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Elderly woman done to death
Panchkula, August 31 Sources said the involvement of a family member in the murder couldn't be ruled out and it was investigating their role. The police initially came up with the theory that the victim had died of a heart attack but after the post-mortem confirmed that she had died due to smothering, the police rounded up the two domestic helps. Sushila Devi, whose husband, a Colonel in the Army, died 20 years ago due to illness, had been stayinig at the home with two domestic helps, Suraj Pal and his wife Chintesh, for the past week as her younger son Rajinder and his wife had gone to Dubai. Her elder son Virender lives in Canada. The accused have been identified as Suraj Pal, his wife Chintesh, Surajpal’s brother Gainda and Chintesh’s cousin Ram Bahadur. Surajpal and Chintesh put up in a room on the rooftop. Surajpal's brother was blessed with a son recently and many outsiders visited the house regularly. “They had planned the murder about 10 days ago. It was decided that after the woman would be murdered, they would take away all the cash and jewellery. While the three men strangled the woman, Chintesh was keeping a watch,” said Commissioner of Police Rajbir Deswal. He added, “The woman showed resistance and even marks of her nails were found on the faces of two accused.” Ram Bahadur and Gainda fled with the booty while Pal and Chintesh stayed at the house and called up the police control room. Police claims fall flat
The second strike on elderly women in one week in the same sector has disputed the claims of Commissioner of Police Rajbir Deswal
Ludhiana’s SP Manohar Lal, deceased's brother-in-law, also visited the spot. The family is waiting for Virender's return from Canada, following which the victim would be cremated.
Domestic help cooks up story
Accused in police custody. tribune photo Police ignored visible murder signs earlier
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Police keeps a watch on PGs in city
Chandigarh, August 31 DSP (Central) Ashish Kapoor, who also took part in the exercise, stated that it was conducted to check the presence of outsiders in the PGs. "We verified the youngsters' particulars staying to establish their purpose of stay," said the DSP. The PGs, who haven't filled in the Chandigarh police's tenant verification form were asked to fill in the same. "The PG owners were asked to ensure that no outsider stayed in their accommodation till the student elections concluded," he stated. The police officials stated that similar checks would be conducted in Sectors 10, 11, 16, 22 and 23 in the coming days. The police is also collecting
Sources stated the police has identified the PGs where supporters of the student parties were putting up and a special watch was being kept at those PGs. "There are chances that outsiders take a shelter in these PGs on the day of polling to provide muscle power to student parties, in case they require their help," the police sources stated.
Cops search for weapons
The police also searched the PG rooms and cupboards to check if youngsters were possessing any weapons. It recovered a sickle and a sword from two PGs.
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Officials changed route at last moment, say drivers
Chandigarh, August 31 Requesting anonymity, a truck driver said their owners informed them that the shifting of cattle would be done through the Delhi route. But in the midway, they were told not to enter Delhi and go towards the Gurgaon-Jhajjar route. The officials who were accompanying our trucks gave us these directions, claims the driver. One of the transporters, whose trucks were damaged in the Gurgaon violence, said whenever there were discussions with the MC officials, they told them to take the Delhi route. "Everybody knows that Mewat is not a safe place, especially when 25 trucks carrying cattle pass through the area. Even our drivers apprised the MC officials about the same, but to no avail," he said. Leader of the Opposition Arun Sood also raised this question. He said when three days ago cattle smugglers murdered a youth on the Gurgaon-Jhajjar route and the situation was tense in the area, why the MC trucks were put on this route instead of a safer Delhi route? "There was no plan or policy on the shifting of cattle and the Mayor and
The MC Commissioner, Vivek Pratap Singh, while addressing a press conference today, said it was an accident, which nobody could anticipate. The mob went out of control, which resulted in violence. The Delhi route was not opted because there was specific time for the heavy trucks to enter the Capital. Moreover, our staff was not aware of the tense situation in Jhajjar and Gurgaon, he added.
