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House adjourned after obituary references
HSGPC move ‘interference’ in Sikh affairs, says SAD
CM to pressure Centre; will meet Rajnath today
Chief Justice Kaul’s transfer leaves Bar astounded
Officer files affidavit in forgery case
No move to replace Bajwa, Jakhar: AICC
Police extorting money in drug cases: Jakhar
Iraq imbroglio
Four-laning of Amritsar-Pathankot highway misses another deadline
No land to cremate Ajnala martyrs!
NEw Judicial complex
ETO dismissed on graft charge
Indian drummer takes on Pak ‘dholi’ at Wagah
Jilted lover throws acid on teacher
19 PCS officers shifted
Zira man alleges frame-up at Akali leader’s behest
Muktsar farmer wins Rs 2 crore in lottery
US Congressman hailed for proposing anti-bullying law
Farmers protest at Badal village, demand minimum 8-hour power
Craters appear in Ropar villages as earth caves in
ASI arrested for taking Rs
35,000 bribe
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assembly in session
Chandigarh, July 15 Talking to mediapersons after attending the Business Advisory Committee of the Assembly, Jakhar said the meeting did not bring any positive result for them as his demand for a special discussion on the menace of drugs was not accepted. "The Speaker offered just one hour for all 43 Congress MLAs to speak on the needs and demands of their respective constituencies on July 17. I have marked my dissent," Jakhar told mediapersons. He said July 17 was marked for non-official business and the Speaker offered them an hour at the end of the day. Jakhar said he had also requested that the Chief Minister should be present when the MLAs would raise their issues. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Mohan Mittal said allotting time to the members was the discretion of the Speaker. Meanwhile, Congress MLAs are learnt to have devised a strategy to confront the government on the floor of the House tomorrow. Sources said the party MLAs had prepared a fact file on a number of government schemes and were all prepared to take on the ministers. Sources said the MLAs would point out discrepancies in the execution of various schemes and highlight how the real beneficiaries were ignored. The Congress MLAs had also prepared a dossier on the Sangat Darshan programmes and the distribution of funds by the SAD-BJP ministers, they added. Those who attended the Business Advisory Committee meeting included Speaker Charanjit Singh Atwal, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Mohan Mittal, senior BJP leaders Chunni Lal Bhagat, Manoranjan Kalia, CLP leader Sunil Jakhar and Congress MLA Rana Gurmeet Sodhi. Dissent marked The Speaker offered just one hour for all 43 Congress MLAs to speak on the needs and demands of their respective constituencies on July 17. I have marked my
dissent.
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House adjourned after obituary references
Chandigarh, July 15 The House was adjourned till tomorrow after observing two-minute silence and obituary references to the deceased. Speaker Charanjit Atwal led the members in paying respects to the departed souls, including eminent writer and ex-Rajya Sabha member Khushwant Singh, late Union Minister Gopinath Munde, ex-Punjab Minister Khushal Bahl, ex-MP Harbhajan Singh Lakha and ex-MLA Kuldeep Singh Bhattal. At the request of Congress legislature party leader Sunil Jakhar and Akali MLA Pawan Kumar Tinnu, the Speaker included the names of mother of Congress ex-MP Jagmeet Brar and freedom fighter Sansar Singh, who was a member of the Indian National Army (INA). Initially, the list for obituary references included 23 names. Besides remembering Khushwant Singh, the House paid tributes to veteran journalists Deepak Sharma and Rachpal Sapal and renowned Punjabi writer Shah Chaman. The freedom fighters remembered included Swaran Singh, Sewa Singh, Sant Singh, Arjan Singh, Bachan Singh, Ram Singh, Samir Singh, Kala Singh, Basant Singh, Mehma Singh, Bant Singh, Santokh Singh, Jagat Singh, Sher Singh and Sirdar
Kapoor.
