Police to take on purse snatchers
By Varinder Singh
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — Even as the Chandigarh police continues to grope in the dark about most of the culprits involved in the purse or chain snatching incidents in the city which have created a scare among the people, particularly women, it has rounded up 15 suspects during the past 24 hours under a special drive launched against such elements.

As part of the drive, the police has prepared computer sketches of suspects, all of them in their teens, who, as the police thinks, could even be college students doing all this for making easy money. Working on this theory, the police yesterday launched search operations in a number of hostels of different educational institutes.

The increasing incidence of snatching of purses or chains by scooter-borne youths and the failure of the police to nab the culprits in most of the cases has instilled a sense of insecurity among women and they have stopped venturing out alone after sunset.

As many as 10 incidents of purse or chain snatching have taken place in different parts of the city during August and September. Most of snatching incidents, committed during twilight in a daring manner by scooter-borne youngsters, have occurred in the populated sectors such as 21, 17, 34 and 44.

The modus operandi of the well-dressed snatchers in almost all cases was to commit the act in such a swift manner that they left the victims dazzled who were not even able to note down the registration number of the vehicles used in the crime. In one such incident on September 7, a youth went to the extent of snatching the purse containing Rs 1,100 and important documents from Mrs Gladys Banerjee when she was standing outside her house in Sector 44.

While the police has arrested three accused, said to have been involved in three of the 10 cases occurred during the past one and half months, no breakthrough has been achieved in rest of the incidents, although it has detained 15 persons from different parts of the city who had been involved in similar incidents in the past.

"We are questioning them and are hopeful to get some clue. We have come to know that they are operating in two groups, one on motor cycles and the other on scooters," said Mr S.K. Singh, Inspector-General of Police, adding that special measures had been taken to check such incidents.

About the modus operandi adopted by the gangs, Mr S.K. Singh said after choosing their targets they strike at secluded places, mostly in poorly lit areas to avoid identification. "According to victims, whenever they struck during daytime, they would wear helmets and disfigure the number plates of their vehicles," said the IGP.

Mr S.K. Singh said to check the crime special measures, including laying traps in different parts of the city, had been taken by the police. "Besides asking the SHOs to be extra vigilant, as many as 25 of the 30 PCR vehicles have been ordered to keep moving in their respective beats," the IGP added, who admitted that there had been a rise in the number of such cases in the recent past."

He said to nab the culprits, the police had been verifying the registration numbers of vehicles from the Estate Office. "As we want to nab them as early as possible, we have got prepared computer sketches of the suspects on the basis of description given by the victims and circulated them among different police stations," he added, saying that the identity of the accused could not be ascertained so far.

Meanwhile, sources in the department revealed that there had been a rise in the number of snatching cases during the past three years. While during 1997 and 1998, there were 17 and 11 cases, respectively, the number rose to 21 till date in 1999.

Overtaking by vehicles banned
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Sept 14 — The local police has banned overtaking by vehicles on the roads leading to the township from Chandigarh.The violators will be challaned by teams of traffic police deputed at different points along the city roads, said the Superintendent of Police, SAS Nagar, Mr B.S. Randhawa, today.

Meanwhile, 20 vehicles were challaned today by the traffic police and a team headed by District Transport Officer (DTO), Ropar, for various traffic offences.

Special checking of the vehicle drivers indulging in overspeeding will be conducted along the Chandigarh-Balogi road, road leading to Phase 11, and the road leading from Sector 42 to Phase 1.The steps were being taken following the Punjab and Haryana High Court order regarding the implementation of traffic norms.

He said the drivers of the school buses and autorickshaws had been directed to wear proper uniform.Vehicles should have name plates showing the name and respective licence number. The vehicles have to carry a certificate of fitness.Carrying of first aid boxes has also been stressed.

Another major violation here is carrying of school children by autorickshaws in excess of the registered seating capacity of the vehicles. Such vehicles were also being challaned, said Mr Randhawa.The drive to challan the offenders for different violations would continue in the coming days.

