New Delhi:

The brutal attack on Shiv Sena (Punjab) leader Sandeep Thapar by Nihang Sikhs in Ludhiana has become a political flashpoint. The assault, captured on CCTV, occurred near the Civil Hospital, where Thapar sustained severe injuries after being repeatedly struck with swords.

Thapar, known for his vocal stance against Khalistan, was returning from an event at the Samvedna Trust when the attackers, dressed in traditional Nihang attire, intercepted him. The video footage shows Thapar on a scooter with his security personnel when the attackers surrounded him. Despite his attempts to reason with them, the situation quickly escalated into violence. With folded hands, Thapar pleaded for mercy, but the attackers mercilessly struck him on the head, causing him to collapse. Even on the ground, he was subjected to further assaults, leaving him in critical condition.

Thapar’s gunman left the crime scene without any retaliation.

Eyewitnesses immediately rushed Thapar to the Civil Hospital, from where he was later transferred to the Dayanand Medical College and Hospital for further treatment. Hospital sources indicate that he suffered severe injuries to his head, arms, and legs, requiring urgent medical intervention.

The Ludhiana Police have registered a case of attempted murder against the unidentified attackers. Two suspects, identified as Sarabjit Singh and Harjot Singh, were apprehended in Fatehgarh Sahib district, while a third, Tehal Singh, remains at large. The scooter used by the attackers was recovered during the arrests.

In response to the escalating tensions, political figures from across the spectrum have condemned the attack, with accusations levied against the Punjab government for failing to maintain law and order. Opposition leaders, including Union Minister Ravneet Singh Bittu, Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur, and BJP Punjab chief Sunil Jakhar, have called for immediate action and accountability from Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann.

Union Minister of State Ravneet Singh Bittu, who unsuccessfully contested the Lok Sabha elections from Ludhiana, said: “Such a brutal attack on an individual in full public view is condemnable. It has created panic among residents.”

Targeting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in the state, he said, “The administration is missing from Punjab. They have made a mockery of law and order. Officers are busy pleasing AAP leaders instead of doing their job.”

Congress leader Partap Bajwa too condemned the incident and targeted Mr Mann for the current law and order situation in the state.

“Peace in Punjab returned after endless sacrifices, no one should be allowed to vitiate the atmosphere of the state. In Punjab people from all religions live together with love and brotherhood,” he said in a post on X.

“There are external forces at play who want to disturb Punjab’s peace once again for their political benefits. Punjab CM stop your theatrics and focus on the law and order of the state, being the Home Minister the buck stops at your door,” said Mr Bajwa.

Chandigarh:

Haryana Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday called Punjab his state’s “elder brother” and urged it to share water from the Ravi and Beas through the Sutlej Yamuna link (SYL) canal.

He made the suggestion while speaking to reporters on the sidelines of his visit to the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Earlier in the day, he also visited the Radha Soami Satsang in Beas and met the sect’s chief, Gurinder Singh Dhillon, at his residence.

While Haryana has built its portion of the canal, Punjab is reluctant to complete the stretch in its territory, saying it has no water to spare.

Speaking to reporters on the SYL canal issue, Saini said, “Punjab is our elder brother, and it is the duty of the elder brother not to let the younger brother be disappointed.”

He also stressed the familial bond between Punjab and Haryana, stating, “Punjab-Haryana is one family and I appeal to our elder brother to share water with us.”

Recently, after the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi accused Haryana of not releasing the national capital’s share of water, Mr Saini maintained that Haryana is releasing water to the city over and above the agreed-upon quantity.

Mr Saini had then said that there is also an AAP government in Punjab, and they should ask Punjab to give SYL canal water so that Haryana’s water shortage can be overcome and Delhi can also get more water.

During his visit to the Golden Temple, Mr Saini partook of ‘langar’ and offered “sewa” (voluntary service) by washing utensils.

The Gurudwara Committee presented him a ‘siropa’ (robe of honour), the statement said.

Speaking to reporters after paying obeisance at the Golden temple, Mr Saini said, “Today, I have found great peace of mind by visiting the holy city Amritsar”.

