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| Wednesday,
March 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Retired
tax commissioner held for extorting money Ghaziabad, March 25 The businessman A.N. Gupta of 11/11, Raj Nagar, whom the retired Asst Commissioner had been threatening on phone for Rs 25 lakh as extortion money, was once quite close to Mishra. Both had been family friends for the past 10 years, it is learnt. The police had received tip-off that some criminals were threatening certain people on phone for extorting money. The criminals had reportedly contacted A.N. Gupta on March 11 and asked him to pay Rs 25 lakh on March 23 in the industrial area, otherwise members of his family would be kidnapped and killed. The man who would go to deliver the cash should have towel hanging from his left shoulder, for identity, the extortionists had instructed the businessman. The SSP Chander Prakash, after knowing the plan, constituted five teams. A team under Ghaziabad Kotwali Inspector Veer Singh went to Civil Lines. This team arrested the retired Asst Commissioner A.K. Mishra, Upendra Choudhary, Ishwar Singh and Anil Choudhari, S/o Ishwar Singh for holding out the threats on cell phones. A.K. Mishra has confessed to his role in organising and planning the crime, the police said. One of the arrested persons is wanted in Karkheda Police Station of Meerut for eight cases including those of loot, attempted murder, etc. They were arrested while collecting Rs 25 lakh from A.K. Gupta on Sunday afternoon in the industrial area. According to SSP Chander Prakash, SP City Gyaneshwar Tiwari and CO K K Gautam were asked to shift the inputs and reports about the gangsters who used to extort money. The SSP said A K Mishra was the resident of KC-113 in Kavi Nagar, while Upendra Choudhary was resident of H-392, Govind Puram and Anil Kumar Choudhary of 10J-110 of Charanjiv Vihar. The mastermind was, however, A K Mishra who had been posted in Ghaziabad from 1987 to 1989 and thus had a fair idea of businessmen’s financial position. Mishra had earlier extorted Rs 5 lakh from Satish Ahuja, the proprietor of Ahuja Petrol Pump near Roadways Bus Stand, the SSP said. Mishra told the police that as he had come under heavy debt in connection with the marriage of his daughter and three nieces, he had thought of such a plan. The other youths were unemployed and had ambition to become millionaires overnight. Even while in service, Mishra was in the habit of taking money on loan, never to return it, the SP city said. |
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CAPITAL MISHAPS New Delhi, March 25 According to the police, the accident occurred around 9. 30 pm last night. The victims were among the group of people who regularly sleep there. The wall, constructed several years ago, collapsed because of the vibrations caused by heavy traffic on the Pul Mithai. There was complete panic as men, women and children cried for help and the traffic came to a halt with curious onlookers thronging the site. The Delhi Fire Service and the police control room were subsequently informed and the victims extricated from the rubble. The police said that the bodies had been sent for a post-mortem and investigations were continuing. A case of causing death by negligence has been registered.
Two hurt as Metro trench caves in Two labourers, working for the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), were buried under earth as the nine-feet deep trench they were digging near Barakhamba Road caved in this evening. The labourers, Manzur Alam (27) and Dinesh, were rushed to RML Hospital, where they are kept under observation. They are reported to be out of danger. The fire-brigade, which received a call around 6.20 pm, rushed to the spot and extricated them from under the earth after sometime. The police said that three workers were involved in digging the trench. Since the sand was loose, it suddenly started falling inside the trench and trapped the three. However, the other labourer managed to come out of the trench and escaped unhurt. |
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Notorious criminal held after encounter Sonepat, March 25 According to a report, the criminal, who belonged to Bhatana Zaffarabad village, was going in a car from Ganaur towards Panchi village. On the way, the police signalled him to stop, but he started firing shots at the police. The cops returned the fire and overpowered him after sometime. Meanwhile, panic gripped a nearby Dewru village following the alleged slaughter of a cow by some unidentified persons in the village. According to a report, the villagers noticed the slaughter when they woke up in the morning today. They informed the members of the gram panchayat in this connection. Some panches and sarpanches called on the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Balwan Singh, and apprised him of the slaughter. |
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Peon foils bid to snatch bag carrying Rs 8 lakh Rewari, March 25 However, the peon of the company, Kailash Chand, thwarted the attempt. It is reported that Kailash and Nishant, clerks of the company, were going to deposit the amount in the Corporation Bank branch at about 10.30 am today. They were suddenly confronted by the two armed youths on a motorcycle. In a bid to intimidate the staff, one of the youths fired a shot in the air and tried to snatch the bag from Kailash who offered stiff resistance. Nishant also helped in foiling the attempt. Meanwhile, the other accomplice hurled a stone which injured Kailash in the head. Fearing the backlash, the youths fled on their bike. Kailash has been admitted to the civil hospital. The city police have registered a case of attempt to robbery under Sections 393, 285 of the IPC. It may be noted that the police were still clueless about the miscreant who had decamped with a bag containing Rs 9 lakh, brought by the employees of a petrol station to be deposited in the Bank of Baroda here yesterday. However, the other miscreant was nabbed. The city police had registered a case of cheating and theft under Sections 420, 380 of the IPC in this regard and the hunt is on to catch the other accused. |
