Chandigarh, July 20
Hundreds of Congress supporters swarmed the city severely affecting the traffic on the Madhya Marg here today. The road witnessed unprecedented rush on the occasion of the function organised by the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) to install Mr Shamsher Singh Dullo as its president.

Groups of supporters were spread all over the road, particularly from the Rose Garden to the PGI chowk. Supporters started reaching to the party office in Sector 15 from early morning. By 10.30 am, the office was full and even mediapersons could not enter through the main gate.

A Sumo loaded with ladoos was stationed near the Rose Garden chowk. It became the centre of attraction for supporters who rushed to fetch their share. Traffic on the Madhya Marg was badly affected. The most severely hit were the PGI patients. They had to take alternative route through the Panjab University premises. The rush continued till around 2.30 pm. Students of the Government College for Girls also had to face inconvenience.

Residential areas, particularly in Sector 15, were also crowded. A large number of vehicles were parked in residential areas which caused inconvenience to the public. City roads also witnessed heavy rush.

The visiting parties had made elaborate arrangements for their lunch break. The festivity visible during the lunch break made the occasion appear like a picnic. Small groups were seen dancing to the beats of “dhols”. Certain groups were sharing jokes while certain others were seen singing. The traffic police had a tough time managing the traffic.

After the function, the supporters headed for “picnic spots, particularly in Sector 17, Rose Garden, Lake and Rock Garden. A large number of youngsters were seen discussing their programme to visit Fun Republic for their afternoon “celebration”.

The liquor vends in Sectors 17 and 22 were hot favorites among a sizeable number of visitors. “We have done our bit for showing our dedication to our local leader who expects a party ticket in the next elections, now it is time to celebrate our visit to a big city,” a leader of a group of supporters said.

MOHALI: Hundreds of Congress members and supporters converged on the showroom of Congress leader Balbir Singh Sidhu here this morning to accompany a caravan of vehicles to the Punjab Congress Bhavan in Chandigarh where the new PPCC president was to assume his chair.

According to a press statement issued by Mr H.S. Sharma, general secretary of the District Congress Committee, Ropar, over 250 cars and 150 tractor trailers full of Congress supporters were taken to the venue of the installation ceremony.

Chandigarh, July 20
Less than a month-and-a-half after forcing Samidha Bansal to go underground due to the registration of an abetment-to-suicide case, the Chandigarh Police today realised its mistake and dropped the charges against her.

Commenting on the way the police acted in the case, legal experts in the city said the police should have first inquired into the allegations before claiming that Samidha was wanted in the case.

“Just because the police acted in haste, Samidha had to go underground and explore legal remedies,” an advocate practising in the Punjab and Haryana High Court asserted. “This is just not done”.

For Samidha, the ordeal started soon after Panjab University student Chandni Bansal ended her life by jumping into the Sukhana Lake on June 11. The Chandigarh Police registered a case against Chandani’s friend Rakesh Rohilla and his colleague Samidha on the basis of a complaint filed by Nidhi Dubey, sister of Chandni. Following the registration of the case, the police arrested Rakesh Rohilla on June 13 and after it Samidha went underground and remained elusive to the police. The police also issued a lookout circular for Samidha.

In a press note, the Chandigarh Police said Samidha had joined the investigation and had been questioned regarding the matter. After an analysis of the entire evidence available on record, the investigating officer had reached the conclusion that there was insufficient proof to connect Samidha with the offence. The statement added that it had been decided to drop the charges against Samidha and not to prosecute her. The lookout circular issued against her was being withdrawn as she had joined the investigation.

The statement said some incriminating evidence against Samidha had come on record. However, it was not sufficient to warrant Samidha’s arrest.

In her statement to the police, Nidhi had alleged that Chandni was going around with Rakesh for the past many years and they were childhood friends. However, Rakesh had been avoiding Chandni of late and she was disturbed due to that. 

