Bathinda, October 6
The city police have registered a case against three persons, Ranbir Singh and Harjeet Kaur, both directors of Sujas Capital Private Ltd, residents of Basant Vihar area in the city and Karanbir Singh, a resident of Bathinda, on the charge of duping city residents of Rs 2.76 crore.

In a complaint to the police, Ravinder Kumar, a resident of Nehru Colony, stated that the accused Ranvir Singh, a resident of Basant Colony in the city, and Manjit Singh, a resident of Delhi, had duped people of Rs 2.76 crore by forming a fake company.

Ravinder Kumar, an insurance agent, said he met the accused as they also run an insurance business. During an interaction, they told him that they had formed a company, Sujas Capital Private Ltd, which gave its clients more interest on the money they invested.

Since it appeared to be an attractive proposition, he had started with a small sum as investment and got back the money in two to three months. His friends and relatives besides two dozen other persons then pooled in Rs 2.76 crore to invest. Ravinder Kumar stated that this was the amount that belonged to them. He alleged that the accused must have duped people in the city of at least Rs 250 crore.

Investigation Officer, Cantonment police station, ASI Major Singh said they have registered a case under Sections 420 and 34 of the IPC after a detailed inquiry conducted by the economic offences wing of the police. He also said that this was a case of chit fund fraud.

It may be mentioned that another resident of Bathinda, Gurpreet Singh, had also earlier filed a complaint with the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Mohali, against Ranbir Singh and Harjeet Kaur, both directors of Sujas Capital Private Ltd, Hemant Goel, a resident of Bathinda, and Karambir Singh Kaith, a resident of Delhi, for duping them of Rs 8 lakh.

He alleged that after receiving the amount, the accused started making excuses. Later, the accused stopped taking their phone calls, the complainant alleged. The police have marked an inquiry to the economic offences wing.

It may be mentioned that a large number of companies have been exposed recently in the chit fund fraud. Some days back, Punjabi singer-cum-actor Gippy Grewal had been issued a notice by the Bathinda police and was asked to appear before them in a chit fund fraud case.

The police are also investigating a case involving a chit fund company called Live India Trading that allegedly duped people. Gippy is the brand ambassador of the company.

The police have issued a notice to the officials of the company, including Gippy Grewal. The Canal Colony police station will be interrogating the singer.

According to the victim Lucky, he had deposited Rs 1 lakh in his name and Rs 3 lakh in the name of his cousin Jaswant Singh with the company on October 18. They had received the EMI from the company in June after which the company had not paid them anything.

Bathinda, October 6
Manju (name changed) walks down the Ajit Road towards Ghodewala Chowk when she hears a comment “Sohniyae, dhupp vicch kithe challe o? Thhak jaoge. Saade naal bae jao” (Where are you going, beautiful lady, in the burning sun? You will get tired. Come sit with us), says a spoilt brat leaning out of an open gypsy along with three of his friends.

She shouts back at them and signals bye-standers but nobody comes. However, the boys leave.

The incident is not an isolated one as many similar incidents happen in the city every day and the number goes on increasing with each passing day.

The condition is such that girls cannot walk alone on the Ajit Road as boys follow them, tease them and pass vulgar comments on them. These types of incidents have become a daily routine.

Shweta Narang, a medical student, said it had become quite difficult for them to go to their tuition centre as boys and middle-aged men follow them.

Another student Sakshi Goyal said boys stalk them but they couldn’t even tell their parents as they would call them back. She demanded that the police patrolling outside the educational institutes be should intensified.

A shopkeeper said eve-teasing incidents on the road were a daily routine. “We see boys come here on bikes or cars and follow the girls and even abuse them. The police patrolling is just a formality,” he said.

Eve-teasing incidents are on the rise in the Ajit Road area of the city. The Ajit Road, a hub of educational institutes in Bathinda, is one of the most unsafe places for girls, who do not dare to go out alone for their tuition classes as they are afraid of men waiting there to tease them.

It has surfaced that the fear of boys taking revenge and little faith in the police are the reasons that a large number of cases of eve-teasing are not reported to the police.

In an incident yesterday, three persons driving a Verna car were rounded up by the Civil Lines police as they were teasing the girls walking on the road.

