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MC gives encroachers time till Feb 11
Ludhiana, January 7 A 10-member committee has been formed to identify encroachments in Chaura Bazar. It has been asked to prepare a report within a week. These encroachments have been there for the past several years. The MC is now taking politicians into confidence as on several occasions political interference has come in the way of demolition drives in different parts of the city. The encroachments (30 shops in Gur Mandi and 22 in Talaab Bazar) were to be demolished following the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. On January 17, 2012, the court had directed the MC to demolish all encroachments listed in a civil writ petition. Shopkeepers at both places are trying to give the issue a religious colour by claiming that their shops are part of two temples and that the Supreme Court has ordered that any religious encroachment, which is over 10 years old, can be regularised by the MC. “I have clearly told the shopkeepers that if they want any relief, they can approach the High Court. We have already informed the court that these are all encroachments. They have been given time till February 11,” said MC Commissioner Rahul Tiwari, while speaking to Ludhiana Tribune. Besides, there are over 350 encroachments in Chaura Bazar and the adjoining markets. The MC has to demolish these also. “I have formed a 10-member committee, comprising MC and police officers, to carry out a survey and verify documents presented by shopkeepers. Once the survey is over, the encroachments will be demolished,” said Tiwari.
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Commuters caught in snarl-ups
Ludhiana, January 7 Commuters faced a lot of inconvenience due to the traffic jams. The police failed to streamline the traffic during the protest as a result of which several motorists were stuck on roads for over an hour and a half. As Jagraon Bridge is the pivot of the city, traffic chaos was witnessed on the elevated road, Ferozepur Road and the road leading to Gill Road. Long traffic jams were witnessed in the old city area, including Railway Station Road, Chaura Bazar and the Field Ganj
area. Jagroop Singh, a resident who got stuck in a traffic jam, said, “It was a bad day. I went to the vegetable market on the Jalandhar bypass and it took me two hours to reach back home. This is not the way to protest. At least political parties should behave responsibly. The public had to face a lot of inconvenience due to this hour-long protest." Amit, a cab driver, said, “ I took me one and a half hours to cross Jagraon Bridge due to the protest. The government should make strict laws to check this menace." Pawan Dewan, president of the District Congress Committee (Urban), said, “We had not planned to block any road. It was only a dharna. However,when our activists gathered at the bridge, roads got blocked." |
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Drug de-addiction centre opened
Ludhiana, January 7 The centre has 15 beds and 12 drug addicts have been registered by their families at the centre. Talking to Ludhiana Tribune, Aggarwal said the building was lying vacant and a proposal was sent to the authorities to start a de-addiction centre in October. "We got a nod and soon renovation work started. Efforts were made to rope in NGOs, medical professionals and chemists. People from various walks of life lent a helping hand and today, the centre was made operational for helping those in need," said Aggarwal. The DC said a majority of
those admitted to the centre were youth, both from rural and urban backgrounds. "One patient is from Nawanshahr, while the others are from the city and nearby villages. We are trying to rope in more sponsors to provide the patients with medicines. Besides, meals will be provided to the patients free of cost with the help of NGOs. Drug addiction is major problem among the youth and sincere efforts are needed to eradicate it. For the recreation of the youth, arrangements will be made for games like carrom, table tennis and badminton," said the DC. Sukhwant Singh (name changed), father of a 21-year-old drug addict from the city, said his son fell into bad company and started taking drugs since he was 17. "I am not in a position to get him admitted to some big hospital as I cannot afford the expensive treatment there. The centre has come as a ray of hope for people like us. A friend of mine asked me to contact the authorities. They gave me a patient hearing and admitted my son," he said. |
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DC asks NGOs to help drug addicts
Ludhiana, January 7 Founder of Ann Jal Sewa Trust Shiv Ram Saroy said, "Deputy Commissioner,
Ludhiana, Rajat Aggarwal has appealed us to provide free of cost meals to these patients. Agreeing to it we have started it from today itself. We will not only feed the patients but also to the attendants of the patients. We will provide them meals as per the recommendations of the doctors." Similarly NGO Samvedna Trust which provides free ambulance service to the sick and needy has also been roped in for these addicts. Dr Vikas
Jindal, general secretary, Samvedna Trust, said, "We were also approached by the DC to assist these drug addicts in sending them back to their respective homes or bringing them to the de-addiction
centre. We are happy to serve for this noble cause." Meanwhile, NGO Ann Jal Sewa Trust has also started serving food to the residents of night shelter. These night shelters are near Manju Theatre, Clock Tower and at Hambran Road.
