Chandigarh, May 10
It was the possession of stolen water pipes which allegedly led to the brutal murder of two security guards whose bodies were found under a bridge adjoining Makhan Majra and Darua Junction on May 1.

The police today claimed to have solved the murder case with the arrest of four persons identified as Rinku Verma, alias Raju (30), Ricky Sharma (25) and Devi Shankar Verma (25), residents of Mauli Jagran, and 26-year-old Shamshad, alias Lambu, of Hallo Majra.

The SSP, SS Srivastva, said a team of the SHOs of the Sector 31 and Industrial Area police stations, Inspectors Bakhshish Singh and Dilsher Singh, gathered information from their sources and zeroed in on the accused. The accused were arrested from Mauli Jagran and Hallo Majra.

The sources said the accused told investigators that they had come to the forest area for stealing water pipes around 11.30 pm on April 30. They were loading the broken pieces of pipes, when Sucha Singh and Gurdial Singh, the security guards posted at nearby factories, prevented them from doing so. Soon, a scuffle ensued between them.

The guards attacked them with sticks and the accused were forced to flee. The guards, then, took away the stolen pipes. After about two hours, the accused came back around 1.30 am and started breaking the pipes. The guards returned and attacked them again. Two of them fled toward the bridge while the other two ran away toward the factories where the guards were posted. The guards, carrying a torch and sticks, chased the duo that ran toward the bridge.

The accused said they had a scuffle on the bridge and soon their other friends joined them. They picked up stones and started beating up the guards. Rinku hit Gurdial Singh with a stone on the head and he collapsed. They then bludgeoned Sucha Singh to death and threw both of them under the bridge.

The accused were produced before a local court today and remanded in police custody for three days.

Chandigarh, May 10
Shocking as it may sound, one of the accused, Rinku Verma, had returned after four hours to ensure that the victims were dead.

When he realised that 45-year-old Sucha Singh was still alive and writhing in pain, he allegedly picked up a brick lying nearby and hit him repeatedly on the head until he died.

Sources said while describing the horrific sequence of events, Rinku told investigators that he and his three accomplices had gone to steal pipes from near the bridge near Makhan Majra and Daria Junction around 11.30 pm on April 30, but Sucha Singh and Gurdial Singh shooed them away.

After the accused succeeded in getting rid of them when they returned after two hours, they loaded the broken pipes on a handcart and sold those to a junk dealer near Zirakpur.

They got about Rs 1,500 by selling the scrap and distributed it among themselves at Hallo Majra around 5 am.

Rinku then decided to return to the crime scene to confirm if the guards had died. Although he found the listless body of Gurdial Singh, Sucha Singh’s body was not to be found.

Worried, Rinku went down to the rivulet and found Sucha Singh bleeding profusely and crying in pain. Sucha Singh had probably crawled towards the stream to drink water. He went to Sucha Singh, who identified him, and Rinku picked up a brick to bludgeon him to death.

The police said Rinku, an autorickshaw driver, went to work that morning.

The other accused, all labourers, told the police that they went to their routine jobs after committing the murder. They also did not try to flee believing that they would never be caught.

Rinku is married and a father of two. He was earlier convicted in a theft case in 1996. The accused reportedly confessed to having committed petty thefts before.

Chandigarh, May 10
Can an officer serve on a post for 25 years for which he is not qualified? The answer should be a no, but an officer of the UT administration has achieved this “feat” by serving on a vital post since 1985 and is due to retire on May 31.

Now, the officials of the UT administration are at their wits’ end whether to retire him on the current post or demote him.

Highly placed sources claim that the officer had originally come on an ad hoc basis for a period of six months only. Later, the department was asked to make a proposal and send it to the UPSC for the sanction of the post. Neither did that ever come about nor any efforts were made to get the post vacated.

A quarter of a century later, the administration has woken up from its slumber only to realise that the situation has gone out of hand. A legal opinion was also sought on this matter, but the sources claimed that it had not helped.

