Dehradun, October 24
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court sent four more policemen of the Dehradun police, allegedly involved in the fake encounter of an MBA student Ranbir Pal in Dehradun in July, to 14-day judicial custody here today.

Special Magistrate Anuradha Garg gave the orders when four of them, namely Nitin Chauhan of Special Operations Group (SOG), SHO of Nehru Colony police station, Rajesh Bisht, Sub-Inspector Chander Mohan Rawat and Neeraj Yadav were produced before here today. The policemen were arrested by the CBI yesterday.

Earlier on October 14, the CBI had arrested SHO GD Bhatt, constables Ajit and Santosh Jaiswal.

They were also remanded to judicial custody for 14 days by the Special Magistrate.

The 22-year-old student from Gaziabad was shot dead by the Dehradun police on July 3 in the Ladpur forests. After the incident, the Uttarakhand police had claimed that Ranbir had fled with a Sub-Inspector’s pistol and was shot dead during an encounter. Later, it was found that it was a fake encounter and the state government had ordered a CBI inquiry.

Interestingly, during the investigations, the CBI came to the conclusion that Ranbir and his accomplices had indeed come to Dehradun with the purpose of dacoity, but after being confronted by SI GD Bhatt, they had a scuffle with him and after beating him up, the two had fled. But Ranbir was caught alive by the police. The CBI had registered cases against 14 policemen.

The arrest by the CBI on October 14 came close on the heels of the petition filed by the charged policemen in the Nainital High Court to stay their arrest.

But the court issued notices to the CBI returnable in two weeks on the petition. After the petition was admitted and notices issued, the CBI arrested three of the accused policemen on October 14 and four more today.

Dehradun, October 24
Once again famous writer Ruskin Bond will be teaming with Mumbai film director Vishal Bhardwaj to create magic on the silver screen.

After the delightful film “Blue Umbrella” he is once again lending the script of his book “Seven Husbands” to be directed by Bhardwaj and Priyanka Chopra will also be assaying an important role.

Making this announcement while conversing with The Tribune on the sidelines of reading of his book “The Hidden Pool” today at Natraj Green Bookshop, Bond said: “I will be keen to play the role of Priyanka’s seventh husband, and I am happy to be once again renewing my association with Bhardwaj.”

Long after he began writing at the age of 16, Bond’s love affair continues, writing with the same fervour that he had displayed.

“The sense of pleasure that I experience while writing is shared with the readers too. My writings should be able to give them the same pleasure that I experience. It is the bond that I share and keep renewing it year after year. There is a sense of fulfilment with the growing tribe of readers,” Bond chuckled.

He even has his sights set on the Mumbai film industry too and keeps himself acquainted with a bevy of actresses who continue to join the industry and he will not mind playing the role of Priyanka’s husband.

“I am constantly working and writing. Soon my new book will be released in January 2010. It is set in a boarding school and has been mysteriously titled as ‘Mr Oliver’s Diary’.

“It is based on the anecdotes of Mr Oliver. I continue to rely on my experiences while growing as a boy in India at a boarding school and subsequently the time spent at different towns here,”said Bond.

The immense popularity of his first novel “The Room on the Roof” released in 1956 continues to be phenomenal and has run into several prints.

But that has not stopped him from appreciating the works of Abhimanyu Chatterjee, whose sense of humour and style of writing is what he admires the most.

While interacting with children of DPS, who were also present at the reading, Bond did not forget to share writing tips with the future writers. “The Hidden Pool” was first published in 1966 has been translated into Hindi and other Indian languages.

Haridwar, October 24
The police today solved the case of murder of a SIDCUL executive and his wife at Ganesh Puram Colony here on September 5.

The police arrested Pankaj, who confessed to murdering his parents Chandra Prakash Malhotra and Prakash Rani Malhotra, along with their sons-in-law Krishna Lal Dhawan and Harish Dhawan. All three accused confessed their involvement in the murder which they executed after much planning. The motive of the murder was the property that Chandra Prakash had to the amount of Rs 10 crore as per the police.

