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May 20, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Drama in Sec 17 parking lot Chandigarh, May 19 For a few minutes it appeared that the Punjab Police gunmen had taken control of the area as they chased the contractor, Devinder Singh, and his employees. Before the local police intervened, the contractor and his employees had been bashed up by the gunmen of the IG. The trouble started at around 12.30 pm when the IG drove into the parking area in a white-coloured Maruti Gypsy ( HRU 6629). The IG, who was at the steering wheel and was alone, did not stop his vehicle at the entry point and drove straight to the parking area. The contractor walked up to the vehicle and allegedly used abusive language while asking for the parking fee from the IG — a fact denied by the contractor. Apparently infuriated at the tone, the IG called his gunmen to teach the contractor a lesson. The contractor, while talking to the TNS, said in spite of not being aware of the identity of the IG, he had asked him to pay for the parking in a polite manner. “The IG called someone by the name of Jagjit on his mobile phone and within minutes as many as eight gunmen were at the spot looking for me. I was bullied by them and they threatened to take me to the Phase 8 police station in SAS Nagar”, said the contractor. The situation was saved from getting worse as a large number people gathered at the spot. The contractor claimed that his employees prevented the gunmen from escaping in another Gypsy (CH 01 G 0869). Both parties were asked to come to the Sector 17 police station. The IG, Mr Shashi Kant, said he had parked his vehicle in the parking lot little knowing that there was no free parking for government vehicles there as had been the practice in the past. He said the Gypsy was his official vehicle and he had gone for some official work to Sector 17. “The contractor had used abusive language and it had offended me. Earlier, the government vehicles were exempted from the parking fee”, said Mr Kant adding that he did not want to
pursue the case against the contractor. On the other hand the contractor claimed that as the IG had apologised so he had not filed any complaint with the police. A senior police official said neither any written complaint had been filed by the two parties nor had they tendered a written apology. The police had intervened to make the two parties reach a compromise. Both parties remained at the police station for over an hour and the DSP, Central, Mr S.C. Sagar, and the SHO of the Sector 17 police station, Mr B.S. Negi, could be seen listening to both the parties. At last the police prevailed upon the contractor who left without filing any written complaint. The police says it had got a large number of complaints of misbehaviour by employees of the new contractors. It was not the first time that there had been a clash between the contractor and the visitors to Sector 17 over paid parking. Sources in the police say after the new contractors took over the paid parking lots from April this year, almost every day people were complaining about misbehaviour by the contractor and his men. Yesterday, the SHO of the Sector 17 police station had called a meeting of the contractors over the issue. “If the contractors had any complaint, they should report the matter to the Sector 17 police post and leave it to the police to solve the matter”. |
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I was never in CBI custody: Bhardwaj
Chandigarh, May 19 On the other hand, the CBI, while filing a reply in connection with the anticipatory bail application moved by Bhardwaj, said it had recovered Rs 7 lakh that Bhardwaj had accepted as bribe. His hand wash was taken and it was found positive. According to Bhardwaj, the CBI has been alleging that he had escaped from its custody on the intervening night of May 10 and 11, so it might have prepared certain documents relating to the case and same were required to be produced for the perusal of the court before reaching any conclusion on the bail application. Bhardwaj said he was innocent and had been falsely implicated in the case by complainant Gurvinder Singh in connivance with the CBI. He claimed that he was out of station on May 9 and 10 and before going, he had taken station leave. In its reply the CBI stated that the after completing the pre-trap formalities in the presence of independent witnesses — Dev Raj, and Madan Lal and Mr L.R. Roojam, Sessions Judge (Vigilance), Punjab — a trap was laid and S.S. Bhardwaj was caught red-handed while demanding a bribe of Rs 7 lakh. Refuting the claim made by Bhardwaj that he was on leave on May 9 and 10, the CBI stated that he was caught red-handed at his official residence, but he managed to escape while the legal formalities were on. After hearing the pleas for an anticipatory bail and production of documents, the UT CBI Special Judge, Mr Balbir Singh adjourned the case for May 21.  |
