Bathinda, July 19
A local court sentenced to life a woman and her accomplice in the infamous murder case of a retired Army personnel at Basant Plaza Hotel in 2012. The court of Additional Sessions Judge MPS Pahwa today gave the verdict.

The accused, including the wife of the deceased, killed the man in a hotel room by putting a pillow on his face and dumping his body in the fields of nearby Sangat Kalan village on Dabwali Road.

The accused have been identified as Paramjit Kaur of Gholia Khurd village, Moga—who was deployed as a receptionist at a hotel in Model Town Phase-II and Jagsir Seera of Virk Khera village, Muktsar—who worked as a gatekeeper in the hotel.

He added that after dumping the body, the wife, Paramjit, changed her cell number and also shifted her residence. Moreover, she lodged a false compliant that her husband had gone missing.

The third accused, Vinod Saxena, hotel manager, has been declared a proclaimed offender as the police have failed to trace him till date.

The complainant’s lawyer Gurjeet Khadyal said the badly mutilated body of a retired Army jawan, Gittan Singh, was found in a bag in the fields at Sangat Kalan village in Bathinda on January 1, 2012.

Gittan’s brother, Nishan Singh of Burj Ladha Singh Wala village, suspected the role of his sister-in-law, Gittan’s wife in the murder. The complainant suspected strained relationship between the couple and used it to corroborate his suspicion of murder.

Gittan was married to Paramjit and they had two children, a boy and a girl. The couple along with their children was residing in a rented accommodation in Model Town Phase-1, not far away from the hotel in Model Town-Phase-II.

The complainant informed the police that his brother was upset over the illicit relationships developed by his wife Paramjit Kaur with two persons working in the hotel.

Gitten’s wife was working as a receptionist at a hotel against the wishes of her husband and other family members.

The complainant said his brother suspected illicit relationship of Paramjit with hotel manager Vinod Saxena, residing in Model Town Phase-I.

The husband had discussed the problem with his brother (complainant in the case) and had also urged the hotel manager not to intervene in their private life but to no avail. The accused called up Gittan at a hotel room where they killed him.

The postmortem report revealed that Gittan died of asphyxiation and the accused admitted to having killed him by putting a pillow on his mouth in the hotel room. The body was taken away to Sangat Kalan village in the hotel manager’s car, the lawyer said.

The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 upon each of the accused in the case.

Bathinda, July 19
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Vigilance, Bathinda zone, Sukhdev Singh Chahal was seriously injured along with a security personnel and his driver in a road mishap near Nanaksar village in Faridkot district today in the morning.

As per information, Sukhdev Singh Chahal was on way to Bathinda in his Scorpio car. When they reached near Nanaksar village between Kotkapura and Jaito, the car rammed into a wall after hitting the electric pole on the roadside.

The SSP’s security personnel Jasvir Singh was present with him while Tejpal Singh was driving the car. Both the persons received injuries in the accident.

The victims were rushed to a hospital in Bathinda immediately where their condition is said to be stable. The reason behind the accident is not yet known.

Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar confirmed that Sukhdev Singh Chahal, SSP, Vigilance, had met with an accident today in the morning.

It is worth mentioning that many people have been injured in road accidents in the region. Over 511 persons have been killed and 419 injured in road mishaps in the last three years in Bathinda.

As many as 677 cases pertaining to road accidents have been registered with the city police from 2011 to 2013.

More than 75 persons have been injured in the city in the last 18 days. Sources claimed that the major reason behind the accidents is the poor condition of roads in the state.

Bathinda, July 19
The incident of vehicles falling into the lakes seem to be increasing in the city. In the last one year, three such incidents have taken place in which vehicles have plunged into the lakes after losing control.

A truck trolley fell into lake No. 2 of the Guru Nanak Dev Thermal Plant (GNDTP) on Wednesday night, when it was going to Anupgarh district in Rajasthan from Ludhiana. The incident occurred when the truck driver lost control and tried to save a vehicle coming from the wrong side. He then rammed the vehicle into a divider and the vehicle fell into the lake after breaking the railing.

In another incident on December 20, 2013 a tractor had fallen into the lake No. 3 after losing control. A resident of Nar Singh village, Vijay Kumar, had also died in the incident.

Bathinda, July 19
Delay in floating tenders to renew the yearly contract of the lone tow vehicle in Bathinda appears to have led to utter chaos. The one-year contract for the two vehicles expired around a month ago and is yet to be renewed.

The department has been floating tenders since 2012 for a tow vehicle so that the wrongly parked vehicles could be taken away and fines imposed upon the those violating the rules.

Apart from the increase in the wrong parking menace, vehicles involved in accidents are also not removed in the city due to lack of a tow vehicle.

Residents of Aggarsain Marg—also called as Amreek Singh Road—literally screamed on Friday when the police failed to take away a car abandoned by some unidentified persons in the residential area. Residents feared that either the car was used in some crime or was a stolen one as nobody came forward to claim it for three days. “We got upset as nobody moved the car for three days. We enquired from many people residing nearby about its antecedents but in vain,” said advocate Ashok Gupta, a resident of Amreek Singh Road.

“In view of the combing operation, massive checking and inspection by the police at public places for the past few days, we panicked on noticing a car. It could have had some explosives as well,” Gupta said.

He pointed out that no policeman turned up despite making numerous phone calls to the police control room (100) and urging two known police officials.

“We made nearly half a dozen phone calls since Friday morning but to no avail,” said Mohit Kumar.

The police arrived at around 8 pm, accompanied by Kotwali SHO Mahesh Saini—visibly upset over the complaints to senior policemen against the delay and making multiple calls to SSP Gurpreet Bhullar. The police spent over two hours tinkering with the car but failed to get any idea on how to take it away. “The cops tried to open the doors by inserting a long scale through the windowpanes but failed. They finally broke the windowpane to move the vehicle,” said Naresh Kumar, a bystander.

