on an indefinite protest outside the officer yesterday. The protesters were demanding cancellation of the case registered against several farmers after the Jeobala incident in which an Assistant Sub-Inspector, Kulbir Singh, had died under mysterious circumstances. Satnam Singh Pannu, KSC state president, said they had been claiming since the beginning the police officer died a natural death (heart failure), and that even a judicial probe had confirmed the same. In the afternoon, the protesters announced that they would not allow the officials to come out of their offices till their demands were not accepted. It was only around 8 pm when the district authorities announced that a meeting of the protesters had been fixed with the Chief Minister on January 9 that they relented and allowed the officials to move out.
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Sikhs rally for release of detainees
Amritsar, December 17 Activists of Dal Khalsa, SAD (Panch Pardani), Sikh Youth of Punjab and other like-minded groups participated in the march, following which they submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat. They have urged the state government to initiate efforts for the release of the detainees whose details were also enclosed by them along with the memorandum. Supporting the cause of Gurbakash Singh, who is on fast unto death since November 14, the representatives of these groups urged the Chief Minister to take up the issue with his counterparts in Karnataka, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh. Three of these detainees — Gurmeet Singh, Lakhwinder Singh and Shamsher Singh — are lodged in Burail Jail since 1995. The Sikh leaders contended that these three detainees had already served a jail term of 18 years and had no criminal background. The other three Sikh detainees are Laal Singh, Waryam Singh and Gurdeep Singh Khehra, all
of whom have spent over 20 years in jail. Speaking to mediapersons, Dal Khalsa's office secretary Sarabjit Singh Ghuman said, “The Badals have been paying lip service on the matter, which is unfortunate… The government should act fast and release the detainees as it is a violation of prisoner rights that they are being kept detained despite completion of their legal prison term," reads the memorandum. Day 34 of Gurbaksh’s fast Mohali: Supporters of various Sikh organisations marched from Gurdwara Amb Sahib here to the office of the Deputy Commissioner where they staged a protest in support of the demand for the freeing of Sikhs languishing in various jails. They submitted a demands memorandum at the DC's office, which was addressed to the Union Home Minister and the Punjab Chief Minister. The fast by radical leader Gurbaksh Singh Khalsa at Gurdwara Amb Sahib entered its 34th day on Tuesday. It had begun on November 14. Harpal Singh Cheema, SAD (Panch Pardhani) acting president, alleged there was discrimination in the justice system. He said in order to garner support for the stir, an email ID, ambsahibmorcha@gmail.com, had been created. A similar protest was held in Nawanshahr and several other parts of the state. Support from Jammu council Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Sikh Council has demanded immediate release of the Sikh youth lodged in jail across the country who were arrested during the militancy years in Punjab. The council also extended support to Gurbaksh. Sikh activists also held a demonstration in Jammu. Council state president Harmohinder Singh said, “We appeal the President to grant clemency to all youths who were languishing in jails despite completion of their jail term.”
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Surprise check finds health officials absent
Bassi Pathana, December 17 During a surprise visit to the public dispensary and veterinary dispensary in Badwala village in Bassi Pathana block, he found that the officials were absent and both the centres were locked. Bhutta said he had received a complaint
from villagers that Dr Pankaj Chawla of the veterinary dispensary was not attending to his duties since his posting in the village. He said pharmacist Karamjit Singh was also found absent from duty. He said not only the
staff was missing, the two centres were locked when he visited them this afternoon. He said when he spoke to the civil surgeon on phone about the locked health centres, she said the matter was not in
her knowledge. The zila parishad chairman said health centres had been set up in villages to provide better health care services to people but some of the health officials posted in villages were “not sincere” about their duties. He said action would
be taken against such “insincere” officials.
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Fly ash emitted from thermal plants like slow poison: Bhabha experts
Patiala, December 17 They were speaking at the 58th Department of Atomic Energy Solid State Physics Symposium, which began at Thapar University today. Dr Samrath Lal Chaplot from Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and Dr SK Gupta, the head of the Technical Physics Division, Homi Bhabha National Institute, said nuclear power plants were safer than thermal plants as far as human health was concerned as the casualty rate was less. Dr Chaplot said there had been only two or three incidents of uranium leakage in nuclear plants whereas thermal plants emitted fly ash containing uranium content, which was inhaled by a large number of people living in the vicinity over the years. “It is like a slow poison, which leads to severe health problems in the long run,” he added. When questioned about the traces of uranium found in the hair samples of residents of the state, Dr SK Gupta said it was yet to be established whether the uranium content found was due to the fly ash or the excess use of pesticides. However, he said uranium content in the fly ash emitted from thermal power plants could enter a human body after getting mixed with water. He said people in Kerala were facing a similar problem. Renowned scientists such as Dr S Elizabeth, Dr Seizo Morito, Eunju Lim, Dr WF Pong and Prof SC Gadkari from Bhabha Atomic Research Institute, who is also the convenor of the symposium, will throw light on their recent research achievements during the five-day event. About 1,000 delegates, including leading scientists from India and across the world, vice chancellors of several big universities and industry representatives, are slated to attend the symposium.
