Bathinda, June 23
The Bathinda police have arrested a notorious gangster, Gurpreet Singh Sekho, who was involved in the Adampura firing incident. The accused has more than a dozen criminal cases registered against him. The police have also arrested his associate, Harjinder Singh, alias Latta, and recovered five illegal weapons from his possession.

Out of the weapons recovered by the police, three are China-made pistols of .30 bore and two are India-made .32 bore pistols.

Senior Superintendent of Police Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said they received the information that members of the gang were roaming in the city with a plan for robbery. The police immediately constituted a team under Gurjit Singh, DSP City, SHO, Kotwali, Mahesh Saini and Gurcharan Singh in charge of EO Wing and on June 18, both Gurpreet Singh and Harjinder Singh, were arrested from Santpura Road in a Swift car.

It is worth mentioning that Sekho was seen in Adampura village some days ago. But he had managed to flee before the police reached the spot. Sekho had become an active criminal and by forming his own gang, was involved in criminal activities.

A highly placed source claimed that during the initial interrogation, Sekho revealed the recovered weapons were given to him by a sharp-shooter, Vicky Sarava Bodla, for repairing them. Vicky is also an active member of a highway robbers’ gang as Sekho.

After the death of Shera Khubban, who was the mastermind of the highway robbers’ gang during a police encounter in Bathinda on September 6, 2012, Jaspal, Chandu and Gurpreet Sekho were heading the gang. They had looted many jewellery shops and banks etc in Rajasthan.

Just two days before the Panchayat elections on May 16, 2013, Sekho was the main accused in the firing on PPP leader Lakha Sidana during an election rally in Adampura village in the Rampura area.

In October, 2013 Sekho along with three more members of his gang, was arrested by the police from the house of Youth Akali Dal leader Harjinder Bittu in Bathinda. At that time also, eight weapons, including five imported pistols, were recovered from his possession. Even the Rajasthan police reached Bathinda to take Sekho on production warrant in a robbery incident. But he came out of the jail and again got involved in criminal activities.

The police have also arrested another gang member Rajwinder Singh, a resident of Kotkapura, today and recovered one 9 mm pistol and live cartridges from his possession.

Gurpreet Sekho was today presented in the district courts and the court sent him to police custody for six days till June 28.

Many cases against him have also been registered at Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali.

Bathinda, June 23
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) and MD Punjab Police Housing Corporation RP Singh today held a high-level meeting with the administration officials regarding a joint campaign launched by the police and the Health Department at the Inspector General of Police’s (IGP) office in Bathinda. It is worth mentioning that the ADGP visited the city on the directions of the Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.

In the meeting, issues regarding de-addiction centres in the Bathinda zone were discussed. It was told that in total, 50 community health centres are working round-the-clock and till date, 1,051 patients have been checked of which 180 were brought through the vehicles provided by the zonal police. The civil administration and the police assured the ADGP that the campaign would be highly successful and they were hopeful of getting good results.

Officials who attended the meeting were Paramraj Singh Umranagal, Inspector General of Police (IGP) Bathinda zone, Khubi Ram (IGP, Security), Rakesh Chander (IGP, Law & Order), RPS Brar (IGP, Traffic), Surinder Parmar (DIG PAP Phillaur), Deputy Commissioner Basant Garg and other officials.

It is pertinent to mention that earlier, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also visited the de-addiction centre at the Civil Hospital and the Central Jail in Bathinda. Later, he also held a meeting with the district administration.

As the state government has started a fight against drug trafficking in the state, the Health Department has also geared up and is organising a state-level function on June 26 to celebrate International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking at Woods Resort in Bathinda.

The function would be attended by Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani. Chief Parliamentary Secretary CPS Health Navjot Kaur Sidhu would also attend the function along with other health department dignitaries and CPS Sarup Chand Singla.

The department is also celebrating Blood Donors’ Day on the same day as well and will be organising a blood donor camp there.

District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Raghbir Singh Randhawa said the department is organising a state-level function on June 26 to mark the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking.

It is pertinent to mention that the police and Health Department have geared up against the drug smugglers and a large number of peddlers have been arrested by the police recently whereas a large number of addicts are turning towards the hospitals for de-addiction.

Amritsar, June 23
The district administration's ambitious Rain Basera project in collaboration with the District Red Cross society, being operated through Old Karam Singh ward, has failed to deliver the desired results.

Apart from other lacunae, a major flaw is the total lack of residents' cooperation. It poses a hindrance in implementing the administration's rehabilitation programme in letter and in spirit.

The end result is that discarding the administration's facilities, the destitute prefer to risk their lives in adverse weather conditions. The rising toll of deaths has reached around 10 here, this time.

Acting swiftly after the number of deaths reported in the media, a Red Cross team, with the help of the Police Department, carried out its operation of arresting the homeless and today arrested 26 persons from Shivala Temple, Durgiana Temple, Gol Bagh and other key traffic light points.

They were brought to the Rain Basera. At present, 65 persons are being accommodated here.

The newly renovated rooms, the cupboards, new beds and even a colour television set installed in the Karam Singh ward cannot charm them and they would go back to their old routine, interestingly, chalked out according to the religious calendar.

Their destinations on Mondays and Tuesdays are fixed for places around Shivala Temple, Thursdays and Fridays for Peer-gah and rest of the days for the Golden Temple and the Durgiana Mandir.

Being the holy city, there is no dearth of donors who provide them readymade food with a variety of delicacies including halwa puri, bhatura channa and sweet dishes. Besides, they also claim to earn between Rs 300-Rs 400 daily by asking for alms. Above all, they enjoy total freedom to spend the money in whatever way they like to.