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Officials shielding Sarpanch: villagers Chandigarh, May 19 At least 10 villagers had filed several complaints against the Sarpanch and the complainants had also met the Punjab Chief Minister. The Deputy Director (LD) had suspended the Sarpanch on March 7 by using powers vested in the Director (Panchyats). However, the suspension order was stayed on March 26 as reports of the DDPO (in the matter) were found ‘contradictory’ and a fresh enquiry was marked to the ADC (Ropar). The ADC was asked to submit his report within a period of one month. Addressing the press conference, Mr Karnail Singh, a complainant in the Sarpanch case, alleged that the complainants (about 10) were being harassed unnecessarily. Mr Harnek Singh, another complainant said, “We (complainants) have been summoned at least six times at the department’s Patiala office and each time we were given a further date”. Another complainant, Mr Gurmukh Singh, alleged that the Sarpanch was being shielded by certain officials of the department. “We want immediate action against the Sarpanch” demanded Mr Gurmukh Singh and added: “We have come to know that on May 14 another inquiry in the case had been marked to the ADC (Ropar)”. No official of the Rural Development and Panchyats, Punjab, could be contacted for comments. The Sarpanch was suspended for an alleged embezzlement of Rs 1.19 lakh, issuance of fake no-objection certificate which lead to encroachment on village land and for being
imprisoned in a criminal case. |
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City sizzles at 43°C Chandigarh, May 19 Hisar in Haryana recorded a maximum temperature of 45.6°C, the highest temperature in the region, so far. The temperature recorded in this hottest city of North India last year was 48°C. Shimla recorded a maximum of 28°C which was the same as last year. Amritsar was the hottest city in Punjab with a maximum temperature of 44°C followed by Patiala at 43.9°C. In Amritsar and Patiala, the maximum temperature was 5°C and 3.9°C, respectively, above the average temperature of these cities. Last year, Amritsar recorded a maximum temperature of 45°C and Patiala 44°C. The maximum temperatures of other cities in the region recorded were Bhuntar 35.4°C, Ludhiana 43.4°C and Sundernagar 39.3C. According to reports from the Meteorological Department, the temperature is expected to rise further over the next few days. The maximum temperature in Chandigarh and other major cities of Haryana and Punjab was 3° to 6° above normal. According to Meteorological Department Director, Mr S.C. Bhan, the dry spell would continue over the next 48 hours in the region with isolated duststorm haze in the South-West Punjab and Haryana. The areas likely to witness duststorm included Ferozepore, Abohar, Fazilka, Bathinda, Hisar and Sirsa. The monsoon was likely to reach Punjab and Haryana in the last week of June, he said. |
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Scheme to rehabilitate
scavengers fails Chandigarh, May 19 “Achievements so far can at best be described as sporadic, uncoordinated and generally poor, without the strength required for catalysing the future course. It is the lack of purpose in aligning the parameters of the scheme and lack of will in implementing it that led to the scheme floundering on its own assumptions”, pointed the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India, in its latest report on the performance of the ministry. The Employment of Manual Scavengers and Construction of Dry Latrines (Prohibition) Act, 1993 was adopted by 16 States by April, 2002; it was, however, not enforced in any State. The States that adopted the Act include Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. Rajasthan and Delhi are yet to adopt the Act: the matter is currently under the process of legislature in Rajasthan and it is pending cabinet approval in Delhi. The process of training to scavengers lacked systematic efforts, absence of any special curriculum, shortfall in achievement of targets and absence of interfaces between the institutions, the government departments and the scheme administrators. As a result, the target of training envisaged for the eighth Plan could not be achieved. According to a report of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, training was imparted to only 1.11 lakh scavengers (32 per cent) during the period 1992-97 as against the identified 3.50 lakh scavengers. The CAG report has further pointed out that the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment neither made any special efforts to accelerate the pace of training nor revised its target for the succeeding years. It may be mentioned that no training was conducted in the States of Bihar, Gujarat, Kerala and Punjab and no targets were fixed in Assam, Gujarat, Jammu and Kashmir and Rajathan. The Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and the implementing agencies in Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and West Bengal did not plan any specific women oriented schemes. Of the 14,674 women scavengers identified for training in Punjab, 8,212 opted to receive training; of these, only 1,396 women (17 per cent) could be rehabilitated by March, 2002. As against a target of setting up of 4,606 sanitary marts for the rehabilitation of 1,15,150 scavengers in 14 States, the implementing agencies could set up only 636 sanitary marts rehabilitating 4,107 scavengers. In Delhi, Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab and Kerala, the scheme was not implemented at all. |
