Ludhiana, September 5
Employees of the Municipal Corporation have been accused of fleecing “rehra” owners on account of charging one-time annual licence fee on the Jalandhar Bypass road here. These “rehra” owners were asked to shell out Rs 150 while they are given receipts of Rs 137. It is not an isolated case. Hundreds of “rehra” owners are fleeced by the employees every day.

A “rehra” owner, who ferries yarn on his horse cart, said he was stopped on the Jalandhar bypass yesterday by two employees of the MC. They asked him to pay the one-time annual licence fee.

“I gave them Rs 150 and they handed me a receipt of Rs 137. They didn’t return me the remaining Rs 13 and asked me to leave. I was not the only one to be fleeced by them. They charged every rehra owner passing the road Rs 150. By noon, they had issued receipts to more than 100 “rehra” owners,” said Surinder Kumar.

A shopkeeper on the Jalandhar bypass corroborated the “rehra” owner’s claim. The shopkeeper said this was a routine matter here. The employees of the corporation come and put licence fee receipts on carts laden with yarn, hosiery goods, vegetables, etc. Every “rehra” owner is charged Rs 150 while the receipt is issued for Rs 137. This is open loot and no one dares to ask them for this corruption, said the shopkeeper.

Ludhiana, September 5
Efforts are being made by the Punjab Government to provide basic amenities to the people. For this, development of villages and cities is being done.

This was stated by Sharanjeet Singh Dhillon, Irrigation Minister, Punjab, while addressing a press conference here today.

Sharanjeet Singh Dhillon, Irrigation Minister, Punjab, attends a sangat darshan programme at Guru Nanak Dev Bhawan in Ludhiana. Tribune photo: Himanshu Mahajan

Later, while conducting sangat darshan programme, Dhillon said the Punjab Government had succeeded in directly meeting people through this programme and its results were also good.

Sharanjeet Singh Dhillon said: “Earlier, I used to conduct sangat darshan at the village level in my constituency. But due to some reasons, it was stopped midway. I am going to start it again in November.”

He said public grievances would be solved on a priority basis through sangat darshan.

He instructed the government officers to pay attention to public works on a priority basis.

A large number of people of his area attended the sangat darshan.

Officers, including Amit Kaur Gill, Additional Deputy Commissioner (General); Bhag Singh Maangarh, Chairman, Zila Parishad, Ludhiana; Anil Garg, District Transport Officer; Paramjeet Singh, SDM (East); Racchpal Singh, Chief Engineer, PSPCL, etc, were also present on the occasion.

Ludhiana, September 5
A day after The Tribune highlighted red tape becoming a hurdle in the rescue of a 13-year-old girl, who was raised by a poor vendor after she was dumped by her kidnapper in Ludhiana, the police swung into action and got her medically examined.

The girl, who is emotionally attached to her guardian Jaspal Singh, broke into tears when she was brought to the Kotwali police station and later taken to the Civil Hospital for a medical examination. She urged the authorities that she wanted to live with Jaspal, who has been looking after her for the past four years.

“Though, Jaspal’s wife thrashes me, he (Jaspal) loves me a lot. He took care of me like his daughter. I want to stay with him,” said the sobbing girl as she was consoled by child protection officer (CPO) Shilpa.

Meanwhile, Jagjit Singh Mann and Sukhdir Singh Sekhon, both from the Nav Chetna Bal Bhalai Committee, also reached the Civil Hospital and thanked Shilpa for her efforts in rescuing the girl.

“We came to know that the girl was made to work at a cloth-manufacturing unit for Rs 4,000 a month to repay the money spent on her wedding. We were planning to conduct a raid at the factory unit along with the officials of the Social Security Department officials. There can be more children working at the unit,” said Sukhdir Singh Sekhon.

District Social Security Officer Inderpreet Kaur said all the formalities were completed today and the girl would be shifted to Children Home in Jalandhar as per the orders of the Child Welfare Committee.

