A special correspondent, Prabhjit Singh is the bureau chief at Bathinda. He specialises in investigative stories, with rural reporting being his passion.
Articles by Prabhjit Singh
3 engineers chargesheeted for Rs 3-cr embezzlement
Three suspended engineers of the Punjab public works department's (PWD) electrical division have been chargesheeted for embezzling nearly Rs 3 crore of the state exchequer's money. If indicted for the charges framed, the accused could lose their jobs, as per service rules.
Updated on Oct 30, 2012 11:14 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Chargesheet against Mansa welfare officers
A month after two officers of the welfare of scheduled castes and backward classes (SC/BC) department failed to defend the charges of serious financial irregularities against them, they have eventually been chargesheeted and could face a major penalty leading to their dismissal.
Updated on Oct 29, 2012 11:06 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Indicted Mansa welfare officer still on the job
Eight months after the Sutlej Gramin Bank detected fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 36.56 lakh meant for various welfare schemes by the Mansa district welfare officer (DWO), the Punjab government is yet to take action against the accused.
Updated on Oct 18, 2012 11:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Lahore's crossing to be named after Bhagat Singh
If all goes well, the city roundabout in Lahore where Shaheed Bhagat Singh was hanged would soon be named after the martyr as the state administration of West Punjab has signed an order to this effect.
Updated on Oct 01, 2012 07:55 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Ghost of missing grants now haunts Gabria
A lakh of rupees for 'repairing' a non-existent community centre, another lakh for a dharamshala that remains in ruins, and Rs 2 lakh to an organisation of cycle-part manufacturers for a dispensary that never was -- all in Ludhiana and all grants given by the then minister and senior Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader Hira Singh Gabria in the 2007-2012 SAD-BJP term.
Updated on Sep 28, 2012 02:30 PM IST
None | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh/ludhiana/tarn Taran
Fake vigilance trap: A month later, no arrest despite FIR, court order
More than a month after an FIR was registered in the fake vigilance trap case, the five accused - including a superintendent of police (SP) of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) - are yet to be arrested.
Updated on Sep 19, 2012 10:18 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
SC deadline ended a year ago, yet no student polls in Punjab
The Panjab University (PU) campus and its affiliated colleges in Chandigarh UT are abuzz with campaigning for student union elections these days. But in the state of Punjab, it's been 29 years, and counting, since a ban was imposed on such elections. That ban remains, despite a 2006 Supreme Court direction that student elections be held in universities and colleges across the country within five years.
Updated on Sep 05, 2012 09:04 PM IST
None | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Amritsar villages left in lurch
At receiving end 12 villages deprived of development grants to the tune of Rs 1.69 crore, which were misappropriated through fake bank accounts, present a sorry sight of development, rather lack of it.
Updated on Aug 27, 2012 01:03 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chak Mukand (amritsar)
2 months on, cops still looking for Ranike's PA
Two months after the registration of a case in the Rs 1.15-crore rural grants scam, the Punjab Police are yet to arrest Sarbhdyal Singh, the main accused and personal assistant to cabinet minister Gulzar Singh Ranike.
Updated on Aug 26, 2012 11:55 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
R1.15 crore embezzled from Ranike’s discretionary fund
Punjab’s minister for SC/BC welfare issued cheques of Rs 1.15 crore as development grant to 12 villages in Amritsar district, his personal assistant (PA) deposited these in bank accounts of panchayat members, the money was withdrawn too; but it never reached the villages.
Updated on Aug 25, 2012 01:35 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh/amritsar
Fake VB trap case: 2 cops, traders booked for driving ETO to suicide
Nearly three weeks after a district court ordered registration of an FIR against the vigilance bureau (VB) sleuths, who allegedly laid a fake trap that drove an excise and taxation officer (ETO) to suicide, the police finally complied on Saturday.
Updated on Aug 19, 2012 10:50 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh and Shailee Dogra, Sas Nagar
Two years on, VB awaits nod to prosecute official
On June 17, 2010, the Punjab vigilance bureau (VB) sought the state government's sanction to prosecute the registrar of an engineering college in a case of corruption. It's been over two years, but the sanction is still awaited, as the file has just been passed from one desk to another, from senior officials to ministers, and back.
Updated on Aug 18, 2012 12:37 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Health insurance scheme to cover OPD patients too
After providing cashless health insurance cover to below-poverty-line (BPL) indoor patients under the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana (RSBY), Punjab will also implement the scheme in the OPD (out-patient department) as a pilot project in three districts.
Updated on Aug 10, 2012 02:20 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Punjab suspends three PWD engineers for fraud
Three junior engineers of the Punjab PWD, electrical wing, have been placed under suspension for illegally withdrawing funds in the name of maintaining and decorating the Punjab Raj Bhawan besides residences of the chief minister and ministers.