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HSGPC move ‘interference’ in Sikh affairs, says SAD
Chandigarh, July 15 In a unanimously passed resolution, the SAD legislature party, which met under the leadership of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal here today, said the step of the Congress was "aimed at creating fissures in the Sikh Panth, thereby weakening its religious and political power". The party said this "unwarranted action" of the Haryana Government had led to a "constitutional crisis". Intervention of the Central Government was the need of the hour, it said. By acting in such a manner, the Congress government in Haryana had "even surpassed the British Raj in meddling in the affairs of Sikhs". The move of the Haryana Government posed a "serious challenge to the communal harmony, peace and amity in the region", it said. The party was also of the opinion that by constituting a separate committee, the Haryana Government had shown grave disrespect to the mandate given by the Sikhs during the SGPC elections. The party said the SGPC elections were fought on the issue of a separate committee in Haryana and the Sikh voters of the state had "trounced all protagonists" of the idea. They had given a clear mandate against any such move by ensuring victory of SAD candidates on all 11 seats. The party said by passing a Bill in the Assembly, the Haryana Government had also "insulted" the Constitution of India. The matter came under the ambit of Reorganization Act of 1966, so only the Government of India and Parliament were authorised to take any action on it. The resolution
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CM to pressure Centre; will meet Rajnath today
Chandigarh, July 15 Parkash Singh Badal, chief patron of the party and Punjab Chief Minister, will be meeting Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in Delhi tomorrow. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the SAD corecommittee held here late this evening. The SAD described as “sinister” the move of the Congress government in Haryana to “dilute the supreme institution of SGPC” by setting up a parallel body in the neighbouring state”. It dubbed the step as a “direct assault on the Panth, its history, traditions and spiritual values”. The core committee emergency meeting was held at the Chief Minister’s residence and attended among others by Badal himself, his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal and SGPC president Avtar Singh Makkar. SAD general secretary Harcharan Bains said the party was of the view that the action of the Haryana Government was not only a “violation of the constitutional provisions but also an interference in the religious affairs of the Sikh community, and that this would never be allowed to succeed”. “The anti-Sikh decisions have created a critical situation, including a constitutional crisis in the country,” he said. SGPC meeting today Amritsar: To evolve its strategy over the HSGPC, the SGPC has called an emergency meeting of its executive committee here on Wednesday. A meeting of the Sikh high priests has also been called to deliberate on the issue here on Wednesday.
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Chief Justice Kaul’s transfer leaves Bar astounded
Chandigarh, July 15 They say the Supreme Court collegium must have taken into consideration certain factors while recommending his transfer from Chandigarh to Chennai. The steps taken by him had resulted in streamlining the justice delivery system, they say. The boisterous whispers in the corridors of justice against his transfer are significant as speculations suggest the move to shift Chief Justice Kaul from the Punjab and Haryana High Court has its genesis in conditions prevailing at the Madras High Court, rather than factors at work here. Chief Justice Kaul is the first Judge in about a decade to be transferred out of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The last Judge to be transferred out was Chief Justice Binod Kumar Roy. He was sent to the Guwahati High Court from Chandigarh in February 2005. Six Chief Justices to follow either went to the Supreme Court, or retired from the High Court. Available information suggests July 22 will be Chief Justice Kaul's last day in office here. Just about four days later, on July 26, he is scheduled to be administered oath as the Chief Justice there. Mid-term shifting
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Officer files affidavit in forgery case
Chandigarh, July 15 Referring to her assertions before the Supreme Court also, the officer said, "All shamlat land case orders of 1997 and 1998 decided in the periphery of Chandigarh and the whole State of Punjab under Section 42 of the Consolidation Act are illegal and criminally fabricated." She said the fabrication was done by her court "ahalmad" and his accomplices posted in the consolidation branch of the Financial Commissioner, Revenue. He sought her signatures on these falsely fabricated "shamlat kand" orders in connivance with the beneficiaries and others.
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No move to replace Bajwa, Jakhar: AICC
Chandigarh, July 15 In his bid to play down the leadership issue, All India Congress Committee (AICC) leaders, including Punjab affairs in charge Shakeel Ahmed and Harish Chaudhary, said there was no such problem in the party. “There is no proposal to change Bajwa or Jakhar. We have talked to MLAs who were making such a demand. The matter has been sorted out. There has been no statement seeking leadership change from any quarters for the past 15-20 days,” said Ahmed. To a query that MLAs seen close to former Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh were opposing Bajwa and were pressing the high command to replace him, Ahmed quipped, “Bajwa is a good leader. He is the president. Amarinder is also a senior leader and so is former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal. There is no dearth of good leaders in the Punjab unit.” On the notices issued to MLAs Rana Gurmit Singh Sodhi and Kewal Dhillon for allegedly opposing Bajwa, he said, “I have spoken to them. They were here to attend the meeting today. There is no problem now.” The Congress also ridiculed the SAD’s “power surplus Punjab” promise and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal’s rhetoric to export power to Pakistan. The party said it would hold protests at the district level from July 23 to oppose the cuts being imposed on the domestic, industrial and agricultural sectors. Seeking a CBI probe into the drug menace, the PPCC said it would approach the Supreme Court as only small peddlers or consumers were being nailed by the police whereas “no action had been taken against the big fish”. Bajwa chided Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his deputy Sukhbir Singh Badal for their claims on the power situation: “It is ironic that the PSPCL announced power cuts the same day when a full page advertisement was inserted in newspapers claiming Punjab as being a power-surplus state.” He demanded that the farmers affected by drought should be given a relief of Rs 5,000 per acre. The Congress leaders also hit out at the government for allegedly failing to secure anything from the Centre in the Union Budget. “The BJP government has not done anything about the mounting debt of Punjab, which has already crossed Rs 1 lakh crore,” they alleged.
