Friday, October 1, 1999
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N E W S Friday, October 1, 1999 |
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3 killers
of Delhi trader held CHANDIGARH, Sept 30 — The police has arrested three accused in the murder of a Delhi-based businessman who was allegedly strangulated in Sector 17 on September 20. One of the accused is still at large. Those arrested are Sunny Kapoor, Sanjay and Ram Asray. All of them are drug addicts. To get money for their daily dose of smack, they used to target people who were from outside the city and frequented liquor shops and restaurants facing the Sector 17 Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) before boarding buses to their destinations. The police is looking for Raju, a rickshaw puller from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, for his involvement in the crime. According to police sources, the accused have confessed to the crime and said that all of them had staked out the area that fateful day when they spotted Mehra in an inebriated condition. Sunny Kapoor struck up a conversation with him and managed to get him seated on one of the two rickshaws they had along with them. He was later taken to an isolated place at the rear of Udyog Bhavan and stripped of his diamond ring, a gold chain and and more than Rs 50,000 in cash. As he slowly came to his senses and made a feeble attempt to resist their moves, they held him down, strangled him and dumped the body in a ditch. One of them reportedly took a fancy to his shoes and took them while fleeing. Sunny is a resident of Sector 22 while the latter are migrants and were earning their livelihood by plying rickshaws. Raju is also reported to have done odd jobs at many eating joints in the city. Sunny is stated to be the kingpin of the gang which has robbed many such people but had not come into the notice of the police since many of their victims preferred not to lodge complaints. This is stated to have emboldened them, besides making them feel that they would never get caught. Sources said they were provided with clues by rickshaw pullers and other informers that this foursome had switched tracks and only plied their rickshaws at night. The police was able to nab them from a a bench they used to sleep on in Palsora Colony late last night. Sunny is a known bad character of Sector 22 and had been caught many times stealing the belongings of commuters from the ISBT, besides many acts of pick-pocketing. He is reported to have left his home many years ago due to the ill-treatment meted out to him by his step-mother. Since then he has been disowned by his family and has been sustaining himself by stealing and pick-pocketing. Sanjay, a resident of Colony Number 5 and Ram Asray told the police that they had been stopped by the police while taking their victims but had been let off when they said that the passenger was misbehaving with them and they had taken the services of another person (often Sunny or Raju) to help them take the man to the ISBT. The police is also stated to have recovered the bag of a Rajasthan resident from their possession and efforts are on to get in touch with him as no compliant has been registered with the police. Meanwhile, the police
has sent parties to raid the hideouts of Raju and is
hopeful that he would be arrested soon. The accused have told the police that they had been nabbed in a drive by the police to check the involvement of migrant rickshaw pullers in the murder on September 21. It was their good luck that following the intervention of various political parties and picketing of the District Magistrate's office, they were let off. As many as 421 persons were rounded up that day, leading to a hue and cry by politicians. They have also revealed
that they had been kept in the dark about the booty and
had received only Rs 200 each for the murder and the rest
of the money was with Raju. |
Round-the-clock patrolling in
city areas CHANDIGARH, Sept 30 — As many as 30 crime-prone spots in the city have been identified which will be patrolled round the clock to prevent the occurrence of any incident. This was decided at a meeting of senior officers, attended by Station House Officers, to review the law and order situation in the wake of chain snatching incidents and other crimes. A majority of the trouble-prone spots fall in the southern sectors and in the various labour colonies and villages. According to police sources, 30 motorcycles of the police control room will patrol these areas round the clock and will be responsible for incidents other than accidents. They have been asked to be mobile between five or six points assigned to them. For this the quota