Amritsar, October 1
The recent recovery of 5 quintal synthetic khoya by the Health Department has once again revealed that all is not well with the local food industry. The department had seized synthetic khoya on many occasions in the past but it has not been able to break the supply line.

Sources in the department said synthetic khoya is transported every day to the city on private buses. Most of the suppliers are from rural areas. People from as far as Batala come to sell khoya here as the city has the biggest market in the area.

The city has its khoya market inside Lohgarh Gate where one can get it at Rs 150 per kg. Local traders are of the view that the demand for khoya increases before Diwali and the marriage season in winters.

A sweets maker said manufacturers use ingredients such as urea, refined oil and sugar to synthesise khoya. While urea is added to impart white colour to the product, sugar makes for sweetness.

Refined oil is mixed to bring the oily texture and taste in khoya. The usage of phenyl instead of urea has also been reported. The manufacturers of spurious khoya also use poor quality milk powder to prepare khoya.

Some manufacturers instead of using milk powder use ghachak powder, which is readily available in the market. Skimming milk to produce khoya is a laborious task requiring heating of milk for at least 4-5 hours.

“Pure khoya is difficult to make and it is costly as one kg of pure khoya is made from at least five litre of pure milk,” said a shopkeeper, adding that on the other hand, synthetic khoya was much easier and cheap to make.

Amritsar, October 1
Even as the first day of depositing property tax with late fee passed off today, nobody turned up to pay it. The MC authorities have decided to strictly implement the new rules for the collection of the tax.

MC superintendent engineer, Jaswinder Singh, who heads the task of property tax collection in the city, said the department decided not to accept the property tax for the year 2014-2015 unless the property owners showed the receipts of the previous financial year 2013-2014.

He informed that about Rs 40 lakh was collected yesterday, the last day of the payment of property tax without fine. It means, a total of about Rs 24.50 crore has been recovered by the MC on account of property tax.

The MC has failed to recover the entire dues despite the deadline being extended on more than once.

Jaswinder said a survey to identify the property tax payers has been finished and they would issue the new identity numbers of the tax payers. He said the process to issue the identity numbers was about to start.

He elaborated that teams would be dispatched to recover the dues from the defaulters.

Earlier, the department failed to collect the targeted amount of last year’s property tax dues — for the period 2013-2014, whereas the process for the collection of the current year’s dues for 2014-2015, the notification of which was released a couple of days ago in the new format, is going to start soon.

Amritsar, October 1
In a surprise inspection conducted at the Civil Surgeon’s office here today, Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat found 64 out of total 117 employees absent from duty. The Deputy Commissioner reached the office at 9 am and found that 3 food and drug inspectors, 42 employees of administrative branch and 19 class four workers were absent.

Bhagat also conducted a surprise checking at the Suvidha Centre where he found 7 out of 12 employees absent.

Bhagat said a written report to the department to initiate disciplinary action against the absent employees would be sent.

He conducted another inspection at the birth and death registration office and instructed the officials tp for properly maintain the office record.

Last month, the Deputy Commissioner had conducted surprise inspections at Guru Nanak Dev Hospital and Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital during which he had found many discrepancies.

Bhagat said the surprise visit was made in order to see if the general public was getting the facilities, which are available for them at government offices.

Amritsar, October 1
The Amritsar rural police have arrested three persons, including a woman, for allegedly murdering a youth of Pandori Waraich village.

In order to hide the crime, the culprits buried the youth’s body near a canal, which was later exhumed by the police this evening.

The deceased, identified as Bhajan Singh (30), allegedly had an illicit relation with a woman, which led to the killing. Among those arrested include Manjit Kaur, her husband Kulwant Singh and his friend Krishna.

As per details, the deceased had an illicit relation with Manjit Kaur. However, her husband got to know about their relationship.

Kulwant knew that Bhajan Singh used to come to his home in his absence. Yesterday, when he came to know about his presence at his home, he, along with Krishna, who used to work with him, planned to kill Bhajan Singh.

Immediately after arriving at his house, he entered into an altercation with Bhajan Singh and later, with the help of Krishna, strangled him to death. They first hid the body in heaps of dry fodder and later buried him near the Verka canal.

The incident came to light when Bhajan’s father Jagir Singh reported the matter to the police after he failed to reach home till late evening. Bhajan’s father suspected that Kulwant and Manjit Kaur might have killed him.

