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$5,30,000 embezzled from NRI account New Delhi, March 23 The person, identified as R S Batra, cousin of the late J S Premi, from whose account the money was transferred, has been arrested. While Batra has been remanded in judicial custody, a hunt is on for his associate Baljit. The sleuths received a complaint from J S Premi’s widow Sharan Premi, resident of New York, that her husband’s Indian partners, who also happened to be their relatives, had embezzled more than US $5,30,000 from her late husband’s account in Vysya Bank, Connaught Place. In the complaint, she had mentioned that R S Batra, resident of Punjabi Bagh, forged a Power of Attorney in his name. Subsequently when J S Premi died on September 2, 1993, in the US, Batra deleted Sharan’s name and inserted the name of Baljit Singh, nephew of Premi. During preliminary investigations, the sleuths found out that the suspects were into import and export and operating bank accounts of J S Premi in India. It also came to light that J S Premi prepared a GPA in January 1993 and nominated Batra for purpose of operating his bank accounts in India on his behalf. A Foreign Currency Non-Resident (FCNR) account No 0756232/8/93 was opened on January 28, 1993 and a sum of US $5,33,802.85 was deposited in it. Subsequently, Baljit’s name was added to the account on September 3, 1993; After Premi died on September 22, 1993, Baljit became the sole beneficiary of the account and the existing deposits were further renewed for six months from January 27, 1994. Again, on the instruction of Baljit on August 8, 1994, the total amount in the account was transferred to an account in Standard Chartered Bank in Dubai through TT. Investigations also revealed that the letter, which was submitted to the Chief Manager, Vysya Bank, Connaught Place, by Batra was also forged with some insertions to benefit Baljit Singh. |
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initiative New Delhi, March 23 The instructions were issued following reports from the Delhi Fire Service and other emergency services like ambulances that precious time was often lost while negotiating through traffic snarls to reach the mishap spot. It is felt that if such a proposal is implemented, the traffic policemen will immediately alert their men in the field to keep the road clear for the emergency vehicles and thus reduce the response time. With the fire season—the two scorching months of April and May—just round the corner, the Police Commissionerer’s idea has gained currency. A letter has been sent to Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Qamar Ahmed and Joint Commissioner of Police (Operations) S K Chowdhury to ascertain whether the Police Control Room (PCR) is routinely informed of the fire calls received by the fire service. In case, this routine has not been followed so far, Paul has asked the two departments to coordinate with the fire department to help streamline the procedure. The scheme will particularly benefit areas in the congested walled city. Such delays also affect the reputation of the Fire Service, and consequently, the morale of the force which is engaged in crucial and hazardous rescue operations. The public has repeatedly sought improvement in the functioning of the departments dealing with emergencies and this step would go a long way in improving the response time. The Police Commissioner will personally monitor the progress of the scheme, which is part of his efforts to streamline the Capital’s chaotic traffic. |
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crime maze Sonepat, March 23 According to a report, the miscreants arrived around 10 pm and whisked him away in the car. As he was being pushed into the vehicle, he raised the alarm. Roshan Lal’s wife rushed out of the house and saw him being forced to sit in the car. But before she could react, they had driven away. Later, she informed the police about the incident, but they have not made any headway. She suspects two persons, including a member of the Sonepat Block Samiti, for the alleged kidnapping. She said that the kidnappers wanted her husband to vote for a particular candidate. According to another report, five armed youths assaulted a jeep driver with swords and looted Rs 5,000, a mobile phone and other valuables at the bus stand of Bhatana Zaffarabad village, about 10 km from here yesterday. Mr Vinod was travelling in the jeep along with other family members when the miscreants arrived in an auto-rickshaw. They beat him up and snatched the valuables. When the jeep driver resisted, he was also attacked. The police are still investigating the case. However, no arrest has been made. |
