Amritsar, October 25
The family members of a youth, Gurjant Singh (25), a resident of Guru Nanak Colony located on Tarn Taran Road, today accused an assistant commissioner of police for torturing the youth allegedly kept in illegal custody. The youth has been admitted to a private hospital in a serious condition.

Sukhdev Singh, father of the victim, alleged that police officials summoned Gurjant Singh regarding a complaint submitted by a woman who had accused Gurjant of raping her.

She also alleged that Gurjant Singh took Rs 35,000 from her for providing a job.

While refuting the allegations, Sukhdev said his son was being framed by the woman and the ACP (South), Bal Kishan Singla, in an NDPS Act case. He alleged that the ACP demanded money for striking a compromise with the complainant.

He said he along with the councillor and other prominent citizens of the locality went to the police station where he was kept in illegal custody.

The ACP banged his head with the wall following which he fell unconscious, he added.

Sukhdev Singh said when he protested and demanded to see his son, an ASI of the police station slapped him.

Lakhbir Singh, member of urban committee, CPM Punjab, who accompanied Sukhdev Singh to the police station said when Gurjant did not regain conscious he was thrown out of the police station.

He criticised the attitude of the police and said Gurjant was kept in illegal detention. He said he along with others took Gurjant to the Civil Hospital, from where he was referred to a private hospital as he had sustained serious head injury.

While demanding registration of attempt to murder case, Maninder Pal Singh Palasour, vice president of People’s Party of Punjab along with other leaders of the party threatened to gherao the ACP.

“The ACP and other police officials of the police station should be suspended with immediate effect and an attempt to murder case should be registered against them. He along with other leaders of the party and the area would gherao the ACP office and launch at agitation tomorrow if the authorities fail to take appropriate action,” Palasour said.

Bal Kishan Singal, on the other handed, strongly refuted the charges and said the allegations were being made only to hamper the investigations in the complaint lodged by a woman.

Amritsar, October 25
Euphoria over the August 26 announcement by the state government to extend the deadline for regularising properties in unauthorised colonies for another year is fading away as the government has not issued any notification in this regard till date.

About two months have elapsed since the announcement was made to regularise illegal colonies.

Consequently, Municipal Corporations and PUDA are not issuing fresh NOCs leading to no new registration.

Plot holders said they were unable to register their properties for various reasons. The standstill in issuing no-objection certificates (NOCs) has left them in lurch as the Revenue Department does not issue registries without the NOCs.

A family residing in Fatehgarh Churriyan Road area, on condition of anonymity, said the head of the family decided to invest the entire wealth in properties and purchased two plots of 150 square yards each. Now, the head of the family is suffering from a serious ailment and has to be hospitalised.

The family wishes to sell off one of the plots at the earliest to meet medical expenditures. Since the NOCs are not issued, they are unable to do the same.

Chint Singh of Tung Pai area on Majitha Road said he sold off a 60-square yard house and took an advance of Rs one lakh for the same. His sole aim was to arrange for the marriage expenses of his daughter.

“In the meantime, the process of issuing NOCs was stopped and the entire sale-purchase of properties came to a standstill,” he added.

He said he had to take the advance amount on interest from others as his property buyer was demanding his money back.

The move came as a relief to plot holders like him but delay in issuing of notification was keeping them on tenterhooks, he added.

Earlier, the impact of not issuing NOCs was negative on the earnings of the Revenue Department.

Sources in the Revenue Department said the number of registries per day had plummeted from over 200 to 30.

Nearly 250 properties were being registered in sections I and II of the Revenue Department every day before July last year.

The biggest setback is to the property dealers who are finding their investments locked while there are no signs of property surge in the sluggish market.

Punjab Majha Zone Property Dealers Association has announced indefinite hunger strike October 26 to impress upon the government to issue notification. The government incurs revenue losses while many people are not able to sell off their properties. Besides, several instances of fake NOCs have also been reported and unscrupulous elements were cheating gullible persons desperate to get NOCs.