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Police extorting money in drug cases: Jakhar
Chandigarh, July 15 Addressing the media at his office here, Jakhar gave the instance of a woman of Malout town in Muktsar, whose son Talwinder Singh alias Minto (30) was allegedly kept in illegal confinement for six days and forced to pay Rs 4.1 lakh to the police. Minto, a member panchayat of Malout village, was later booked on drug smuggling charge. The Muktsar police have denied the allegations. Kuldeep Chahal, Senior Superintendent of Police, claimed that the accused was a "major catch". "Minto ran a wide racket of smugglers. Four FIRs were already registered against him. He was caught with 930 gm of a synthetic drug. Our investigation has revealed that he was a kingpin of a racket supplying drugs to youths." The SSP claimed that he had already got an inquiry conducted into the allegations by Minto's family, but their claims were found false. Accused's mother Kuldeep Kaur alleged a team of the Muktsar police kidnapped Minto from a hotel in Amritsar, forcibly took his ATM card and withdrew Rs 60,000. They later took him to a bank and forced him to withdraw Rs 2.5 lakh on June 23 and another Rs 1 lakh on June 24. He was later shown arrested from Lambi, she alleged. Jakhar said the CCTV footage at the banks and the ATM could prove their allegation. He said he was airing the genuine grievance of a harassed family and there was no political angle to it. The charge
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Iraq imbroglio
Jalandhar, July 15 The victims’ kin have been criticising the state government for failing to ensure the safe return of their children. The families also visited Gurdwara Guru Nanak Mission to pray for the safety of their children. “It has been a month-and-a-half since they have been in captivity in Iraq. Till date, the central government has not been able to confirm the location of our children,” claimed Gurpinder Kaur, sister of Manjinder Singh, who along with 38 other boys, was abducted by the Islamic state in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militants in Mosul on June 8. They applauded the Kerala government for safely bringing back the nurses stuck in Iraq. The families have already met Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Sushma Swaraj, Union Minister of External Affairs, but have not got information on their children’s whereabouts yet. Now, losing all hope, the families have decided to seek assistance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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Four-laning of Amritsar-Pathankot highway misses another deadline
Pathankot, July 15 Pathankot Deputy Commissioner Sukhwinder Singh, who met project director Vipnesh Sharma recently, said, “I have asked the officials concerned to expedite work. Now, they have assured me that the project will be completed by September 30.” Now, commuters have to wait for another two months to take a smooth drive on the NH-15, which interconnects Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Batala and Amritsar. So pitiable is the condition of the road, which is being four-laned at a cost of Rs 705 crore, that Gurdaspur Member Parliament (MP) Vinod Khanna prefers to take an alternative route whenever he visits his constituency. He avoids landing at the Amritsar airport because the road from Amritsar to Pathankot (where he has his house) via Batala, Gurdaspur and Dinanagar is in a deplorable condition. The project envisages five railway under-bridges, 14 vehicle underpasses, five flyovers, 10 bridges — four large and six small ones. However, experts claim that the plan for the four-laning of the road is faulty, as it would not help curbing accidents on the stretch. “No provisions for vehicle underpasses have been made in front of the Beant College of Engineering and Technology, Institute of Hotel Management, Paniyar Sugar Mill and Gurdaspur Polytechnic. All these places will turn into accident-prone areas because of the lack of planning by the NHAI,” said an official. For commuters, including heavy-vehicle drivers, commuting on this stretch is still a nightmare. The deadline of the project was earlier extended from July 2013 to July 2014 due to the tardy pace of work. Now, authorities have again failed to meet this deadline and promised to complete the project before September 30. An officer said the police and the administration were not co-operating with the NHAI in demolishing structures coming in the way of widening of the road. “Razing various structures at the points where bridges are to be established is a long and cumbersome procedure. The bridge over the Kotli canal is yet to be completed,” said an official. Inordinate delay
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No land to cremate Ajnala martyrs!
