C H A N D I G A R H   S T O R I E S



Burail water sample fails purity test
Tribune News Service

5 diarrhoea patients at GH-16

Five new patients were admitted today to General Hospital, Sector 16, with severe symptoms of diarrhoea. Although none of them have tested positive for cholera, the hospital authorities are taking no chances.

The patients are under consistent monitoring, said Dr Ashok Gupta, who was officiating in the absence of Director Health Services Dr Usha Bishnoi.

All patients were admitted following vomiting and acute diarrhoea. The hospital authorities are, however, not worried much about the profile of these patients as they are all from different areas.

“There is no clustering. The patients are from different pockets in the city. We are, therefore, treating these admissions as routine. They are being monitored nevertheless,” said H.C. Gera, Anti-Malaria Officer, UT. 

Chandigarh, July 25
The water sample collected from the source on the premises where Mahinder Chauhan and his family stayed in Burail has failed the purity test and has been found unfit for consumption. The results for the test conducted by the Department of Microbiology, General Hospital, Sector 16, came in today.

Sources in the UT Health Department said with the water failing the purity test, they would take up the matter with the Municipal Corporation to either identify the source of contamination of water or dismantle the hand pump.

While chlorination is up to the mark and other preventive steps are also being undertaken, a survey to screen children has been undertaken in the area to detect other borderline cases. “Also, as a precautionary measure, six teams each have been deployed at Colony Numbers 4 and 5, facing a problem with regard to disposal of refuse,” an official said.

The premises where the Chauhan family stays had 24 rooms with 125 people staying in it. The source of drinking water is a pump on which the owner of the house has installed an electric motor pump. The residents of the building mainly consume water from the hand pump and the house is over congested and lacked basic amenities.

An official of the Municipal Corporation said the hand pump at Burail was in violation of rules and not meant for providing drinking water. “In fact, we tried to dismantle it but there has been a lot of resistance. Now we have decided to seek police help to execute the closure of the pump,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Medical Officer of Health (MOH), Municipal Corporation, has deployed 25 sanitary inspectors in Burail village to educate area residents. Sanitation workers have also been deployed to keep the area neat and clean. While taking strict action against the defaulters, the MOH wing also gave advisory notices to 142 area residents today.

As many as 103 samples of water found fit during the routine checking by the Public Health Department of Municipal Corporation, Chandigarh, today. The chlorination of drinking water has checked today on the premises of consumers in various areas of Chandigarh in the morning and evening supply hours by the public health team constituted under Mr. V.S. Dagar, XEN, Public Health.

While continuing its daily drive, the MOH has destroyed 46 kg cut fruit and vegetable and distributed 8000 tablets of chlorine among the public at various sectors of city. In addition, 290kKg icecream and icecream candies, 6 kg sugarcane and 15 bottles of soda water were destroyed by the MCC. 

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Respite from sweltering heat
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
Residents of the city had a welcome respite from the sweltering heat as the monsoon clouds brought in the much awaited rain showers here today night. The rainfall started around 9.30 in parts of Mohali and slowly the showers reached the city.

Residents of Sector 38 (West) heaved a sigh of relief at around 9.45 p.m. when the area witnessed a heavy rainfall. Around 10.15 p.m. the rain reached Sector 29 and adjoining areas. The entire strip of the Dakshin marg was flooded with the heavy downpour.

The city roads were overflowing with water and the vehicular traffic slowed down to a great extend. It was usual scene to witness citizens drenching in rain in different parts of the city. Two wheelers were stranded and forced to take cover under the bus queue shelters along the Madhya Marg and other parts of the city.

The city brought down the city temperatures. “It was not very hot from the past few days. It was extremely humid. We felt suffocated and were sweating profusely. The rain is a very welcome relief,” said Mrs Sandeep Kaur, a resident of Sector 36.

“Despite a comparatively cooler summer this year, the monsoons have been very weak till date”, Dr Anil Rawat, a teacher said. “The humidity levels have been pretty high as was evident from the thick cloud covers during most of the recent days, however, there have been very little rains,” he added.

