forensic experts take finger prints; and (below) cops interact with the employees of Gramin Bank at Wariana village in Jalandhar on Saturday.  Tribune Photos: Sarabjit Singh

Jalandhar, September 13
An attempt to break open the door of the strong room of the Gramin Bank at Wariana village on Kapurthala Road was foiled last night, coming as a providential escape for the locker holders there.

Interestingly, the staff of the bank here had not taken any precautionary measures to check on any attempt of loot on their premises.

No guards had been deployed at the bank. Even the theft or fire alarm was found to be not working. The CCTV cameras installed at the bank had been non-functional since July, said the SHO, Maqsudan Police Station, Baljinder Singh.

The incident came to light only when the bank staff came for work this morning. The staff saw the shutter lock open and glass doors at the entrance broken. Unaware that the CCTV cameras were out of order, the miscreants had even broken them before executing their plans. The robbers were trying to break open the door of the strong room but it was perhaps too thick and huge for them to break through.

A team of forensic experts also visited the spot to gather finger prints.

A case against unknown persons has been registered at the police station.

The SSP, Rural, Narinder Bhargav, said it may be a gang of untrained persons. “They might have taken idea from previous such incidents,” said SSP Bhargav.

Jalandhar, September 13
With the intervention of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, Welspun, a private company, has reclaimed the operational charges of Shaheed-E-Azam Sardar Bhagat Interstate Bus Terminal in Jalandhar.

The letter written to the Director State Transport, Punjab, on September 12 by Harsimran Singh Sethi, additional advocate general, Government of Punjab, stated: Keeping in view the order of Punjab and Haryana High Court today kindly allow M/S MSK Project Limited to carry out the functions for the operation of Jalandhar Bus Stand as they were doing prior to September 9, when department (PUNBUS/Punjab Roadways) took over the operations of the bus stand.

The bus stand was reportedly constructed by M/S MSK Project Limited, which later merged with Welspun, according to Welspun management.

The letter also stated that MSK would not be evicted from the said premises and they would deposit the amount in a separate account and their possession would not be interfered. Notably, following the verdict of the District Session Court, Chandigarh, the Punjab State Bus Stand Management Company (PUNBUS/Punjab Roadways) took over the charge of Jalandhar bus stand on September 9.

Welspun has been operating the same bus stand since October 2007 under the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) project.

As per the information gathered from Punjab Roadways officials and Welspun, PUNBUS/Punjab Roadways was supposed to get the charge on April 17, 2014. However, Welspun had filed a petition in the Arbitration Court on the ground of getting late charge of the site. The Arbitration Court had extended the charge of site further to Welspun till January 21, 2015. The same verdict was challenged in the District Session Court, Chandigarh, by the PUNBUS/Punjab Roadways. 

Jalandhar, September 13
The Vajra Corps Task Force Team, which has been working round the clock in flood affected area of Srinagar, for the last six days, has managed to evacuate 4,015 people from flood affected areas of Srinagar to safer places. The Engineer Task Force rescued 899 persons. In a special rescue operation, it evacuated 45 children from an orphanage in Mehzoor Nagar, 25 students from Darul-illem School at Jawahar Nagar, 150 children from Sher-e-Kashmir Indoor Stadium and 45 senior citizens from a gurdwara at Jawahar Nagar.

The Vajra Corps has dispatched relief material to Srinagar for the use of flood affected people of Srinagar. Additionally, the signal equipment has also been flown to Srinagar to reinforce communications with the flood relief teams of Engineers Task Force deployed in the worst affected areas of Srinagar. 

Phagwara, September 13
Three cases of abduction were reported in Phagwara, in the last one week, while the police had registered cases under Section 363 of the IPC in two cases. But the third victim family of Bohani village failed to register a case of abduction of their married daughter Gurpreet Kaur in Sadar Police Phagwara despite several visits.

A minor domestic help Kajal (12) was allegedly abducted by her employer Kulwinder Kaur and his son Amroop Singh of Mansa Devi Nagar, who were booked by Satnampura Police under Section 363A of the IPC. He is still at large even after eight days of the incident.