PU Student Council poll on Sept 24
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — Elections to the Panjab University Campus Student Council (PUCSC) and students councils in various colleges affiliated to the university in Chandigarh will be held simultaneously on September 24. In the university, elections will be held for the posts of Students Council and various departmental representatives. The notification regarding elections is likely to be issued shortly. This is the third consecutive year that direct elections will be held to the students bodies.

The election schedule was announced today evening by the Dean, Students Welfare (DSW), Prof V.K Bansal, at a meeting with representatives of various students unions. As per the schedule, the candidates contesting the elections are to file the nominations on September 21 between 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.

On the same day, the nominations will be scrutinised between 11.00 a.m. to 12 noon, the list of candidates will be displayed at 1.30 p.m. and the objections to the nominations can be filed between 1.30 p.m. to 4 p.m. The next day on September 22, the list of approved candidates will be put up at 10 a.m. While the candidates can withdraw their names on the same day between 10 a.m. and 12.30 p.m, the final list of candidates will be put up at 3 pm. Finally, the polling in the campus and the colleges will be held on September 24 from 10 a.m. In the university elections to four posts — President, Vice-President, Secretary and Joint Secretary - will be held. In addition, five departmental representatives (DRs) will also be elected to the council.

A code of conduct was also drawn, which envisages that posters will not be pasted on the walls of the buildings in the campus during the elections. Instead, the students have been asked to put posters and other publicity material on the notice boards put outside various teaching departments and hostels. While two boards have already been put up, the third one will be put up shortly.

The students have also been asked not to indulge in violence and maintain general law and order to ensure peaceful elections. Outsiders will not be allowed to stay in university hostels during the elections. `` Any violation regarding this will be brought to the notice of the police,'' Prof Bansal said. In case of an outsider addressing a rally, prior permission of the DSW would have to be sought. The students have also been warned not to involve politicians in the elections.

Almost all organisations participated in today's meeting. There were representatives of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), Panjab University Student Union (PUSU), Students Organisation of Panjab University (SOPU), Haryana Students Association (HSA), National Student Union of India (NSUI) and Students Federation of India (SFI).

Meanwhile, the DPI (Colleges) has been asked to intimate the election date to all the degree and professional colleges in the city affiliated to the university so that they can make the necessary arrangements for holding the elections.

Telecom services restored
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — Telecom services in the city that were disrupted on Monday were restored late in the night yesterday following a day-long effort by the telecom staff to join the snapped optical fibre cable (OFC) link between the Sector 34 and 17 exchange areas.

According to the telecom authorities,the OFC had snapped as an excavator-cum- loader being used by a private contractor for digging purposes had damaged the underground cemented ducts as well as cable link between the two exchanges.

The telecom department is calculating the loss and damage besides drawing up plans for preventing such occurrences in the future, the Principal General Manager Telecom (PGMT), Mr Prithipal Singh, said. The department is also writing letters to the civil authorities in Chandigarh, Panchkula and S.A.S. Nagar requesting them to direct anyone wanting to carry out construction to write to the telecom department.

Meanwhile, Mr Randhir Verma of the Chandigarh Telecom Subscribers Association has said that the department lost around Rs 50 lakh yesterday.Subscribers connected onto the Sector 34 exchange could not receive or make any calls.

SDO booked for accepting bribe
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Sept 14 — A Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) of the Public Works Department (B and R) has been booked by the State Vigilance Department for allegedly accepting a bribe from a contractor, Mr Harbhajan Singh.

According to the information available the technocrat was allegedly caught red-handed by the DSP (Vigilance), Mr Malvinder Singh Sidhu, while accepting a bribe of Rs 2,500 at the PWD office in Phase 4 here late last evening.

The SDO, Amardeep Singh, was posted at the local office of the PWD. A case under Section 13 (2) 88 of the Prevention of Corruption Act has been registered. According to the first information report (FIR) registered by the Vigilance Department the SDO had taken the bribe to refund his security amount.

Kharar (FOC): The SDO, Amardeep Singh, who was produced before the Judicial Magistrate, Kharar, Mr Sanjay Agnihotri, was today remanded to judicial custody till September 28.