Legal experts pointed out that not only was the appointment erroneous, but also his continuation on the post for over two decades. They were of the view that he should be demoted.

The officer is at present the anti-malaria officer and has also served as a nodal officer for swine flu, dengue, integrated disease surveillance project and National Rural Health Mission.

Interestingly, the officer, HC Ghera, was promoted from the post of entomologist/parasitologist in 1984 as a biologist-cum-anti-malaria officer.

When contacted, Ghera said: “I have served as per the orders of the administration and will continue to do so. I have continued on the post of biologist-cum-anti-malaria officer with one-day break. Time and again I have represented to the officials for regularising my promotion.”

Chandigarh, May 10
Eight persons, including two children, were taken to hospitals after a cylinder of chlorine gas at a tubewell leaked at Mauli Jagran here today. All the victims, however, are stated to be out of danger.

The victims have been identified as Santosh (35), her daughter Simran (8), their relative Tara (55), Urmila (45), Manish (30), Raman (27) and Sonu (12). They were admitted to the Government Multi Speciality Hosptial, Sector 16. Another victim was admitted to the Panchkula General Hospital.

Mayor Anu Chantrath and chief engineer SS Bida visited the patients and claimed that the gas was not poisonous.

Bida said it was around 9 pm when the tubewell operator, Gurinder, noticed the leakage in the gas cylinder.

The chlorine gas is mixed in the drinking water to remove its impurities. Though the gas is not harmful, it high concentration at one place could create problems in breathing, he said. Satpal tried to plug the leakage and in the process started feeling uneasy.

He left the place and informed his seniors.

Fire brigade employees covered their faces with masks to plug the leakage, said Bida.

Meanwhile, the gas spread to the residential area of the colony and people started complaining of breathlessness.

“I reached home around 9 pm after closing my shop and found my wife Santosh and daughter Simran in an unconscious condition, said Satpal at the hospital.

The police was called in and the victims were rushed to hospitals in ambulances, he said.

Chandigarh, May 10
The MC seems to have separate law for the rich. There can be no other explanation for a massive encroachment by a multi-crore construction company that has been fined a mere Rs 100 for encroaching on public land and damaging public property to the tune of Rs 30 lakh.

In contrast, a “rehriwala” or a roadside tea vendor is fined at least Rs 500.

The MC released the confiscated machinery of the multinational company for a meagre payment of Rs 100. The machinery was confiscated in an exercise undertaken by at least a dozen MC employees after it was found that the machinery was damaging MC property and also obstructing traffic.

On May 6, the inspector of enforcement, Ved Kumar, found a machine owned by the company disposing of the concrete mixture at the site in the Industrial Area, Phase I. In the process, the machine had damaged road berms. The inspector tried to stop the workers of the company from doing so, but when his warnings were not heeded to, he informed an SDO and a heavy duty towing van was pressed into service to remove the machine, which was taken to the MC’s store in Sector 17.

The staff of the enforcement wing, however, was shocked to learn that the higher authorities had released the machine as a “special” case within hours and that, too, after charging a token penalty of only Rs 100.

The corporation usually imposes a minimum fine of Rs 500 and takes around three days to release confiscated goods.

This is not all. The MC has failed to take any action against the company for damaging public property, which would cost the civic body Rs 30 lakh. The company, in fact, has refused to pay anything for the damage.

On March 11, the MC authorities wrote a letter to the company claiming that the plying of heavy earth moving machinery and spilling of water on roads around the site had damaged the road. The MC demanded Rs 30 lakh from the company. Company officials, however, refused to do so and denied any use of water on roads.

Roads are meant for public use and trucks carrying the earth were supposed to move on roads, the company stated in its reply.

Confirming that the machinery of the company had been released against a fine of Rs 100, the MC additional commissioner, PK Sharma, said it was a lapse and the staff had been asked to be careful in such cases.

Chandigarh, May 10
The Panjab University’s examination branch is caught in a peculiar situation. Around 89 per cent of the first semester students of the five-year integrated law course have failed to turn up to collect their marksheets that have been withheld owing to the non-payment of dues.