Panchkula, July 20
The rift between the two factions of the Congress in the municipal council (MC) today came wide open. Congress councillors of the Chander Mohan camp, who had abstained from yesterday’s General House meeting, raised the banner of revolt saying that they did not consider Mr Tarun Bhandari as their party leader in the House.

Addressing a press conference, seven Congress councillors demanded Mr Bhandari’s resignation, alleging that he was involved in the embezzlement of municipal council funds meant for development of parks in his ward.

“He should step down on moral grounds. On a complaint of Mr B.L. Tandon of the PVGV Group, the Local Bodies Department, Haryana, has ordered an inquiry against him. Being the MC president, he can influence the inquiry. He should step down to help in a fair inquiry,” they said.

Ms Renuka Rai Walia, Mr V.K. Kapoor, Mr Dalbir Singh, Ms Jalmegha Dahiya, Mr R.K. Kakkar, Mr Naresh Rawal and Ms Manvir Gill had ‘boycotted’ yesterday’s General House, which was Mr Bhandari’s maiden meeting as the MC chief.

Today, these councillors said they had boycotted the meeting as they did not consider him to be the party leader in the House, as he had gained the MC chief’s post by taking support of INLD councillors.

BJP councillor C.B. Goel, who was present at the conference, called Mr Bhandari “… the most tainted councillor, who has been made the president”. When quizzed that he was one of those who had voted in favour of Mr Bhandari as president a month ago, he said he was not aware who would be made president till the last minute.

“The Congress has 18 councillors in the House. Only eight councillors are in his favour. He is working with the support of 10 INLD councillors, and had even offered the post of vice-president to the INLD candidate, Ms Kuljit Waraich. Ms Waraich was removed from the same post by a no-confidence vote passed by the House. She was re- appointed by Mr Bhandari to win over the support of the INLD councillors,” they alleged.

The councillors said since only 15 councillors were present at yesterday’s meeting, they would now ask the Deputy Commissioner to cancel all proposals passed at the meeting. “Though the quorum was complete, the House did not have the majority to pass these proposals,” said Mr Ravinder Rawal, state secretary of the Haryana Congress.

Mr Rawal said the Congress councillors would now meet the Chief Minister, the Minister for Local Bodies, and the Director, Local Bodies, to remove Mr Bhandari in view of the inquiry pending against him.

Municipal council chief Tarun Bhandari claimed that all allegations of corruption levelled against him were false. “Mr Tandon is playing in the hands of certain Congress councillors.

These people are levelling allegations just because their personal political aspirations have been hurt after they were not nominated as president,” he said adding that the inquiry being conducted by the Local Bodies Department would bring out the truth.

Chandigarh, July 20
There is many a slip between the cup and the lip! Even when all legal hurdles have been overcome, the Punjab Forest Act might just prove to be the stumbling block for the government to notify Nayagaon and the adjoining areas as a notified area committee (NAC).

A major part of the area which the government wants to include in the proposed civic body is notified under the Land Preservation Act, 1900, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Forest Conservation Act, 1980.

Interestingly, an affidavit filed by the state government in the Supreme Court to get around 1,000 acres of agricultural land denotified at Karoran village is yet to be decided by the apex court.

Use of the land protected under the Forest Act for non-forestry purpose is not allowed and the state government is merely the custodian of the land. “Including land in the NAC does not violate the provisions of the Forest Act but any change of land use undertaken amounts to its violation. Any violation will attract strict action from the Central Government”, said a senior officer in the regional office of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests.

Notably, a similar objection was raised by the Punjab Forest Department in 2001, when the then Akali government had notified Nayagaon as an NAC. Since the objection still stands, the government has to address it both under the Periphery Act and the Forest Act, added the officer.

The Morinda MLA and Punjab Animal Husbandry Minister, Mr Jagmohan Singh Kang, said today that a meeting with the Local Government Minister, Mr Jagjit Singh, and offices of various departments had been convened to discuss the modalities regarding the formation of the civic body.