They planned the murder in their New Delhi residence in Raj Garh Colony and came to Haridwar without informing anyone. All three left their cell phones in their houses deliberately so that the cellular location pointed their presence in Delhi only on the night of the incident.

Anita, wife of Harish Dhawan, had all three phones and had put them in operation condition to mislead the police surveillance.

They reached ISBT, Delhi, and boarded a bus for Haridwar at about 3 am. After reaching the victims’ house, they had tea and snacks and herein the police got the clue as normally no contractual killer or unknown would have such a treat just before committing a murder.

According to Pankaj, they forced his father to sign the property documents which were made to name the property in his name. As Chandra Prakash resisted, they nabbed him and killed him by gripping his neck. Hearing the sound, Pankaj’s mother, Prakash Rani, came to the room. They also killed her by wrapping her neck with a scarf.

Here too the scarf came handy in investigations as the police traced the shop at Har-ki-Pauri from where it was bought by the trio.

According to SSP Sanjay Gunjiyal, the prime motive of the murder was property as Chandra Prakash had movable and immovable property worth crores, while his son and sons-in-law were living in misery. Due to some differences, Chandra Prakash was supporting them financially.

All three have been arrested under Section 302, IPC, and sent to jail while an offence has been registered against Anita for criminal conspiracy under Section 120(B), IPC.

Garhwal IGP MA Ganapathy has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 to the 10 police members’ team which did investigations and solved the case. Also, SSP Gunjiyal announced a reward of Rs 2,500 to the team.

Dehradun, October 24
The Rashtriya Indian Military College (RIMC) organised the Conservation Festival here today. The theme of the festival was “Modern Technology and Environmental Conservation”.

Prominent personalities like former Chairman, UGC, Prof Yash Pal, actor Mita Vashisht, entrepreneur Fuad Lokhandwala and Commandant, 127 TA Batallion, Col Paramjit Singh Mavi attended the festival. Prof Yash Pal was the chief guest for the event.

Many schools also took part in the conservation festival. The Asian School, Unison World School, Selaqui World School, Army School, Clement Town, Summer Valley School, John Martin Memorial School, Heritage School and The Doon International School were among the participants.

Prof Yash Pal is currently the Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was born on November 26, 1926, and now is known as an eminent Indian scientist and educator. In 1976 the government of India awarded Prof Yash Pal the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to science and space technology.

Mita holds a graduation (1979) in history, sociology, English and French from PU, Chandigarh. She writes scripts for films and television and a column for a newspaper.

Lokhandwala is an entrepreneur and is a US-based businessman who is also called as the Toilet Tycoon of India. He is working to improve and provide first-class toilet facilities throughout the country. The festival started with a conservation run which was flagged off by Prof Yash Pal, Mita and early in the morning.

During the interactive session, Lokhandwala said, “The need of the hour is to realise the change in the present scenario. We must try and change ourselves.” He also went on to explain as to how challenging it is to work for the betterment of society, and yet his mission is strengthened by each difficulty that comes his way.

Mita Vashisht insisted that “we must conserve environment in whatever way we can. By consuming organic food and by judiciously using water”. She also said, “We must try and connect to the rural environment”. Laying stress on the preservation of nature, she answered many questions put forth by students.

Col PS Mavi explained to the cadets about the eco-task force, which works for the preservation and conservation of nature. He said the eco-task force had worked in the hills of Mussoorie and the surroundings, which have been damaged by the quarrying of limestone. He explained about the role of the defence forces in conserving the environment.

Films on environment were also screened on the occasion. A documentary film by environmentalist Mike Pandey was also showcased here. This was followed by a painting competition and an exhibition.

Prof Yash Pal motivated the cadets to preserve the environment. The cadets also presented a range of science models made by the Young Newtons and the Alchemist Hobbies of RIMC.

Dehradun, October 24
In a temporary arrangement aimed at buying time, the health authorities have selected semi-government Sushila Tiwari Forest Hospital Trust in Haldwani and Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust, Rishikesh, in private sector which will act as referral laboratories for Kumaon and Garhwal regions.

The Health Department will soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the two medical colleges for sample testing and reporting of communicable diseases. Team members of the World Health Organisation (WHO), World Bank and National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD), on a two-day visit to the state, held confabulations with the health authorities.

