NEIGHBOURHOOD

Youth Fest
Mohali college wins overall trophy
Tribune News Service

Ropar, October 26
The father of a 17-year-old girl, allegedly kidnapped three months ago, has accused the police of showing lackadaisical attitude in recovering his daughter and arresting the prime accused.

Chhote Khan, a resident of the Chhoti Haveli area, alleged that his daughter Nazreen was kidnapped on June 29. “Yunis from our area had kidnapped my daughter,” he alleged.

Acting on the complaint, the police registered a missing person’s report of Nazreen. Chhote Khan then approached the Punjab State Human Rights Commission (PSHRC) after which the police registered a case of kidnapping.

Five accused in the case, including Yunis’s mother Sabri Begum, maternal uncle Dilawar Khan, cousin Aqeel Ahmed, uncle Deen Mohammad and brother Salim, were arrested in the case. Chhote Khan added that Yunis was married.

Ropar city police station SHO Manvir Singh said around a month ago he got a letter purportedly written by Nazreen that claimed that she had got married. “It was a registered letter and sent from somewhere in Bareily. A police team went to the address mentioned on the letter but failed to trace the girl,” he said.

Manvir added that it was highly improbable for the girl to write the letter as she was illiterate.

Meanwhile, Chhote Khan also claimed that he had received threat calls from Yunis. He alleged that the police was not making “sincere” efforts to trace his daughter.

“Yunis and his family are involved in criminal activity. I am afraid that my daughter had been pushed into flesh trade,” alleged Chhote Khan, father of six children.

SHO Manvir Singh said they were making efforts to arrest the accused and recover the girl.

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 26
Senior district administration officials today visited the Mandi Gobidngarh grain market to listen to the grievances of ‘arthiyas’ and farmers relating to procurement of the paddy crop and other issues.

Assistant food supply officer Milap Singh said the local contractor had been told to intensify lifting of paddy to the satisfaction of both the ‘arthiyas’ and farmers. “Problems facing some farmers were also discussed with the ‘arthiyas’ and others at the grain market”, he added.

Meanwhile, in a press release Fatehgarh Sahib deputy commissioner Yashvir Mahajan said the procurement process of paddy in various grain markets in the district was going on at full swing. He said out of 2,97,572 lakh metric tonnes of paddy that had arrived in different grain markets in the district till October 25, nearly 2,89,361 lakh tonnes had already been purchased by various purchase agencies and private traders.

“Out of the total purchase of Rs 251.76 crore, Rs 216.59 crore have already been given to the farmers”, he added.

Mahajan also said out of the total purchased paddy 1,98,631 lakh metric tonnes had already been lifted and the process for the rest was on. He expressed his satisfaction over the paddy procurement in the district.

Chandigarh, October 26
A court of inquiry (COI) has yet to start proceedings even after several months of it was ordered to investigate into the allegations of large-scale irregularities in military farms in Jammu and Kashmir.

One of the civilian employees whose name figures in the matter has obtained a stay from the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) against the COI’s convening order. This has also raised a legal question whether the CAT has the jurisdiction over the orders issued by the armed forces over issues pertaining to the functioning of military personnel and establishments.

Acting upon official reports, the General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Northern Command, had ordered the COI in June, with directions that its findings be submitted by October 30. Irregularities in the supply of fresh milk for troops, fraudulent hiring of civilian vehicles, lapses in procurement of fodder for animals, recruitment of permanent employees in violation of government policies and some controversy pertaining to construction of buildings are the issues to be investigated by the COI.

Besides Army personnel, MFs also employ civilians at various positions. Army sources said they were examining the legal implications of the CAT’s stay order.

Sources said the COI was not ordered specifically against any civilian employee, but to examine the overall functioning of some military farms.

The Chief of Staff of the Nagrota-based 16 Corps had been detailed as the COI presiding officer, with two Brigadiers as its members. Given the scale of procurement and the time frame over which the alleged irregularities were taking place, the financial misappropriation could run into crores of rupees. There are five military farms in J&K. Different irregularities were found at different farms. Sources said a number of witnesses, including some senior officers were moved to J&K to depose before the COI. Since the COI did not assemble for even a single day, it resulted in wasteful expenditure and loss of man-hours.

Another case concerning a Colonel from the military farms had been hanging fire since 2006, sources said. He had been held blameworthy for lack of supervision by a COI that assembled in 2006 and although summary of evidence was ordered about a year ago, the case was yet to be disposed of.