According to the regularisation policy defined last year, the deadline was to end on October 7, 45 days after the notification of the policy. The government extended the deadline for facilitating the regularisation of properties several times.

The deadline was now extended for the fifth time. However, those who were left out of this arrangement had been pleading to the government to extend the deadline further. In the district, the Municipal Town Planning Department of the Municipal Corporation is collecting the regularisation fee from the public residing in its jurisdiction and the Amritsar Development Authority (ADA) is doing so from the residents in the rest of the district.

There are more than 405 illegal localities in the city. Of these, 242 colonies are under the Municipal Corporation and 167 under the ADA.

According to the Act, the composition fee for the regularisation of the unauthorised colonies, constructed before August 17, 2007, is 0.5 per cent of the collector rate as on April 1, 2013, subject to a minimum of Rs 25,000 and a maximum Rs 1 lakh per acre. For unauthorised colonies constructed after August 17, 2007, the fee is 2 per cent of the collector rate, subject to a minimum of Rs 1 lakh and a maximum Rs 5 lakh per acre.

Amritsar, October 25
The city police today cane-charged a group of Muslim community members who blocked the traffic at the busy Bhandari Bridge for more than half an hour to lodge their protest against holding up of an event by a rival group on the premises of a graveyard located on Sultanwind Road.

The police have arrested three persons identified as Manik Ali, Shahi Alam and Mohammad Feroz. Both the groups had reportedly clashed over the issue last evening.

A police official said both the groups were fighting a legal battle for the occupation of the land on the graveyard premises and the matter was pending in the court.

At present, the complex is under the occupation of Jalaludin, head of Intezamia Committee, Idgah. However, All Muslim Welfare Society leader Manik Ali wanted to carry out some construction work.

A function is scheduled to be held on October 26 while the Manik Ali’s group was opposing the event. The group today blocked the traffic at Bhandari Bridge leading to severe chaos.

The police initially tried to pacify them and persuaded them to allow the movement of traffic. The agitators allegedly entered into a verbal dual with the commuters. The police officials said the Police Department and the administration could do nothing in the case as the matter was pending in the court.

When the group members remained adamant to continue their protest, the police had to use force to disperse them.

The police have registered a case at the Civil Lines police station in this regard.

Amritsar, October 25
A police party from the Division C police station headed by SHO Kulwinder Singh was attacked when it raided a house in the Noori Mohalla area for arresting a proclaimed offender here today.

The family members of the accused identified as Bau, who was wanted in half a dozen criminal cases, and other residents of the area allegedly resisted the police attempt and pelted them with stones.

They alleged that a police vehicle crushed three members of Bau’s family in their attempt to arrest him. They also gheraoed the Division C police station and held demonstration against the Police Department for their alleged highhandedness.

They allegedly broke windowpanes of a police vehicle and blocked the road.

Senior police officials later reached the police station and pacified the agitators. They took the injured to the hospital and assured appropriate action against the policemen responsible for injuring the victims.

Parampal Singh, ADCP (City-I) said the C-division police got a tip off that Bau had come to his residence. He has been on the run for the last couple of months. He was wanted in more than half a dozen cases of robbery, attempt to murder, dacoity and drug peddling.

He said the police team headed by SHO raided his residence. As soon as the police arrested him, his family members resisted the move and came in front of the police vehicle, which injured them.

Amritsar, October 25
The residents of the city are irked at the installation of odd size speed-breakers by the district administration in various residential areas of the city, including Green Avenue and Ranjit Avenue.

Kamal Dalmia, a resident of Green Avenue, said, “It is indeed bothersome to drive on these speed-breakers as they cause accidents, vehicle break down and also have an adverse impact on the body, especially on the spine.”

