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| Friday,
July 4, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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Cholera case in Sec 33
Chandigarh July, 3 Health officials said it was only after the bacteriological report of Virender that he would be declared a cholera case. Resident of Sector 33, he was admitted to the GMCH today morning with severe diarrhoea and vomiting. The Director Health Services, Dr C.P. Bansal, said Virender might have got the infection from Ambala, where he had gone recently. Members of the Rapid Response Team today visited the area in Sector 33 from where the fresh case has been reported. As a precautionary measure water samples from the area would be collected tomorrow, he added. Over 200 water samples collected by MC authorities, were found to be fit for consumption during the spot testing, being conducted by them on a regular basis, all over the city. The fact that the latest suspected cholera case has been reported from a Sector 33 and not a slum or rehabilitation colony, has rung alarm bells for the health authorities. In case Virender tests positive for cholera, the problems of the MC and health authorities would be compounded. So far the three cholera cases reported in the city have been from Vikasnagar in Mauli Jagran, Burail and a village in Mohali. Last year apart from two deaths, there had been over 75 cases of cholera, which broke out in Sector 52, Palsora and Dadu Majra. Meanwhile, the Health and Sanitation wing of the Municipal Corporation today called upon the residents of the city to take all precautionary measures to prevent outbreak of water-borne diseases like cholera, gastroenteritis and typhoid. They alerted the residents not to consume contaminated food stuffs like milk, sugarcane juice, shallow hand pump water and cut and exposed fruits and vegetables.  |
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Clean overhead tanks in schools: Verma Chandigarh, July 3 Justice Verma also ticked off officials of the Municipal Corporation saying plans of a reservoir and booster pumps in the slum colonies should have been in place before the monsoon. The Municipal Corporation has been asked to take all steps to improve the water pressure in colonies so that chances of the contamination are reduced. At a meeting with senior officers, Justice Verma was informed that low water pressure in the water pipeline led to the suction of impurities, leading to its contamination and high pressure in the water pipeline would reduce it. The Municipal Commissioner informed the Administrator that tubewells had been installed in rehabilitation colonies to increase the water pressure. Besides, a reservoir and booster pumps were also being constructed at 10 sites in the rehabilitation colonies. Two reservoir and booster pumps in Kajheri would be operational from tomorrow and booster pumps and reservoir in rest of eight locations would be operational within 15 days. The Commissioner said in addition to this Chlorine tablets were being distributed to the slum residents and a drive had been launched to curb the sale of cut fruits. About 250 samples of water were being filled daily and till now there had been no contamination of water from the water pipeline. The contamination reported earlier was from the water of a storage tank in a school. Besides this 12 nodal officers of the rank of SDOs were keeping a close watch on cleanliness and hygiene in slums and colonies. Meanwhile, explaining about the two cholera cases admitted in Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), the Finance Secretary informed the Administrator that one case was suspected to have brought infection from Bulandshahr and another case had come in from SAS Nagar. Taking serious note of the stagnation of water in the rivulet passing through the Leisure Valley, the Municipal Corporation was directed to take all steps to clean the rivulet so that there was no stagnation of water. Justice Verma said the city should learn from last year’s experience, as the season of dengue was coming near and we should take all preventive steps to check the breeding of mosquitoes. |
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GURCHARAN MURDER SAS Nagar, July 3 While Satvir, son of Randhawa’s brother Variyam Singh, had managed to get a construction contract through Randhawa in the college, Rashpal too had worked in the college for over two years. Satvir
allegedly started misappropriating funds from the college in connivance with Randhawa and Gurcharan Singh came to know about them. Gurcharan Singh threw both of them out of the college and stiffened his attitude towards Randhawa, later even refusing to give him any money from the college for his daughter’s wedding. Since then Satvir had been harbouring a grudge against Gurcharan Singh and decided to kill him with the help of Rashpal. According to the police, earlier Rashpal had been accused of murdering a resident of his village, whom he thought had an illicit relations with his sister. Addressing a press conference here, the SSP, Ropar, Mr Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, said Satvir and Rashpal are residents of Khoda Bet in Gurdaspur district. ‘‘Both knew each other and despite the fact that Rashpal was acquitted of murder charges, Satvir knew that Rashpal could help him in this and together planned the murder. Rashpal being economically weak depended for money on Satvir. He started following Gurcharan Singh during his walks in the morning and even went up to his house on the day of the murder. Two knives were used to kill Gurcharan Singh and while he was being killed, Rashpal got injured too. That is what led to the trail of blood we saw going out of the park.” he said. The two, according to the police, went to Sector 43 scooter market, bought a scooter and stayed in various places in Chandigarh and SAS Nagar before the police caught
up with them. ‘‘The two never used any fake name anywhere. The scooter was bought
with all the papers intact, the places they stayed in were booked by them in their name,” said Mr Bhullar. The three have been arrested under Sections 302, 34 and 120B of the IPC. Although Randhawa was out of the country when the murder took place, Ms Kulwinder Kaur, wife of Gurcharan Singh, had told the police
