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Realtor’s wife murdered
Cell calls under radar While senior police officials are looking into the possibilities of contract killers being behind the murder, they are more or less sure that the servant was involved in the crime. “We are studying all calls from his mobiles and will surely get some positive leads,” said a senior official, adding that a “technical operation” was on to track the movements of the suspects from their cell phones. Semblance to Noida killing Anuradha’s murder has a strange semblance to the killing of 14-year-old Ruchika in
Noida, earlier this week. Ruchika was also found murdered in murdered in her bedroom and the prime suspect in the case was her Nepali servant. However, a day later, the servant’s battered body was recovered from the terrace of the house, confounding the murder mystery. The unanswered questions
Chandigarh, May 18 Barely hours after the discovery of the murder, the Ropar police found the body of her servant, Vijay Pal Singh alias Nikku, who was initially suspected to be behind the killing. Anuradha’s body was found, with her throat slit, in a large pool of blood in her bedroom on the first floor of the duplex house. Fortunately, killers spared her two children (a daughter and a son), who were sleeping in the adjoining room. Cash, over Rs 3 lakh, including $ 2000 along with some jewellery, were reportedly found missing from the house. The Bajaj Apache motorcycle (CH04-6486), being used by Nikku, was also found missing. The murder was discovered by the deceased’s husband, Baljinder Singh, who returned home from a party at a local discotheque at about 1.15 am. Baljinder told the police that on his return, he found the house locked from inside. “I got suspicious as no one responded from the house and the motorcycle was also not there”, he said. Baljinder said he, subsequently, called his wife’s mobile and her 10-year-old daughter answered it. “However, she could not open her bedroom door, as it was locked from outside,” he added. He said he then scaled the wall of his neighbour’s house to reach the first floor and saw his wife’s body through the open widow of the bathroom, attached to the bedroom. Interestingly, the colony chowkidar, who’s on duty at the entry gate, informed the police that he had seen three persons driving out at about 12.30 am. He revealed that two of them were wearing helmets. Talking to TNS, the deceased’s daughter said, “Mama was with us in our room till 9.30 pm and even papa was in the house till then”. She said she then had off to sleep and got up when her father called up on mummy’s mobile. While the police is tightlipped about the investigations conducted so far, it hasn’t ruled out the possibility of the involvement of the husband in the brutal crime. “We are looking at all possible angles”, they said, admitting that, albeit off the record, that it could also be a case of contract killing. Baljinder was summoned by the CIA staff at about 4 pm and questioned for almost four hours. “We are verifying his claims and alibis,” said DSP (Crime) K.I.P. Singh. He said since the servant’s body was discovered in Ropar, investigation were being conducted in co-ordination with the Punjab Police. Incidentally, Anuradha was scheduled to go to America on June 7 to meet her brother. The police has registered a case of murder against the servant and launched a hunt to trace the missing
motorcycle.
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Servant stoned to death: Cops
No-ordinary help
Going by Nikku's lifestyle, he seemed no ordinary servant. While he was given a room by his owner on the ground floor, the servant used to live lavishly having two high-end mobile phones with six SIM cards. Nikku, who assisted Anuradha in her boutique works, used to show off the costly items, being given by his owners, said a servant, working near the house of Baljinder. Nikku, who was also possessing PAN card and voter card, had been working with the Sandhus for over five years. Murder cases on the rise Chandigarh has seen a sharp increase in the number of murders in the past 45 days. As compared to 11 cases of murder registered till date, seven have been registered in one-and-half month. Out of these, the police is clueless in five cases. The priest, who was allegedly set afire by eight persons in Kajheri last month, is one of the major cases that remains unsolved, whereas the police is still clueless in the murder of a woman whose body was found near the railway track last month. In 2007, nine cases of murder were registered in the first six months.
Ropar, May 18 Ropar resident Gurjan Preet Singh found the body at 7 am while jogging and informed the police. The police recovered a voter I-card, PAN card and mobile phone along with Rs 600 from the pocket of the deceased. His legs and arms were found tied together, while injury marks of sharp-edged weapons were also found on his forehead and mouth. Also, pebbles stained with blood were found lying near the body. Investigating officer Ropar SHO Balwant Singh Majithia said, "Preliminary investigations suggest that the deceased was stoned to death." Vijay (20) was a resident of Mahmood Khera village in Malout (Muktsar). The
police officials saw a few missed calls on his mobile phone and called back on the numbers. Some of them were found to be that of the Chandigarh Police. One of the calls was from Vijay's sister, who did not talk to the police officials when they called her back. Chandigarh police officials informed the Ropar police that they had been trying Vijay's phone number since 2:30 am, after Vijay's employer’s wife Anuradha was found murdered at her home in Sector 38. A team of Chandigarh police, headed by SHO Rajesh Shukla, came to Ropar and identified Vijay's body. His parents at Malout have been informed. “The body will be sent for post-mortem after his parents reach Ropar,” the SHO said. The police has registered a murder case.