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HC fines MCD for not ridding city of stray cattle New Delhi, March 25 In its latest report, the MCD had said that all cattle and animals in the Capital would have a tag number around their necks, which would bear the name of the owner. The report said that all possible steps would be taken to relocate dairies operating from the MCD area and impounding fine would be increased to at least Rs 1,000. It also suggested that the Delhi Milk Scheme and Mother Dairy should take steps to increase their supply to Delhi, which would discourage opening of private parties. |
Khurana wants govt to launch war against Pak New Delhi, March 25 Addressing a protest demonstration near the Pakistan High Commission, Mr Khurana said, “Enough is enough. It is high time the government broke the restraint being observed against Pakistan. Terrorism against India can be stopped only through an all-out war.” He said: “Till when will we wait to teach Pakistan a lesson? The Parliament attack, Akshardham killings and Kashmir temple carnage should not have been pardoned and if the government continues with the policy, the terror tactics will only continue.” India need not expect the US to persuade Pakistan to stop cross-border terrorism as the “Americans need their help during the Iraq war and have already withdrawn sanctions to appease them”. Holding the Jammu and Kashmir Government’s soft policy on militants directly responsible for the recent spate of killings, Mr Khurana demanded the dismissal of Chief Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed for failing to take steps to curb terrorism. Shouting anti-Pakistan slogans, BJP activists burnt the effigy of Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf. Later, a large number of protestors led by Mr Khurana and MPs Anita Arya and Lal Behari Tiwari who tried to break the police cordon and march into the commission were arrested by the police and released immediately. |
Sugar on demand as stock rises in Sonepat mill Sonepat, March 25 According to the managing director of the Sonepat Cooperative Sugar Mill, Mr Rajiv Mehta, the mill authorities have also arranged 10kg packs keeping in view the requirements of the consumers, which would be available in the market within 2-3 days. According to him, the sugar stock in the mill has piled upto nearly two lakh quintals, mainly due to the increase in the sale of sugar manufactured in Uttar Pradesh, prevailing slump in the market and the high sugarcane purchase price provided to the farmers of Haryana by the mills. “Even though we have taken care to improve the quality of the sugar by using improved quality of chemicals, the traders have been reluctant to buy our stock. Hence, the mill has no other option but to sell its product in the open market,” he said. He added that often it is the mill employees who book the orders of the villagers, which is supplied to them the very next day. It is pertinent to point out that traders, agriculture experts and even farmers feel that the quality of sugarcane in Haryana was “inferior” to those manufactured by the mills in UP because of the difference in the quality of agricultural land and the irrigation system. Tubewells were the main source of irrigation supplies in most of the sugarcane growing areas. In effect, canal water was better than this sub-soil water. Moreover, the quality of the land was also adversely affected by the saline and alkaline conditions that existed during the sixties and seventies due to the heavy rains and floods in the state. |
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SPECIAL FOCUS ON GURGAON Gurgaon, March 25 The authorities as well as experts are of the view that the possibility of disaster happening in Gurgaon Division has become more and more real with the increasing complexity of economic and industrial growth, compounded by extensive population growth due to large scale migration. A paper as part of the Plan document avers this theory as much. The paper further says that in light of the vulnerability of Gurgaon Division, it was important to be in combat readiness especially in concerned areas of volatility. Significantly, the Plan zeros in on post-disaster management. The Plan document paper rationalises this, saying that although pre-disaster mitigation plan covering policies of various concerned departments, development plans etc also ought to be included in a meaningful Disaster Management Plan, this has been deliberately omitted for the time being in order to ensure that at least the post-disaster management plan gets of the ground and is not delayed for want of detailed inputs. While it is recognised that there is a need for a more effective coordination mechanism and structural inputs to make a comprehensive plan, to do so now and incorporate the same into this document would not only be a daunting task but more importantly, delay the preparation of plans to handle disasters. It would be the endeavour of the Division to collate and collect all such policy interventions and development plans, which have a bearing on disaster prevention so that these could be seen in their proper perspective. The paper further says that till such time, it is proposed to proceed with this endeavour of making the Disaster Management Plan as an “Action Oriented Plan” with emphasis on pre-disaster and post-disaster management, covering five kinds of disasters namely, fires; transport related accidents; earthquakes; industrial accidents and epidemics. The document states that Haryana has detailed plans for handling floods and droughts. Plans are also in place for wartime situation, civil strife and strikes. The paper hopes that the Plan document would fill in the gaps in disaster management and become the starting point for preparation of future periodic revisions, and increasingly comprehensive disaster management plans. |
