Bathinda, June 14
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal’s large cavalcade has started affecting the residents and commuters in the city.

Residents are irked because the CM’s cavalcade results in blocking of roads and harassment to the commuters. The CM was in the city on Friday night. He was staying at the house of former Mayor and his close aide, Baljit Singh Birbehman, in the Civil Lines area. Due to his large cavalcade, all the roads leading to the house were sealed affecting the people living nearby and the commuters had to take longer routes to reach their destination.

Residents of Civil Lines said it was good to have the Chief Minister visiting the area, but they had to face harassment at the hands of the police as due to the large cavalcade, all roads leading to the house were sealed and movement was not allowed.

The cavalcade of Parkash Singh Badal is the biggest as compared to the other chief ministers of the states. He himself travels in a bullet-proof Montero SUV and his cavalcade includes a mobile jammer along with 25 other cars, which carry their security personnel besides the officials. Standby or decoy vehicles and ambulances are also a part of his fleet.

Nearly 250 police personnel are also deployed for the security of the CM where ever he goes in the state.

Not only is it harassing the commuters, it is also putting a burden on the state’s economy, which is under a huge debt. Even on day to day basis, the police department is filling the oil tanks of its vehicles from private petrol pumps due to shortage of pumps and with such VVIP movements, the petrol bill skyrockets. At present, more than Rs 30 lakh is outstanding against the police department. The cavalcade of Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal is even larger as it includes more than 35 cars.

Rakesh Kumar, a resident, said they do not understand why these leaders travel with such a large cavalcade and in luxurious cars. On the one hand, they profess to serve the people and on the other, they are wasting public money on buying expensive luxury cars.

Malkit Singh, another resident, said the government, instead of spending on the comfort of the VVIPs should think about the public.

It may be mentioned that there are many chief ministers who travel with not too many vehicles in their cavalcade. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje travels with five vehicles while Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan has six to seven vehicles in his cavalcade.

Bathinda, June 14
Property disputes related to NRIs are on the rise in the Malwa region. As many as 118 complaints have been received by the NRI police stations in eight districts of the region this year.

According to the data provided by the NRI wing,118 complaints have been filed by the NRIs this year. Out of this, 77 are related to property disputes, 15 to matrimonial disputes, three complaints are regarding money matters, three relate to threats, two to cheating, one of police inaction and one regarding a visa fraud. In 16 cases, the police do not have complete computerised record.

The eight districts are Bathinda, Mansa, Muktsar, Sangrur, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Faridkot and Moga and it is being headed by Alka Meena, ASP, NRI Wing.

Bathinda tops the chart with 31 complaints, followed by Faridkot with 20 complaints, Muktsar and Ferozepur with 18 compaints each, Sangrur with 6 complaints and Fazilka, Moga and Mansa with 3 complaints each.

“The state government has established an independent NRI police wing for the speedy and transparent disposal of complaints,” said ASP Alka Meena.

She said it had become easy for the NRIs to register complaints and action was taken within a time-frame of 45 days. NRIs can send their complaints through an e-mail at nriwingbathinda@gmail.com. “Once we receive a compliant by an NRI or against an NRI, we take statements from them through e-mail only.

“If the accused is an NRI and he does not respond to our mails or phone calls, then we can attach his property in India and release a look-out circular notice to all the airports through immigration and the Home Ministry and declare him a proclaimed offender,” said the ASP.

She said she had instructed the SHOs to take action on the complaints on merit and without discrimination.

“One of the reasons why the NRIs get entangled in property disputes is that they do not verify the facts before making a deal,” said Alka Meena.

The ASP appealed to the NRIs to register their complaints online.

Bathinda, June 14
Observing unfair trade practice as well as deficiency on the part of a Chandigarh-based real estate company, Emerging India Private Limited, the Consumer Forum has imposed a fine of Rs 25,000 on it and also directed it to refund Rs 1.80 lakh.

The company is accused of trying to sell a non-existent 150-square yard plot and pocketing the booking amount for four months before getting the government’s approval to develop the colony.

