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Panchkula murder Uncle sticks to his stand, says he killed her for honour Hina Rohtaki Tribune News Service
Panchkula, October 24 The police has arrested Salim and is also interrogating his two sons and some others. The postmortem of the victim was conducted at the General Hospital, Sector 6, Panchkula, today during which it was found that the victim died due to smothering. Salim had initially told the police that he, along with some others, strangled the girl with a sleek wire. However, after the postmortem report revealed that there were no injury marks on the neck, Salim confessed that he used a pillow to smother her. “There is an injury mark on the head and one on the nose, which seem to have occurred when the victim struggled while being smothered. There is no strangulation mark on the neck and it is a clear case of smothering,” said the head of the postmortem department at the General Hospital, Dr Sunil Gambhir. He said, “The body was in a highly decomposed state. We have preserved the viscera to check if the victim was given some sedative before the crime was committed.” “Salim alleged that the girl would often talk to the youth and insisted on getting married to him. She also tried to flee with him. Salim took the help of his sons and some others to smother the girl using a pillow,” said a police official. While the uncle claims that he killed her around two months ago, the postmortem has revealed that the murder was committed two to three weeks ago. Doctors have also sent samples to check whether the girl was physically abused or not. Sources said from preliminary evidence, it appeared that she was not physically abused. Yesterday, Shaukeen, the father of the girl, had complained to the police that for the past few days, Salim was not letting him speak to his daughter on the phone on some pretext or the other. Shaukeen had sent his daughter to Salim's place at Khangesra in Barwala from UP. When Shaukeen reached Barwala, Salim told him that he had killed her.
Search on for youth
Suspecting that the youth whom the girl wanted to marry may also have been killed, the police is conducting search operations to see if some other body has been buried near the spot from where the girl's body was found. Sources said the boy had not reached his home in UP.
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Courier firms dupe jeweller of Rs 57 lakh
Mohali, October 24 The police has arrested five persons, including the general manager of the company, while three others wanted in the case are at large. Those arrested are Santosh Saini, general manager of Super Bright Courier Company, at Behlana village, Ashok Kumar, Kewal Ram, Vishnu, all from Rajasthan, and Sachin Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh. Those on the run are Manoj Kumar and Mahesh Kumar, both partners in the companies, and Harphool. SHO of the Phase 1 police station, Dharam Pal said Phase V-based jeweller Anmol Rattan hired Bright Courier Company and Super Bright Courier Company to send two parcels containing gold and diamond jewellery items to its head office in Mumbai. Bright Courier Company was given a parcel containing jewellery worth Rs 36 lakh on October 19 while the other parcel, given to Super Bright Courier Company, contained jewellery items worth Rs 21 lakh. "In the complaint, the jeweller alleged that when the first parcel was delivered at the head office, all items were found to be artificial, while the second parcel was not delivered at the destination," said the SHO. Inspector Dharam Pal said when they raided the offices of the courier companies, they found a parcel (containing jewellery items worth Rs 21 lakh) lying there. “During investigation, it was found that company officials did not send it to the destination for obvious reasons,” said Dharam Pal. A case of cheating has been registered in this connection at the Phase 1 police station.
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Civic body marks inquiry into safai karamcharis’ absence
Rajinder Nagarkoti/Amit Sharma Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 24 Gupta said he had marked the inquiry to the Medical Officer (Health), Dr BK Salwan, who would submit his report after recording the statements of chief sanitary inspectors, sanitary inspectors and supervisors of these sectors, he said. On Thursday morning, Chandigarh Tribune reporters had visited Sectors 18, 19, 21 and 29, and Colony No. 4 to see whether safai karamcharis were performing their duties properly. The team found that 78 per cent of the safai karamcharis were absent. There were a total of 182 safai karamcharis in the MC records in these sectors and only 43 of them were found present. The team had found that sanitary inspectors and supervisors had left the attendance column in the registers blank despite the fact that the safai karamcharis were absent, leaving a chance for manipulation as the safai karamcharis could mark their presence later.
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Chd Club penalised
Chandigarh, October 24 The complainant, Ravinder Singla, received a notice from the club seeking a payment of Rs 68,540 as past dues (entrance fee). The complainant sent a reply stating that he had been making the due quarter payments regularly. The forum ruled: “It has been admitted by the club that the complainant is its member for the past 12 years and has been making regular payment as per schedule. We are of the opinion that the circumstances of the case clearly point towards deficiency in service on the part of the club." The club has also been asked to pay Rs 5,500 as the litigation cost to the complainant.