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Administrator firm on checking encroachments Chandigarh, May 19 The Administrator issued these instructions when the Deputy Commissioner Mr M. Ramshekhar, apprised him of the growing problem of encroachments in the city, at a meeting. The Deputy Commissioner gave a detailed report to the Administrator on encroachments and the problems of various schemes of rehabilitation launched in Chandigarh from time to time. Justice Verma asked him to take action against officials found negligent in their duty towards protecting the public land. Such negligence should be recorded in his or her service record, he said. He said a message had to go to the public that the old rehabilitation scheme would no longer continue. He asked the Adviser to get the old rehabilitation scheme legally rescinded to make it inoperative in future. Justice Verma asked the Adviser to conduct a survey of vacant land available with the Administration to save it from further encroachments. He said the officials concerned should identify pieces of such land and photograph them for record, so that the land was encroached upon, action could be taken against erring officials. He expressed his concern over the fact that the administration paid huge compensation to the parties without taking possession of the acquired land. He said it was surprising that the possession of pieces of land acquired as many as eight years ago had not been yet taken and the Administration had paid the compensation in undue haste. The Administrator also asked the Adviser to ensure a coordinated action plan against those who have encroached upon public land and also against those who had brought the overhead electricity supply lines closer to residential buildings in a dangerous proximity. Justice Verma said field officers should regularly visit spots to mark encroachments. He asked the Adviser to come up with a comprehensive plan on such encroachments and its solution by the next week. The Adviser, Mr Virendra Singh, the Finance Secretary, Mr Karan A. Singh, the Home Secretary, Mr R.S. Gujral, were also present in the meeting. |
Little Magazine has stood test of time Chandigarh, May 19 “We at The Little Magazine strongly believe in giving power to a writer before putting a pen in his hand,” says Antara, as she shared her experiences as the Editor of the magazine during an interactive session organised by Chandigarh Sahitya Akademi in the auditorium of the Chandigarh Arts Council in Sector 34 here today. “I am not against mainstream media, but it is high time one has to change the mindset of people, help them to know their rich heritage rather than the popular life and style images the media has been feeding them with,” she says. As she interacted with city’s ‘who’s who’ in the literary field, Antara talked about using language as a tool for bridging up the diverse literary and cultural heritage of India and creating awareness among people as a means of empowerment. “Literature is important to know where we stand in a multicultural set up,” she says. For a country like India that has 22 official languages, Antara emphasised on the need to take up more and more translation work. “Though English serves as the link language and still the language for the upper middle class people in our country, it is not that other regional languages have not produced good works. It is only through translation work that we can show to the world that we do have something to offer in the literary field. So if people think that nothing worthwhile has been done after Tagore, then they should know how wrong they are,” she says. While refusing to accept the people’s verdict that The Little Magazine is only for the highly intellectual class, Antara says it is a total misnomer. Though the magazine contains highly thought-provoking essays, it also has a sizable number of art and culture-related articles that can be enjoyed by all, she says. “To make it more people-friendly we have now accepted advertisements but only those which fall along the line of its objectivity,” she adds. Antara, who resigned from her post as a Senior Editor of a national daily to start the venture, says the response from readers has been positive. “Initially, it was a tough job as the editor of a magazine which is running within limited resources but we all worked hard to make it perfect and now we have created our readership, however, minor the group may be,” she says. |
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Panel fails to take decision Chandigarh, May 19 The committee has decided to meet again possibly after the May 22 dharna of agitating sweepers on the municipal corporation. Nominated councillors expressed their view through a letter to the committee headed by former Mayor Lalit Joshi. The nominated councillor, Dr K. S. Raju, is the convener of the committee. The meeting also witnessed a change in the views of certain councillors after an assurance was believed to have been given that the authority of councillors to issue satisfaction certificate to private contractors would be restored. The BJP councillor in the committee, Mr Rajesh Gupta, reportedly opposed privatisation in sanitation. The Chandigarh Vikas Manch councillor, Mr Jatinder Bhatia, had been taken up the issue on behalf of councillors. The committee this time did not call the Sweepers’ Union as they had already submitted their charter of demands in the last meeting. Congress councillor Balraj Singh clearly opposed the privatisation move while other party members waited till the next meeting and expressed the view that before taking any decision on the issue, the financial position of the corporation and legality of making recommendation of employing 1009 sweepers on a permanent basis had to be taken into account. The meeting assumed importance in the wake of cracks being witnessed in the ruling Congress. Municipal Commissioner M. P. Singh also attended the meeting to clarify that as per the Administration’s view permanent jobs and daily wage would not be possible in the near future suggesting that there was no option but to continue privatisation till permanent posts were created for sweepers. |