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‘Autorickshaws adding to pollution’ Gurgaon, March 25 This was observed by the newly elected president of Chamber of Industries of Udyog Vihar (CIUV), Mr O N Khanna. He said that most of these “illegal vehicles” could not have been registered in the city because the Supreme Court’s direction was applicable to the NCR region. Mr Khanna alleged that some of the vehicles are plying without registration numbers and the local authority had failed to check them. Mr Khanna further said that a couple of months back the police authority had launched a campaign against these “illegal three wheelers” but they went on strike and held the commuters to ransom. The police must take stringent against them and ensure that the “illegal vehicles” are not allowed to ply in the city as the lives of the passengers are adversely affected by the growing pollution in the city, he said. Moreover, he complained that drivers of these vehicles were in the habit of parking their vehicles “at will” and cared little for rules and regulations, resulting in frequent road accidents in the city. |
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War,
Pulwama killings condemned Rohtak, March 25 At the outset, the meeting condemned the heinous incident of killing of 24 innocent persons including women and children at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir. The meeting took note of the overwhelming sentiments of Indian people against the war on Iraq launched by the US and its allies. In spite of this, the NDA government was not opposing the war in a forthright manner, which was described as treachery with a friendly third world country like Iraq. “This dubious stand of the Vajpayee government is clearly against the glorious anti-imperialist tradition of Indian masses,” CPM state secretary Inderjit Singh told the ‘NCR Tribune’ after the meeting. The meeting decided to step up the anti-war campaign by undertaking various forms of protest activities to mobilise more people to express solidarity with the Iraqi people. The meeting decided to launch a signature campaign to collect more than one lakh signatures demanding the President of India to impress upon the central government to take initiatives for convening the UN General Assembly and resolve to force the US and its allies to immediately put an end to war. The meeting also urged Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala to break his silence and instead come forward to condemn the attack on Iraq like some other state governments. The meeting further decided to organise joint protests and dharnas at all district headquarters and towns on March 31. MEERUT:
The anti America movement against the invasion on Iraq by the coalition forces, led by the United States of America, intensified in Meerut. As many as 50,000 people gathered at the Goal Kuan area on Monday and demonstrated against the USA. Meerut Municipal Corporation Mayor Haszi Shahid Akhlaq and several other leaders assembled at the Gola Kuan area to demonstrate against the USA and allied forces against their attack on Iraq. Addressing to the gathering, the Mayor said that Mulsim in India and through out the world would no longer endure the atrocities committed by the USA and its allies. The America and the Britain had committed a sin against the humanity by attacking innocent people in the Iraq. ROHTAK: The All India Brahman Maha Sabha has condemned the brutal killing of 24 Kashmiri Pandits at Shopian village of Pulwama district in south Kashmir on Sunday night. Mr V. K. Sharma, general secretary of the sabha, said here today that the Jammu and Kashmir as well as the Central Governments had miserably been failed to ensure adequate security arrangements for the minority people. He said several such incidents in Kashmir in the recent past had exposed the ‘extreme deterioration’ in the law and order situation in the state. He said the state as well as the central governments had no right to stay in power if they could not protect the minorities. Mr Sharma said the latest incident had generated a sense of insecurity among the minorities and it was the duty of the central government to send a team of officials to the spot immediately to inculcate a feeling of security among the affected community. PANIPAT: A number of activists of the All India Anti-Terrorist Front today staged a demonstration protesting against the murder of 24 Kashmiri Pandits by the terrorists in Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir on Sunday night. The activists led by the district president of the front, Manmohan Singh, raised slogans against Pakistan and terrorists groups at Lal Batti Chowk. Addressing the activists, Mr Singh, state spokesman Sachin Sindwani and state secretary Sudhir Bajaj demanded the resignation of the Mufti government as it had failed to curb the terrorist activities in the state. Moreover, the government had released a number of terrorists who were put behind bars by the Sheikh Abdullah government and this act had emboldened the terrorists to strike without any fear, they said. |
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11 Dalit girls married at Gohana Sonepat, March 25 This was the eighth mass marriage ceremony organised by the samiti and the number of such marriages solemnised so far had gone up to 85. The ceremony was performed with all rituals including playing of bands, ‘Ghurchadhi’, ‘Kanya Daan’ etc. The samiti has reportedly spent around Rs 45,000 on the marriage of each girl, which it had raised by organising Bhagwat Maa Jagrans. The renowned Bal Sadhvi Hemlata Mudgil from Hardwar had also reached Gohana to bless the newly weds. The manufacturer of `Goldi Masalas’, Mr Lala Panna Lal of Delhi, was the chief guest at the ceremony, which was presided over by the president of the Gohana Beopar Mandal, Mr Prem Chand Gupta. |