The court has ordered that the medical examination of the accused should be conducted at Civil Hospital, Kharar.

Resident booked for felling tree
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 —The police has booked a resident of Sector 8 on the charges of illegally felling a tree.

According to sources, Sukhchain reportedly fell a tree of "ficus benjamin" last evening. The tree was reportedly cut to facilitate the building of an illegal structure.

Acting on a tip-off, the Horticulture Wing of the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) swung into action today and approached the police authorities for the registration of a case against the accused.

Later, the parts of the tree, including the chopped off branches, were shifted to the Sector 3 police station.

A case under the Tree Preservation Order, 1952, has been registered.

PU staff shortage hits students
by Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — The harassment of students and parents in Panjab University for examination-related work continues due to staff shortage.

The administrative block has hordes of candidates coming to collect their cards for examination on payment of a special fee which is above the fee paid earlier.Similar rush can be seen in other branches where students are clearing the obstacles put by the university for the declaration of their results.

The staff shortage is approximately 200,said Mr Dharam Paul Gupta,president of the non-teaching staff union. According to him about 80 posts had been filled by part-time workers.

Mr Gupta said the university had started a number of new courses and even a centre at Muktsar.The staff strength has hardly increased.He said students complain about lack of fair dealing by staff in certain cases.The main reason was that the workload was increasing each day while the working hands remained the same.

One of the proposals for staff increase brought forward in the Board of finance meeting was rejected.Over 100 staff members in a signed communication with higher authorities have asked the university to look into the matter of work division.

A senior official of the university when contacted agreed to the staff shortage but said that it was not that acute.He said the problem arose when new courses were started.Alternatives have to be worked out in the present set-up, he added.

Sunder Lal, a student leader, said despite claims of "no-problem", only the students who faced harassment could tell the magnitude of the problem.The candidates whose results were not declared for fee-related problems did not figure in the gazette for examination results.students had to first stand in the queue for payment of fee.This was followed by standing in another queue for the declaration of result.Often,nearly a full day was lost.

Students of the Haryana Student Union with Bhupinder Singh,official contester for post of president of PU student union elections, said his personal attendance for minor problems of students had increased manifold over the past few months.A press conference in this concern is likely to be held tomorrow, sources said.

A student of the Law Department said he had to take re-appear exam in the third semester.Despite clearing remaining remaining semesters and even the remaining papers of the third before result of the final semester, the result still showed RL.He said he had to personally take his papers to the examination branch on several occasions but was yet to get the result.

Students say that one of the possible solutions for withholding results with problems related to submission of certificates was to make the department concerned and college responsible.The university should maintain regular contact with children ever after admissions.

Other problem being faced by students was regarding the release of their roll numbers before the commencement of examination. Instead of the mandatory 10 days before the examination, the process was often delayed, Mr Dharam Paul said.Even after that the roll numbers were not sometimes sent by UPC.

Sources also point out that earlier when the results were declared, the mark-sheets were distributed simultaneously.This was another area of concern.On the other hand, the university staff was unhappy over the untimely release of duty salaries.This definitely affected functioning, Mr Dharam Paul said.The whole system needed an immediate scrutiny and steps suggested for improvement be implemented.

MC reinstates daily wagers
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — The Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) has reinstated daily-wage employees who had completed 240 days of service in a year and were recently retrenched by the civic body.

A resolution to this effect was passed at the the meeting of the corporation held here today. While moving the resolution through supplementary agenda, Mr Prem Sagar Jain (BJP) said the retrenchment of these employees , which had been done on the instructions of certain officials, was against the law and violative of the norms after the notification of the election process.

Demanding an inquiry into the whole issue, Mr Gian Chand Gupta (BJP) wanted that the list of those employees working at the residences of corporation officials be made public. On the other hand, Mr OP Goyal (BJP) was of the opinion that the matter pertaining to employees should not brought to the House and aggrieved staff should seek legal remedy.

Even as the Commissioner, Mr MP Singh, assured the House that he was seeking reports from the departments concerned regarding their staff strength, the House passed the resolution reinstating the retrenched employees.

