Bathinda, April 1
With all the 17 rooms of the two Maal Khanas filled to the brim and virtually no space to settle one’s foot, the authorities say no to store more drugs. With the general elections round the corner, there is a rise in the seizure of various forms of drugs.

The banned contraband and weapons seized from different parts of Bathinda in criminal and the NDPS cases are stored in the Maal Khana and are produced in different courts during the hearings.

Ideally, once the seized drug is declared a banned contraband by the recognised laboratories, it is supposed to be destroyed. The delay in destroying drugs has led in piling up of seized bundles of drugs.

“Now, storage of huge quantity of drugs of more than 10 to 20 kg is denied in Maal Khana and the same sent to be stored at the respective police stations. Though small quantities of smack, tablets or heroin between 2 to 5 kg or little more are still been stored,” said one of the police officials, pleading anonymity.

It will not be exaggeration to call it perfect hell of a place which is full of mice, mosquitoes, water-logging during rainy season and unbearable stench. Bundles of smack, poppy husk, heroin, country-made liquor is spread all over and is even hanged from ceiling and walls to avoid rodent’s bite.

Maximum quantity of drugs stored is of the poppy husk, tablets, injections, heroin and smack besides other drugs, which are kept amidst numerous mouse traps.

With no power connection, potable water, proper toilets, security is deployed round-the-clock to guard the Maal Khana and the security men use ‘kundi connection’ to draw power for their television sets to spent time in their dingy rooms.

Broken chairs, cots, bulbs (not CFL), hanging electric wires, hand written instructions are spread all over the place, full of cobwebs.

There are two Maal Khanas, one within the premises of the court complex-where armed weapons, sticks, iron rods and sharp-edged weapons related to the High Court cases are kept and another in front of the Income Tax Office where drugs are stored. Though there is still ample space at the Maal Khana where weapons are stored, the same are being destroyed whenever, heavy quantity of cement falls down from ceiling.

“People visiting courts always omit the Maal Khana which is in a dilapidated building as its entrance and rooms are situated deep inside in dingy area,” said a policeman.

Authorities’ claims to keep a ‘perfect’ record of every bundle with specifications noted down in different registers. They claims to note down record of drugs seized, name of police station and other details before storing it in different rooms.

Sources, however, said a number of times the seized drugs outer layer of the bag got destroyed by rain water or rodents and then the seized drugs is shifted into new bags.

At times, water logs up to four feet in rains due to its low lying area and it take many days to drain out the stagnated water.

The possibility of accused taking advantage of the damaged bundles could not be ruled out as the seal, stamps or signatures on bags get usually destroyed during such situations. Also the difference of seized quantity of drugs goes in favour of the accused.

Sources said a report to destroy drugs seized in 264 cases has been sent to the senior authorities long time ago. But nothing has been done in this regard so far. If the drugs related to these cases is destroyed then nearly two rooms could be emptied in which, apart from other small seizures, 94 quintal poppy husk is lying.

“Five rooms were allotted to us as per the original design or map of the district court complex, but since they all were converted into the store room, the rooms are yet to be handed over to us to reduce the quantity lying in Maal Khana,” said another police official.

SSP Gurpreet Bhullar admitting problem said the issue is being taken up with the court authorities and it will be sorted out soon.

Bathinda, April 1
It is that time of the year again that parents dislike the most-admission season. While the students are excited about being promoted to the higher class, their parents are fretting over the increased admission and school fees, the increased cost of books and other such expenses by the private schools in the city.

Every year, the private schools in the city, increase the admission and school fee by 30 to 35 per cent, books and stationary charges by 20 per cent and the uniform charges by 15 per cent. The conveyance charges, levied by the schools which provide their own buses, are usually hiked after the schools reopen post summer holidays.

To add to the parents’ woes and their own profits, the schools have even resorted to either selling books themselves or by prescribing books by private publishers. “The schools claim that they get no profit from the sale of books to the students, but the reality is that the schools get commission from book stores where the books are available. Often, the schools prescribe books which are available only at one bookstore in the market and the students are forced to buy them from that one store only,” said Anita Rawat, whose claimed that she has spent Rs 18,000 on buying books of her three children.