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Congress men hold protest, demand CBI investigation
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, January 7 Addressing the protesters, Dewan alleged that Jagdish Bhola, arrested in the synthetic drugs case, had named Majithia and two other ministers. MLA Surinder Dawar and District Mahila Congress president Leena Taparia alleged that the supply of drugs had been done by using red beacon cars and it was not possible without the patronisation of the state government. They said earlier too, former DGP (Jails) Shashikant had done exposes of “patronisation” of drugs by Akali leaders. They said the Chief Minister should hand over the synthetic drugs case to the CBI. The protesters included Baljinder Singh Bunty, Jarnail Singh Shimlapuri, Palwinter Singh Taggar and Rakesh Sharma.
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Trader ends his life
Ludhiana, January 7 The police are in the process of registering a case against against the victim's business partner, Joginder Singh, and his son Bhupinder Singh. The incident took place this afternoon when Sudershan asked for his share of Rs 15 lakh for his son's marriage. Joginder refused to return Sudershan's share. This led to a heated argument, following which Sudershan locked himself in his office and hanged himself. A suicide note was found in which the victim had blamed Joginder and his son for his death. |
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Chemist shot at in Khanna
Khanna, January 7 The chemist, Devinder Singh Mann, is a resident of Kotla Ajner village. Devinder runs a chemist shop in the books market in Khanna. At about 8.50 pm today, he closed his shop and left for his village by his car. He had barely reached Lalheri Chowk when someone opened fire on him, leaving him injured. SHO Harjinder Singh confirmed the incident and said investigations were under way. |
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RTI activist finds fault with contractor, seeks action
Puneet Pal Singh Gill Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, January 7 So far, only around 60 per cent of the work has been completed by the contractor, M/s Captain Enterprises, a company owned by the son of a senior Akali leader from the city. Speaking to Ludhiana Tribune, Kuldeep Singh Khaira, an area resident and RTI activist, said he had now sent a complaint to the Secretary, Local Bodies Department, and the MC Commissioner, demanding action against the contractor. "Work was allotted to the contractor, who had not got the VAT registration number, which is issued by the Department of Excise and Taxation. It is clear-cut violation of point 25 of the terms and conditions of the project. Besides, the work carried out by the contractor is of poor quality as interlocking tiles have already got damaged at several places. The work remained suspended for a couple of years and it restarted only after the MC initiated proceedings of blacklisting the contractor. He completed around 15 per cent more work and again stopped it and now for the past two months, the work has been suspended again," alleged Khaira. MC Commissioner Rahul Tiwari said he would look into the matter. "I will get the matter probed as to why the work was allotted to the contractor if he did not have the VAT registration number. Besides, we will also ensure that the work is completed soon as the contractor has already missed the deadline," said Tiwari. The contract of laying 80-mm thick interlocking tiles of plastic mould and construction of a footpath on the sides of Gill Road (from Gill Chowk to the Sidhwan Canal bridge) was allotted to the contractor on February 4, 2011. This work was to be completed in six months. After a request from the contractor, the completion date was extended by three months to November 3, 2011. However, the contractor failed to meet this deadline also.