Gurgaon cops blame MC
"We would have handled the situation better had they (Chandigarh officials) informed us about the route plan. We would have advised them against taking this route owing to the volatile atmosphere in the area," said the Gurgaon DCP.
Transporters gagged
In the evening, when this correspondent talked to some officials on this issue, minutes later the MC officials told the transporters not to talk to the media. "We have already suffered losses worth Rs 2 crore after this incident. We don't know where to go for help," a transporter said.
Inspector ran 2 km to save his life
MC Inspector Karamvir said the mob had brutally beaten him up. "I had to run 2 km to save my life otherwise the mob would have killed me," said Karamvir. A police official said they ran to the nearby tube-well and the tube-well operator provided them with civil clothes. Thus, they saved themselves from mob fury.
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Repair work on Phase III pipeline over
Mohali, August 31 The water supply in Phase IV pipeline is likely to be resumed on Tuesday, as some work is still pending there. Since the weather was clear, the joint team of GMADA, Welspun, Department of Punjab Water Supply and Sanitation and the Chandigarh Administration completed the construction of thrust blocks around the Phase III pipeline in Gharuan village, where major leakage problem had occurred on August 20. “We have constructed four concrete thrust blocks around the pipeline to give it the support it needs. The repair work is complete, but we are not taking any risk, so we will let these blocks dry for another day. On Monday morning, we will resume the water supply”, said Ashok Virdi, Executive Engineer of GMADA. As many as four thrust blocks have been constructed for the Phase III pipeline. On being asked about the status of the Phase IV pipeline, Virdi added that the supply through the pipeline was likely to resume on Tuesday morning.“We have to construct three thrust blocks to give support to the Phase IV pipeline. The work will start tonight and will be completed by tomorrow afternoon”, said Virdi. Virdi added that the work was in full swing after intermittent rain in the area had affected the work in the past two days. “We are praying that there should be no rain for at least another two days in the area”, he said. Today, the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation Commissioner, Vivek Partap Singh, also visited the spot to take stock of the situation.Notably, about 14-lakh population of Chandigarh and Mohali has been facing severe water shortage following the suspension of water supply through these pipelines since August 20. Both pipelines, which carry 20 million gallon water per day, had caved in at Gharuan village following a major leakage problem.
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18 years on, Beant Singh memorial yet to become a reality
Chandigarh, August 31 On the19th death anniversary of the slain leader on Saturday, the incomplete memorial drew the ire of the national and state Congress leadership. The site of the memorial was the venue of a rally organised by the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) to pay tributes to the leader. “It is an irony that the Punjab Government has not paid the required amount to construct the memorial,” said Ravneet Singh Bittu, Member of Parliament from Anandpur Sahib and grandson of the late Beant Singh. Initiated at a cost of Rs 40 crore in 1997 on a seven-acre plot, the Beant Singh Memorial and Chandigarh Centre for Performing and Visual Arts, a joint venture of the Punjab Government and the UT Administration, has already missed several deadlines due to resource crunch. Initially, Punjab was to contribute Rs 10 crore towards the project and the UT was to pool in Rs 2 crore. Punjab has contributed only Rs 6 crore till now. “ We request the Punjab government to release the remaining grant at the earliest," said PPCC president Partap Singh Bajwa. Sources said the lack of coordination between the Punjab Government and the UT Administration had forced the authorities to compromise with the original plan of the complex. Resource crunch is the other reason for the delay. Recently, the authorities concerned scrapped the auditorium project. Earlier, two more buildings were planned for the memorial, but the proposal was shelved due to fund crunch. At present, the library at the building is functioning. Rahul Gandhi, during a visit to the site, had demanded early completion of the project. A convention centre, open air theatres and a martyr gallery were to be set up at the centre where a representation of the Jallianwala Bagh and mannequins of Lala Lajpat Rai, Udham Singh, Bhagat Singh, Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh and his children were to be set up. “While the Akalis are spending money on setting up memorials at Amritsar and Delhi, they do not care for the sentiments of the victims of terrorism and those who laid their lives in fight against terrorism," said the PPCC president.