We should pledge to follow the path shown by the Gurus, Mr Saini said, adding that he prayed for the happiness and prosperity of the people of the state and the country.

“The sacrifice of our Sikh Gurus for the protection of the nation and religion is embedded in every particle of this holy land, which inspires the entire country to serve the nation,” he said in a post on X.

According to an official statement, the Haryana chief minister’s visit to Radha Soami Satsang at Beas was a “courtesy” meeting.

“Met Baba Gurinder Singh Dhillon Ji, the spiritual head of Radha Soami Satsang Beas. Under his able leadership, RSSB has been at the forefront of many community service efforts. On this occasion, received guidance from Baba Gurinder Ji on various spiritual and social issues,” Mr Saini said in another post on X in Hindi.

He later visited the Ram Tirth temple near Amritsar city.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The National Commission for Women (NCW) has expressed grave concern over the allegations made against Punjab minister Balkar Singh of engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct and sought a prompt and impartial probe into the matter.

The allegations were brought to light by BJP leader Tajinder Pal Singh Bagga, who accused Balkar Singh, a member of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), of engaging in inappropriate sexual conduct.

According to Mr Bagga, Mr Singh was involved in a sexual activity during a video call with a woman seeking employment.

The NCW, led by its chairperson Rekha Sharma, has vehemently condemned the purported behaviour.

The NCW said in a post on X that Ms Sharma called for urgent intervention from the Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) to ensure a prompt and impartial investigation into the matter.

The NCW has requested a comprehensive report on the incident to be submitted within three days.

“The National Commission for Women is gravely disturbed by a Twitter post alleging inappropriate conduct by Punjab MLA Mr Balkar Singh. The reported acts, if substantiated, constitute serious violations under IPC sections 354 and 354B, directly affronting a woman’s dignity. @sharmarekha vehemently condemn such behavior and call for urgent intervention from @DGPPunjabPolice to ensure a prompt and impartial investigation. A comprehensive report to be submitted in 3 days,” the NCW said in a post on X. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court has intervened to halt the opening of a road outside Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s residence in Chandigarh. The decision, made today, comes as a response to concerns raised by both the Centre and the Punjab government regarding security threats associated with the road’s opening.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta noted that both the Centre and Punjab government have opposed the opening of the road, which has been closed since the 1980s, owing to a threat perception.

The road had been closed due to security reasons during height of terrorism in Punjab, and was set to be reopened on a trial basis.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had on April 22 ordered opening of the 500-metre road, connecting Sukhna Lake to Nayagaon in Chandigarh, on a trial basis from May 1.

The High Court’s order had included provisions for the Chandigarh Police to engage traffic experts in formulating a comprehensive traffic management plan for the road, which was intended to be open from 7 am to 7 pm on working days.

Since the closure of the road, people moving between Nayagaon and Sukhna Lake were forced to take long detours via adjacent sectors of the city.

Tarn Taran (Punjab):

In a joint operation, troops of Border Security Forces (BSF) and Punjab police recovered a drone adjacent to village Rajoke in Punjab’s Tarn Taran District, officials said on Sunday.

BSF Frontier Punjab, in a post on X, said, “On 28th April 2024, based on information by BSF intelligence set up about the presence of a drone in the border area of Tarn Taran district, a joint search operation by BSF troops with Punjab Police was conducted in the suspected area.”

On 28th Apr’ 2024, based on information by BSF intelligence set up about presence of a drone in the border area of Tarn Taran district, a joint search operation by BSF troops with… pic.twitter.com/mdcVQPLIas

— BSF PUNJAB FRONTIER (@BSF_Punjab) April 28, 2024

“During the search operation, at about 11:00 am, troops successfully recovered one drone in broken condition from a farming field adjacent to village Rajoke in Tarn Taran District,” it said.

“A reliable information and coordinated efforts of BSF and Punjab police resulted in yet another recovery of an illicit drone from across the border,” it added.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer Sibin C on Tuesday said there will be 100 per cent webcasting of polling stations in the state during voting for the Lok Sabha polls on June 1.

