Ludhiana, June 17
The Sahnewal police today arrested two women in connection with the murder of a man whose body was found near a drain in the Ramgarh area on June 8.

The accused, identified as Neelam and his daughter Reenu, are residents of Jamalpur. While the two were presented in a local court which sent them to police remand, their two male accomplices Rajinder Singh, alias Shantu, and Gagandeep Singh Gaggi are still on the run.

Anil Bhanot, SHO, Sahnewal police station, said the duo was arrested on the complaint of Avtar Singh, brother-in-law of the victim, Parveen Singh of Jamalpur Awana village.

Avtar Singh stated that the mother-daughter duo along with its accomplices had killed Parveen in order to grab his property.

Neelam had even paid Rs 12,000 to Rajinder Singh for the murder.

It has come to light that Neelam was having illicit relations with Parveen’s father Wariyam Sing.

Parveen was Wariyam’s only son among four siblings. Parveen was objecting to his father’s relationship with Wariyam.

Anticipating Parveen to be a roadblock in her plan to usurp the property of Wariyam, Neelam and Reenu hatched the plan to eliminate him.

Reenu, whose husband is an NRI, called his alleged paramour Rajinder and planned the murder.

Gagandeep Singh Gaggi was also involved.

The police said Rajinder along with his accomplice Gaggi killed Parveen and dumped his body.

They said they had recovered the mobile phone of Parveen from the accused. 

Ludhiana, June 17
The Malaudh police have booked a man, his mother and a self-styled godman for domestic violence, dowry harassment and molestation.

The case has been registered on the complaint of a woman who alleged that her husband along with his mother had forced her to develop physical relations with the godman.

When she refused and raised the alarm, her husband and in-laws threatened to set her on fire.

The woman somehow managed to escape and approached the police.

Following the incident, her husband Surinder Singh, mother- in-law Rachpal Kaur and godman Baba Kesari have been on the run.

ASI Surjit Singh said they had registered the case. The victim claimed that in June her husband and mother- in-law, who are followers of Baba Kesari, forced her to develop physical relations with the godman.

A few days ago, Baba Kesari entered her room and tried to rape her. When she refused, Baba Kesari fled the scene.

She said she kept quite on that day, but left the house the next day and reported the matter to the police. 

Ludhiana, June 17
A bribe of Rs 500 given to record keeper Kuldeep Singh in the revenue department helped a resident get documents that had gone missing.

A city resident, Sanjay Kumar, who was denied a certified copy of a registry, brought this to the notice of the Deputy Commissioner following which the record keeper was transferred and a probe was initiated.

The incident has exposed officials of the record branch.

On April 28, Sanjay Kumar, an insurance agent and a resident of Sector 39 on Chandigarh Road, had applied at the Suvidha Centre (token no 01196865) for the certified copy.

The delivery date of the copy was May 14, but much to Sanjay’s dismay, he was handed over a letter on June 12 that the copy for which he had applied was not available in the record room.

“I have been shuttling between offices for the certified copy for the past one month,” said Sanjay.

What the system could not do, Rs 500 did for Sanjay.

“Soon after offering the bribe, I was handed over the copy of the registry,” said Sanjay, who then went to the office of Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal and narrated the entire episode. The DC ordered District Revenue Officer (DRO) Mukesh Sharma to probe the matter.

Money matters

Sanjay Kumar, complainant, said: “What Mahatma Gandhi’s principles of honesty and non-violence could not do, the face of Mahatma Gandhi printed on a currency note has done for me.”

Ludhiana, June 17
With a population of over 30 lakh, the industrial capital of Punjab is already crying for “lungs” to survive. The situation has gone from bad to worse with the passage of time as politicians do not mind converting green belts into buildings.

For the ‘convenience’ of the public, a park in the Model Town area is being converted into a parking lot. A letter has been written by Hira Singh Gabria to the MC Commissioner stating that in the absence of parking space, traffic jams occur in the Model Town market and the public had to face inconvenience. As there was no designated parking space in the market, visitors avoided visiting the place and the shopkeepers had to suffer losses. “The park in Gol Market should be converted into a parking lot,” the letter read.

Following this, a letter was written by the Assistant Commissioner (Technical) Zone D, B and R, stating that a legal opinion should be sought. The legal adviser asked questions: “Whether the park was being used by the public? Whether the MC was paying the maintenance cost of the public park? To which the Executive Engineer of the Horticulture Department replied that a report on April 3, 2014, had confirmed that the park was being taken care of by a gardener who was being paid by the MC. The legal adviser in his report said orders should be issued by the competent authority. The Assistant Commissioner recommended to send the case to the Finance and Contracts Committee of the MC.