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Better Mohali They say “you are what you leave behind”. When you leave behind the entire waste of a town, about 100 tonnes daily, on the riverbed of a seasonal rivulet, it is enough to show your ‘seriousness’ towards garbage management. In the concluding part of this series, The Tribune reporters Akash Ghai and Kulwinder Sangha take a look at the insanitary conditions in Mohali. Mohali: In sheer violation of environmental issues and pollution regulatory norms and even against the orders of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the Mohali administration has been dumping the entire town’s garbage into seasonal rivulet “Patiala ki Rao” at Sector 76 for around past seven years. Over 2.5 acres of the riverbed has already been blocked by the heaps of garbage and the area, which is being developed and termed as the IT hub of the state, stinks with foul smell round the clock. Shockingly, the present dumping yard in “Patiala ki Rao” is not the designated site for the purpose. Instead, the designated site is about four km away from the present one. But, that site is not being used by the Mohali Municipal Corporation (MMC) for unknown reasons. Though the administration has acquired 51 acres at Samgholi village to make it a dumping yard, the matter is pending in the Apex Court over an issue of enhancement of the price of the land.
MC sleeps, IT sector weeps
The situation at Sector 76, which the Punjab Government uses to boast about as the main IT hub of the state, in fact, is pathetic. Due to the presence of the dumping yard of the town just a stone’s throw away, the area is full of stink most of the time. In the absence of any Internal Garbage Disposal System in the industrial area, heaps of garbage and industrial waste can be seen in vacant plots and along the roads. The industrialists, too, seem not much concerned about the cleanliness of their surroundings. Industrialists throw the waste in the open space, available nearest to their establishments. “When no dumps have been constructed in the area, what can we do? We have no other option but to throw the waste in the open, and later burn it,” said an industrialist in the sector. In the IT sector, having about 30 companies, including three-four big ones like Dell and Quark, over 10,000 IT workers do jobs. “This stinky and filthy area certainly is not conducive for the IT sector,” said Priaya Ranajan, an IT employee.
Authorities least bothered about cleanliness
As there is no proper and effective dumping system in the industrial area of the town, the area itself looks like a dumping yard. One can see heaps of garbage lying scattered all around. “We use to hire sweepers on our own to clean the surroundings of our factories. The authorities are least bothered about the cleanliness here. Several times, the garbage use to remain at one site for weeks,” said Deepak Verma, who runs the wrapping machines industry here. Some part of the area comes under the MMC (cleanliness), while some part is the responsibility of the PSIEC.
No proper disposal system for industrial waste
n the absence of any proper disposal system, industrial waste and e-waste are being dumped along with other solid waste into the ‘Patiala ki Rao’. The president of the Mohali Industries and Commerce Association, Nikhil Saraf, who runs his unit in the IT sector, said: “The dumping of industrial waste and e-waste in the open on the riverbed poses serious threat not only to the environment, but also to the health of those who work in the factories located nearby. The ‘insensitiveness’ of the authorities on the issue is a serious matter of concern”.
Proper system for disposal of bio-medical waste
However, the system for the disposal of bio-medical waste is proper in the town as the MC has outsourced it to a private agency. Mohali Civil Surgeon Rajiv Bhalla claimed that the waste of health centres is segregated properly before the bio-medical waste being lifted by a private agency with proper care. The town, having renowned hospitals like Fortis and Max Hospital, produces between 30 kg and 50 kg bio-medical waste daily, said Dr Bhalla.
Bylaws against littering not enforced strictly
The state of sanitation in residential sector is too far from being satisfactory much to the annoyance of residents who keep making complaints off and on in this regard. Overflowing garbage bins, garbage collection points in disrepair and garden waste lying along roadsides can often be seen while going around the town. People have also been complaining about the foul smell emanating from dumping points, especially in the rainy season. Sanitation is also not up to the mark in areas, which are still under the charge of the Greater Mohali Area Development Authority (GMADA). The bylaws against littering are not enforced strictly and residents feel that the fines for the offence should be much heavier.
Poor infrastructure to carry out sanitation work
It is learnt that the Mohali Municipal Corporation does not have adequate infrastructure to carry out sanitation work. It has three tractor-trailers for lifting garbage, three dumper-placers, four tippers, one JCB machine and one loader. It has only 60 rehris to lift litter while sweeping the streets. According to a civic body official, more rehris are needed for the work. One rehri should be provided to five or six sanitation workers. The corporation has hired 467 sanitation workers for sanitation work in the residential areas, while 126 of its own employees are taking care of sanitation work in the industrial sectors. At least, one trailer to transport garbage from each sector is required as the quantity of garden waste is quite huge in certain areas.
