IEP Chandigarh October 4

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau during its anti-corruption campaign on Tuesday, has registered a corruption case against Revenue Patwari Amirk Singh, posted in Revenue Halqa Palla Megha, district Ferozepur and his accomplish Jarnail Singh for demanding bribe of Rs 10,000 and 50,000 respectively.

Giving this information here today, a spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau (VB) said the accused Patwari and his accomplish has been booked under section 7 of the Prevention of Corruption Act after the investigation report prepared on the basis of an online complaint lodged by a complainant Jagtar Singh of village Langiana, Ferozepur district on State Anti-Corruption Helpline. In this regard a FIR has been registered at VB Police Station Ferozepur.

Revealing the details, the spokesperson informed that the complainant has alleged in his complaint that the above mentioned Patwari and his middle man was demanding bribe for mutation of his land. In addition to this the complainant has submitted that the above mentioned private person has demanded Rs 50,000 as a bribe on behalf of Patwari to issue copies of mutation and girdawari of his ancestral land thereby he recorded the conversation on his phone. Further investigation in this case was under progress, he added.

In another case, the VB has registered a bribery case against Aman Masih, Reader to Tehsildar, Ferozpur and Surjit Singh, Circle Kanungo, Halqa Arifke, Ferozpur district.

Giving more details the spokesman informed that the complainant Angrej Singh, village Dulla Singh Wala, Ferozpur has lodged a complaint against the above mentioned accused on the toll-free anti-corruption helpline.

The complainant has alleged that the accused Reader has demanded Rs 20,000 for Tehsildar and Rs. 5000 for himself in lieu of executing the court orders to give him possession of his land. He further alleged that the above said Kanungo had not implemented the possession warrants in this case and in connived with the opposition party.

The spokesperson informed that in this regard a case has been registered after thorough investigation into the complaint under section 7 of prevention of corruption act and under section 420, 465, 466, 468, 471, 120-B of IPC at VB police station, Ferozpur. Further investigation in this case is under progress.

IEP Chandigarh October 4

 The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state has arrested  Inspector PUNSUP Raman Gaud, posted at Barnala for accepting a bribe of Rs 25000.

In another case ex Sarpanch of village Ajnauda Khurd, Patiala for misappropriation in Panchayat funds to the tune of Rs 5.70 lakh.

Disclosing this here today a spokesperson of the VB said Inspector PUNSUP has been nominated as an accused during the investigation of FIR No. 25/21 registered at VB police station Patiala. He informed that the allegations against him were that he along with another PUNSUP Inspector Pukhraj Singla had taken a bribe of Rs 25,000 from an Artiya for getting his bills cleared. In this case Pukhraj Singla had already been arrested. The VB team during the search has recovered an amount of Rs 3.40 lakh from him.

Further investigation in the case was under progress.

The spokesperson further added that in another case the VB Patiala Range has arrested Ex Sarpanch Sukhwinder Kaur of village Ajnauda Khurd, district Patiala on the allegations of embezzlement in Gram Panchayat funds amounting to Rs 5.70 lakh during her tenure. Further investigation in the case was under progress, he added.

IEP CHANDIGARH, OCTOBER 4       

    Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav on Tuesday constituted a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unravel the entire conspiracy of escape of Gangster Deepak Tinu from police custody in Mansa and to ensure effective and speedy investigation into this case.           The SIT comprises Inspector General of Police (IGP) Patiala range MS Chhina as Chairperson, while, three members include AIG Anti-Gangster Task Force (AGTF) Opinderjit Singh, SSP Mansa Gaurav Toora and DSP AGTF Bikramjeet Singh Brar. Station House Officer (SHO) Police Station City-1 Mansa shall offer complete assistance to the SIT, while, the SIT can also co-opt any other officer from Bathinda and Patiala Ranges for assistance.           DGP Gaurav Yadav apprised that investigations into this case are going on at full pace and several Police teams are on manhunt to nab the escapee.            Adopting a proactive approach, Punjab Police had immediately suspended and apprehended the errant Mansa CIA Incharge Pritpal Singh and First Information Report (FIR) was registered against him for dereliction in duty. The accused cop was also dismissed from the service under article 311.           The DGP said that the SIT will conduct a day-to-day investigation into this case and all persons against whom evidence comes on record will be arrested and a police report against them will be submitted in the concerned court of trial. Meanwhile, the SIT has been directed to conclude the investigation in an expeditious manner.