In fact, the Bathinda unit of the World Human Rights Protection Council has submitted a letter with the Deputy Commissioner of Bathinda and requested him to look into the matter of private schools changing the books every year. The council members have alleged that while the schools earn commission from the publishing houses whose books they prescribe, the parents are the receiving end as they have to spend a lot of money on books.

Criticising the schools for fleecing the parents in the name of education, a member of the Nagrik Chetna Manch, Jagmohan Kaushal accused the schools of commercialising the education. He added that the parents and the government were also to be blamed for this trend as while the government had failed in upgrading the infrastructure of government schools and the parents were not willing to enroll their children in government schools thereby promoting the private schools.

The government has also failed in regulating the fee structure of private schools. When contacted District Education Officer (secondary education) Harkanwaljeet Kaur, said, “We asked the private schools to adhere to the rules under the Right to Education Act (2009). Though we haven’t looked into the matter yet the schools must be charging fee in tandem with the facilities that they are providing to the students.”

Although the Education Minister Sikander Singh Maluka remained unavailable for comments, at an earlier occasion, he had told the Bathinda Tribune about the helplessness of the Education Department over regulating the private schools. He had also expressed the hope that the department would soon devise a policy to cover the private schools and keep a tab on the hike in fee and other charges.

Bathinda, April 1
Top police officers of Bathinda and Ferozepur zone were told to pull up their socks this election in view of the security threat to the top political leaders who recently received life threats.

A team of Intelligence Bureau (IB) from Delhi held a meeting of all the SSPs of Bathinda Zone, DIGs of Bathinda and Ferozepur along with the SPs and DSPs deployed in these zones.

The officials told the top Punjab cops to remain alert in view of the security threat to the VIP and VVIPs during the general elections.

SSP Gurpreet Bhullar, confirming the meeting, said that the IB officials have discussed the modalities in connection with the security provided to the top politicians of the state.

“We have already tightened the noose around the unscrupulous elements and have spread the net of intelligence under our respective areas but still we assured the team of IB officials that they will carry out our duties in the best possible manner,” Gill said.

Those who came from Delhi included Deputy Director of IB Jaspal Singh, Joint Director BS Baswan and others. The officials who attended the meeting revealed that the measures taken to provide security to the top politicians were discussed. “Security arrangements of people, having Z or Z plus security were discussed during the meeting,” said another senior police functionary.

Since the number of officers attending the meeting was quite high it was arranged at a spacious meeting hall of the Adesh Medical College and Hospital situated on the Bathinda-Barnala Road.

The visiting IB officials were briefed about the special measures taken during the visit of those important people of Punjab who recently got life threats.

The IB officials laid emphasis during the meeting of political leaders with the strangers when they are exposed to the public especially in the crowded areas. Senior police functionaries are told to adopt a pro-active approach and remain on the tenterhook round the clock in view of the security arrangements. The policemen were also told to check and re-check the areas where such leaders visit and learn the topography of area, to keep a tab over criminal elements and to get maximum leads to frustrate the plans of the anti national elements.

The Punjab Police officials also laid special emphasis on coordination, cooperation and diffusing lack of communication between the seniors and senior most officials.

“Even little information about any eventuality could be of great help to either the IB or the Punjab policemen and coordination is the key to shelve the eventuality during the elections,” said another police officer.

DIG, Bathinda Zone, Amar Singh Chahal, DIG, Ferozepur range, Yurinder Singh was among many other policemen who attended the meeting.

The IB officials had earlier held similar meetings with the policemen in Amritsar and Chandigarh.

Bathinda, April 1
Volunteers of an NGO Sahara Jan Sewa remained in a fix on April Fool’s Day following a tip-off about jumping of a youth into a lake of the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant.

Some passerby informed a city resident that someone had jumped into one of the lakes of the plant on the Goniana Road.

