& V I C I N I T Y
Thursday, August 6, 1998
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C H A N D I G A R H & V I C I N I T Y |
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Thursday, August 6, 1998 |
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spotlight today's calendar |
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I was 'coerced into turning
approver' |
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Nath house robbery: one of
4 robbers identified Sapling
plantation drive |
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I was 'coerced into turning approver' CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — Shitla Prashad Mishra, a former Assistant Superintendent of Burail jail, today moved an application in the court of Mr A.K. Bishnoi, Judicial Magistrate, alleging that the Chandigarh Police flouted orders of the court, saying that he should be medically examined before taking him in police custody for questioning. The magistrate issued notice to the police for August 14. Mishra in his application alleged that he had been falsely implicated in the Burail jail blow-up conspiracy case. This conspiracy never existed. Mishra in his handwritten application charged the police with forcing him to sign certain papers by giving electric shocks on his private parts and ears at the Sector 26 operation cell. It was done by Sub-Inspector Dilsher Singh. The applicant also alleged that he was coerced into becoming approver against D.S. Rajput, a local lawyer, who had also been arrested in this case. The police was doing so because it did not recover anything from any of the suspects in the case. Mishra accused the police of threatening him that he would be liquidated in an "encounter" or "handed over" to the Punjab Police in other cases if he did not become approver. The former assistant jail chief claimed that he was undergoing treatment at the Sector 16 General Hospital's Psychiatry Department. He urged to court to take
action against those police officers who used third
degree methods with a view to extorting his confessional
statement and forcing him to become approver in the case. |
Proposals to check vehicle thefts CHANDIGARH , Aug 5 — Keeping in mind the rising number of vehicle thefts in the city , the Chandigarh police has proposed to introduce certain anti-theft measures before allowing registration of new vehicles in the city. The police has written to the Administration urging it to start the scheme on an educational level before incorporating on a permanent basis. The cost of the additional equipment may be anything between Rs 5,000 and Rs 7,000 for car owners and in case of two wheeler owners the cost would be approximately Rs 500. Etching of four and two wheelers, installation of anti-theft automatic alarm, installation of either clutch-paddle and steering lock or hand brake and gear lever lock for cars, wheel locks and additional stand lock for two wheelers have been listed by the police in the proposal. The police has also written to the insurance companies informing them and seeking their help in urging people to install additional security measures, says the local SSP , Mr C.S.R. Reddy. A total of 339 vehicles were stolen from the city last year and the insurance companies collectively paid almost Rs 1.80 crores as insurance money to its clients. The SSP said the only problem one might face was of standardisation of this equipment . He bemoaned the fact that the police proposal to have paid parking at select points in the city could not be implemented due to various reasons. The Tribune talked to a cross section of public on the issue. Lawyer Chetan Mittal opined : " The scheme is useless as the police is only trying to avoid its duty. " The security systems are not foolproof as cars having these gadgets are also being stolen. He was in favour of having paid parking at select places but even this should be implemented with certain things in mind. A professor at the Government Medical College and Hospital , Sector 32, Dr Raj Bahadur, said the additional cost of security systems would be negligible keeping in mind the rising number of thefts. "I could to spend this much for the safety of my car ," he added. A professor of political science at the Panjab University, Dr M.M. Sharma, said on the face of it the proposal was not bad but what was the motive behind the new proposal had to be ascertained. After the helmet episode when the cost of helmets went up three fold in wake of the court order, the common man would have to bear the brunt in this case also. An officer of United
Insurance Company opined that a scheme could be made
where rebates to a certain percentage be offered to those
who carry out these security provisions. |
Can police change FIR's