Asked about the Forest Act, he said the area to be included in the civic body would remain the same as had been proposed in 2001 but all legal aspects would be discussed before the case was sent to the Chief Minister for nod. He said various taxes would be levied to carry out development works.

The government proposes to include land of Karoran (Choti and Baddi Karoran), Nadha village and Kansal village in the civic body. At least 3,700 acres at Karoran village (Choti and Baddi Karoran) is protected under Sections 4 and 5 of the Land Preservation Act.

In 2001, the state government had notified around 2,000 acres at Nadha, Kansal and Karoran villages under the NAC before the notification was stayed by the high court. The sources did not rule out the possibility of the state government redefining the boundaries of the proposed civic body to benefit certain “resourceful” persons having land protected under the provisions of the Forest Act. Many bureaucrats, police officials and politicians have stakes in the area.

The Principal Secretary, Local Government, Mr B.R. Bajaj, said the departments concerned would be consulted before going ahead with the notification. He said all legal formalities like clearance from various departments would be worked out. It would take another three to four months for things to move ahead.

Chandigarh, July 20
Over six years after a joint Indo-Myanmar hydro-power generation project was initiated, the project has finally made a headway, with the governments of both countries accepting the pre-feasibility report.

Termed as Tamanthi Hydro-Electric Project, it will have a generating capacity of 1200 megawatt and is being developed as a mutual interest venture between India and Myanmar.

“We had started work on the report in April, 2004, after signing a formal agreement with the Ministry of External Affairs,” Mr M.M. Madan, Executive Director of the National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC), said. “Acceptance of the report implies that both countries are keen to go ahead with the project,” he added.

This is the third major foreign project to be undertaken by the NHPC after setting up power stations in Nepal and Bhutan. It has also carried out feasibility studies for setting up hydro power stations in Uzbekistan and Tajikstan following which the External Affairs Ministry and the power ministry recommended that such proposals be considered for development.

The NHPC was tasked by the ministry to prepare the report and it has conducted field surveys and investigations at the project site in collaboration with the Myanmar authorities. It would be the major Indian agency to execute the project.

The project would involve construction of a dam on the Chindwin, the main tributary of Myanmar’s major river, the Irrawaddy. The 840 km long Chindwin, known as Ningthi in Manipur, has its source in the Pulkai Kumon ranges along the Indo-Myanmar border.

In February, 1999, a fact-finding mission led by the Member (Hydro), Central Electricity Authority (CEA), visited Myanmar, followed by a joint site inspection by technical experts from both countries.

The Indian comprised experts from the CEA, the NHPC, the Central Water Commission and the Geological Survey of India. The team had identified two potential sites at Tazon and Hwena, and gauge and discharge stations were established to study the general geology of the sites.

During his visit to India in October 2004, Myanmar’s Gen Than Shwe had signed a memorandum of understanding on the project with the Indian Government

In February this year, a five-member team comprising experts from the CEA, the NHPC and the Power Grid Corporation of India visited Myanmar and held discussions with authorities about exporting 80 per cent power generated by the project to India. Laying of transmission lines from the project site to a hub in north-eastern India, funding, contracts and investments were other issues reportedly discussed during the visit.

The matter was also among several energy and infrastructure related issues which figured on the agenda for discussions when the Minister for External Affairs, Mr Natwar Singh, had visited Myanmar in March.

Chandigarh, July 20
Even after interrogating Babbar Khalsa International’s alleged chief Jagtar Singh Hawara for almost 13 days, the Chandigarh Police is hardly any wiser in the jailbreak case. For, Hawara has only told the police what it already knew.

Hawara’s police remand in the jailbreak case ended this morning. He is now being interrogated by the Chandigarh Police for his involvement in preparation of human bombs and his police remand in this case has been extended till July 28.

Though senior officers refuse to comment, the sources say cops are still in the dark regarding the whereabouts of his alleged accomplices. After arresting Hawara earlier this month, the cops were rather sure that they would soon be able to nab the other three escapees. They had gone up to the extent of saying that Hawara’s accomplice Paramjit Singh Bheroa was lying low in Delhi and was well within their reach.