The Kamboh police immediately arrested the accused and started interrogation. During interrogation, the accused admitted their crime.

Sukhdev Singh, SHO Kamboh police station, said on the information provided by the accused, the police had exhumed Bhajan’s body in the presence of naib tehsildar Arvind Salwan this evening.

The exact cause of death would be ascertained after the post mortem examination. He said all the three accused had been arrested and a case had been registered in this regard.

Amritsar, October 1
Panic gripped the Katra Motiram area inside Hathi Gate when armed persons shot several fires and threw soda bottles at a local resident identified as Arun Kumar of Gali Bhora Mal, late last evening.

Arun Kumar stated to the police that on September 29, a girl approached and misbehaved with him while showing a text message that was forwarded from his mobile. He said he apologised for his act as the message was inadvertently forwarded to her on her mobile phone.

Suresh Kumar, the father of the victim, said yesterday, several persons came outside his house and started using abusive language against his son Arun.

He said his son was not at home. He alleged that the accused tried to damage his car. As the people started gathering, the accused returned, he said.

While returning, Arun came in their way and they started chasing him, he said, adding that his son fled from the scene in order to save him. Arun tried to save himself by hiding in a shop. The accused allegedly shot several fires and threw soda bottles at him.

ACP Manwinder Singh, besides SHO of Kotwali police station, reached the spot and recorded the statement of Arun Kumar. The accused was identified as Bhatia of Gilwali Gate, who was accompanied by five other persons.

The police have registered a case under Sections 307, 148 and 149 of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 25, 54 and 59 of the Arms Act against the culprits. Police officials said raids were being conducted to arrest the accused.

Amritsar, October 1
Following a complaint by the District Development and Panchayat Officer (DDPO), the Mehta police have booked a former sarpanch of Mehta village and a technical assistant of Rayya block for alleged misappropriation of government grants released under the MNREGA scheme.

The district coordinator held a probe in the grants released to the village from November 2011 to September 10, 2014.

During the probe, he found misappropriation of government grants to the tune of around Rs 4.32 lakh.

He said the grants were released to carry out various developmental works in the village.

Those booked are Balwinder Kaur, former sarpanch of Mehta village and technical assistant Pankaj Kumar.

The police authorities said a case under Sections 467, 468, 471 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code had been registered against them while no arrest had been made so far as the investigations were in progress.

Amritsar, October 1
An attempt to stage protest outside the residence of Medical Education and Research Minister Anil Joshi by students of Chintpurni Medical College was averted by the police as they barricaded the approach road.

The police did not allow protesting students to go near the minister’s residence and assured them of a meeting with the Cabinet minister after a few days. Students had plans to dump medical investigation equipment and letters requesting their shifting to other colleges outside the minister’s house.

Students demanded that they should be shifted to other recognised medical colleges in the state as Chintpurni Medical College was earlier de-recognised by the Medical Council of India. Students had burnt an effigy of Anil Joshi yesterday alleging that the college was being run by a senior BJP minister, so Joshi was not taking any action against the college authorities.

Students said they would not end their protest until they were shifted to other colleges. They said the Vice-Chancellor of Baba Farid University of Health Sciences had earlier sent a letter recommending the shifting of students to other colleges as per the MCI norms, but the government had not taken any action.

Amritsar, October 1
Although the police have launched a manhunt to arrest suspects behind the killing of gangster Sanjiv Nayyar alias Babba a few days ago, the city police is yet to find any definite clues in the case. The police have failed to make any breakthrough in the case so far.

Separate teams constituted under the supervision of ADCP (city-II) Ketan Patil and ADCP (special) HS Brar have been conducting raids at suspected hideouts of gangsters, who might be involved in the murder of the gangster.

Babba was gunned down by unidentified armed assailants when he along with his wife and son were returning home after attending the marriage of their relative. He received four gunshots one of which pierced his chest killing him on the spot. He was serving life imprisonment in connection with the killing of gangster Raju Chikna and was on parole. He was to return to jail on October 3.

ADCP Patil said a number of accomplices of various gangsters were being questioned to crack the case. ADCP (special) Brar said investigations were under progress and a number of gangsters were under the police radar. Raids were being conducted to nab the culprits, he added.

