CM reiterates firm commitment to lift every single grain of wheat in smooth and hassle free manner

Says state government has made elaborate arrangements in this regard

Chandigarh, April 9:Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann has reiterated the firm commitment of state government to lift every single grain of the farmers during the Rabi marketing season 2024-25.

After reviewing the procurement status, the Chief Minister said that this year Area Under Cultivation of wheat was 35.07 lakh hectares. Likewise, he said that Estimated production of wheat during RMS 2024-25 was around 161.30 Lakh Million Tons. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that elaborate arrangements have already been put in place for purchase of every single grain of wheat in the state.

The Chief Minister said that the yield of crop was 12 Lakh Metric ton more as compared to last year. He said that the state government is duty bound to ensure smooth and hassle free procurement of every single grain of wheat produced by the farmers. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that payment to the farmer will be made immediately when the wheat is produced from his trolley adding that a viable mechanism has been evolved for this.

The Chief Minister said that Punjab Mandi Board has notified 1908 regular Purchase Centers for procurement of Wheat. He said that the allotment of these purchase centres amongst various agencies as per the procurement shares of agencies and availability of nearest storage points has been done. Bhagwant Singh Mann said that as per recommendations received by districts, public places and rice mills are being declared as temporary yards to avoid glut and ensure smooth procurement.

The Chief Minister said that farmers will not face any sort of inconvenience during the entire procurement process.

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Case registered against owner and managers of Prime Cinema for violation of Model code of Conduct: Punjab CEO

- CEO office, Punjab forwards report to ECI for further course of action

- Reiterates that no violation of Model code of conduct will be tolerated in Punjab

Chandigarh, April 9:Taking stern action of the violation of the Model Code of Conduct, the Punjab Police have registered a case against the owner and managers of Prime Cinema and against the in-charge of the Qube Cinema, on the recommendations of the MCMC committee Patiala.

Divulging the further information, the Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C said that the office of CEO has received a complaint on April 6 from an RTI Activist regarding gross violation of Model code of Conduct as the promotional video ads featuring the Punjab government logo and the Chief Minister's appearance are being played in cinemas across the state.

Taking immediate cognizance of the complaint, CEO Punjab had sought report from Deputy Commissioner Patiala, whose jurisdiction Prime Cinema, Rajpura (Patiala) falls, Secretary Public Relation Department, Government of Punjab, who issues Releasing Order (RO) for all Punjab Government advertisements to various agencies and also from all Deputy Commissioners cum DEOs in the state of Punjab to ascertain the status of display of such Government advertisements in any of the Cinema across the State.

The CEO said that following this a notice was issued to Paramjit Singh, Manager Prime Cinemas, Rajpura on April 6 by RO 113- Ghanour/ARO 13- Patiala PC and flying squad visited the said cinema. Thereafter, being a matter primarily related with the display of advertisement in cinema, the case was put up to MCMC Patiala (Media Certification and Monitoring Committee).

As per the recommendations of the MCMC committee Patiala, the Patiala police on April 8 under section 188 IPC and 177 IPC has been lodged against the owner and managers of Prime Cinema and under section 188 IPC against the representatives/manager/person in-charge of the Qube Cinema.

The CEO said that a report was sent to Election Commission of India by CEO office, Punjab for further directions of the Commission. He said that as per the reports received from other 22 districts, no such incidences were reported from any other part of the State.

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MULTI-CRORE NATURE HEIGHTS INFRA SCAM: ABSCONDING FROM 9 YEARS, PUNJAB POLICE ARREST MAIN ACCUSED NEERAJ ARORA FROM UTTRAKHAND

— POLICE TEAMS RECOVER BMW CAR, MOBILE PHONES AND DOCUMENTS FROM HIS POSSESSION

— DECLARED PO IN 92 CASES, ACCUSED NEERAJ ARORA WAS USING FAKE IDENTITIES TO EVADE ARREST

CHANDIGARH/FAZILKA, April 9:In a major breakthrough in the multi-crore Nature Heights Infra Scam, the joint teams of Faridkot and Fazilka police have arrested the main accused identified as Neeraj Thathai alias Neeraj Arora, who was absconding for the last 8-9 years and declared Proclaimed Offender (PO), from district Poudi in Uttrakhand. The modus operandi used by the accused to collect the huge amount of money was to lure innocent people in lieu of giving them residential/commercial plots.