The volunteers, however, failed to find anyone in the lake even three hours after receiving the information. They suspected it be a prank on Fool’s Day.

The incident occurred around 8 am when a call was received at the control room of the NGO. Apart from the ambulances of the NGO, many vehicles passing through halted to extend a helping hand but failed to see anything.

“Though we found sleepers of someone near the lakes, we could not spot any signs of a person drowned or a body floating on the water. We did not take any chance as a precaution, told volunteers to stay put with the ambulance and other life saving equipment,” said Vijay Goyal, president of the NGO Sahara Jan Sewa.

He suspected it to be a prank call later but added that earlier too, similar incidents had happened wherein the volunteers failed to find any victim in the water but then all of a sudden things changed when they found the body.

The person who had rung up at our mobile phone is known to us. “Information was passed on to him by someone else. We are looking into the issue from both the angles. Weather it is a prank or reality, we will perform our duty,” he said.

The policemen at the police control room denied having received any prank calls today. 

Bathinda, April 1
While almost every single working person may grab the opportunity of getting a promotion, as many as 105 lecturers, who were promoted to the pot of principal last year, might be cursing their forward movement on the professional ladder.

These 105 lecturers, who were promoted to the post of principals in July, last year, are yet to receive salaries since July. Waiting to get their salaries for the past eight months has made many of them wonder if the promotion had proved to be futile for their professional and personal lives.

Waiting in vain to get their salaries, some of them participated in a protest launched by the teachers of the government schools at the treasury office in Bathinda on Monday and Tuesday.

Amritsar, April 1
The printing and textile industry got a fillip due to intense election campaign this year. The age-old adage “make hay while the sun shines” seems to be perfectly followed by certain quilt and mattress traders as they have started selling material for election campaigns.

A quilt and mattress trader, Amit Khanna, said his was the oldest shop in the city selling election campaign material like flags, siropas, caps, pens and badges. Amit said candidates from all political parties knew about his shop. He said as winter was over, it was a high time to replace quilts and mattresses with election campaign material.

A printing house owner, Harjinder Singh, said orders were being placed depending on the need of the party. However, he added that due the guidelines of the Election Commission of India, a few orders were placed by the parties.

The AAP, which has fielded noted eye surgeon Dr Daljit Singh from Amritsar, is learnt to have received the publicity material from its Chandigarh office. Other national parties are also purchasing election campaign material in bulk from outside.

Janardan Sharma, publicity in-charge, BJP, said flags, pamphlets, brochures, badges, and stickers were received from Chandigarh. The traders said with the filing of nomination papers from tomorrow, the election campaign would get intense.

Therefore, the traders are storing campaign material in their shops as inquiries and orders has started pouring in.The traders purchase a majority of the campaign material from New Delhi. The material manufactured at Saharanpur and Muzfarnagar is cheap due to the availability of cheap labour and bulk production.

Daljit Singh, another trader near Ram Bagh Gate, said selling and manufacturing of campaign material was a seasonal work.

He recalled that before the Election Commission’s guidelines came into force, all roads and areas of the city used to be flooded with billboards and hoardings. 

Amritsar, April 1
A 10-day ICSSR-sponsored workshop on research methodology for PhD students concluded at the Punjab School of Economics of Guru Nanak Dev University here today. The workshop was organised by the Punjab School of Economics.

Prof DK Nauriyal, IIT, Roorkee, presided over the valedictory session. In his valedictory address, he said proper understanding of research methodology led to good and fruitful research. Prof Nauriyal encouraged the participants to work with dedication and interest.

In all, 20 subject experts from GNDU and other institutes, including IIT, Roorkee, Central University of Jammu, NIIT, Kurukshetra, Panjab University, Chandigarh, and Punjabi University, Patiala, presented their viewsduring the 10-day workshop.

Amritsar, April 1
Concerned over inreasing robbery instances, the city police have yet again imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) and asked the managements of government, private and cooperative banks, filling stations, shopping malls, hotels and multiplexes to install CCTV cameras on the premises and entry points of their complexes.

