Rs 26-cr mine: I-T returns belie cook’s hefty bid
AAP questions how he did it with annual income of Rs 90,000
Vishav Bharti
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 27
The income tax returns (2015-16) filed by Power Minister Rana Gurjit Singh’s cook Amit Bahadur – who bagged a Rs 26-crore contract for a mine during the recent e-auction – show that he had an annual income of Rs 92,680.As per documents submitted by him to the Department of Commerce and Industry when he took part in the bidding, he had a bank balance of Rs 4,840 till last month.At a press conference here today, AAP MLA Sukhpal Khaira said Bahadur’s I-T returns for the past three years showed that his annual income had remained below Rs 1 lakh. He said Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh should explain how a low-paid employee was able to bag a mine worth Rs 26 crore.“The case demands a thorough investigation of the money trail. I’m sure it will be linked to Rana Gurjit,” he alleged. Khaira said he would send a complaint to the Income Tax Department.Four employees of Rana Sugars had bagged mining contracts — Amit Bahadur (Saidpur Khurd quarry in Nawanshahr, Rs 26.51 crore); Deputy General Manager Kulwinder Paul Singh (Mehadipur quarry, Rs 9.21 crore); Gurinder Singh (Rampur Kalan quarry in Mohali, Rs 4.11 crore); and Balraj Singh (Bairsal quarry, Rs 10.58 crore). Balraj had later opted out.
Oust Rana Gurjit: Gandhi
Patiala: MP Dr Dharamvira Gandhi has demanded Rana Gurjit’s ouster for his alleged involvement in capturing sand mines through financial impropriety and illegal means.
Advocate serves notice on CMHigh Court advocate HC Arora has served a notice on CM Capt Amarinder Singh and Additional Chief Secretary, Commerce and Industry, DP Reddy over the alleged ‘benami’ transactions and money laundering in the mine auction. He said it should be probed whether the money deposited by four successful bidders belonged to Rana Gurjit Singh or Capt JS Randhawa, the minister’s election manager in the Assembly poll.
Audit of MCs to start in a fortnight: Sidhu
Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu with Congress MLA Bharat Bhushan Ashu (second from left) in Ludhiana on Saturday. Tribune photoShivani Bhakoo
Tribune News Service
Ludhiana, May 27
Minister for Local Bodies Navjot Singh Sidhu has said that the technical and social audit of the municipal corporations will begin in the next 15 days.In the city to witness sewer cleaning work here today, he said 166 municipal corporations and councils were in debt. The funds generated, spent, works executed – everything will be audited for which four companies had shown interest. The audit will be done in five MCs – Ludhiana, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Patiala and Bathinda.No compromises will be made for maintaining the
cleanliness in the cities of the state and the best names in the business are being contacted. “They will have to perform to sustain since our aim is to make the state garbage free in the next few months,” he said.Watching the choked sewer pipes through specialised equipment, Sidhu said there was 95 per cent blockage since the sewers had not been cleaned for the past several years.“The masses are suffering as they are being provided with contaminated water due to choked sewers. It is a problem in Jalandhar, Amritsar and Patiala also. Erring officials won’t be spared,” Sidhu warned.After the MC elections, the focus will be on generating revenue, collection of taxes. “Almost all MCs are battling a financial crunch. The focus of staff/officials has never been on recovery of arrears for many years,” he said.
Capt orders intensification of drive against illegally plying vehicles
Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh. Tribune fileTribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 27
Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has directed the Transport Department to intensify its campaign against unauthorised vehicles plying across the state and take strict action against violators.The Chief Minister has instructed the department to ensure strict enforcement of the Motor Vehicle Act rules by intensifying checking of vehicles, especially buses, goods vehicles, tractor trolleys, etc, an official spokesperson said here on Saturday.Making it clear that no laxity would be allowed on this count, the Chief Minister has further asked the department to ensure stringent enforcement of the rules and regulations and not to spare anyone found guilty of violation.Acting on the Chief Minister’s orders, the Transport Department has sent out a communiqué to all Regional Transport Authorities and District Transport Officers to make sure that the time-table of each bus, along with its permit and tax-compliance proof, is checked meticulously by the enforcement teams on the ground. The officers have also been ordered to submit a comprehensive daily report to the office of the STC.Besides ordering strict action against tractor-trolleys plying illegally for commercial purposes in gross violation of existing rules, the Department has issued directions for efficacious checking to put a stop to the dangerous practice of overloading of vehicles.The Chief Minister’s directions have come in response to reports of continuing transport violations, resulting in lawlessness and fatal accidents on the roads. While a new Transport Policy is being worked on by the government, Capt Amarinder Singh has asked the Department to pull up its socks to ensure strict compliance with the existing rules and regulations to ensure safety on the roads.