Mr Niranjan Singh, a resident of Sector 15, said “rain mean a good news for farmers in Punjab and Haryana in case the showers spread there as well. This is the plantation season for the rice. farmers are managing water through the tubewells, however, the ground water level is going down very fast which is a matter of concern. The rains mean very good news for the farmers in particular and all others as well, in general.”

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SC declines to stay Mohali poll
Legal Correspondent

New Delhi, July 25
The Supreme Court has declined to stay the election of the Mohali Municipal Council which was challenged in a petition on the ground that the delimitation of wards and increasing their number from 25 to 31 this year has not been done in accordance with the provisions of the law.

A Bench of Chief Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Mr Justice C.K. Thakker refused to pass an interim order for staying the election to be held on July 30 but directed the Punjab Government to submit its reply within a week to a petition challenging the validity of the May 18 notification for the delimitation of wards.

The delimitation in respect of the Mohali council was challenged by some of its members, led by Manjit Singh, on the ground that the wards had been “jumbled” and reservation had not been provided as per the Punjab Delimitation Wards of Municipality Rules, 1972.

Manjit Singh and others moved the apex court after the Punjab and Haryana High Court had rejected their petition. The matter was taken up by the court yesterday.

The main contention of the petitioners was that the High Court dismissed the petition in a brief order without going into the merit of the case. Their allegation was that the ruling party had managed to get the wards adjusted according to its suitability.

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Kho-kho body in soup
Certificate bungling alleged
Rajmeet Singh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
A recent visit of the Chandigarh kho-kho team to Dhanu, in Maharashtra to participate in the 42nd Senior National Kho-Kho Championship has landed the Chandigarh Kho-Kho Association in court.

One of the team members, Mr Deepak Mahajan, has moved the court, alleging that some of the players (both boys and girls), who never participated in the national championship, held from May 28 to June 1, had managed to get participation certificates from the Chandigarh Kho-Kho Association.

Acting on the complaint, the Judicial Magistrate (First Class), Mr Sudhir Pramar, directed the Station House Officer (SHO), Sector 36, to investigate the case and report to the court by August 17.

The statement of the complainant had been recorded.

Moving the application, the complainant, a gold medallist in the All-India Inter University Champion-ship, stated that the kho- kho association submitted separate lists to the Northern Railways for seeking travel concession and the other to the Chandigarh Sports Council for issuing participation certificates.

This had happened in case of boys as well as girls.

The complainant further alleged in the court that concession from the railways was taken by supplying the original list, but some people not in the list were made to travel. These people who were not in the list were also made to participate in the national championship.

The complainant, who also played in the matches as per the fixtures issued by the Maharashtra Kho-Kho Association, moved the court after he was not issued the participation certificate.

He stated before the JMIC that he was shocked to see that his name did not figure in the “tampered” list of participants submitted by the association to the Chandigarh Sports Council and his name had been replaced with that of another candidate.

Giving evidence to the court, Mr Mahajan said the team returned on June 3.

He stated before the JMIC that he came to know after reading newspapers that one of the participants in the second list, Ms Ankita Gulati, who is daughter of one of the office-bearers of the association, never participated in the event.

On her topping the matric examination, her photos with her family appeared in local newspapers on May 28, when she was supposed to be in Maharashtra, according to the list of participants.

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Woman jumps from third floor of court, injured
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
Commotion was created at the Punjab and Haryana High Court this afternoon when a woman in her mid-twenties came out from court number 33 and jumped from the third floor of the building.

Whether it was an accident fall or a jump was not immediately known.

The police has booked the woman, identified as Sangeeta and reportedly hails from Hisar, for attempt to suicide under Section 309 of the IPC. The woman, who sustained injuries on her face damaging her jaw, was unable to make any statements before the police.

She reportedly had an altercation with one Harish Chander of Hisar, who she reportedly claimed to be married to, shortly before the incident. This was disclosed to the police by some eye-witnesses present in the court.