In the evening, Jaspal brought her clothes from home and bid her adieu for the last time. Heart-rending scenes were witnessed as the girl was insisting she wanted to stay with Jaspal. Finally, she was taken to Jalandhar.

Sukhdhir Singh Sekhon said: “The girl was kidnapped from Amritsar when she was nine and was dumped in Ludhiana. She was surviving on midday meal served in her school. She was married to a youth hailing from Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, at the age of 13. She escaped from the house of her in-laws when she suspected all was not well there. She was made to work at a factory to repay the amount spent on her marriage. I hope all goes well with her now.” 

Ludhiana, September 5
Three children, who lost their parents in a road accident about a month ago at Phillaur, have been handed over to Ganga Nand Bhuri Wale International Foundation at Talwandi Dham by the District Administration today.

Among these children, the eldest one is 5-year-old Gudiya, while the other two are 3-year-old Sonia and 10-month-old Deepak. The children were under treatment at the Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital, Ludhiana.

Shiv Ram Saroy, founder of Ann Jal Sewa Trust, said: “On August 4, a migrant labourer, Bahadur Sahni, and his wife, Sunita, were going towards Phillaur along with their children on their ‘rehra’. A car hit their ‘rehra’ from behind. Sunita died on spot, while her husband slipped into a coma. Two children received head injuries, while the third one suffered injuries in other parts of the body”.

Saroy said: “Bahadur, along with three children, was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Phillaur. Later, they were referred to Lord Mahavir Civil Hospital, Ludhiana. Children were admitted to the Mahavir hospital, while their father was shifted to a private hospital. He breathed his last after some days.”

Saroy said these children were treated at the Civil Hospital, Ludhiana, as they were running fever and were also injured. Here, they were taken care of by a migrant couple, Preeti Devi and her husband, Prabhu Giri, who were also here for the treatment of their child. Preeti could not control her emotions so she stayed there just to look after these children despite the fact that her own child was discharged from the hospital the next day.

Saroy said Ann Jal Sewa Trust also inspired her to stay back at the hospital to take care of these children along with her own child. It was an emotional scene at the hospital today when the children were handed over to the orphanage. Preeti burst into tears, saying she developed the feeling of her own children for them. Throughout the stay of these children at the hospital, Preeti fed 10-month-old Deepak.

Saroy said: “A number of people approached us for adopting these children. Today, after fulfilling all legal formalities with the help of Inderpreet Kaur, District Social Welfare Officer, we handed over them to the orphanage being run by Ganga Nand Bhuri Wale International Foundation.

Ludhiana, September 5
Officers and employees working in the mass media wing of health and family welfare department, Punjab, have alleged that they have been facing discrimination in salaries.

The fact came to light during an annual general assembly of the Mass Media Employees and Officers Association Punjab at Pensioners’ Bhawan in Ludhiana today when the mass media officers alleged that the mass media officers are getting salaries even less than ETT teachers.

According to the association, the Block Extension Educator popularly known as BEE, who is block level mass media officer, has educational qualification equal to the qualification of B Ed teacher and one year diploma (most BEEs have two years degree as well) but the grade pay of BEE is just Rs 3,800 as compared to Rs 5,000 of B Ed qualified teachers.

“Even the sanitary inspectors (SIs) are getting Rs 4,200 grade pay which is above the grade pay of BEEs while they have either passed class X of class XII along with a diploma,” said former state president of the association Sukhdev Singh, who resigned today as Ranbir Singh Panjgraiyan was elected new state president.

Ludhiana, September 5
The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO), Punjab Chapter, in association with Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Limited (ECGC), organised an exporters’ meet on ECGC services today.

SC Ralhan, Regional Chairman (North), FIEO, apprised the participants about the growing need for the ECGC Credit Insurance cover keeping in view the unstable business conditions, including economic and political upheavals in some part of the globe.

He said: “We have an export target of USD350 billion in this fiscal year as set by the Ministry of Commerce & Industry, Government of India”.