Amritsar, October 1
The commuters’ practice to save fuel and time by taking a short-cut on the stretch of the newly built Amritsar-Batala highway has resulted in a number of road accidents that have taken a toll on human life. The authorities on their part have shown indifference by not taking any stringent or precautionary steps in the matter.

The September 25 road accident on the same stretch in which an ASI and his wife were crushed to death while three others were injured in a head-on collision between their car and a private bus was a recent example.

A preliminary probe by the police brought to light that the car was going on the wrong side, which led to the accident. As a result, the car was crushed by the bus.

Dr Akashdeep Singh, vice chairman of Global Institutes that is situated near the stretch, said hundreds of students and the faculty of the institute, come face to face with a life threatening situation every day.

Keeping in view the huge width of the road, the commuters drive at high speed. However, the huge traffic coming from the opposite side causes confusion and leads to accidents.

Dr Singh, in a communiqué to Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh, demanded immediate attention to the violations, which were proving fatal.

He maintained that the accidents are occurring due to the negligence of the commuters who drive their vehicles on wrong side in order to take the shortcut route.

A number of accidents have occurred since the road became operational some time ago.

Even as the new bypass road has come up to facilitate easy connectivity to the commuters travelling from Amritsar to Batala, Gurdaspur and Pathankot, it has witnessed a couple of serious road accidents as those commuting on the road drive their vehicles on the wrong side on reaching Amritsar in a bid to avoid travelling a long stretch.

Amritsar, October 1
The Kul Hind Kisan Sabha has threatened to stage a protest during the sangat darshan programme of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, which will be held in Attari, an Assembly constituency, on Saturday and Sunday. Balwinder Singh Dudala, national council member of the sabha, said they had planned to protest in wake of the low prices of basmati. He said the farmers were facing problems for selling rice of other varieties also.

In a press conference here today, Dudala said anti-social elements were creating lawlessness under the patronage of leaders of the ruling parties. He alleged that in Attari constituency a few influential people had encroached the street on the way to the home of a farmer, Subeg Singh of Pandori Mehma. He said these people were not allowing the family to use the passage despite the Revenue Department’s records establishing the fact that the encroached land was a passage to the farmer’s home.

He said in Chaba village, a self styled godman had illegally occupied the government school’s building. The local panchayat and residents had complained on various occasions, he added. He said during a peaceful protest to get the building vacated, the police had registered a case against 18 persons under pressure from political leaders.

If the administration did not allow them to put up various demands concerning people before the Chief Minister they would not refrain from starting protest, added Dudala.

Amritsar, October 1
In order to motivate youth of border villages to shun the usage of drugs, the 67 Battalion of the Border Security Force (BSF) organised a sports meet at Dug Toot village, located near the Indo-Pak border, here today.

During the meet, matches of kabbaddi and tug of war were organised by the BSF. A number of youths from neighbouring villages participated in the sports event. They also promised the BSF of all possible help in eradicating the menace of drug addiction from society, especially from border villages. The programme was part of the ongoing drug de-addiction campaign launched by the force around a year ago.

Youths from Vairan village won both the matches of kabbaddi and tug of war. Inder Parkash Bhatia, Commandant, 67 Battalion, distributed prizes among the winning team. He called upon youth to help the BSF in its war against the drug abuse, which had destroyed many lives in the border state of Punjab. He said if any youth wanted to be a part of the BSF he would try to help him in gaining physical fitness and education.

MF Farooqui, DIG, BSF (Amritsar sector), the brainchild behind the campaign, said besides weaning away youths from drugs, the basic idea of launching the campaign was to create a second line of defence by involving the residents of the border villages. The people in the border villages knew about the black sheep in their respective areas, who were involved in drug smuggling from across the international border. If they joined hands with the BSF, it would help in curbing the smuggling alongside the border, he added.

“We were helped by border villagers. It has helped us expand our information network in the past one year, which has lead to foiling of a number of smuggling attempts,” said Farooqui. “A number of youths were de-addicted during the last one and we are trying to help every person approach the BSF for the same,” he added.

Amritsar, October 1
On the eve of Gandhi Jayanti, a number of educational institutes of the city held a cleanliness drive and programmes on their campuses today. Under the “Swachh Bharat, swachh vidyalaya” campaign, initiated by the CBSE, Shri Ram Ashram Public School launched a cleanliness drive on its campus to commemorate the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.

