NEIGHBOURHOOD

Three arrested with 1.5 kg opium
Tribune News Service

Rajpura, January 8
The police has arrested three persons and seized 1.5 kg opium from their possession. In the first case, the police arrested Angrez Singh (45), Pehowa, Haryana, with 500 gm opium on Monday evening.

Also, Sonu (24) and Tarsem (26), both residents of Shahbad, Haryana, were arrested with 1 kg opium here on Wednesday.

The accused have been booked under various sections of the NDPS Act at the Rajpura city police station.

SHO Bikramjeet Singh Brar said the accused had smuggled opium from Rajasthan. The police is investigating the case.

Dera Bassi, January 8
After a gap of six months, the municipal council today called a meeting to discuss development issues of the area falling under its jurisdiction.

The meeting was headed by SAD council president Manjeet Kaur Dally, which was attended by all councillors.

During the meeting it was unanimously decided that Rs 22 lakh from the total budget would be spent on developmental works and beautification of the town.

Meanwhile, the infighting among the councillors was also witnessed during the meeting where eight councillors did not agree on the proposals tabled by the remaining five councillors.

During the meeting, the council had passed the installation of three new tubewells in ward No. 3, 8 and 13, proper cycle and scooter stand near MC office and a contractor to charge bus stand fees was allotted.

Besides, councillors also decided to give sanitation plant of the town to the private contractors for maintenance through open auction. The decision related to increasing the municipal limits would be discussed in the next MC meeting.

The councillors also rejected to the master plan of Dera Bassi prepared by the department of town and country planning, Punjab. They claimed that they had given the suggestions for correcting the shortcomings in the master plan, but the authorities concerned did not take it seriously.

Dally said her first priority was development of the town and providing all facilities to the residents.

Rajpura, January 8
The police today arrested a youth for smuggling one quintal of poppy husk from Rajasthan. The accused has been identified as Inderjeet Singh (24), a resident of Sikandarpur in Gurgaon. He was carrying the narcotics to Ludhiana in a Swift.

The police said the accused had removed the rear seat of the car to hide the contraband. The accused was intervened near Shambhu Barrier on a tip off this morning.

Five bags full of poppy husk were recovered from him, which were impounded by the police. Preliminary investigations revealed that the accused had got the contraband from another smuggler in Gurgaon who had earlier bought it from Rajasthan where poppy husk is found in abundance.

The police said the accused admitted that earlier also he had smuggled poppy husk around five or six times but was never caught. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against him.

Lalru, January 8
A 40-year-old pedestrian died after being hit by a speeding bus near Dappar on the Ambala-Chandigarh Highway here late this evening.

The deceased was identified as Balwinder Singh, hailing from Bihar. He was working as a fitter in a Lalru-based factory.

The incident took place when Balwinder was on his way to the Sarsini bus stop to board a bus. A speeding Haryana Roadways bus coming from Ambala side hit him from behind. He fell down on the roadside and sustained serious injuries.

A passerby rushed him to the Dera Bassi civil hospital where he was declared brought dead by doctors.

Investigation official stated that the body of the deceased has been kept for a post mortem at the hospital. A case has been registered against the bus driver and started further investigations.

Chandigarh, January 8
The infamous Nari Niketan rape case, which came up for hearing today, was put off till February 1 for the want of supplementary challans.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge GC Garg fixed February 1 as the next date of hearing after the prosecution stated that two supplementary challans were to be filed against two accused, who were arrested later.

The court had earlier fixed today as the date for framing of charges.

While a supplementary challan was to be filed against Virender Singh, who was arrested on November 4, another one was to be filed for Chhotu Ram, alias Madho Ram (32), after the police arrested him on December 24 following the receipt of DNA report establishing his role in the rape.

His DNA had matched with that of the baby born to the girl. Chhotu Ram was a security guard in Aashreya, the home for orphaned mentally challenged children in Sector 47, and had raped an inmate there.