He said bad payments or default in export payment receipts was a major hurdle and a global problem and more than 20 per cent of the exporters in India were facing this problem. He urged the officials from the ECGC to take up the insurance claims of genuine exporters in India on a priority.

Chitra Kirtivassan, Zonal Manager, Dena Bank, was the chief guest on the occasion.

She, while reacting on Ralhan’s remarks with regard to export target, said: “We need quite aggressive approach to increase the speed of business in every sphere of trade and business”. She said taking the insurance risk cover of your export shipments was crucial and should be taken seriously like that of an LIC policy you normally buy for your family. — TNS

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 5
Religious fervour marked the concluding day of the Ganesh Mahotsav.

Office-bearers and devotees associated with various local religious organisations celebrated the festival and immersed the idols of Lord Ganesha amidst drumbeats and chants of “Ganpati Bappa Moriya” in the Sirhind Canal near here today.

As the 10-day Ganesha festival drew to a close, idols of Lord Ganesha were taken for “visarjan” to the nearby Sirhind Canal under the banners of the Lakshami Sewa Dal, Bhartia Mahabir Dal, Ganpati Seva Sangh, Shri Ram Mandir, Shri Sanatan Dharam Sabha, Har Har Maha Dev and Bajrang Dal.

Earlier, a ‘shobha yatra’ was organised in the town. It was welcomed by office-bearers and activists of various organisations.

Tasem Garg and Balwinder Verma, office-bearers of various organisations, said puja was performed at various temples in the past 10 days. Men, women and children joined the puja and procession today.

The police had to make extra arrangements to prevent any untoward incident during the procession and immersion. Special barricading was done around the banks of the canal.

Keeping in view the need to avoid water pollution in the canal, small idols were made, said the organisers.

Ludhiana, September 5
Bylaws are violated with impunity at Bhadaur House near AC Market. When it comes to taking action against defaulters, the law enforcing agencies choose to look the other way.

Causing inconvenience to the general public, shopkeepers feel that can get away with everything, park their vehicles in the middle of roads, load/unload goods on roads by blocking entire traffic, use corridors to keep their stock.

And the nuisance is being overlooked by the tehbazari wing of the Municipal Corporation.

Due to the apathetic approach of the civic body, the situation has gone from bad to worse. It is the general public and commuters who are made to bear the brunt. A shopkeeper at AC Market Calibre Plaza said the shopkeepers parked their vehicles in the middle of roads. “Goods are loaded/unloaded on roads, resulting in traffic jams,” said the shopkeeper.

The shopkeepers have started blocking corridors. Rehri owners and tea vendors too have encroached upon the public land as the authorities are mum. Road rage and traffic jams are a routine occurrence here.

The worst affected are the commuters, who have to face inconvenience.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 5
With Mela Chhapar commencing this Sunday, officials of the administration and police department have been directed to ensure that devotees are not made to suffer. Ludhiana Deputy Commissioner Rajat Aggarwal and Senior Superintendent of Police Ludhiana (Rural) Ravcharan Singh Brar have already drafted a plan identifying the possible impediments in the smooth conduct of the event.

They appealed to office-bearers of various social, religious and political organisations to help the administration in maintaining law and order.

District Magistrate Amrit Kaur Gill has imposed a ban on carrying of arms and weapons from September 7 to September 11. ADC Amrit Kaur Gill said the ban would be enforced in Chhapar, Latala, Dhulkot, Jand, Jurahan, Maherna Kalan and Barundi village. The administration has also banned the sale of articles that could be used as weapons.

Political parties are all set to hold conferences during the event. State-level leaders of all parties are expected to address rallies at the fair.

The venue turns into a battlefield for the political parties. The recent shoe-hurling incident at a rally being addressed by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal at Isru has increased the problems of the administration and officials of the police department. 

Ludhiana, September 5
Activists of the Communist Party of India (CPI), CPI-M, CPM-Punjab and CPI (ML-Liberation) today took out a protest march from Bhai Bala Chowk to the Mini-Secretariat. They rallied against the anti-people policies of the SAD-BJP government in Punjab and the NDA Government at the Centre.