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Another woman murdered
Chandigarh, May 18 According to the police, the body was noticed by some passersby, who informed the police at 6 am. The body was lying on the bridge and a polythene bag, containing the woman’s belongings, and her purse was lying beside it. No visible injury mark was found on the body. The deceased was wearing a green suit. No document or any other article, which could establish the identity of the deceased, was found. The police recovered a piece of paper bearing telephone numbers without the name of the persons from the body and is trying to establish her identity. A police officer told TNS that marks of car tyers was found near the spot. The body was shifted to the Sector 16 Government Multi-Specialty Hospital. Meanwhile, the police has initiated inquest proceedings in this connection.
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BSNL not a good learner
Chandigarh, May 18 Officials in the BSNL informed TNS that last year’s fire was a stray incident, and thus there was no need to get the exchanges insured. Though there was talk of getting the exchanges insured after the fire incident in June last year, which had crippled telecom services and inflicted losses worth several crores, the premium being demanded by an insurance company (upwards of Rs 1 crore, depending on the size of the exchange) led to the decision of not going in for insurance cover. Sources said the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) had no policy for insurance of 35,000 telephone exchanges in the country. “The annual premium of insuring the exchanges in Punjab was equivalent to the installation of several small exchanges,” said an official. This despite the fact that several exchanges in Punjab are located in areas, where there is no fire station in the vicinity, and in case of a fire, fire tenders could take a lot of time to reach these exchanges. “However,” say officials in the telecom behemoth, “We are taking all precautions to ensure that a fire incident does not take place. Regular fire drill maintenance is being conducted and staff is being taught to be cautious and all safeguards are being installed in our exchanges by the electrical unit in the exchanges”. A top official in the Chandigarh Telecom district also said they were now in the process of a complete overhaul of the equipment installed in all exchanges in Chandigarh, Panchkula, Mohali and Kharar. “Since the fire last year was caused by a short-circuit in the windos air conditioner, we are removing window air-conditioners wherever possible, and replacing them with centralised air conditioning,” he said.
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48 DAYS GONE still counting... MHA should intervene It shows non-cooperation between the Centre and the city Adminsitartion. Things are going from bad to worse due to ego problems of certain senior officials. This is very sad that UT has not got a home secretary so far. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) should intervene to control the situation. If the post of home secretary is not required, the post should be abolished. The MHA should review the situation. The problem lies in the way the administration was being run by the UT led by its administrator. J.S. Bhogal, an industrialist
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City Concerns
For the past 43 days, Panjab University teachers, under the banner of PUTA, are on a relay strike, demanding Central University Status for the premier institution.
They claim the status of a Central University will automatically draw in critical improvement and enhancement to the availability of finances both for research as
well as teaching and learning. Curiously though, the Punjab Government continues resisting Panjab University's move to a Central status, no one wants to be quoted on this, but the real reasons for the opposition appear to be political rather than academic. Chandigarh Tribune invites readers to send in their views on: Could the status of a Central University improve things at PU like the teachers are saying? Please mail your responses, in not more than 250 words, to
rthukral@tribunemail.com
or send it to The Tribune Office, marked to the City Editor by May 23, 2008.
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Transfer of Employees
Chandigarh, May 18 Before giving final shape to the proposal, the administration is seeking opinion from different departments and employees unions. Since the Chandigarh administration is not competent to adopt the policy on its own, it will have to seek approval from the ministry of home affairs (MHA). However, the employee unions have vehemently opposed the basic idea of merger. It is not out of place to mention here that the issue of absorbing long-serving deputy superintendents of police (DSPs) of the Chandigarh police in the UT cadre for countrywide posting and promotion to IPS is still pending with the MHA. The administration has taken up the issue with the ministry several times. The administration had proposed that the DSPs of the Chandigarh police be accepted as part of the ''feeder cadre'' to the UT cadre of the IPS. This would pave the way for promotion of the DSPs and save them from stagnation, feel senior officials. Under the fresh proposal, discussed at the level of the UT administrator, it has been stated that in case of non-IAS, IPS and IFS officers, the employees of the Chandigarh administration be integrated with employees of the Delhi administration. After five years of service in Chandigarh, the employees be transferred to Delhi and vice versa. It has been mentioned that Delhi was part of the Punjab administration till 1955 and Chandigarh part of Punjab till 1966. Rakesh Kumar of the Coordination Committee of government and MC employees and workers’ union, said the proposal was not acceptable to the employees. This was not the first time such a move had been initiated. Balwinder Singh, president of the Chandigarh Engineering Employees’ Union, said “This would displace our families.” Authority for inter-departmental transfers on anvil In a separate proposal, the Chandigarh administration has proposed to set up an authority which would enable inter-departmental transfers of the UT employees. Presently, the employees of the estate office cannot be transferred to the Chandigarh Housing Board or to other departments. Apart from removing stagnation, the move would check corruption. However, seniority of employees of the UT Secretariat was coming in the way.
