NEIGHBOURHOOD

1 killed, another hurt in mishap
Tribune News Service

Kharar, April 5
A woman was killed and a man was seriously injured in a road accident at the Landran road in Kharar at around 9.30 pm.

ASI Prem Singh said Jarnail Singh from Khwaspur in Ropar village was on his way towards his village from Banur on his motorcycle. A woman accompanied him as a pillion rider. “We are yet to know if the woman was his wife,” he added.

The motorcycle lost balance and the woman fell down on the road. A speeding truck moving from Landran towards the Kharar bus stand ran over the woman’s head killing her on the spot.

Jarnail was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Kharar, where doctors referred him to the PGI. Till filing of this report, the police was investigating the matter.

Ambala, April 5
The body of a 15-year-old boy was found under mysterious circumstances in fields at a nearby village today. The deceased was identified as Amandeep Singh, a resident of Machhaunda, near here.

Amandeep, who was a student of Class VIII, Guru Nanak Public School, Chandanpuri, had gone missing from his home yesterday. He had reportedly gone to get his bicycle repaired, but did not return.

The incident came to light early this morning when passersby saw the body and raised an alarm.

The parents, who apparently did not know about the incident till this morning, said, “We were looking for him since last night and before we could file a missing report with the police, he was found dead.”

The matter was reported to the police and after inquiry, the Parao police arrested cycle mechanic Vijay Kumar for interrogation. A case of murder was registered against two persons suspected to be involved in the case.

Chandigarh, April 5
Army personnel on casual or annual leave shall be considered on duty in case of any mishap, a three-Judge Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ruled.

The Bench made it clear that to decide their disability pension entitlement, it was to be seen whether the disability was attributable to or aggravated by military service.

With this, the Bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, Justice K Kannan and Justice Alok Singh has put to rest the controversy on disability pension entitlement of Army personnel suffering disability in accidents while on leave. So far, more often than not they were denied disability pension on the ground of not being on duty, while on leave.

The assertion comes with a rider. The Bench has clarified the only exception is “when by the virtue of Rule 11 of the leave rules, he could not be deemed to be on duty, if he had not actually performed duty in that year”.

The ruling came on a bunch of two petitions by the Union of India against two Army personnel. “In both cases, the disability had arisen through accidents during leave.”

Speaking for the Bench, Justice Kannan asserted: “If the Army personnel were on duty and they suffer disability due to natural causes, the issue whether it was attributable to or aggravated by military service will be examined by taking the case of Army personnel as they were and examining whether it was intervention of the Army service that caused the disability….

“In cases where the injury that resulted in the disability was due to an accident, which was not due to natural, pathological, physiological or psychological cause, the question that has to be answered is whether the activity or conduct that led to the accident was the result of any activity that is even remotely connected to military service.

“An activity of an independent business, or avocation or calling that would be inconsistent to military service, and an accident occurring during such activity, cannot be attributable to military service,” the Bench concluded.

However, to decide their disability pension entitlement in case of any mishap, it is to be seen whether the disability is attributable to or aggravated by military service

Rider in the ruling is “when by the virtue of Rule 11 of the leave rules, he could not be deemed to be on duty, if he had not actually performed duty in that year”

Chandigarh, April 5
The writ petitions challenging the constitutional validity of Haryana’s decision on setting-up Panchkula Municipal Corporation, comprising Kalka, Pinjore and Panchkula, were today admitted for regular hearing.

The petitions were admitted by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Jasbir Singh of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Notification on setting up the corporation has been challenged. The state government had recently notified the creation of corporation. Panchkula deputy commissioner has also been appointed commissioner in addition to his own duties. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 5
The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed a Ludhiana-based firm to pay Rs 5,000 as compensation to city-based MK Malhotra instead of Rs 2,000.

Malhotra appealed to the forum for enhancement of compensation against the orders of the District Consumer Forum-I that had directed the firm to pay Rs 2,000 as compensation.

Malhotra submitted to the forum that he purchased two cold drink bottles from Six-Ten, which were produced, bottled, and marketed by Ludhiana-based Asianlak Health Foods Ltd. He alleged that immediately after consuming the drinks, his guests/family members complained of giddiness and pain in stomach.

After 3-4 days he got examined the cold drink and was surprised to see a foreign object (most likely a mosquito) in the bottle. He lodged a complaint with Six-Ten (Retail Division of REI Agro Ltd.), located in Sector 38-D, who told him to contact Mohali-based REI Agro Ltd. (Six-Ten Retail Outlet). He also brought the matter to the notice of Asianlak Health Foods Ltd through e-mails as well as fax and also sent legal notice but without any success.

Asianlak Health Foods Ltd in its reply said it did not supply any product in the name of Top Cold Drink to REI Agro and they were not its authorised dealers or distributors. However, REI Agro in its reply stated that the complainant did not purchase the soft drink bottles from them. They stated that they were not connected with the filling of bottles or quality control. They said Asianlak was solely responsible for the manufacturing, filling and quality control of the soft drinks in question.

“Feeling aggrieved with the spurious contents contained in the bottle, the complainant had first served a legal notice and then had to file complaint with the District Consumer Forum. The firms in their reply did their best to deny all allegations contained in the complaint, so much so they also denied to have sold the bottles containing the foreign element. Such kind of litigation taken to logic end by the complainant also serves the cause of public at large. Hence, taking into consideration the said factors, we are of the considered opinion that the ends of justice would meet if the amount of compensation awarded by the District Forum is raised from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000,” the order said. 

Panchkula, April 5
Rachit Nagpal, who was arrested by the police last evening, was produced in the local court, which remanded him to five days in police custody here today.

Rachit, son of a famous sweet maker in Sector 7, had masterminded the kidnapping of a local industrialist’s son and a resident of Sector 7, Nipun Gupta, and demanded Rs 80 lakh as ransom.