Of the 422 candidates who appeared in the course in November 2009, 375 have not bothered to pay their dues to collect the marksheets.

Furthermore, the poor pass percentage of 30.42 in the same course has now compelled the authorities to rework certain conventional practices of inspection in colleges with poor results.

For instance, in a private law college at Nawashahr only seven students from the batch of the five-year integrated law course passed in November 2009 while 30 students either failed or got a re-appear.

Besides the PU’s University Institute of Legal studies (UILS), the other colleges that offer the law course are Rayat College of Law, Rail Majra, Baba Kunda Singh Memorial Law College, Jalalabad, East Dharamkot, GHG Institute of Law for Women, Sidwan Khurd (Ludhiana), SSGPURC, Bajwara (Hoshiarpur), and the PU Regional Centre, Ludhiana.

More such startling figures in the PU’s official gazette reveal that the pass percentage has been largely skewed due to poor performance of students in certain affiliated colleges.

With this, the practice of regular inspection in these affiliated colleges, which pull down the overall result statement of the PU each year, has also come under scanner. On an average, the pass percentage of law courses hovers at 50 per cent or less. The only saving grace is that the results of semesters such as the final semester touch 85-88 per cent.

A comparison of the figures of the five-year integrated law course to other law courses such as the three-year LLB course reveal that the number of re-appear candidates is very high.

In November 2008, nearly 55 per cent students in the first semester of the LLB course got a re-appear (381 out of 698 students). In November 2009, this figure was 52.11 per cent (185 out of 355 students) for the same course.

PU’s Controller of Examinations AK Bhandari said: “In 90 per cent cases, students do not pay the dues. Even if they fall short by Rs 100 in their dues, the university permits them to take the exams, but holds back the marksheet which is released only after the payment is made.”

He said the issue of inspection in affiliated colleges with poor results could only be discussed once the VC returns on May 16.

The director of public relations (PU), Sudhir Kumar, said: “There has been a steep fall in the quality of teaching in courses and has even been highlighted by the Chief Justice of India.

The system of inspections will be discussed with the VC.”

Chandigarh, May 10
The defence counsel today concluded its rebuttal arguments before a local court hearing to the conviction of the ex-DGP for molesting a teenager. It was the seventh consecutive day of the day-to-day hearing, which began on May 3.

Abha Rathore, counsel to the tainted former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore, reiterated that Rathore was a victim of the politics of Haryana Lawn Tennis Association (HLTA) and was falsely implicated in the case. She also stated that Aradhana, the prime witness in the case, and her mother Madhu Parkash were not close to Ruchika, and Aradhana was planted against Rathore due to rivalry between the two lawn tennis associations of Panchkula.

She argued Aradhana was not present when the incident allegedly took place and she never visited the HLTA office.

“The CBI had argued on presentation of evidence before the court on Saturday and today Rathore’s counsel concluded her rebuttal arguments,” Ruchika’s family lawyer Pankaj Bhardwaj, who will argue on the revision petition before the Sessions court tomorrow, told reporters.

Rathore (68) had challenged his six-month conviction. The CBI magistrate had held him guilty on December 21, 2009, for molesting 13-year-old Ruchika Girhotra, a budding tennis player, in Panchkula in August 1990, who committed suicide three years later.

The CBI and relatives of Ruchika had also filed petitions seeking enhancement of sentence for Rathore.

Additional District Sessions Judge Gurbir Singh is hearing the pleas on a day-to-day basis since last week. All proceedings are held in-camera inside the courtroom.

The CBI had sought maximum punishment of two years for Rathore. The defence counsel had completed their arguments last Thursday.

Chandigarh, May 10
Stating that the number of NCC cadets getting a commission in the armed forces is showing an upward trend, Additional Director General, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh Directorate, Maj Gen MS Virk has said 90 cadets from the region have joined the services, which is the highest number for any directorate in the state.

