NEIGHBOURHOOD

‘Kala kachcha’ gang is back!
Robs 3 poor families of Rajpura village
Gurdeep Singh Mann
Tribune News Service

Mandi Gobindgarh (Fatehgarh Sahib), August 7
Three labourers were injured in a furnace blast at a factory here this morning. The incident took place in JS Khalsa Steel Private Limited, situated on the Kumbh road here.

The injured were taken to a nearby hospital with the help of other labourers and their condition was stated to be stable.

Police officials who reached the scene said the incident took place around 8 am when some labourers were trying to boil scrap in a boiler with the help of some chemicals.

An explosion occurred and the victims came in contact with the hot material.

Ten labourers were working in the factory at the time of the accident. Others ran for cover as panic gripped.

The injured have been identified as Vinod Mishra, a resident of Udaipur village in Sitapur district

(UP), Shravan Kumar of UP and Happy, a local resident.

Shravan Kumar said they had added some packed scrap into the boiler and it exploded after a few minutes of boiling.

Meanwhile, some reporters were prevented from entering the factory premises. Factory officials on behalf of the owners did not allow them to enter or reveal information in this regard.

Even police officials had to wait for around half an hour outside the factory before they could inquire into the incident.

The Mandi Gobindgarh SHO said action would be initiated in this regard after completing preliminary inquiries.

A large number of such incidents have taken place in the past but nothing concrete has been done to prevent recurrence of such incidents.

Some labourers have even lost their lives in such incidents. Furnace units melt scrap at high temperatures (around 1,500 °C) to make ingots out of raw iron and then send it to rolling mills for further processing.

Kharar, August 7
Incharge of the Gharuan police post Gurvinder Singh was suspended and sent to police lines today after a woman and her three sons blocked the Chandigarh-Ludhiana road near Gharuan village late last night.

Yesterday a woman named Savitri Devi and her three sons blocked the Chandigarh-Ludhiana road near Gharuan village demanding their share of husband Sukhdev’s property.

Sukhdev, a resident of Gharua village, has been missing since three years. In his absence, Savitri and her three sons went to stay with her parents at Ferozepur.

A few days ago, one of Savitri’s sons had come to Chandigarh. He came to know that his grandparents had declared his father Sukhdev Kumar dead.

He informed his mother, who reached Gharuan village and protested. Thereafter, they called up the Kharar police who allegedly partnered with the accused. Protesting this, Savitiri and her sons sat on a dharna thereby blocking the traffic.

Savitri alleged that the police on duty manhandled her and her sons.

Protesters also torched a few pieces of tyres trying to create panic in the area. Dharna was lifted past midnight after the police assured Savitri of taking an action against the official.

Confirming this, DSP Raj Balwinder Singh Mrar said Gurvinder had been sent to police lines. He added that this was the second incident in the past one month wherein traffic on the national highway had been held.

Earlier, people of Mundi Kharar had protested against prolonged power cuts. The police had booked case against those who blocked the traffic, but no arrest had been made so far. “Politicians don’t allow us to take any action in such cases,” said a police official.

Patiala, August 7
The police has claimed to have solved the murder case of Kamal (21), a local resident who was murdered on the evening of August 1.

SP (detective) Gurdeep Singh Pannu and SP (city) Narinder Kaushal said all four accused involved in the crime had been arrested and booked under Sections 302, 307, 506 and 34 of the IPC.

The accused have been identified as Sukhwinder Singh, alias Sonu, Karan Thakur, alias Robin, Amitash, alias Aami, and Anandbir Singh.

Kamar was stabbed to death, while his friend Rahul sustained serious injuries, after the accused assaulted them while they were returning home after attending a marriage on August 1.

Addressing mediapersons on Thursday, the officials said Kamal and Rahul had gone to Palm Courts to attend a wedding of their friend Ashok Kumar.

“Sukhwinder, Karan and Amitash, all local residents, gate-crashed the wedding. While having dinner, the accused got into an argument with Kamal and Rahul over some issue,” the officials said.

Subsequently, Sukhwinder, Karan and Amitash were asked to leave the party, following which they decided to take revenge on the two.

“The three accused called up their friend Anandbir and the four laid in wait for Rahul and Kamal outside the venue. The moment the victims stepped out, the accused assaulted them with knives.” While Kamal died at Apollo Hospital, Ludhiana, Rahul was admitted to a local private hospital.

Pannu said the police showed the video footage of the function to Rahul, who identified the assailants. The four were later arrested.

Chandigarh, August 7
After a trial of 14 years, Panchkula-based famous astrologer Prem Kumar Sharma and five others were today sentenced to two-year rigorous imprisonment (RI) in a case of cheating and criminal conspiracy. The accused were, however, granted bail as soon as the orders were pronounced.

Directing the prosecution to start parallel proceedings against the six accused - Prem Kumar Sharma, Vishav Nath Attri, Jagdish Lal Ahuja, Ashok Kumar Vig, Kewal Krishan Arora and Nirmal Singh - the court of Judicial Magistrate (First Class) Paramjit Kaur, also imposed a fine of Rs 1,500 on each of them. One of the accused, Rachhpal Singh, had died during the trial.