of petrol has also been increased. Surprise nakas for varying durations will also be a fixed feature from tonight onwards. The personnel manning these nakas will flag down vehicles of a particular description and check whether they are stolen or not. Lists whether they had been involved in any crime would also be provided to them. Besides this, updated monthly crime gazettes, in the form of a ready reckoner, would also be given to officials at the thana level so that they were able to know the pattern of crime, its frequency and the area where it was happening frequently. At present such data was available at the headquarter level only. At a meeting of the joint coordination committee held between the police chiefs of Panchkula, SAS Nagar and Chandigarh yesterday, it was decided that whenever any incident occurred in these areas the police of the other areas would swing into action and nakas would be set up and raids conducted to nab the offenders. This was the need of the hour as it was being felt that the moment the police of a particular area stepped up their pressure, the criminals simply shifted their base of operations to the neighbouring areas. Meanwhile, the police has impounded more than 60 two-wheelers driven by youth in various parts of the city in the past two days. In most instances, they were helmetless, did not have valid documents or were riding double on the pillion. The police sources said
the drive would continue. |
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The police will launch a special drive to come down heavily on teenagers who consume intoxicants like cough syrup and other psychotropic substances or are lottery addicts. A special watch is being
kept on the places of purchase in the city and the
satellite towns to identify the persons visiting such
establishments daily. Such persons would be rounded up
and let off only after their parents give an undertaking
that their wards would refrain from such activities. |
Traders
meet police chief PANCHKULA, Sept 30 — A delegation of the Market Welfare Association, Sector 7, met the Superintendent of Police, Mr Alok Mittal, here today, with regard to the attack on Jaspal Singh, a businessman of the same sector. The members appealed to Mr Mittal to arrest the remaining culprits involved in the incident which took place some 50 yards away from the police post. Following assurances from the SP that the guilty would be brought to book soon, the association has shelved its plan to observe a bandh and block traffic on the road in an effort to make themselves heard. The President of the
Association, Mr BB Kochar, said that the ineffectiveness
of the police to arrest the culprits from the scene of
crime reflects its inefficiency. He added that the police
personnel on beat duty as well as the police control
rooms stationed at different points serve little purpose. |
Fleecing
at station parking lot CHANDIGARH, Sept 30 — Visiting the local railway station is a big task for the average citizen. One feels cheated at the hands of the manager of the car parking lot. Sitting arrangements for passengers on the main platform are inadequate. The biggest problem for the visitor is the car parking system. Even if one has to drop or pick up someone, the charge is Rs 10 for a four-wheeler. This is fixed arbitrarily by the parking contractor and is not in line with the rates prescribed by the railways. The notice board indicating the parking fee has been taken over by an advertisement, exhorting the public to keep the railway station clean. The notified parking charges that are Rs 4 for the first 4 hours, Rs 6 for 12 hours and Rs 10 for 24 hours have been mentioned on the board. The charges are mentioned in small letters like a footnote. With more people using the Shatabdi Express trains to reach Delhi, the arrival of cars at the station is estimated to be more than 2,000 cars a day. About 90 per cent of the travellers are dropped or picked up in four-wheelers. The overcharging works out to be Rs 5 for each car as some prefer to park cars for 12 hours or 24 hours. The contractor pockets Rs 10,000 every day. All this is over and above the profit in his contract. The man at the parking counter takes Rs 10 from each car even if it has to be parked for a few minutes. When a Tribune team visited the parking lot posing as visitors on Tuesday and argued that the rates are not as prescribed by the railways, the man deployed by the contractor replied rudely, telling them to do whatever they chose or lodge a complaint. Platform tickets are
sold at the same counter where reservations are made. The
tickets issued on the spot are hand-written. A regular
visitor said the queue should be separate.