As many as six cadets from Chandigarh made it to the services this year so far. This includes two sisters, Suman and Ritu Godara, who secured third and seventh position, respectively, in the merit list for the Officers Training Academy (OTA), Chennai. While Suman has already reported to the OTA, Ritu is yet to clear her medical examination.

“It is an extremely proud moment for me,” their mother Maya said. “I have another daughter and two sons, but it is because of Suman and Ritu, that we have earned a place in society,” she added. Their father, Rai Singh, an agriculturalist who hails from Sirsa, said they had moved to Chandigarh only to ensure that their children get a good education. NCC is also starting coaching classes on the line of some professional academies based here to help cadets prepare for entrance examination and SSB interview for joining the services.

Besides this, NCC cadets would also participate in the “Save Sukhna” campaign to help de-silt and removing the weeds in the lake. “Our naval wing carries out boating and other water-based training in Sukhna regularly and hence we feel it’s our duty to pitch in to restore the lake,” Brigadier Virk added.

Chandigarh, May 10
The Punjabi language is on its way of getting its rightful place in Punjab’s capital Chandigarh. In a development that would go a long way in promoting Punjabi in the city, the Chandigarh administration today decided that all the signboards and nameplates would be in Punjabi.

This decision was taken at a high-level meeting presided over by Adviser to the UT Administrator Pradip Mehra. “The decision is part of administration’s efforts to give due place to Punjabi in the centrally-administered - the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana,” a senior official told The Tribune.

For the convenience of the general public, it was decided that the administration would respond to all communications in Punjabi in the same language. Similarly, the communications in Hindi would be replied back in Hindi only, the official said.

The need for communication with general public in the their language has been felt as there has been a drastic change in the demographic profile of the city in the recent years. While a majority of the city’s population was Punjabi-speaking, a large number Hindi-speaking people have settled in the city from other states, including Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.

The decision comes following a meeting of a Punjab delegation, led by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, with Punjab Governor Shivraj Patil on March 16 this year. The delegation comprising politicians and literary persons had submitted a memorandum to Patil seeking first language status for Punjabi in the union territory.

A resolution demanding declaring Punjabi as a compulsory subject up to Class X in all schools in Chandigarh was passed in the Punjab Assembly on March 15. The resolution had also demanded setting up of Punjabi Literary Academy in Chandigarh. All the important signboards and nameplates of government offices should be displayed in Punjabi language, the resolution had demanded.

Punjabi activists had been advocating that the villages that were razed to make way for Chandigarh comprised 90 per cent the Punjabi-speaking population.

Meanwhile, former Chandigarh Mayor Harjinder Kaur, who has been spearheading the campaign for making Punjabi as Chandigarh’s official language, welcomed the decision. However, efforts should be intensified for declaring Punjabi as the official language of the city, she demanded.

Mohali, May 10
Despite stay order by the Mohali district administration on the operation of girdwari (possession papers of the cultivable land) in the alleged land scam involving 600 acres in Chandigarh’s periphery, unscrupulous elements, including some shareholders continue to change the nature of the land by levelling hillocks protected.

The large chunk of land in villages-Bhagindi, Gurdha, Kasauli, Jyanti Majri and Karaundewala- is closed under relevant Section of the Punjab Land Preservation Act (PLPA) and the Indian Forest Act.

The district administration has stayed the operation of the girdawari after the gram panchayat of Bhagindi village, in its representation to the DC, had alleged that out of the total 600 acres of common village land, 300 acres of Bhangindi village had been illegally transferred in the girdawari documents in connivance with the revenue officials.

Mohali Deputy Commissioner Prabhjot Singh Mand said the stay means status quo and no one was allowed to tamper with the land or its possession the moment the status quo was ordered by the court of SDM.

Kharar SDM Rajiv Gupta said if any such thing was happening, it was in violation of the court. Villagers should lodge a complaint with the police. Several residents of Bhangindi village were moving freely and the area patwari, Balbir Singh was assisting them despite the stay order.