Amritsar, July 15 In a statement released here, Kochhar said he recently held a meeting with the top officials of the Punjab Cultural Affairs Department and he was given assurance that they would be provided land for the last rites at the Camping Ground in Ajnala. He said they had even published and dispatched invitations across the country while relying on the government assurance. However, they were still waiting for the government to fulfil its word. He said if they were not provided with proper space for performing the last rites, they would have no option but to do it at the cremation ground of Ajnala on August 1. Kochhar flayed the delay in the process of preservation of the mortal remains of the martyrs excavated from the historic well. He said the experts had taken away the mortal remains to Chandigarh, but no forward movement had been made in this regard. He also expressed his disappointment over the fact that the possibility of accessing the names of the martyrs was bleak. The mortal remains of the Kalianwala Khu martyrs were dug out in the first week of March by the Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj Management Committee along with
Kochhar.
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NEw Judicial complex
Moga, July 15 Few years ago, the state government had granted Rs 6.05 crore for the project, but the lackadaisical attitude of the administration was delaying its execution. Initially, the government proposed to construct the complex and the colony on 12 acres in 2009-2010. A notification was issued to acquire the land at Ghal Kalan village under the Land Acquisition Act, 1894, on September 21, 2011. The Public Works Department (PWD) also deposited Rs 6.05 crore with the Sub-Divisional Magistrate-cum-Land Acquisition Collector of Moga on January 31, 2011, to disburse compensation among the farmers whose land was being acquired. Later, the administration had dropped the plan allegedly due to delay in awarding compensation to the farmers. The PWD gave money in January 2011, but the administration issued a notification to award compensation on September 21, 2011, just before the announcement of the last Assembly elections, which affected the disbursement process. Meanwhile, reacting to a petition filed by a local resident, the High Court asked the administration to revise the compensation rates as per the prevailing market rates. After this, the whole plan was revised by the administration. The land requirement was reduced from 12 acres to 9 acres, 7 kanal and 1 marla. On July 12, 2013, the government again issued a notification and invited objections from the local residents. The SDM-cum-Collector had again heard the objections and fixed the rates of land acquisition, but for the past many months, the notification was not being issued by the government to enable the disbursement of compensation among the farmers. On February 10 this year, the SDM wrote to the DC to send a request to the state government to issue the notification.
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ETO dismissed on graft charge
Chandigarh, July 15 Sacked ETO Baljinder Singh, who was posted at Jalandhar, was under probation. His services have been dispensed with after he was found guilty in a corruption case. DS Gill, Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner, posted at the office of DETC, Patiala Division, as senior auditor; Surinder Kumar Aggarwal, posted as ETO in SAS Nagar; Urvashi Goel, ETO, Ludhiana; and Harpreet Singh, ETO, Patiala have been compulsorily retired from service.
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Indian drummer takes on Pak ‘dholi’ at Wagah
Jalandhar, July 15 Installation of bilingual (Hindi and English) audio system highlighting the importance and sanctity of the place and briefing the visitors about the India-Pakistan Partition history is another big attraction. BSF Headquarters took mediapersons from Jalandhar to Wagah border yesterday. Talking to The Tribune, DIG MF Farooqui said, “Beating the Retreat ceremony has always been an attraction. However, the positioning of a drummer further charges up the atmosphere. Tourists from India and abroad are liking the new arrangement. They can be seen dancing to the patriotic tunes of drummer, leaving behind cultural differences and nationalities.” The drummer was recently hired by the BSF to counter beats of Pakistani “dholi” and the initiative had started paying, he added. Beats run in tandem with the marching jawans and the effortful stomping. It made the ceremony more
colourful.
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Jilted lover throws acid on teacher
Jalandhar, July 15 Neeta of Talwandi Mehma in Kapurthala sustained 30 per cent burns. She is serving as a contract teacher at a government elementary school in Kapurthala. BIS Kahlon, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Kapurthala, said the victim was on her way to the school when the accused, Paramjit of Khera Dona village in Sultanpur Lodhi, stopped her and poured acid on her near Markfed chowk. Paramjit, a father of two, had been pressuring the girl to marry him. "Neeta had filed a complaint against Paramjit two months ago, but the matter was resolved amicably," the DSP said, adding that the police were conducting raids to nab the accused.