Sources in the Sector 3 Police Station said Harish Chander of Suraj Nagar in Hisar was in the court with another woman, Seema Sharma of Ramayan village in Hisar. The eye-witnesses claimed that they were there in the court to seek protection as the two had been married against the wishes of their parents.

The police was working on various theories on the basis of information gathered by the eye-witnesses. Police sources said Sangeeta was unable to speak as she had injured her jaw. Though she has been booked for attempt to suicide, the picture would become clear after her statement was recorded.

The police has not been able to find out her address so far as no such document was found in her purse recovered from the spot.

The sources said the woman was seen arguing with the couple in the court room before she came out and fell from the third floor. Her feet got entangle in the railing at the second floor,r reducing the momentum of the fall. This saved her from injuring badly.

She was rushed to the Sector 16 General Hospital, from where she was referred to the PGI. The couple has denied having any relations with Sangeeta.

The court has called them for hearing on August 18. The couple was allowed to go by the police as there was no complaints against them.

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Mann sings his own tune on Chandigarh
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
The Akali Dal (Amritsar), President, Mr Simranjit Singh Mann, has in a written statement criticised the move of some city luminaries seeking the intervention of Congress President, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, on the issue of development in and around Chandigarh, saying that people need to be reminded about the real issue that pertains to the status of the city.

"Chandigarh was built as a capital of Punjab, but no one wants to talk about it anymore. People must be reminded that there is need to focus attention on the issue of transferring Chandigarh to Punjab and then other developmental issues should be taken up".

He has said that the luminaries should stop eulogising the Nehru-Gandhi family and deal with the real issues pertaining to Chandigarh. "The move of citizens voicing their concern before Sonia would have been better appreciated, besides evoking a positive response, if they had sought her intervention to settle the issue of transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab, rather than merely talking about the vision of Nehru-Gandhi families in planning and building Chandigarh".

Mr Mann said, "I wish this delegation that met Mrs Sonia Gandhi was more representative of the people and had a better background that conveyed the sentiments of Chandigarh with the background on why the city had to be built. Though, Lahore would have come to East Punjab, Jawaharlal Nehru bartered it with Jammu and Kashmir. As such India had to give us a capital, which was set up at Chandigarh".

He said the delegation which called on Mrs Gandhi "extolled the virtues and magnanimity of Nehru, Indira, Rajiv and now Sonia, thus endeavouring to find favour with the Indian ruling dynasty than doing anything positive for Chandigarh like speak about the status of Chandigarh as Punjab's capital, based on reorganised Punjab of 1967".

He has alleged that his party was taking a serious note of how the Union Government in collusion with the Governor of Punjab was trying to change the demography of Chandigarh by settling non-Punjabi labourers in the city and building apartments for their permanent settlement.

"It is like the Chinese settling the Han race in Tibet and making Tibetans a minority in their own land".

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Cong will retain power in Mohali: Sidhu
Tribune News Service

Lalru, July 25
In view of its impressive performance on the development front, particularly the approval of mega projects for the state, the Amarinder Singh government is set to retain power in the coming Assembly elections, Mr Balbir Singh Sidhu, president of the District Congress Committee, Mohali, claimed here yesterday.

Addressing a felicitation ceremony organised in his honour here, Mr Sidhu warned that factionalism would not be tolerated in the district unit.

Mr Sidhu said the party high command would select the candidate from the Banur Assembly constituency.

Mr Sidhu claimed that Rs 3.5 crore had been disbursed among the panchayats in the Dera Bassi block for development works and another Rs 1.5 crore was being disbursed.

Mr Deepinder Singh Dhillon, vice-chairman of the Punjab State Industrial Development Corporation (PSIDC) who is credited with initiating large-scale development activity in the subdivision, said the Amarinder Singh government would go into the elections on the development issue plan. In fact, the SAD-BJP leadership was groping for issues for the Assembly poll, he added.

