The Tribune – Rules may have been bent to allot plot to Langah’s society

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, October 24. There may be further trouble for Sucha Singh Langah, president of the Gurdaspur district unit of the SAD, who is already facing a controversy over being allocated grants by his Cabinet colleagues for his family-managed institutions when he was Cabinet Minister during 2007-2012.

Sources say he was allotted a plot measuring 5,300 square yards by the Gurdaspur Improvement Trust in 2010 in the posh IT (Scheme No 1) Colony at the 1999 rate (Rs 45 lakh).The plot was allotted in the name of Guru Gobind Singh Khalsa College Society run by the minister and his family members in an auction.The amount was to be paid in instalments but when the society failed to do so, the Improvement Trust recommended that the plot be re-auctioned so that it could fetch a higher price.

However, for some inexplicable reason, in February 2010 the civic body re-allotted the plot to Langah’s society at the 1999 auction price of Rs 45 lakh. Going by conservative estimates, the plot’s present value is Rs 10 crore. When the society successfully bid for the piece of land in 1999, it had no experience of running an educational institution (a mandatory condition).

After Langah’s arrest in 2002 following a Vigilance probe, the society defaulted in paying instalments and the plot was cancelled. But after the SAD-BJP alliance returned to power in 2007, the former minister approached an arbitrator following which the plot was re-allotted to the society in 2010.

Rules clearly state that an educational institution must be set up within three years of land allotment.

However, with just four months to go before the deadline expires, there is no sign of a building coming up on the land.

Langah could not be contacted despite repeated attempts. The then Gurdaspur Improvement Trust Chairman Ravinder Verma claimed that nothing wrong had been done.

Dera Baba Nanak MLA Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa demanded a CBI probe into the matter. “I do not have faith in the state Vigilance Bureau which is directly controlled by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and Langah’s proximity to Badal is well-known. I want the CBI to go into the sequence of events leading to the bungling. The Improvement Trust authorities should also be pulled up because their officials seem to have bent rules to favour Langah,” he said.

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2012/20121025/punjab.htm#1

The Tribune – Gurdaspur on alert as radicals plan protest

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, June 19. Barely 24 hours before the scheduled protest march by Sikh radicals against police “inaction” against those responsible for the death of 20-year-old engineering student Jaspal Singh in police firing here on March 29, the the entire district has been put on alert.

Security has been tightened. Ravcharan Singh Brar, SSP, and Deputy Commissioner Abhinav Trikha are monitoring the situation even as a three-tier security apparatus has been put in place.

Former Khalistan Commando Force chief Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, will not participate in the protest. He was taken into preventive custody just before violence rocked the city in March this year.

What is unnerving the police are intelligence reports that suggest that known Sikh radicals may join the protest march from the victim’s native village Chor Sidhwan to the DC’s office in the heart of the town. Those likely to be part of the protest are Simranjit Singh Mann, SAD (Amritsar) chief, Daljit Singh, SAD (Panch Pardhani), Harcharanjit Singh Dhammi, Dal Khalsa chief, Lakhwinder Singh of the Damdami Taksal, Baljit Singh Daduwal and Ram Singh Sangrawa.

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The Tribune – Experts to study water-logging: Ashwani

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, June 5. The Planning Commission has set up a high-level expert group under its member Mihar Shah to study the problem of water-logging in Punjab and suggest remedial measures. Minister of State for Planning, Ashwani Kumar said today that the group had been set up since the 12th Plan envisaged to bring about 20 per cent efficiency in the use of water in the country over the next five years.

The areas selected for the study include Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Fazilka, Muktsar and Bathinda. There are reports that at least four lakh acres of land in the state is critically waterlogged due to the rise in the water table (within 2 metres of land surface in some parts).

The 11-member group includes former Planning Commission member Dr Vaidyanathan, Dr Tushar Shah, Senior Fellow, International Water Management Institute, and Prof Karan Singh of Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana.

The minister said he had repeatedly drawn the government’s attention to reviewing water management in Punjab along with related initiatives such as rainwater harvesting and crop diversification.

