Mandi, September 21
Dr L.K Singh, a private practitioner, is absconding since yesterday after a Kullu-based married woman patient alleged a rape charge against him.

The medical fraternity is concerned about credentials of Dr LK Singh as about his whereabouts as he disappeared after the incident and he claims to be a psychiatrist, a gynecologist and an expert of sexual diseases. L.K. Singh runs his Shyam clinic, three days in Mandi, three days in Kullu and two days in Sundernagar.

Though the Kullu police has launched a manhunt to nab the “mysterious doctor” but the police is still clueless about his whereabouts, as he used to live alone in his house-cum- residence in Akhara Bazar in Kullu town.

A Kullu-based woman patient has alleged in an FIR that she was allegedly raped by Dr L.K. Singh when she had gone for a medical checkup at his Shyam clinic yesterday. By that time she disclosed about the incident to her husband, the doctor disappeared from his clinic, the police said.

The Tribune investigation revealed that Dr L.K. Singh had joined as an MBBS doctor at the then district hospital, Mandi, on July 4, 1969 on an adhoc basis and he was regularized in the same hospital on July 31, 1971.

In the official record Dr L.K. Singh has entered his full name as Dr Lokinder Kumar Singh (MBBS). But deepening the mystery is that in 1984 a fire had broken out in the hospital in which most of the files and records were destroyed completely, revealed sources.

Dr LK Singh has been running his Shyam clinic here for the last three-four years and has shifted his clinic thrice here, revealed sources. Now his Shyam clinic name plate mentions him as Dr. L.K. Singh (MBBS (Pbi), MD (USA), DCH (USA), psychiatrist, gynecologist, sexual diseases and de-addiction expert.

ASP Hardesh Bisht said the case had been registered.

Shimla, September 21
The government has decided to implement a city mobility plan for providing road connectivity and laying pedestrian paths to new localities that have come up in the suburbs of the state capital over the past 20 years.

As per the plan prepared by the Town and Country Planning Department, a number of vehicular and pedestrian links have been proposed to link the Circular Road and the bypass. Every such road link will also have pedestrian way that will be much shorter than the motorable road. Parking lots will also be constructed at the connecting points where the link roads join the highways.

The main town that largely remained confined to the areas in and around the Circular Road had over the past two decades spread far and wide. New colonies have come up along the bypass and most of these are not connected by proper road or even pedestrian ways.

The proposed links will help connect Sanajuli with Bhatta Kufer and Maliana, Mehli with Chhota Shimla, Vikas Nagar with Nigam Vihar, Bamloe with the bypass (via Krishna Nagar), Tara Hall with Puabo and Golcha, existing main bus stand with the bypass (via Lal Pani) and a two-way exclusive carriage way for buses from the railway station to the main bus stand along the Circular Road. The exiting Bamloe-Bypass road will be widened for downhill heavy traffic to reduce the congestion on the Khalini-Nigam Vihar link.

A 500-m tunnel is proposed underneath the hill on which Kusumpti is located to help reduce the length of the bypass by over 4 km. The plan is proposed to be implemented by 2011-12 under the Jawahar Lal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission.

Shimla, September 21
Governor V.S. Kokje has underlined the need for extending psychological support to special children and their families to ensure that they did not feel alienated.

Presiding over a function to honour the four special athletes from the state selected to represent India in the Special Olympics World Summer Games-2007 at Shanghai, China, here today, he said the responsibility of welfare of special children was on the society as a whole. The public and the non-governmental organisations should come forward to do their bit in making the special children a part of the national mainstream.

He lauded the services of the state chapter of the Special Olympics Bharat for carrying out activities for the cause of special children.

Earlier, he honoured Vikram Chauhan (volleyball), Parnav Sharma (badminton), Kumari Bharti (bocce) and Deepak Sharma (cricket) who would be part of the Indian contingent for the Shanghai games.

Special athletes were also honoured by other organisations like the Rotary Club, the Christ Church High Adventure of Shimla, the IAMD, Solan, the Learning Centre, BCS, and the YMCA, Shimla.

Kumarhatti, September 21
Raising slogans against the Town and Country Planning (TCP) Department, hundreds of villagers have sought removal of the TCP Act from Nalagarh subdivision at Nalagarh yesterday.