The Satnampura police has registered another case of abduction under Section 363-A IPC. Complainant Pardeep Kumar, a resident of Gobindpura area, told the police that his minor son Om Parkash (12) went to the fields to ease himself on September 5 but did not returned home. He expressed his doubt that his son was kidnapped by some unknown persons.

In the third case, Gurdeep Singh, father of the allegedly abducted married woman Gurpreet Kaur, told the media persons that his daughter was married to Sunil Singh, a resident of Rajasthan, and she came to attend the marriage of the son of her Canada-based facebook friend Amarjit Kaur Dhami. He said she went to Jalandhar to attend the marriage but didn’t came back. He along with his son-in-law Sunil went to the Model Town Gurdwara, where the marriage was being solemnised, but NRI Amarjit Kaur did not allow them to meet Gurpreet. He suspected some foul play on the part of NRI Amarjit. 

Jalandhar, September 13
The Ministry of Overseas Affairs (MOIA) in a letter issued on Saturday has advised the Punjab Government to consider the confirmation given by the nambardars or village sarpanches enough for issuing Nativity Certificate (NC) to Non-resident Indians.

Presently, the power lies with the District Magistrates (DM) who issue certificates on the basis of inputs from the revenue department and police records. Also, the government had fixed a 30-day limit for the process,but certificates are rarely issued within the stipulated time.

With this, the ball is now in the Punjab Government’s court to provide respite to lakhs of NRI’s in the state who could not get their NC in the absence of old records with the respective district administration.

The recommendation came from the ministry after the Punjab NRI Sabha pursued the case and requested them to consider the foreign passports issued to NRIs as a genuineness proof to issue a nativity certificate to them as they were made on the basis of their Indian passport only.

“While Indian passport is considered as the most genuine proof for the identity, residence and date of birth of an individual, but any foreign passport issued to an NRI, that is being made on the basis of an Indian passport only, is not being considered as a genuineness proof to issue NC to an NRI. However, with fresh recommendations coming from the MOIA, we are hopeful of providing some respite to the NRI fraternity,” said Jasveer Singh Gill, president, Punjab NRI Sabha.

He said now after getting a nod from the ministry, the Sabha will soon take up the matter with the Punjab Government to ease out norms for issuing the NC to the NRIs hailing from the state. 

Jalandhar, September 13
City residents will witness two major sports tournaments in a few days from now. Four matches of the World Kabaddi League (WKL) and one of the most coveted Surjit Hockey Tournament will commence in the city by the end of the month. The tournaments will be played at the Olympian Surjit Hockey Stadium, Burlton Park, from September 19.

The opening matches of the World Kabaddi League (WKL) in the city will be played between Royal Kings, owned by Thiara Group in the USA, and Vancouver Lions, owned by M Purewal, a Hoshiarpur-based NRI, on September 19. The Kabaddi teams of noted Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar (Khalsa Warriors) and Sonakshi Sinha (United Singhs) will be playing against each other on September 20.

The 31st edition of the Surjit hockey will be played from October 29 at Burlton Park and will be held in two phases. The pre-qualifying round will be played from October 25 to 28, in which 10 teams will participate and the winning team will qualify for the super league round, having top 11 hockey teams in the pool. The main attraction will be Punjab-XI (Pakistan) in the men’s category and Rest of Pakistan in the women’ group. All the matches will be played under floodlights and their will be no entry fee.

In the women’s group, the daring eves of Punjab-XI (India), Haryana-XI, Rail Coach Factory, Kapurthala, and Rest of Pakistan, Lahore, will fight for the coveted title. According to Pargat Singh, former skipper of Indian hockey team, the matches will be played on the round robin league basis and the teams will be selected by a team selection committee, headed by Olympian & Padam Shri recipient Pargat Singh, Iqbal Singh Sandhu, Amrik Singh Powar and Lakhwinder Pal Singh Khaira.