Prominent among those who spoke were Ms Seelam Sohi, general secretary of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC), Mr Amritpal Singh, block Congress president, Mr Prem Singh, Dera Bassi city Congress chief, Mr Bahadur Singh Jharmari, chairman of the Block Samiti, Dera Bassi, and Mr Shyam Singh, chairman of the Market Committee, Lalru.

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Foundation stone of township project laid
Our Correspondent

Mohali, July 25
The Punjab Chief Minister, Capt. Amarinder Singh, laid the foundation stone of the first Integrated Mega Township Project – WestEnd Estate - at Sector 85 here today.

The township is to be developed by Country Colonizers Private Ltd. within two years.

Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the Punjab Government had so far approved 62 township and housing projects worth Rs. 3500 crore in the state. He said that housing and township companies of national as well as international repute like Emmar, Vipul, Ansals, DLF would also be commissioning their projects soon at Mohali and other parts of the state.

He said that it was the endeavour of the government to create the best infrastructure at Mohali so that it emerged as the world's most preferred investment destination.

Earlier, the Chief Minister took a round of the site in the industrial area where the WestEnd Mall was being set up over an area of 5000 sq. meter at a cost of Rs.120 crore.

Later while talking to mediapersons, Capt. Amarinder Singh said that winnability of the candidate would be the sole criterion for the allotment of tickets in the forthcoming Assembly elections.

He said that the entire exercise would be undertaken with due care and consideration after analyzing the situation in wider perspective. He said that he was being misquoted in the media as he did not mention about the denial of party tickets to tainted ministers or MLAs.

He, however, categorically said that he stood by the statement of the Punjab Congress Party's Incharge and Member Parliament Janardan Dewadi during his recent visit to Punjab that the candidates with bleak prospects could be replaced by strong candidates with better chances.

Congratulating Mr.Abhinav Bindra for winning gold medal in ISSF World Shooting Championship at Croatia, the Chief Minister announced a cash award of Rs.21 lakh which would be presented to him on August 6 in Chandigarh. He said that Mr.Bindra had brought laurels to the country in general and Punjab in particular.

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Rajan Chugh
Rajan Chugh

Balram Singh
Balram Singh

Jatinder Singh Sidhu
Jatinder Singh Sidhu

Sushil Kapoor
Sushil Kapoor

Speaking out
Essence of city missing due to vote-bank politics
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
It is not the planning and development of the city which is at fault. The reasons are the misplaced priorities of political parties in handling affairs ever since the city developed. The essence of City Beautiful has gone missing due to the vote-bank politics, feel a cross section of residents

The people who saw the city shaping since its inception want it to progress and come on the world map as the IT destination but not at the cost of its master plan.

“If the officials in the Administration feel that the population pressure on the city is growing they should plan small urban centres at a small distance from the city. The population of the city should be restricted,” said Mr Balram Singh, a practising advocate of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Dr Rajan Chugh, an eye surgeon, wants the city to retain its old character.

He feels that the vision of the future in accordance with the city’s master plan is lacking in the planning.

“When I was in Mysore recently, I saw a hoarding, which reads: ‘Don’t allow Mysore to go the Bangalore way.’ Can’t we have the same spirit,” asked Dr Chugh.

Planning of the peripheral areas was must to save the city from becoming another chaotic metropolitan.

Reacting the move by some eminent city residents for saving the essence of the city, Mr Sushil Kapoor, a veteran cricketer, said IT represented the future of the city. After Kapil Dev and PCA Stadium, IT was destined to bring the city on the international map.

The heritage and future planning should supplement each other and vote bank should be kept out it.

He sounded alert on the mushrooming of slums.

“Even Le Corbusier had planned dwelling units for the migratory population. But vote bank politics has allowed the jhuggi culture to flourish into a full time business,” he stated.Mr Jatinder Singh Sidhu, a teacher at Sector 46 Government School, said the population of the city should be controlled by strict measures.

The planning of the satellite towns should be coordinated with City Beautiful for better results.