He said the group would offer suggestions, including avenues for resource mobilisation to implement policy initiatives.

The government would need to find a solution to this critical problem in the border state of Punjab, the country’s food bowl.

The minister said he had also constituted a team to hold a field study in Fatehgarh Churian and Dinanagar in Gurdaspur to identify projects for social and physical infrastructure in border areas.

The team was expected to start work this month, in consultation with the local administration and people’s representatives, the minister added.

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The Tribune – Zaffarwal to stay away from protest rally

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, May 27. Former Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) chief Wassan Singh Zaffarwal made it clear today that he would stay away from the protest rally to be organised by Sikh organisations here tomorrow against the failure of the police to arrest those responsible for Jaspal Singh’s death who was killed in police firing on March 29.

The BKI chief was taken into preventive custody just before violence rocked the city in the last week of March following which curfew had to be clamped in the town.

Zaffarwal claimed only members of the deceased’s family would assemble at Kahnuwan Chowk tomorrow from where they would proceed to the Deputy Commissioner’s (DC) office to hand over a memorandum. But the police is leaving nothing to chance. R S Brar, SSP, today led a flag march in the town.

Seeking a CBI probe, Gurcharanjit Singh, Jaspal’s father, said he did not believe in the two inquiries being held to ascertain the cause of his son’s death.

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The Tribune – Gurdaspur a fortress ahead of protest by radicals tomorrow

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, May 26. The police has stepped up vigil in the town two days ahead of the radical Sikh leaders’ protest march against police’s “inaction” in a case involving engineering student Jaspal Singh’s death in police firing.

Violence rocked the city in March in the aftermath of Balwant Singh Rajoana’s conviction in the ex-CM Beant Singh’s murder.

Curfew was imposed in the town to restore order in the city.

Many Sikh outfits have announced that they will assemble at the busy Kahnuwan Chowk in the heart of the town, which remained a hotbed of militancy late in the eighties, on May 28. The presence of former Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) chief Wassan Singh Zaffarwal, chief of the Damdami Taksal Harnam Singh Dhuma and SGPC member Baldev Singh Sirsa in the city in the recent past set alarm bells ringing in the police circles.

Senior Superintendent of Police RS Brar said an elaborate two-tier security cover has been put in place and the town has been sealed. The police is also keeping a close watch on known radical groups and is trying to ensure that hardliners stayed away from May 28 rally.

Over two dozen strategic points have been identified for round-the-clock surveillance. The SSP is monitoring the situation.

Senior Police officers and SAD MLA Gurbachan Singh Babbehali are working in tandem to ensure that peace prevails in the town.

The radicals have demanded that all the 16 members of the Hindu Shiv Sena against whom a case was registered be arrested.

However, a local court yesterday granted bail to all the accused.

Two inquiries are being held into the death of the student — one by a Special Investigating Team under DIG (Border range) Ram Singh and the other by the Commissioner (Jalandhar Division).

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The Tribune – Man gets death penalty for killing pregnant wife

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, May 5. District and Sessions Judge Kewal Krishan Garg today awarded capital punishment to Satish Kumar, a resident of Kotli Raulan village of this district, for having burnt his eight-month pregnant wife to death following an argument in November 2009.

He observed: “On November 13, 2009, the day of incident, the accused returned from work at noon and was served with meal by his wife. Instead of feeling obliged to her for providing him food, he did the most heinous act by pouring kerosene oil on her and setting her ablaze, which resulted not only in her death but also of the foetus she was carrying. There is no mitigating circumstance in favour of the accused. Thus, the act of the barbarity committed by the accused makes it a rarest of the rare case where only capital punishment is to be given”.

Criticising people and groups advocating abolition of death penalty, he said: “It may be added some groups have been advocating abolition of the capital punishment. It seems that the persons leading these groups are living in ivory towers and have never been touched by such crimes committed on the ordinary citizens. The victim is not there to tell the agony of pain he or she suffers. In the present case, there is no other alternative but to award the above proposed punishment”.