Once the car reached the main road from the street, the policemen then tried to open the steering lock and called up some mechanics. “It took three hours to attach the abandoned car with the ‘chhota hathi’ (small commercial vehicle). The driver of chhota hathi was forced to volunteer for shifting the abandoned car to the police station. Residents heaved a sigh of relief after shifting the abandoned car.

Officials in the traffic wing of the Bathinda police said the file pertaining to tow vehicle was sent to the SSP’s office. The police advisory committee comprising 14 to 18 members has cleared the file for final consent of the SSP.

The SSP will give the final nod for floating a tender before getting due approvals from the seniors. A traffic policeman, on the condition of anonymity, said when a tender was earlier floated, only three parties turned up to obtain the contract. “Since people are getting aware about parking their vehicles within the yellow line, the number of vehicles towed in a day has reduced considerably,” he said.

Earlier, 15 to 20 vehicles were towed away but the number has now reduced to a mere 3 to 6, which disappoints anyone seeking the yearly contract, he added. He also added that earlier—in 2012-2013, Rs 100 was pocketed by the police department out of Rs 500—levied as penalty for wrong parking of car and scooter. But for the year 2013-14, the police share was increased to Rs 150, which further reduced the contractor’s share.

Gurjeet Romana, DSP City-1, having additional charge of traffic, said the issue of floating the tender for the tow vehicle will be resolved within a week.

Bathinda, July 19
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has come out in support of the family of the jail inmate Gurdeep Singh, who died inside the Central Jail, Bathinda, on July 10. The family members of the deceased are running from pillar to post demanding justice in the untimely death case of Gurdeep Singh.

Announcing support, the AAP stated that in case justice is delayed, they would hold agitation against the jail department and the police. An action committee has also been constituted with AAP leaders and family members of the deceased as it members.

Kuldeep Kaur (wife of the deceased), daughter, Asha Rani and son Happi, while addressing a press conference, today alleged that the death of Gurdeep Singh inside the jail was not due to heart attack, but because it he was not given timely medical aid inside the jail.

They also alleged that the police had registered a fake case against Gurdeep Singh and on that day, he had Rs 14,560 with him and they took away even that cash. After that, he was sent to jail the next day. He was granted bail by the court and the family was waiting for him to come home, but suddenly, they heard the news of his death.

Asha Rani, daughter of the deceased, said they had come to know from inside the Central Jail that the deceased felt chest pain at 11 am and after going to doctor again, he did not meet any doctor. He got the news of his bail and in the evening, went to take bath. The pain again started but the doctor did not come, due to which he died. It is because of this that the jail superintendent and the doctor are responsible for the death of her father, she said.

Next day, when they protested demanding a transparent inquiry into the incident, Deputy Commissioner Basant Garg and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar assured that a transparent inquiry would be held into the incident, but still, they have not got justice.

They said the deceased demanded that the administration should record the statements of the inmates who were with Gurdip Singh inside the jail and the incident be probed deeply as Gurdeep Singh had been falsely implicated in the case by the police.

AAP leader Yadwinder Singh Sidhu said if the family is not given justice, they will hold an agitation against the administration. An action committee has been formed in which family members, people living near them and some others have been made the members. He also stated that if they are not given justice, they will hold a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office in the coming days.

Bathinda, July 19
There is no sports stadium or park to play in the area across the railway lines. No effort has been made by the government to provide sports facilities for the residents of this area.

The middle class and poor sections of society live here. Social organisations and leaders of the area have raised the issue with the state government and the district administration many times, but to no avail.

Reportedly, the youngsters of the area are getting hooked to drugs. Despite having no sport stadium and sports facilities, the area has provided many international and national players including Parminder Singh (weight- lifting), Sukhjinder Sharma (boxing) and Vikaramjit Singh (boxing).

Vikramjit Singh said, “The government should provide stadium and parks in the area. As there is no stadium in the area, children play on the roads risking their lives.”

Bathinda Wheat Welfare Organisation Secretary, Desraj Chettriwala, said, “He, along with residents of the area, met Chief Parliamentary Secretary (CPS) Sarup Chand Singla and also gave a charter of demands to the Chief Minster through the Deputy Commissioner.”

CPS Sarup Chand Singla said, “The area has a population of around 90,000 and we are planning to provide basic amenities in the area. The work of laying sewerage is already underway and many development works are going on in the area.”

Singla said he is taking up this issue with the state government and hopefully the demand for the stadium would be fulfilled soon.

Bathinda, July 19
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa has appointed Tehal Singh Sandhu as the secretary, PPCC.

Sandhu has been deputed as a coordinator in charge of Sangrur district. He has been associated with the Congress for the past 15 years and has served at various positions at the district-level.

Sandhu thanked Partap Singh Bajwa, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi for reposing faith in him.

He said he would work hard to strengthen the party. — TNS

Bathinda, July 19
A five-day Scout and Guide camp was organized for the cadets which concluded today. The camp was organized under the Tritiya Sopan Camp by Bathinda unit of Bharat Scout and guide. District training commissioner Hardarshan Singh Sohal said that this was a district level training camp in which nearly 150 students of 19 schools had participated.

He said that the students were taught about tying various forms of knots with rope, basic training and guidelines to be followed at camps in forests, how to raise tents and how to prepare food. The children were taught flag song, flag ceremony, trained to use first aid kits and the history of scouts and guides.

Others who participated as training team were Bahadur Singh, Parminder Kaur, Harpinder Kaur, and district organising commissioner of the scouts and guides, Amritpal Singh.