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Workshop for entrepreneurs
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 25
The Chandigarh unit of Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India (ECGCI) in collaboration with the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industries (HCCI), Panchkula, Chapter, organized a workshop for the entrepreneurs trading in export business, here last evening.

The entrepreneurs were made aware of various motivating schemes introduced by the ECGCI.

The traders were also told that the ECGCI has been taking guarantee for the losses being suffered by them in case any insurgency or war-like situations.

Moreover, the losses, being faced by the entrepreneurs associated with the corporation by way of getting policies, would be borne by the ECGCI.

While elaborating the schemes of the ECGCI, Mr Rohit Pandey, Deputy General Manager of the corporation, the ECGCI had been bearing 90 per cent of the total losses suffered (if any) by any of the associated export trader in such cases.

He claimed that over 13147 traders had been associated with the corporation.

The corporation made payments of Rs 390 crores as claims by the affected traders during 2005-06.

Mr Satish Gupta, president of the HCCI, Panchkula chapter, announced to issue a certificate of origin for the exporters free of cost and appealed the industrialists and traders to avail the facility and benefits of the scheme introduced by the corporation.

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Ruckus over postponement of lucky draw
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 25
High drama was witnessed at the District Child Welfare Office in Sector 14 here after scores of parents of poor children got furious over the postponing of a lucky draw by the department.

The parents, after exchanging heated arguments with the department officials, even indulged in a scuffle alleging harassment to them and their children. The department lucky draw, scheduled for today, was postponed for September 27.

The parents alleged that they had not been informed about the postponement of the draw and came to know about it only after visiting the office of the department this afternoon.

Mr Bhagat Singh, programme officer of the department, however, claimed that a public notice had been published in certain newspapers informing the parents about the change in the date of draw. 

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Uma Bharati’s party unit constituted in city
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
With election to the Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh(MCC) slated to be held later this year, political activity has picked up momentum. Keeping in mind the elections, Uma Bharati’s party, the Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party(BJSP), today constituted the city unit.

The local president of the party, Mr Des Raj Gupta, has nominated Mr K.S. Lamba, Mr Yashpal Lapia and Mr Prem Chand Gupta as the vice-presidents. While Mr Vinay Kumar would be the general secretary, Mr BK Aggarwal, Mr Rajinder Kumar, Mr Vijay Kumar and Ms Deepa Asthir would be the secretaries.

Mr KS Lamba would also be the spokesman of the party while Mr Radhey Shyam Gupta would work as treasurer. The office-bearers of the different cells and the morchas would be announced soon, Mr Gupta added.

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Suicide: body handed over to family
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 25
The body of a 29-year-old bank executive who allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance in Yavanika Garden in Sector 5, on Monday, was handed over to the family after post-mortem examination conducted at general hospital, Sector 6, here today.

An executive of Kotek Mohindra Bank, Rajiv Talwar was noticed struggling for life in the garden by some stroller last evening and subsequently the police was called.

Mr Narinder Talwar, father and wife of the deceased had already reached the hospital from Yuamunanagar, last night. 

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Cheques distributed to ’84 riot victims 
Tribune News Service

Dera Bassi, July 25
The SDM, Mr Narinder Sangha, today distributed cheques worth Rs 2 lakh each to the families of fourteen 1984 riot victims here.
According to official sources, the cheques were distributed to the affected families of the sub-division for their rehabilitation following the directions of the Punjab Government.

Those who were handed over cheques today included Harpal Singh, Tejinder Singh, Jaswant Singh, Satwinder Kaur, Tarlochan Singh,Surinder Kaur, Makhan Singh and Bhupinder Singh.The cheques of Harpal Singh, Joginder Singh, Arvinder Singh, Taran Kaur, Amarjit Singh, Jaswant Kaur have been prepared.

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CPI (ML) seeks debt waiver for farmers
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
The CPI (ML) Liberation today demanded the waiver of government and non-government debt of the farmers and farm labour in Punjab to avoid economic disaster in the state.