Gurpal Singh, an architect, said, “People are not at fault if they use lanes between localities as shortcuts as long as they are following traffic rules.” He said installing of oversized speed-breakers should be checked by the government.

Though many city roads, including the ones in posh colonies like Rani Ka Bagh, Anand Avenue, Ranjit Avenue, Kennedy Avenue etc, look presentable due to the work done in the recent past, the speed breakers on them are awful and a potential safety hazard, said Vinod Kumar.

Most of them are like a camel’s hump, built haphazardly without skill or sense. As a result the commuters have to daily bear a bumpy ride to office or home.

The Amritsar Municipal Corporation should solve the problem as soon as possible to ensure safety and comfort of residents. At many places speed-breakers were found uprooted and damaged. It seemed what irked the people were these dilapidated humps, which made their daily journey tiresome.

When contacted, Bakshi Ram Arora, mayor of the Municipal Corporation, said there was no doubt that these speed-breakers were odd, damaged vehicles and were also a health hazard. He said the cost involved in constructing speed-breaker was high. “A per feet of pre-fabricated speed breaker costs about Rs 200,” added the mayor.

Arora said the Amritsar Improvement Trust was installing these speed-breakers on the request of area councillors. These speed- breakers needed to be replaced with more relevant and practical ones, he added.

Amritsar, October 25
Heaps of garbage can be seen at various places on roads near the Golden Temple. The state government had declared recent the inauguration of the entrance to the Golden Temple plaza as a landmark effort for the beautification of the surroundings of the holy shrine.

On a visit to the entrance plaza, garbage was seen piled up on the road leading to the entrance of the plaza through Katra Ahluwalia. Another heap could be spotted near Papra Wala Bazaar.

Shopkeepers and visitors to the holy shrine said the government should make efforts to rid the surroundings of the Golden Temple of the garbage problem.

A visitor to the Golden Temple, Kewal Singh, said, “No doubt the entrance plaza has imparted a beautiful look to the holy place, but when on entering through Katra Ahluwalia, one has to pass by garbage heap emitting smell.”

The problem of garbage heaps is not confined to the surroundings of the Golden Temple. Piles of trash can be seen at almost every nook and corner of the city as departments concerned seem unable to ensure proper lifting of the garbage.

The road outside Bebe Nanki Mother and Child Care Centre seems to be a favourite spot for the people to dump garbage. Another large heap can be seen near Bhadar Kali Mandir at Gate Khazana.

Local residents said political leaders had left no stone unturned to get them photographed with brooms when the Prime Minister had launched the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan.

Another city resident said, “The Prime Minister did not want leaders to forget the task of Swacch Bharat so soon. Officials and leaders must fulfil their duty and try to make this city a swacch city.”

The residents demanded that garbage should lifted on a regular basis. 

Amritsar, October 25
The joint forum constituted by four communist parties, including the CPI, CPI (M), CPM, CPI (ML) Liberation, carried out a jatha march here today. The forum was demanding abolition of property tax, enhancement in old-age pension, raising the minimum wages of labour class people etc.

The march, which started from Jallianwala Bagh, passed through various bazaars of the city. Members of the forum raised slogans against the government. Leaders of communist parties paid rich tributes at the historic Jallianwala Bagh. The jatha marched towards Jhabal area after passing through Patahpur, Ibban, Bohru, Khairdeenke and Thatha village.

The march was a part of the series of agitations being organised in various parts of the state from October 25 to 30. Four marches commenced from four historic places — Jallianwala Bagh, Hussainiwala, Khatkar Kalan and Sunam — in the state today. These marches would pass through various bazaars, villages, towns and cities of their respective regions. A state-level rally would also be organised at Ludhiana on October 28.

Speaking on the occasion, leaders of various parties criticised the SAD-BJP government for its indifferent attitude towards the genuine demands of the people. They said there was a need to strengthen the public sector by parting off with the policies of privatisation and liberalisation adopted by the consecutive governments in the state as well as the Centre.