Areas under MC jurisdiction
The areas within the jurisdiction of the corporation are residential Phases I to XI, Sectors 70 and 71 and Matour, Shahimajra, Madanpur and Mohali villages. Industrial sectors I to IX are also under the charge of the civic body. GMADA undertakes sanitation work in Sectors 66 to 69 and other developing sectors.
There is only one garbage-collection point from Phase III-A to Phase VIII. This is located in Phase VII. Civic body officials claim that there are 30 dumping points in the area within its jurisdiction. New collection points are being constructed in Phases VI, I and Shahimajra village. The damaged ones are being reconstructed.
What residents say
A request letter bearing the signatures of 300 persons was given to the civic body more than five years ago asking it to remove the garbage collection point from the market area of Phase II, but to no avail. Foul smell emanates from the point and people coming to the market, especially in the rainy reason, cover their nose, much to the embarrassment of shopkeepers in the area. Gurveen Kaur, architect and businesswoman
Unhygienic conditions prevail near the garbage collection point in Phase II. People working in the area are forced to park their vehicles close by because of the shortage of space. Clients who come to meet me often express unhappiness over the location of the
office. Manish Verma, insurance company agent
A number of complaints made by the residents of the area to the civic body to shift the garbage dumping point from the dividing road of Sector 70 to another place have failed to yield any result. Apart from putting up with foul smell, we also have to face the nuisance created by flies because of the dirty
surroundings. Mohinder Kaur, a resident of Phase VII
Garbage bins in the area are generally overflowing. At times garbage is not lifted daily, and when it is lifted, the entire area is not cleaned. Part of the garbage remains lying around the
bins. Gaurav, a fruit seller
We come to an eating joint in Phase VII from Sector 70 because the quality of food is quite good here. But we cannot eat the food at the shop because of a garbage dumping point located in the vicinity from which foul smell emanates. I have to get the food packed to take it
home. Amandeep Singh, a web-designing student
Sanitation needs improvement: MC Commissioner
Efforts are being made to improve the efficiency of the present set-up. A beat system has been introduced under which every sanitation worker will be given a fixed area for cleaning so that his or her responsibility can be fixed. Improvement is being brought about by holding “safai abhiyans”. But a level of satisfaction is yet to be achieved. Major improvement is likely to be witnessed after the solid waste management project is introduced in Mohali. The process is at an advanced stage and, hopefully, will be introduced in January. Public participation is always required to keep any area clean.
Special cleanliness drives
Staff working at houses of VIPs
No action against violators
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2 yrs on, no inspection by panel
Rajinder Nagarkoti Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 24 The committee, which is functioning under the chairmanship of Councillor Harphool Kalyan, and has former Mayor Pardeep Chhabra, Deputy Mayor Satish Kainth as members, only holds meetings in the MC committee room but never checks the presence of safai karamcharis in the field. This was despite the fact that on a number of occasions, the city residents and even councillors had complained about poor sanitary conditions in the city. Councillor of the BJP Saurabh Joshi, who is also a member of the sanitation committee, said councillor Harphool Kalyan, who had been the chairman of the committee for the last two years, never initiated any step to improve the sanitary condition of the city. “I don’t know why Kalyan’s name was finalised as committee chairman for the second term by Mayor Subhash Chawla when every resident was complaining about poor sanitary conditions in the city,” Joshi says. Harphool Kalyan said directions were issued to the officials to conduct surprise inspections. If they failed to perform their duties, the committee would recommend action against them. When he was asked why he had not conducted any surprise inspection in the last two years, he said he, along with the other committee members, would conduct surprise inspections in the coming week to check the presence of safai karamcharis in the field. Nominated Councillor MP Kohli, who is also a member of the committee, said the Congress and the BJP always played politics. They are not serious about the problem. The nominated councillors had raised the issue of poor sanitation on a number of occasions at the committee level and in the MC House meeting, but to no avail. Councillor Satinder Singh said no serious discussions took place in the sanitation committee to improve the sanitary condition of the city. The Sanitation Committee comprises Harphool Kalyan, Chairman; Pardeep Chhabra, Satish Kainth, Satinder Singh, Saurabh Joshi, MP Kohli, Babu Lal and Aruna Goel, all members.