Punjab DGP Suresh Arora, adviser Chahal, OSD Sekhon to attend KPS Gill’s cremation
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 27
Punjab Police will present a guard of honour as a mark of homage to former DGP KPS Gill during his last rites in Delhi on Sunday afternoon.The ex-DGP, who passed away on Friday, will be cremated at Delhi’s Lodhi Garden crematorium on Sunday, The last rites will be performed with full police honours jointly by the CRPF, Delhi Police and Punjab Police, an official spokesperson said here.DGP Suresh Arora will lead Punjab Police in paying their respects to Gill, who is credited with eliminating terrorism from the state and restoring peace.Bharat Inder Singh Chahal, Adviser to the Chief Minister, will represent the Punjab government at the cremation, the spokesperson said, adding that CM’s OSD Karanpal Sekhon would lay a wreath on behalf of Capt Amarinder Singh.Recalling his invaluable contribution to bringing peace back to the state from the grip of militancy, Capt Amarinder, in his condolence message on Friday, had said Gill’s role in restoring peace and stability to Punjab could not be undermined or forgotten, and he continued to be emulated by police and security personnel around the country, as an example of how the most complex of problems could be resolved with grit and determination.
Amarinder speaks to Rajasthan CM over assault on four Sikhs in Ajmer
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, May 27
Taking a serious view of the reported assault on four Sikh men in Ajmer, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh on Friday spoke to his Rajasthan counterpart, Vasundhara Raje Scindia, to seek her intervention in ensuring a thorough probe into the incident of mob violence and stringent action against the constable alleged to have abetted the crowd.Amarinder also urged the Rajasthan Chief Minister to direct the police to take immediate steps to prevent recurrence of such incidents, which could escalate if not curbed through strong and prompt action by the police. Describing the reported incident as unfortunate, Amarinder said the Rajasthan government needed to fix culpability and ensure that the culprits were punished.The Chief Minister expressed concern over the fact that the incident, which reportedly took place in April, was being given a communal hue, as per media reports. He expressed shock that the incident did not come to the notice of the local police till a video surfaced on the social media showing the mob drag the four Sikhs out of a Bolera SUV and thrash them.Amarinder said he was shocked at reports of a constable, who reached the spot, not only failing to save the victims but in fact found instigating the crowd to “teach them a lesson”. He urged the Rajasthan Chief Minister to ensure an inquiry into the charges and action against the cop, if found guilty.The four victims were sevadars from an Alwar gurdwara and had stopped at Rajgarh village for langar and alms.
Two held for assault on R’sthan Sikhs
Tribune Reporters
New Delhi/Chandigarh, May 27The Ajmer police in Rajasthan have arrested four persons for the assault on four Sikh ‘sewadars’ at Chainpura village of the district last month.Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC) general secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said an FIR had been registered at Naziraband police station against seven persons.Sirsa said the information was conveyed to him by Ajmer SSP Rajinder Singh, who had also assured him that the other accused would be arrested soon.A video showing Nirmal Singh, Kuldip Singh, Harpal Singh and Malkeet Singh being thrashed had gone viral recently.Meanwhile, Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh today spoke to his Rajasthan counterpart, Vasundhara Raje, seeking her intervention in the case. The CM sought a thorough probe into the incident and stringent action against the constable who allegedly instigated people to attack the Sikhs.He added that even though the Rajasthan State Minorities Commission had taken cognisance of the video clip and sought a police report, a “strong signal” needed to be sent by the state government to the perpetrators of the violence. The CM said the incident was highly condemnable as the victims were ‘sewadars’ who had stopped at Rajgarh village in Ajmer district to collect alms. Such intolerance has no place in a civilised society and any attempt to create communal strife should be nipped in the bud, he added.
