Youth attacked with ‘acid’ during Holi celebrations

PATHANKOT: A student of Class 11 sustained serious burn injuries on his face when a group of seven unidentified youths threw colour mixed with some chemical on him during the Holi celebrations in Pathankot on Thursday afternoon. The youth, identified as Jatin,16, of Dashmesh colony, here, was rushed to civil hospital by his friends.

Avtar Singh, SHO, Division Number 2 police station, said though it has been not established whether the chemical was acid, police have registered a case under Section 326A (voluntarily causing grievous hurt by use of acid) against seven unidentified persons.

The report will reveal the nature of the chemical, he said, adding that police were looking out for the culprits.

Sonu Kumari, victim’s mother, alleging it was an attempt to kill her son, demanded immediate arrest of the culprits.

Earlier, Raghav, who was accompanying Jatin during the attack, said he had gone to bring a bike from one of their friends near Angooran wala bagh when a group of seven youths on three different bikes and one on a scooter pretended threw some liquid on Jatin’s face.

The chemical started hurting Jatin and even his skin began to leave its space, said Raghav. SINGAPORE: An Indian national was on Friday sentenced to fiveyear jail and 12 strokes of the cane for swinging a plank during a riot involving about 60 people outside a gurdwara in Singapore.

Yadwinder Singh, 26, was the leader of one of the two groups of people who started fighting outside the Silat Road Sikh Temple in the Bukit Merah area in April, 2017, Channel News Asia reported.

The two groups of men wielded wooden poles, planks and belts, spilling onto the road and disrupting traffic, the court heard. The court did not specify the reasons behind the fight.

FOOTAGE FROM PUBLIC BUS TURNS CRUCIAL

Footage from a public bus, played in court on Friday, showed Yadwinder brandishing a long wooden plank at members of the opposing group, the court heard.

The court heard that Yadwinder and his group gathered at the bus stop outside the gurdwaras after prayers that morning. Some of them had armed themselves with wooden planks. They chased after the men from the opposing group, who were walking along Kampong Bahru Road after leaving the gurdwaras, shouting vulgarities at them before attacking them, the daily said.

Men from both sides attacked each other with poles, planks and belts in the melee. Yadwinder was seen hitting two men with his wooden plank, injuring one man’ scalp and face.

ACCUSED PLOTTED TO LEAVE SINGAPORE AFTER HIS ARREST

After his arrest, Yadwinder plotted to leave Singapore illegally. He had already been jailed previously for rioting and unlawful assembly in 2016 and had committed this fresh offence while on remission. He