The villagers pointed out the unscrupulous elements tried to take possession of a chunk of land in Kasauli village last night by claiming that the girdwari was in their name.

The occupant of the land, GS Gill, said despite stay on the girdwari, the patwari was passing on wrong information to the Mullanpur Police Station SHO Vijay Kumar.

SSP, Mohali, GPS Bhullar, assured fair probe in the matter. He said the issue of fraudulent changes in possession documents had been referred to the economic offence wing of the district police.

Zirakpur, May 10
Anti-encroachment drive by the enforcement wing of Zirakpur Municipal Council at the old Kalka road took a political colour, when at least three politicians extended their support to the protest held by shopkeepers against the action of MC. As a result, the demolition drive came to standstill.

Those who supported the protest include Manpreet Kaur Dolly, daughter of the Late Punjab Minister MLA Capt Kanwaljit Singh, MLA Kharar Balbir Singh Sidhu, Congress leader Dipinder Singh Dhillon and Jaspal Singh.

Meanwhile, the enforcement staff stopped the drive and asked shopkeepers to submit their opinion before the court by May 20.

Officials from the enforcement wing backed by executive officer SJ Sharma, along with Zirakpur SHO, Baltana Police chowki in charge and labour armed with JCBs reached the spot around 12 noon. The drive began with the demolition of jhuggis and kuccha houses near the Punjab water supply office.

The protest triggered after the demolition of kuccha houses. Residents, including women and children, started raising slogans against the MC officials. They immediately informed Manpreet, who reached the spot and stood in front of the JCB machine and asked them to run the machine over her before demolishing the shops. However, the MC officials stopped the drive.

The shopkeepers claimed that they were running their shops from the past 40 years and giving rent to Municipal Council. Affected shopkeepers and residents said shops had been rented to them by Lohgarh Panchayat and now the area has come under the limits of Zirakpur MC.

Later, Congress leaders Balbir Singh Sidhu, Deepinder Singh Dhillon and Jaspal Singh, along with other local Congress leaders reached the spot and joined the protest.

Due to the political pressure, MC officials stopped the drive.

They said the shopkeepers were told to vacate the land so that widening of the old Kalka road could be done.

Chandigarh, May 10
“Wisdom, rationality, impulse and majestic sweep of imagination and expression are the force field for any creative writer and city pride Kashmiri Lal Zakir is richly gifted with all these virtues,” observed Pawan Kumar Bansal while releasing the Urdu book “Aye Mao, Behno, Betityo” written by Zakir at his residence here today.

The 126th book, authored by Zakir, including 10 short stories depict the dilemma of women, her status in the male dominated society holds a social relevance, he added.

Bansal said though women had been extolled as an angel from across the centuries, as reflected in our religious epics, practically the situation had been otherwise in India and even foreign countries. Even today, women had to struggle to get her share of recognition.

Speakers, including Dr Kamlesh Mohan, Dr Rehana Parveen and MP Chand said literary creation of immense socio-cultural relevance on women empowerment came alive after Zakir saw the caricature of a woman sweeping with broom, published in The Tribune on the International Woman’s Day.

Former city Mayors Pardeep Chhabra and Harjinder Kaur, graced the function.

Chandigarh, May 10
A four-day workshop on “Fermentation technology for enzymes production” being organised by the food science department of MCM DAV College for Women, Sector 36, began today on the college premises.

Dr SS Marwaha, CEO Punjab Biotech Incubators Limited, was the chief guest who elaborated upon the significance of fermentation technologies in the food industry. The session had SK Rana, CEO, Bioage Private Limited, as the guest speaker, who apprised the students of various new designs of the bioreactors and their respective applications.

Chandigarh, May 10
A superb presentation of a dance drama “Chandalika” at the Tagore Theatre was a tribute to legend Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore on his 150th jayanti here today.

The acclaimed Tagore classic “Chandalika” presented by NZCC, Chandigarh administration and Padam, brought alive the caste prejudices and social evils under the direction of famed choreographer Suchitra Mitra.

