NEIGHBOURHOOD

200 take part in communication workshop
Tribune News Service

Kharar, February 4
Rayat-Bahra Group of Institutes organised a career prospective seminar for matriculate and 10+2 students studying in different government and private schools. These students were invited to the institute’s campus of Rayat-Bahra Bio-Technology Centre of Excellence, Sahauran campus, on memory technique and goal setting wherein more than 300 students attended this seminar from different schools.

Institute director professor Keshav Sharma inaugurated the seminar and interacted with students. Experts from Little Genius Company, Seema Devgan and Anurag Kohli, delivered a lecture on memorytechnique.

They explained importance of visualisation and demonstrated how learning capability could be enhanced by using visualisation techniques. Gurminder Madan, coordinator (admissions), delivered a lecture on career guidance.

Accused being taken to a court at Rajpura on Thursday. A Tribune photograph

Rajpura, February 4
Two net savvy engineers, a student of BA second year and a girl studying in BA third year, have been arrested for kidnapping a 28-year-old youth from here on January 28.The police recovered an imported .32 bore revolver, two cars, one scooter and a bike besides damaged cell phones and SIM cards purchased on fake identities used for executing the kidnapping drama.

Patiala SSP Ranbir Singh Khattra and SP(D) Gurdeep Singh Pannu said the accused were arrested yesterday after continuous search by police officials deployed under the supervision of Rajpura city SHO Bikramjeet Singh Brar.

The accused have been identified as Sanjeev Sharma, Gurinder Singh Romi, both residents of Khairpur Jattan village, near Rajpura, Harman Singh, a resident of Dalma Vihar in Rajpura and Heena, also a resident of Rajpura city.

During interrogation the accused admitted to have committed the crime to earn huge money in short span of time. SSP Khattra said Sanjeev had done his BTech from Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College in Fatehgarh Sahib and Romi had also recently completed his engineering.

They started construction business, however, they failed to sell off three buildings on the Chandigarh-Patiala road and turned pauper. They tried their hand in changing answersheets of exams conducted by Punjab Technical University and earned handsomely out of it.

Not satisfied with this “business”, they decided to kidnap a child in lieu of hefty amount of money. They learned methods on the Internet and downloaded identity proofs from various websites to get SIM cards on fake identities.

The duo then targeted four families of Rajpura and tried to kidnap their children. However, they gave up the idea of kidnapping children thinking it would be difficult to take care of them.

They finally decided to pick up Rupesh (28), a son of a rich lottery agent. They tried to pick him up thrice but failed as Rupesh used to go outside with his friends or families. Finally they decided to involve Heena, a final year student pursuing BA correspondence from Punjabi University, Patiala, and her boyfriend Harman.

She was told to contact Rupesh over phone after sending him few friendly SMSes. Rupesh finally came in the trap of the kidnappers and got ready to meet her at a secluded place in her car. As soon as Rupesh sat in Heena’s car he was overpowered by Harman who was sitting at the rear seat. He was made unconscious with chloroform and was taken to a nearby farm house.

Kidnappers allowed the victim to contact his ailing mother in hospital and his father was told to arrange Rs 1.5 crore. However, a police party exchanged gunshots with the kidnappers when they reached to take the ransom. Initially they decided to kill Rupesh during the shootout, however, later they decided to let him go.

Police officials said mobile tower locations and tip off given by area residents helped in arresting all accused. SSP Khattra said two students of Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College were also interrogated, however, they were later found to be innocent. He said the families earlier targeted by the accused had also been alerted.

Police officials said further interrogation was on and another racket of swapping answersheets of Punjab Technical University by these accused may stumble out in the next few days.

Chandigarh, February 4
Nearly two months after the state of Punjab told the Punjab and Haryana High Court that GMADA was awaiting clearance from the state expert appraisal committee for setting up a solid waste treatment plant and a meeting would be held within a week, the committee chairman is in the dock.

The Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh today asked him to be present on the next date of hearing to show cause why action be not taken against him for non-compliance of court orders. The Bench said the order clearly indicated that the committee was required to meet within a week of the order; which was on or before December 14. The Bench said the status report filed by the state was “delightfully vague” and did not disclose if the committee met on December 14.