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Drive against stray cattle to continue: MC Commissioner
Chandigarh, August 31 Vivek Pratap Singh addressing a press conference said that it was an accident, which nobody could anticipate. On the cattle-catching drive, he said that the MC was committed to continue the special drive. On Gurgaon incident, he said that they were shifting the stray cattle for a good cause, but unfortunately the incident took place in Gurgaon. We don’t want to put the blame on the Gurgaon and Jhajjar administration, as they tried their best to bring the situation within control. Out staff handled the situation well for six hours and were updating us on the phone as well. But in the end, when the situation went out of control they ran for their lives. We should appreciate their effort,” the Commissioner said. The Commissioner further said that the MC staff had showed all the permission letters, documents and even their identity cards to the mob that they were shifting stray cattle from Chandigarh to Barsana. On every truck, a sticker of “on government duty” was also pasted but to no avail, he added. Mayor Subhash Chawla said that they had planned to shift the cattle by road as the transportation cost was much cheaper than that of Railways and it aso required extra manpower. On BJP’s allegations for not inviting special meeting on cattle issue, Chawla said that at a house meeting in April, it was the BJP who had created ruckus on cattle issue. It was only because of the BJP, no policy on stray cattle was finalised, he added.
To coordinate with P’kula, Mohali in future
MC Commissioner Vivek Pratap Singh said that in the near future, they would hold coordination meetings with the Panchkula and Mohali Administration on the shifting of stray cattle from Panchkula and Mohali to Chandigarh.
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BJP-SAD councillors target Mayor, officials
Chandigarh, August 31 They also demanded that a probe be conducted by a sitting Judge of a lower court or the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Gurgaon violence in which 17 MC trucks were damaged by the angry mob. A delegation of
BJP-SAD councillors also met UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil and submitted a memorandum in which they submitted that they had requested Mayor Subhash Chawla to call a special meeting under Rule 55, Section 2 of the Punjab Municipal Act, applicable to Chandigarh, but he had refused. They sought that the Mayor be directed to hold a special meeting. Leader of opposition Arun Sood said that a probe must be conducted as to who finalised the route plan, why only five police officials were sent with the trucks, why the Gurgaon or Jhajjar administration was not informed in advance about the movement of trucks by the MC officials. All these questions had put a question mark on the functioning of the Chandigarh MC, he
added. BJP Coucnillor Satinder Singh said that it was in 2003 that some cattle had died in Himachal Pradesh while being shifted from the city and Subhash Chawla was the Mayor at that time also. But Chawla did not learn any lesson from his past experience and shifted the cattle again without any policy, he
added. Councillor Saurabh Joshi said that the MC had also violated rules related to shifting of cattle from one city to another city.
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RPF conducts surprise check at Chandigarh police post
Chandigarh, August 31 During the inspection, Railway Senior Divisional Security Commissioner Mohinder Singh also checked the registers maintained for complaints made by the railway employees. He said that during the inspection, minor shortcomings were detected, which would be rectified by the staff as per the directions given to them. He said that it was an annual practice of the RPF to conduct such inspections to monitor the performance of the staff deployed for the security of the passengers.
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360 illegal PGs shut in Mohali
Mohali, August 31 The fact was revealed by the GMADA’s Estate Officer Navjot Kaur, who claimed that her staff was on the job to check the hazard here. “We have served notices to as many as 460 landlords, who were running PG accommodations in their residences without getting these registered under the norms. Now, around 360 of them have given us in writing that they have shut down the business,” said Navjot Kaur. She said her office was also receiving applications for paying guest registration under the rules. “So far we have received about 20 applications in this connection,” said GMADA’s Estate Officer . She admitted that registration of criminal cases against some landlords in the recent past also triggered these people to shut down the business. While the GMADA has served as many as 460 notices, the number of such accommodations is very high in the town. “We are going to conduct a fresh survey in the town in this regard,” said GMADA’s Estate Officer . Notably, the Mohali Police has started registering criminal cases against the landlords, who have been running PG accommodations on their premises without getting these registered from the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority . About 20 cases have been registered in this connection. The drive was started following a shooting incident at Phase 3A in the last week of February in which a local advocate Amarpreet Singh was shot down by some youngsters, who were staying as a paying guest in the victim’s neighbourhood.