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killer road Dadri, March 23 Five of the seriously injured have been admitted to government hospital, Ghaziabad. The relatives of the injured created a commotion in the hospital, alleging that they were not being treated properly. Fearing for his safety, the doctor on duty had fled from the hospital. In the first accident, a Maruti Alto No. DL-2CH 2800 carrying one Tofique and his family from Delhi to Bulandshahr had a head-on collision with Tata 407 No. UP-86-9061 on Monday early morning in Gram Chhera on GT Road. As the Tata 407 going towards Ghaziabad, was being driven at a high speed, the Maruti car was badly smashed. Hearing the shrieks of car passengers, villagers and people at wayside restaurants came running. The injured were rushed to the government hospital by the police. Esarrat Allah, son of Tofique, Ms Samona and Ms Alfaan succumbed to their injuries on the way while Mohd. Tofique, Adnan, Rashid, Arjun and Praveen were serious. The driver of Tata-407 had fled after the accident. In the second accident occurred at 5 am near Chhaprola police post when Om Prakash, 45, of Rohtak, was going to Haridwar with his family and friends on a hired jeep and tractor trolley. Yoginder, son of Avinash of Sanghi Rohtak was driving jeep No. HR-46-B 0253. Instead of Meerut, he took a turn towards Dadri by mistake. As he was driving at a high speed, he lost control and hit a stationary container No. HR 38-9-1499 from behind. The policemen and the villagers immediately pulled out the injured. They were rushed to government hospital, Ghaziabad where 35-year-old Raju, son of Kanji and 55-year-old Suresh, both of Civil Lines, Rohtak, were declared brought dead by doctors. Om Prakash, son of Ram Gopal; Veer Chander, son of Mool Chander; Premilla, w/o Laxmi, and Shakuntala, w/o Daya Chander are all residents of Aya Nagar Rohtak, Haryana. Driver Yoginder has been arrested. Father run over by train, son survives Faridabad: In separate incidents, two persons were killed and one was injured when they were run over by speeding trains in the town during the past 48 hours. According to information, one Hari Chand, a 35-year-old resident of Sector-25 here, was killed on the spot after being hit by a train as he was crossing the track with his 10-year-old son on a motorcycle. His son, however, survived the tragedy with some injuries. In another incident, one Sunder of Fareda village was also killed in a similar manner when he was crossing the track near Malerna village yesterday. |
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HC bar on Rs 133-cr ST claim on MTNL New Delhi, March 23 A Division Bench of Chief Justice BC Patel and Justice BD Ahmed, however, gave a free hand to the Sales Tax Department to carry on assessment proceedings pending disposal of MTNL plea. The Bench also issued notices to the Government of NCT of Delhi and its Sales Tax Department and asked them to file their replies by May 11, the next date of hearing. The Sales Tax Department has slapped a claim of Rs 850-odd crore against the MTNL for the assessment years 1997-1998, 1998-1999, 1999-2000, 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 towards the ‘sale’ of telephone calls, pulses, internet accounts, Virtual Calling Cards (VCC), Trump cards, SIM cards, Garuda and Dolphin. The department’s final assessment vis-à-vis its earlier claims is already stayed by the court. In its petition filed through counsel Dinesh Agnani, the MTNL contended that Post and Telegraph and Telephone fell under List I of Schedule VII in the Constitution and no state could make any laws on any subject enumerated in List I as it was in the exclusive jurisdiction of Parliament. He further submitted that telephone and Internet were in the category of ‘service’ and not ‘goods’ and therefore out of the purview of the Sales Tax Act, particularly in view of the fact that they were already subject to service tax. |
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Driver robbed of taxi in Dwarka New Delhi: Three persons armed with knives last night robbed a taxi driver of his Indica car in the Sector-6 Dwarka of South-West district. The car belonged to the Asian Tours and Travels, Sector-8 R K Puram, and was hired by an engineer Abhishek. The incident occurred at around 11.30 last night when the Indica car No Dl-1Y-8939 was driven by the driver Raghubir Singh (21). Three boys on a Vespa scooter armed with knives threatened the driver and sped with the car. They abandoned the scooter. The police received the information at around 1.30 am. The police said that the scooter was stolen from the Vikaspuri area. The police have now launched a hunt for the suspects who are in their thirties.