contents? CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — "Can the contents of an FIR (first information report) be changed by the police on the basis of investigation?" Mr Sudarshan Singh Sachar, a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Punjab, in a 12-page representation to Director-General of Punjab Police, Puran Chand Dogra, alleges that the police officers investigating the traffic accident cases have been "fabricating evidence to conceal the actual identity of the drivers who had no valid driving licence so as to enable them to make claims from insurance companies." Mr Sachar says he investigated some of these claims as an investigator for nationalised insurance companies and came up with credible evidence that the policemen in connivance with insurers, surveyors and even officials of the insurance companies had been fabricating false evidence to suit the insurers. In one case, he says, a 17-year-old boy was named as driver in a serious road accident in which his father was among those killed. Since the driver was minor and had no driving license, police officers investigating the case sent a report to the insurance company that "their investigations reveal that the father of the person named in the FIR was actually driving the vehicle." In this case, he says, even the complainant was pressurised to change the statement to suit the version of the insurer and investigating police officer. The complainant, a driver, refused. The accused, while driving a Matador, had rammed his vehicle into a stationary vehicle, near Kharar. Besides the father of the "minor driver", three other persons had died in the accident. Later, the "minor driver", made a complaint to the police alleging that he has been wrongly "implicated in the case" as it was his father who was driving the vehicle. Even the driving licence possessed by the "minor driver" was found to be "fake". In another case, the name of the driver was substituted after he was killed in a road accident. The accident took place in the jurisdiction of Lalroo police station on the Republic Day last year on the basis of a statement made by a passenger of a Haryana Roadways bus. In a head-on-collision between the bus and a Tata vehicle, two persons, including Kuldip Singh Manak, driver of the Tata vehicle, died in the accident. Mr Sachar maintained that in this case, the police on the basis of its investigation "substituted" the driver. Instead of the killed person, the owner of the vehicle was shown to be the actual driver at the time of the accident. In yet another case, when a truck met with an accident in which at least three persons were injured seriously. The actual driver of the vehicle at the time of accident had no valid driving licence. The owner, he says, in connivance with the police managed to get the name of the driver substituted to make a full claim from the insurance company. Mr Sachar has sent all relevant supporting documents to the DGP, including original copies of FIRs, statements of eyewitnesses, hospital records and other pieces of admissible evidence to say that in all these cases, a breach of trust was committed to cheat the insurance companies and the policemen investigating the cases were involved. He has suggested handing over all these cases to the CBI for independent inquiries so that necessary action as per law be initiated against the guilty policemen and others involved in such types of "frauds", which he says, are being committed with impunity in almost all insurance companies. He claims he has evidence in a large number of similar other cases, including those in which even senior police officers are involved. In one case, when he sent
a complaint to Mr S.V. Singh, Additional DGP (Crime), an
Inspector was deputed to look into the complaint. But
nothing happened afterwards, he adds. |
Nath house robbery: one of 4
robbers identified PANCHKULA, Aug 5 — The police is reported to have achieved a breakthrough in the robbery case in the house of Mr Tribhuvan Nath, a veteran journalist, in Sector 21 on the night of August 3. The daughters of the journalist — Deepti and Preeti were bashed up by the robbers before they decamped with cash and other valuables. One of the four robbers who had struck at the house has been identified as a resident of Prithla village in Faridabad district. The initial success came for the police while it was investigating a recent incident of theft in a house in Sector 8. A Sub-Inspector who at the time of search in the burgled house found an invalid passport, which did not belong to the occupants of the house. In the meantime the Sector 21 robbery incident took place. While working on a theory about a co-relation between the two incidents the photo of the passport holder was shown to the victims of the August 2 incident who immediately identified the man. The SP, Mr Alok Mittal, when contacted said that the name of the robber would not be disclosed at this moment. He added that a police party had been sent to Prithla.