Updated on Jul 29, 2012 02:43 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
ETO fake trap: Mohali court orders case against VB SP, four others
A Mohali district court has ordered police to register an FIR against SP Amandeep Kaur, head constable Harminder Singh and three others on charge of "falsely trapping" an excise and taxation officer (ETO) in a corruption case who later committed suicide in April 2011.
Updated on Jul 28, 2012 05:11 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Absentee Punjab govt doctors face the axe
he Punjab health department has issued showcause notices to at least 10 doctors who have been absent from government duty for the past several years. A final inquiry has also been initiated against them, a step that could lead to their dismissal.
Updated on Jul 17, 2012 11:14 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Notice to Mohali SSP, SHO in fake vigilance trap case
The Mohali district court issued notice to the senior superintendent of police (SSP) Mohali and the (station house officer) SHO of Mohali police station Phase I for not registering an FIR in the infamous fake vigilance bureau (VB) trap case.
Updated on Jul 11, 2012 04:17 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
TMC looks at north minus cadres, advantage capitalist
If any major political party has to set up its base in an alien state with no cadre presence, here is an example—elevate an industrialist working for the party, who could provide a plush office at least, as the in-charge of the country’s northern states.
Updated on Jun 14, 2012 10:50 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
CM's media advisor loses job
Is the Punjab chief minister's office (CMO) looking for a new media advisor? Not yet, but the one holding on to the coveted post has been shown the door.
Updated on Jun 14, 2012 01:37 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Sangrur DC a paper tiger?
A sub-divisional magistrate has put the credibility of a deputy commissioner's orders under serious doubt, as he has not only failed to file a report within stipulated period of one week, but also crossed the limit by almost three weeks.
Updated on Jun 09, 2012 04:35 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Dera disciple's death: one month on, no FIR
More than a month after a female devotee of Dera Parmeshwar Dwar, situated in Punjab's Patiala district, died under mysterious circumstances at Rajindra Medical College and Hospital, Patiala, the police are yet to register an FIR in the case.
Updated on Jun 01, 2012 04:45 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh/patiala
Recruitment scam: VB probe indicts Gurdaspur college principal
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) has indicted the principal of Beant College of Engineering and Technology, Gurdaspur, for his role in the recruitment scam in which better-qualified candidates were left out for about 35 teaching and non-teaching posts three years ago.
Updated on May 30, 2012 01:54 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Punjab doctors play truant as action gets entangled in red tape
Absent from government duty for years together, these doctors have been blatantly cocking a snook at the Hippocratic oath. At least 112 of them are ‘missing’ from hospitals across Punjab — many for the past more than five years.
Updated on May 26, 2012 11:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
PPP to leave 15-20% seats for BSP's Independents
The People's Party of Punjab (PPP) has decided to leave 15-20% seats for candidates from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), who would contest as Independents in the upcoming municipal corporation elections in Punjab.
Updated on May 24, 2012 12:41 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Chief secy's call for action ignored as indicted SP gets new posting
It's been three weeks that Punjab's chief secretary (CS) okayed punitive action against officials found guilty of setting up a fake Vigilance Bureau (VB) trap that led to excise and taxation officer (ET) Ranjit Singh's suicide last year, but even directions from the head of the state's bureaucracy have failed to have effect.
Updated on May 22, 2012 12:20 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Punjab plans de-addiction centres in all central jails
Jails in Punjab have for long been considered a haven of drug addicts, and the widespread menace has even been blamed for turning many non-addict inmates into habitual users of psychotropic substances and contrabands allegedly smuggled into the prisons. Now comes a step towards turning the tide.
Updated on May 15, 2012 12:02 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Minister holds back DGP's order
Punjab director general of police (DGP), prisons, Shashi Kant is again at loggerheads with the state prisons minister over prisons reforms and the drug menace in jails.
Updated on May 09, 2012 01:27 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
Fake Vigilance Trap: Chief secy okays action against indicted cops
Less than a week after being served a notice by the Punjab and Haryana high court, the Punjab government has initiated action to punish the officers found guilty in the fake Vigilance Bureau (VB) trap case, which led to excise and taxation officer (ETO) Ranjit Singh's suicide last year.
Updated on May 02, 2012 12:06 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
HC notice to Punjab in ETO vigilance trap case
Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday issued a notice of motion to the Punjab government on a petition about the fake vigilance trap case. The high court directed the state government to mention the action taken
Updated on Apr 26, 2012 11:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh
After Attari land route to Pakistan, Punjab keen on Hussainiwala
With the Integrated Check Post (ICP) set to be inaugurated at Attari border on Friday, Punjab has set its sights on another land route to Pakistan — via the Hussainiwala border in Ferozepur district, which was shut down during the 1971 war.
Updated on Apr 12, 2012 07:55 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Prabhjit Singh, Chandigarh