Chandigarh, October 26
The police booked an Uttar Pradesh resident on the charges of repeatedly raping his 17-year-old distant cousin in Burail here on the pretext of marrying her.

The accused fled when the victim’s parents told him to marry her after learning that she was 8-month-old pregnant.

According to the police, the accused used to live in the vicinity of the victim and developed relationship with her. The victim told the police in her statement that they had an affair since February this year. The accused began making advances to her and forced her to develop physical relations with him, promising that he would marry her. She also told the police that the accused had started threatening her of dire consequences if she informed anyone about their relationship.

The victim’s parents told the police that they noticed the symptoms of pregnancy off late and after much persuasion, she disclosed that she was physically abused. She is a Class 9th student of a government school.

The police said the accused had been identified as 21-year-old Guddu. He lived in Burail with her mother and a sister and hailed from Uttar Pradesh. His father lived in their native village. The victim’s father is a rickshaw-puller. Both families had agreed to marry them and started making arrangements. In the meantime, the accused fled.

The SHO of the Sector 34 police station said the matter was reported last night and they got the victim medically examined, which confirmed that she was raped and was pregnant also. A case of cheating, rape and criminal intimidation had been registered on a statement recorded by her. Efforts were on to trace the accused. 

Chandigarh, October 26
The Chandigarh police appears to be groping in the dark to establish the identity of the person who had made a bomb hoax call a day prior to AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the city as well as the mysterious incident of a group of “kidnappers” who supposedly abducted a man from Sector 24 on October 12.

Both incidents that occurred on two consecutive days about two weeks ago and kept the police on its toes due to the seriousness of the matter. However, the cops have so far failed to trace the suspects behind the incidents.

On October 13, a few hours before Rahul Gandhi’s arrival at Panjab University the police received a call saying a bomb had been planted outside the PGI’s main gate facing the varsity campus. The cops along with a bomb disposal squad rushed to the scene but after spending hours could not find any suspicious object.

The police’s cyber crime cell traced Amir Khan of Sialva Majri as the owner of the phone (90233-22301), which was used to make the hoax call. He told investigators he had lost his phone a couple of days ago and had reported the matter at the Sector 22 police post. Though the cops had been able to ascertain that the call was made from Sector 38-West, the proceedings failed to go beyond this.

Similarly, a day before the bomb hoax call, Jagdish Chaudary of Dhanas was “kidnapped” by a group of people from Sector 24 on October 12 at around 7:50 am. His wife reported the matter to the police after receiving a ransom call for Rs 9 lakh from the “kidnappers”. The police swung into action and traced the victim’s location near Samrala through his mobile phone, sending a police team there.

However, a few hours after the “kidnapping” Chaudary called his wife informing he had been “released” and was sitting at a ‘dhaba’. The family told the police the “kidnapper” had “freed” Chaudary after taking Rs 500 out of the Rs 4,000 in cash he was carrying, threatening to kidnap other members of his family if they failed to meet their ransom demand.

Though the police had doubted the incidents due to certain mismatches, it has so far failed to unravel the mystery behind the incident. The victim had left the cops in the dark about the description of his alleged kidnappers or their number. He also failed to give any idea about the vehicle in which he had been “kidnapped”.

A police officer said no one had seen the victim being kidnapped and released later in the day. “As the phone calls were made from Chaudary’s mobile phone and he was the only one to provide whatever information he had about the kidnappers, the case has reached a dead end”, he added.

The SHO of the Sector 11 police station said both the cops had reached a dead end in both incidents though investigations were on. He said they were trying their best to trace the missing links to unravel the mystery behind the incidents and would take stern action against whoever is found to be involved in them.

Mohali, October 26
The police has solved several cases of theft with the arrest of a Phase-7 resident, Rajesh Kainth.Stolen jewellery worth Rs 3 lakh has also been recovered from the accused. Phase 11 SHO Deepinder Singh said while investigating a complaint lodged by Sarabjeet Kaur, a resident of Phase 11, the police tracked down the accused and on questioning he confessed to having committed several thefts.

A case under Sections 380, 411 and 454 of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

Chandigarh, October 26
Participating for the first time in the Coca Cola Mir Iqbal Hussain Trophy, Chandigarh Police Football Academy (CPFA) gave an impressive display as they beat St Xavier’s School, Sector 44, 2-0 in a group B match of the Under-15 Boys Football Tournament (Chandigarh leg) organised by the Chandigarh Football Association at the Football Stadium, Sector 17, here today.