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The Tribune – One death, two probes and a lot of confusion

Engeneering student Jaspal was killed in police firing on March 29

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, May 2. Two inquiries initiated by the state government into the death of Jaspal Singh, a young engineering student, on March 29 have left local residents confused on the validity of either.

Under pressure from a section of Sikh clergy, the government had initiated two probes – one by a special investigation team (SIT) led by DIG (Border range) Ram Singh and the other by the Commissioner, Jalandhar Division, Anurag Verma.

“Most witnesses in the two probes being the same, the contents of both the inquiry reports are expected to be the same.

There can be a serious problem if there are conflicting reports,” said a senior police officer.

The SIT, which has Taran Tarn SSP Manminder Singh and Jasdeep Singh, SP (Headquarters), Amritsar (Rural), as members, has sent the bullet recovered from Jaspal’s body to the government forensic science laboratory at Mohali.

Ram Singh said the father of the deceased, Gurcharanjit Singh, as well as Ranjit Singh, who had suffered bullet injuries, were key witnesses but the police had yet to record their statements.

“Jaspal’s father will appear before the SIT on May 3 to have his statement recorded,” the DIG said. Senior officers, pleading anonymity, claimed that the then SSP Varinder Pal Singh, who had been suspended, was being made a scapegoat.

They said he had “only acted on instructions of the executive magistrate who had issued written orders to open fire at the crowds.”

Sources said the weapon from which shots had been fired had not been sent to the forensic laboratory. Meanwhile, DIG Ram Singh clarified that the SIT was only ‘looking’ into the sequence of events that had led to violence in the town on March 29.

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The Tribune – Curfew relaxed, Gurdaspur limps back to normalcy

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, April 1. Partial normalcy was restored in the town today after the security forces relaxed the curfew for 10 hours in two phases. The paramilitary forces and the police have been regularly patrolling the streets to instill confidence among the residents.

It was on Thursday that the curfew was clamped on the town following clashes between two communities. An 18-year-old youth, Jaspal Singh, was killed as the police opened fire to “disperse” the mob.

The death resulted in the suspension of Gurdaspur Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Varinder Pal Singh and Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Manpreet Singh whereas Deputy Commissioner Mohinder Singh Kainth was transferred elsewhere.

Also, a case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code was registered against DSP Manpreet Singh who had led the police party which resorted to firing. The government orders came as the victim’s relatives refused to cremate the body until action was taken against the “guilty” officials.

The action is also being attributed to sustained pressure put up by Akal Takht Jathedar Giani Gurbachan Singh, Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma, former Akal Takht Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode and other members of the Sikh clergy who had been camping at the deceased’s native village Chour Sidhwan since Friday. Both the SSP and the DC, who left for Chandigarh today, refused to comment on their respective exits.

Kainth found himself cold-shouldered when he was handed over his transfer orders even though he had played a key role in brokering peace between the two communities.

On the other hand, the decision to suspend the district police chief has been criticised by the junior police officials who claimed the SSP had no direct role as far as the imposition of curfew was concerned. He has been told to report to the Chief Secretary, who would decide his next place of posting.

Sources said the SSP too had to pay the price for the “covert actions of politicians at whose behest the situation had turned from bad to worse on Thursday”.

Later, she also visited Pandher village, the native place of Ranjit Singh who was seriously injured in the firing. He is recuperating at the Amritsar Civil Hospital where his condition was stated to be stable.

Pathankot Deputy Commissioner Siben. C, who is also holding the charge of Gurdaspur, said a meeting of the Peace Coordination Committee would be held tonight where a decision would be taken on whether to lift the curfew completely tomorrow or to relax it in phases.

Gurbachan Singh led the negotiations with the state government on behalf of the deceased’s family. He had threatened that he would resign as Akal Takht chief if no action was taken against the erring officials.

The DC’s transfer has come as a surprise to many as his role did not come under the scanner in the deliberations between the representatives of the Sikh bodies and the government.