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Despite patrolling, little headway in theft cases
Ludhiana, January 7 Rather than making any sincere effort, a handful of publicity hungry cops organised press conference on the recovery of few grams of heroin and seizing of illicit liquor. The electronic appliances traders termed excessive patrolling just eyewash. They said despite having the close circuit television (CCTV) footages the police has failed to nab the thieves. It is not the first time that thieves had struck an electronic shop. Since 2008, the industrial city witnessed thieves targeting shops of mobile phones, laptops and LCD, but the police was still groping in the dark and had not been able to solve a single case till date. With the onset of winters, such incidents begin to occur in different parts of the city. Every year, police claim to make tall claims of busting a gang but soon the matter is forgotten. "As city is turning into a tech hub, thieves are also turning towards hi-tech gadgets. Besides conventional thefts, the city has witnessed a rise in the number of theft incidents at computer shops," said an officer requesting anonymity. Their modus operandi indicates towards the involvement of some organised gang. Gurpreet Singh, Chairman of the Association of Computer Entrepreneurs, expressed concern over the scenario. He said such incidents shows that criminals have no fear of the police. "It is indeed shocking that so many incidents had taken place in the past few years, but the police could not make any breakthrough," said Gurpreet. It was earlier suspected that a Bengal or Delhi based gang was behind series of theft, but no sincere effort was made to bust such gangs, the reason best known to police official. Recent incidents On November 9 thieves struck at a computer shop and decamped with 12 laptops. Within 10 days, thieves struck at a shop and decamped with 80 mobiles and eight LCD's. On December 8, thieves made the biggest theft of 2013, when they burgled a computer store in Kochar Market area and decamped with laptops, LEDs, computers screens and computer appliances worth near Rs 60 lakh. Thieves struck again on December 23 and fled with high-end laptops, mobile phones worth Rs 12 lakh from Bama Computers in Kitchlu Nagar. Six days later, on December 29, thieves struck at Micro Solutions on Pakhowal Raod and took away laptops worth Rs 12 lakh.
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Lack of funds comes in way of security at Civil Hospital
Ludhiana, January 7 The higher authorities instructed the hospital to appoint more security guards but due to financial crunch these instructions can’t be implemented. Due to shortage of staff, there is no check on the main gate, following which anybody other than patients and their attendants keep visiting the hospital premises anytime convenient to them. Talking to the Tribune, Director Health and Family Welfare, Punjab, Dr Karamjit Singh said, "I also observed that there is no one to check the visitors at entry and exit points of the hospital. I had instructed the hospital authorities to deploy some more security guards. They can be paid from user charges." But hospital authorities find it difficult to implement these instructions. Senior Medical Officer of Civil Hospital, Ludhiana said, "We are already paying 8 security guards from the user charges. We don’t get much amount through user charges as we get these only from OPD slip, tests, X-rays etc and that too are very nominal. We have to pay Rs10,000 to each of the guard. We need 12 more security guards but we cannot pay them from user charges. We need finance from the state health department. So I am going to write to the department for the same." The state health department has also issued an LCD to the department and asked the hospital authorities to install it in the OPD ward. But SMO Dr Karkara said, “Due to shortage of security guards we will not be able to take care of LCD in the OPD area. So we have decided to install it either in the trauma ward or maternity ward, which is occupied for 24 hours."
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Problems abound at city railway station
Ludhiana, January 7 The passengers had to wait for hours to board their respective trains but in the absence of proper sitting arrangements they are forced to sit on the floor. The railway authorities failed to install benches on platforms and passengers can be seen sitting on the floor. Moreover, both the waiting rooms for the men and women lack in infrastructure. There are around 25 chairs in the waiting rooms for women but the number of women passengers is always more than the arrangements. The open waiting hall is occupied by the vendors and only few benches are there to accommodate the passengers. The passengers can also be seen sitting on boxes, luggage and pieces of gunny bags. Partap Singh, a passenger waiting for Jammu-Tawi train at Ludhiana Railway Station said, “The Indian railway failed to provide the proper sitting infrastructure in last 70 years. In this shivering cold, passengers are forced to sit on floor. Railways should provide waiting room with proper infrastructure.” Lashman Das, Officiating Station Superintendent said, “The sitting capacity of waiting room is quite less than the requirement. With the increase in population and passengers the existing infrastructure is not appropriate. It is in the notice of higher authorities.”