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Automatic milk vending machines to make purchase less ‘bothersome’ New Delhi, March 25 These automatic milk vending machines will be the “first of their kind”, offering a single window service, so that the consumers do not have to use tokens. With this initiative, people will have a choice of brands for purchasing homogenised toned milk from automatic vending machines. The pure and homogenous toned milk dispensed from these vending machines is competitively priced at Rs 12 per litre. The vending machine makes purchase of milk less bothersome as it saves consumers a lot of time. The consumers can club their milk purchase with their FMCG purchases and can get hygienic and pure milk throughout the day from the FMCG stores. “The machines installed by us have created a new dimension in milk purchase,” says Mr K K Bhadra, marketing head, Paras Milk. |
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Chemists down shutters against VAT Sonepat, March 25 Rally held ROHTAK: The members of the Rohtak Chemists Association today took out a procession in the town in protest against the proposed implementation of Value Added Tax (VAT) in the state with effect from April 1. A spokesman of the association said that the traders and shopkeepers all over India had been opposing the VAT system tooth and nail, which proved that the new system had certain lapses.
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Goel
inspects parks New Delhi, March 25 Mr Goel also inspected the area around Bagh Diwar where unauthorised dhabas and structures have come up on MCD land, which are giving the area a shabby look. He directed the MCD to remove the unauthorised dhabas and structures and provide them alternative sites. Mr Goel is engaged in providing sports facility to the children. He elaborated that a number of skating rings would be constructed at various places in his constituency with contribution from the MPLAD Fund. A skating ring at a cost of Rs 7 lakh would soon become operational at Parade Maidan in front of Red Fort. Mr Goel also announced plans to beautify Vankhandi Mahadev Mandir situated near Company Bagh . |
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NCR BRIEFS Sonepat, March 25 According to the information, the alleged assailants and the victim clashed in the jail barrack leading to the death of Jaswant. The police arrested the culprits and sent the challan to the court. In the clash, three more undertrials, Jatinder, Karamvir and Pradeep, were also injured, and they were admitted to the hospital.
Woman killed A woman, Sudesh, fell down and died on the spot while trying to board a moving train at the Rajulu Garhi railway station, about 10 km from here, on Tuesday. According to a report, the Government Railway Police have sent the body for the post-mortem examination. The victim belonged to Lalehri Kalan village and reached the railway station to board a train. According to another report, another woman, Birmati, reportedly committed suicide by taking sulphas tablets in her house at Janata colony near Kabirpur village, 3 km from here, on Monday evening.
Workshop on cluster
supercomputer PANIPAT: A three-day workshop on “4 Node Cluster Supercomputer’, organised at APIIT SD India, concluded here today with a special focus on the research carried out by Mr. P. K. Roy, scientist, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC), Dehra Dun. Mr Roy gave A demonstration of the configured supercomputer in the presence of the faculty and students of APIIT SD and renowned academicians of various colleges in Panipat as well as big industrialists of the city. During the workshop, Mr Roy briefed the participants about the concept of configuring four ordinary personnel computers into a supercomputer. He explained that the system is based on the cycle-stealing or workstation-farm concept. In this process, a significant but unutilised CPU cycle in a network is harnessed to a high-performance infrastructure with minimal financial investment, he said, adding that with this configuration, the supercomputer can work with amazing speed. The workshop was presided over by the chairman of S. D. Vidya Mandir, Mr Ram Niwas Gupta, who appreciated the concept and hoped that the students of this college will benefit from the workshop. The director of APIIT SD India, Panipat, Dr H. K. Sehjwani, also hoped that the students would be able to analyse the performance of this supercomputer by running parallel programming. |
MARRIAGE
MALADY Noida, March 25 According to the Phase II police, Vinod, originally of Dugra in Bulandhshahr and now living in Bhangel, had committed suicide by hanging from a ceiling fan in his office on Monday night. He was a bright student but could not continue his studies after passing class XII, because of the poor financial condition of his family. He came to Noida in search of a job. He could not get a job of his liking but settled for an ordinary one in a firm, ‘Careers’, in Bhangel. An advocate is reportedly to have defrauded him by getting him married to a mentally challenged girl, who had made his life a hell. Whenever he tried to talk to her, she physically assaulted him and started behaving in a very strange way. As a result, Vipen did not go to his in-laws to bring his wife, Rajbala, to his home. The in-laws had also arraigned him in an anti-dowry case. As a result, his entire family was put behind bars. Young Vipen seems to have broken under all these pressures. “As I have lost all zest and hope for life, I am taking the extreme step,” he had written in the suicide note. “Nobody should be harassed for my death. I alone am responsible for this decision.” His friends are shocked. They never thought he would translate into action what he was thinking aloud.