What the SC says?

As per orders of the Supreme Court (given in case of Machavarapu Srinivasa Rao and Another versus The Vijaywada, Guntar, Tenali, Manglagiri Urban Development Authority and others – civil appeal number 7935 of 2011 dated September 19, 2011), “Once the master plan or the zonal development plan is approved by the state government, no one, including the state government/development authority, can use a plot for any purpose other than the one specified therein. There is no provision under which the development authority can sanction construction of a building or use of land for a purpose other than the one specified in the master plan/zonal development plan. The power vested in the development authority to make modification in the development plan is also not unlimited. It cannot make important alterations in the character of the plan. Such a modification can only be made by the government.”

Ludhiana, June 17
If you are well-connected, you can get away with anything. All rules will be bent to “adjust” those having good rapport with higher officials of the Municipal Corporation.

It is learnt that the Municipal Corporation has given the contract of maintenance of a tubewell to one of its sanitation workers, who comes under 70 per cent safai sewak category and is getting salary on DC rates. Since the contractor is “close” to one of the functionaries of the civic body, no one dares to scrap his contract. Amit Kumar, a resident of Lakshmi Puri, Salem Tabri, sought information from the Assistant Public Information Officer-cum-Assistant Engineer, Operations and Maintenance (O and M), Zone A, MC, under the RTI Act. It was learnt that at ward number 25, six tubewells were being run by contractors.

And a particular tubewell at Neta Ji Nagar was being run by one Naresh Kumar, who was also working as a safai sewak (70 per cent) at Kartar Nagar near Bhujia Factory. Zonal Commissioner Kamlesh Bansal said an employee or worker with the MC could not be given the contract of the tubewell or any other thing.

“This is against the MC rules”, said Bansal. An “undertaking” has been submitted by the safai sewak to the civic body on this issue. Tomorrow, every other worker will give an undertaking. The contractor is close to an elected representative who holds a key position in the MC. No official will go against the contractor and the representative,” said an MC official.

Ludhiana, June 17
The drive against drugs has thrown many challenges before the police department. The skewed supply of drugs has left several addicts in disarray.

Many addicts are suffering severe withdrawal symptoms due to the unavailability of drugs. Families of the addicts are also going through a harrowing time. In some cases, family members have approached the police to go soft on the drug mafia as it has jacked up the price of contraband.

Sources said the matter was brought to the notice of Police Commissioner RK Jaiswal following which he had instructed police officials to identify the addicts and send them to the de-addiction centre.

Confirming the development, Jaiswal said Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) MS Dhesi and ADCP-I AS Pawar had been told to send the addicts to the de-addiction centres.

The Police Commissioner also arranged a meeting with Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rajat Aggarwal and officials of the health department to discuss the matter.

“They (addicts) are a part of our society. They have the right to live, like all of us. Their only mistake was that they had strayed. We should make a sincere effort to help them leave the menace and live a healthy life,” said Jaiswal. At present, the de-addictions centres at the Civil Hospital receive four to five patients every day.

Barring a few, the centres being run by private hospitals are mere eyewash.

Police sources said the private hospitals were not keen on treating the addicts belonging to economically weaker sections as it was not going to generate profit. “Drug peddlers, who are also addicts, suffer from severe withdrawal syndrome in police custody. They urge us to arrange drugs. It is difficult for us to deal with such a situation,” said a police official.

Number game

It has come to light that instead of taking action against drug peddlers, the police had arrested drug addicts to jack up the number of NDPS cases. Fearing arrests, the addicts went into hiding. Sources said the Police Commissioner came to know about it and directed the officials not to take action against the addicts.

Ludhiana, June 17
The protesting students of the Fisheries Department of Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) today returned empty handed after meeting cabinet minister GS Ranike. The protest today entered its seventeenth day.

Khushwinder Singh, one of the students protesting, said all their hopes had been dashed to the ground and meeting with the minister proved just a futile exercise.

“The minister said that they have vacancies but the government does not have funds to fill them or recruit new staff. Minister asked us to continue with our higher studies but failed to promise a job even after that,” the student said.