Hawara, Bheora, Jagtar Singh Tara and Devi Singh had tunnelled their way out of the Model Jail in Burail village in January last year. Hawara was nabbed by the Delhi Police. The other three are still at large.

Though Hawara — facing trial in Punjab’s former Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassination case, along with Tara and Bheora — was subjected to “sustained interrogation”, the officers questioning him even today cannot say for certain whether the jail staff was involved in the great escape.

At the time of the jailbreak 18 months ago, the cops had expressed apprehension that accomplice Devi Singh’s stay in Hawara’s cell was a part of a larger conspiracy. They had claimed that the successful disposal of loose earth from the tunnel without raising suspicion went a long way to suggest the connivance of the jail staff in the case.

The cops had also claimed that co-accused in the case had supplied Hawara and his accomplices a “long cloth” for enabling them to descend and climb up the tunnel. Besides, the inmates were openly using mobile phones for getting in touch with their mentors in the West. For them, money was hardly a problem even in the jail.

So far, the interrogating officers have not been able to trace the mobile phone Hawara was allegedly using before he tunnelled his way out of the jail. They have not even been able to lay their hands on the accused facilitating their escape.

A senior Chandigarh officer says that Hawara is a hard nut to crack. Hawara has been subjected to sustained interrogation so many times in connection with different criminal cases that “he knows exactly how to tunnel his way out of ugly and uncomfortable situations”.

“In fact, Hawara knows the police and its methods like the back of his own hand”, the officer adds. “No wonder, he has been leaking selective information to the interrogating officers”.

Chandigarh, July 20
In an inquiry conducted into an alleged attempt to take bribe by the Assistant Sub-Inspector posted at the Mauli Jagran police post, the Deputy Superintendent of Chandigarh Police (East) today found the allegations baseless.

A section of residents of Mauli Jagran yesterday held a protest before the Mauli Jagran police post and raised slogans against the police for its alleged biased role and not taking action against a person accused of stealing a 
bicycle.

Refuting the allegations, Inspector Vijay Pal Singh, DSP (East), said on July 12 the police control room received a phone call from Mauli Jagran that a fight had taken place rendering one person injured. ASI Tilak Raj rushed to the spot and shifted injured Haroon Khan to hospital in Mani Majra. Haroon sustained head injuries in the attack and received seven stitches. On the basis of a complaint filed by Haroon, the police registered a case against Suleman, Mustkeen and Mohammad Haroon under Sections 107 and 151 of the CrPC. Following the complaint, the police arrested the accused and produced them before a local court.

Giving details of the incident, the DSP said Haroon had gone to his neighbour’s residence and borrowed a bicycle a few days ago. On his way back, he was stopped by the accused, who believing that Haroon had stolen the bicycle thrashed him.

Refuting the allegations that ASI Tilak Raj demanded bribe, the DSP maintained that the assailants were trying to force a compromise, to which the other party refused. Finding themselves in a fix, they levelled false allegations against police officers.

Chandigarh, July 20
A Professor in the Chandigarh College of Architecture has accused a renowned architect of the region of having plagiarised her work.

The Professor, Ms Kiran Joshi, has shot off a strongly-worded letter to the author, printer and publisher of a recently released book “Architectural Aesthetics”, alleging that portions of the book are a straight lift from an article she wrote last year.

The author accused of the crime is Mr Sangeet Sharma, whose father, Mr S.D. Sharma, is a highly respected architect.

In her letter, Ms Joshi has said that she realised that a large chunk of one of the articles in the book written by Mr Sangeet Sharma had been “lifted word for word” from one of her articles headlined ‘Heritage at risk’ that appeared in the Magazine section of The Tribune on August 22, 2004. She first came across the alleged piece of plagiarism in the July issue of Architecture + Design (A+D) magazine, which reviewed the book.

The offending article in the book that she refers to is “Le Corbusier as an Artist”. The book has been published by local Abhishek Publications.