that Randhawa had differences with Gurcharan Singh regarding division of monetary returns from the college. ‘‘We have arrested Randhawa as it seems to be too much of a coincidence that he was conveniently out of the country and returned a day after the murder. We are also trying to ascertain if any money had exchanged hands between Randhawa and his nephew Satvir before or after the murder. There could be a possibility of someone having paid Satvir and Rashpal for the murder.” said Mr
Bhullar. |
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Son of Verma’s driver in police net Chandigarh, July 3 The youth, Gurpreet Singh, alias Garry, a second year student of Computer Engineering in Punjab Engineering
College (PEC), was arrested by the crime branch of the Chandigarh police last night near Mountview Hotel in Sector 7. Garry, was also found unauthorisedly using a permission sticker of the Punjab police for the use of black film on his white-coloured Maruti Zen car (CH01T 2478). Investigations by the police revealed that the car found in the possession of Garry had been purchased from a Sector 8 resident and the registration papers of the car were still in the name of the original owner. The driving licence of Garry had been issued in Madhya Pradesh. Though the police was tight-lipped about the source of the fake permission sticker, sources said the suspect had told the police that he had got the sticker from a Sector 27 shop. An official said initially, Garry told the police that he had procured the fake sticker from an SI of the Punjab police, whose father was posted in the office of the Director General of Police, Punjab. But later he said he had given a sticker at a Sector 27 computer shop for reproducing it. After scanning a permission sticker, a coloured printout was made. However, the fake documents seized from Garry had the permission to use red beacon light and black film on one sticker, raising doubt about the authenticity of the statement being given by Garry. During a search of the car of Garry, the police found a red beacon light, two mobile phones, Rs 4200 and some documents. The youth was today remanded in police custody for five days. Police officials
handling the case refused to comment on further investigations. Garry was being questioned for his involvement in other cases of crime. According to information, Garry had stolen a Maruti Zen car of a senior Tribune journalist from SAS Nagar and abandoned it in Panchkula. The stolen car of the journalist had reportedly been hidden in a house of a SI of Punjab Police in SAS Nagar. Garry was being questioned to ascertain the source of the fake permission stickers. In the past the Chandigarh Police has arrested some gangs involved in forging permission stickers. |
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A promise unfulfilled Chandigarh, July 3 Within half-an-hour of the theft, messages were flashed to police control rooms of Punjab and Chandigarh, and an FIR was lodged at Phase I police station. The car was first driven to a house in SAS Nagar opposite the Police Commando Complex and then taken to Panchkula where it was abandoned after removing its battery and deflating one of its front
tyres. The vehicle was recovered three days later after all its gadgets had been removed. All this while the police remained clueless about the crime. My son, Har
Prabhjot, however, got an impression that one of his friends was behind the theft. A couple of months later, he told me that he suspected
Gurpreet, alias Garry, the eldest son of our one time neighbour, Mr Baldev Singh, a driver in Punjab Raj
Bhavan, to have committed the crime. He said that of late Gurpreet had befriended him and often extracted information about the car, including who all drove it and where the car would be on a particular day. He even accompanied my son to the school of my wife a couple of days before the theft. He also reportedly got a duplicate key made for our car and used it on the day of the crime. I told him not to do anything without my knowledge and advised him to collect some evidence. A couple of weeks later, he rang me up in office that his suspicion had come true as one of his friends spotted some of the stolen gadgets in Garry’s house. Next day, I met the Deputy Inspector-General of Police of Chandigarh, Mr Ajay
Kashyap, and told him the whole story and also the basis of our suspicion. He directed me to Mr
H.G.S. Dhaliwal, Superintendent of Police (Operations), who in turn handed over the case to Mr Jagbir Singh, Inspector (Operations Cell). A couple of days later I got a call from Inspector Jagbir Singh confirming that the theft was committed by Garry and he had confessed the crime. The Inspector, however, made a request that since the boy concerned — Gurpreet Virk — was a brilliant student and studying at Punjab Engineering College at Chandigarh, I should not insist on a criminal case. In the interest of the career of the boy, I
agreed. He promised to get me back the gadgets which were stolen from my car. Both the driver
(Baldev Singh) and Gurpreet Virk appeared before Mr H.G.S. Dhaliwal and apologised profusely and agreed to return all the gadgets, some of which he — Gurpreet — got fitted in his own car. Nearly half of the gadgets were returned and promise was made that the remaining would be sent to me shortly. Repeated reminders to get the remaining items proved futile. |
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BHARDWAJ CASE