The students will be meeting tomorrow to plan out further strategy. “Till now, we have been protesting silently but now we are left with no other option but to resort to agitation. We will be holding chakka jam in this regard now,” Khushwinder added.

The students are protesting against the Punjab Government and GADVASU authorities for failing to get them jobs in the Fisheries Department of the state. 

Jagraon, June 17
Residents of Ajit Nagar locality situated on Raikot Road, Jagraon, finally heaved a sigh of relief after the local Municipal Council laid down the sewerage in the locality.

The laying of sewerage system has resolved the longstanding problem of waterlogging in the area. The residents have expressed gratitude towards the Municipal Council for laying the sewerage in the area.

In the absence of sewerage facility, dirty water used to accumulate in the locality thus causing a lot of problems to the area residents.

The area residents had been demanding to lay down the sewerage system in the area for the past many years to resolve the problem of waterlogging but the local Municipal Council could not lay the sewerage because of lack of funds.

In the past, the area residents had staged many protests against the state government for not releasing the funds for laying the sewerage. Following this, Jagraon MLA SR Kaler had assured the residents of arranging the funds and starting the sewerage facility as soon as possible.

The efforts of MLA SR Kaler yielded fruit when the state government released a grant for laying sewerage in Ajit Nagar and some other areas of Jagraon some time back. Following this, the Municipal Council started the work.

After the completion of work, the Municipal Council has now started the sewerage facility in the area thus providing a huge relief to the residents.

“With the laying of sewerage pipes, our long pending demand has been fulfilled. We are thankful to MLA SR Kaler and Municipal Council, Jagraon, for their tireless efforts in this regard,” said Raj Kumar, an area resident. MLA SR Kaler said the work of laying down sewerage in other areas of the town would also be completed very soon. 

Khanna, June 17
Another departmental enquiry has been initiated by the SSP, Khanna, against the station house officer, Khanna, Rajpal Singh.

Rajpal was arrested two days ago on corruption charges.

The enquiry is regarding a possession of a petrol pump in Khanna.

According to the information, a dispute was going on between two groups over the possession of a petrol pump on the GT Road, Khanna.

The SSP, Khanna, Harsh Kumar Bansal, said the SHO along with the help of a police party helped a group to dispose of another group on May 27.

During the enquiry, it was confirmed that the action of the SHO and the police party was illegal and against the procedure. The SSP said the next course of action would be decided after the completion of the departmental enquiry.

The SHO has been suspended, said the SSP.

The SHO, Rajpal, is behind the bars while the ASI, Malkit Singh is still at large.

The alleged involvement of the officials came to the fore when the official allegedly took a bribe of Rs 35,000 for releasing two accused involved in the possession of smack.

Ludhiana, June 17
Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) conducted Common Entrance Test (CET) for admission to various undergraduate programmes at the varsity. A total of 6,378 students appeared for the test seeking admission to BSc agriculture (Hons), BSc biotech (Hons), BTech food technology, BSc (Hons) home science, BSc (Hons) food nutrition and dietetics and five-year integrated MSc programme in bio-chemistry, botany, chemistry, microbiology and zoology programmes. Dr BS Sohal, Controller of Examination, PAU, informed that the test received overwhelming response from the students indicating that PAU was a favoured destination for studies.

Against the 7,089 applications received, 6,378 students appeared for the test which included 3,585 boys and 2,793 girls, Dr Sohal said. Last year, 5,971 students had appeared for the examination. Twenty-three centres were set up at PAU campus and private schools of Ludhiana. The students are competing for 354 seats.

According to Dr PK Khanna, registrar, PAU, the results of the test will be posted on the university website and the counselling will be held on June 30 and July 1. 

Jagraon, June 17
A delegation of students of the District Institute of Education Training (DIET), Jagraon, held a meeting with the Deputy Commissioner, Ludhiana, Rajat Aggarwal, at his office yesterday.

During the meeting, students raised the issue of resumption of the bus pass facility for the students of the institute.

“There are more than 100 students in the institute who have to travel by buses on a daily basis. Most of the students belong to underprivileged and middle class families and cannot bear the travel expenses. Therefore, the government must issue bus passes to the students of our institute so that they can continue with their studies,” said Harman, a student of the institute.

The students’ delegation said they have written to various authorities of the state government regarding the issue. “We had requested them to provide the students with the bus pass facility. Following the appeal, students were issued bus passes for three months,” said a member.