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Auction of parking lots on Aug 12 CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh (MCC), will auction parking lots in Sectors 17 and 8 on August 12. Corporation sources said that a total of 11 parking lots, including three underground parking lots, would be put under the hammer. They would be auctioned for 11 months. The parking lots in Sector 17, which would be auctioned are the ones in front of Bank Square, Empire Stores, from Bata shoe store to Sahib Singh and Sons up to traffic lights, LIC building, Gurudev Color Lab, Deputy Commissioner's Office and General Post Office. Besides, the parking lots in front of the 30 Bays Building and CMC Building, which include underground parking lots, would also be auctioned. The MCC has also fixed rates to be charged from owners of different kinds of vehicles. While the parking fee for car for a whole day will be Rs 5, it will be Rs 2 for up to four hours. The monthly pass for parking a car will be Rs 50. An amount of Rs 2 will be
charged for parking a scooter for the whole day. A sum of
Re 1 will be charged for |
Bitta wants Army rule in J&K SAS NAGAR, Aug 5 — "Army rule" should be imposed on Jammu and Kashmir as Dr Farooq Abdullah, despite his best efforts, has not been able to tackle terrorism, Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, a former president of the Indian Youth Congress, said here today. Mr Bitta, who was addressing a press conference, condemned the killing of innocent persons of a particular community in Chamba district. He said no political party should interfere in Jammu and Kashmir. Instead parties should form a joint committee to combat terrorism. The ISI and other foreign agencies were taking advantage of the infighting in various political parties, leading to the weakening of the nation. The ISI was spreading its network in different parts of the country. He appealed to all political parties to sink their differences and act as a formidable force against terrorist violence. It was surprising, Mr Bitta said, that despite the arrest of a number of militants from whom RDX and weapons were seized and the killing of innocent persons, terrorism had not become a subject of serious debate in Parliament. The Congress leader said Mufti Mohammad Sayed favoured the holding of talks with militants. But "I had condemned him for issuing such a statement and had even demanded action against him by the Congress high command". Mr Bitta called for the introduction of a Bill in Parliament, imposing a ban on the granting of bail to terrorists and the giving of the death sentence to them. He demanded early implementation of the announcement by Mr L.K. Advani, Union Home Minister, about the issuance of identity cards to citizens. He said that the matter of the arrest of the LTTE leader Prabhakaran seemed to be a close chapter for the government. He wanted Prabhakaran to be executed at the spot where Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated. Mr Bitta called for prompt and stern steps against all those who had been indicted by the Jain Commission even if one of them happened to be a Chief Minister. He lamented that the CBI
had not yet been able to make a significant headway in
the Beant Singh assassination case. He demanded that
Hawara, an accused in the case, should be shifted from
Chandigarh's Burail jail to some other part of the
country where his supporters could not have access to
him. |
Rally by UT, Punjab staff CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — Members of the Joint Action Committee Punjab and UT Employees staged a rally in support of their demands in Sector 17 today. Mr Tarlochan Singh, general secretary of the committee, urged the government to accept the just and long-pending demands of hundreds of employees. The protesters raised slogans against the authorities. The demands raised at the
rally include promotions for Class III and Class IV
employees, removal of the pay anomalies, an increase in
the CCA, DA, HRA and medical allowance. |
Painting contest results CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — Deepika Rani of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 20-D, stood first in a painting competition organised by the Education Department results for which were declared here today. Vinay from GMSSS, Sector 21, and Ajay Rana from GMMS, Sector 25, stood second and third, respectively, in the age group of 6-9 years. In the age group of 9-12 years, Dikshay Sharma from GMSSS, Sector 16, Poonam Thakur from Sector 30, and Harnek Singh were declared first, second and third, respectively. In the age group of 12-15, Geetika (GMHS, Sector 36-D), Sonia Sahni (GMSSS, Sector 16) and Geeta Sharma (GMHS, Sector 34) were first, second and third, respectively. In the age group of 15-18
years, Monika Angrish of GGSSS, Sector 8, Hemant Kumar of
GMSSS, Sector 40, and Sucheta Bansal from GGSSS, Sector
8, bagged the top three positions. |
Sapling plantation drive CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — More than 200 saplings were planted during a plantation drive in Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, here today. The drive was carried out by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature-India. Mrs P.K. Vasu, general