Advocate Gurwinder Mann was standing at some shop, when he noticed that the car was roaming again and again and was teasing girls by following them and passing comments. When he saw them coming back for the fifth time, he called the police and complained about it.

During interrogation, it came out that two boys were from Ferozepur and the third one was a resident of Gurdaspur, who is currently working in Bathinda as an ambulance driver and they had came here to take medicines.

They were let off after they apologised late evening.

In another incident on September 26, a girl was sexually harassed in the open on the Ajit Road outside the E-School by the accused Gurwinder Singh and his close aid and SAD leader Shivkaran Singh.

The accused held the hand of the girl and used foul language. She resisted and called her father who reached immediately.

The accused also called his associate Shivkaran Singh, who along with his goons reached the spot and started brandishing his arms and thrashed the father and brother of the girl.

According to the victim, Shivkaran Singh tore her clothes, beat her up badly, abused her by using vulgar comments and even threatened to kidnap her from her house.

In the wake of increase in crime against women, owners of paying guest (PG) houses have tightened rules for girls and have put restrictions on their entry timings.

The purpose of women armed special protection squads (WASPS) has also failed up to an extent as they work from 9 am to 5 pm and that too outside schools and colleges. But these teams are hardly deployed in areas affected by eve-teasing.

Police officials at the Civil Lines police station said special police duties had been assigned to keep a check on eve-teasing and even a PCR keeps patrolling throughout the day.

Bathinda, October 6
Ahead of the festival season, the district Health Department of Bathinda and Mansa districts have started conducting raids at shops selling sweets and other food items. Special teams have been made in the both the districts to conduct raids and take samples of food items.

The district health authorities have formed the committees under the Designated Food Safety Officer to check food adulteration. The committees will conduct raids at different sweets shops, grocery shops and milk dairies.

National Health Mission Managing Director Hussan Lal has been appointed as the the Food Safety Commissioner.

The health authorities in their respective districts have made plans counter the problem. However, the officials are unwilling to share anything about their plans.

Bathinda, October 6
The police have beefed up security in and around the town and its surrounding areas ahead of the festive season. Specially constituted anti-sabotage teams have been directed to enhance vigil at the major places in the city.

Special security arrangements have been made to nail the culprits if any untoward incident takes place. Some roads in the city have been identified from where activities of unscrupulous elements are generally reported. Extra security forces have been deployed at these roads.

The police have stepped up night vigil, installed special checkpoints and intensified patrolling throughout the city. The police, along with the Fire Department and health officials, have been asked to remain on their toes till the end of the festive season.

The SHO’s have been directed to enhance vigil in and around religious places, educational institutes and busy markets.

Keeping in view the increase in the number of anti-social activities during the festival season over the last few years, police personnel have been deployed in large numbers in and around major places.

While the deployment of security force has been appreciated, residents also expect from the police to take some steps to tackle the traffic problem.

Traffic policemen said they had intensified towing of vehicles parked wrongly on roadsides, especially on the busy roads and markets.

They said they had got special instructions against letting any wrongdoer going unpunished. They were laying special emphasis on ensuring smooth movement of traffic around the main markets so that visitors do not face any inconvenience, they added.

City resident Gursewak Singh said it was good that the police had intensified security but they also need to focus on the smooth flow of traffic on the roads.

A police official said security had been intensified and barricading had also been done on the outskirts of the city.

• Officials said the delay in the release of the government employees’ own money in GPF was due to the financial constraints and wasteful expenditure by the Punjab Government which has led to the problem.
• No official concerned of the department was available to comment on the issue.

Bathinda, October 6
An educational tour was organised for ETT students of Guru Gobind Singh College of Education, Talwandi Sabo. Sixty students started their journey under the guidance of Dr AK Kansal, Dean of the college. Students paid obeisance at Takhat Sri Damdma Sahib, Talwandi Sabo.

During the tour to Chandigarh and surroundings students visited Sukhna Lake, Rock Garden and Punjabi University. Students went to Gurdwara Nadha Sahib, Panchkula to pay obeisance. Dr AK Kansal, Principal, said such tours were helpful for the student and teachers.

Bathinda, October 6
A number of persons staged a protest against the police for registering a false case and alleged misbehaviour by the officials of the Canal Colony police station, outside the office of the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) City here on Monday.

