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Reached To Stop Farm Fires, Govt Official Made To Burn Stubble: Punjab

By LokMarg 5th November 2023

A group of farmers in Punjab’s Bathinda district courted controversy after they allegedly forced a government official, who was part of a team to prevent farm fires, to burn the stubble lying in a field on Friday.

The incident came to light after Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann posted a purported video of the entire incident on his X handle.

Condemning the incident, Mann said that an FIR has started being registered in the matter.

Bathinda Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gulneet Singh Khurana said that the incident took place under the Nahian Wala police station limits in Mehma Sarja village.

“(A team of officials) had gone to Mehma Sarja village to convince the farmers not to burn the stubble. During this, the farmers there called their union and forced our civil administration’s officer, Harpreet Singh, to burn that stubble (lying on the field),” the police officer said.

SSP Khurana said that an FIR under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been lodged in the matter.

“We have registered an FIR in this matter. A total of 7 persons have been named in the FIR and action is being taken against other persons. The farm was owned by Ram Singh. Besides, the other members of the union present at the spot are being identified and raids are being conducted in the matter,” he added.

Stubble burning is widely prevalent in parts of the agricultural states of Punjab and Haryana.

It is a process of setting on fire the straw stubble left after the harvesting of grains like paddy, wheat, etc. The process of burning farm residue is one of the major causes of air pollution in parts of north India, deteriorating the air quality around this time of the year. Combined with vehicular emissions, it adversely affects the Air Quality Index (AQI) in the national capital. (ANI)

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Vigilance Registers Case Against Badal, Three Arrested

By LokMarg 25th September 2023

The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has registered a criminal and corruption case against former finance minister and Congress leader Manpreet Singh Badal for using his political pressure and influence to purchase two plots in Model Town phase-1 Bathinda.

Cases have been registered against four other individuals as well. In this case, the Vigilance Bureau has arrested three accused namely Rajiv Kumar (resident of New Shakti Nagar), Amandeep Singh (resident of Lal Singh Basti) and Vikas Arora (resident of Tagore Nagar).

The case was registered on a complaint filed by Saroop Chand Singla, former MLA Bathinda city, against Manpreet Singh Badal and others, a spokesperson of the Vigilance Bureau said.

He informed that during the probe it was found that Manpreet Singh Badal during his tenure as Finance Minister from the year 2018 to 2021 used political pressure and influence to purchase two plots measuring 1560 square yards of land in Model Town phase-1 Bathinda near the TV tower thereby caused a financial loss of lakhs of rupees to the state exchequer, a press release from the Vigilance Bureau of Punjab said.

The spokesperson further informed that during the investigation of complaint number 11/2022, it was found that the former Finance Minister, using his influence, colluded with the officials of Bathinda Development Authority (BDA) and has misled the general public during the bidding of plots in the year 2021, and fake maps were uploaded to prevent the participation of general public in the bidding process.

Apart from this, the plot numbers 725-C (560 square yards) and 726 (1000 square yards) in the map were also shown as commercial instead of residential and the numbers of the plots were not shown on the map on the online e-auction portal, the release said.

In addition to this, the digital signatures of Balwinder Kaur, Administrative Officer, BDA Bathinda were used for the auction of plots without her permission.

During the probe, it has also came to light that the bids of the sole three bidders namely Rajive Kumar, Vikas Arora and Amandeep Singh were made by one person Advocate Sanjiv Kumar from the same IP address and from the same place.

Apart from this, both the plots were purchased by the bidders in 2021 at a lower rate which was fixed during an auction in the year 2018 causing a financial loss of about Rs 65 lakh to the government, the release said.

The former finance minister has purchased both plots through agreements from the bidders known to him before they got allotment letters from BDA Bathinda. It was also found that Manpreet Singh Badal has transferred 25 per cent earnest money in advance to the successful allottees which shows his connivance with the bidders.

He further informed that the VB has been hunting for the arrest of other accused and involvement of other accused would also be probed during the further investigation, the release said. (ANI)

Bathinda Military Station Firing: Soldier Confesses Role

By LokMarg 17th April 2023

An Army personnel detained by Punjab Police in connection with the April 12 firing at the Bathinda Military Station has confessed to involvement in killing four of his colleagues, the Indian Army said in a statement on Monday.

After sustained interrogation, Gunner Desai Mohan, from the Artillery unit where the incident occurred has confessed to police to his involvement in stealing an INSAS rifle and killing four of his colleagues, according to the statement by South Western Command Headquarters, Indian Army.

Initial investigations indicated that personal reasons or animosity could be reasons for the shooting.

Referring to his confession, the Army said that Mohan had stolen the weapon along with a filled magazine in the early morning hours of April 9 and hid it somewhere. On April 12, at around 4.30 am while he was on sentry duty, he moved to the first floor and killed all four personnel while they were asleep.

Mohan then threw the rifle into a sewage pit. The weapon and additional ammunition have been recovered from the sewage pit, said the Army statement.

The statement made by Desai Mohan while filing the initial FIR on April 12, mentioning two persons in civil dress with INSAS rifle and axe was an attempt to divert the attention of investigating agencies.

Mohan is currently in police custody and further details are being ascertained.

“There is no terror angle as speculated earlier in some media reports,” said South Western Command Headquarters, Indian Army.

“Indian Army practices zero tolerance to such acts of indiscipline and is committed to ensure that the guilty will get punished as per law. All possible assistance is being provided to Punjab Police and other agencies for the early conclusion of investigations,” said the Army statement.

Four Army jawans were killed in their sleep in the firing incident which took place on April 12. According to Punjab Police, the four slain jawans have been identified as Sagar, Kamlesh, Santosh and Yogesh.

They were asleep in their rooms post the end of duty when two masked men, in white kurta pyjamas, attacked them with rifles and sharp-edged weapons. The four jawans were found in a pool of blood in their rooms.

The police informed that one of the weapons used in the crime was seized. Four army personnel of an artillery unit succumbed to gunshot injuries sustained during the incident.

According to the Army statement, no other injuries to personnel or damage to property have been reported in the incident.

The Army said an INSAS rifle along with 28 rounds were reportedly missing for the past two days and some personnel might be behind this incident. Following the incident, the area was cordoned off and the army conducted a joint investigation with the Punjab Police to establish the facts of the case.

Sources said Defence Minister Rajnath Singh also received a briefing on the incident from Army Chief General Manoj Pandey. (ANI)