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Dust Storm
Chandigarh, May 18 A thick layer of dust, which had settled over the city for the past two days, had reduced visibility in many parts of the city besides making the weather unbearable. The high velocity winds disrupted the power supply and uprooted trees at many places in the city. The air traffic to and from the city was also disrupted due to poor visibility. According to sources at the Chandigarh airport, while the MDLR flight from Delhi to Chandigarh scheduled this evening was delayed due to bad weather, Jetilite flight from Chandigarh to Delhi was cancelled and the Kingfisher flight from Chandigarh to Delhi was put on hold. According to a Met official, the maximum temperature was recorded at 39.4 degrees and minimum at 29 degrees, which is four degrees above normal. Meanwhile, the Met department has forecast dust storm or thunderstorm with light to moderate rain in the next two days.
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Overcoming polio to teach kids in Kargil
Chandigarh, May 18 Ashok will be leaving for Sankhoo, a hamlet, 42 km away from Kargil, this week. He plans to stay here for about six months. This is his third trip. “After I visited the place for the first time, I was fascinated with the area as well as the local populace,” he said. “The level of education here is quite low and a lot of teachers are required. I now yearn to go back as often as possible and do whatever I can for the people there,” he added. Putting up in Jalandhar with Roshni, a society for rehabilitation of the disabled, he first went to Sankhoo in the summers of 2006 and spent a couple of weeks there. Father Thomas K. J, who runs Roshni, said he had been invited by Bishop Peter Celestine of Jammu to start welfare work for the people in the remote areas of Kargil and Ladakh. So, Roshi decided to focus on Sankhoo. Ashok said, in 2007, he taught English grammar to 56 students in the group of Class 8-12, which included 10 physically challenged students. Recalling his experiences, he said initially there was a language barrier, as the locals did not know English and he did not speak Balti, the local dialect. It was only a splattering of Hindi, which the locals understood. However, by the end of his stay, they were able to converse in English, he claimed. The Army too lent a helping hand, providing accommodation, ration and other allied facilities to Ashok during his stay. This year, the Army is providing some computers to the village community center and Ashok now intends to make the kids computer literate. Ashok has been with Roshni for about 20 years. Roshni is also taking up a survey of physically challenged children in the Kargil area, which is known for its high population of disable children. According to surveys, about 8 per cent of the area’s children are disabled. “Facilities for their treatment and rehabilitation are available, but they need to be channelised,” Father Thomas said.
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IAF flies first relief sortie to China
Chandigarh, May 18 About 50,000 people are feared killed in the southwestern Sichuan province as a result of the earthquake that hit the country on May 12. This is the worst earthquake to have hit China in three decades. Hopes of finding survivors faded on Thursday with thousands still buried under the debris. "Air Headquarters has asked the city-based 12 Wing to airlift two consignments of relief material, approximately 30 tons each, to the earthquake affected areas in China," Air Officer Commanding 12 Wing, Air Commodore S.R.K. Nair, said. The relief flight to China was undertaken by 25 Squadron, which is commanded by Group Captain Xavier Israel. 12 Wing, popularly known as the "Gateway to the North", is famous for its airlift assets, flying day in and day out, providing succour to the armed forces and the civilians based in Jammu and Kashmir. 25 Squadron known as the "The Himalayan Eagles", in its 46 years of existence, has on numerous occasions in the past lived up to its impeccable record of providing timely assistance in case of both national and international calamities. Prior to this, the IAF had undertaken relief operations to Armenia, Iran, Indonesia, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Lebanon, Pakistan, the USA and very recently to Myanmar. The IAF has also carried out evacuation of stranded people from Yemen, Gulf region (prior to Gulf War), Srinagar valley and Leh in the past.