Ramesh Rani, a resident of Hans Nagar, said she and her family members had been implicated in a false case in an FIR, number 140, registered on August 24 at the Canal Colony police station.

“I have run from pillar to post to get justice and have given an application to the SSP, DSP and other officials. But no action has been initiated against the accused Gurmail Saini, Charanjit Saini and Rajesh Saini as they are influential people with high political connections,” added Ramesh Rani.

She alleged that these accused attacked her tenant Raj Kumar and niece Monu with sharp-edged weapons, but again no action was initiated by the police. The accused has even started threatening her.

Rani alleged that some days ago, a caller from two unknown numbers abused her. When she went to the Canal Colony police station, the ASI Krishan Kumar misbehaved with her.

When she asked to register a complaint, she was told that she had illicit relations with that caller, that was why he was abusing her.

Rani threatened that if no action is initiated in the next four days, then they will stage a protest outside the office of the SSP at the District administrative Complex.

Bathinda, October 6
University College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Guru Kashi University, organised a talent hunt programme here today. Girls performed brilliantly at the function.

The programme was inaugurated by Satish Goswami, Registrar, Guru Kashi University along with Dr Narinder Singh, Director Finance, Dr DR Godara, Dean, Students Welfare, Dr AK Kansal, Dean, UCBS and H and Dr Ram Niwas, Deputy Dean, of the college.

Students presented songs, dances, skits and choreographies. Bhangra and giddha were the main attractions of the cultural programme.

Goswami appreciated the efforts of the organisers and participants for conducting the programme. The programme was prepared by Dr Kavita Chowdhary and Dr Sukhjeet Kaur. Dr Jagwinder Singh Jodha delivered vote of thanks to all for making the programme a success.

Dr DR Godara said the girls had performed with an extra effort. The audience were spell bound to see the students singing the old cultural songs of Punjab, that once had remained a part of the culture of the state."

Bathinda, October 6
Theatre lovers in the city and adjoining areas are all set to witness a festival of powerful performances and street plays during the fourth ‘Natmela’, scheduled to be organised at the Natyam Theatre Group from October 9 till October 16.

Addressing mediapersons, the director of the group, Kirti Kirpal, on Monday announced that the group will stage street plays in different parts of the city on October 9 and 10. October 11, onwards, six plays will be performed by theatre groups every evening at the Balwant Gargi Open Air Theatre in Rose Garden.

Kirpal said, “Every evening will feature only one play. The theatre performances will open with Sudesh Sharma’s team from Chandigarh, Natyam’s team will perform on October 12, Dr Sahib Singh’s team from Mohali will present play on October 13, Vimal Midda’s team from Abohar will play on October 14, and Harpreet Lovely’s team from Patiala will perform on October 15. On the last day of the festival, Punjabi actor and comedian Rana Ranbir will stage his famous play ‘Khetan da putt’ based on the life and writings of Pash on October 16,”

It is worth mentioning that the Natyam group was formed by well-known play writer Dr Pali Bhupinder Singh in 1985. The first performance by Natyam in Bathinda was held in year 2010 at DAV College. The first theater festival of 12 days by Natyam was organised in 2011. 

Bathinda, October 6
The police foiled a bid by the members of the Computer Teachers’ Sanjha Front (Punjab) to take out a candle light march against the state government for not fulfillinf their long-pending demands here on Monday.

The protesters gathered at the Fire Bridge Chowk to take out a protest march. They were stopped by the police.

The protesters sat on a dharna at the Bhagat Singh Chowk and started raising slogans against the state government.

Front leader Dharamvir Singh said the SAD-BJP government had promised that the teachers working under the Punjab Information and Communication Education Society (PICTES) would be given the pay grade equivalent to that of a vocational teacher under the state Education Department.

The protesters said now the officials were extending step-motherly treatment to them, since they were a part of the PICTES, they could not be given the pay grade or allowances as given to the teachers working under the state Education Department.

Stating that the union was preparing for a struggle against the state government, the convenors said the computer teachers would stage a boycott of the non-academic work in schools, till they were transferred to the Education Department unconditionally and given the promised pay grade and allowances.

They, however, asked the computer teachers to make sure that during their boycott of the non-academic work, the studies of the students were not hit.