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Government releases matching grant of Rs 50 lakh for widows
Ludhiana, January 7 The project to make widows financially independent was launched by an NRI from England Raj Loomba through Loomba Foundation in September last year. He provided a grant of Rs 50 lakhs to state government to come to the rescue of widows
in Punjab. Though the state government had claimed to release a matching grant of Rs 50 lakhs within 10 days but the fate of project was in limbo due to absence of grant. With the release of the grant recently, a ray of hope comes up for the widows in the district to become financially independent. Additional Deputy Commissioner (Development) Baldev Singh confirmed that they had received the grant. "Tenders will be opened on January 8 to buy sewing machines for the widows. The project will be accomplished in three phases- each phase will be completed in two months. There will be 19 centres in the district and about 35 widows will be benefitted. The total cost of the project is Rs 1 crore and with all the money in hand, the project will start as early as possible," said Baldev Singh. Loomba Foundation gave donations in five states including Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi and Puducherry and 7,000 widows were to be benefitted.
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Councillor allots Rs 90 lakh for parks
Ludhiana, January 7 "My ward doesn’t have a single park and the residents kept on demanding it for a long time. That is why, now I have decided to convert vacant pieces of land in ward number 28 into parks. I have a quota of Rs 1 crore, out of which I would spend Rs 90 lakh for the development of parks," informed Maharaj Singh Raji, Congress councillor from ward number 28. As per the master-plan, 5 parks would be developed in Gopal Nagar, 3 in Joshi Nagar, 3 in Pavittar Nagar, and one each in Flower Avenue, Mahavir Jain Colony, Bank Colony and Guru Nanak Nagar. Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu inaugurated one such park in Joshi Nagar today. "I have clearly told Maharaj Singh Raji that he can spend his quota for the development of parks in ward number 28, while I would allot funds for other development works from MLA quota. This way, the area will have 15 new parks and the development would also not suffer.
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Bad weather hits rail traffic
Ludhiana, January 7 Railway officials said quite a few other express and passenger trains were also running behind schedule. “Since the weatherman has predicted that there will be no improvement in the conditions for the next three days, the erratic run of the trains is likely to continue,” they added.
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Train services back on track
Mandi Ahmedgarh, January 7 Formal announcement of the resumption of
facility was made by legislator Manpreet Singh Ayali during a function held today. Paying gratitude to Pawan Inder Singh, a social activist, for steps taken for resumption of the service, residents of the area led by former chairman of Punjab agro corporation Jagjit Singh Ghungrana said the department of railways had withdrawn facility. Residents of villages including Ghungrana, Brahaman Majra, Khera, Dhulkot, Kalakh, Lehra and Gopalpur used to avail the facility from this halt but the service was interrupted abruptly without any reason. Now, with the resumption of train services residents will be able to travel without any hassle.
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Make use of facilities, says Health Minister
Our Correspondent
Raikot, January 7 Besides eradicating blindness, early detection of disorders of eyes can minimise treatment expenses, claimed Jiyani. While interacting with the office-bearers and activists of social and medical organisations of the town and surrounding localities after inaugurating Tele Ophthalmology Unit of Dr Ramesh Eye Care Centre, on Monday evening, Jiyani acknowledged that initiative taken by social organisations and philanthropists in field of ophthalmology had helped the administration in curbing blindness. Awareness camps about causes and consequences of eye related disorders had gone a long way in checking the problem which had emerged as a menace during the past decades.
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Youth Congress activists hold protest
Jagraon, January 7 The protestors led by Jagraon Youth Congress President Manjinder Singh Dalla and Youth Congress delegate Sajjan Malhotra demanded the registeration of police case against Bikramjit Singh Majithia and immediate arrest for allegedly being involved in the trade of drug peddling. “Now, international drug lord Jagdish Bhola has openly named Bikramjit Singh Majithia and accused him of being directly involved in the trade of drug trafficking in Punjab. Despite this, the police have not registered any case against the revenue minister which clearly indicates that the police department has been working under pressure of the state government,” said Manjinder Singh Dalla. The protestors have accused Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal and Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal of trying to shield Majithia. “First the police department shall make the names of three Punjab Cabinet Ministers revealed by Jagdish Bhola before the police during the investigation of drug peddling cases public. Secondly, the police shall immediately arrest Majithia,” said Sajjan Malhotra while demanding to hand over the case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for an impartial and transparent investigation. The activists made it clear that they would intensify their agitation further if the police do not register the case against Majithia.