Speakers at the rally called for effective steps to curb sky-rocketing prices of essential commodities and withdrawal of black laws enacted by the government. The protesters also submitted a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner to be forwarded to the Centre and the Punjab Government. Thousands of workers along with leaders of the parties participated in the rally. In their address, Charan Singh Virdi, state secretary of the CPI-M, Mangat Ram Pasla, state secretary, CPM, Punjab, and Kartar Singh Bowani, secretariat member, CPI, Punjab, said as a result of wrong policies of the government, the prices of essential items, including the LPG and petrol, had gone through the roof, law and order situation had deteriorated, land, sand and drug mafia were ruling the roost and criminal activities had assumed an alarming proportion in the state.

The leaders said on the one hand, the Punjab Government was extending overt and covert patronage to land and sand mafia as well as drug peddlers while on the other, taxes worth Rs 9000 crore were imposed on people in the form of property tax, increase in bus fare, registration fee of vehicles and power tariff. The speakers charged the incumbent government with pursuing pro-corporate policies, spreading of communalism, following its agenda of Hindutva in education and culture, disbanding the National Planning Commission, inviting FDI in every sector and framing new laws for the appointments of SC Judges. They said their struggle would continue till the fulfillment of the 14-point demand charter. 

Ludhiana, September 5
The raid by the Income Tax Department on the establishments of Longowalia Group continued for the second day today.

Ludhiana, September 5
Ashok Juneja, president, District Sales Tax Bar Association, discussed problems related to VAT with officials today. Rajeev Jain, general secretary, highlighted the problems faced by the industry.

Referring to the fourth stage verification, Juneja said there was no provision in law to deduct VAT in any stage.

It was only an administrative order by the department for which the industry was being harassed. He said under the Act, VAT refund should be cleared within 60 days.

And after that, the department was liable to pay interest to the dealer, he stated.

“In 2009-10, the government received VAT to the tune of Rs 7,577 crore whereas in 2013-14, it collected Rs 16,750 crore. Still, the government is unable to clear the outstanding VAT refunds,” he said. Juneja said if a registered dealer was unable to deposit C Form and H Form, the department could not ask for a penalty till the case of final assessment was done, adding that dealers should file an appeal if VAT was deducted. 

Jagraon, September 5
Torrential rains have wrecked havoc on the town, flooding all major roads and residential areas.

The worst-affected areas are Old Grain Market, Sabzi Mandi Road, Kamal Chowk, Sadan Market and Rani Jhansi Chowk.

The rain also exposed the ill-preparedness of the Jagraon Municipal Council to deal with water-logging. Due to poor drainage arrangements, residents are having a tough time.

The authorities had claimed to have made all arrangements to deal with such a situation.

Choked drains further aggravated the problem. The civic authorities do not get the drains cleaned on a regular basis.

The residents are holding poor drainage arrangements responsible for the situation.

“It happens every year. The MC authorities make tall claims and then cut a sorry figure in the end,” said Atul Kumar, a resident.

Doraha, September 5
Hunger and thirst was writ large on the snoozing innocent faces of students this noon. The reason being that they were held back, at their respective schools, to listen to Modi’s speech.

“My child returned home at 6pm almost in a famished condition. A child who has left for the school since 6.45am in the morning gets exhausted by 2.30pm and asking the child to stay till 5 is too much. This was entirely an irrational move on the part of the State as well as the Union Government to force things on others which may, instead of bearing

positive results, as expected, may earn the wrath of the teachers, students and parents,” opined a parent.

“Our regular tests are going on and exams are approaching. I have three tests tomorrow. How would I prepare? I go to bed

around 8 but today I have to sit back to learn my lessons in order to secure good marks in the test tomorrow,” rued a student of 9th Class.