Pronouncing the orders, the court observed: “The prosecution and the investors can start parallel proceedings under the provisions of the IPC as well as under the Companies Act in order to get their grievances remedied because the proceedings under both the enactments are independent.”

The matter came to light after the secretary of Green Gold Eucalyptus Ltd filed a cheating complaint against the accused. All the accused were managers of the company. The complainant had alleged that the company had collected Rs 2 crore from poor persons under various schemes. The company gave a guarantee-cum-performance agreement on the Rs 15 stamp paper and mortgaged the land of the company to the investors as a security of their investments.

However, one of accused, Rachhpal Singh, sold the already mortgaged land at Saidanpur village and Sauntli Khurd village in Ambala. It was further alleged that on the maturity of the scheme, the promoters of the company fled after locking their offices in Sector 17 and in other towns.

The complainant stated that the accused had opened a new company under the name, Syndicate Plantations Ltd, with a registered office in Chandigarh and a corporate office in Karnal. The complainant alleged that the accused again started deceiving people in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

An inquiry was initiated after registration of an FIR on August 16, 1994, which revealed that the accused had mortgaged the land. The court stated that original mortgage deals were placed on record by the prosecution. So, it becomes clear that the accused had joined hands to cheat the public at large and thereby misappropriated their money.

Chandigarh, August 7
The police arrested a Sector-38 resident along with his friend yesterday for allegedly forging his deceased father’s will, showing himself as the sole heir to the property, worth around Rs 6 crore.

Sources in the economic offences wing (EOW) of the Chandigarh police said a case of cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy was registered on a complaint lodged by sisters of the accused, who alleged that their father had never made a will before his death.

The complainants, Ritu Poonia of Sector 35 and Aman Liga, alleged that their father, Lt-Col Karnail Singh, had disowned their brother Deepinder Singh Poonia some time before his death.

Deepinder had been living separately. Their father died in December last and Deepinder had made a will thereafter to grab the entire property. The police said as per the complaint, Lt-Col Karnail Singh had been living at Sector 11 while Deepinder lived at Sector 38-West.

Ritu told the police that her father had consulted her in financial matters and had never made any will. The property was passing from one generation to another and was yet to be divided equally among the three siblings and their mother.

During the inquiry, the police found that the signatures of the deceased were forged. Deepinder’s accomplice Khushwant Singh was also arrested while an 83-year-old woman, also named in the case, was not arrested. The police said it was yet to ascertain her involvement in the crime.

Panchkula, August 7
Feroz Singh Garewal of DAV School, Sector 15, shot the best card of the day (five over par 77) as 82 U-17 golfers of the region teed off for the different titles at stake in the second CGA Junior-2010 Golf Circuit at the Panchkula Golf Club here today.

Playing in Category B, this lad took a six-stroke lead over Harsh Gangwar, his nearest rival in the category.

But it was a bad day for IGU ranked Aadil Bedi. This nine-year-old Vivek High School student was unlucky as he dropped seven shots on the fourth hole. This bad patch saw Aadil finish with 11 over par 87 score, a good four strokes behind Amarit Lal, who emerged the leader

with an 83 card in Category D. It was a good start for the Badwal sisters from Kapurthala, Gurjot and Gursimar. They took the lead in the C and A Categories of the women section. It was easy going for seven-year-old Vasundhara Thiara as she emerged the leader in the E Category. Tavleen Batra and Varinda Aggarwal were the leaders in the B and D Categories. The tournament got off to a good start with Asian Tour winner and Arjuna awardee Harmeet Kahlon doing the ceremonial tee-off. CGA president JS Cheema hoped that the circuit would prove beneficial for children, as the young participants were learning the rules and etiquette of the game by participating in such tournaments.

The participants will have the draw for tomorrow posted online at the web site www.chandigarhgolfassociation.com. After the completion of the tournament, the merit list will be posted on the website for boys and girls separately.

Scores (after first round)

Girls

Category E: Vasundhara Thiara 58; Category D: Varinda

Aggarwal 90; Category C: Gurjot Badwal 94; Category B: Tavleen Batra 85; Category A: Gursimar Badwal 80.

Boys: Category E: Arnav Jain 55, Harman Bir Bajwa 58; Category

D: Amrit Lal 83, Aadil Bedi 87, Gurvak Deol 87; Category C:

Aadil Bir Singh 85, Sarthak Kohli 85, Khushman Raj Singh 87; Category B: Feroz Grewal 77, Harsh Gangwar 82, Yuvraj Singh 83; Category A: K Ragav Bhandari 79, Mahraj Singh Bajwa 79, Tarundeep Singh Chadda 81.

Chandigarh, August 7
Delhi Public School, Pinjore, defeated Yadvindra Public School to win the fourth Chairman's Cup Soccer Tournament held at the Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex in Panchkula today.

In a tough clash, DPS overcame YPS, Mohali, 1-0.Vishwas put a measured pass by Anurag over the goal line in the 32nd minute of the game to seal the victory.

Earlier, in their semifinal match, DPS, Pinjore, overcame St Xavier’s School, Mohali, 3-0, whereas, in the second semifinal, YPS defeated St Kabir School, Sector 26, by a solitary goal.

Andrew Gosain distributed prizes and trophies among winners and runners-up.