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FLEECING AT CINEMAS Panchkula, May 19 Taking advantage of ignorance of visitors, who are unaware of the distinction between parking within the cinema premises and on land owned by the Haryana Urban Development Authority, the visitors are being forced to pay for parking on the pretext of “ensuring safety of the vehicles.” Though the cinema owners can charge for parking within their premises, no money can be charged for parking outside the cinema premises. A visit to the two cinema halls — Suraj Theatre in Sector 1 and KC Cinema in Sector 5 — revealed that the cinema owners were operating in violation of the terms of allotment of cinema sites. While gullible visitors at KC Cinema are being forced to pay Rs 5 for a vehicle, be it car, scooter or a bicycle, at Suraj Theatre film enthusiasts are being made to pay Rs 10 for a car and Rs 5 for a two-wheeler . At Suraj Theatre, the cinema management has encroached upon the land surrounding the cinema hall by putting up a gate, which is manned by at least two people. Even the exit route has a rope to prevent visitors from leaving without paying for the parking. Interestingly, the proprietor of the cinema hall, Mr Vipin Kumar Jain, when contacted, maintained that he had no information about people being charged for parking outside his theatre. The parking slip being issued to the visitors does not mention the amount to be paid. It just says: “On loss of this parking slip, the vehicle owner will be liable to pay four times the parking fee and will also have to produce two witnesses to reclaim their vehicle”. According to estimates, around 50 persons on an average visit these cinema halls each day, thus benefitting the cinema owners who are facing stiff competition from the more frequented cinemas in Chandigarh. The management of KC Cinema, when contacted by Chandigarh Tribune, maintained that they had started paid parking only to ensure that the vehicles were not stolen from outside their premises. “It is being done only for the safety of the vehicles of visitors. If somebody has objections to this, we are not forcing them to pay,” said Mr Roop Raj, Manager of the cinema. When contacted, the Deputy Commissioner, Ms Satwanti Ahlawat, said neither the district administration nor HUDA had allowed any paid parking in the township. She said strict action would be taken against those found charging for parking at any public place. |
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LEAF FROM HISTORY CHANDIGARH became a Union Territory on November 1, 1966, with the bifurcation of the larger state of Punjab into the purportedly Hindi-speaking Haryana and the Punjabi-speaking Punjab. This immediately brought it under the direct charge of bureaucrats. The Chief Commissioner, as the head of the Chandigarh bureaucracy, immediately lost his boss, the Chief Minister of Punjab. Now it was to the Governor of Punjab to whom he had to report. The Governor, however, was too busy performing his role as the constitutional head of the state to bother much about the day-to-day functioning of the administration in Chandigarh. The absence of a political boss could have been a dream come true for any bureaucrat. For, by 1966-67, the political class of India had already started its Aya Ram Gaya Ram politics and begun the process, which indicated that they were far more concerned about their own private welfare than the future and welfare of the people or the country. In such a situation the entire responsibility of the running of Chandigarh fell upon bureaucrats. Hitherto, under the aegis of the colonial government, the norm for administration had been for the superior officer to take a decision and simply instruct his subordinates to implement. That is another matter that many a superior officer in colonial times did take into account the opinions of his subordinates and the whims and fancies of his superiors before finalising a decision. Independence, however, had brought with it a new wave of democracy, a sense of collective responsibility, and a desire to do what was best for the country and the people. Many Indian bureaucrats of those days had become firmly committed to the ideas of liberal democracy and since the 1950s at least, decentralisation had been the important mantra amongst many of them. Admittedly, liberal decentralisation had been designed to create a Panchayati Raj system for local governance a la the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. But that had yet to be implemented. In Chandigarh, though, even without any set of elected representatives, the bureaucrats began to work towards liberal decentralisation. Under this principle the Chief Engineer of the Capitol Project, the Chief Architect and the Director of the Post-graduate Medical Research Institute were made Secretaries of their respective organisations. Apart from this a number of committees were organised to deal with current problems. Mostly officers of the government were nominated to these committees depending on the charge that they were holding currently. Some faculty members from