Police CommissionerJatinder Singh Aulakh, who used his magisterial power while enforcing the order, said there was a sudden increase in robbery instances at petrol pumps, banks or shopping malls besides other parts of the city. This has become a major cause of concern for the city residents.

The Police Commissioner said CCTV cameras could be a great deterrent in such instances and helpful for the Police Department to identify and arrest the offenders. The orders will remain in force till May 30.

Time and again the the city police have issued instructions, but it has come to light that several banks, especially nationalised and government banks, are still to abide by the directions of the Police Department.

Petrol pumps and ATMs have become an easy target for robbers.

A police official said the authorities or management of banks, petrol pumps and hotels should install CCTV cameras at the entry and exit points besides important locations on their premises. Armed guards outside the banks and ATMs should be deputed while adequate security arrangements should be put in place during money transfers.

The Police Commissioner said a number of banks had already installed CCTV cameras and more were doing it. He said if anybody failed to abide by the directions, action could be initiated against them. 

Ludhiana, April 1
The Punjab and Haryana High Court has selected three boys and one girl from the city as Judicial Magistrates. Recently, they cleared the PCS Judicial exam.

The youngest among them is Harshbir Sandhu (23) . He has passed out from Panjab University in 2012.

Harshbir said the motivation to serve the society as a Judge was given by his father BS Sandhu (Sessions Judge, Pathankot) and his mother Jaswinder Kaur.

Another person who cleared the exam is Tanishth Goel (24).

Bismann Mann is the only girl selected from the city. The fourth person is Arun Shorie.

Amritsar, March 1
It was a unique experience for the children belonging to poor families when they witnessed Beating the Retreat ceremony at the Indo-Pak border.

The students belonged to a school run by the Shakti, an NGO, which is headed by BJP leader Laxmi Kanta Chawla. The organisation took the children to Attari where they were overjoyed to witness the ceremony.

Laxmi Kanta Chawla said the children visited the Attari-Wagah joint check-post for the first time and they were very happy to witness the ceremony. The children also danced to the tunes of patriotic songs. The students expressed wish to join the security forces to serve the country, said Chawla. The BJP leader said if any student wanted to go for higher education, they would provide all the necessary help.

She, however, regretted that most of the the children were living in poverty as their fathers or other earning persons in their families were drug addicts. She appealed to all religious organisations to come forward and help in the eradication of the drug menace. She expressed disappointment over the attitude of the political parties towards the problem.

Amritsar, April 1
With the operationalisation of the rail link between Tarn Taran and Beas, traders, passengers and residents of Amritsar and Tarn Taran have renewed their demand of linking Amritsar with Mumbai via Tarn Taran, Patti and Ferozepur.

PL Seth, a local shawl manufacturer, said there must be a rail connectivity between Amritsar and Mumbai.

“Start container service, improve interchange facilities with Pakistan and augment infrastructure at rail yards for the smooth delivery of merchandise,” he said.

He said the rail connectivity between Mumbai and Amritsar via Tarn Taran, Patti and Ferozepur will provide better access to various towns of Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Already, many merchandise, especially gypsum and cement from Pakistan, are being transported to many towns in Rajasthan. Seth said the early operationalisation of the rail link would usher in a new chapter of growth.

Meanwhile, Ravinderpal Singh Brahmpura from the District Planning Board, Tarn Taran, welcomed the rail connectivity between Tarn Taran and Beas.

He said, there was a need to lay an additional 30-km rail track between Amritsar and Ferozepur. He said a bridge was under construction on the 25-km Makhu-Patti rail stretch. He said it would pave way for the Amritsar-Ferozepur railway line. He said the benefit of the rail link would be immense as the distance between Ferozepur and Amritsar would reduce from 196 km to 82 km.

The rail line will shorten the distance between Amritsar to Mumbai by 240 km besides connecting the region with Rajasthan. Even the distance between Jammu and Mumbai will reduce by 267 km. He said it would not only benefit Amritsar but the entire northern region.