United under the Sangharsh Samiti, the villagers expressed total dismay at the TCP rules and regulations as they said that it did not serve any purpose.

The villagers said to construct small shed one has to go through long procedures. The procedures and long delay in getting permission were only messing up things, they lamented.

Most of the villagers have small land holdings and it was quite unfair to cover them under the TCP Act, Daya Ram Ranger, president of the Sangharsh Samiti. He said the area had already faced unplanned and indiscriminate growth. Imposing the TCP rule now would not serve any purpose, he maintained. It has only brought into force to cause embarrassment to poor villagers, he said. Later the villagers handed over a demand charter to the CM thorough the Nalagarh SDM.

As many as 124 revenue villages from the Nalagarh area were included in the TCP Act in May this year after creation of the Baddi Barotiwala Nalagarh Development Authority thus raising the tally of villages under the TCP Act to 228. To ease the rules, the BBNDA has recently decided to give NOC power to respective panchayats of 171 villages.

Mandi, September 21
Tension gripped Government School at Pandoh as the pardhan of Pandoh gram panchayat Khem Chand along with other villagers locked classrooms meant for classes 9 and 10. They said they had locked the school as teachers had refused to teach these two classes.

Khem Chand said the villagers were fed up as teachers had refused to teach classes 9 and 10 due to their tussle with the government ever since the new directorate of Elementary Education was created.

The protesting lecturers said the pardhan had no right to lock the school and they had registered a case against him. They said they would not teach as the government was yet to fix the quota for lecturers in promotion and they were appointed to teach only one subject to classes +1 and +2.

Officiating school principal, Sunita Sharma said she had informed the police and then the school had been unlocked.

Director senior secondary education Dr Anita Rao said the directorate had already sent letters to all schools in the state, stating that lecturers would teach classes 9 to 12 in senior secondary schools where TGTs are not available.

“There is no mention that lecturers will not teach classes 9 and 10 and only teach classes +1 and +2. The promotion quota for lecturers and TGTs has been fixed at 50: 50 ratio. The department will take action if lecturers do not teach these classes”, she asserted.

SHO Mandi Sadar, Rajesh Kumar said the police had registered a case of illegal confinement against the pardhan under bailable Section 342 of the IPC.

Bilaspur, September 21
Eight persons were killed in three incidents here today.

A Tata Sumo (PB 08 8516) coming from Punjab, reportedly hit a scooter and then fell into a gorge at Berry near here. Buta Singh, Anokha Singh and Ajeet Singh, occupants of Tata Sumo, died on the spot, while two others were injured.

Hansraj and Gopal of nearby Panjgain village, who were riding the scooter, were seriously injured in the accident. They were referred to the PGI by the district hospital authorities.

Nine persons were reportedly travelling in the ill-fated Tata Sumo. Other occupants received minor injuries.

In another accident at Bagi Binola village, a truck hit a motorcycle (HP 34 A 6861) resulting in the death of Deep Chand of Chamlog village.

Four labourers, Nankuram, Rajuram, Ramesh and Vinod, died after they mistakenly consumed some poisonous substance.

Separate cases have been registered cases and all bodies brought to the district hospital for autopsy.

Bilaspur, September 21
A Central team led by Home Ministry joint secretary A. S. Yadav visited Bilaspur district here yesterday and toured a number of villages and areas which were affected and damaged during the recent flashfloods and heavy rains.

The team was accompanied by DC Rajinder Singh, ADM Hans Raj Chauhan, SDM Ghumarwin Pankaj Roy and a number of district officers of the concerned departments.

The team visited Sunhani, Rih-Randoh villages and also Kasol and Ghumarwin town and also talked to the concerned villagers and families regarding their losses and the relief provided to them by the state government.

The DC told the team that two villagers Charanji Lal and Ramesh were washed away in the flashflood of Seer Khud at Rih village, while another villager Ravinder Singh lost his life as an electric pole suddenly collapsed on him at Kasol village.

Rajender Singh apprised the team that Bilaspur district has suffered total loss of Rs 53.77 crore and 289 cattle were washed away, while agriculture crops and land totaling 2,696 hectare were destroyed and orchard-area measuring 3,790 hectare was also seriously damaged.