The complaint against the company was filed jointly by two residents of Tapa Mandi and Dhuri. In their complaint, Dr Amit Kumar and Kamalpati said that they gave Rs 1.80 lakh for the allotment of a 150-square yard plot in the colony of the opposite party.

The complainants were assured the allotment of the plot in the month of February 2013, but failed to get the same even after eight and a half months.

The complainant alleged that despite dragging their feet in the office of the colony, the opposite party failed to evoke any positive response to their pleas.

They later came to know that the competent authority, Bathinda Development Authority (BDA), had not (that) granted any permission or letter of intent to the opposite parties to develop a colony.

Instead the letter of intent was issued to the coloniser much later i.e. on June 19, 2013. They alleged that the opposite party had no right to obtain the applications from the general public at large for the booking of the plots in the colony. The complainants accused the coloniser of pocketing the money with false promise to give allotment letter in February 2013.

Moreover, the complainants also came to know that as per the master plan of the colony, there is no sanctioned plot of a 150-square yard in the 16.6 acres scheme in the colony.

The complainants were told that the coloniser had applied for the extension of the scheme for plots measuring 150 square yards.

After noticing such anomalies in the colony, the complainant decided to withdraw their amount and make up their mind not to purchase the plot in such a colony.

They were, however, told that their money would be refunded after 10 per cent deductions.

The complainant refused to accept the offer of 10 per cent deduction and looked towards the consumer forum for seeking justice.

The forum summoned the opposite party which pleaded that the complainants were given a cheque of Rs 22,500 as concession out of the total amount they have paid. They claimed to have alloted a plot in the name of complainants, but they refused to accept the allotment. The opposite party claims to hand over the allotment letter and the possession of the plot after receiving the full payment of the plot.

They produced the documents which show that they got the permission for change of land from the government, i.e. Department of Town & Country Planning, Punjab, in September, 2012. They claimed to legally obtain the applications from the general public for the booking of plots in their colony.

They also denied the claim of giving the plot to the complainant in February and also denied the allegations of the non-availability of plots measuring 150 square yards.

Bathinda, June 14
Four heavily drunk policemen in uniform hurling abuses in full public view, outside the main entrance of the Civil Lines Police Station last evening were let off without a warning.

The four policemen were in a car that had the registration number of Bathinda. One of them was shuttling between the car and the police station.

Local residents and evening walkers brought the matter to the notice of Bathinda SSP Gurpreet Bhullar and the Civil Lines SHO Angrez Singh, but no action was taken against the policemen concerned.

Advocate Gurwinder Mann along with some other families residing around the police station brought the matter to the notice of senior police functionaries at around 10 pm. They spotted the car parked just outside the police station at around 9.30 pm.

The pedestrians on the road were forced to take an alternate route as the policemen were consuming liquor, shouting and creating ruckus on the roadside.

“The cops in full uniform were consuming liquor in the car. They shouted at each other and were behaving in an inappropriate manner against the ethics and duties of a policeman in uniform,” said Balkaran Singh who also witnessed the ruckus created by policemen, but refused to lodge a formal complaint.

People residing in Model Town Phase-III used to walk in and around the much-hyped Dadi-Pota Park being developed by the Bathinda Development Authority (BDA), but nuisance by the drunkards has fuelled a sense of insecurity, he said.

“Since the police station is situated close to the park, people usually think it safe to stroll around on the road and usually do not enter into the park when it gets dark. But now, people feel insecure in view of the unscrupulous elements — mostly drunkards — consuming liquor openly around the police station,” said Gurwinder Mann.

Though the Punjab Government and the Badal family claim to have introduced police reforms, nothing has been done practically and the situation has actually gone downhill as people feel insecure at the hands of the police itself, he said.

Gurwinder pointed out that he along with many other families were walking on the road along with their children but nobody approved the idea of bringing the matter to the notice of senior police functionaries.

“It was only I among the other evening walkers who dialed the police control room and then rang up the SSP’s residence to report the incident,” Mann said.