“The bus passes expired in the month of March this year and now we have to bear the travel expenses from our pocket which is proving quite difficult for us in the present era of inflation. We, thereby, request the state government to resume the bus pass facility of the students of the institute as soon as possible”, said Gurdeep Singh, a student.

During the meeting with the delegation of the students of DIET, Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal assured the students of taking up the issue with the authorities concerned. The students said the Deputy Commissioner has assured them of resolving their problem on priority basis.

Students said if their demand is not met in the near future, then they will have to intensify their stir further.

Meanwhile, general secretary of the Inqulabi Kendra, Punjab, Kanwaljit Khanna urged the Transport Department to provide students of the institute with free bus pass facility.

Ludhiana: Pallavi Verma, a student of BCA 2013 batch of PCTE, stood first in PTU examinations. She scored 91.57 per cent marks whereas Ayush Kapoor from GNIMT, Ludhiana, stood second with 88.57 per cent and Simarpreet Kaur Walia from CKDIMT, Amritsar, stood third with 87 per cent marks in the university examinations. Pallavi Verma said, “Achieving top university position requires a lot of hard work and concentration. I am thankful to Almighty, my parents and teachers for all the support.” Dr KNS Kang, Director General, PCTE Group of Institutes, congratulated the students and stressed on hard work and dedication to succeed in future.

National job fair held

A national job fair was held at Ludhiana College of Engineering and Technology (LCET) under the aegis of the Training and Placement (T&P) Cell. Free on the spot registration continued whole day in which a large number of eligible and meritorious students from MBA, MCA, BBA, BCA and BTech registered themselves for various companies on the LCET campus. Students from all over India and abroad participated in this event. LCET chairman Vijay Gupta, director Dr JS Sohal and principal Dr Pawan Kumar released the Placement Brochure 2014, containing detailed information of students of all the streams.

Students bring laurels

Students of Khalsa College for Women, Civil Lines, Ludhiana, have brought laurels to the college by their excellent performance in BSc-III year biotechnology examinations, the results of which were declared by Panjab University on Monday. Bhavya Malhotra has bagged the second position in the university by securing 84 per cent marks while Simranjeet Kaur and Mani Arora have clinched the ninth and tenth positions in the university by securing 79.4 and 79.1 per cent marks, respectively. The college pass percentage is 100 per cent. The position holders attributed their excellent performance in the university to their hard work and support of the college principal, and the faculty members for their tireless efforts in rendering stupendous help and constant encouragement, and their parents. Principal
Dr Varinder Kaur Thind congratulated the staff and wished good luck
to the students for this glorious feat.

Scholarships awarded

UEI Global College, Ludhiana, organised the Learn to Lead Scholarship Test, 2014, to award its scholarships and certificates to students who have appeared or passed Class XII board exams. The event was presided by Navneet Chitkara, director of UEI Global College, Ludhiana. Also, cash prizes were given under the Learn to lead programme and scholarships worth Rs 4.35 lakh were given in various hotel management and BBA courses under the Kapil Dev Scholarship Programme by the Kapil Dev Foundation to 22 students. This was followed by a presentation by Navneet Chitkara on the importance of professional courses in changing the employability scenario of the youth of our country. — TNS

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 17
Local traders and residents are a harassed lot due to the traffic congestion in the town. Traders said the traffic problem adversely affects their business and they are bearing losses because of fall in sales. They urged local leaders to vouch for a railway overbridge or an underbridge at Pohir and Jagera road.

They said Dhulkot road should be repaired immediately so that recently constructed underbridge at Ghungrana could be used by people commuting between the town and Ludhiana.

Justifying demands raised by the residents, local BJP and SAD leaders have constituted a committee headed by former state president of Bhartiya Yuva Morcha and SAD leader Jagwant Singh Jaggie, which will coordinate with authorities in Union Government to get an ROB sanctioned.

Regretting that elected representatives of the segments had failed to get the long pending demand accepted due to lack of coordination among local leaders Sita Gogna, president of local unit of BJP, said a 10-member committee had been constituted which would take the issue to a conclusive end.

“Unlike earlier steps which were proved futile we will attach a recommendation letter from local legislator Iqbal Jhoondan, state BJP president Kamal Sharma and BJP leader in legislative party Bhagat Chui Lal, with representations to be received from various social, business and constitutional bodies,” said Sita Gogna, adding a delegation led by Ashutosh Vinayak will soon leave for Delhi.