It has also been decided to honour some noted NRI sports promoters, Punjabi folk singers and the promoter of hockey for their achievements on the final day of the tournament. For the selection of these personalities, a committee comprising Sarojini Gautam Sharda, PCS, Bhupinder Singh Makkar, Col Manmohan Singh, Ram Partap and Baldev Singh has been constituted.

Gatka will also be performed by the Bir Khalsa Dal team on the inaugural day of the tournament on September 29. Noted Punjabi folk Singers Waaris brothers will perform on November 7 on the final day of the tournament at Burlton Park. The arrangements have been made to telecast the semifinals and the final match of the tournament on PTC News. A ball to ball running commentary will also be relayed by All India Radio. 

Jalandhar, September 13
An elderly woman foiled a snatching bid at Sat Nagar this morning. Two motorcycle-borne youth had tried to snatch her gold earrings.

Anita Rani (65) was returning home after a morning walk when she realised that the bike-borne youths were making rounds of her colony. Realising this, she became alert and as the youths came close to her, she did not let them touch her ears and faced them bravely.

The woman even tried to catch hold of them but they managed to flee. A complaint has been lodged at the Division No. 3 police station. The police are trying to identify the snatchers through the CCTV footage. 

Jalandhar, September 13
The Aam Aadmi Party has come up with various helpline numbers to help the flood-ravaged state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Asking people to provide help for J&K residents due to the havoc caused in the state, Sucha Singh Chotepur, convener, AAP, Punjab, appealed to people of the state, members and volunteers of AAP to come forward and help the distressed residents of the Valley. He appealed to them to donate generously in any kind (ration, dry eatables and medicines) to different district coordinators of AAP by approaching them at the party’s helpline numbers. The helpline numbers, — 0161-246500 – 1 – 2 – 3 , 76968-70525 — have been released by the party.

The party said all collections would be handed over to the Indian Army for supply to the people of Jammu and Kashmir.

Meanwhile, the Sub Divisional Engineers’ Association (PWD B&R Punjab) as well as NGO Goonj have also chipped in with help for people of the valley.

Members of the Sub Divisional Engineers’ Association (PWD B&R Punjab) in a meeting today decided that every member of the association would contribute a day’s salary to the CM’s Relief Fund for J&K to extend help for the state’s flood-affected people.

State vice-president Er VK Kapoor and president Er Gurvinder Singh Bedi apprised mediapersons of their intentions to make the said contributions and lauded efforts of the Shree Harminder Sahib Management Committee to prepare food for one lakh people to be taken to the people of J&K on a daily basis.

Meanwhile, NGO Goonj declared that it shall organise a collection camp at Geeta Mandir Model Town, Jalandhar, for the needy in Jammu and Kashmir. The NGO appealed to people to come forward to help with woollens, common medicines, food items and cash for the flood-hit people. A collection camp by the NGO will also be held at Geeta Mandir on September 20. Those willing to contribute to Goonj can contact on the following numbers — Daljeet-9855023391 or Shailja Aggarwal- 9876656053

• The Aam Aadmi Party has come up with various helpline numbers to help the flood-ravaged state of Jammu and Kashmir.
• The helpline numbers, — 0161-246500 – 1 – 2 – 3 , 76968-70525 — have been released by AAP. 

Jalandhar, September 13
As the festive season is near, the Health Department has decided to tighten the noose around sweetmeat shops in the city. Recently, state Health Minister SK Jiyani had called a meeting of the District Food Safety Inspectors and has directed them to adopt a zero-tolerance approach towards adulteration. He directed them to prevent sweetmeat shops from storing excessive sweets in their stores.

When contacted, RL Bassan, Civil Surgeon, said the department would soon launch a campaign against adulteration. “We will carry out raids and collect samples from sweetmeat shops,” said Bassan. He said sub-standard and expired food products will be destroyed and a penalty would be imposed on the guilty.

Every year during Diwali tonnes of adulterated and artificial sweets are seized from all over the country. To earn huge profits, local traders and sweetmeat shops use substandard products, leaving consumers vulnerable to ailments. Chemicals, artificial colours and aluminum is used in the making of sweets.