Raising this demand on the concluding day of the two-day meeting of the north zone committee of the party here yesterday. The delegates came down heavily on the decisions of the Amrinder Singh government to allot lands to the Reliance and the Trident groups sacrificing the interests of the farmers.The privatisation and the liberalisation policies of the Central Government had given rise to large-scale unemployment with the result that unrest among the youth was on the rise, Mr Rajwinder Rana, secretary of the Punjab unit, alleged.

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Painting contest to mark “Vijay Divas” today
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
The Chandigarh unit of the All-India Anti-Terrorist Front(AIATF) is organising the “second Inter-School Painting and Poster Making Competition” on “Vijay Divas” to pay respects to Kargil heroes. The competition will be held at Government Museum and Art Gallery, Sector 10, tomorrow.

According to a press note issued here today, the families of the martyrs would be invited to award the winners.

Mr Maninderjit Singh Bitta, chairman of the front, will preside over the function.

A memorial service also will be performed in the memory of Kargil heroes at 11:30 am.

The aim of this competition is to inculcate the feeling of patriotism in the minds of youth and revulsion against terrorism, it added.

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Bank employees stage dharna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
On a joint call by the All India Bank Employees Association and All India Bank Officers Association, a number of bank employees today staged a day-long dharna at Bank Square, Sector 17. They are protesting against RBI circular on outsourcing of banking services, and banks not filling the vacancies.

Inspection: Mr Jaswant Singh, Research Officer (Implementation), Government of India Official Languages Department, inspected Punjab National Banks Zonal audit office at Panchkula today to take stock of official language implementation. He was reportedly happy to see that almost the entire routine work of the office is being done in Hindi.

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ESIC announces amnesty scheme
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
The Employees State Insurance Corporation(ESIC) has announced an amnesty scheme for the persons covered under the ESI scheme.
Under the scheme, prosecution cases filed against employers and insured persons under Sections 84 and 85 of the ESI Act, 1948, would be withdrawn, according to a press note issued here today.

The scheme would be valid from August 1,2006 to January 31,2007. The employers and the insured persons wishing to avail of the scheme may contact the Regional Office, ESIC, Chandigarh. The cases filed against them will be withdrawn subject to their fulfilling certain conditions.

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Conversion of plot for furniture mall sought
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
Mr Chander Verma, a local industrialist, applied for conversion of his plot in the Industrial Area, Phase II, here today. The applicant wants to establish a “world class furniture mall in approximately 40,000 square feet area”.

Mr M.P.S. Chawla, the president of the Chandigarh Industrial Association, accompanied Mr Verma to the office of the Chandigarh Housing Board for filing the application.

It is worthwhile to mention that only four conversions have been approved by the Chandigarh Administration as yet.

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Moving car catches fire
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
A major mishap was averted this evening when a moving car caught fire at the Housing Board traffic lights in Manimajra here. No casualties were reported. The fire, which occurred at about 7 pm, damaged the dashboard, bonnet and front windscreen of the blue Maruti 800 (CH 01T 0192). Two fire tenders were rushed to the spot. The fire was brought under control within half an hour. 

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Man alleges implication in drug trafficking case
Charas recovered from scooter
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
In a peculiar case, the Chandigarh Police today recovered 11 grams of charas from a Mohali resident’s scooter and registered a case under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act. The police however, did not arrest the man saying that that the preliminary investigations revealed that the contraband was plated on his scooter.

The Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr KIP Singh, said the matter was being probed thoroughly and whosoever was found responsible would be prosecuted.

Giving details sources in the Sector 34 Police Station said the police received an anonymous call informing it that a man would come to Sector 34 market complex near Drop-in, a food joint on a scooter. Acting on the information, the police station alerted its beat staff in the area.

After a little while the cops noticed man coming on a scooter (CH-03-F-3358). He stopped near the food joint. The policemen went up to the man and questioned him.

The man, who identified himself as Manjit Singh, a resident of Phase II, Mohali, told the police officials that his brother-in-law had asked him to come to the place for some urgent work. He told the cops that he was surprised as no one had turned up there.