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Power
pilferage under DC's nose CHANDIGARH, Sept 30 — While the UT Administration does not tire of claiming to have removed kundi connections from some part of the city every other day, it is strange but true that a number of such connections are operating in the Sector 17 Estate Office right under the nose of the Deputy Commissioner-cum-Estate Officer. These kundi connections are being used by most of the notaries, typists, stamp and form vendors for running their fans and other electrical gadgets. Interestingly, while they have been enjoying electricity without paying a single penny for pilfering power. In this case, the entire electricity bill has to be footed by the Estate Office authorities which has apparently turned a blind eye towards the misuse as no action had been taken against the offenders, even as the violation has been taking place for a long time. Some authorised vendors, sitting in the verandah in the backyard of the Estate Office have been using fans provided to them by the authorities , others have made their own arrangement by connecting long wires to electricity points in the building for operating their electrical gadgets. So much so, that in some cases, if a kundi connection is installed by one, it is shared by others with the use of multiple plugs, which can be seen hanging on loose wires at the place in big numbers. Some offenders justified their action by saying that they have been permitted to make such an arrangement by the Deputy Commissioner, while others conceded that they had been pilfering and not been paying anything to the administration for utilising electricity. "We are part of the building and in that capacity we can use power. Moreover, the permission to install a 'connection' has been granted by the DC," maintained Mr B. D Kalia, a typist. Mr Raminder Singh, another typist, said they were not authorised to use power by installing connections. He, however, said as the seats have been allotted by the administration, he was of the view that such connections were legal. A number of others evaded queries and pointed towards their colleagues for the same. While UT Electrical
Circle officials maintained that removing kundis from the
precincts of the Estate Office did not come under their
purview, Mr S. K. Sharma, Assistant Estate Officer, said
he had nothing to with the issue as it came under the
office of the Deputy Commissioner. Mr Ramsekhar, the
Deputy Commissioner-cum- Estate Officer, assured that he
would take action against the offenders tomorrow. |
Tiny-tots
enthral grandparents PARWANOO, Sept 30 — It was a three-hour trip down memory lane for senior citizens who occupied the centre-stage at a function organised by the students of Eicher School on the eve of the ``Day for the Aged'' at the school premises, here today. The cultural programme presented by the students commenced with a nursery rhyme by the tiny-tots of nursery class, dressed in frills and laces. This was followed by an action-song by students of Class I. Dressed in a brown saree, Pratiksha, did justice to her part of the annoyed grandmother, who paced the stage even as the grandfather, with a white moustache to lend authenticity to his status, played by Shrey, along with half a dozen grand-children made fervent appeals to be forgiven. The music of ``Dadi amma maan jao'' rolled alongside. The item ended with the grandmother relenting and dancing alongside her husband. Then came a whacky dance performance by the students of Class VIII on the song ``Barbie Girl''. It was a dance performed with great vivacity and the spirits of the audience soared with the notes of the song as each one of them craned their neck to see their grandchild perform. Another group song was presented by the senior students in praise of the old. Also, a play, conveying the message of living in harmony with the elders in the house as also the importance of looking after their every need, was well staged by the students. Then came the fun-rounds for the elders as roles were reversed and students watched their grandparents perform on-stage. The grandmothers tried their best at knotting ties while the grandfathers made desperate attempts to thread the needle. The entire exercise had the participants in peels over the inability and tardy progress in the performance of the easy task set before them. Later on, a five-round quiz comprising four couples was organised. In the introduction round, the grandparents shared the most memorable times spent with their grandchildren, sharing their experiences and happiness with the rest. The visual round had them all agog with each couple in a hurry to pocket the points, sometimes answered out of turn as well. All four teams put their thinking caps as the comperes quizzed them on current affairs. The high point of the programme came with the modelling show organised for the elders. Strutting on the stage as music filled the air, grandfathers and grandmothers introduced themselves. They also spoke of their grandchildren, the happiness of being honoured in this novel manner as also the contribution of the school in inculcating values in their grandchildren who cheered them on and kept the party alive with constant prodding. Mrs Kamlesh Kathulia bagged the title of Grandma Queen while Mr Rawat was adjudged Grandpa King. The Principal of the