Chandigarh, July 3 The most outstanding issue that remains to be resolved even after intensive interrogation by the CBI is the one concerning the ‘use’ of mobile phone by Bhardwaj during the period he was absconding from police custody. Significantly, after being arrested and booked by the CBI, Bhardwaj remained in police remand for 10 days, after the CBI demanded his police custody stating that it needed to recover the mobile phones used by him. However, the CBI interrogation has not yet yielded any result in this regard. It may be mentioned that Bhardwaj kept claiming in the court that he had just one mobile phone (which did not belong to him) which he surrendered after being arrested by the CBI. As of today, the CBI has not been able to recover any mobile phone from Bhardwaj. Meanwhile, the case further progressed today with the court of UT Additional District and Sessions Judge, Mr R.S. Baswana, granting anticipatory bail to Superintendent with UT Labour Court, Paramjit Singh, in the case. The bail was granted after the CBI made statement in the court that Paramjit had already joined the investigations and co-operating with it. Another significant development pertains to adjournment of the contempt case filed against the CBI on June 19 by Bhardwaj’s counsel, who stated that the CBI had deliberately produced his client late in the court, thereby violating the court’s orders. Hearing on this contempt notice issued to the CBI has been adjourned to July 9, after the CBI sought time to file a reply. Meanwhile, a CBI official today felt sorry for producing Bhardwaj late in the court. but the Judge directed the agency to file reply in the case. Also, the counsel for Gupta and Bhardwaj today sought the copy of the CBI application (filed on June 28), whereby the CBI requested the court for a permission to record the voices of Gupta and Bhardwaj. After the counsel’s plea, the court adjourned the hearing till July 9. The CBI has requested for this permission in order to establish links between the two judicial officers and their association with complainant Gurvinder Singh Samra in the corruption case. |
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Vehicle owners change address in insurance papers Chandigarh, July 3 The Chandigarh Administration had recently announced that as per the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, the vehicle owners should have their present address on their RCs. In case they have changed their residence, they are ‘‘supposed to inform the registration authority and get the address changed on their RCs.’’ The administration has announced that by July 12, all vehicle owners will have to get their addresses corrected, by paying a specific amount to the registration authority otherwise they will be challaned. A senior official of the Chandigarh traffic police claimed that after the deadline, they would check whether “the vehicle owners were carrying the registration number, driving licence and the insurance
papers with the same address. In case of any discrepancy in address, they could be challaned.” He added that the purpose of the drive was to
ensure that the challans were properly served at the addresses. Enquiries made with the office of the insurance companies today revealed that a large number of vehicle owners were approaching them to “issue new insurance receipts with the same residential address as mentioned in the RC.” Mr Neeraj Bhardwaj, insurance advisor, Oriental Insurance Company disclosed, “The insurance company, had nothing to do with the address of the vehicle owner. We offer insurance for the vehicle only. After checking the RC of the vehicle at the time of insurance, we issue a cover note. The policy documents are posted at any address given by the party.’’ He added that at any later stage the party could get the address changed after paying Rs 50 to get a duplicate copy for a two wheeler or a four wheeler. A senior advocate in the Punjab & Haryana High Court claimed that the police could not force the insurance companies to issue insurance papers with the same address as mentioned on the RC or driving licence. He said: “The whole move is ill-advised. Instead of forcing thousands of people to change their addresses, the administration should create awareness among the public about the need to inform the registration authority about the changed address.” |
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MOH finds
11 sweepers absent Chandigarh, July 3 The MOH, Dr G.C. Bansal, issued a warning to the area in charge of sweepers asking them to complete the attendance formalities by 6.30 am. In charges of Sectors 11 and 17 themselves were found absent at 7 am and 7.20 am, respectively. The tough action of the MOH has followed a 62-day relay fast of the sweepers against privatisation. The fast ended early this month. Dr Bansal warned the safai karmcharis to be on duty in time. The MOH also visited Burail village, where a case of cholera had been reported. Additional safai karmacharis had been deployed in the areas along with one JCB and a tipper to clean open drains. Garbage collection points in the area were cleaned and lime dust was sprayed in the area. To create awareness amongst the residents of the city, pre-recorded cassettes containing the messages to take measures to check the spread of water-borne diseases are being played through public address system in Bapu Dham Colony, Indira Colony, Mauli Jagran, Colony Number 5, Burail, Sector 52, Daddu Majra Colony, Kajheri Colony and Pandit Colony. The Public Health Department of the corporation also took around 250 samples — 200 in labour colonies and 50 from the sectors. It said all of them were found to be in order. |
MC gives warning to cattle owners Chandigarh, July 3 A decision in this regard was taken today by the Municipal Corporation, official sources said. The corporation has placed advertisements with newspapers issuing a public notice to remove cattle within 10 days of the publication of the notice. Earlier, the campaign was launched from Burail village but was stopped amidst protests from the BJP. The BJP forced the Mayor, Mr Subhash Chawla, to postpone it for six months, a period during which the cattle owners had to arrange for an alternative place. The House passed a resolution to stall the process for six months and fight for the rehabilitation of the cattle owners. The Administration later rejected the House resolution leaving the corporation with no option but to relaunch the campaign. |
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CSIO
instrument to detect fake currency Chandigarh,
July 3 Scientists
associated with the project said while conventional fake currency
detectors presently available in the market verify the authenticity of
notes visually, the CSIO instrument verifies them electronically.