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Dissidents run amok at
SP-RLD rally Meerut, March 23 Both Amir Alam and Kadir Rama were annoyed with the SP’s top leadership as they had not been given the ticket for the coming Lok Sabha elections. The supporters also hit each other with chairs. The Chief Minister said the candidature would not be changed. The atmosphere on the rally ground became tense as the mob came to know that Munawwar Hasan had been declared the joint candidate of the SP and the RLD. The supporters of Amir Alam and Kadir Rana started shouted slogans against Mr Mulayam Singh and Mr Ajit Singh. Then the frenzied supporters entered the press gallery by breaking the barricades and ransacking the press gallery. Several people got injured in the fray. Meanwhile, considerable panic prevailed at the rally ground and people started rushing back. Mr Mulayam Singh also threatened to take stern action against those party leaders and their supporters who were indisciplined during the rally. Meanwhile, Monday’s road show of Mr Jayant Chaudhary, son of Mr Ajit Singh, in Bulandshahr proved to be a flop show as only 20 to 25 persons were present  |
Bhagat Singh, Rajguru, Sukhdev remembered New Delhi, March 23 To commemorate the occasion several functions were organised in the Capital. The three freedom fighters had laid down their lives fighting British imperialism and were hanged to death by the British on March 23, 1931. The Kendriya Arya Yuvak Parishad organised a musical night and a Rashtra Raksha Yajna. The parishad called on the people to observe Shaheed Diwas as a day to promote national unity and goodwill among people to strengthen the country. A special programme, Sanjhi Shahadat Sanjhi Virasat (common martyrdom common heritage), was also organised by Anhad, Humdam India, IPTA, JUNTA, Kirti Team, Nehru Discussion Forum, Peace, PWA, Savera, Sadbhavana Ke Sipahi and Sanjhi Virasat Trust at JNU to mark the day. Meanwhile, a discussion on ‘Justification of Capital Punishment in the Indian Judicial System’ was organised by the Mrityudand (Phansi) Virodhi Manch on this occasion. The manch demanded a ban on capital punishment. It pointed out that the death penalty had been abolished in 111 countries or had been done away with for ordinary crimes. Besides, many countries had legal provisions for lethal injections which were less drawn out and less painful than hanging. India is among 26 countries actively exercising death by hanging, which takes 40 minutes in contrast to 10 in other methods, it said. The manch said it was strange that when other countries were abolishing death penalties there was an increase in death sentences in Indian courts. ‘’Death penalty often comes to the economically and socially backward. We have obtained reports from Bhagalpur Central Jail (Bihar) that out of 36 prisoners in the cells for the condemned only two come from upper castes,’’ manch leader Triveni Singh said. The All India Anti Terrorist Front also organised a function here yesterday near Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s statue, where hundreds of youngsters pledged to declare war against terrorism and promote the message of ‘Azadi Ki Raksha’ (protecting the freedom of the country). |
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Power woes take a heavy toll in exam
season Sonepat, March 23 The frequent load shedding has not only paralysed the normal life of the people but has also affected essential services like drinking water supply and hospital services. Moreover, the officials of the UHBVN have failed to provide prior information to the consumers about the load shedding. Moreover, they were hardly bothered about public complaints in this regard. The students have been severely affected due to their ongoing annual examinations. Residents of the villages in the district have alleged they hardly receive any power supply for most of the day. When the supply is restored in the evening low voltage makes their task difficult. The power crisis has resulted in protests and gheraos of the officials and power sub-stations in the district. However, the authorities of the UHBVN have remained silent spectators. Representatives of various organisations, including trade associations, have demanded a high-level probe into the complaints of the consumers and demanded action against the officials responsible for the power crisis. |
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Farmer deprived of Rs 31 lakh land compensation Greater Noida, March 23 The cheat, identified as Sumeet Nath Jain, reportedly usurped the land compensation of Rs 31 lakh on the basis of forged documents. The farmer, Bhim Singh, son of Yaad Ram of village Gharbora, had purchased over 15 bighas of land in Kasna village (Khasra Nos 1974 and 1976), which was registered in his name. The farmer had met the then District Magistrate of G B Nagar, Mr L.Venketeshwar Lu, and acquainted him of the situation. The District Magistrate had ordered the Deputy Collector, Sheshmani Pandey, to probe the matter. Subsequently, the District Magistrate ordered that a case be filed against Sumeet Jain, after being found guilty. However, the matter was delayed due to the denotification of the GB Nagar as a separate district. Later, another probe was undertaken after Sumeet Jain appealed to the Meerut Divisional Commissioner. He also obtained a stay order on his arrest from the High Court, which has stalled the recovery of the land compensation collected by him. Tehsildar J.P Gupta, however, said that process of recovery of the compensation amount from Sumeet Jain has been set in motion, and a notice has been issued to him to deposit the money within 10 days. |