IEP CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, October 4

:With Punjab Police having further intensified vigil and alertness against anti-social elements ahead of the festival season on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Amritsar Rural Police has busted an ISI-backed Narco-Terrorism module. Its main operative has been arrested after recovering arms and explosives from his possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.The module is being jointly operated by Canada-based Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, Pakistan-based Harvinder Singh Rinda and Italy-based Harpreet Singh alias Happy.The arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh alias Yog, resident of Village Rajoke in Tarn Taran, besides, the Police have also identified five more accomplices, who were part of the module in carrying out illegal activities across Punjab and adjoining states.The police have recovered a one RDX loaded Tiffin Box fabricated into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or Tiffin Bomb; two sophisticated AK-56 assault rifles along with two magazines and 30 live cartridges; one .30 bore pistol along with 6 live cartridges; and 2 KG Heroin from the accused.DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the arrested accused Yograj is the main operative of this module and wanted by the state police and Central Enforcement Agencies in at least five criminal cases including the one wherein five AK-47 assault rifles were seized in Tarn Taran in September 2019.He said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the cross-border operations of arms-explosives-drugs smuggling was mainly handled by Yograj on the directions of terrorists/gangsters Landa, Rinda and Happy and jailed smuggler Gurpavitar alias Sai of Lakhna, Tarn Taran. Yograj had been active in recovery and further delivery of consignments of Arms and Drugs at a large scale, he added.Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amritsar Rural Swapan Sharma said that the Police has made a major strike in exposing members of Landa-Rinda terror module. In the present module, the Police have managed to identify five operatives of the gang and manhunt has been launched to nab them, he added.He said that further investigations are on, and more recoveries of arms and explosives are expected soon.Meanwhile, FIR no 107 dated 04/10/2022 has been registered under sections 21/27-A/29/61/85 of the NDPS Act and sections 25/54/59 of Arms Act at Police Station Ramdas in Amritsar Rural.

IEP CHANDIGARH/AMRITSAR, October 4

:With Punjab Police having further intensified vigil and alertness against anti-social elements ahead of the festival season on the directions of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Amritsar Rural Police has busted an ISI-backed Narco-Terrorism module. Its main operative has been arrested after recovering arms and explosives from his possession, said Director General of Police (DGP) Punjab Gaurav Yadav here on Tuesday.The module is being jointly operated by Canada-based Lakhbir Singh alias Landa, Pakistan-based Harvinder Singh Rinda and Italy-based Harpreet Singh alias Happy.The arrested accused has been identified as Yograj Singh alias Yog, resident of Village Rajoke in Tarn Taran, besides, the Police have also identified five more accomplices, who were part of the module in carrying out illegal activities across Punjab and adjoining states.The police have recovered a one RDX loaded Tiffin Box fabricated into an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) or Tiffin Bomb; two sophisticated AK-56 assault rifles along with two magazines and 30 live cartridges; one .30 bore pistol along with 6 live cartridges; and 2 KG Heroin from the accused.DGP Gaurav Yadav said that the arrested accused Yograj is the main operative of this module and wanted by the state police and Central Enforcement Agencies in at least five criminal cases including the one wherein five AK-47 assault rifles were seized in Tarn Taran in September 2019.He said that preliminary investigations have revealed that the cross-border operations of arms-explosives-drugs smuggling was mainly handled by Yograj on the directions of terrorists/gangsters Landa, Rinda and Happy and jailed smuggler Gurpavitar alias Sai of Lakhna, Tarn Taran. Yograj had been active in recovery and further delivery of consignments of Arms and Drugs at a large scale, he added.Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Amritsar Rural Swapan Sharma said that the Police has made a major strike in exposing members of Landa-Rinda terror module. In the present module, the Police have managed to identify five operatives of the gang and manhunt has been launched to nab them, he added.He said that further investigations are on, and more recoveries of arms and explosives are expected soon.Meanwhile, FIR no 107 dated 04/10/2022 has been registered under sections 21/27-A/29/61/85 of the NDPS Act and sections 25/54/59 of Arms Act at Police Station Ramdas in Amritsar Rural.