school, Mrs Lata Vaidyanathan, announced that an effort
would be made to organise such programmes in the school
bi-annually with or without the support of any
organisation.``The idea of such functions is to ensure
that students don't lose touch with the essence of the
joint family system which has so much to offer and
contributes a great deal in making better people and
citizens,'' she said. The programme was organised by the
school in collaboration with the Inner Wheel Club of
Parwanoo. |
MC cancels
tenders worth Rs 4.25 crore SAS NAGAR, Sept 30 — The Executive Officer of the local Municipal Council has cancelled tenders for carrying out development works worth Rs 4.25 crore in the township. According to information available, tenders for carrying out the works were opened on September 24. The Executive Officer, Mr Yash Goyal, said some municipal councillors had objected to the manner in which the tenders had been called and had written to the Secretary, Local Government. The tenders which included 128 items were regarding road repair and patch work. The tenders would be called again, said the Executive Officer. It may be pertinent to
mention here that a Municipal Councillor from Phase XI,
Mr Amrik Singh Tehsildar, had in a representation to the
Secretary, Local Government, alleged that when he visited
the municipal office on September 30, the President of
the Council along with some staff of the council were
showing the tender lists to a private contractor. |
Seminar
on India's population policy CHANDIGARH, Sept 30 — On October 12 this year the world's population will touch six billion. Of these, about one billion would be India's population. Unless an equitable and vital balance between human numbers and available resources is maintained, there seems to be an imminent disaster, so say the experts. The Indian Institute of Public Administration (Regional chapter for Punjab, Haryana & Chandigarh) will hold a regional conference on this subject of utmost importance. The theme of the conference is "India's population policy-challenges ahead & strategies therefore". Mr D.V. Bhatia, Honorary Secretary of the regional chapter of the I.I.P.A., said the conference shall be held on October 9 in the Department of Public Administration, Panjab University here. Prof P.K. Chaubey of the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi, will present his theme paper. Beside others, Prof K.C. Kaistha, Director, Population Research Centre, Chandigarh, and Ms Munisha Gandhi will be the guest speakers. Mr Bhatia said the major
recommendations of this seminar would be presented by him
in the all-India conference to be held at New Delhi, by
the Indian Institute of Public Administration, New Delhi,
on October, 31. |
Employees
issue veiled threat SAS NAGAR, Sept 30 — The Punjab School Education Board Non-Teaching Karamchari Association today issued a veiled threat to the Punjab Government on not giving further extension to the outgoing Controller of Examination. Appointing an ineligible person against a post of Assistant Secretary in the board has also been resented by the association. Addressing a rally of the board employees here today, the President of the association, Mr Harbhajan Singh Billa, said the board management by holding a meeting of the board members at the mini-secretariat at Chandigarh instead of at the board complex here had raised doubts in the minds of the people. Mr Jarnail Singh Brar, General Secretary of the association, said the Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal, had assured the the former member of Parliament from the Ropar Lok Sabha seat, Ms Satwainder Kaur Dhaliwal, that the outgoing Controller of Examination would not be given an extension. The association had met Ms Dhaliwal regarding its demands. They cited certain specific cases in which persons after their retirement from the board and from other government departments had been refused any further extension in service by the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The association has
submitted a memorandum of its demands to the Chief
Minister, the State Education Minister and other senior
officials related with the board.
