Jalandhar, March 11
Six months after the inauguration of the modern patwarkhana here, the first floor of the sub-registrar’s building is yet to be occupied by the patwaris.

The patwarkhana, housed in the district administrative complex, has been fully furnished with scores of workstations on either side of the central pathway, glasswork, fibre partitions for cubicals, new furniture, including tables, revolving chairs, benches and almirahs for the visitors after spending an amount of Rs 3.26 crore, but it stands unutilised. The high-end building has all the provisions for keeping it air-conditioned.

The sub-registrar office and the patwarkhana were inaugurated on September 9 by Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia. The seating arrangement for patwaris had been made such that there seating in the office got regularised and their accessibility to the public and the revenue officials improved.

Hundreds of visitors to the office, who have all sorts of work with the patwaris, have to still run around for all sorts of work ranging from getting SC certificate signed to demarcation of property and entries to ownership of properties in the revenue records. Then Deputy Commissioner Priyank Bharti had said that the contact numbers of all patwaris would be put on display at the patwarkhana for the convenience of the visitors.

However, six months after the inauguration of the patwarkhana, the patwaris continue to sit in the old dingy building which is completely cut off from the new location of the sub-registrar office.

Jalandhar, March 11
Owning various sorts of weapons appeals to Jalandhar residents, but the love of owning a .32 bore revolver is on top of their agenda.

Women here are also aware of their security issues, as they, too, are fond of owning licenced weapons and a majority of them have .32 bore revolvers.

City police sources said out of the 6,083 licensed weapons of various sorts issued by the Jalandhar Commissionerate police, over 2,800 weapons were of .32 bore. Many local political leaders were also having .32 bore weapons.

Some residents have also got multiple weapons issued on their names on one licence. Sources said although the number of weapons licences issued by the city police stood at 5,334 due to the reason of owning multiple weapons, the total number of weapons, in city police records, was 6,083.

Now, ahead of the parliamentary elections, the police have already told the weapons holders to deposit their licensed weapons with the police. Sources said, as of now, over 1,100 weapons had been deposited by weapon holders with the police.

Senior police officials said exemption would be granted to those persons only who faced any threat perception. The police said exemption might also be granted to political leaders in the parliamentary elections as they always remain under threat from their rivals.

As per information, out of the 5,334 weapon licence holders, 5,256 were males and only 78 were women. Owning .32 bore is not only catching the fancy of males, in fact, a majority of the females, though small compared to men, also own this weapon.

Police sources revealed that out of 6,083 weapons, about 2,800 were of .32 bore revolvers, followed by 2,700 weapons of .12 bore guns. There were only a few number of pistol and rifle holders. As per the city police records, there were 300 and 400 pistol and rifle holders, respectively, in the city.

Sources further revealed that due to the rising crime and for precautionary measures as well, residents were opting for owning weapons. In 2012, the number of weapons with the city residents was near 5,000 and this figure witnessed a sudden increase of over 1,000 in the last year which took the total number to over 6,000.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Rahul S said in the wake of the elections, the police had already told the weapon holders to deposit their weapons before the city police. “If anybody doesn’t want to deposit his or her weapon, he or she has to prove before the police that they are facing any life threat,” the DCP added.

When asked why people had preference for the .32-bore revolver, a police official said it was the cheapest and best revolver available in the market, adding that the .32 bore revolver was also easy to handle compared to other sophisticated weapons.

Interestingly, a police official said 6,083 was just an official data of licensed weapons granted by the city police. There are thousands of illegal or unlicensed weapons owned by criminals or notorious people in the city. These unlicensed weapons were mostly used to commit crime, which was a major challenge to the police.

Jalandhar, March 11
A youth today allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his residence in Butta Mandi. His body was found hanging by the family members in the morning.

The deceased was identified as Kamaljit Singh. He was a painter by profession.

Sources said the police were not suspecting any foul play behind his death, as no suicide note was recovered from the spot. Inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the Cr PC had been initiated by the police.

During preliminary investigation, it came to the light that yesterday the youth had arrived home late in the night and this morning his body was found hanging in the room. The youth was living at her aunt's house for the past several years.

The police said Kamaljit's kin did not suspect any foul play behind his death. They were not aware of the reason why Kamaljit took the extreme step.

Jalandhar, March 11
The construction of sewerage water treatment plant in Jaitewali is lying incomplete for long. Because of this, the sewer in many localities could not be connected to it which is causing inconvenience to the residents of these areas. The affected areas are Chugitti Chowk, Rama Mandi, Dakoha, Ladhewali, Sangam Vihar, Chohak Kalan, Dhilwan and others.

The sewers of these localities are to be connected to the same water treatment plant to become fully functional. Many people in the area have dug up their own septic tanks. The water discharged from other houses goes directly to the vacant plots which causes a nuisance.