The development came close on the heels of the arrest of Amandeep Kamboj alias Aman Skoda of Fazilka, who was PO in eight cases and in 18 cases he jumped bail. He was arrested by the PO staff of Fazilka Police from Varanasi Uttar Pradesh on March 15, 2024.

IGP Faridkot Range Gursharan Singh Sandhu and DIG Ferozepur Range Ranjit Singh Dhillon, while addressing a joint press conference on Tuesday, said that Police teams from both the districts headed by SP Investigation Fazilka Pardeep Singh Sandhu and DSP Narcotics Faridkot Iqbal Singh Sandhu under the overall supervision of SSP Faridkot Harjit Singh and SSP Fazilka Dr Pragya Jain successfully arrested the most wanted criminal Neeraj Arora from Shri Nagar Garhwal in district Poudi, Uttrakhand.

Police teams have also recovered one luxury BMW car, mobile phones and fake documents from the possession of accused Neeraj Arora.

IGP Gursharan Singh Sandhu said that the accused has been facing as many as 108 first information reports (FIRs) registered in 21 districts for defrauding people by promising money or plots to people in the state. Of a total 108 FIRs, 47 were registered in Fazilka; eight in Ferozepur; six each in Patiala and Fatehgarh Sahib; five each in Rupnagar, Mohali and SAS Nagar; four each in Faridkot, Sri Muktsar Sahib and Jalandhar Commissionerate.

Pertinently, accused Neeraj Arora, arrested by Fazilka Police in February 2016, had jumped bail and was declared PO in February 2017. Currently, the accused is PO in at least 92 cases. Enforcement Directorate has also registered cases and attached properties of Neeraj Thatai, while, many writ petitions are pending in the Hon’ble Punjab and Haryana High Court, Chandigarh against him filed by the victims.

DIG Ranjit Singh Dhillon said that the accused was using fake IDs to evade his arrest. The accused has more than 1200 acres of land, and 200 residential flats in Punjab and MP state worth more than Rs 1,000 crores, he said.

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VB arrests Head Constable for taking Rs 1,15,000 bribe

Chandigarh April 9, 2024 –The Punjab Vigilantes Bureau (VB) during its ongoing campaign against corruption in the state on Tuesday has arrested Head Constable (HC) Sukhdev Singh, posted as Moharir Head Constable (Mukh Munshi) at police post Ramgarh, under police station Jamalpur, Commissionerate Ludhiana for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs 1,15,000 in two instalments.

Disclosing this here today an official spokesperson of the state VB said the above mentioned police personnel has been arrested on a complaint lodged by Kapil Oberoi, a resident of Janakpuri, Ludhiana city on the Chief Minister Anti Corruption Action Line.

He informed that during the enquiry of this complaint it was found that accused HC Sukhdev Singh along with other police officials, had taken one scrap dealer Kailash Garg, uncle of complainant to the Police Post Ramgarh and threatened him on the pretext of purchasing stolen scrap material and forcibly obtained bribe money of Rs 1,15,000 in two instalments of Rs 65,000 and 50,000 from his son Deepak Garg and thereafter released said scrap dealer Kailash Garg without taking any legal action against him.

The spokesperson further added that it was also found during the probe that a person namely Sobu, relative of one Rihal, had sold stolen material to above said Kailash Garg and Sobu had received part amount of Rs 2,82,000 from him in respect of this scrap material.

He further revealed that as per verification and recordings available, the said HC Sukhdev Singh had also demanded a bribe money of Rs 5 lakh from Rihal on the pretext of not taking legal action against Sobu, who had obtained Rs 2,82,000 from dealer Kailash Garg by selling stolen scrap.

He added that the allegations of demand and acceptance of bribe money levelled against HC Sukhdev Singh, have been proved and a case under prevention of corruption act has been registered against the accused at police station VB Range Ludhiana.

The role of ASI Barinderjeet Singh, Incharge of Police Post Ramgarh would be examined during further investigation.

Accused HC Sukhdev Singh would be produced in the competent court tomorrow, he said.