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Doctors
want NPA to continue CHANDIGARH, Sept 30 — Members of the central body of the PCMS Association, Punjab, and other activists of the association today held a protest dharna at matka chowk here to oppose the Punjab Government's move to abolish non-practising allowance (NDA) of doctors and to put doctors under the control of panchayats. The association leaders, including President Dr B.S. Sahota, General Secretary D.C. Sharma, Vice-President Dr R.S. Sethi and Press Secretary Dr Ajay Bagga, while addressing the participants in the dharna said that the government was politicising the healthcare delivery system by putting doctors under the control of panchayats. They alleged that the government first implemented the recommendation of the pay commission granting 4, 9 and 14 years' time-scale promotions and then imposed a ban on its implementation after giving the scale to a fraction of the cadre only. The leaders demanded that NPA should be treated as pay for all intents and purposes. They criticised the
government for the withdrawal of rent-free accommodation
admissible to doctors and urged for the formation of a
transparent medicine purchase policy. |
More
transfers in police department CHANDIGARH, Sept 30 — The police department here this evening transferred nine inspectors, including two SHOs. Inspector K. I. P. Singh is the new SHO of the Central Police station and Inspector Kultar Singh will head the Industrial area police station.They replace Inspectors Moti Ram and Ajaib Singh, respectively, both of whom have been posted to the security wing. Others transferred include Inspector Sukhpal Singh, from Security to the Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Inspector Inderjit Singh, from security to In charge, Public Grievances Cell, Inspector Ram Gopal, from Police Control Room (PCR) to in charge, Community Oriented Policing Scheme (COPS), Inspector Parmod Kumar from in charge, COPS, to in charge, CID, and Inspector Mastan Singh from PCR to Operations Cell. The posting orders of a
similar number of Inspectors were effected yesterday
Besides , a sub-inspector and a head constable were
suspended for in connection with the fake SP case. |
SNIPPETS Daily langar for needy from
tomorrow PANCHKULA, Sept 30 — With a motto to serve humanity, Amar Prayaas, a social service trust which will initially organise blood donation camps and langars for the needy, will be launched by Mr Arun Grover, Chairman, in Phase I of the Industrial Area on the third death anniversary of his mother, Mrs Raj Dulari Grover, to coincide with the day for the aged, which falls tomorrow. Beginning with a blood donation camp scheduled for tomorrow, the trust will organise langars from October 2 on a daily basis. Also, preparations are on to celebrate the day for the aged with fanfare. The project to serve the down-trodden is being backed up by a local business house which will meet the expenses incurred on the langar. The langar will be served everyday between 12 noon and 2.30 pm and tokens for the same will be issued by the Wives' Association of the business concern which has been entrusted with the task of looking after the whole affair. A project to provide a 24-hour hotline ambulance service is in the pipeline and the association will gradually spread its wings to organising communal harmony programmes encompassing cultural activities and quiz contests for school children. Also, a tie-up with the Administration for social projects of 'Sahyog' and 'Kanyadaan', a scheme for organising mass marriages, is also in the offing. Speaking of the aim of the organisation, Mr Grover said the setting up of a trust for helping the needy will provide a platform to the others. "We have appealed to the other voluntary organisations to come forward and extend their support in building a better society,'' he added. The others associated with the trust include Col R.S. Gill, Col D.S. Kang and Mr Anil Bhardwaj. October 5 not dry day CHANDIGARH, Sept 30 — Mr M. Ramsekhar, District Magistrate, Chandigarh, has ordered that October 5 will not be a dry day as notified earlier. October 6 and 7 will remain dry days on account of counting of votes for the Chandigarh parliamentary constituency. House sold twice, case registered KHARAR, Sept 30 — The police has registered a case under Section 420 and 34 IPC against one Surinder Singh, of Mundi Kharar village, which falls in Kharar municipal limits, on the charge of selling his residential house twice. A complaint regarding this was made to the police by one Mr Devinder Singh that he had purchased the house for Rs 3,95,000 in 1997. He informed the police that the accused took the key of the house for personal use in January 1998 with the promise that it would be returned soon. When he asked him to return the key, the accused said that the possession of the house had been forcibly taken from him by Surinder Singh. The police after investigation found that the house was sold to Surinder Singh. Bhupi to feature in disco mania CHANDIGARH, Sept 30—Bhupi of "jogiya khali bali" fame will feature in a disco mania at Aerizzona discotheque tomorrow and on October 2, a press release said here today. Besides Bhupi, the show also features VJs of Channel V. The disco venue presented Anamika, Alisha, Baba Khan, MTV Nikhil special and Miss North 99 during recent times, the release added. PWD removes encroachments ZIRAKPUR, Sept 30 — Continuing the drive to remove encroachments along the highway, the Punjab Public Works Department (B and R) removed more than 75 shacks, dhabas and other vends along the Zirakpur-Panchkula road on Tuesday. These encroachments on government land within 15 feet from the main road had become a traffic hazard and a nuisance for the road users. Parking of trucks in
front of these dhabas had made this stretch of the road
accident-prone. The enforcement wing of the PWD also
removed advertisement hoardings along the road. |
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