IEP Chandigarh, October 4

Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker S. Kultar Singh Sandhwan has congratulated the people on the occasion of the holy festival Dussehra and called upon them to uphold the traditions of tolerance, harmony and compassion.

S. Sandhwan said that Dussehra, celebrated in the context of Lord Ram’s victory over Lanka and it guides us to follow goodness and high values. He said that the festival of Dussehra symbolizes the victory of good over evil and events related to Dussehra will always inspire us to uphold the ideals of moral values. S. Sandhwan has appealed to the people to celebrate this festival with spirit of communal harmony and amity.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Speaker of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Mr. Jai Krishan Singh Rauri has also congratulated the people on Dussehra and wished them a good life.

IEP Chandigarh

One of India’s highly industrialized state, Haryana sees a steady rise in victims of child marriages in the last 3 years, according to official figures. Even as the government takes a creditable step in declaring child marriages “void abinitio” through the new law, the state ranked 15th in child marriages in the country according to Census 2011. Census 2011 reported around 2.5 lakh children were married off before reaching 18 years in the state, which constituted approximately 2% of all married children in the country. In order to fight against the practice, Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi’s Children’s Foundation (KSCF) announced their upcoming “Child Marriage Free India” campaign at Haryana Niwas in Chandigarh today. The state consultation was held to mobilise all stakeholders of child protection to move together and help in the realisation of Child Marriage-Free India. KSCF co-organised the consultation with Department of Women & Child Development (WCD), Government of Haryana. KSCF began nationwide consultations after the recent appeal by Kailash Satyarthi for a sustained campaign across the country to make India child marriage-free.

 At the state-level consultation the key points discussed were appointment of Child Marriage Prohibition Officer (CMPO), mandatory FIR registration in cases of child marriage and incentivization of parents to motivate them to not marry their under-age children.

The National Family Health Survey-V (NFHS 2019-21) reports that nationally 23.3% women between the age group of 20-24 were married off before attaining the age of 18. In this context, it is important to highlight the status of child marriage in Haryana, according to the report of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2021. During the last 3 years, victims of child marriages in the state rose from 20 in 2019 to 33 in 2021. The NCRB data, however reported that only 86 cases of child marriages were registered under the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act (PCMA), 2006. This means there has been gross under-reporting of child marriage cases, also as Haryana reports a poor sex-ratio, there have been cases of minor girls being trafficked into the state for child marriage. This was highlighted from the recent case in Kaithal in May this year, where a 14-year old girl from Bihar was trafficked and sold as a child bride in the state.

 In this context, the consultation deliberated on pertinent issues linked to child marriage and legal applications to stop the evil practice. Among the key issues discussed in the consultations included mandatory registration of FIR in cases of child marriage to ensure appropriate action takes place, linking child marriage with Juvenile Justice (care and protection) Act and POCSO Act for penalising the perpetrators of crime. Further, it was deliberated on appointment of CMPO at the district level across the country and adequate and proper training to the official and incentivization for the parents.

Key dignitaries present on this occasion included Commissioner and Secretary, WCD, Government of Haryana, Amneet Preet Kumar and Country Head, Access to Justice Programme, KSCF-US, Ravi Kant among others.

Highlighting the poor state of education among girls in the state, Commissioner and Secretary, WCD, Government of Haryana, Amneet Preet Kumar said, “Around to 40 to 45 percent girls in the state do not receive secondary or higher education and so they are incapable of contributing in the development of the state. And this issue has become a challenge for us and needs to be changed. The campaign to stop child marriage should be taken up at village level and all departments and NGOs should come together to make Haryana child marriage free. KSCF should prepare a work plan in accordance to the finding report on today’s discussion”.

Welcoming the recent move of the state government in declaring child marriages as “void abinitio”, Country Head, Access to Justice Programme, KSCF-US Ravi Kant, said, “Sex-ratio in Haryana being one of the poorest in the country, cases of child marriages continue to be seen in the state. I hope the new law will benefit the state government in curbing this illegal practice after its enforcement. However, it is now the responsibility of all stakeholders including the law enforcement agencies and civil society groups to collaborate and work collectively to make a child marriage free Haryana”.