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pu polls Party fields Amandeep Singh of Law Department for the top post Amit Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 31 Arshnoor, one of the forefront leaders of the party who had started building the ground for the 2013 elections from the beginning of this year, was expected to contest the elections for the post of president. However, the party decided to field Amandeep Singh of the Law Department in the contest. Although the PU authorities cleared Arshnoor’s nomination during the scrutiny, other party leaders compelled him to withdraw his name before the final list was released. Arshnoor, a student of the Department of Community Education, was also among the active party supporters in the past few student elections, and the SOPU had projected him as the presidential candidate. Sources in the party said the differences within the party among the senior leaders led to the withdrawal of Arshnoor. The sources said the decision had led to resentment among his supporters who were planning to offer their unconditional support to another party. “Arshnoor was the first prominent leader of any party on the PU campus who could clear all the Lyngdoh conditions. Making him withdraw the nomination is not justified,” said one of his supporters. SOPU leader Vikramjit Singh Midukhera said they wanted to give the president from the Law Department, which had the strength of around 1,200 students, while the Department of Community Education didn’t have much strength. “We have given a balanced panel that has a candidate from the Law, UIET, UIAMS and Chemistry Department, which are among the departments with the maximum votes,” Midukhera said. All the parties declared their final candidates for the PUCSC elections after the withdrawals. A total of five candidates are in the fray for the elections for the post of council president. SOPU-SOI-HSA-HPSU panel President: Amandeep Singh, Law Department Vice-president: Akanksha Sood, Chemistry Department Secretary: Akashdeep Vohra, UIAMS Joint Secretary: Priya Ranjan, UIET PUSU-INSO-ABVP panel President: Satwant Singh, Law Department Vice-president: Disha Arora, English Secretary: Dr Abha Sharma, Department of Public Health Joint Secretary: Dimple Garg, Department of Defence and National Security Studies NSUI-HIMSU panel President: Chandan Rana, PhD student, Department of Biophysics Vice-president: Vidhi Bhugra, Dental Sciences Secretary: Resham Mittal, UIET Joint Secretary: Sunny Mehta, Centre for Social Works SFI President: Navjot Kaur, Physics Department
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Canvassing goes on till late hours
Chandigarh, August 31 The supporters of the parties sitting in groups can be seen at the tents discussing the strategy for the elections. Student Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU) leader Vikramjit Singh Midukhera said: “After the busy schedule of the day, it’s only during the night that all the party workers get together to discuss the next day’s plan”. “We assemble at the tents in the evening and discuss the strategy,” the SOPU leader said. Panjab University Student Union (PUSU) leader Simranjit Singh Dhillon said after finishing the round of campaigning in the hostels, they reach the tent and sit together to chalk out future plans. “The supporters give feedback on the day’s canvassing and they are briefed about various decisions taken by the party,” Dhillon said. Sources stated it was during the night only that outsiders entered the university campus to show the strength by sitting in tents as this was the time when supporters of all the parties were present in their tents. NSUI leader Brinder Singh Dhillon said nights were the time when they could sit with the party supporters and do brainstorming. Fleets of cars can also be seen parked outside the tents during the night making the presence of supporters felt on the campus. The security has also been stepped up on the campus with the deployment of police force at various sensitive locations of the university. The police teams patrol on the campus round the clock.