An LKG child who simply could not make out what the Prime Minister was saying said, “Modi uncle was speaking and all were looking at him. As it was my milk time I missed the chocolate milk my mother gives me. I was just waiting for the TV to switch off and the teacher’s command for us to go back to our homes.”

A teacher on the condition of anonymity rued, “This is the worst thing that we could do to small children who were not able to make out what the PM was speaking. The address, if at all it had to be made an

obligation, would have been for senior students. No person, in a democratic set up, not even the Prime Minister can force you to listen to what you do not want to.”

Tarsem Bahia, former principal and chairman of the Punjab Educationist Forum rued, “In their misplaced enthusiasm to please their political masters in the state and at the centre, the Punjab bureaucrats have

gone to the extent of forcing the young children and even the lactating mothers to stay in the school premises from the 8 am in the morning till 5 in the evening. Such fatwas are not issued even on Independence Day and Republic Day.”

Ludhiana, September 5
Incessant rain coupled with inadequate arrangements on the part of the education department for the much hyped address by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to school students on Teacher’s Day turned to be a flop show in Ludhiana.

The rain played spoilsport at most of the government schools especially. Major schools of the city such as Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU campus, failed to run the speech properly. The school has made the arrangements in open to accommodate all the students in front of one screen but due to rain school authorities shifted the students in EDUSAL lab and a class room.

All other government schools, which don’t have a hall, faced the same problem. Students at Government Primary School, Field Ganj, watched the PM’s programme in worst conditions. The school did not have roof so the authorities arranged a tent to cover the room. The teachers covered the TV set with umbrella to avoid interruption in Modi’s speech.

Moreover, due to weather condition EDUSAT was also not worked properly. The speech of Modi was broadcasted on Amplitude Modulation (AM) on radio. The weather also interrupted the radio frequency. The address of PM was not audible at most of the schools which used radio as source. The television proved only successful mode of communication to tune in the Modi’s speech.

The school authorities, which installed the television in schools, made hard efforts to arrange the cable or Dish TV. During a visit at several school of the city, it was learnt that school staff with some students were watching the address of Modi in a class room or lab. Other students were sitting idle in class rooms. Most of the students failed to answer any of the queries regarding Modi’s speech.

Sanjeev Kumar, principal, Government Model Senior Secondary School, PAU, said, “We have made perfect arrangements but due to rain the things got out of order.” 

Ludhiana, September 5
Members of the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Rashtriya Madhyamik Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA RMSA) Teachers Union protested Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech by wearing black badges. The teachers alleged that they have been working on minimum salaries in schools and the government has been ignoring their long pending demands.

Iqbal Singh Grewal, general secretary of the union, said the government had divided the teachers in several cadres so they could not unite against them. The government had been harassing the teachers by anti-education policies.

“We attended the class by wearing black badges to remove the mask from the face of government,” he said. — TNS

Ludhiana, September 5
Teachers of private aided colleges of Ludhiana district observed Teachers Day as doomsday for the Punjab Government.

They sat on a two-hour dharna in their respective colleges to protest against the inordinate delay in the release of grants to the colleges, which are facing an unprecedented financial crunch.

Dr Parminder Singh, District President, Punjab and Chandigarh College Teacher’s Union, said the government was shirking its responsibility of providing subsidised education to the students who were unable to pay high fee.

Dr Parminder said: “Without the grant from the government, the colleges cannot work effectively and provide quality education to students. The present education policy of the government will deprive the youth of higher education and it will harm the development of the state”.

The pending demands of the college teachers include immediate release of pending quarterly grants under 95 per cent grant-in-aid scheme, inclusion of teachers working against unaided posts under the umbrella of the Punjab-affiliated Colleges Security of Service Act - 1974, relaxation in refresher courses as per the UGC guidelines, arrears of Career Advancement Scheme for DPEs and librarians, lifting of ban on recruitments and conversion of posts, implementation of Pension and Gratuity Scheme, raising of retirement age and scrapping of capping in API score.