“We all know what action the senior cops would take against their own men. By doing the illegal act of consuming liquor, they show the power of khakhi by abusing publicly and nobody dares to act against them as no action will be taken against such unscrupulous elements,” said another victim of the policemen’s abuses, Rajwinder Kaur.

Rajwinder, along with her husband and teenage children, was passing by the policemen’s car parked by the roadside when they witnessed the cops abusing at the top of their voices.

“In view of the policemen creating ruckus, consuming liquor just outside the police station, now, we have asked our children and neighbors not to walk past the area,” she said.

“Even during other days, relatives and friends of criminals used to sit outside the police station in view of their arrested friends or relatives inside. They would smoke and drink at the roadside vends and tobacco sellers on the road in the most posh area, where Punjab Education Minister Sikandar Singh Maluka also resides,” said another Param Sidhu.

Civil Lines SHO Angrez Singh defending the policemen in car last night said: “Though a complainant got registration number of the car noted at the police control room, nobody was at the spot when I reached. Later, we got to know that some people from Dabwali had come to meet one of the head constables deployed at the Civil Lines Police Station who left after dropping some of their colleagues”, he said.

The SHO claimed that they would not allow anyone in the area to sit inside their vehicles during late hours from now onwards.

Bathinda, June 14
The world knows a lot more about the Indian cuisine than just chicken tikka, this was stated by chef Sanjeev Kapoor. Kapoor was in the city on Friday to inaugurate an outlet of his chain of restaurants.

Talking about the popularity of the Indian food abroad, he said, “Earlier, the Indian food was popular only where a large number of Indians were settled. But that’s not the case anymore, as Indian food has begun making inroads even in the African countries, where the number of Indians is less.”

He added that Indians had also started liking exotic cuisine and that was one of the reasons why sauces, condiments and fruits and vegetables required to prepare exotic dishes are easily available at several shops in local markets.

When asked how he made a foray into the world of culinary delight, he said he was the first member from his family who was in the food industry. He stated that he always wanted to do something different that’s why he decided to become a chef.

He said the show, in which he was seen earlier as a judge, was dear to him and he was happy that the show was doing good and giving a platform to cooks.

Bathinda, June 14
On the occasion of the International Blood Donors’ Day, members of the Cycle Club, pedalled to Bhokra village.

Every Saturday, members of the club visit one village on bicycles to spread the message of physical and mental health. “Today it’s our 51st trip. We have covered 25 villages so far,” said Dr Amrit Sethi, a member of the club.

He said on the International Blood Donors’ Day, the members of the Bathinda Cycling Group were urged to make blood donation a habit to celebrate the birthdays of their children.

At a stopover in Delhi Public School on way to Bhokhra village, the members rued the revised rate of Rs 1,000 per bottle of blood charged from the patients when it is collected free by the government blood banks.

Bathinda, June 14
Students of Baba Farid College of Engineering and Technology bagged 10 merit positions in the university merit list declared by the Punjab Technical University. Manvinder Kingra of BTech (CE) fifth semester has secured the first position by obtaining 87.25 per cent marks. Binju P Raj of BTech (CE) third semester got the second position with 84 per cent marks.

Four students of BTech (CE) fifth semester, Mandeep Kaur got the third position in the university with 86.25 per cent marks. Kamaldeep Kaur got the fourth position with 85.50 per cent marks, Deepak Verma bagged the fifth position with 85.25 per cent marks and Ravinder Kingra got the seventh position securing 84.88 per cent marks.

Mohika of BTech (ECE) fifth semester got the fifth position with 89 per cent marks and Rupam of BTech (EE) seventh semester bagged the fifth position with 87 per cent marks. Gagan Priya of BTech (CSE) first semester bagged the seventh position with 87.60 per cent marks while Harkamaljeet Kaur of BTech (IT) seventh semester bagged the ninth position by scoring 88.44 per cent marks.

Manish Goyal,officiating principal, BFCET, congratulated the students. Goyal also praised the faculty members.

Gurmeet Singh Dhaliwal, Chairman, BFGI, also congratulated the meritorious students.