Will never do charity again: Sikh man assaulted by mob
Says he will never try to help anyone the rest of his life
Two of my acquaintances are engaged in charitable work for an organisation called Annakshetra. We went to the village to collect rice to serve to the poor. We didn’t ask for money NIRMAL SINGH, a victim
JAIPUR: ‘Charity is a coat you wear twice a year’, says the lyrics of Praying for Time, a famous 1990 song written and performed by George Michael.
But for Nirmal Singh, once was enough. The 54-year-old’s only tryst with charity ended in such a nightmarish way that he feels that he will never try to help anyone in the rest of his life.
“We begged and pleaded but they continued to thrash us mercilessly. We simply couldn’t understand why the villagers were assaulting us, though we had gone there to collect alms for a charitable organization,” Singh Told HT.
Singh was one of the four Sikh men who were assaulted by a mob at Chainpura village in Ajmer district of Rajasthan on April 24. The matter came to light when a video of the act went viral on the social media, causing national outrage.
An electronic equipment repairman and a father of four children, Singh had gone to the village to collect donations.
“Two of my acquaintances, Harpal and Kuldip Singh, are engaged in charitable work for an organisation called Annakshetra. We went to the village to collect rice from households for being served to the poor.
As a general rule, we didn’t ask for money,” he said. Singh still can’t grasp how the behaviour of the villagers changed drastically.
“During the first few days, the villagers were very helpful and we collected a substantial amount of rice. But suddenly on day 3, we noticed that the general mood was different after going to Chainpura,” said Singh.
The men were waylaid by the mob that started abusing them before they were thrashed.
“We heard one of the policemen telling the mob not to hit us on the face and asked them to hit us elsewhere in the body. By the time the cops came and took us to the police station, we were severely injured,” said Singh.
He says his faith in charity has faltered after the incident.
“I will never ever try to do charity again. We went to do good to people but what has come out of it? Scriptures tell us to help people; the reality is contrastingly different,” Singh said.
Singh’s family members say they feared the worst when they came to know about the incident.
“We won’t let my father go for charitable work anymore. Once he came back from Ajmer, we were shocked to see his injuries and still fail to understand why would someone try to assault an elderly person trying to help people,” said Goldy Singh, his son.
Men of liquor contractors put up ‘nakas’
Kurali SHO admits ‘lapse’, Mohali SSP says he has ordered a probe into the matter
An illegal naka reportedly put up by liquor contractors’ men on the Chandigarh-Kurali road
Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service
Baraudi (Kurali) May 27
Henchmen of Punjab’s powerful liquor lobby have begun harassing commuters, raising ‘nakas’ on Chandigarh’s periphery on the pretext of checking the smuggling of liquor. The Punjab Police have chosen to turn a blind eye to these ‘nakas’. Worse, police officials have been using vehicles of contractors for this unlawful activity.At one such ‘naka’ near the Baraudi Toll Plaza on the Chandigarh-Kurali road on Thursday, musclemen in blue jeans and T-shirts stopped vehicles coming from Chandigarh and searched these thoroughly even as a team of three or four policemen headed by ‘Havildar’ Hardarshan Singh looked on.This correspondent too was asked to open the boot of his car. Asked if they were employees of the Punjab Police or the Excise Department, they replied in the negative. Asked to show their identity cards or a letter from a competent authority for checking vehicles, one of the youths reluctantly admitted they were employees of local liquor contractors and that they had neither ID cards nor an authority letter.A youth claimed a case of beer found in one of the intercepted vehicles had been “confiscated.” Sukhwinder Singh, who was on his way to Jalandhar with his family, complained he was forced to open the bags in his car boot.Kurali SHO Bharat Bhushan said he was not aware of any such frisking, but a “preliminary probe has revealed that policemen and officials of liquor contractor Sunny Gill put up a naka on their own. I have pulled up my men. They have been told to act only on written orders and that protection may be given to excise and taxation officials, not to any private person such as an employee of a contractor.“In future, we will conduct raids. instead of holding nakas, and that too on specific information. I have also pulled up the liquor contractor.”Mohali SSP Kuldip Chahal said a probe had been initiated into “a private naka” on the Siswan road by employees of a liquor contractor. “I have deputed a DSP to look into the matter,” he added.