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After hectic parleys, NSO deserts PUSU
Chandigarh, August 31 While the supporters of the parties were busy in canvassing, senior leaders of the PUSU and the NSUI were holding a series of meetings with the secondary parties for forming an alliance. It was late in the evening that the parties managed to finalise their partners and announced their candidates. PUSU leaders after losing the support of the NSO started negotiation with other parties and finally managed to get the support of the ABVP. The PUSU is contesting elections with the INSO and the ABVP. Sources said the NSO was not satisfied with the posts offered to them by the PUSU, following which they decided to end the alliance hours after making a formal announcement. The NSUI managed to rope in estranged PUSU leaders Baljeet Chaudhary and Gurinder Singh Minhas, who have decided to give their unconditional support to the NSUI for the elections. Chaudhary is wanted by the Chandigarh police in a case registered against him at the Sector 11 police station. Former PUSU leader Varinder Singh, who is also a Senate member, said Baljeet and Gurinder were never a part of the PUSU. “They can't harm us as genuine supporters and PUSU leaders are still with the party," Singh said. Meanwhile, NSUI leaders held negotiations with the NSO leaders. However, the parties have not reached any decision. The SOPU had already entered an alliance with the Student Organisation of India (SOI), the Hindustan Student Association (HSA) and the independent candidates' front.
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UT teachers’ panel holds protest
Chandigarh, August 31 The committee raised the issue of increase in school timings, cancellation of FIRs, transfers and departmental enquiries against leaders and pending promotions and regularisation of all cadres. The committee members asked for grade pay of Rs 4,200 to nursery teachers and librarians. Equal pay for equal work for all categories of teachers, including computer teachers, was also demanded. They also raised the demand of clear-cut transfer policy without pick and choose. Swarn Singh Kamboj, one of the members, said officers without sanctioned posts should be reverted, besides initiating independent inquiry against corrupt officers indulging in malpractices. Other leaders who addressed the gathering were Kushali Ram Sharma, Savinder Singh and Ravinder Sharma. They criticised the administration for adopting anti-teacher policies and alleged large-scale corruption and favouritism in the Education Department. They said if the demands of the teachers were not met before September 5, they would boycott the celebrations of Teacher’s Day and a massive protest would be held in front of the official venue (Tagore Theatre, Sector 18, Chandigarh) for the Teacher’s Day function.
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Recruitment process in final stage: Education Secy
Chandigarh, August 31 He was speaking during the 4th teachers' conference organised by the Government Teachers' Union (GTU) at Moti Ram Arya Senior Secondary School, Sector 27. The conference was organised to discuss various challenges before teachers and the methodology of school education in the 21st century. Upkar Singh, DPI (S), was the guest of the honour. Some prominent educationists and experts such as Dr Dipti Gupta, Professor, Panjab University, Dr Paramjit Kaur Tulsi, Professor, NITTTR, Sector 26, JK Jain, Assistant Secretary (IT) and Dr Vikram Kumar Viveki spoke on the role of teachers and the methodology of school education. GTU president Dr Vinod Sharma spoke on various issues concerning teachers. He raised issues such as promotion of teachers. He urged the Education Secretary to ensure the meeting of the DPC every year, grant regular pay scale to promote teachers from the date of joining, promotion of JBTs and nursery teachers. Earlier, the programme began with a shabad and Veda mantras presented by students. Teachers were asked to upgrade their skills to meet the modern day challenges. Dr Vikram Viveki, former Professor, Panjab University, Sardar Virender Singh, former principal, and Jai Narayan Shastri, retired teacher, DAV Senior Secondary School, were also honoured on the occasion.
