NEIGHBOURHOOD

Youth stabbed to death
Tribune News Service

Fatehgarh Sahib, March 17
The district police has booked four persons, including two women, on charges of attacking a police party that had gone to arrest an alleged drug peddler in Brahman Majra village.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of police officials raided a house in the said village where it suspected that a drug peddler had been hiding along with a huge cache of poppy husk. Following the raid, two youths, who were later identified as Karma and Ajay, and two women Yogita and Karuna, attacked the police party with bricks.

According to the police, the four even tried to set one of the police vehicles on fire but their attempt was foiled by the police.

The police immediately sent for reinforcements and a team from a nearby police station soon joined them. However, it took at least three hours for the police to nab all the accused.

Sources said before their arrest, the accused threw a heavy amount of poppy husk in the toilet but the police succeeded in recovering around 3.5 kg of poppy husk from the house in which they were hiding. The police also recovered sharp-edged weapons from their possession.

A case under various Sections of the NDPS Act and the IPC was registered.

The police said Karma and Ajay were already facing several charges in four cases and a case was also registered against them at Ambala police station under various Sections of the NDPS Act.

Bassi Pathana March 17
The Bassi Pathana police has registered a rape case against three youths of Dadiana village for allegedly raping a 20-year-old girl of the same village. One of the accused has been arrested whereas two others are still at large.

Giving the detail Bassi Pathana DSP Rajwinder Singh Sohal said Avtar Singh, a resident of Dadiana, in a complaint to the police, alleged that three youths of the village - Kuldeep Singh alias Vicky, Gurpreet Singh and Kala - forcibly abducted his 20-year-old daughter Baljeet Kaur from his house and kept her at the residence of one of their relatives at night and raped her. The next morning they threw her outside the village and was noticed by a passerby who informed him. They then took the girl home where she narrated her tale of woes.

The DSP said following the complaint, the police took the girl to the civil hospital, where a team of doctors examined her and sent the samples for chemical analysis. A case has been registered.

Ambala, March 17
A domestic servant has decamped with jewellery, cash and other articles allegedly worth several lakhs of rupees from a house in Green Park, Mahesh Nagar in Ambala Cantonment.

According to the police, though the exact amount of loss was yet to be ascertained, complainant G.D. Chhibber had alleged that cash worth Rs 40,000 and gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 50 lakh was missing from their house.

Police stated that the complainant had employed the servant a fortnight back but had not verified his antecedents. An alert had been sounded to nab the suspect, who in all probability, had left for his native place.

The police has picked up the security guard on duty in the house for questioning. Chhibber, along with his family, was away to attend a wedding in New Delhi on Sunday. The servant known only as Bahadur, lived in the house itself and worked as a cook. A security guard from a private security agency is also on duty outside the house.

Guard Rishi Pal denies hearing any commotion in the house. The neighbours, however, stated that they heard a lot of noise on Sunday night but thought that the servants had been fighting.

Rishi Pal’s cycle is also missing. The police has picked up Rishi Pal’s friend Hardev who was seen at Chhibber’s residence.

The theft was discovered when the Chhibbers returned home late yesterday night and found the house ransacked. A case had been registered and investigations are on.

Chandigarh, March 17
It was an exciting evening for cricketer, who got a chance to dance with Bollywood actor Pooja Bedi at a local restaurant here today.

Azhar Mahmood (along with his family), Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Taufeeq Umer, Michael Kasprowictz and Waweel Hinds were seen dancing and relishing Indian dishes at the restaurant.

Michael Kasprowictz, who loves Indian food, said, “Though the Indian dishes are spicy, I love Indian food. I eat Indians food whenever I get a chance”.

The Lahore Badshahs feel that the city is the most beautiful part of the country and expressed gratitude to the people of the city for their hospitality.

Moin Khan, manager of the Lahore Badshahs, said: “Its always a great feeling playing in the city. Besides, good playing conditions, the city is known for its hospitality”.

Naved Rana Ul Hasan, an all rounder, loves the greenery. “The city is full of greenery. No other part of the country is so green, clean and beautiful. Its always a pleasure to be here. There is no pollution. Moreover, the traffic is not much. You hardly get stuck in a traffic jam and it only takes you 20 to 25 minutes to reach a place”.

Pooja, who was equally excited, said: “I am a fan of cricket and love the game. Besides working, eating is my other hobby. Though Sachin Tendulkar is my idol, the other cricketers are my heroes”. 

Chandigarh, March 17
Local weightlifting team cornered glory by winning one gold, three silver and three bronze medals in the 17th Men and 12th Women Northern India weight lifting championships at Rakh Bagh, Ludhiana, on March 15 and 16.