Man beaten to death by in-laws NOIDA: A resident of Bilaspur village in Gautam Budh Nagar was beaten up by his in-laws and thrown in a forest in a very critical condition. While being rushed to a hospital in Noida, he succumbed to his wounds on Sunday. It is reported to be the first case of the girl’s relatives bashing up the son-in-law in the recent past here. Two brothers, Devi Ram and Raghuraj, were living in Bilaspur village. Raghuraj married Kavita, daughter of Prem Singh of Bharna village in Secunderabad, recently. However, their relations soured soon over some dispute and his wife went back to her parent’s house. As his in-laws were not allowing his wife to join him, Raghuraj went to her house to bring her back two days ago. His in-laws reportedly beat him black and blue and threw him in a forest in Bilaspur. He breathed his last while being carried to a Noida hospital. Though one Devi Lal Nagar had gone to file a report about the murder in the Dinkore police station, the cops reportedly refused to register the case saying it should be filed in the Secunderabad police station. However, Raghuraj was reportedly found hurt under the Dinkore police station area. |
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Cops foil bid to loot businessmen from Agra New Delhi, March 25 The businessmen, Raj Kumar alias Raju from Mathura and Pappu Kushwah from Agra dealing with plastic granules, were in Delhi on business purpose. When they reached the telephone exchange, four armed youngsters followed them and accused them of eve-teasing. After raising a commotion in the area, the assailants whipped out knives and started threatening them to part with whatever they had in their hand. One of them stabbed Raj Kumar in his hand and face. The policemen who were on duty nearby, sensing some trouble, reached the spot and found the assailants robbing Rs 4,000 from one of the victims. The police succeeded in arresting two persons, Rakesh and Gokul alias Tinku, both residents of Mangolpuri, but the others managed to escape. The police have registered a case of attempt to murder and efforts are being made to trace the remaining accused.
Husband held Strained relations with her husband had led to the murder of Meera alias Gomti in Sangam Vihar area of South district last week. Her husband, Kamal alias Gian Chand, has been arrested. Gain Chand allegedly shot at and strangled his wife on March 17 while they were going to a restaurant at Surajkund to have dinner. The couple had some heated argument on the way to Surajkund following which Gain Chand became furious and allegedly shot at Meera with a country-made pistol. Later, he strangled her to confirm that she was dead, the police said. According to the police, the suspect threw the body in a jungle near street number 12 in Sangam Vihar, which was found by residents of the nearby area. They identified the body of the woman and called the police. It was a blind case as the police had no clue about the suspect. The police questioned Gian Chand and his relatives who could not give a convincing reply. Later, Gian Chand was further interrogated in the Madangir police station where he disclosed that he had shot and strangled his wife. He told the police that he had doubts that Meera had illicit relations with somebody and that once she had tried to poison Gian Chand and his children without success. Thereafter, he decided to eliminate her. On the fateful day, he brought a car from his workshop to impress his wife and asked her to go to Surajkund to have dinner. He shot and strangled her while they were on the way, the police said.
Vehicle thieves nabbed The West district police today claimed to have busted a gang of vehicle thieves with the arrest of two persons. They were identified as Brij Babu alias Nanhe and Dinesh alias Sudhir. The police seized one motorcycle and one scooter from their possession. The suspects were arrested when they were going to dispose of the motorcycle near PVR Anupam. During interrogation, they confessed that the vehicles were stolen, the police said.
Narcotics racket busted The Narcotics Branch of the Delhi Police today claimed to have busted an international racket in drug trafficking with the arrest of three suspects, including a Nigerian. They were identified as Chenameze Ufomadu, the Nigerian, Rajan Kumar Chhadha alias Jim and Ajeet Singh alias Jeeta. They were arrested from near the Mother Dairy in Sravpriya Vihar. Eleven grams of cocaine and 1.1 kg hashish were recovered from them, the police said. |
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