The Bench observed this obfuscated the issue and was an attempt to prevaricate. The chairman would tell the court on what date he became aware of the orders of the court dated December 7 and if within a week of becoming aware of it, a meeting took place. If the meeting took place, the minutes should be filed in the court by the next date of hearing, the Bench ruled. “On the next date of hearing, the secretary, housing and urban development, Punjab, will file an affidavit on the project completion date,” it stated.

The directions came on a petition filed by the residents’ welfare society, PSIEC, Sector 74, Mohali, which was seeking directions to the state of Punjab and other respondents to shift the garbage dumping site from the present location to a distant place. The state had, on the previous date, asserted that the process of acquiring 58 acres was on and Rs 39.88 crore had been placed at GMADA’s disposal for compensating the landowners.

Chandigarh, February 4
The police has booked four persons on the charges of duping a city-based textile company of several lakhs of rupees.

In one complaint, Kushwinder Singh Sehgal, legal head of Winsum Textile, Sector 34, lodged a complaint against Naresh Kumar Gupta of AF Apparels Private Limited, New Delhi, Vicky Jawa of Panipat, Vicky and his father DP Jain of Mumbai, alleging that they had purchased yarn worth Rs 29.66 lakh from his company, but did not pay the amount.

In another complaint lodged by Raj Pal Rahore, head of the Sector 34 textile unit, against the same accused, he alleged that they had bought yarn worth Rs 67 lakh from his company, but had not paid for it. 

Mohali, February 4
The police today claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of car thieves who targeted only luxury cars. The cars were stolen from various parts of Punjab and were being sold in Uttaranchal, the SSP, GPS Bhullar, said. After stealing the cars, the gang members used to prepare fake registration papers and sell them to unsuspecting persons.

So far, the CIA wing has recovered two Hyundai Verna cars, a Hyundai Elentra and a Maruti Alto. One of the accused, Gursewak Singh, has been arrested and remanded to two-day police custody. The other accused are Rajinder Singh and Kuldeep Singh, both hailing from Uttaranchal.

A case has been registered and raids are being conducted to nab them.

Meanwhile, the CIA wing seized over 2 kg of charas from Ashwani Kumar, Ramesh Kumar and Vijay Singh, all residents of Bilaspur.

They used to bring the contraband from Himachal and sell it in Chandigarh and Mohali. They were caught while waiting in a car for their customers near Rayat College, Sahuara. The accused, who were active in the area for the past few months, allegedly used to sell the drugs to college students. They have been booked under the NDPS Act.

Zirakpur, February 4
Pinku Kumar, a resident of Bihar, who allegedly duped a 70-year-old woman on the pretext of polishing gold earrings here yesterday, has been arrested by the police today.In her complaint, Amar Kaur, a resident of Pabhat village, told the police that the incident took place around 5 pm when a youth knocked her door and said he could polish the utensils and the jewellery.

The youth asked her to bring some utensils outside the house for polishing. After shining the utensils, he told her that he could also shine the jewellery as well. Pinku put the victim’s gold earrings in a bowl and mixed them with some powder with his hand and instructed her to boil for at least 10 minutes.

She claimed after 10 minutes, she found a pair of earrings was missing from the bowl. She immediately raised the alarm, but the youth fled from the scene, she alleged.

Chandigarh, February 4
Guru Nanak Public School (GNPS), Sector 36, walloped Stepping Stones School, Sector 37, by 111 runs, while Satluj Public School, Sector 4, smacked CLDAV School, Sector 11, Panchkula, by 113 runs to enter the quarterfinals of the Times-NIE-Cremica Inter-School Tournament at GNPS, Sector 36, here today.

In the first match, GNPS, Sector 36, scored 196 runs for the loss of seven wickets in their stipulated 20 overs.

Gaurav Puri was the main architect of the GNPS innings, as he scored blazing 64 runs off 33 balls, which included six fours and four sixes. Jaskaran scored 29 runs off 25 balls, which included four fours.

Chasing a victory target of 197 runs, Stepping Stones School were bundled out for 85 runs in 18.4 overs.

Deepak was the only batsman to put up some resistance to some tight line and length of GNPS bowlers and scored 22 runs off 13 balls. None of the other batsmen could keep him company. Gaurav was adjudged the man of the match.

In the second match, Satluj Public School, Sector 4, amassed 191 runs losing six wickets in their stipulated 20 overs. Ashok Saini hammered 72 runs off 49 balls, which included nine fours and one six, while Gurprabhjot scored 33 runs off 24 balls. For CLDAV, Abhilov claimed one wicket.