At this, the cops told him that they wanted to search him and he readily agreed to it. during the search the cops recovered 11 grams of charas packed in a small packet from under the footmat of the scooter near the brake pedal. He was taken to the Sector 34 police station for further investigations.

The SHO of the Sector 34 Police Station, Inspector Jagir Singh, said during the preliminary questioning, Manjit Singh asserted that his brother-in-law had called him there for some urgent work. He said he was at Solan at that time and rushed back and did not know anything about the contraband found in his vehicle.

He further told the police that he had strained relations with his in-laws and this could be a trick to implicate him in a false case.

Manjit Singh, used to live in Germany and had taken divorce from his wife about four years ago. He said he had two sons and both were living with his in-laws in Mohali. His wife had reportedly gone to the UK.

The SHO said, ‘‘We will verify his mobile call details and corroborate it with the statement given by him. So far we did not find anything amiss with him and thus did not arrest him’’.

A senior police officer said, the evidence was in Manjit Singh’s favour. Had he been really involved in drug trafficking he would not have concealed the contraband under the footmat.

He, however, added that it would be premature to say anything with certainty in the case, until the police recorded the statements of the other party. 

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Man hangs himself to death
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
A 25-year-old resident of Burail allegedly hanged himself to death at his rented accommodation, here this evening. The reason behind the death was yet to be ascertained as no suicide note was found.

Giving details, sources in the Sector 34 police station said the deceased had been identified as Mukesh Kumar, a marble mason. The incident came to light when his neighbour saw him hanging from a ceiling fan hook from a window at around 6 pm. the police was informed about the incident and they broke open the door and retrieved the body.

Quoting the neighbours, the police said, Mukesh came to his house in the afternoon from his work. He did not have the keys with him and he broke the lock. After that he did not come out.

When his neighbours did not notice any activity in his room, they went to inquire the matter and found him hanging there. the deceased was unmarried and was living alone. He was hailing from Bihar. 

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Gutsy rickshaw-puller foils robbery bid
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
Displaying commendable courage, a rickshaw-puller foiled a robbery bid by nabbing a miscreant, who allegedly stabbed a youngster to rob him of his motor cycle in Sector 35, late on Monday night. The accused had reportedly hitched a ride from the victim and assaulted him at a secluded place with the intention of snatching his motor cycle.

Applauding the rickshaw-puller, 32-year-old Sunil Kumar, UT Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Satish Chandra, gave him Rs 1,000 as reward along with a Commendation Certificate (first class) for his courageous act.

Giving details of the incident, the SHO of Sector 36 Police Station, Inspector Ishwar Singh Mann, said the incident took place at around 12.30 am, near Congress Bhavan in Sector 35. He said the victim, Mr Ashim Bragta of Shimla, told the police that he was on his way to his friend’s house in Sector 35 after having his dinner at Sector 15 late on Monday night. He was going alone on his motor cycle, when a Sikh youth in his early twenties stopped him near Sector 17, ISBT, and requested him to drop him in Sector 35. Ashim obliged the unidentified man.

Narrating the shocking incident Ashim said when they reached near Congress Bhavan in Sector 35, the man asked him to stop the motor cycle saying that he wanted to get down there. Before Ashim could stop his motor cycle, he felt an acute pain in his neck as he was stabbed by the man. Shocked at the sudden attack, Ashim lost control over his motor cycle and both of them fell on the road. After that Ashim ran for his life crying for help. Hearing his desperate cries, a rickshaw-puller, who was sleeping in the corridor of shops in Sector 35, rushed to help him.

On seeing the rickshaw-puller struggling to nab the assailant, Ashim too, joined him. The rickshaw-puller was also stabbed in the back by the assailant, however, they managed to overpower him. At that time two other passersby stopped their vehicle and informed the police about the incident. Soon a patrolling police team reached there and arrested the assailant, said a police officer.