Residents rued that activists of various organisations of the Gill constituency had succeeded in getting an underbridge constructed near Ghungrana village in Ludhiana district, while local leaders of the town irrespective of their political allegiance were busy in appeasing their masters.

The Ghungrana bridge, which could have been a boon for people commuting between the local town and Ludhiana, has proven to be of no use for the residents as the only approach road leading to Ghungrana road is in dilapidated condition and people are scared of commuting on the road during night.

Frequent and undue closure of level crossings at the Pohir and Jagera roads here, has not only become a nightmare for motorists but also for residents, shopkeepers and pedestrians who suffer due to traffic jams on both the roads.

The residents alleged that the officials cared a little for the rule governing operation of level crossings. They alleged that there had been frequent scuffles with the railway employees, manning the level crossing, over the issue of closure of gate for longer durations. All pleas to higher authorities in the administration and the department of railways regarding the issue had fallen on deaf ears.

Frequent closure of level crossings has resulted in a situation wherein residents of nearby localities have stopped visiting the town for making routine purchases.

Ludhiana, June 17
The Assistant Engineer O and M, Zone D has written to station house officer (SHO), Sadar police, to register an FIR against their registered plumber, who had duped Municipal Council of Rs 5,040. Besides, going against the rules, the plumber, Rahul Kapur, dug the newly constructed road.

If the public had to get new water and sewerage connections, the plumber had to check the forms and then had to send these to higher ups for approval and after getting the approval, he had to provide the connections.

On May 23, 2014, the plumber sent documents for giving sewer connection to a resident near old DMC Road. When everything was cleared, he got deposited the road cutting fee of 50 feet road through the person, to whom connection was given. An amount of Rs 9,000 was deposited as the road cutting fees.

But when the MC authorities checked, it was 78 feet road that was dug and Rs 14,040 were to be deposited to the MC. The civic body had to bear a loss of Rs 5,040 due to the plumber who had misled. Besides, as per rules, the roads which were newly constructed could not be cut for sewerage or water connections.

The MC authorities said because of the plumber, the civic body had to suffer. They have asked the SHO, Sadar, to register an FIR against the plumber. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, June 17
Families of cops who had been transferred to other districts in pursuance of directions given by the Election Commission, prior to Lok Sabha elections, are a disturbed lot. Uncertainty about future postings of these cops is casting shadow over studies of their children and daily life of other family members.

A septuagenarian widow from Ludhiana district said her son was posted at a police station in Ludhiana (rural) and he was transferred to police district Moga, prior to Lok Sabha elections but is still awaiting fresh orders.

“Though I am keeping good health but I have to take care of my grand children and daughter-in-law in absence of my son. Under present circumstances we can not think of shifting the whole family to his place of posting because that will affect study of children,” said the mother of cop, who is awaiting orders about fresh posting.

Investigations further revealed that more than hundred policemen were transferred to Jalandhar, Moga, Khanna and Barnala police district area prior to Lok Sabha elections. An equal number of cops were deployed from other districts on their posts. This has resulted in a situation wherein both, the families and public as well are at losing end.

Leaders including office-bearers and activists of social, political and constitutional bodies are hesitating from involving in amicable settlement of issues related with local families for obvious reasons of fear of changes in posts.

Acknowledging the tendency Paramdeep Singh Deepa, a social activist of Dehlon said his associates had stops intervening in settlement of disputes as they were not sure about continuance of beat in-charges. 

Ludhiana, June 17
Punjab Medical Representative Association (PMRA), Ludhiana, demanded fixed 8 hours for working. The association members also met additional labour commissioner Harish Nayyer.

Association members demanded that like in other states, working hours should also be fixed for them in Punjab as well. Medical representatives come under the Sale Promotion Employee Act 1976, which covers the working condition and service rules for field workers and other employment benefits of medical representatives.

Ashish Molri, secretary, PMRA, Ludhiana unit, said said pharmaceutical companies are harassing their employees and force them to work for nearly 14 hours. “There are no fixed working hours. Most of representatives work for 14 hours a day and that too without getting any extra wages,” he added.

He further said that eight-hour schedule including one hour lunch time and one hour preparatory work for field working is their fundamental right and that is what they are demanding.

“Only 4-6 state governments have issued the notification of 8 hour working norm including lunch time and preparatory work, overtime with double salary for medical representatives in their state. Punjab should also follow the league and issue notification in this regard,” he said. 