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Elementary teachers’ stir enters second day
Barnala, December 17 ETT (Elementary Teachers Training) teachers, who were employed as volunteers in schools under the Education Guarantee Scheme (EGS), are protesting against the state government for its failure to provide them regular jobs. Seven members of the union climbed the waterworks yesterday afternoon. Due to ill health, one of the protesters Sarbjit Kaur climbed down. The six protesters — Kanta Devi, Sharanjit Kaur, Usha Rani, Karamjit Kaur, Satya Devi and Ram Singh — are adamant not to come down till the government accepted their demand. Their supporters on the ground raised slogans against the government. Union state committee member Buta Khan told The Tribune over phone that the government had provided admission to the EGS volunteers in the ETT course. “Despite clearing the course a year ago, the government in spite of promising many times has not provided them jobs as ETT teachers,” he alleged. Khan said Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was scheduled to meet members of the union on December 13, but the meeting was cancelled a day before. “We have been compelled to climb the water works.” He said a five-member deputation of the union under the leadership of state president Makhan Singh Tolawal met the Chief Minister in Chandigarh today. The protesters, however, do not know the outcome of the meeting. The district administration has deployed more than 30 police personnel, including woman constables, at the protest site. Additional Deputy Commissioner Jora Singh Thind, Sub-divisional Magistrate (SDM) Amandeep Bansal, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Harpal Singh and Tallewal Station House Officer (SHO) Kanwaljit Singh visited the village.
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Govt misleading on atta-dal: Bhattal
Jalandhar, December 17 Bhattal was addressing a meeting of Congress workers under PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa’s mass contact programme at Sultanpur Lodhi. The meeting was organised by MLA Navtej Singh Cheema. Bhattal alleged the government had wasted crores of rupees on the publicity of the scheme and had “misled the poor”. “The new scheme is an adoption of the food security progamme of the UPA government, which is giving subsidy on both wheat and dal,” she said, adding that beneficiaries of the scheme had not been given any commodity for the last over one year. “Not even a single promise made by the SAD and the BJP during elections has been fulfilled,” Bhattal said.
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Police rule out foul play in attack on RTI activist
Fazilka, December 17 On Sunday, six people on three motorcycles allegedly attacked the Right To Information (RTI) activist with sticks and weapons at Malkana Mohalla here for, what he said, “seeking information on misappropriation and embezzlement of funds in the MC and other agencies”. Doctors said Chetiwal of local Ravi Dass Nagar had received more than 10 injuries. Sources said he had two fractures in his right arm. Chetiwal has alleged in the first-information report (FIR) that he was attacked at the behest of Sethi and Sehgal for seeking information on their “corrupt activities”. He claimed that he could identify the assailants. The investigating officer, Assistant Sub-inspector Malkeet Singh said the RTI activist was not attacked at the behest of Sethi and
Sehgal.
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Man accused of beheading child ends life
Faridkot, December 17 The body of Harjinder Singh (25) was recovered from Rajasthan Feeder Canal near Lohgarh village on the Punjab-Haryana border. The police said that after killing the child, the mentally ill accused committed suicide by jumping into the canal on December 9. As the search for Singh did not yield result, police suspected that the accused had committed suicide by jumping into the canal. After a body, resembling the accused, was found floating in the canal, the police verified with his family.
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Left parties protest over property tax
Sangrur, December 17 They raised slogans against the state government. Congress workers and members of the Beopar Mandal participated in the protest. The protesters, carrying placards, started the march from Banasar Bagh and it culminated at the district administrative complex. The protesters submitted a memorandum to Additional Deputy Commissioner Pritam Singh Johal, demanding withdrawal of property tax.
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HC: Check illegal liquor vends along highways
Chandigarh, December 17 Taking up a petition filed in public interest by Arrive Safe Society, the High Court said the survey would be carried by deputy excise commissioners in Punjab and excise commissioners in Haryana. The High Court also directed the filing of a status report by January 29 next. The directions came just more than a month after the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul directed the states of Punjab and Haryana to explain non-compliance of directions on the removal of illegal liquor vends from around the national highways. Taking a serious note of mushrooming of liquor vends along the national highways, the High Court had on September 13 directed the NHAI, Punjab, Haryana, and Chandigarh to form a committee. The panel was asked to look into the issue of removing liquor vends along the national highways. For the purpose, the committee was asked conduct a survey to identify liquor vends required to be removed. The licence holder of such liquor vends would get compensation or refund of the amount deposited with the government. Arrive Safe Society through its president Harman Singh Sidhu is seeking the removal of liquor vends along the national highways in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The Bench has already made it clear that fresh licences for running liquor vends in proximity of highways and roadsides should not be issued, at least till the pendency of the petition.