the university too were co-opted along with one or two members of the public who were closely linked to the important bureaucrats The important committees included the Capital Advisory Committee, the Capital Control Board, Education Committee, Committee on Health, Industrial Area Development Committee, Hose Allotment Committees, Landscape Committee, Museum Committee, Negotiation Committee for the allotment of Industrial Plots, Sports Committee, Traffic Advisory Committee, Festival Programme Committee etc. In those days working with such committees was not yet part of the experience of a bureaucrat. So even the basic functioning of the committee had to be told to the members. The Chief Commissioner insisted that all the officers who were part of these committees, irrespective of how junior they were, should come up with suggestions for the better working of their respective charges even when the issue was not part of the agenda of the committee. The recommendations and decisions of these committees, it was presumed, reflected the collective wisdom of the committee members. The proceedings of the meetings were circulated so that the concerned officer could adequately attend to the various points that had been raised. It was felt that this method had ensured speed in decision-making and a good deal of unnecessary red tape had been eliminated. Time schedules were fixed for the performance of all tasks and periodic reviews were held to see that the schedules were adhered to. |
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Air Marshal Gandhi arrives in city Chandigarh, May 19 On arrival here, they were received by the Air Officer Commanding, 12 Wing, Air Cdr Arun Gopinath and Ms Jaya Gopinath, president Air Force Wives Welfare Association (local). The Air Marshal was presented a guard of honour and was introduced to senior officers of the station. Air Marshal Gandhi went around various units and establishments of the air force station and was also given a briefing on operational and administrative matters pertaining to the station. He also interacted with senior NCOs of the station. He will also address all air force personnel at the station. Air Marshal Gandhi is also scheduled to meet the Punjab Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh. Meanwhile, Ms Gandhi took stock of AFWWA welfare activities at the station. She interacted with the wives of officers and airmen of the station and visited various AFWWA centres here, including
Umeed, a special institution for physically and mentally challenged children. |
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FAUJI BEAT UNTIL 2001, one civil and military liaison (CML) conference for all the states, which are in the territorial jurisdiction of the Headquarters Western Command, was held annually. But from 2002, a separate conference is held for each state. For Punjab, the first such conference was held in the second week of May at Punjab Bhawan. This was also the first time that it was not held at the Headquarters Western Command, but in Chandigarh. The CML conference was inaugurated by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh and was addressed by him and the GOC-in-C Western Command, Lieut-Gen S.S. Mehta. Those who attended the conference were senior officers from the Army, Punjab Government and paramilitary forces. In his address, Capt Amarinder Singh promised to extend his full co-operation on the issue of mutual interest. In his address, General Mehta said that the Army was ensuring that the land acquired for Operation “Parakram” was handed over to the civil administration after it was totally free of mines. Incidentally, what has been making the Army sore over the years is wearing of Army uniform by the security guards at hotels, restaurants and big shops in almost all cities. Besides raising this point at the CML conference, a former Army Commander had also requested the then Chief Minister, Mr P.S. Badal, in writing for stopping the misuse of Army uniform. But this undesirable practice, amounting to an offence, still continues.
A costly delay Presiding over the panel discussion on the Iraq war in Panjab University a few days ago, a former Army Chief, General V.P. Malik, brought out the example of integration of allied forces which was a war winning factor. He also highlighted how modernisation becomes a plus point in fighting a war successfully. He further said that we are “slow in modernisation” and “slow in integration”. There are many lessons that we can learn from the Iraq war. But our political hierarchy’s mindset being what it is, we will remain where we are. For, if we have not learnt any lesson from our own wars, especially from the Chinese debacle in 1962, it is unlikely that we will change our stance now. If this was not so, then the government would not have been dragging its feet on appointing a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) after taking a final decision on this long pending issue more than two years ago. The decision about restructuring of the Ministry of Defence (MOD) also seems to have been thrown to the winds. As for the modernisation, we believe in moving at a snail’s pace even after the Kargil conflict in 1999, which brought out vividly the absence of essential modern equipment in our Army. Our armed forces have been waiting for an Advanced Jet Trainer (AJT), Light Combat Air Craft (LCA), Aircraft Carrier and Main Battle Tank (MBT), to name only a few, for many years now.