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Decomposed body found in temple well Bhiwani, March 23 It is believed that the victim was an employee of a bank and was thrown into the well after being strangulated. A relative of the deceased told the police that the victim was missing since had withdrawn cash from the bank three days back. The police have sent the body to the civil hospital for the postmortem examination and started investigation after registering the case. Exam results to be declared in April The Haryana School Education Board will declare the result of Class 8 examination in the first week of April and those of Class 10 and 12 in the first and second week of May respectively. Stating this today, a spokesman of the Board said that after the declaration of results, a book containing detailed information would be brought out, which would be very useful for the students. He said that the anti-copying campaign was being carried out vigorously as the Board was committed to curb the menace of copying. As many as 473 flying squads had been constituted, which were visiting examination centres in the state in order to curb the use of unfair means by the students. As many as 1,492 cases of use of unfair means was registered so far. In the matriculation examination, as many as 1988 such cases were registered. The spokesman said that as many as 772 candidates had been debarred for one year, 135 candidates for two years and one candidate for three years, besides cancelling the papers of 61 candidates. As many as 23 candidates were exonerated. He said that FIRs had been registered against 185 persons under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code and 300 persons had been arrested for external interference during the examinations. He said that the Board had been successful in checking the use of unfair means mainly due to the efforts of officials of the Haryana Government and Board. The spokesman said that the new mark-sheets this year would bear the photographs of the students concerned. These mark-sheets also had secret features. |
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NCR BRIEFS Ghaziabad, March 23 Delhi businessman Sanjay Kumar is a supplier of sundry items in the area. He had come on his scooter to make collections from his clients in Sahibabad, Mohan Nagar area, at 11.50 am. After collecting over Rs 35,000 he was on his way to Ghaziabad for further collections from traders when he was stopped before the Mohan Nagar check post by the two motor cyclists with guns in their hands. He was beaten up and an amount of almost Rs 35,000 was snatched by the criminals. He went to the Sahibabad police station for lodging a report but the cops did not bother to listen to him. Circle officer border Dinesh Yadav doubted the veracity of the report and said it could be a matter of mutual enmity or give and take of money dealings. The CO also toed the line of the police station cops who are normally reluctant to register criminal cases. Murthal engg college
students sit on dharna Sonepat: Students and employees of the C R State College of Engineering, Murthal, sat on a dharna in front of the college here on Monday in protest against the state government handing over the college to a society. Mr Anand Kumar, president of the karamchari union, led the dharna. The agitating students and the employees have warned the government that if the decision is not deferred a state-level agitation will be launched. The agitated employees and the students shouted slogans against the government and the college authorities and blamed them for creating chaos in the college. The students also expressed their anguish against cases of eve-teasing in the college and urged the district and police administration to take immediate and effective steps against the anti-social elements to check such cases. Tributes paid to martyrs Rich tributes were paid to
Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev at a function held at Chhotu Ram Dharamshala near Panchayat Bhawan here on Tuesday. Professor Vikas
Rawal, an eminent economist of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, delivered a lecture on the sacrifices made by them. Mr S. N. Solanki, a veteran trade union leader and president of the Haryana
CITU, and others also spoke on the occasion. Similar functions were also held here and elsewhere in the district. Housewife gangraped A 20-year-old housewife, Mrs Gulshan Devi, was allegedly gangraped by three persons, including a relative of her husband, at Jahri village, about 5 km from here, on Monday. She was medically examined by the doctors in the local civil hospital. The police are still investigating into the case. However, no case has been registered so far in this
connection. Katiyar’s effigy burnt Women activists of the Mahila Congress Committee burnt the effigy of BJP leader Vinay Katiyar of UP at Subhash Chowk here on Monday evening. They were protesting against the indecent remarks made against Mrs Sonia Gandhi and raised anti-BJP slogans on this occasion. |
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Delhi digest New Delhi, March 23 This year’s programme will include Raag Asa, which has been used in kirtans. The programme is an effort to reclaim the intangible heritage of sacred music among the members of the Sikh community. Manjit Singh, a veteran Bani singer, will recreate compositions of vintage value based on imprints from his childhood and early life, which he carries in his mind. His musical mastery, it is pointed out, is dedicated to the exploration, assimilation and dissemination of the spiritual resonance of Gurbani. Bhai Avtar Singh will invoke the blessings of the Akal Purakh through rare compositions that he has inherited from his ancestors, the descendants of the Guru. Octogenarian Bibi Jaswant Kaur will sing the lessons she learnt from her gurus, Bhai Taba of Rababi Tradition, which she has managed to keep alive in her quiet, unobtrusive ways. Also performing will be Bhai Ramaji, the Sangat of Dodhra and students of Guru Granth Sahib Vidya Kendra, Mehrauli, who will recite Gurbani compositions based on Raag Asa.