His three accomplices Lovish Gugnani (19), Sitansu Puri (21), a resident of Sector 9, and Sahil Negi (18), a resident of Mansa Devi Complex, Sector 5, who were arrested by the police on March 28, had already been sent to judicial remand after the completion of three-day police remand.

Another accused Abhishek (22), a resident of NAC, Mani Majra, who was arrested for selling SIM cards to the accused on fake documents, was sent to police remand.

The police sources said details in the case would be known once the investigations in the case by the police were over.

Chandigarh, April 5
A scooterist was killed in a hit-and-run mishap, while a pedestrian was injured in two separate road accidents in the city.

The deceased, Ramesh Kumar of Sector 38, sustained head injuries after being hit by an auto-rickshaw outside the PGI on March 28.

He was undergoing treatment at the PGI. He breathed his last on April 2. He used to work at a private company.

The police has registered a case against the unidentified driver on a complaint lodged by the deceased relative Kamaldev.

Chandigarh, April 5
Three unidentified motorcyclists allegedly chased and fired a shot at a 24-year-old youth, injuring his shoulder, near his residence in the PGI here late last night. The victim’s family told the police that a Ludhiana resident, who had filed a kidnapping case against their son, was behind the incident.

Though the police has registered a case of attempt to murder and invoked the Arms Act, it is taking the entire incident with a “pinch of salt”. A police officer said they got the spot examined by the forensic experts, dog squad and anti-sabotage squad, but could not recover the bullet shell.

There was no eyewitness to the incident and it was surprising that the assailants kept on chasing the victim from Sector 24 and intercepted him only when he entered the PGI residential area, where private security was deployed and movement of people was considerably high than outside, said the SHO of the Sector 11 police station.

The victim, Sanju, working as a peon in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, was returning home on his motorcycle after finishing work at a judge’s residence in Sector 24 when he was intercepted by three motorcycle-borne youths around 12.30 am.

He alleged that the accused stopped him and fired a shot at him before speeding away. He injured his shoulder and called the police, which rushed him to the PGI. His condition was stated to be stable, said the police.

The SHO said the victim’s father Jagbir Singh, who is a cook in the PGI, lodged a complaint on which a case had been registered.

Sources said Sanju was having an affair with a girl living in the PGI. Her family was against their marriage, following which Sanju ran away with the girl from the district courts. Last year her family lodged a case of kidnapping against him at Sector 17 police station.

The matter is sub judice in the court and the girl’s Ludhiana-based brother-in-law Hemant is pursuing the same.

Sanju told the police that one of the assailants was Hemant while he could not identify the other two. The SHO said a police team had been sent to Ludhiana to trace Hemant and the others two involved in the case.

Chandigarh, April 5
With the arrest of three residents of Ram Darbar, the police today claimed to have solved seven cases of burglary in the city.

In charge of the crime branch Charanjit Singh said the police had so far recovered 300 grams of gold ornaments, 500 grams of sliver ornaments, four gas cylinders and a DVD player from them.

The police had received a tip-off about the burglaries and managed to track them down on March 28. The accused have been identified as Nand Lal, alias Badshah, Ravi, alias Padu, and Suraj, alias Ganju, all residents of Ram Darbar.

The accused confessed to have committed a series of burglaries and thefts in their locality as well as in Mani Majra, Maloya, Sector 26, Sector 20 and Sector 27. Cases have been registered.

The accused are in police custody and will be produced before a local court tomorrow.

More recoveries are expected from their interrogation, said the in charge.

Chandigarh, April 5
Abhijit Chadha stole the thunder by firing a sizzling one under 71 to emerge the gross overall winner of the Captain’s Day Golf Tournament played on the par-72 greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club here yesterday.

A record-breaking 300-plus members battled it out on a hot and sultry day for various prizes at stake in the largest club golf tournament. On display were crystal trophies for different winners.

Besides the Captain’s Day Tournament, prizes were also given away to the players, who won throughout the tournament. These included 24 golfers who recorded a hole-in-one during the year. The prizes for the Independence Day Tournament were also distributed along with the Captain’s Day prizes.

In the Captain’s Day Tournament, the 0-8 handicap category saw AS Bath steel the show with 44 stable ford points leaving Rishi Arora (40 points) and Anupinder Grewal (39 points) at the runner-up and second runner-up position, respectively.

Vijay Sehgal logged 42 points to win the 9-16 handicap category. Brig HS Nanda and BS Brar tied for the second slot at 41 points. But on a count back, Nanda was declared the first runner-up.

Col KS Sandhu won the 17-24 handicap category with 37 points followed by SK Khaitan (29 points) and NP Singh (24 points).

A gala prize giving ceremony was organised on the driving range from 8 pm onwards in which over 700 danced the night away celebrating and honouring captain IPS Mann for his good work done throughout the year.

Young lad Jaiveer Singh was honoured for his outstanding performance throughout the year.

Chandigarh, April 5
The Ball Badminton Sports Promotion Association has organised a coaching camp at Kundan International School, Sector 46, here.

After the camp, players will move to Kurukshetra for the 31st North Zone Ball Badminton Championship will be selected at the camp.

The championship will be held from April 16 to 19.

The probables are:

Men: Rishi Kumar, Saurav, Manjit Singh, Amandeep, Gurpreet Singh, Aniket, Neeraj Kumar, Sandeep Kumar, Guneet Singh, Amit Kumar, Paramjit Singh, Ankur Tiwari, Parvesh Kumar, Shivam and Aakash.

Women: Garima, Poonam, Sapna, Ekta, Neha, Bagwati, Sarita, Prabhjot Kaur, Preeti, Mandeep Kaur, Gitanjali, Harsh, Mohini, Divya and Poonam Sharma.