Here at the Rain Basera, they are restricted to a humble menu comprising daal and roti (chapattis) only. This is arranged through managements of the Golden Temple, Gurdwara Borhiwala and other NGOs.

It has been observed that the administration's "hospitality", apparently, could not transform their basic nature.

They are always inclined to go back to the streets and traffic signals, thereby creating chaos and bluffing people in every possible way.

Most of them with their tender children have come here from other states like UP, Bihar or Haryana.

Ironically, the police showed helplessness stating that no action could be taken against them until and unless somebody filed a complaint against them.

Dharampal, a Red Cross official, said even as they had a reasonably good scheme for the destitute, no move could be successful until unless the residents cooperated with them. Instead of feeding the beggars with sumptuous food at religious places, they could show their magnanimity through Rain Basera premises.

"We repeatedly appeal to them to refrain from feeding the beggars or donating them articles on the streets or at religious places," he added.

Bathinda, June 23
The Municipal Corporation continues to rename the roads, streets and places in the city. But a majority of the residents are annoyed over the lavish expenditure incurred by the authorities concerned on rechristening the roads.

A number of residents are of the view that despite spending thousands on each iron board, to show the new name, has only led to confusion.

Seeking restoration of the old names, a section of the city residents raised objections over the renaming drive of the authorities.

A doctor, Dheeraj Dixit, a resident of Model Town Phase-II, said, I usually ask my patients to visit a laboratory situated on Amreek Singh Road. But patients from outside the city are always confused with the name, as the boards for directions installed by the authorities declare it as Maharaja Agarsain Road.”

“The strong lobby of politicians thinks renaming the streets, roads and places will help them winning various elections,” added Dheeraj.

Tarwinder Singh, an Australia-based NRI, having his residence in Aggarwal Colony, said despite announcements and installation of boards to rechristen the places or streets, people continue to use the old names.

“Hardly anyone uses or knows the new names. Even as people call the big cities and the states by new names, still the old names are quite prevalent at various other places in common parlance,” said Tarwinder Singh.

“Most of the NRIs still use and identify the areas with their old names in and outside the city, despite being given the new name,” added Tarwinder Singh.

Bathinda, June 23
Singer-turned-actor Diljit Dosanjh today said he has worked really hard for his upcoming movie "Punjab 1984". He said he personally met the families affected by the 1984 riots and even watched many documentaries so that he could get an idea of the character that he has to play in the movie.

About why he chose a topic used by the politicians to derive political mileage, Dosanjh said he didn't know much about politics but was keen to be a part of the movie so that the present generation knew what exactly had happened in 1984 and is still awaiting justice.

Diljit Dosanjh, along with actress Sonam Bajwa, producer of the movie "Sunny Sidhu", was in Bathinda to promote the film which is releasing on June 27.

Speaking about the film, Dosanjh said the movie has shown the tragedy of 1984 ,which affected a number of families in Punjab. People lost their houses and were killed without a reason but there was no redressal of the grievance.

He stated that the movie is the story of a family where a mother spends the whole day sitting outside the police station and there is no one to listen to her. The lady is Satwant Kaur, whose character has been played by Kirron Kher. Her son goes out to work in the fields one day and does not return. This saga of a mother’s pain and a son’s fight is being brought to the screen through the film, Dosanjh informed.

The singer-turned actor also stated that it was a great experience working with Kirron Kher and Pawan Malhotra.

Sonam Bajwa, the actress in the film, said it was great working with such Bollywood greats like Kirron Kher and Pawan Malhotra. She said it was her second movie after "All the Best" but she was proud to have essayed the role as it was difficult to play the role of a simple village girl of 1984.

The music of the film has been released on Speed Records. The music has been composed by Gurmeet Singh, Nick Dhammu, Jatinder Shah and Gurmoh. Most part of the movie has been shot in Amritsar.

Amritsar, June 23
The Focal Point Industrial Welfare Association (FPIWA) has shot off a letter to Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, demanding banking reforms ahead of the Union Budget.

It said that the rate of interest (ROI) being slapped by the banks was very high for the small, medium-scale entrepreneurs. The ROI must be compared with other countries to provide a level playing field to domestic industry competing at the international level. All banks must have the same parameters for determining the financial health of borrowers and the same ROI for small and medium-scale units.

It demanded introduction of Right to Service Act in the banking sector. Business interests of organisations suffered to a great extent for example during sanctioning and renewing working capital limits.

It suggests that the employees of banks up to the general manager level must be posted in the region near their native place to optimise their working.

Besides, statutory audit of the banks must be given to chartered accountants near branches of the banks to avoid huge expenses.

The association demanded strict action against those bank employees who commit mistakes and exploit the needs of the borrowers.

It seeks that foreign exchange rates must be made stable to avoid loss on account of foreign exchange fluctuations to importers and exporters.

Bathinda, june 23
Residents of the city and adjoining areas heaved a sigh of relief as the region experienced the season's first rainfall in the wee hours on Monday.

The day started on a rainy note. The sun started playing hide and seek post noon .The clouds hovered over the region and the sky remained overcast throughout the day.

Although the rain added to the humidity level, it brought down the temperature considerably.

As per the Agri-Met Department, the maximum temperature today was recorded at 39 degree Celsius and the minimum at 26 degree Celsius.

Farmers happy

The rain brought along little smile for the farmers, as the paddy transplantation is in full swing. Experts say the activity gives best results if undertaken during rains. 'Narma' farmers also stated that the rain would prevent the crop from shriveling, caused by the intense heat wave, that lashed the region during the past one month.

Power woes

Many parts of the city witnessed unscheduled power cut because of the demand- supply gap. The authorities concerned are under the burden to provide eight-hour free power supply to the rural areas for paddy transplantation.