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State told to buy equipment to test contraband
Chandigarh, December 17 Justice Paramjeet Singh has also set deadline of January 31 next for purchasing the equipment. The directions came after Punjab Chemical Examiner brought to the court’s notice that “thousands of samples of the NDPS cases were pending analysis and reason for delay in
analysing, preparing and sending analysis reports was non-availability of latest and modern equipment for analysis”. The development is significant as narcotic substances seized in the state is among the highest in the country. Estimates suggest Punjab roughly accounts for more than one-fifth of the total nationwide recoveries of heroin -- the costliest drug. Of the 23 significant seizures of heroin in the country by the NCB in 2012, a high of 12 were from Punjab alone. From Punjab’s border districts, the BSF recovered a whopping 418 kg of heroin between 2010 and 2012. Otherwise also, according to India’s National Crime Records Bureau, drug-related crime in Punjab is nearly 10 times the nationwide average. As the suo motu case on the issue came up for hearing, the Chemical Examiner also told the Court that proposal has already been sent by the Department of Health for purchasing latest equipments, but it was lying at the level of Controller of Stores.
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2 women jailed for Sikh’s murder in New Zealand
Melbourne, December 17 Amandeep Singh’s badly decomposed body was found at the Kaiti beach on January 24. Crystal Black (26) and her partner Krystel Pokai (25) appeared before Justice Murray Gilbert in the High Court at Gisborne yesterday after pleading guilty to manslaughter. They also pleaded guilty to charges of car conversion, theft of Singh's credit card, using a document to obtain an advantage and attempting to pervert the course of justice. Amandeep, who was married, was living and working in Gisborne. On December 28, 2012, he gave Pokai a lift in his car, following which they exchanged phone numbers. They met the next day and the text messages exchanged between the two showed that he wanted to have physical relations with her but she did not. Pokai and Black later texted Amandeep telling him that Pokai had changed her mind. Around midnight, the three drove to Kaiti beach in his car, where the two women beat him to death. The women then drove to a mall, where they tried to use his credit card. Later, they drove to Black’s relative's home and asked her to clean their fingerprints from the car. On December 30, Black told her former partner that she and Pokai had "just killed a fella". Black's relative and her former partner reported the matter to the police, after which the women were taken into custody. —PTI
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copying, assault case
Chandigarh, December 17 The orders by Justice Sabina came on a petition filed by principal of Model Senior Secondary School Davinder Kaur and her husband Surjit Singh against the state of Punjab and another respondent. The duo was booked after complainant Johar Singh, performing the duties of controller at the examination centre on March 17, 2011, alleged that the petitioners pressured him to allow the students to cheat. As per the FIR, superintendent and controller Arvind Kumar was also attacked by the students. Their counsel Ramdeep Partap Singh claimed that the perusal of the FIR made it clear criminal offence had not been committed by the petitioners. Otherwise also, her husband was working as a deputy manager with a nationalised bank and had no concern with the school run by his wife. On the day of occurrence, he was present in the bank. Opposing the plea, complainant’s counsel, on the other hand, argued the petitioners were pressuring him to allow the students to commit cheating during the examination. Taking up the matter, Justice Sabina observed the examination was conducted as per proper procedure; and was not even cancelled. “Further, as per the FIR, Arvind Kumar was attacked by the students. In case, some students had attacked Arvind Kumar after the examination and outside the gate, the petitioners cannot be held liable for the same. “Admittedly, there is no medical evidence on record qua injuries suffered by Arvind Kumar. Since a perusal of the FIR itself does not lead to the inference that the petitioners had committed any criminal offence, continuation of criminal proceedings against the petitioners would be nothing but an abuse of process of law”.
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161 convicts have completed life term in state, court told
Chandigarh, December 17 The court had, in fact, directed the States of Punjab and Haryana, along with UT Chandigarh, to furnish status reports on pending applications for premature release. In its reply placed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih, Under-Secretary Sewa Singh said 71 such convicts were in the Nabha open air jail, 50 in Amritsar and Bathinda jails and 40 in the Amritsar central jail. In Chandigarh, cases pertaining to premature release of eight life prisoners were under consideration or rejected. The high court was told that the case of Gurmeet Singh, convicted in former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassination case, had been rejected. The case of convict Ganga Sahni had been accepted in July this year, but so far, surety bond had not been furnished by him. The six remaining cases were under consideration with the Chandigarh administration. The case will now come up for hearing on February 10.