Justice through courts? The pay scales recommended by the Fifth Pay Commission were implemented in two phases for the personnel below officers ranks (PBORs) i.e. from January 1, 1996 to October 9, 1997 and from October 10 onwards when the enhanced pay scales were introduced. Accordingly, a case was taken up by the Army Headquarters with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) that the personnel who were released from service between January 1, 1996 and October 10, 1997, “should be given the benefit of higher pay scales notionally for the purpose of pension”. When no decision was taken on this case by the MOD for three years, an affected CPO Tilak Raj Gupta (retd.) from the Navy and two others filed a petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which was decided in their favour on January 8, 2002. The High Court had given six months to the Government of India to implement this order by paying higher pension to the affected personnel. Since the High Court order has not been implemented, a Division Bench of the High Court has issued a notice to the Army, Navy and Air Force Chiefs as well as to the Secretary of Defence on May 9, 2003. It is said that justice can only be obtained through courts, which is a costly affair. |
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Youth fest organised SAS Nagar, May 19 Mr Ashok Gupta, assistant governor, inaugurated the festival while Mr Manpreet Singh, president, Rotract Club, distributed the prizes. Mr Kushjiv Singh Sethi, chairman, Rotract Club, encouraged the participants to spread the message of love and peace which is this year’s Rotract motto. The winners of the various competitions, include Kanika, Anita, Aseem, Sandeep, Anubhav, Saurav Abhishek, Anubhav, Vishal, Achal, Bhanu, Jaskaran Singh Parvinder, Hunardeep and Amandeep Kaur. Mr Navdeep Singh was crowned Mr Rotractor and Ruchi was crowned Ms Rotractor. The team from Rotract, Ambala (main), won both the quiz and the mind game competition. |
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PUDA demolishes illegal shops SAS Nagar, May 19 The nearby shopowners protested against the drive and raised slogans against them. The drive had to be postponed in Shakti Market and Mohali village areas as some of the shops had procured a stay from the court against demolition. Some shopowners of the area also alleged that on May 16 PUDA had demolished some shops against which they would be filing a contempt case. |
Driver hangs himself Chandigarh, May 19 The body was found hanging when the CRRID office was opened at about 9.45 am today. Vijay Kumar, of Himachal Pradesh, had left a suicide note. In the note, he did not hold anybody responsible for the extreme step. The body has been send for postmortem examination. Theft of vehicles: A Tata Indica car (CH03 F 1486) of Mr Sunil Vohra, a resident of Sector 32, was reportedly stolen from his residence here yesterday. Mr Deepak Kumar of H.No. 2134-B, Sector 42-C, also reported to the police that his black-coloured Yamaha motor cycle (PB65 A 8076) was stolen from his residence. Two cases of theft have been registered. Injured: Varinder Vashisht (H.No. 4263-B, Sector 46-D) was injured after the scooter he was driving hit by a car on the road dividing Sectors 27 and 28 on May 6. A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered. Held: The police has arrested four persons from different parts of the city allegedly for liquor smuggling and recover 130 pouches of liquor from their possession here on Sunday. Couple robbed: A Manimajra-based couple was robbed of their belongings after being assaulted by two unidentified youths on a deserted section of the road from Nayagaon to Khuda Alisher. According to information, Mr Bhachittar Singh and his wife, who own a house in Janta Colony, Nayagaon, were strolling on the road after parking their vehicle. Two youths approached them and started beating them with sticks. Their belongings, two gold chains and a purse containing Rs 2000, were robbed by the youths at around 7.30 p.m. The police has registered a case under Section 392 of the IPC. But after reaching the spot, the local police found that the spot fell in the Punjab area. The case will be transferred to the Punjab Police. PANCHKULA Harassment alleged: A local shopkeeper has accused the Panchkula police of harassing him by asking him to pay for their trips to find his missing daughter. In his complaint to the Superintendent of Police, Panchkula, Ulasi said his 12-year-old daughter had been missing for the past three months. He had accused Vinod of kidnapping his daughter and taking her away to a village in Garhwal. Though an FIR in this regard was lodged in February, he has complained that the police team investigating the case has been asking him to pay for their trips to locate his daughter. SAS NAGAR Two held: The police