secretary, and Mrs Jaswinder S. Singh, principal, and
education officers of the WWF were present. |
Workshop concludes CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — Creating art pieces out of junk was the main feature of a 10-day workshop which concluded at DAV Public School, Sector 8, here today. The workshop was conducted by Saroj Gulati and Rekha Astha. Flower pots, racks, side tables, photograph display boards and collages emerged at the end of the workshop. Children used boards of
broken furniture, old sanitary ware, bus and cycle tyres. |
Auto mechanics flay civic
authorities CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — The Auto Mechanics' Federation has condemned the municipal authorities for not returning their equipment and tool kits confiscated by corporation staff during the recent anti-encroachment drive. Mr Paramjit Singh, secretary of the federation, said this had been done despite assurances by the Mayor and willingness on their part to pay the fines. The federation will meet
on August 7 to formulate its strategy to deal with the
situation. |
Campus beat CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — Dr S.P. Gautam from the Department of Philosophy has emerged as a consensus candidate for the post of the President of the Panjab University Teachers' Association (PUTA), a press note of the association said today. Elections are on the cards for the post of Vice-President, Secretary, Joint Secretary and Executive members. Dr P.D. Sharma from the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences has emerged as unanimous choice for the post of Treasurer. There will also be no elections in constituencies of executive members in Group IV and Group V. Dr K.K. Sharma and Dr Jaspal Kaur Kang have no opposition in these categories. The elections for the post of vice-president will be held between Dr K.P. Singh (Physics) and Prof Surinder Sekhon (Department of Correspondence Studies). Dr Navdeep Goyal (Physics) and Dr M. Rajivlochan will face each other for the post of joint secretary. The annual general body meeting is scheduled for August 10. Rescheduled: The examination in Paper IV of Master of Finance Part-II of Panjab University has been rescheduled for the morning session on August 7 at Lajpat Rai Bhavan, an official press note said. Students had walked out of the examination centre during the examination on Monday last, alleging that a number of questions were outside the syllabus. Dharna: Members of the local unit of the NSUI sat in dharna in front of the Vice-Chancellor's office on Wednesday, demanding re-examination in various subjects. They demanded re-examination in computation of numerical methods (B.Sc-II physics); bio-technology paper of B.Sc honours in zoology and chemistry; positivist sociological theories; and MFC (International finance). Among those who sat in dharna were Munish Anand, the outgoing president of the Panjab University Campus Students' Council, and Harmohinder Lucky, President of the local unit of the NSUI. Office-bearers: A general body meeting of the Panjab University Students' Union was held in which new office-bearers were announced. The office-bearers are: convener — Sudhir Kamboj; senior vice-president — Harvinder Pal Singh; vice-presidents — Mr Jagdeep Singh, Harsharan Singh Hundal and Pooja Kaushal; and joint secretaries — Mr Mohan Singh and Mr Parminder Sidhu. The meeting was held under the presidentship of Binder Singh who condemned "politicisation of students welfare by motivated leaders of the campus". Later a procession marched
to the VC's office to submit a charter of demands. |
Denial of admission challenged CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — Mr Ran Bahadur, one of the applicants for admission to the Master of Mass Communication course, has contested in the Punjab and Haryana High Court the denial of admission to him by Panjab University. Chief Justice Arun Bahadur Saharia and Mr Justice Swatantar Kumar, before whom the petition came up for hearing, issued notice to the university and the chairman of the Department of Mass Communication, for August 17. The notice was accepted by counsel for the university. Mr Ran Bahadur stated in the petition that the university had conducted the entrance test for admission to the course on June 9. The total marks for the entrance test were 300. Out of these marks 260 were earmarked for the written test and 40 for group discussion and interview. The petitioner claimed
that he had topped the written test and was called for
group discussion and interview. He alleged that the
selection panel adjusted 40 marks in such a fashion as to
select certain candidates which it favoured. This
resulted in grave injustice to the petitioner. |
Crime