The chief electoral officer also said flying squad vehicles and static surveillance teams are monitoring violations, if any, of the model code of conduct during the election process.

CCTV surveillance will be ensured inside all 24,433 polling stations in the state, he said in a statement.

Besides, cameras will be installed outside 1,884 polling stations in all 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, the CEO said.

Sibin C said they have introduced a revamped NextGen District Information System for Elections (DISE) this time.

It will be used to manage all aspects of elections, from collecting data of polling staff to scheduling rehearsals, randomizing polling staff and counting staff, he said, adding that this modernisation aims to make elections more efficient, transparent, and secure.

Polling for the 13 Lok Sabha seats in Punjab will be held on June 1, the last phase of the seven-phase elections.

The poll activity management system (PAMS) used for deploying polling teams and updating voting information, such as commencement of polling and the status of voter queues at closing hours, has also been revamped to enhance efficiency of election-related activities, Sibin C said.

The CEO further said other innovative initiatives by the Election Commission of India included the voter helpline app, providing citizens with convenience in finding their names in the electoral roll, submitting online forms, downloading their digital photo voter slip, filing complaints, and receiving replies.

Another crucial initiative is the mobile application ‘Know Your Candidate,’ allowing electors to access details and criminal background of any candidate, he said.

This app aims to provide wider publicity and greater awareness regarding the criminal background of contesting candidates to ensure transparent elections, the statement said.

The CEO said other initiatives by the ECI, included the launch of mobile voter-friendly app cVIGIL, which enables people to report MCC violations, featuring live photo or video with location.

Any citizen can lodge a complaint through this mobile app, after which flying squads investigate the matter, and a returning officer takes a decision within 100 minutes, utilising GPS to track the violation’s location.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Chandigarh::

Punjab Cabinet minister Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal said today that the state government is in touch with the Centre over the five young people stranded in Russia.

The matter came up during the Zero Hour in the ongoing Budget session of the state assembly.

Congress MLA Pargat Singh said five persons from Punjab, who went to Russia, have been forced to participate in a war with Ukraine.

“My only request is that this matter should be taken up with the Centre and they be brought back,” Mr Singh said in the House.

Mr Dhaliwal said the state government is in touch with the Centre over this issue, and “hopefully there will be a positive outcome”.

Later, in a statement, Mr Dhaliwal said he raised the issue with the External Affairs Ministry and the Russian Ambassador.

Gurpreet Singh, Gagandeep Singh, Lovepreet Singh, Narain Singh, and Gurpreet Singh, all of them Indian citizens, were stuck in Russia. They went to Russia on a visitor visa but were forcibly inducted into the Russian Military Services, he said.

Citing media reports, the minister said these men were duped by agents who promised them jobs.

The minister sought immediate intervention of the Union government in the matter. Of seven Indians stuck in Russia, five were said to be from Punjab and two from Haryana.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Phagwara:

Six women from Uganda and Tanzania have been arrested from a village in Phagwara for allegedly looting a businessman at knifepoint and threatening him to implicate in a molestation case, police said on Sunday.

They were arrested from the Lawgate area in Maheru village on the intervening night of Friday and Saturday under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 384 (extortion) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, they said.

The accused were presently living in private paying guest accommodations in Maheru and Chaheru villages, Satnampura police station SHO Gaurav Dhir said.

They were arrested on a complaint of a resident of Hanumangarh in Rajasthan, presently running a business in Maheru, he said.

The complainant told police that he was returning from a dhaba on February 26 night when a woman signalled him to stop near Chahwala Chowk, and pleaded for help.

“She took me aside where five other women were standing,” he said in his complaint.

“Pushing me against a wall, the woman who had sought help took out a knife from her purse and all threatened me to hand them over whatever I had in my pocket,” he further alleged.

“The foreign nationals also threatened me that they would raise an alarm saying I have attempted to molest them if I did not oblige,” he said in the complaint.

The man handed over Rs 2,000 to them and later reported the matter to police, Dhir said.

The SHO said that all six foreign nationals were on Saturday produced before a court which sent them to judicial custody.