Among the prominent leaders, who participated in the march, include Harbhajan Singh and Bhupinder Sambar of the CPI, Vijay Mishra and Amrik Singh of the CPI (M), Dr Satnam Singh Ajnala and Rattan Singh Randhawa from the CPM, Gumrit Singh Bakhtupura and Sukhdev Singh of the CPI (ML) Liberation.

While addressing the gathering they said the government should strengthen the public distributor system. They sought Rs 15,000 per month income for unskilled workers, monthly pension of Rs 3,000 for old-age persons and implementation of the Swaminathan report to bring out farmers from vicious debt trap etc.

Amritsar, October 25
The National Students’ Federation (NSF), a students’ organisation, has demanded action against the staff of Government Nursing College for misplacing detailed marks certificates (DMCs) of the third year students.

The students’ body alleged that the college staff was demanding Rs 800 per student on the pretext of sending late fee to the university for procuring the DMC. NSF president Rajbir Singh said by demanding Rs 800, the college staff was trying to cover up their act of negligence.

He said officials of the university had already sent DMCs to the college, which had been lost by the staff concerned. “The detailed marks certificates of the fourth semester nursing students of 2011-15 batch have gone missing from the college,” alleged Rajbir.

He said action should be taken against the staff of the nursing college. Asking students to pay Rs 800 was unjustified, he added. 

Amritsar, October 25
The Islamabad police have booked Sher Singh Sodhi and his supporters on charges of attempt to murder and the Arms Act in connection with yesterday’s firing incident involving two Nihang groups at Railway B-block during the Bandi Chhor Divas celebrations.

Besides Sher Singh, among others who were booked include his two sons, Ajit Singh and Bhupinder Singh, Pritam Singh, Lal Singh, Dalbir Singh, Baldev Singh, Hari Singh, Ninder Singh and around 10 unidentified persons.

A case under Sections 307, 148, 149 of the IPC and 25/27/54/59 of the Arms Act has been registered against them. Out of those booked, Sher Singh, Pritam Singh, Ajit Singh, Bhupinder Singh, his son Lal Singh, and Dalbir Singh were arrested, said Parampal Singh, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (City-I).

The police have registered the case on the statement of one of the injured, identified as Amrik Singh of Dera Baba Jivan Singh, Tarna Dal, Ludhiana. In his complaint he stated to the police that they had come to Amritsar to celebrate Bandi Chhor Divas under the leadership of Baba Major Singh. Yesterday, horse riding competitions were organised at Railway B-Block ground. He said after the completion of the competition, the accused Lal Singh and other started firing at them in which six of them were injured. He said Baba Sher Singh was opposing the elevation of Baba Major Singh as head of the dera, which was the reason behind the clash.

After the demise of dera head Baba Balkar Singh, his wife made Baba Major Singh as head of the dera. However, Baba Sher Singh said Baba Balkar Singh had made him the head of the sect.

Meanwhile the condition of Bir Singh, who was admitted to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital with bullet wounds, continues to be serious. Amrik Singh, SHO of the Islamabad police station, said he suffered bullet injury just beneath his ribs. According to doctors he was still not out of danger. — TNS

Amritsar, October 25
Gurmeet Singh (30), a resident of Abdal Sohi village coming under Kathunangal police station in Amritsar rural area, was found murdered in a field late last night.

His body bore injury marks made by sharp-edged weapons. The police have registered a case under Sections 302 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code against unidentified culprits.

Kishan Singh, father of the deceased, in his complaint submitted with the police stated that his son Gurmeet Singh used to work as a driver and had come home for the Diwali festival.

Kishan Singh said yesterday, his son received a call from unknown persons and he went out of the house but did not return.

He said a search was launched to find his son when he failed to return. His body was found late last night in the fields owned by Daya Singh.

The police authorities said investigations were in progress and call details of the deceased’s mobile phone were being scrutinised to find clues.