Prison data In its reply placed before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih, Under-Secretary Sewa Singh said 71 such convicts were in the Nabha open air jail, 50 in Amritsar and Bathinda jails and 40 in the Amritsar central jail
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French national among three held guilty in illegal arms case
Amritsar, December 17 The police had earlier registered an FIR against four persons, Pal Singh, Gurmukh Singh, Makhan Singh and Kulwant Singh after the seizure of two AK-47 rifles, one machinegun, 15 kg of RDX and detonating devices on June 25, 2010. Inspector Harvinder Singh said Kulwant Singh had died during the pendency of the case. Pal Singh of Dhandowal village in Shahkot had stayed in France from 1978-1999 and is a French national. All the accused are said to have links with Singh Chira, who was arrested in June 2010 for stationing an RDX-laden vehicle in a busy market opposite the Amritsar railway station. The police had earlier claimed that accused were associated with the terrorist outfit Babbar Khalsa International. Sources said Pal Singh had visited Pakistan with jathas in 1989, 1998 and 2002.
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Day after boy’s death, SUV driver
arrested
Phagwara, December 17 Earlier, Harish’s family members along with villagers staged a dharna outside Sahibzada Ajit Singh Public School, Sarhali, where the victim used to study. They blocked traffic for more than three hours on Phagwara-Nakodar road. The blockade was lifted only after the school director-cum-principal apologised to the deceased’s kin. The school also agreed to give Rs 4 lakh compensation and a job for a member from the deceased’s family.
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Narayan Sai taken back to Gujarat
Ludhiana, December 17 Sources said Sai was also questioned about the source of Rs 5 crore he had arranged for bribing the investigators for manipulating the case. The Gujarat police refused to divulge any information on any breakthrough in the bribery case. — TNS
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Proclaimed offender nabbed with
Rs 20-cr heroin
Batala, December 17 Addressing mediapersons, Senior Superintendent of Police SS Mand said that for the last several days, the police were following leads but could not arrest the accused, Satinderjit Singh of Ludhiana. The police today laid a ‘naka’ on the Batala-Kahnuwan road near Jharianwala village. Spotting the police, Satinderjit, who was riding a motorcycle, tried to make good his escape but was overpowered by the policemen. Mand said the accused, who had recently shifted his base to Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), was wanted in several cases, including four of murder and two of attempt to murder. He remained in jail for nearly nine years and later jumped parole.
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Body recovered in Australia that of Phagwara woman
Phagwara, December 17 The identification could be made on the basis of her belongings and forensic tests of the body. Sandeep Narang, the husband of the deceased, told Natasha’s parents in Phagwara over the phone that he had asked the police to initiate a probe into the matter. Sandeep’s father claimed that while his son was “inncocent”, his daughter-in-law could not commit suicide.
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Two booked for abetting nephew’s suicide
Fazilka, December 17 The victim, Jagdip Singh (22), of Jandwala Mirasangal village in the district committed suicide by jumping into a canal on December 11. His body was found from Shivpur headworks of the canal near Sriganganagar in Rajasthan on Monday evening. The victim’s shoes and a shirt were found on the banks of the canal. The accused, Harjit Singh and Malkiat Singh, of the same village have been booked under Sections 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). As per the first-information report (FIR), deceased’s brother Gutta Singh alleged that his uncles Harjit and Malkiat had demolished a water course that fed their part of land. “My uncles did not keep their promise made in the panchayat of reconstructing the water course,” Gutta alleged. A panel of three doctors conducted a post-mortem examination of the deceased at the civil hospital today.
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Chandigarh, December 17
Pushpa Gujral Science City, Kapurthala, has been awarded the second prize (general category) in the national energy conservation awards.
On behalf of the Science City, the award was received by Director-General Dr RS Khandpur from President Pranab Mukherjee during a function held at Vigyan
Bhawan, New Delhi, yesterday, an official press release said. Union Minister of Power Jyotiraditya M. Scindia was also present.
Radical Sikh outfits today took out a protest march in support of Gurbaksh Singh and sought the immediate release of six Sikh detainees whose cases have been highlighted by him.
Activists of Dal Khalsa, SAD (Panch Pardani), Sikh Youth of Punjab and other like-minded groups participated in the march, following which they submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner Ravi
Bhagat.
Police have ruled out the involvement of former Municipal Council (MC) president Anil Kumar Sethi and Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) activist Rakesh Sehgal in the attack on RTI activist Amar Nath Chetiwal.
The police today arrested the driver of the SUV (Tata Safari) that had allegedly hit a school bus here yesterday, leaving a 12-year-old boy, Harish Kumar, dead.
Sanbir Singh of Sarhali too had sustained injuries and was admitted to a local hospital. The incident had left 21 students injured.