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Laptop thieves on the prowl
Chandigarh, October 24 The police suspects it to be the work of a gang from Muradabad but has failed to make any arrests or get any lead so far. Moreover, the city has witnessed several incidents committed by the gang who divert attention of occupants of the vehicles by misleading them to get out from the vehicles and fraudulently takes away their valuable belongings. The gang members have reportedly mislead their victims to get them out of their vehicle by scattering currency notes (specially Rs-10 notes) near the vehicle or by making them believe that there is some dirt or scratch on the vehicle or their tyre is punctured. When the occupant of the vehicle comes out, the other members of gang takes away their valuable items/belongings from the vehicle. Devinder Singh Kohli, a resident of Phase-10, Mohali, reported to the police that his laptop and dongle was stolen from his car number CH-03R-6158. The car was parked near Post Office, Sector-27, when the incident occurred last evening. Earlier this month, Virender Sharma, a resident of Sector 4, Parvanoo, Himachal Pradesh, had lost his bag containing a Samsung laptop, passport and other documents while it was parked near the NAC, Mani Majra. He was duped by miscreants who threw Rs-10 notes on the road. Yesterday, too, a Sector 44 resident, Jasleen Kaur, lost her purse and vital documents after a thief stole them after breaking the windowpanes of her car. Last week, two persons in Sector 17 were similarly duped of their laptops.
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Safai workers hold protest
Chandigarh, October 24 They said the Administration and the MC had failed to fulfil their demands. Krishan Kumar Chadha, president of the union, said they were demanding regularisation of services of 134 daily wage safai workers. They met Joint Secretary (Home) MM Sabharwal, who assured them their demands would be considered. —
TNS
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Victim girl’s father takes U-turn
Ritika Jha Palial Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, October 24 Only four weeks ago, the father and daughter had raised much hue and cry and submitted a complaint to the Medical Superintendent, Dr Rajiv Vadehra. While the father, Anand Prakash, who failed to turn up for the inquiry for the second time today, said: “My daughter initially had pain. We have a doctor in our family. We got her reports examined from him also and later realised that my daughter is perfectly fine. I do not feel that there is any requirement of proceeding with the complaint when so many doctors are saying that she is all right.” “Whenever I visit the hospital for any other ailment, I will convey to the doctors that I do not want to pursue my complaint,” Prakash added. Dr KS Bal who was appointed to head the inquiry, had summoned the complainant’s father to appear today after the latter failed to turn up on October 14, the day when the inquiry was supposed to begin. The surgery was performed on June 16. After a few days her biopsy was conducted, which, according to the father, revealed that her fallopian tubes were either damaged or removed during the surgery.
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Close shave for visitors at RLA office
Chandigarh, October 24 An eyewitness, Simran, said a few labourers were standing on the ledge of the MC building, where some construction was going on, when suddenly a cement concert slab accidentally slipped from their hands and fell on the shed. The visitors rushed outside to save their lives.
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Excise officer challaned
Chandigarh, October 24 The official, Sukhwinder Singh, was stopped at the Sector 20 gurdwara when a flashing blue beacon atop his Punto car was noticed by the traffic police officials. He failed to show the required documents and the blue beacon was removed from the car.
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Dengue case
Chandigarh, October 24
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Decomposed body found at farmhouse
Mohali, October 24 The head of the body has been separated and was found lying a bit far away while the stomach and some other parts of it were found missing. The police believed that stray dogs have eaten the body parts. Though the police believed it to be a case of suicide, sources said some bloodstains were found on the soil and stones lying near the body. “It could be a murder case,” they alleged. The farmhouse has been located on the land being acquired by the Punjab Cricket Association to build its new stadium there. The police has started investigation in the case.
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Masses apprised of women-centric schemes
Mohali, October 24 Tarntaran Singh Bindra, Chief Justice Magistrate-cum-Secretary, District Legal Services Authority, spoke in detail about the provisions under the Act and apprised the gathering, consisting faculty and students of the college, of various schemes and benefits of legal services authority, lok adalats and permanent lok adalats. — TNS
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Postal stamp released at PU
Chandigarh, October 24 The postal stamp was released during the inauguration ceremony of National Seminar titled, ‘Making of the modern Punjab: Education, science and social change in Punjab’. Punjab Education Minister Sardar Sikander Singh Maluka, local MP Pawan Kumar Bansal, a former chairperson of the University Grants Commission, Yashpal, Vice-Chancellor (VC) of PU Prof Arun K Grover and chief postmaster, General Kuldeep Singh were present on the occasion. As many as 4.1 lakh postal stamps have been printed by the Indian Security Press for the India post till now. The Punjab Education Minister asked Grover to organise a function to celebrate the top ranking of PU as per the Times Higher Education survey. Local MP congratulated the VC and the university for bringing to light the life and work of RR Sahni, who was a heroic figure in popularising education in vernacular language. Attend seminar, get
class attendance Witnessing low attendance on Day 1 of the national seminar, the PU authorities today evening sent an email to all the chairpersons, directors and coordinators of the teaching departments, directing them to ask the students to attend the next-two days of the seminar, against which the students will be accorded class attendance.