Further, conventional machines, which use ultraviolet light to
highlight the notes’security features cannot verify old currency
notes, which do not carry such features. A currency note has to be placed in the designated slot and if the note is fake, a red light will glow and the instrument will sound an alarm. This is unlike conventional machines, where visual checks of security features have to be made by the handler. The CSIO Director, Dr
R.P.Bajpai, said the project was initiated on the directives of the Union Human Resource Development Minister, Dr
M.M.Joshi, when he had visited the CSIO in January. The instrument was recently demonstrated to the CSIR chief in New Delhi and soon a presentation will be given before Dr Joshi. The CSIO has already begun talks with a few private establishments for the transfer of technology and subsequent manufacture and marketing of the instrument. The instrument is stated to cost between Rs 1,200-Rs 1,400. As
many as 35 security features can be incorporated in a currency note
and the Reserve Bank of India has incorporated some of them in the
Indian currency. “Our instrument looks for inbuilt properties of
bank notes and checks the quality of the paper,” Dr Bajpai added.
The instrument has been successfully used to test the authenticity of
Indian, French, US and Pakistani currency. Scientists said the
condition of the currency note does not matter. Even soiled notes
could be checked. Next on the agenda is an automatic detecting
machine, which would count notes as well as detect counterfeits. While
the design has been finalised its fabrication is expected to take
about two months. The machine would have the capability to check 1,000
notes per minute. |
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Now axe falls on furniture market Chandigarh, July 3 About 33 acres of the land belongs to the Chandigarh Housing Board and is scheduled to be used for a housing project. An enforcement team started the operation this morning. In the furniture market some of the shopkeepers had obtained a stay in 1998. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Arun Kumar, said efforts would be made to get the stay vacated. Meanwhile, Mr Rajinder Singh, secretary of the mandir, which was demolished, said: ‘‘We had got the land registered. In 1998 a compensation of Rs 2.68 lakh was offered which was not acceptable to us. The temple was demolished without any notice”. The Administration blocked traffic leading to the road to prevent any untoward incident. All traffic from SAS Nagar and headed for Chandigarh was diverted via Phase I. |
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Sector 15 market cleared of encroachments Chandigarh, July 3 Twentyfive dhabas who had encroached upon more area than the permissible limit were affected by today’s drive. Fifteen shops were asked not to display their goods in the passages. The squad also removed those who had encroached upon the verandahs in the market. Tin sheds were also removed. Meanwhile, the officials conducting the special drive claimed that the booth markets of Sector 19 and 22 had removed the encroachments themselves. The next phase is likely to be started next week, official sources said. Assistant Estate Officer Ashwani Kumar, Municipal Corporation Tehsildar Bhagwan Dass Vishnoi and the area SHO led the squad comprising 25 policemen and an equal number of labourers. One bulldozer and six trucks were pressed into service today. |
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Platform Save Water WATER is the most precious gift given to us by God. I want to tell all my friends that each drop of water is precious. We should try our best to save it. We can live without food but can’t live without water. Poor people have to travel miles before they can get water which is fit for drinking. Taps should not be left running while washing utensils. Children should be taught the value of water by teachers and parents. Vehicles should not be washed everyday but once a week. Floors need not be washed with pipes. A bucket of water can do the job. A bucket of water is enough for a bath and showers should not be used. Water should be recycled and we should use it in anyway we can. Lagan Uppal |
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Small newspapers form panel Chandigarh, July 3 |
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