Displaying good skills and coordination, the CPFA boys dominated the game and shot into the lead in the 10th minute when Gurdarshan found the St Xavier’s goalkeeper Naman off guard.

On resumption, the CPFA boys doubled the victory margin as Lovepreet capitalised on a centre from the right flank and directed the ball into the goal.

The CPFA boys could have won by a bigger margin had they converted all chances that came their way.

St Xavier’s goalkeeper Naman and CPFA’s Lovepreet were cautioned for rough play.

In a group A encounter, propped up by a fine brace by Karan, Ryan International School, Sector 49, began their campaign with a bang by trouncing Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 10, 3-0.

Karan opened his team’s account in the ninth minute and completed his brace in the 45 th minute. In the meantime, Piyush had made it 2-0 in the 19th minute. GMSSS-10 Rajan was shown the yellow card for rough play.

Also, a brilliant goal by Jashanpal Singh helped Mount Carmel School, Sector 47, eke out a narrow 1-0 verdict against Tribune Model School in a group B match.

The all-important goal was scored in the 19th minute. Jashanpal Singh capitalised on a defensive lapse on the part of Tribune Model School goalkeeper Shubham who failed to collect a cross from the right flank and Jashanpal booted home the winner in a fine style.

Shubham was cautioned for collecting the ball outside the box in the 34th minute.

Mount Carmel’s Tarandeep was cautioned for rough play and his colleague Saurabh Thakur was cautioned for ungentlemanlike behavior in the 29th minute.

St Joseph School of Sector 44 played truant as they did not turn up for their match against Saupin’s School, Sector 32, in a Group C encounter.

Earlier, Coca Cola representative Divjot Singh inaugurated the tournament.

Tomorrow’s fixtures: Group A: St Stephen’s vs Govt MSSS-19 (12 noon); group C: Shishu Niketan Model School-22 vs DAVSSS-8 (9 am); group D: St Anne’s-32 vs St Kabir-26 (10 am); and St John’s School-26 vs The Banyan Tree School-48 (11 am).

Chandigarh, October 26
GN College, Narangwal Ludhiana, has won the Panjab University Hockey (men) B-division Championship beating MGKMSS College of physical education by 3-0.

Sandeep of GNC, Narangwal, scored the first goal for his team in the 33rd minute while Gurjinder Singh scored the second goal within four minutes after the game was started after the half-time.

Harvinder scored third goal in the 63rd minute. MGKMSS College also tried their best, however, its players failed to convert the moves into goal during the 90 minutes game.

In another hockey match at the Sector 42 Hockey Stadium, Government College Sector 11 was crushed by the local SGGS College by 15-0.

Players of GC could be seen just following the SGGS players who dribbled past their opponents without any hurdles and scored 12 goals in the
first half.

Rupinder and Ranbir Singh were the main scorers for SGGS College, who scored three goals each in the one sided match.

The SGGS player played an attacking game from the start as Harinder scored the first goal in the second minute and soon after Rupinder scored two consecutive goals in the 11th and 18th minutes. He also scored another goal in the 50th minute of the second half. Ranbir also scored three goals in 25th, 36th and 44 minute of the game.

The other scorers for the SGGS team were Jagjit in 13th minute, Preetinder in 19th and 20th minute while Ameet and Harmanpreet scored one goal each in 21st and 24th minute.

Similarly, Amanpreet, Dupinder and Gurdeep scored one goal each in 38th, 45th and 65th minutes of the game, respectively.

In the second match played on the same grounds, ILR Government College, Dhudike, drubbed PU campus, Chandigarh, by 7-1.

Playing an aggressive game from the start, ILRG’s Varinder scored the first goal against the GC in the second minute while Rajinder scored second goal in the 14th minutes. Amandeep scored maximum two goals for his team. He scored the first goal in the 28th minute and soon after Harwinder shot another goal in the 30th minute of the game.

Jaspreet was the only player from PU who had scored a lone goal for his team in the 11th minute of the game.

When the game started after the half time, ILRG’s player continued attacking and scored the fourth goal in the 49th minute of the game.

Charanjit and Kanwaljit also scored one goal each in the 63rd and 64th minute, respectively.