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Eye camp organised
Chandigarh: The Tribune Model School organised an eye camp for students in collaboration with Bharat Vikas Parishad Charitable Medical Centre and Ram Krishna Mission Ashram, Chandigarh. The weeklong programme, under the Child Eye Care project, led by Dr Nivedita Singh and her team of eye experts examined students and provided medicines and spectacles, free of cost. Senior citizens honoured
Saupin’s School, Sector 32, organised a function on its premises to honour senior citizens. The drama club (senior wing) presented a comedy play titled EMI. President of Senior Citizens’ Association, Daljeet Singh Grewal, applauded the sincere efforts made by the management and students. Student brings laurels
Mohali: A student of Class X of St Xavier’s High School, Mohali, Harleen Kaur, made the school proud by winning a number of trophies and medals in Zonal and District Athletic Meet, which concluded recently. Harleen stood second in shot put and discus throw, which gave her a direct entry into the district level. In district level, she outshone all the participants and won accolades by securing the first position in shot put. Public informed about significance of voter cards
A rally was carried out by the 110 NSS volunteers of Government Senior Secondary School, Dhanas, in Dhanas village and adjoining colonies, to urge people to make their voter ID cards. A lecture was delivered on the topic of importance of votes in the Indian democracy by NSS programme officer. A slogan writing competition was also held on the occasion. — TNS
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Winners of science wizard competition felicitated
Chandigarh, October 24 Ansh Sood of Bhavan Vidalaya School, Panchkula, who secured first position, was awarded a cash prize of Rs 5,000. Second prize of Rs 3,000 was given to Suhavi of Sacred Heart School, Chandigarh, and third prize of Rs 2,000 was awarded to Rohan Sharma of Bhavan Vidalaya School, Panchkula. Consolation prizes worth Rs 1,000 each was given to Siddharth Sharma from St John’s School, Sector 26, Karabee Batta and Akshita from Sacred Heart School, Sector 26, Praveen Garg and Virok Sharma from Delhi Public School, Sector 40, Rishabh Goel from Mount Carmel School, Sector 47, Phuntsog Wangchuk, Vishal Jha and Vishal Bhardwaj from Bhavan Vidalaya School, Panchkula, and Sanchit Kohli from AKSIPS, Sector 41 Over 300 students participated in the competition, which was sponsored by Arvind’s biology classes, Sector 37. All the participants were given certificates of participation. The question paper, consisting 75 multiple-choice questions, was based on the term-I syllabus of Class X science subject.
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250 foreign students attend youth camp
Mohali, October 24 The founder of the IYF, Pastor Ock Soo Park, and Dr Ashok K Chitkara, chancellor of the university, were among those present. The other dignitaries who attended the camp included Park Hye Jin, supervising manager of the IYF World Camps, Kim SooYeon, Director IYF India. About 2,000 students from Chitkara University and 250 students from countries like South Korea, Russia, Mexico, Bangkok, Germany, Nigeria, Thailand, Ukraine, Nepal, Bhutan and France participated in the event. Chitkara University signed an MoU in the past with the IYF to host this international youth festival.
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Uma Shankar Gupta, Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation, says sanitation needs a lot of improvement in Mohali. Garbage points are not up to the mark and a lot of littering is seen around these. To improve the state of affairs, garbage points are being reconstructed, and in certain areas new ones are also being constructed. The problem is that the civic body faces some opposition from residents whenever garbage points are set up in the residential areas.
Showing concern over the problem, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu has already initiated two special drives to clean the town. The first 10-day drive was launched in August, while the second one is in progress of late. “The people should learn to keep their houses and surroundings neat and clean. If such thing happens, half of the problem would automatically be solved. We are making every effort, but without the cooperation of residents, the problem could not be resolved,” said Sidhu.
Balbir Sidhu, MLA, Mohali, says the town is really very dirty. I came to know that several class IV employees of the MC have been working at the residents of senior officers and politicians. They should be called back to their original duties immediately. Non-coordination among different agencies, responsible for cleanliness, is another issue, which needs to be solved.
Nikhil Saraf, president, Industries and Commerce Association, says despite various representations given by our association on illegal dumping of municipal solid waste into fresh rivulet "Patiala ki Rao”, no action has been taken against the violators. It is sad to see the authorities, in charge of administering and implementing law, turning a blind eye to blatant violations happening right in front of them. Communication between people and authorities is increasingly getting restricted through judiciary and the media. This is affecting the lives of thousands of people living and working in the vicinity.