A special morning assembly was organised in which students presented a short play on ‘Quit India Movement’ and “Gandhiji’s dream India’’. Students and teachers also participated in a clean India rally.

Ryan International School organised a portrait making event on the school premises. Students of all classes participated in the Gandhi Jayanti celebrations. They also pledged to foster the principles of truth, justice, human rights and non-violence. Students from Class I to XII participated in making portrait of Gandhi Ji.

Students and staff of DAV Public School paid homage to the Father of the Nation today. In the morning assembly, favourite bhajan of Bapu “Raghu pati raghava raja Ram” was sung by students.

Excerpts from life of Gandhiji and patriotic poems were read out by students.

The NSS unit of BBK DAV College for Women initiated the cleanliness drive on the college campus in the first stage of “Mission Swachh Bharat” by cleaning computer labs.

“Swachh Bharat” campaign was also organised at Sidana Institute of Education, Khiala Khurd, Ram Tirath Road. — TNS

Amritsar, October 1
The Health Department has planned to send a proposal to the government to open a homeopathic and ayurveda centre at Swami Vivekananda Drug De-addiction Centre.

The department has initiated the move after former IPS officer Kiran Bedi had suggested the addition of the facility at the de-addiction centre reasoning that these streams are cost effective in comparison with allopathic medicines.

Civil Surgeon Dr Rajiv Bhalla said the proposal would be made in the next meeting of the NRHM.

He said experts of homeopathy and ayurveda would also be approached to find out if these streams were effective in dealing with drug addicts.

The Health Department has an Ayush wing under which homeopathic and ayurvedic treatments are provided to the patients, he said. The drug addiction centre can get an ayush centre if it was practically viable, the Civil Surgeon added.

During a visit yesterday, Kiran Bedi had asked Deputy Commissioner Ravi Bhagat to take up the matter with the Secretary, Health, for starting the facility.

Earlier, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had a meeting with Kiran Bedi sometime ago. He had asked her to prepare a plan to check the drug menace.

Subsequently, she had met Punjab DGP Sumedh Singh Saini and held deliberations on various aspects related to the drug menace so as to chalk out a comprehensive action plan.

After holding talks, this was her first visit to a drug de-addiction centre in the state.

Suggesting practical measures to improve efficacy of the de-addiction, Bedi had also asked the management to hold monthly meetings with active participation of all the stakeholders to improve the quality of service at the centre.

She also asked the centre to have a film library so that patients can be shown inspirational and motivational movies to boost their morale.

She asked the Deputy Commissioner to make provisions for providing CDs for the purpose. She stated that Yoga trainers should also be roped in so as to teach yoga to the patients.

Amritsar, October 1
Sri Guru Harkrishan International School organised combined annual training camp (CATC) of the NCC. The camp was held by the 11 Pb Bn of the NCC. As many as 600 cadets from different schools attended the camp. Col Arunbir Singh said various programmes were organised by the battalion at the camp.

Volunteers of the NGO, Deeksha, visited the camp and gave a message to save the environment and use eco-friendly things. Col Arunbir said special training programes were organised for cadets in which they learnt how to be disciplined and good citizen. Some cadets were also prepared for the Republic Day Parade. Panther Division and Dograi Brigade held a weapons show in which various kinds of rifles and weapons were shown to the cadets. A special firing camp was also organied for the staff, who took basic training and fired rounds.

Principal of Sri Guru Harkrishan International School, Ripudaman K Malhotra, addressed the NCC cadets. A cultural programme was organised at the end of the camp.

Amritsar, October 1
Sangrur won the overall championship of the Punjab State Rural Games for Girls’ (under–16), which concluded at Guru Nanak Stadium, here today.

Its swashbuckling players amassed 24 points. Tarn Taran stood second with 21 points and host Amritsar came third with 17 points.

Cabinet Minister Chunni Lal Bhagat, who was the chief guest at the concluding ceremony, gave away prizes to winners. He exhorted all the participants to take part in sports.Earlier, director sports, Punjab, Tajinder Singh Dhaliwal, welcomed the chief guest and other participants. Assistant director, sports, Rupinder Singh, thanked all those present for attending the event.