has arrested two persons allegedly involved in stealing purses from parked cars in the township. According to information provided by the police here, the two, Gurmukh Singh and Amit Kumar, were arrested today when they were travelling on a scooter allegedly used during the crime. Giving details, the police said Sarabjit Singh, a resident of Phase XI here, had gone to attend a function at the Phase V Community Centre with his wife on May 17. While he and his wife went inside the centre to attend the function, the couple had left a ladies’ purse inside the car. On coming back they found the car’s window down and the lock broken and the purse missing. The police lodged a complaint and on investigation found that two persons had come on a scooter and committed the crime. The scooter was identified by an alert police officer, ASI, Bhagwant Singh today on the road near a roundabout. Those travelling on the scooter were asked to stop but they tried to run away. However, they were caught and arrested. |
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Armed youths
injure two Chandigarh, May 19 The president of the Panjab University Campus Students Council Malwinder Singh Kang, was also attacked but he escaped unhurt. The victims were sympathisers of the Panjab University Students Union. The15 attackers, armed with swords and rods, fled away in a Tata Safari. The attackers allegedly wanted expulsion of Malwinder Singh Kang from the party. A case has been registered. |
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Rape bid alleged SAS Nagar, May 19 According to the information provided by the family members of the minor girl, she had gone to watch TV in a nearby house when one of their neighbours, who lives on the rear and of their hut, pulled her into his hut and tried to rape her. The colony residents however raised an alarm and beat up the person who is a migrant labourer. The man was allegedly in an inebriated condition when the incident took place. The man on being questioned by the police claimed that the girl had herself come to his hut and raised the alarm. |
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One more held in murder case Chandigarh, May 19 The victim was brutally murdered one-and-a half-month ago while he was coming from the Sector 38 market along with his brother, Harish Kamboj, and a friend, Harjinder. The suspects who were arrested earlier are, Ajay Kumar, Rajesh Kumar, alias Kala, Parveen Kumar, alias Pinni, and Monu, from near the Shahpur chowk. The suspects in their statement to the police said on April 8 last, Parveen, alias Pinni, one of the suspect, was sitting at an STD booth in the Sector 38 market, when Harish along with his brother, Randeep, came there to make a call. At the shop, Babita, wife of Sanjay, was also waiting to make a call. While coming out of the shop, Harish leg touched of the Babita. One of the assailant, Pinni, who noticed it objected to it. Infuriated, Pinni called other boys of the Sansi colony. Armed with roads and daggers, they chased Harish, Randeep and Harjinder. While Harish and Harjinder escaped with minor injuries, Ramandep, was stabbed with a dagger. The police conducted raids at many places in the city to nab the assailants. |
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Woman
decamps with investors’ money Chandigarh, May 19 Some of the cheated persons, include policemen of Chandigarh and Punjab. So far the fraud of around Rs 20 lakh has been unearthed by the victims who have filed a complaint with the local police. The complaint was today marked to the SP (Operations). Inquiries reveal that the woman had given an advertisement in newspapers on November 18 last year and had invited people who wanted to earn Rs 1,000 after investing a sum of Rs 500. The investors could earn more by making more members, she had claimed. The modus operandi of the woman was to ask her clients to pack grocery items in plastic polybags and return them to her. The clients who made more members were gifted with blankets and other items. One of the complainants said the woman had employed some boys who used to empty the plastic bags and returned the grocery items to the main stock. About two months back some of the victims had complained to the SP (
City). The woman had in an affidavit, promised to return the money of her clients. However, the woman managed to escape. The husband of the woman works as a sweeper in the local Air Force Station. |
BSNL abolishes clause Chandigarh, May 19 The press note, which was issued today, said all phone plus services, including CLIP, would be offered free of cost to the subscribers of PSTN (wireline) and WLL (fixed) services subject to technical feasibility and availability. They would be offered these services on the first come first served basis. |
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