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CBSE’s science exhibition from September 5
Chandigarh, August 31 The main theme of this year’s exhibition is science and society and the six sub-themes are industry, natural resources and their conservation, transport and communication, information and education technology, community health & environment and mathematical modelling. Around 70 schools will be participating in this event to showcase their creative and innovative ideas. The best 15 exhibits/ schools selected during this exhibition will be eligible to participate in the national-level Science Exhibition to be organised by the CBSE later this year. — TNS
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Janmashtami celebrated
Chandigarh: Bhavan Vidyalaya Junior, Sector 33, celebrated Janmashtami with enthusiasm and fervour. The celebrations were held to make students aware of traditions, values and rich cultural heritage. Students of KG performed a dance on various songs dedicated to Lord Krishna. Students of class I presented various jhankis to showcase various stages of Lord Krishna's life. The students also came dressed up as Krishna and
Radha. Green Castle Public School-47
On the occasion of Janmashtami, students of classes playway to UKG came to the school dressed up as Krishna and Radha. Students from classes I to VI presented dances and bhajans based on Lord Krishna’s life. The chairman of the school, Rajesh Kapoor, told the students about Lord Krishna’s life and advised them to follow his teachings. Founder’s day
Founder’s day was celebrated at Ryan International School, Sector 49, with fervour and gaiety. A special assembly was held in which students performed a scintillating Gujarati folk dance. Sweets and savouries were distributed among students and teachers on the occasion. Sports events inaugurated
The 14th Pandit Mohan Lal Memorial Basketball Tournament and the 5th Pandit Mohan Lal Memorial Boxing Championship were inaugurated at PMLSD Public School, Sector 32, on Friday. KK Sharma, chairman of the school, inaugurated the event. This year, 22 teams from Chandigarh schools are taking part in the basketball championship and 87 competitors are participating in the boxing championship. Marathon
Mani Majra: Aiming at creating awareness on the importance of conserving non-renewal resources, Gurukul Global School, Mani Majra, in association with the Rotary Club, Panchkula, organised a marathon, “Burning Calories not Oil”. Students from classes III to XI, along with parents and teachers, ran the entire stretch starting from the school premises to Infosys, IT Park, Chandigarh. The event was flagged off by chief guest Vikash Ahuja, DM, Infosys, who was accompanied by Rotarian Kavaljit Singh, students, parents and teachers till the finish line. Refreshments were served at the end of the race. Donation
Baltana: Mountview Public School organised a function at the school for donating a draft of Rs 1 lakh towards the Uttarakhand relief fund. Chef Parliamentary Secretary NK Sharma was the chief guest. Director Paramjit Kaur and principal Rekha Nagpal handed over the draft to the chief guest. On the occasion, the performance report of the school highlighting its academic achievements was also presented. Janmashtami celebrations
Panchkula: Janmashtami was celebrated with enthusiasm by the pre-primary students of Satluj Public School, Sector 2. Students were dressed up as Krishna, Radha, Sudama, Gwalas and Gopis. They depicted different episodes based on Lord Krishna’s life. National Sports Day
National Sports Day was celebrated with fervour at The Sky School, Sector 21, to commemorate the birth anniversary of Indian hockey legend Dhyan Chand. Students were taken to Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula where 100m races were held for the students. Fun-filled activities like ball games and hulla loop were also organised for the kindergarten section. — TNS
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The woman servant tried to fool the patrolling party by cooking up a story. At 12.15 am, when a police party reached house number 93 in Sector 7, servant Chintesh told them that she saw two men standing outside in the dark and when she rushed to call her husband, they ran away. When she went inside to see Sushila Devi, she found her dead in the bathroom.
Despite clear injury marks on the face and the neck of the domestic help and finding jewellery in the house missing, the Panchkula police reportedly tried to downplay the incident initially, saying that the woman died of a heart attack. The head of the post-mortem department at the General Hospital, Sector 6, Dr Sunil Gambhir, was shocked at the police investigation. Later in the afternoon, Gambhir conducted a post-mortem examination and said it was a clear case of murder. Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Ashwin Shenvi said: “If the police officials at the scene of crime had not performed their job well, the matter will definitely be looked into.” He added: “But sometimes, even officials at the scene of crime can not reach any conclusion and we wait for the postmortem report. And if we had tried to downplay the incident, we would not have done the investigations and cracked the case so soon.”