The SHO said the assailant has been identified as 22-year-old Jasbir Singh, a resident of Mahesh Nagar in Ambala district. During interrogation he initially tried to mislead the police and gave wrong information about his address by saying that he was a granthi by profession at a gurdwara in Haryana.

The local court today, remanded him to four-day police custody.

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3,713 arrested in two weeks
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 25
The Haryana police has arrested 3,713 culprits, recovered looted property worth Rs 143 lakh and registered 3,247 cases. Apart from this, the police has got 136 persons convicted in different courts in the last fortnight.

This was stated in a press note yesterday.

The note said the police arrested eight gangs involved in dacoity and robbery incidents. The police has also arrested six proclaimed offenders and 46 bail jumpers involved in motor vehicle thefts, burglaries and other crime during this period.

The police has also succeeded in convicting two persons involved in various case like murder, culpable homicide and kidnapping.

The police has solved 141 cases registered against persons involved in dowry deaths, kidnapping and abduction, rape and molestation and arrested 166 persons involved in these cases. One person was convicted in this case.

Under the Gambling Act, the police has recovered Rs 1.96 lakh and 71 persons were arrested. Besides, 37 cases under the NDPS Act were registered and seized 1,968 kg of poppy husk, 587 gm of charas, three kg of ganja and 32 illegal arms.

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Two held for carrying smack
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
The police has arrested two persons from two separate places on the allegations of carrying smack. Giving details the SHO of the Sector 34 Police Station, Inspector Jagir Singh, said two special nakas were set up on road dividing Sector 33 and 34 and 44 and 45 following an information.

He said on road separating Sector 33 and 34, Rajinder Singh of Mauli Jagran was arrested on suspicion and his search led to recovery of 11 gm of smack. In another incident, Kamaldeep Bansal of Sector 24-D was arrested while allegedly carrying 18 gm of smack.

The police said Kamaldeep was a notorious drug peddler. Two separate cases under Section 21 of the NDPS Act were registered in this regard.

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Two booked for abduction
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, July 25
The district police has booked two youths of Bartana locality, in Zirakpur, for allegedly abducting a minor girl of Gurkul Colony, Sector 1, Panchkula. A case under Sections 366 and 363 of the IPC has been registered on the complaint of Mr Ram Gopal, father of the girl.
In his complaint, Mr Ram Gopal alleged that Sunny and Omi, residents of Bartana, had abducted his 16-year-old daughter about 15 days ago. 

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HSIDC to float sites for IT corridor in 3 months
Ruchika M. Khanna
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 25
The Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC) will float sites for the information technology (IT) corridor coming up in Sector 22 here within the next three months.

The Director, Electronics and Information Technology, Haryana, Mr Anurag Rastogi, informed TNS here yesterday that the development work on the site was being done by the Haryana State Industrial Development Corporation (HSIDC), which would be completed by October. “Within three months, we will invite the Expression of Interest, and float the sites in the IT corridor,” he said.

Mr Rastogi said a number of top IT companies had made inquiries from the state government about the IT corridor in Panchkula.

As compared to a floor area ration (FAR) of 0. 75 to 1. 25 allowed by Chandigarh and FAR 2 allowed by the Punjab Government in the IT City at Mohali (though in specific cases FAR of 4 too has been allowed), Haryana is allowing an FAR of 2. 5. Haryana’s policy on campus planning and development, lays that units (only those which have an anchor unit) being allotted a minimum 10 acres of land, can plan housing on 10 per cent of the site, 4 per cent of the site can be used for commercial purposes and two per cent for recreation purposes.

Meanwhile, the plan outlay for the IT corridor was being given a final shape by the HSIDC. Of the total 97 acres available for the IT corridor in the first phase, about 60 acres would be allotted to various companies.

The IT corridor at Panchkula is coming up on 250 acres, of which 97 acres have already been allotted to the HSIDC by HUDA. In the first phase, about six sites will be allotted ( 10 acres each). The remaining 153 acres in Sector 32 are now being acquired by HUDA, and will be handed over to HSIDC in the second phase. 

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