Ludhiana, June 17
Keeping in view the shortage of radiological staff at the government hospitals, the health department has decided to train the gynaecologists for conducting CT scans and ultrasound.

According to the sources, an amendment has been made in the Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PNDT Act) and MBBS doctors will be allowed to carry out ultrasound and CT scans.

Dr Harinder Kaur, a gynecologist, said it will be an added responsibility for them. “We will not be paid anything extra for this. The step has been taken to fill in the void that was created due to shortage of radiological staff. This will only add to our workload,” said she.

Another MBBS doctor, working at a government hospital, said they are overburdened with work and this will further add to work pressure. “Instead of appointing new staff, the government is burdening the existing with more work which is not fair,” said she.

SMO Dr RK Karkara said the gynecologists at Civil Hospital are already very busy and do not have time.

The six month training will be undertaken at medical colleges in Patiala and Amritsar.

Ludhiana, June 17
Seeing no end to the stalemate between the employees of City Bus Service and the authorities, the local unit of Shiv Sena today asked the authorities to let them run the City Bus Service at ‘No Profit No Loss’ condition. The memorandum was submitted to Dr Sumit Jarangal, Additional Commissioner, MC, Zone-A office, by the members of Shiv Sena, led by chairman Rajiv Tandon.

Tandon said City Bus Service was being run in the city incurring losses and they were ready to provide drivers and conductors to run these buses at ‘No Profit No Loss’ condition. He claimed, “We will provide better services to the residents of city and vested interests of officials or politicians, running the Bus Service presently, will be finished.

Tandon said ever since private players were involved in the service it is running into losses and MC could not afford to bear more losses. He appealed to the Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, Minister for Local Bodies Anil Joshi and the MC authorities to discuss the issue and provide the City Bus Service in their hands immediately. 

Jagraon, June 17
With the motive of redressing the problem of traffic congestion, the local traffic police carried out a special drive to remove the roadside encroachments from various roads of the town.

The drive was carried out following the instructions of Jagraon SSP Ravcharan Singh Brar. Brar had visited various areas of the town yesterday to have a first hand account of the problems being faced by the residents.

Observing that illegal encroachments by the shopkeepers and roadside vendors were the main reason behind the traffic jams in the town, Brar instructed the traffic police to launch a special drive to remove encroachments and clear the roads.

A team of police personals carried out the drive today. The traffic cops removed encroachments from Old Sabzi Manzi Road, Lajpat Rai Road, College Road, Railway Road and Tehsil Road.

The police also instructed the shopkeepers not to make encroachments in front of their shops in future. The roadside vendors were told to not park their rehris on roads.

It is pertinent to mention here that the residents of Jagraon had been facing the problem of traffic jams for long time. The traffic jams had become a common sight on roads like Lajpat Rai Road, Old Sabzi Mandi Road and College Road due to which the commuters had to face a lot of problems.

Police said the shopkeepers had been instructed not to encroach in front of shops. The police said, “To avoid the problem of traffic jam, we have decided to deploy traffic cops on all the main roads of the town. The haphazard parking of vehicles on roadsides was also a major reason behind the problem therefore the cops have been instructed to not allow the commuters to park their vehicles in a wrong manner.”— OC

Ludhiana, June 17
The 21-year-old youth whose dead body was fished out from Sutlej River yesterday has been identified as Sandeep Kumar. BA- II year student Sandeep Kumar, a resident of New Sant Nagar in Haibowal area, had left the house last on Sunday night after having dinner.

He did not return home following which his family approached the police.

Today, the family members were told about the recovery of a body from Sutlej River. The family visited the Civil Hospital and identified the body.

When asked whether Sandeep was having personal enmity with anyone the family expressed ignorance.

Meanwhile, the police have initiated a probe into the case and have questioned the area residents who had seen Sandeep for the last time.

An eight-day residential shivir by Bhagwan Shri Ram Prasad Jain Shikshan Smiti, hosted by Renu Jain and Kimti Lal Jain, was organised at Tomari Baba Shri Dharamdass, Shivpuri Chowk. Religious scripts, personality enhancement and self expression through different exercises and activities were organised during the camp. Students were told about value of studies, love for parents and cleanliness of environment. A workshop on ideal parenting tips was also delivered by Sushil Arora of the Indian Institute of Human Excellence and Development and Amita Jaidka during the camp.