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The Tribune – Gurdaspur violence; SSP suspended, DC transferred

Ravi Dhaliwal, Tribune News Service

Gurdaspur, March 31. The government today transferred Gurdaspur Deputy Commissioner Mohinder Singh Kainth and suspended SSP Varinder Pal Singh for negligence of duty due to which an indefinite curfew had to be imposed in the city.

The action is the fallout of the death of 18-year-old engineering student Jaspal Singh in police firing on Thursday following which an indefinite curfew was clamped in the city. A case under section 302 of the IPC has also been registered against DSP Manpreet Singh who had led the police party which resorted to firing.

Another youth Ranjit Singh, who was seriously injured in the firing, is getting treatment at the Civil Hospital, Amritsar.

The action has come in the wake of sustained pressure put up by Akal Takht Jathedar Gurbachan Singh, Damdami Taksal chief Baba Harnam Singh Dhumma, former Akal Takht Jathedar Jasbir Singh Rode and other members of the Sikh clergy who had been camping at the deceased’s native village Chour Sidhwan since yesterday.

Gurbachan Singh led the negotiations with the state government on behalf of the deceased’s family. He had threatened that he would resign as Akal Takht chief if no action was taken against the erring officials.

The DC’s transfer has come as a surprise to many as his role did not come under the scanner in the deliberations between the representatives of the Sikh bodies and the government.

Sources reveal that the state government yielded to the pressure built up by members of the clergy. A fax was received in the office of the Deputy Commissioner, who was the main negotiator on behalf of the government, this evening which was brought to Jaspal Singh’s village by Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) Tejinder Pal Singh.

The cremation of Jaspal Singh, which was postponed as negotiations between the Sikh leaders and the DC went on throughout the day, was held this evening after the impasse was broken when the government issued the orders.

The decision to suspend the district police chief has led to resentment among junior officers who, preferring anonymity, claimed that “the SSP had no direct role as far as the imposition of curfew was concerned.”

“The law and order situation deteriorated due to the nefarious designs of some middle-rung politicians and the SSP has been blamed for it,” claimed a senior officer.

Earlier, the curfew was relaxed for two hours from 6.30 am to 8.30 am to enable the locals to buy essential commodities, but a majority of the residents remained unaware about the respite as the district administration failed to timely inform the people about the relaxation.

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The Tribune – Army jawan’s widow wins battle that he couldn’t

Vijay Mohan, Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, March 11. About 49 years after her husband was discharged from the Army and nine years after he passed away, the widow of an Army jawan has been sanctioned family pension even though her husband never got his post-retirement benefits.

It was only after the death of Sep Gurdayal, an Army Ordnance Corps reservist from Gurdaspur, in 2003, that his widow Piaro, took up the case afresh with the Army authorities and the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts (Pensions) for the grant of reservist and family pension. Gurdayal had taken up the case for his pension earlier, but to no avail.

The sanction of pension came without the family members having to seek judicial intervention. It was largely through the efforts of a serving colonel posted in the Western Sector, who assisted the family with paperwork and procedural matters, that the widow got her benefits.

Besides getting a pension of Rs 6,000 per month in accordance with current Pay Commission rates, she has also got arrears of pension since 1963, when her husband was discharged. The reservist pension at that time was just Rs 10 per month.

According to a letter written by the Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) Record to the Principal Controller of Defence Accounts, Gurdayal was enrolled in the AOC in June 1947, when he was only 15 years old.

His service with the Regular AOC was extended till July 1958, following which he was transferred to the reservist establishment.

In 1963, he was invalided out of service on medical grounds.

His total service, including boy service when he did not complete 16 years of age, worked out to be 15 years and 213 days.

According to Defence Ministry regulations issued in 2002, boy service is to be counted towards fixing pensionary benefits.

The fight after service

Sep Gurdayal, Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) reservist from Gurdaspur, was enrolled in the AOC Record in June 1947 at the age of 15 years

His service with the Regular AOC was extended till July 1958

He was later transferred to the reservist establishment

In 1963, he was rendered invalid on medical grounds

He applied for pension, but to no avail

After his death in 2003, his widow took up the case afresh

She has been sanctioned a pension of Rs 6,000 pm, besides arrears since 1963

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