In reply, CLDAV’s batting lineup fell like a pack of cards, with Abhilov being the only one to show some resistance and scored unbeaten 24 runs. The team fell way short of the target, as they could only reach 78 runs losing nine wickets.

For Satluj School, Ashok Saini claimed two wickets.

Saini was declared man of the match for his all-round performance.

Tomorrow’s fixtures: DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, versus DAV Model School, Sector 15, 9 am and St Stephens School, Sector 45, versus APJ Kharar 1 pm.

Both matches will be played at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8.

Chandigarh, February 4
Twelve schools have confirmed their participation in the Chandigarh Football Festival for Under-11 for Mount Carmel Trophy, which begins tomorrow at Mount Carmel School in Sector 47 here.

St John’s School, St Peter’s School, St Joseph School, Mount Carmel, St Soldier International, Strawberry School, Chitkara School, Ryan International and The Banyan Tree School are among the teams that have conformed participation.

Chandigarh Football Association (CFA) vice-president Charles Samuel said each school was allowed to field two teams consisting of 10 players in each team and added that it would be a seven-a-side contest with rolling substitution.

Skill competitions would also be organised to spot out talent for regular coaching to youngsters, he added.

Chandigarh, February 4
Kamini and Mamta excelled in the two-day annual athletics meet that began at DAV College, Sector 10, here today.Kamini bagged first position in the 100 m race and shot put, while Mamta secured first position in 400 m and 800 m races.

Earlier, the athletics meet was formally inaugurated by Justice AL Bari, vice-president of DAV managing committee.

Addressing sportspersons, Justice Bari emphasised the need for a healthy body and mind. He called upon the youth to discipline themselves with exercise, optimum utilisation of their time and work hard to achieve their goals. He also released a souvenir of the college, highlighting its sports achievements.

Students and faculty of the college also congratulated Hema KC who won a bronze in shooting at the South Asian Games.

The results: Girls: 100 m: 1 Kamini, 2 Kavita and 3 Shivika Sharma; 400 m: 1 Mamta, 2 Ritu Malhan and 3 Anam Khan; 800 m: 1 Mamta, 2 Ritu Malhan and 3 Kamini Bhalla; shot put: 1 Kamini, 2 Aakansha and 3 Shivani Rana.

Boys: 100 m: 1 Harjot Singh, 2 Ravi Arvind and 3 Harjinder Singh; 400 m: 1 Harjinder Singh, 2 Davinder Kumar and 3 Mohit Singh; 1,500 m: 1 Davinder Kumar, 2 Sunil Kumar and 3 Sidhant Sharma; shot put: 1 Gagandeep Singh, 2 Dipin Sandhu and 3 Sanjay Gahlyan.

Chandigarh, February 4
Ravinder Chaudhry, honorary secretary, Amateur Athletics Association, Chandigarh, and lecturer in the department of physical education, DAV college, will officiate as deputy competition manager for athletics during the forthcoming Commonwealth Games in October.

Ravinder, who has been nominated as senior joint secretary, Athletics Federation of India, has served in various capacities for the country at international events.

Chandigarh, February 4
Trials to select probables for Punjab team to participate in the 3rd All-India Senior National League Cricket Tournament at Pathankot from February 18 will be held on February 7. Stating this in a press release here, Sajjan Kumar, president Cricket Association of India, said interested players should contact coach Davinder Singh at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, at 3 pm.

He said 31 probables had been selected for the Chandigarh team. They are: Kamaldeep Singh, Balwinder Singh, Deepak, Prince Rathor, Karanvir Singh, Kamal, Shanky, Bharat, Archit Bajaj, Narinder, Rakesh Kumar, Vivek, Navdeep Saini, Gurpreet Singh, Rohit, Vikas, Manish Koshik, Rajinder Singh, Rajiv Goyal, Mayur Sethi, Ujwaldip Singh, Ashish Kumar, Ashish, Balwinder, Balwir Kumar, Vikramjit Singh, Priyank Chande, Harkirat Singh, Ankit Sharma, Jaskaran and Sorabh Bahal.

The camp for selected probables will be held at Shivalik Public School, Sector 41, on February 8 at 4.30 pm. The selected players should contact Davinder at 9256419948 for further information.