“Thinking that some error may have crept in due to some mishandling in A+D’s office, I also checked up the original contents of the relevant chapter in your book. These, very unfortunately, were the same as those in the extract in A+D,” she tells Mr Sharma.

She also alleges that “a closer reading of the text makes it clear that an attempt has been made to evade the problems of copyright transgression by replacing/inserting an odd word here and there (though sometimes in a technically incorrect way”.

Ms Joshi also expresses concern over the fact that the footnotes give credit to another author (Mr Jeet Malhotra) for what is really her work. She has asked the author to clarify the mater with his publishers, withdraw all the books from the market till the time necessary amendments have been made in the book.

When contacted, Ms Joshi said she was unhappy with the deliberate plagiarism and professional misconduct. “I am not going to sit back till the issue is sorted out,” she said.

Despite repeated attempts, Mr Sangeet Sharma could not be contacted for his take on the controversy. His mobile was switched off throughout the day and staff at his Panchkula office said he was not well.

Chandigarh, July 20
A chain snatcher was nabbed here in Sector 23 today while he was attempting to make good with his loot.

The police said that with the nabbing of Raju, a resident of Sector 24, three cases of chain snatching had been worked out.

The incident took place at 1.45 pm when Gaurav, an MBA student, heard a woman crying for help outside his residence. Gaurav rushed out of his house to check out what it was and saw a man running and a woman shouting “chor”, “chor”. The woman, Ms Reeta, told Gaurav that the man had snatched her gold chain.

Gaurav started chasing the miscreant but slipped on the way. He saw someone coming down the street from the opposite direction and called him to nab the man running. Prem Singh, an employee of the Ranjit Sagar Dam, caught hold of the snatcher. The miscreant, in an effort to free himself from their grip, reportedly attacked them, resulting in injuries to Gaurav. Soon people gathered on the spot and called the police, which took the chain snatcher in its custody. A case was registered in this regard.

Gaurav admitted that it was due to the timely intervention of Mr Prem Singh that they were able to apprehend the accused.

Ms Reeta, a resident of Sector 16, was going to Government Model Senior Secondary School in Sector 23 to pick her son.

The police recovered the gold chain from the accused, which was broken with the impact of the pull.

The police recovered two gold chains from Raju, who disclosed to the police that he had snatched a gold chain from Sector 23 and another from Sector 22.

Raju will be produced before a local court tomorrow.

Chandigarh, July 20
The police arrested two persons on charge of stealing a motor cycle, while in a separate case, another person was arrested for allegedly committing a theft in the Industrial Area. Besides this, a car was stolen and a house was burgled in the city.

Police sources said, Hari Kumar of Sector 15 and Raju of Sector 16 were arrested for allegedly stealing a motor cycle. Mr Deepak Thakur, a resident of Naya Gaon alleged to the police that the accused had stolen his Hero Honda motor cycle (PB-27-B-5359) from Sector 10 in Chandigarh on Tuesday. The police then arrested the accused from Sector 8. The stolen motor cycle was recovered from their possession. A case has been registered.

Chandigarh, July 20
A Panchkula resident has won a Maruti Alto car in TV show by SMSing the answers.

Talking to the Chandigarh Tribune from Mumbai, where she has gone to receive the award, housewife Anjana Pardeep Rana says she won the car in “Dial One Aur Jeeto” live on SaharaOne.

“The questions were not all that difficult. “They asked four questions. In the audio-visual round, I was asked to identify Ajit Agarkar. Then there was another question about a movie in which Shah Rukh Khan played a double role. I managed to answer the questions to bag the first position and the Alto car”, she added.

She adds, “It took some time for the feeling of exhilaration to sink in. As soon as I realised that I was the proud owner of a car thanks to the SMS. Her husband, a Sub Inspector (SI) in the Haryana Police”. Pardeep Rana initially thought Anjana was joking. The programme, “Dial One Aur Jeeto” is aired on SaharaOne from Monday to Thursday for an hour from 8 pm.