Through another resolution, the meeting formed a committee regarding the cleanliness of the backlanes. The committee would examine all aspects relating to the backlanes, including the leasing out of the backlanes to the owners of the houses.It would submit its report within a month. Mr Jain will be the convener of the committee which will have Mr RK Aggarwal, Ms Satinder Dhawan, the Assistant Commissioner, Mr RK Rao, the Chief Engineer, Mr Puranjit Singh and the Superintending Engineer, Mr Manmohanjit Singh, as members.

In the question hour, the Commissioner assured the members that the encroachments by certain hotels would be removed in a month. He also assured the House that the report regarding the acquisition of the land in pocket no 7 of Mani Majra would be obtained in a week.

Regarding the inquiries against Mr Radhey Shyam, SO, and audit reports in the consumption of bitumen the House was informed by the Chief Engineer that the inquiry against the SO had been sent to the Commissioner for action. Mr Gupta expressed concern at the slow pace of inquiry.

Participating in the discussion, certain members expressed concern at the alleged changing of priorities in respect of the road-recarpeting work. Mr Gupta and Ms Harjinder Kaur wanted that recarpeting of V-6 roads should be taken up on a priority basis as per the decision of the House last year. The Chief Engineer assured that the work would be taken up from October 6 onwards.

Earlier, as soon as the meeting started, Mr Des Raj Tandon (BJP) wanted certain objectionable remarks made by Ms Ranjana Shahi against the Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, at one of earlier meetings expunged. Mr Goyal was of the opinion that Mayor had no right to expunge the remarks and it was for the House not to confirm the minutes of the said meeting.

Ms Dhawan wanted that the member concerned should first apologise so that such a situation did not arise in future.

Arrested for selling fake degrees
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — The crime branch of the city police today arrested Swaran Singh, another gang member allegedly involved in preparing and selling fake degrees. Swaran Singh is employed as a helper on daily wages with the Panjab University Secrecy Branch.

A case of theft, forgery and cheating has been registered against him. The police seized four fake certificates from him. The police had two days ago booked the kingpin of the gang, Lakshman Singh, on similar charges after it recovered four fake degrees and a few seals from his possession.

According to police sources, the members of the gang had been forging degrees for any undergraduate or postgraduate class under the seal of Panjab University, Himachal Pradesh University and Karnataka University.

These were priced for anything between Rs 7,000 Rs10,000. The police suspect that they have already sold about 25 degrees of Panjab University, 20 of Karnataka University and four of Punjabi University.

Sources add that preliminary investigations have revealed that almost 12 persons are involved in these forgeries and more arrests and recoveries will be made soon.

CBI to conduct probe
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — The Punjab and Haryana High Court today directed the CBI to conduct investigation into the allegations about the sale of a male child from the maternity ward of the PGI.

Mr Justice T.H.B. Chalapathi, who handed down this order on a petition filed by one Mrs Ramanjit Kaur, a resident of Ropar district, told the CBI to complete the investigation within four months from the date of receipt of this order.

Disposing of the petition, the Judge ordered that the CBI would also take any representation given by the petitioner.

The court allowed the CBI to examine the record of the case and the petitioner was at liberty to produce any material before the investigation officer.

In her petition, Mrs Ramanjit Kaur had claimed that twins were born to her. While one was male, the other was female. She alleged that the maternity ward staff gave her only the female child, while the male child was sold to someone.

Expedition flagged off
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — The Territorial Army Golden Jubilee Cycle Expedition was flagged off by Lieut-Gen HB Kala, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, from Chandimandir cantonment today.

Wishing success to the expedition, General Kala said such expeditions, promoted the spirit of adventure. The expedition will be flagged in by General VP Malik, Chief of Army Staff in New Delhi on October 6. He appreciated the role of Territorial Army (TA) in counter insurgency operations.

According to Brigadier Khushwant Singh, Commander TA Group Headquarters, Western Command, the members of the expedition will interact with school and college students enroute and project the image of TA and motivate the youth to join it.