On August 13, 2009 the police had filed a 499-page charge-sheet in the case. The charge-sheet had named Bhupinder Singh and Jammna Dass for raping the girl and for abetting the rape against Maya and Kamla. 

Chandigarh, January 8
Two cars and a motorcycle were stolen, while a house was reportedly burgled in 
the city.

Neetu Sharma, a resident of Sector 30 A, reported that someone had stolen her Maruti car (CH-01-Y-4092) from Sector 9 on January 4.

In another incident, Lokesh Kumar, a resident of Zirakpur, reported that someone had stolen his Hyundai Santro car (PB-65-F-0913) from Sector 34 on December 29.

Similarly, Rajesh Kumar of Sector 28-B reported that someone had stolen his motorcycle (CH-04-A-9583) from Sector 19 C during the intervening night of January 6 and 7.

Chandigarh, January 8
Third seeded Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash, India, and Zi Yang, China, emerged winners in the boys and girls’ singles final, respectively, in the India ITF Grade 3 World Junior Ranking Tennis Tournament which 
concluded at the Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association courts, Sector 10, here today.

Lanky Chinese Zi Yang unleashed her powerful ground strokes with power and precision as she outclassed sixth seeded Rishika Sunkara in straight sets 6-3, 6-1.

At the adjacent court, Mohit earned his second ITF junior title today after snuffing out the spirited challenge of fourth seeded Sai Kartik Nakireddi by 6-2, 3-6, 6-3. Mohit had earlier won this first ITF junior title in 
Mumbai last year.

Playing an aggressive game, Mohit excelled with his booming serve, low forehand and double-backhand strokes. The spectators who turned up to watch the final 
appreciated long rallies.

However, Mayur’s dream of claiming a double delight was shattered by Kunal Anand and Saurabh Singh in the boys’ doubles final. The duo of Kunal and Saurabh registered a 6-3, 7-6 (5) verdict over Mohit and Rishabdev Raman. Nova Patel and Rishika took home the girls’ doubles crown, as they disposed of the challenge of third seeded pair of Sharmada Ballu and Ankita Raina in straight sets 6-2, 6-4.

After splitting the first two sets, Mohit and Nakireddi fought a good and absorbing battle in the third and deciding set. Down 0-4, Sai Kartik bounced back into the game with a vengeance by winning three games in a row to make it 3-4. However, Mohit displayed better match temperament to clinch the set at 6-3 and the match.

Mohit had broken Sai in the 2nd, 4th and 8th games while Sai broke his opponent in the 5th and 7th games.

In the first set, Mohit made his intentions clear. Stroking powerfully Mohit won five games in a row to win by 6-2 to take a 1-0 lead. He recorded breaks in the fifth and seventh games in his favour.

Losing the first set did not perturb Sai Kartik as he reorganised his game and after breaking Mohit in the sixth game and holding his serve led 5-3 and went on to win at 6-3 to level the score at one set all.

The girls’ singles in the initial stages hinted at a close fight. After tying three-all, Chinese girl Zi Yang broke Rishika in the eighth game to take the vital breakthrough and went on to win the set at 6-3. They had earlier exchanged breaks in the second and third games.

Rishika had a disappointing start in the second set as she lost her first game on her serve. She surrendered her serve in the third game also as Yang raced to a 3-0 lead. She did manage to break her opponent in the fourth game but that was not enough to avert defeat. The Chinese wrapped up the game with another break in the eighth game at love. Yang won by 6-1.

Though the Chinese won, it was not an impressive win. She excelled with her ground strokes from the baseline but she needed improvement in her serve. She struggled with her first service.

Results:

Boys’ singles (final): Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash (Ind) bt Sai Kartik Nakireddi (Ind) 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.

Girls’ (final): Zi Yang (China) bt Rishika Sunkara (Ind) 6-3, 6-1.

Girls’ doubles (final): Nova Patel and Rishika Sunkara (Ind) bt Sharmada Ballu and Ankita Raina (Ind) 6-2, 6-4.