Closing ceremony

Kala Nikhar Acadamy organised annual function along with a closing ceremony of the summer camp 2014 at Las Vegas restaurant. Children learnt dance art and craft, mehndi, casio, guitar and kids kitchen. The function focused on personality development at large.

Summer camp concludes

Summer camp concluded at Gurdwara Sukhmani Sahib. The camp was organised by Guru Gobind singh Study Circle. Over 350 children and 100 women took part in the summer camp. Gurbani kirtan, Sikh histroy, tabla playing, personality development were also taught on the occasion. Students were also taught art and craft, English, Punjabi, Gurmukhi writing, turban-tying, computers and poetry on the occasion. Women were also trained in cooking during the camp. Daljit Singh, AIG Patna, present during the camp, said one can become richer through new thoughts and by following teachings of Guru Granth Sahib for a richer, pure and exalted life.

Birth anniversary

Maharana Pratap Rajput Sabha, Ludhiana, will organise a programme to commemorate 475th birth anniversary of Maharani Pratap. The programme would be organised on June 22 at the office of the United Cycle Parts, Gill Road, said the president of the organisation, Rana Sant Singh and Rana Ranjit Singh, on Tuesday.

UP government flayed

Members of the Zila Valmiki Sabha, Ludhiana, protested against Badayun gangrape and protested against the UP government and CM Akhilesh Yadav. They said the government in the state must be dissolved. Members of the SC Morcha of BJP also protested on the occasion. — TNS

Jagraon, June 17
The Jagraon Police have claimed to have busted a gang of snatchers, active in Jagraon, for the last couple of months.

The police have also confiscated a black Bajaj Platina motorcycle from the accused. The members of the snatching gang have executed several crimes in Jagraon and surrounding areas during the recent past.

The accused have been identified as Sandeep Singh and Jatinder Singh, both residents of Chooharchak village in Moga district. The police have also arrested a Moga-based jeweler who used to purchase stolen jewellery from the accused. The jeweller has been identified as Surinder Kumar, owner of Surindra Jeweller, Moga.

The SSP, Jagraon, Ravcharan Singh Brar, said both the accused were arrested by a police team lead by the SHO, Jagraon, Daljit Singh, near Lande Fatak area, following a tip-off.

“Both the accused are drug addicts and they took to snatching to earn money for buying drugs. During the preliminary questioning, they have confessed to executing 17 snatching incidents in Jagraon area. All the five snatching incidents that took place recently in Jagraon were also carried out by these two youths,” said SSP Brar.

“We have also recovered some jewellery items snatched by the accused in the last five snatching incidents. Twenty gram of drug powder has also been seized from the accused,” added the SSP.

The police have registered a case against all the three accused at the Jagraon City Police Station and further investigation is on. 

Jagraon, June 17
The Jagraon police have allegedly arrested one drug peddler and seized 60 grams of drug powder. The accused was identified as Jasmail Singh, a resident of Abbupura village, near Sidhwan Bet.

The accused was arrested by a police team during a routine patrolling. During the preliminary investugation, the accused confessed his involvement in the drug trade, said the police. The police have registered a case under the NDPS Act. — OC

Ludhiana, June 17
Shubham Gill of Mohali scored a century (141), against Ludhiana on the second day of the four-day match of the Punjab State Inter-District Cricket Championship (Under-19) for the Dhruv Pandove Trophy being played at Punjab Agricultural University grounds.

Resuming the overnight score of 298 for nine, hosts were bundled out without adding a run today.

The visitors began their innings on a positive note and posted 302 runs for the loss of five wickets. The highlight of their innings was fine batting by Shubham Gill, Abhijit Gill (41) and Ramandeep (50*).

Brief scores

Ludhiana (first innings): 298 all out in 98.1 overs ( Kashish 59 runs, Rajat Arora 37 runs, Nikhil Chowdhary 52 runs, Parul Mehndiratta 107 runs, Vishwanath Sahni 2 runs; Harmanvir 3 wickets for 93 runs, Jasinder 2 wickets for 92 runs, Akshay 3 runs for 61 runs and Ramandeep 1 wicket for 6 runs).

Mohali (first innings): 302 for five in 92 overs (Shubham Gill 141 runs, Abhijit Garg 41 runs, Ramandeep 50 not out and Pranjay 34 not out, Navandu Sharma two wickets for 52 runs, Hartejsawi 2 wickets for 50 runs and Nikhil Chowdhary 1 wicket for 57 runs).