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Schools to be merged
Shivani Bhakoo Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, January 7 The Director, Education Department, Chandigarh, has issued the instructions to the authorities in all the districts that the middle schools, which do not have more than 20 students, must be merged with nearby high schools. Besides, the schools having less than 30 students should not be allowed to give admissions to new students from the next academic session. These schools too should be merged after March 31, added the Director. Following the instructions, Gangagir School, Manuke, will now be merged with Government High School, Bhamiapura. Presently, the middle school has three teachers and 13 students. However, the Government High School has 12 teachers and about 229 students. It has nine rooms. Gangagir School is about a km away from Government High School. Further, the Malodaad school having three teachers with 18 students will be merged with Government High School, Sinhadaad. The latter has about 132 students and eight teachers. The distance between the two schools is about 1.5 km. In Punjab, there are about 22 such schools where there is a poor strength of students. These schools will be merged with the nearby high schools. As far as shifting of teachers is concerned, they will be accommodated as per the requirements in the nearby schools. It may be mentioned here that the department has also asked the district authorities to do their best to increase the number of students in such schools.
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NON-TEACHING EMPLOYEES’ ELECTIONS Charanjit Singh Teja Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, January 7 Kewal Krishan Sachdeva, candidate of president from PAU Employees Welfare Front, did not release his manifesto and stated that ‘manifestos’ were made to befool the employees. Meanwhile, PAU Employees’ United Front released the attractive manifesto. In the manifesto, the Mundi group promised the employees that the group will struggle to get hike in the grade pay of lab attendants. The group will pressurise the authorities to fill the vacant posts in all the departments on priority. The pending arrears and allowances will be delivered after the victory of the group. The group will also struggle to provide medicines to employees at the PAU Hospital on cheaper rates. The various groups today, carried the election campaigns at employees’ quarters. Harbans Singh Mundi, a candidate for president, said, “We will not leave any stone unturned for the victory. We are in strong position and now working for lead”. Surinder Gujjar, chairman of PAU Employees Democratic Front, said, “Our group is contesting the elections for the second time but the support of employees in our rallies and campaign is overwhelming. We will definitely win.” Gulzar Singh Pandher, leader from the ruling group, said, “The emergence of new groups will affect the Mundi group and clear our route to victory.”
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AAP to hold ‘parivartan’ rally on January 10
Khamano, January 7 Stating this Khamano convener of AAP Vishal Modgil and Gulshan Chhabra gave information that this rally will be held at New Grain Market, Sirhind, at 3 pm. Workers of AAP from nearby areas will participate in the rally. They said party was conducting “nukkad” meetings in the district, including Khamano, Bassi Pathana, Sirhind, Mandi Gobindgarh and other areas. They are apprising the people about AAP’s objectives and to mobilise people to participate in the rally in large numbers. They said AAP will fight the coming elections in Punjab with full force and Sanjay Singh will announce future action in the proposed rally about the programme of the party in the state. The leaders of AAP had appealed people to participate in the rally for “parivartan” in the state.
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DEO website not updated since Dec 5
Ludhiana, January 7 “In other districts, any letters from the head office or the instructions, which are to be passed on to teachers, are mentioned on the website, but here, the website is not even updated,” said a teacher of a government school. Another senior teacher from Government School, Jawaharnagar Camp, said even small districts such as Mansa, Bathinda, Barnala and Ajitgarh boasts of good, updated websites but the Ludhiana website lags far behind. “In the present era where technology is so advanced that within a click the whole information is before us, we need not even go out to gather the same. But, here, half of the information does not even reach to the staff/teachers due to the poorly-maintained website,” rued a teacher. The District Education Officer (Secondary), Paramjit Kaur Chahal, said she was not aware of any such situation but will get the website updated within a day or two. “Ludhiana, being such a big district, has man other things to take care of as well. We will try to come up with a new website, providing all the updates, at the earliest,” said
Chahal.