Boys’ doubles (final): Kunal Anand and Saurabh Singh (Ind) bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash and Rishabdev Raman (Ind) 6-3, 7-6 (5).

Mohali, January 8
Harsimran Kaur, Haryana, and Paramveer Bajwa, Punjab, emerged winners in the girls and boys’ category of The British AITA Total Tennis Talent series, which concluded at The British School courts, Sector 70, here today.

Paramveer Bajwa bagged the first title of the day in the under-12 boys’ category beating Nihit Rawal, Chandigarh, in the three well-fought sets, which lasted for over two hours by 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

Then Paramveer paired with Sumit Pal Singh, Jammu and Kashmir, to win the boys’ under-14 title by beating top seeded pair of Faisal Qumar, Rajasthan, and Jotpal Singh, Punjab, in three sets by 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

The boys’ under-14 title went to Shrey Gupta, Haryana, as he defeated third seeded Tegbir Singh Hara, PAU Total Tennis Academy, Ludhiana, in three sets by 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

In the girls’ section, Harsimran Kaur, Haryana, proved her top seeding in both under-12 and under-14 categories, as she defeated Shriya Kalia, HP, and Nimrit Walia, Chandigarh, respectively, in the straight sets. She then paired with Nimrit Walia to beat Ayna Arora and Ashna Aggarwal in straight sets in the U-14 doubles event to complete her triple title of the championship.

Punjab Joint Commissioner RK Choubey gave away the prizes and appreciated the efforts made by the Total Tennis Academy and the British School, Mohali, for promoting tennis in the region.

Results:

Boys’ under-12: Paramveer Bajwa (Pb) beat Nihit Rawal (Chd) 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.

Boys, under-14: Shrey Gupta (Har) beat Tegbir Singh Hara (Pb) 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Girls’ under-12: Harsimran Kaur (Har) beat Shriya Kalia (HP) 6-3, 6-1.

Girls’ under-14: Harsimran Kaur (Har) beat Nimrit Walia (Chd) 6-2, 6-2.

Boys’ under-14 doubles: Paramveer Bajwa & Sumit Pal beat Faisal Qumar & Jotpal Singh 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Girls’ under-14 doubles: Harsimran Kaur & Nimrit Walia beat Ayna Arora & Aashna Aggarwal 6-3, 6-2.

Chandigarh, January 8
Last year’s runners-up Principal Accountant General, Himachal Pradesh (Shimla), dethroned holders Principal Accountant General, Uttar Pradesh (Allahabad), by 3-1 in the final of the North Zone Accountant General Volleyball Tournament, which concluded at the Sector-7 Sports Complex here today.

The HP players were an inspired lot today. They put up a sterling performance despite being pitted against hot contenders UP.

Bhupinder, Rattan and Sanjeev formed a formidable trio as HP won by 25-17, 25-20, 23-25, 25-13. Vimal Pandey, Sanjay and Ravi Kant served UP well but it was not their day today.

Accountant general Balwinder Singh, A&E Haryana-Chandigarh, was the chief guest and distributed prizes.

Principal accountant general S Murugiah, Punjab, also distributed the prizes. Sports and Recreation Club AG Haryana president Rajdeep Singh was among those present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, January 8
Trials to select probables for six teams for the first Tricity Premier League (TPL) U-13 Cricket Tournament would be held on January 10 at 1 pm at Banyan Tree School, Sector 48, here.

Stating this in a press note here today, Parveen Sharma said the players would be selected to play for six teams sponsored by Pace Riders, Sunfire Rockets, Punjabi Tigers, Rihalz Warriors, HR Kings Royals and Moudgil Challengers.

All matches would be played in coloured dresses with white leather ball.

Parveen said the players born on or after January 1, 1997 were eligible for the trials and should report at 12.30 pm along with their original date of birth certificate and identity cards.

He said the trials would be conducted under the guidance of PCA affiliated CCA.