File CHANDIGARH, Aug 5 — In a daring daylight theft, a youth , said to be in his late teens, managed to run away with Rs 5,300 in cash from a Sector 22 house after tricking the lone woman resident here this afternoon. Ms Dayawanti alleged that youth came to her house around 1.30 p.m. and pleaded with her for some money, saying he was in financial difficulty. The woman took pity on him and gave him some money. The youth then asked for some food. Meanwhile taking an advantage of the situation he locked the woman inside and ran away with her purse containing Rs 5,300. In another incident Mr Shish Pal's house in Ram Darbar was burgled last night and Rs 17,500 was taken away. No arrests have been made. Girl abducted: A minor girl living in the Shaheed Bhagat Singh Colony in Sector 49 was allegedly abducted by three youths of the same locality. The girl was duped when the trio approached her saying that her mother was very sick and she should accompany them . They then took the girl out of the colony and allegedly outraged her modesty. The three — Joginder, Sanjay and Jeet Pal — have been booked under sections 363 / 366 and 376 of the IPC . A Mani Majra woman was allegedly assaulted by two persons who tried to outrage her modesty. The duo — Joginder Singh and Surinder Singh — have been arrested, the police said. Hit by van: A resident of Sector 7, Mr B.S. Rawat , was injured and admitted to the PGI after a Tata Sumo driven by Dalip Singh hit him on the road dividing Sectors 16 and 17. The driver, a resident of Sector 24, has been arrested. Attacked: A Sector 46 resident , Mr Mukesh Manglik, was allegedly attacked by Luxmi Dass, Neelesh and Nittin over a minor issue. Both parties live in the same house. Car stolen: A person has been arrested while stealing a car while another person was found moving about on a stolen scooter. Parminder Uppal of Sector 23 was caught red- handed while trying to steal a Maruti car from the PGI parking. A Sector 28 resident, Bhupinder Sharma, was nabbed and a stolen scooter recovered from his possession. The scooter (HR-03-B-0237) was stolen from Sector 32 on July 22. The accused was arrested as he had forged the registration number and was using registration No. HNA 5702 on the vehicle. PANCHKULA Case registered: The police has registered a case of murder against a Kalka-based teacher, Parveen Kumar, for allegedly electrocuting his wife, Amita Rani, to death at her house in Sector 4 here. According to information available, the deceased had married a teacher about eight years ago and had a five-year daughter, Jaspreet. The teacher after allegedly electrocuting his wife to death took her body for cremation to his native Jodka village in Hisar on August 1 and informed her parents about the mishap. The father of the deceased on seeing some injury marks on his daughter's face got suspicious and pressed for post-mortem and registration of a case against his son-in-law. Theft cases: Two separate incidents of theft have been reported in the town since Tuesday. Thieves broke into a house in Sector 9 on Tuesday night while the owners were away. The owner of the house, said though the exact loss was yet to be ascertained, a mobile phone, pager, cash and gold jewellery were missing. In another incident in Sector 2, which took place on the night of August 3, a thief decamped with cash and jewellery. The police has registered FIRs in both cases. Robbed at gunpoint: A Tata Sumo taxi was robbed at gunpoint by two unidentified men near North Park Hotel here late on Tuesday evening. The robbers forced the driver of the taxi, Rameshwar, to alight from the vehicle and sped away towards Zirakpur. The police has registered a case on the basis of the statement by the driver. Gambling: The
police has booked three persons — Kaka Singh, Madan
Lal and Amar Singh — for gambling at a public place
in Chandimandir. |
Cultural scene CHANDIGARH: Last evening was an evening of 'bhakti ras' Shubha Mudgal. The lady who made her way into the hearts of millions with her kalam 'Ali more angana daras dikha' sang bhajans of Sant Kabir and Namdev. Hailing from Allahabad, Shubha got her training from Ram Ashray Jha and after marriage from Vinay Maudgalya. The strong points considered in her singing are 'thumri and dadra' and for this she was trained under Naina Devi. Her renderings, though a little high pitched aptly brought out her longing for the ultimate. She would have done better by lending a bit of softness to her notes. The audience were feeling restless and were seen moving in and out. They came to hear folk songs from their favourite star but were treated to something entirely different. Besides, the audience expect the artists to interact with them a little bit which was absent. Subha was accompanied by Mahesh Prabhakar on harmonium, Mithilesh Jha on tabla and on tanpura by Shalu Sharma. There was one positive
side to this event. There was an exhibition "Gandhi
through my eyes" which was in the background. It
goes to the credit of administration and the Chandigarh
Lalit Kala Academy that they got this show from Durban,
South Africa, just in time for their viewers. It depicts
the works of Hakusha of Ahmedabad who has worked with
matchsticks, handmade paper, bamboo and torn stamps. The
exhibition will be opened to public from August 13 at
Government Museum and Art Gallery. |
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