Some residents said the manhole covers had been stolen by the thieves. Many times, they have seen snakes coming out from their toilets.

NP Singh, president of the Sangam Vihar Welfare Society, said they had been having a terrible time due to the same
problem. In the month of June, the situation becomes the worst. Many local politicians, including MLA Manoranjan Kalia, former Local Bodies Minister, promised during the assembly elections that he would solve the problem solved soon. But nothing has been done so far.

Former sarpanch of Chohak-Kalan, Ramesh Kumar said the sewer had not been attached to the water treatment plant. “We have a water pollution problem as the water supply pump is in the adjoining area where the discharged water has stagnated,” he added.

Superintendent Engineer, Punjab Pollution Control Board, SP Garg said there was a land dispute at the Jaitewali plant. Therefore, the construction did not commence on time. Now the work has started, which is going to be completed by the end of September.

On the other hand, Executive Engineer, Sewerage Board, Resham Lal said they had been facing the problems of fund crunch that caused the delay. Now, 80 per cent of the work has been done. “We are expecting to complete everything by the end of June. 

Artistes perform a play at Desh Bhagat Yaadgar Hall in Jalandhar. Tribune photo: Malkiat Singh

Chairman of CT Group of Institutions, Charanjit Singh Channi said, “Our organization has always been so honoured by getting talented students, those who have always been on frontfoot to explore new ideas."

LKC students shine

Salonai of Lyallpur Khalsa College bagged the fourth position in the university examinations of MSc chemistry semester one by getting 337 out of 450, while Japreet Kaur, Ramanjit Kaur, Rachna of the same class secured 5th, 6th and 8th positions by getting 336, 331 and 330 marks, respectively.

This information was given in a press release by the Principal of the College Dr Gurpinder Singh Samra. President of the College Governing Council, Balbir Kaur, congratulated the students and wished them success in life.

Party held

The nursery wing of the Innocent Hearts, Model Town, organised a party for students on Tuesday. The colour of the day was red. The students of nursery captured everyone’s attention because of their red colour dresses. They also performed a dance at the party. Bhavni presented a classical dance performance. 

Jalandhar, March 11
The construction work on Chugitti Chowk flyover, which is being constructed by Soma Enterprises Limited, has not been completed for the last four years. It has become a nightmare for the commuters and the shopkeepers of the locality.

The whole traffic, including buses, trucks, cars and motorbikes from Jammu and Amritsar side, has to pass through the same chowk. The lethargic approach of the authorities concerned have been causing a traffic chaos in the area.

The service roads on both the sides are being used as of now. The area has become one of the most accident-prone in the city.

However, the flyover is in half-constructed condition and has been prohibited for use as the barricades are installed. Some Punjab Roadways buses are seen plying on the road that demonstrate the poor traffic management.

Ashish, a daily commuter, says, "People have been bearing this situation for the last many years. Sometimes, it takes half an hour to pass through this road, hardly a 500 metres stretch."

Hardeep Singh Kahlon of ‘HB Mani Da Dhaba’ said he had been losing customers since the work started. The dust often contaminates the food while preparing, which is not preferred by many. On the other hand, many people from the other side of the road have stopped visiting the dhaba.

When Municipal Corporation Jalandhar authorities were asked about the completion of the bridge, they could not give a satisfactory reply. 

Kapurthala, March 11
The Kapurthala police today claimed to have solved the day-old incident, in which some miscreants had taken away a car from a cop at gunpoint. The police have arrested four persons in this regard. The police also recovered weapons and stolen vehicles from the accused. Interestingly, the police managed to nab the miscreants just four hours after the incident.

The accused have been identified as Simarjit Singh alias Simar, a resident of Chaba, Judge Singh alias Judge of Malewal, Manpreet Singh alias Manga of Jogewal and Saraj Singh of Sah Wala villages of Ferozepur district.

The miscreants had looted the Indica car at gun- point from Manjit Singh, head constable at the CIA staff in Kapurthala on March 10. The victim was going to the police station for duty on Monday morning when the alleged robbers stopped him near Rampur Jagir village. After snatching the wallet, ATM card and some other documents, the accused fled with the vehicle.

Diljinder Singh Dhillon, SP (D) said on the same day, the police installed a naka near Sultanpur Lodhi and after intercepting the accused, nabbed them. The police also recovered a .32 bore revolver, pistol, .315 bore country-made pistol, sharp-edged weapons and the looted Indica car. The police have also impounded the Alto car, which was used by the accused for committing the crime.

During the interrogation, the accused also confessed to have looted a Verna car on March 2 this year and the same was also recovered by the police. The police said the accused had also admitted that they had looted eight wine shops in the recent past.