“If the government does not accede to the college teachers’ demand, we will further intensify the protest,” Dr Parminder Singh.

Doraha, September 5
Members of the Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union (PCCTU) today wore black badges to protest against the utterly unconcerned attitude of the government as far as release of grants to private aided colleges is concerned. They held stay-in strikes at their respective colleges for two hours and suspended work.

“When 1,500 of our teachers and an equal number of non-teaching staff are without salary for the past 14 months, how can we celebrate Teacher’s Day? The government’s decision to reduce the grant to private aided colleges by 15 per cent and make contractual appointments instead of regular ones has come as a shock to teachers of private aided colleges. The announcement of reducing grants from 95 per cent to 80 per cent and another 5 per cent reduction after three years is resentful,” said Prof Jagwant Singh, vice-president of the union.

“The first quarterly grant (March to May) was distributed in November. After that, no grant has been received to the colleges till date despite the allocation of Rs 200 crore in the annual budget 2013-14 and Rs 38 crore in vote-on-account 2014-15. The teachers have been waiting for their salary for the past 14 months. Under such circumstances, there is no point in celebrating Teacher’s Day,” said Prof HS Walia, general secretary of the PCCTU.

“The day holds simply no significance for us when thousands of our teachers are in a state of penury. On one hand, teachers are starving, while on the other we are made to listen to Modi’s speech. No such speeches make an impact on people who are empty stomach. We have heard many such tall promises made by leaders, but nothing has come out of them,” said Dr Kuldip Singh, president, Punjab and Chandigarh College Teachers’ Union.

He said apart from the release of grants, their other demands include lifting of ban on recruitment imposed in 2005, covering teachers working against unaided posts in the ambit of Punjab-Affiliated Colleges Security of Service Act - 1974, relaxation from refresher courses as per the UGC guidelines, implementation of Pension and Gratuity Scheme, raising retirement age to 65 as per the Central Government’s notification, redressing the grievances of teachers working in unaided colleges, establishing parity in the pay structure for all categories of teachers, including DPEs and librarians.

Jagraon, September 5
Teachers of Lajpat Rai DAV College, Jagraon, observed Teacher’s Day as black day by holding strike in the college in support of their various long-pending demands.

Members of the teachers union staged a dharna outside the office of the college principal. They also raised slogans against the state government as well as the DAV College Management during the strike observed on the call given by the Punjab and Chandigarh Teachers Union

While speaking on the occasion, the striking teachers said the state government had not released grants for private aided colleges for the past 15 months due to which the teachers of these colleges were not being paid their salaries.

The college teachers also opposed the state government’s proposed move of reducing government grant for private aided colleges from 95 per cent to 80 per cent.

The striking teachers also urged the state government and the DAV College Management to fulfil various long-pending demands of the college teachers without any further delay.

Other demands of the college teachers include implementation of pension scheme for teachers of private aided colleges, government permission for aided posts in private colleges, exemption from refresher courses, etc.

Urging the state government to fulfil long-pending demands of the college teachers without any delay, the members of the teachers union said they would be forced to intensify their struggle further in the coming days if the government failed to meet the demands of the college teachers.

The college teachers who took part in the strike included Prof Karam Singh Sandhu, Prof Tarsem Sagar, Prof Kunal Mehta, Prof SK Sharma, Prof Parwinder Bajwa, Prof Bindu Sharma, Prof Usha Sharma, Prof Renu Singla among others.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 5
Teachers’ Day was celebrated at various educational institutes of the town and surrounding villages. Students greeted teachers by presenting flowers and cards.

Addressing students and teachers at MGMN Senior Secondary School, Lalit Kaura president, Rotary Club, and Pardeep Sharma, educationist, said teachers are foundation stone of a nation. “When a teacher educates a child, he/she contributes in the process of nation building,” said Kaur and Sharda. Separate functions were organised at Anand Isher Senior Secondary, DAV Senior Secondary School, Jain Muni Shri Kundan Kanya Mahavidyalya, Guru Nanak Kanya Maha Vidyalya, GHG Khalsa Senior Secondary School and Maya Devi Goyal Memorial Public Senior Secondary School,Victoria Public Senior Secondary School. — OC

Ludhiana, September 5
A conman duped a prominent doctor of the city of Rs 8 lakh by posing as general manager of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL).

