Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal demands drought relief package

Chandigarh, October 19

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said if Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi really loved Punjab, he should "force" the Prime Minister and the Agriculture Minister to release the central package promised to the state.

He was apparently referring to the assurance given by Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar that the Centre would sympathetically consider giving relief to Punjab farmers for the extra cost borne by them to raise their paddy in near-drought conditions.

Addressing a press conference here, along with ministers Bikram Majithia, Sikander Singh Maluka and Sarwan Singh Phillaur, Sukhbir said a high-powered team led by Agriculture minister Sharad Pawar had visited the state and promised a package for the loss suffered by the farmers which had been calculated at Rs 5,112 crore.

Sukhbir said the SAD would raise the issue in the winter session of Parliament and urged Punjab Congress MPs to express their feelings on the issue to the party high command "if they have the guts."

Asked whether the Agriculture Minister had told the state that it would no longer need its paddy, he said this might be the case but the Centre should not be a fair weather friend. " "Only two years back the Centre had expressed its gratitude to Punjab for filling the national coffers in time of drought."

Sukhbir said the Punjab farmer needed money for diversification which could only happen gradually. He said the Centre could support the state farmers by giving them minimum support price (MSP) for alternative crops.

FARIDKOT ABDUCTION CASE

Sukhbir promises action against erring officers
Chandigarh, October 19

Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal today said the government would take stern action against police officers who had shown laxity in the Shruti abduction case even as he accused the Congress of giving a political hue to the abduction case.

The Deputy CM was talking to mediapersons here. He was accompanied by state police chief Sumedh Singh Saini. He claimed that he was closely monitoring the case and that the main accused, Nishan Singh, would be arrested “at any cost”.

He said the Home Department was examining the conduct of officers involved in the investigation and that action would be taken against anyone found to have committed lapses.

Saini admitted that there had been laxity in the investigation in the initial stage. He said two police officers (then Deputy Inspector-General Paramraj Singh Umranangal and Senior Superintendent of Police Gurinder Singh Dhillon) had been transferred for their lack of sensitivity in handling the case involving a minor.

“We have received directions from the government to be sympathetic to the girl and her parents”, he said, indicating there was no pressure on the police to help the accused as claimed by the Congress.

Sukhbir said his government was fighting a war against drugs and had put peddlers on the backfoot with record seizures in the last six months. He said the survey quoted by Rahul was conducted in 2006 when Capt Amarinder Singh was Chief Minister. Moreover, it was a sample survey of drug addicts and 70 per cent were young boys and girls.

The Deputy CM said for the first time, he had appointed an Inspector-General of Police (IGP) as head of the anti-narcotics cell. Similarly, a special operations cell had been opened in Amritsar which had the authority to check narcotic activities all over the state.

He said drugs, including heroin and smack, had been seized in large quantities and his government had urged the Congress-led Rajasthan Government to stop the open sale of poppy husk.

Reward for info on key accused

Chandigarh: Sukhbir Badal has announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh to anyone facilitating the arrest of Nishan Singh, the main accused in the Shruti abduction case. Nishan Singh,19, is at large. Search teams have been sent to Rajasthan and Nepal to track him down.

The Deputy Chief Minister has also directed the authorities to attach the properties of Nishan Singh's family. 

Hijack scare as AI pilot presses the panic button

Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 19
The woman pilot of an Abu Dhabi-Kochi Air India flight set off the hijack alarm in panic after agitated passengers allegedly stormed the cockpit here today. Six passengers were detained for questioning.

Passengers of Air India Express flight 4422 entered into a heated argument with the pilot after it was diverted to the capital due to poor visibility at Kochi, causing a delay by nearly nine hours, airport sources said.

Some passengers forced their way into the cockpit at which the pilot pressed the alarm button, setting off a flurry of activity with airport security personnel surrounding the plane with 200 passengers on board, airport officials said.

Six passengers were detained and questioned by CISF personnel when the plane landed at Kochi. They were later let off. The passengers were questioned after Commander Rupali Waghmare complained that some passengers had barged into the cockpit and threatened her with dire consequences if she did not take the flight to Kochi.

The flight landed in Kochi with a new crew. The co-pilot, who travelled to Kochi as a passenger, identified the six and they were questioned. The police said no FIR was registered.

Passengers claimed that they were treated badly and asked to leave by road to Kochi. This infuriated them and they refused to disembark at Thiruvananthapuram.

“When we protested, attempts were made to foist false cases on us,” one of the passengers said.

Tanya, another passenger, said it was a “terrible situation as there were a lot of women and children on board. We were not given food.”