SCs lend support to Verma A section of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) have lent their support to Union Labour Minister and BJP candidate from the Outer Delhi parliamentary constituency Sahib Singh Verma for making a contribution to their uplift. They have also condemned the allegations of Mr Verma verbally abusing a minister in the Government of NCT of Delhi and manhandling that minister’s son. The campaign managers of Mr Sahib Singh Verma say the “shameful” and “cheap” tactics adopted by the Indian National Congress (INC) had not gone down well with a section of the SCs. “The Valmiki, Jatav and the Khatik communities,” Mr Verma’s Press Secretary Harish Kumar said, “have accordingly decided to felicitate Verma.” The felicitation function will be held on April 11. Mr Harish Kumar said that Rajendra Rajaura, a representative of the Khatik community and a former councillor, and others of the Valmiki and Jatav communities had condemned the allegations levelled against Mr Verma and dismissed them as a bunch of lies. |
History sheeter held for running arms factory Greater Noida, March 23 The police nabbed the criminal and unearthed his unit manufacturing country-made weapons. The police claimed to have recovered a number of pistols and a large quantity of raw materials and equipment meant for manufacturing country-made weapons. Based on a tip-off, the SO of Surajpur police station, Sher Bahadur Singh, raided an old factory in the area. The police arrested a person from the factory, who tried to escape on seeing the police. During interrogation, he identified himself as Samey Pal Singh of Bakora village under Aurangabad Police Station in Bulandshahr district. Subsequently, it was revealed that Samey Pal Singh was a criminal wanted by the Aurangabad police in dozens of heinous crimes like murder, loot, and dacoity. He had been absconding for a number of years and had now been living in Surajpur area under a new identity. Though he had been working as a junk dealer, his main business was manufacturing country-made weapons. A team had been constituted by the Aurangabad police to nab Samey Pal Singh, after receiving a tip-off that he had been living in Surajpur area. |
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Traders receive extortion demands Jhajjar, March 23 According to the information, a sweetshop owner, identified as Nanu Ram, and a cloth merchant, Ram Niwas Agrawal, both residents of Beri town, received separate letters demanding Rs 20 lakh and Rs 10 lakh respectively. Later, both the traders went to the Beri Police Station and demanded security to be provided to them. Meanwhile, the police have failed to nab the culprits involved in robbing the wife a Jhajjar trader, Mr Subhash Jain. |
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Jewellery, cash taken away from sari trader’s house Ghaziabad, March 23 The women in the house had locked themselves in a room fearing for their own life while the intruders went about selecting the choicest valuables and artefacts in the house for over an hour. The intruders escaped via the terrace. The police do not have any clue about the criminals yet. The criminals raided the house of S. P. Gupta, a sari merchant in A Block of Lohya Nagar. Gupta’s family had gone to attend a bhajan programme of their sons Aman and Raman Gupta in Shahdara. Only Ram’s wife Anchal Gupta and sister Rubi Gupta were at home. The two women heard footsteps on the terrace. They tried to inform SP Gupta on phone, but could not do so. When S. P. Gupta reached at 11 pm he was shocked to see the whole house in a shambles. The criminals had got in from the back lane. The rooms, stores, almirahs, safe etc were locked but since their keys were lying near at hand it facilitated the work of criminals who picked up valuables at leisure. An amount of Rs 80,000 had been kept in the house as Raman Gupta had to leave for Surat to buy saris. Also, 220 gm gold jewellery, among other things, was found missing. The intruders had shut the door from outside while leaving. On being informed, the police reached the site at 1.30 am. In another incident, desperadoes snatched a moneybag from the Pushpanjali Jewellers proprietor on the GT Road on Sunday night at 9 pm. |
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Dacoity in Lajpat Nagar foiled as five arrested New Delhi, March 23 Liquor seized The Anti-Robbery Cell of the Crime Branch has arrested one person and seized 20 cartons of illegal liquor from a car in the Vasant Kunj area. The sleuths received a secret information that illegal liquor was being transported from Gurgaon to Patel Nagar through Mehrauli and Vasant Kunj in Maruti cars. A trap was laid and one Raj Sharma (24), resident of Rajasthan, was apprehended and 20 cartons were seized from the Maruti car. Snatcher held The West district police have arrested a notorious snatcher, Gaurav Chawla (22), resident of Pitam Pura, and recovered a mobile phone which he had snatched from a girl in Prashant Vihar. The accused particularly targeted girls for snatching mobile phones from them. |
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Murder of brick kiln owner solved Sonepat: With the arrest of six persons, the Kharkhauda police today claimed to have solved the murder of Maman Singh, president of the Brick Kiln Owners Association and contractor of Sehoti village, on February 14 last. Those arrested were identified as Deepak, Somvir, Vijay, Arvind, Pradeep and Dharminder. They were brought from Tihar Jail (Delhi) to Sonepat and produced before Mr Rakesh Singh, Judicial Magistrate, here yesterday who remanded Deepak in two days’ police custody and others in 14 days’ judicial custody. Maman Singh was shot dead on February 14 at his brick kiln at Sehoti village. The miscreants, however, managed to escape and were arrested by the Delhi police.
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