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Admn to allot prefabs to 300 ragpickers
Chandigarh, May 18 A precondition for the allotment of structures is that the applicant’s name must be in the survey conducted by the municipal corporation. Apart from the licence fee, the allottee would have to pay the water and electricity bills and no alteration would be allowed in the structure. No subletting would be allowed. Sources said the administration had entrusted the job of erecting 328 prefabricated structures to the CHB. Spread over an area of 3.18 acres and costing Rs 3.93 crore, the structures were reportedly completed in March last year. Although the structures were completed over a year ago, the administration had not notified the policy.
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Patwari is Mohali Press Club chief
Mohali, May 18 Patwari panel managed a clean sweep and all its contestants won the elections for various posts with a respectable margin. As many as 115 members of the club had the voting right but only 102 exercised their franchise. Patwari got 78 votes while Pardeep Singh managed to get only 23 votes. Similarly, Sandeep Sarao, who contested the election for the post of senior vice-president, got 77 votes while his rival Gurpreet Singh got 22 votes. Amardeep Singh Saini and Gurdeep Benipal (vice-presidents) bagged 68 and 94 votes, respectively against 34 polled to Daljit Singh. Kaushik got 68 votes while his rival Kushal Mohan Singh secured 34 votes. Jaswinder Singh Jassi and Rajesh Kaushik (joint secretaries) secured 78 and 72 votes, respectively while their rivals Jeetendra Budhiraja and Baljit Singh got 23 and 29 votes, respectively. Veena Rajput was elected organising secretary who got 69 votes and her rival Manoj Joshi got 32 votes. Harbans Singh Bagri (cashier) got 71 votes who defeated Lakhwant Singh, who was polled only 30 votes.
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Appearance day of Narsimha celebrated
Chandigarh, May 18 A large number of ISKCON devotees thronged the temple on the occasion, according to Nand Maharaj Dasa Prabhu, president, local unit of ISKCON. The programme started with bhajan in the evening followed by abhisheka of the Lord, bhog offering ceremony, discourse on Lord Narsimha and distribution of prasadam. A prize distribution function of Bhakta Prahlad School, run by the local unit of ISKCON at the temple premises, was also held. In junior group, Kanika bagged first prize, Shrjee and Manasvi got II and III prize. In middle group - Ria Sharma- I; Pawani Gaurangi -II and Nawansh-III and in senior group: Twinkle Arya-I, Itisha Goyal-II, and Sri Priya-III.
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Jaipur Blasts
Panchkula, May 18 The operation lasted for four hours in
which all senior police officer, station house officers of all police station, along with specials cells of the police,
participated. The police said the antecedents of the persons lodging at guesthouses, hotels and inns and new comers in the labour colonies were
verified. They, however, said no one was rounded up during the operation.
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Non-functional AC’s harass passengers
I have been visiting the Chandigarh bus stand railway reservation counter for the last 2 to 3 years. The railway authority has installed around 6-7 air conditioners in the hall but not even a single one is working now days when mercury is touching 42 degree centigrade. I have complained to the superintendent many a times. He says there is a major fault in the power supply which could not be rectified so far. Railway is earning revenue in lakhs of rupees but fail to maintain the machinery. Moreover, the height of the hall where the commuters stand in queue for even 2-3 hours for getting reservation is too less. Even the fans were not working yesterday. This causes harassment to people. I request the railway authority to take care of such kind of things and if possible, this counter
may be shifted to any other place. Raheim Bakash
Readers are invited to write to us. Send your mail, in not more than 200 words, at
news@tribuneindia.com or, write in, at: Letters, Chandigarh Tribune, Sector 29, Chandigarh – 160 030
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Closed kitchen leaves hostellers in lurch
Chandigarh, May 18 Students said, “The food outside is quite costly. Therefore we have to shell out Rs 110 each to buy food daily, that too, after skipping one time meal.” These students of Government College of Art, Sector 10, have come from all parts of the country to gain professional skills but rued that it was a wrong decision to come here. The students resented that despite paying accommodation and mess charges for whole year in advance, they were in a fix. “Our examinations are in progress and we have to waste a whole lot time to go to the market to fetch food. On the instance of authorities, the mess contractor had just closed the kitchen from May 11, without bothering to consider that we have our exams till May 26. Isn't it ridiculous?” complained Ajay Kumar, the first year BFA student. Ritu Raj, Mukesh and Pawan, doing masters in fine arts (MFA), resented that since their session starts late, they do not have any vacations. “How come the authorities shut down the mess when they knew that we have to continue here”, they argued. On the other hand, the day warden K.S. Sahi said it had been a regular practice to terminate the mess and hostel facility during this period. “From tomorrow onwards, they have been told to vacate the hostel for urgent repair work etc”. The BFA students said they had been engaged in part time jobs to meet their expenses, but their work would suffer with the announcement of authorities to vacate the hostel from
next month. The hostel has a massive building with four floors and a basement. With more than 200-room capacity, the hostel has strength of over 250 residents. The hostel has been partially let out to students of Government College of Art, Sector 10, and partially to the PGI.