The incident came to light today when the Sarabha Nagar police registered a case against an unidentified person for conning cardiologist Dr RP Singh, director of Pancham Hospital.

The case was registered following an investigation conducted by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), West, RS Sandhu.

The complaint was lodged with the police on July 5. Dr RP Singh stated that a man visited his hospital in Ludhiana in June and introduced himself as general manager of the BSNL. The man proposed a deal to the doctor. He said he could get nearly 1,700 employees of the BSNL insured with the hospital. He reportedly told Dr RP Singh to pay him Rs 8 lakh as security. Later, the conman handed the doctor a cheque for Rs 17 lakh in favour of Pancham Hospital.

Dr RP Singh was in for a shock when the cheque bounced. The address and the account of the conman turned out to be fake.

The police has registered a case under section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 420 (cheating) against an unidentified person and started investigation.

Ludhiana, September 5
The police raided the house of a ration depot holder in the Daresi area last night and seized 2,400 litres of kerosene meant to be distributed under the PDS.

When the police raided the house, Paramjit Singh and his son Harjinder Singh of Kila Mohalla were shifting the kerosene to another vehicle. However, the father-son duo managed to escape.

The police conducted the raid at the house following a tip-off that they were selling the kerosene meant for the PDS on the black market.

Meanwhile, the police registered a case against the father-son duo under section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act.

Samrala/Khanna, September 5
The police have arrested eight persons for forging documents.

The accused have been identified as Ashok Kumar, a resident of Ludhiana, Suresh Kumar, a resident of Ludhiana, Yashpal Sharma, a resident of Haibowal, Jasdeep Singh, a resident of Ludhiana, Tarlochan Singh, a resident of Dhandra Road, Satish Kumar, a resident of Ludhiana, Krishan Lal, a resident of Samrala, and Parashar, a resident of Ludhiana. Khanna SSP Harsh Kumar Bansal said the accused forged bail documents. A case under Sections 420, 456, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B IPC has been registered against them. The accused were presented in a local court which sent them to a three-day police remand.

Ludhiana, September 5
The stage is set for the Punjab leg of the inaugural edition of the World Kabaddi League (WKL) as four matches will be played at Prithipal Singh AstroTurf Hockey Stadium of Punjab Agricultural University on September 6 and 7.

Pargat Singh, former captain of the national hockey team and commissioner of the WKL, along with its CEO, Raman Raheja briefed the media about the mega event at Guru Nanak Stadium today.

An elated Singh said after the four successful weekends in three different cities and across two continents where the league received an overwhelming response, the game of kabaddi would now enthral fans in the ‘Home of Kabaddi’. Ludhiana, Bathinda, Jalandhar and Amritsar will host matches during the next four weekends.

“Four weekends in Punjab will feature four matches with all eight teams in action and setting the tone for a thrilling weekend will be Khalsa Warriors seeking to extend their winning streak to five after having won all four previous matches. They will be up against another strong outfit with a strong Punjab component, Punjab Thunders,” said Singh.

Raman Raheja said the league received an excellent response from the spectators in United Kingdom and New Delhi.

“As Punjab is the home ground for the game of kabaddi, so we expect phenomenal response from the audience here,” he said.

Two matches are slated for Saturday between Khalsa Warriors and Punjab Thunders at 6 pm while Vancouver Lions will take on California Eagles at 7.30 pm. Similarly, two matches will be played on Sunday. The first match will be played between United Singhs and Royal Kings, USA and Yo Yo Tigers will clash with Lahore Lions.

Punjabi artists will entertain the spectators on both the days. Noted singers Harjeet Harman and Preet Harpal will perform tomorrow.