Organised by the Western Command Territorial Army to mark the golden jubilee celebrations of the TA next month, the expedition was led by Lt S. Bhatnagar of 103 Infantry Battalion (TA) Sikh LI and consists of one officer, one JCO and eight other ranks. It will traverse a distance of about 1050 km while passing through Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana and terminate at New Delhi coinciding with the arrival of similar expeditions from Central and the Southern Commands.

Several senior officers of the Command including, Chief of Staff, Lieut-Gen BS Malik were also present on the occasion. The cycle expedition was conceptualised by Col. GR Tetarwal, Commanding Officer, 103 Inf Bn (TA) Sikh LI.

Meanwhile, General Kala said that cultivation of a sincere desire and work culture were essential for the promotion of Hindi in official work. He said this at Chandimandir, while releasing the Command Headquarters yearly magazine “Vijay-Chakra” to mark the golden jubilee of Hindi Divas.

He said it was a matter of pleasure that officers in the armed forces had now begun to take interest in the use of Hindi in official work and conversation, but greater and rapid strides were required to be taken in this direction.

Essay and typewriting competitions in Hindi were organised for Hindi and non-Hindi speaking personnel of the Command during the Hindi week beginning from today.

Girl commits suicide
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Sept 14 — A 16-year-old girl, Ruchi, daughter of Mr Vinod Prakash, an employee of the Haryana Urban Development Authority, was found hanging from a tree at her residence in Sector 15, here today.

In his report at the Sector 19 police station, her father has stated that she went to sleep at 10:30 p.m. as usual and was found hanging from a tree in the morning at 6:15 a.m. by family members. Though she has left no note for the reason of committing suicide, it is suspected that not performing up to the mark in the on-going supplementary examinations might have been behind the drastic step.

SNIPPETS

Dharna by SBI union
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — members of the State Bank of India Staff Association here today staged a dharna to protest against their own leader in Sector 17.

The employees, who organised a protest against Mr S. N. Aneja, the Deputy General Secretary of the association, were agitated over a complaint lodged by him against Mr Rakesh Singh, a member of the association.

The Association chairman, Mr Surinder Singh, said in a press note that though the association,like any other organisation,was faction-ridden, it was for the first time that a leader had gone to the extent of lodging a police complaint against a member of the same organisation. He condemned the action of Mr Aneja and demanded organisational action against him.

“Hindi divas” observed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 14 — Various functions were held by organisations on the occasion of the golden jubilee of "Hindi divas" here today.

The Income Tax Department organised a "kavi darbar" and an evening of semi-classical music programme at the auditorium of Government Museum and Art Gallery in Sector 10 here.

Well-known poets such as Justice Surinder Singh (retd), R.D. Sharma "Taseer", Santosh Dhiman, Madhav Kaushik, Sardar Anjum, Sewak Nayyar, Amarjeet Amar, Prof Nirmal Dutt, S.D. Agnish, Vikas and Joginder Bansal read out their compositions to an appreciative audience.

Subhash Ghosh regaled the audience by rendering ragas bharavi and pilioo.

The Commissioner of Income Tax, Ms Surinder Pal Kaur, gave away prizes to winners of various competitions organised by the department. She also released a book, "Vishva Prasidha Ekanki" written by Sewak Nayyar.

The Branch Manager of the Steel Authority of India Limited, Mr Vinod Kumar, inaugurated the year-long "Hindi divas" celebrations.

Literary events including essay writing and poetry recitation of original works was the highlight of the "Hindi divas" celebrations at Panjab University here today.

Dr Sansar Chand, the chief guest on the occasion , said Hindi day celebrations should be at par with the Independence Day and Republic Day celebrations. Words of different regional languages should be made a part of the national language for the popularity of the language.

Dr Yash Gulati said Hindi language was facing trying times during the current period. Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr G.N. Rajguru, Dr Jagmohan Chopra and Dr N.Arya.

Dr D.S.Gupt said Hindi language was under no threat from other languages .The overall picture was bright and even the government by making Hindi medium an option in the civil services was sending positive signs.

Pratap Malik, Sonoo Rani and Atul Raina were the winners in the poetry recitation contest. Usha Devi, Shilpi and Kiran Sharma bagged the top three positions in the essay writing contest.