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UGC pay panel meeting on May 21
Chandigarh, May 18 The committee will interact with the academic community in universities and colleges across the country. The universities have been clubbed into 12 groups regionwise, and the first such interaction is being held at PU on May 20-21, for the universities and colleges of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu
and Kashmir. Vice-chancellors and representatives of principals, faculty members, librarians, directors of physical education/sports officers, teachers’ associations of 14 universities of the region and state education secretaries, and eminent educationists will participate at the meeting, said Dr Upinder Sawhney, coordinator, UGC, PRC, PU.
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Syndicate gives nod to MPhil in defence studies
Chandigarh, May 18 The members also decided to revise the minimum basic qualification and teaching experience for the post of a reader at Dr H.S. Judge Dental Institute as prescribed by the Dental Council of India (DCI). As per the decision, the appointment of those candidates who have three years experience in teaching instead of four would be revised. As for the decision pertaining to regulate and have a uniform fee structures in private affiliated colleges of PU, the syndics recommended extending the present committee and this committee will give its decision in a week’s time. The committee formed earlier had recommended that the colleges follow the fee structure sent by the university in 2004-05. Since then, the university has increased the fee structure by about 27 per cent and the colleges could follow suit. Besides, the syndicate members authorised the vice-chancellor on abolishing two per cent reservation of seats for sportspersons for admission to BDS course for the session 2008-09. The syndics also approved enhancing 15 per cent seats for NRI/foreign nationals in MBA (off campus) and PG diplomas at the newly opened University Institute of Applied Management Sciences (UIAMS). At present, there are 300 seats in MBA (off campus) and 120 seats each in the postgraduate diploma in entrepreneurship management, PG diploma in international business and PG diploma in NRI entrepreneurship management. In addition to this, the last date for submitting forms for eligibility in graduates’ constituency has been extended from May 31 to June 10. The syndics also approved leave encashment for Panjab University teaching staff from 180 days to 300 days.
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Alumni assn honours 45 students
Chandigarh, May 18 Professor Bhupinder Singh Bhoop, dean, Alumni Association and secretary, PU Alumni Association, welcomed the guests and presented the annual report for the year 2006-07. Padam Bhushan Prof B.N. Goswami, noted art historian, author, researcher and educationist, and Prof Mandip Singh Sachdeva, joint head of the department of pharmaceutics and department of nanotechnology, Florida A&M University, Tallahassee, USA, were also honoured at the meeting. Dr Navdeep Goyal, joint secretary-cum-treasurer, presented the audited accounts for the year 2006-07 and budget estimates for the house for the financial year 2008-09 which were approved by the house. A total of 45 meritorious students who had topped the respective disciplines of the Panjab University during the academic session 2006-07 were awarded cash prizes and merit certificates. Subhash Chander Kohli and Dr Navdeep Goyal were unanimously elected as vice-president and joint secretary-cum-treasurer, respectively. Subhash Chander Kohli, vice-president, PUAA, gave away the concluding remarks and donated Rs 1.25 lakh towards the alumni funds.
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Phy ed staff joins relay fast
Chandigarh, May 18 Panjab University is trying hard to excel in sports, and it did win All India Inter-University competition in yatching, judo and archery this year, but the severe financial crunch of the university is a major obstacle in providing modern infrastructure to the sportspersons on the campus, said Dalwinder Singh. The cost of sports facilities such as synthetic track, velodrome, shooting range and techno gym with proper equipments runs into crore of rupees which PU cannot afford under the given circumstances. The sports are taking on the character of ‘capital-intensive industry’ whose ‘products’ are supposed to compete at the global level. Under the given circumstances, it would be futile to hope miracles in sports. We don’t have even sufficient coaches, the easiest thing to do, said
Nandlal Singh, another teacher.
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I-Gate selects 22 in placement drive
Mohali, May 18 Students from 16 colleges of the 2008 batch pursuing their BCA or B.Sc with computer science, information technology and information science degree and having 60 per cent marks throughout their academic record appeared for the placement drive. The selection process included pre-placement talk by the company officials describing various job avenues which were currently being offered by I-Gate to young technocrats. The students underwent an aptitude test which was followed by technical and HR interview. The students who finally managed to make it were offered a package of Rs. 1.75 lakh per annum.
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