In men section, Chandigarh team also finished runner up, accumulating 160 points, in the overall championship.

Rupinder Singh secured first position in 105 kg weight category by lifting 349 kg (155 kg + 194 kg) while Falbir Singh bagged silver medal in 77 kg section and Lakhbir Singh won bronze medal in 56 kg group.

Navneet (+75 kg) and Renu (48 kg) finished second in women section while Sonia and Jasvir brought bronze medals by securing third place in 53 kg and 69 kg categories, respectively.

A total of 150 weight lifters from nine northern states participated in the championship. 

Panchkula, March 17
Local body builder Anurag Pandey and Tejvir brought laurels by winning top honours in the 20th Senior Haryana State Body Building Championship 2007-08 at Kurukshetra on March 16.

Representing Panchkula in the championship, Anurag won gold medal in 70 kg weight category while Tejvir emerged winner in 80 kg section.

As many as 150 body builders of all districts of the state participated in the championship, which was organised by the Kurukshetra District Body Building Association. 

Chandigarh, March 17
Former Pakistan skipper and batsman Inzamam-ul-Haq termed Shoaib Malik not a good choice to lead Pakistan team in test cricket.

“Malik is a good one-day player but he could not deliver consistent performance in tests. Besides improving his level for test cricket, Shoaib also needs support of Pakistan Cricket Board,” said the burly batsman while slamming PCB and its selection panel for non-cooperating Malik.

When asked who would be then picked for the captaincy, Haq named two batsmen, Mohammad Yousaf and Younis Khan. “Both are top class players and are fit to be captain of the team,” said Haq.

On Pakistan’s fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, Haq said he was a very good player. But he needs to be treated with good temperament.

Showing concerns over the plummeting standards of domestic cricket in Pakistan, Haq said nobody seemed to be bothered about first-class cricket in the country. “The cricketers of Pakistan have been suffering as the state of first-class cricket in Pakistan is not good at present,” said Haq revealing that after few years he would open a cricket academy at Lahore. On the formation of all-Pakistan team ‘Lahore Badshahs’ in the third edition of Indian Cricket League (ICL), Haq said it is a good step by the organisers. “With the coming up of our team, the tournament has become more competitive.a Besides, the team has also generated lot of interest for the cricket buffs,” said the star cricketer.

Chandigarh, March 17
Thieves decamped with a purse, containing cash and jewellery worth Rs 1 lakh, of a woman travelling in a bus, last night.

Harbagh Kaur Bhatti of Sector 21-A reported that her purse containing Rs 15,000 and gold ornaments worth over Rs 70,000 were stolen from Sector 43 ISBT after she made a call from a public call office (PCO). She however could not recall when and where her purse had been stolen. The police has registered a case of theft in this regard.

Chandigarh, March 17
Tapping the Punjabis’ obsession for luxury cars and their deep pockets, most of the luxury car makers are now setting shop in the city. The latest to come to the city is Volvo Cars, which opened its dealership in the city today.

Daimler Chrysler, BMW, Audi, have all set up their dealerships in the city. It is not just the local denizens, but also the cash rich Haryanvis and the ‘car obsessed’ Punjabis who can now take their pick from amongst the best cars in the world. Even as the cities in Punjab and north Haryana barely have the road infrastructure for allowing these cars to run smoothly, it has hardly desisted people from possessing them.

Last year, Daimler Chrysler reportedly sold around 175 cars in the region. BMW, which opened its dealership in April last year, has already sold over 200 units. Volvo Cars plans to sell at least 100 cars in this region in a year, which is one fifth of their total sales targets for the country.

In fact, Chandigarh is the second city where they have opened their dealership after Delhi.

Considering the market size here, the company will open its Mumbai dealership after inaugurating the dealership in the city. “We can cater to both the states of Punjab and Haryana from the city. In fact, this is an important market for us as it has a huge potential for selling luxury cars. We are confident that the opening of our dealership will become a significant part of this dynamic market. As the sales pick up here, we would be looking at Ludhiana and Amritsar to open new dealerships in the region,” says Paul de Voijs, managing director, Volvo Cars.

Those in the trade say that other than businessmen, a number of professionals and agriculturists are opting for the luxury cars. Sachit Passi, partner of Krishna Automobiles, the dealers for BMW car, says, “Though a majority of clients is still businessmen, but self employed professional and big landlords from Punjab are also form a sizeable number of clients.” Given the fact that the base model of the car is priced at Rs 27 lakh and the top end model at Rs 1.50 crore, Passi says that all the models are selling equally in the region.