The embassies of the two countries of the arrested women are also being informed, he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Srinagar:

India has stopped the flow of water from the Ravi river into Pakistan by building a dam that was waiting for completion for 45 years. India has exclusive rights to the water of Ravi under the 1960 Indus water treaty signed under the supervision of the World Bank.  

The Shahpur Kandi barrage — located in Punjab’s Pathankot district — was held up by a domestic dispute between Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab.  But that led to substantial chunk of water that belongs to India, going to Pakistan all these years.

Under the Indus water treaty, India has full rights over the water of Ravi, Sutlej and Beas, while Pakistan has rights over the water of Indus, Jhelum and Chenab.

In 1979, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir governments signed an agreement to build Ranjit Sagar Dam and downstream Shahpur Kandi barrage to stop water to Pakistan.

The agreement was signed by Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, then chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and his Punjab counterpart Parkash Singh Badal.

In 1982, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi laid foundation for the project, which was expected to be completed by 1998.

While construction of Ranjit Sagar Dam was completed in 2001, Shahpur Kandi barrage couldn’t materialise and water from Ravi river continued flow into Pakistan.

In 2008, Shahpur Kandi project was declared national project but construction work started in 2013.

Ironically, the project was again stalled due to disputes between Punjab and J&K in 2014.

Finally in 2018, the Centre mediated and brokered an agreement between the two states. The work, which started soon after, is finally over.

The water which was going to Pakistan will now be used to irrigate two key districts of Jammu and Kashmir — Kathua and Samba. 1150 cusecs of water will now irrigate 32,000 hectares of land in the Union Territory.

Jammu and Kashmir will also be able to get 20 per cent of the hydel power generated from dam.

The 55.5 meters high Shahpurkandi Dam is part of a multi-purpose river valley project that includes two hydel power projects with a total installed capacity of 206 MW. It is built on river Ravi, 11 km downstream of Ranjit Sagar Dam Project.

Besides Jammu and Kashmir, the waters from the dam will also help Punjab and Rajasthan.

Maryam Nawaz Sharif, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the PML-N, is set to become the first woman Chief Minister of Punjab province. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Senior PML-N leader Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of three-time former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, on February 25 submitted her nomination papers for the post of Chief Minister of Pakistan’s politically crucial Punjab province.

“The nomination papers of Maryam Nawaz Sharif for the Chief Minister of Punjab have been submitted,” the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) said in a post on X.

Ms. Maryam, the 50-year-old senior vice president of the PML-N, is set to become the first woman Chief Minister of Punjab province, a province of over 120 million people, as she enjoys the support of the majority in the house.

Also Read: Pakistan dynasty’s crown jewel breeds resentment amidst electoral upset

She has already been given security usually provided to the Chief Minister and she is holding meetings with the top bureaucracy of the province.

She is considered to be the political heir of PML-N supremo Nawaz Sharif, who surprisingly nominated his younger brother Shehbaz Sharif as his party’s prime ministerial candidate.

“The election of Chief Minister Punjab will take place on Monday (tomorrow). The candidates of CM can submit nomination papers on Sunday (today),” Punjab Assembly Secretary Amer Habib said in a statement on February 25.

Meanwhile, the PML-N clinched both Speaker and Deputy Speaker offices in the Punjab Assembly.

In a marathon session of the Punjab Assembly on February 24, the lawmakers elected PML-N leader Malik Ahmad Khan as the custodian of the house and Zaheer Iqbal Channar as his deputy.

The election for the Chief Minister office will be held between Ms. Maryam and Rana Aftab Ahmad of Imran Khan’s PTI-backed Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) nominee.

Also Read: Asif Ali Zardari | Return of the survivor

The PML-N won 137 seats while independents backed by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) won 113 in the Punjab Assembly. Separately, 20-odd independents, not PTI-backed, have already joined the PML-N.

The PTI-backed independent candidates have joined the Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) to get reserved seats for women and minorities besides saving their elected members from being forced to change their loyalty by the military establishment.

However, the SIC may not get reserved seats for women and minorities, leaving the PML-N with a simple majority in Punjab.