“The World Bank will allocate Rs 2 lakh yearly for the two laboratories that will cover their maintenance and running costs. The samples will take load off the NICD, where these are being sent for advance testing,” said HS Negi, Additional Director and state Nodal Officer of the Integrated Disease Surveillance Project (IDSP).

The referral laboratories will continue to send medical reports to the state nodal office and then will be sent to the NICD. “We will continue to track on the status of the cases, the arrangement has been done as we lack expertise in detection of disease and can’t undertake study of organism or culture bacteria. Only protein and sugar tests can be under taken,” opined Dr Pankaj Jain, state Nodal Officer.

None of the existing laboratories in the government hospitals could pass the test for undertaking advance tests for the communicable disease, as the two laboratories at the newly renovated Coronation Hospital and at the Doon Hospital are short of equipment and technicians. A modern state-of-the-art government laboratory can only become a possibility when the Doon Hospital becomes a medical college and expands.

In the past few months the state has reported several cases of the communicable diseases and dengue fever that require monitoring.

Dehradun, October 24
The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal (UKD) today alleged that while corruption was on the rise in the state, there had been little efforts to curb it on part of the BJP government.

Addressing a press conference, Jai Prakash Upadhyaya, state head of public grievance cell of the UKD, said corruption was at an all-time high in the state. “It is unfortunate that Uttar Pradesh Nirman Nigam is still being allotted works in the state as there are many in bureaucracy who are encouraging this corrupt activity,” he said.

He further said the state had a large team of engineers who were not being put to use. “It will be better if the the state government utilises both Garhwal Mandal Vikas Nigam and Kumaon Mandal Vikas Nigam as work agency to conduct construction works rather than taking the services of Uttar Pradesh Nirman Nigam,” Upadhyaya said, adding that their party had also written to the Chief Minister and Revenue Minister Diwakar Bhatt in the same concern.

When asked as to how the UKD could oppose the policies when the party was backing the BJP government in the state, Upadhyaya said the party would not compromise on pro-public issues under any circumstances.

He also reiterated that the UKD would continue to work for the betterment of the people of the state whether in power or outside it.

Dehradun, October 24
Dinesh Aggarwal, Congress legislator from Laxman Chowk Assembly segment of Dehradun city, has alleged that the state BJP has failed to safeguard the interests of the state as well as thousands of people involved in the work of mining of rivers.

Talking to mediapersons here today, Aggarwal charged that all developmental works in the state had come to a grinding halt.

He said while some of the departments, like the Public Works Department (PWD), claimed that they were not having the budget, others were blaming the stay on the mining of the rivers by the Nainital High Court as an excuse.

Aggarwal said it was a fact that the stoppage of the mining activities in the river beds of the state did affect various developmental activities, but it was a nexus of mining mafia and some officials who were responsible for the sorry state of affairs.

He said the lawyers of the state government failed to properly present its case in the Supreme Court.

He announced that if the state government again failed to effectively put across its case in the next hearing on October 26, his party would be constrained to launch an agitation on the issue.

He was of the view that the stay order by the Nainital High Court had resulted in a huge loss of revenue to the state government. Moreover, hundreds of people involved in minor trades were also badly affected. The prices of the building material had skyrocketed, he said.

The Congress legislator said the state government seemed disinterested in the welfare of the state.

Dehradun, October 24
The Union Bank of India today launched a swipe machine in Dehradun, the first by any public sector bank in the state.

Now with the introduction of this Merchant Acquiring Business, the bank will facilitate cashless sale of goods and services by the swipe of the debit, credit and pre-paid cards in the terminals.

Transaction banking GM Pravin K Bansal said today a substantial portion of transactions was taking place in cash, forming a significant part of Gross Domestic Product.

This had necessitated the need for holding a huge cash balance resulting in avoidable inefficiencies and the bank was gradually moving its cash transactions through electronic channels.

“In the last one year, bank’s transactions through electronic channels has moved to 26 per cent with an aim to reach 35 per cent by the end of fiscal year,” said Bansal.