Chandalika is the touching tale of a sensitive girl condemned by her birth to a low and despised caste. Through the kind gesture of a Buddhist follower she is, however, awakened to a consciousness of her full rights of a woman, as the Divinely revered Buddhist monk accepts water from her. He enlightens her on the artificial values of society and discovers herself as a creature of God judging herself by her devotion and capacity for sacred love and service.

Chandalika feels elated calling it her rebirth but longs for reviving links with the monk. Her mother practices a black magic to ensure the return of monk to her fold for a divine relationship.

Graceful stage movements and expressions by protagonist Sumita Lamba (Prakriti) and Suchitra Mitra (Maya), Malay Bhatacharyya (Ananda) in solo dancing kept the audience in rapt attention but overlapping in footwork in group dances was visible. The live music composed by lead singers Nasreen Hazra and Subhasis Hazra supported by Debhanjan Halder was the lifeline of the production. The enunciation of story by Vaishali Choudhry in Hindi and songs in Bengali kept the audience interest alive. Shivraj V Patil, Governor Punjab, Ram Niwas IAS, DS Saroya, director NZCC, and senior officials graced the memorable show.

Chandigarh, May 10
The development plans and individual budgets presented by the city government colleges have failed to impress the UT higher education department which has asked them to re-work their “ambitious list of tall promises”.

The colleges have reportedly invited the ire of the department for their vague and unplanned, though ambitious list of promises.

In an unprecedented move, the department of higher education not only released an official “Vision 2010”, but also asked colleges to shortlist their needs, plans for future development and the requisite budget.

The colleges were supposed to make presentation in this regard. A series of such presentations, however, left senior officials disappointed over the lack of clarity in the individual “visions” of all colleges.

These presentations according to official sources, came across as just another attempt to impress Director Higher Education (DHE). While most of them talked about making campus wi-fi, introducing LCD supported teaching methods and mandatory internships in all courses, they apparently failed to work out any modalities.

“All colleges came up with a long list of promises, but had not formulated any policy or plans on how to achieve them. Leave aside preparing a budget, they seemed to be clueless even about the initial steps to be taken to achieve their goals,” said Ajoy Sharma.

When confronted with a possibility of it being a fallout of the overambitious character of “Vision 2010”, Sharma reacted saying, “The “Vision 2010” aimed at setting specific goals under various subheads which according to me has been done effectively. As far as corresponding action plan is concerned, we are at it and have worked it out for most of the postulates. These presentations cannot be compared to “Vision 2010”, as they just have to specify needs and plans at individual levels. We are not asking them to do anything great but expect that if a college principal talks about the wi-fi system, then he or she should know the approximate number of laptops on campus.”

The department has asked these colleges to rework their presentations and report back with their ‘visions’ supported with the basic groundwork.

“We have asked them to brainstorm and shortlist the true needs of their colleges. They have also been asked to be specific in their proposed development projects, work out the modalities, form respective committees and then report to us”, said the DHE.

Chandigarh, May 10
Students of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET) and Indian National Students’ Organisation (INSO) today submitted a memorandum to PU authorities.

The students mentioned the problems being faced by them in the PU central library due to lack of chairs, non-functioning of air-conditioner in the outer and inner section, lack of new addition books and no more addition of computers despite many assurances.

INSO leader Dharmander Lathwal added, “We submitted the memorandum for 100 computers studded lab in the central library with council members in November, 2009.”

He also raised the problem of placement and training of newly started 48 courses, though the university charging a huge amount for these courses.

The students mentioned about the problem of internal assessment reappear system in UIET. INSO leader Kuldeep Singh said cumulative grade points average (CGPA) should be applicable on the session 2009-10 UIET and DECT students. He further raised the long pending demand of mechanical engineering for AICTE approval.

Dean Student Welfare, Prof Naval Kishore intervened and assured the delegation for positive developments on their demands. “The university will spend in a big way in overhauling of PU from which Rs 2 crore has been acquired for revamping the library,” said director public relations (DPR) Sudhir Kumar.