Crime file
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19 PCS officers shifted
Chandigarh, July 15 Gurmeet Singh has been deputed Secretary, Regional Transport Authority, Jalandhar, while Vinay Bublani, CEO, ‘Jung-e-Azadi’ Memorial Foundation, Jalandhar, will hold the additional charge of Chairman, Improvement Trust, Jalandhar. Neeraj Kumar has been transferred as Assistant Commissioner, Grievances, Jalandhar. The services of Anupam Kaler have been placed at the disposal of the department of local government for posting as Joint Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Jalandhar. Tejinder Pal Singh has been posted DTO, Kapurthala, while Vijay Kumar Syal will be Assistant Commissioner (General), Faridkot. The other postings are: Avneet Kaur, Assistant Commissioner (General), Ropar; Anand Sagar Sharma, SDM, Hoshiarpur; Damanjit Singh Maan, SDM, Bathinda, with additional charge of Secretary, RTA, Bathinda and Ferozepur; Sikha Bhagat, Assistant Commissioner, Jalandhar; Amandeep Kaur, Assistant Commissioner (General), Kapurthala; Mandeep Kaur, SDM, Gidderbaha; Jatinder Pal Singh, Assistant Commissioner (General), Moga; Latif Ahmed, DTO, Bathinda; Amarjit Singh, SDM, Phagwara and Zora Singh Thind, ADC (D),
Barnala.
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Zira man alleges frame-up at Akali leader’s behest
Zira (Ferozepur), July 15 Sandhu’s daughter Robinpreet Kaur alleged: “The accident was converted into a murder case by the police as my father had exposed the local police by releasing a video showing them brutally beating up a man at the Zira city police station in 2012.” She said then SHO and three other policemen were suspended and a case was registered against them. She alleged now the policemen had framed my father in a false case. Robinpreet is a student of Dashmesh Public School at Kot-ise-Khan. She had scored 10 percentile in Class X. Robinpreet said she and her brother had not gone to the school for the past few weeks fearing harassment by the police. “My father is on the run ever since the case was registered against him. His whereabouts are not known to us. I along with my mother and younger brother ran away when a team of the local police raided our house to abduct us a few days ago,” she alleged. Hardev Singh Boparai, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Zira, said a special investigation team had been constituted to probe the case.
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Muktsar farmer wins Rs 2 crore in lottery
Muktsar, July 15 Sheru, Super Lotto's representative in Ludhiana, said Harjinder was the first crorepati of Playwin Saturday Super Lotto lottery since lottery sales were resumed last year in the state. He is so far the 86th person in India to have won prize money of over Rs 1 crore. An elated Harjinder Singh said, "I cannot believe my luck. I had been buying lottery tickets for the past five years, but never won anything. This event will change my life. I had bought five lottery tickets for Rs 10 each on Saturday. My phone had been switched off for the last two days, and when I turned it on today, I found out that I had won the lottery. " On his plans for the future, he said, "I will donate some part of the prize money to a shrine in Nakodar. The rest I will spend on my son's education and farming." Harjinder won a lottery prize money of Rs 1,99,32,151, but after deductions, he will get nearly Rs 1.40
crore.
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US Congressman hailed for proposing anti-bullying law
Sacramento (California), July 15 AGPC president Jaswant Singh Hothi and coordinator Pritpal Singh said that Honda, a Congressman from California and Chair of Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus, had rightly proposed to US President Barak Obama to hold a congregation of various religions.
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Farmers protest at Badal village, demand minimum 8-hour power
Muktsar, July 15 A large number of farmers of Gagagr, Mithri, Singhewala, Kakhanwali and Khuddian villages had gathered under the banner of Bharti Kisan Union (Ekta Ugrahan) and raised anti-government slogans for its alleged failure to ensure the minimum power during the ongoing paddy season. Power curbs imposed With the power scenario in the state worsening, Punjab State Power Corporation Limited on Tuesday imposed regulatory measures on small and medium-scale industrial units. It states that now all categories of industry would not be allowed operations from 8 pm to 8 am.
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Craters appear in Ropar villages as earth caves in
Ropar, July 15 Manpreet Singh of Badian village said one month ago, the land in the fields of Labhu in adjoining Pachranda village sunk. Soon such craters nearly 10 feet wide and 7 feet deep could be seen in all fields in the two villages, he said. Ropar Deputy Commissioner Tanu Kashyap said she had asked the revenue officers to identify all such spots. She said they would hire experts to find the remedies to the problem. — TNS
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ASI arrested for taking Rs
35,000 bribe
Batala (Gurdaspur), July 15 The accused, ASI Balbir Singh,was caught red-handed by DSP Parminder Singh and the SHO of the Rangar Nangal police station at the Udanwal police post. Batala SSP Bikrampal Singh Bhatti said Balbir Singh demanded Rs 50,000 from Karnail Kaur, a resident of Tandori Khurd village, Sangrur, to settle a land dispute case related to her daughter and son-in-law and the final deal was settled at Rs 35,000. He said Karnail alleged that the ASI used to threaten her daughter and son-in-law, saying he would register a false case against them. A case under Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered against Balbir Singh at the Ghuman police station.
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Chandigarh, July 15
Chandigarh, July 15
Chandigarh, July 15
Jalandhar, July 15
Jalandhar, July 15