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Pakistani Sikhs welcomed in Machhiwara
Machhiwara, January 7 The jatha of as many as 165 persons led by Jathedar Santokh Singh and Wazir Singh Pishor consisting of women and children, were in the town to pay obedience to the Almighty in the gurdwaras. The jatha, belonging to Bhai Joga Singh Kalgidhar Gurdwara Sahib Committee, is apparently running two Gurmukhi Schools at Hasan Abdal to apprise children of Sikhism. Members of the committee visited Jand Sahib, Gurdwara Gani Nabi Khan and also saw the belongings of Guru Gobind Singh. They also urged the governments of both the countries to make the process of attaining visas a simpler process. They alleged that they had been waiting for the visas from past 14 months, but they got it now. The visitors demanded that the visas should be given on the spot without any delay so as to bring both the countries closer.
— OC
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Gurpurb fervour grips Ludhiana city
Ludhiana, January 7 The well decked-up gurdwaras welcomed the devotees. Speeches related to the life of Guru
Gobind Singh were also delivered. At Gurdwara Shri Singh Sabha, Model Town Extension, Jathedar Avtar Singh Makkar, president of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee addressed the audience and threw light on the life of Guru Gobind Singh. Makkar appealed the devotees to follow the path shown by him. Many religious programmes were also organised to mark the occasion. Langar was distributed at all the gurdwaras to celebrate the birth anniversary of the tenth Guru of Sikhs.
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Only 2 doctors manage Amloh Civil Hospital
Amloh, January 7 Vicky Mittal called the media and said the hospital employees allegedly misbehaved with them; he would bring this matter to the notice of health minister, no dereliction of duty by any employee will be tolerated. When contacted medical officer on duty Dr Gulzar singh said, “The hospital is under staffed. There are only two doctors who perform 24 hour duty. SMO Dr Jagdish Kaur has issued written orders of “On Call” doctors after 3 PM.” When contacted SMO Jadgish Kaur said, “There is shortage of doctors in the hospital and inquiry will be conducted.
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Drug peddler held
Khanna, January 7 SSP Sushil Kumar said a police party led by ASI Baljinder Singh stopped a truck and witnessed some suspicious movement. After search, they found 80 kg of poppy husk which was kept under a seat. The SSP said during the preliminary investigation the alleged accused confessed that he was involved in the illicit trade since long time and he brought the poppy husk from Rajasthan and supplied it in Khanna and its periphery. As per the SSP two cases of NDPS are already pending against the accused in Daba and Payal police stations. The accused will be presented in a court tomorrow for police remand and for further questioning. Theft bid SSP Kumar claimed that the police have also traced a theft case, in which some unidentified persons stole the goods used for cooking the mid-day meal of a school in Alipur on the January 2. The SSP said the police recovered all the items stolen by the thieves. He said the police nabbed two persons during a naka and recovered the stolen goods, including one cycle, 14 pieces of iron angles and some other steel items from their possession. The alleged accused has been identified as Gurwinder Singh and Randhir Singh, both residents of Mandiala Kalan. The duo confessed their involvement in both the theft incidents, he said. Theft incidents in 2013 SSP Kumar claimed that in 2013, the thieves stole goods worth Rs 1,78,09,879 in different theft incidents in Khanna and its periphery. The police have recovered goods stolen worth Rs 1,46,58,669 during the drive launched against anti-social elements. While on other hand, the Khanna police have arrested 306 persons under the NDPS Act and have recovered 22.9 kg of Opium, 26 quintal of poppy husk , one kg of smack, two kg of ganja, 7,19,000 tablets , 1,51,000 capsules, 657 injections and 2,297 bottles of medicines used as drugs.
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