Ambala, October 15
Ambala Military station is celebrating ‘Sharodo Utsav’ (Durga Pooja) with spiritual and festive fervour.

The festival lasting five days is being celebrated at the Kharga Auditorium Complex at Ambala Cantonment with active participation of the community.

The Pooja Committee, in its earnest to showcase the culture of India, would organise variety of cultural programmes on October 16, which would include performance by a troupe from Kolkata, magic show by a renowned magician and cultural show from the local talent of Ambala Cantonment, sources said.

Ropar, October 15
Body of a man was found tied to a motorcycle on the bed of Sirhind canal today. People found the body as water level in the canal decreased. The motorcycle, Hero Honda Glamour (CH 03 U 7396), belong to a family from Sector 43-D in Chandigarh.

The Ropar police said the family had recently shifted to Kharar.

However, the Kharar police said no DDR or complaint of missing person was lodged with them.

Fatehgarh Sahib, October 15
Two residents of Delhi were killed after the car they were travelling in was hit by a truck this morning while three others received serious injuries.

The deceased have been identified as Jarnail Singh and Naushad Chaudhary. Others who were travelling in the car and received serious injuries were identified as Anil Bagga, Sandeep and Raj Kumar.

They were going towards Delhi from Amritsar. Police officials said while Jarnail Singh died on the spot, Naushad died on way to the PGI, Chandigarh.

A case in this connection has been registered against the truck driver. Family members of the victims have been informed about the incident.

Chandigarh, October 15
Just a week after the plight of tourists and daily commuters on the Kalka-Parwanoo stretch was underscored in these columns through report “Traffic disrupted on NH-22”, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today took suo motu cognizance of the report.

It has been forwarded by the Division Bench of Chief Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice Ajay Tewari to the Bench of Justice Rajive Bhalla, who is already hearing cases related to road safety and streamlining of traffic.

The report was brought to the Division Bench’s notice by Justice PK Palli, a former judge of the Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh High Courts. Justice Palli, along with a communication on the issue, had annexed a copy of the report carried in these columns on October 10.

The Division Bench, while forwarding the matter, observed that the condition of the NH-22, along with the plight of commuters and shopkeepers, had been brought to the fore. The Bench observed that the road was in bad shape due to monsoon rain. Also, the road in front of the Kali Mata Mandi was congested and long traffic jams were commonplace. These were a cause of harassment not just to commuters but also to devotees coming to pay obeisance at the historic temple.

In the report, it was mentioned: “Hundreds of tourists and daily commuters had to face great inconvenience on October 9 due to traffic disruption on the National Highway-22 in Kalka... Tourists and daily commuters remained stranded in the traffic jam for hours. Long queues were seen from the Housing Board in Kalka to the Kalka-Parwanoo barrier in the evening.... Due to traffic congestion, those devotees who had come to pay obeisance at the historic Kali Mata temple were a harassed lot.... Notably, yesterday a senior citizen of Kalka had lost his life, as he was hit by a truck. Last year, a girl also died when a bus hit here.... The congested NH-22 stretch and blind curve, opposite the main gate of Kali Mata temple, has caused many accidents in the recent years and needs to be widened.”

“The deteriorated condition of the NH-22 has turned into a bad shape after the recent rain.”

Panchkula, October 15
Dr Ritu Chaudhary, Deputy Civil Surgeon, Sector 6, General Hospital, here today alleged that former District Health Officer Dr ML Garg had molested her on September 16.

The Sector 5 police registered a case under Section 354 against Dr Garg on October 12 on the victim’s complaint.

Repeated attempts by this reporter to elicit the views of Dr Garg and Civil Surgeon VK Bansal proved futile, as they did not answer the call.

Confirming the same, SHO Om Parkash said they have registered a case on the complaint filed by Dr Chaudhary. He said they have called her again to the police station to get her statement recorded.

Giving the details of the incident to The Tribune, Dr Chaudhary said that she, along with Dr Anjuman, District Programme Manager, went to room number 12 of the hospital to have tea around 1 pm. She said steno Manish also arrived in the room and they were all having tea.

She said Dr Garg entered the room and instead of sitting on one of the vacant chairs, he occupied a chair beside her. She said she was stunned for a moment and did not know what to do when Dr Garg, who had been on contract as medical officer, urban slum dispensaries, allegedly patted on her shoulder.

“I could not react immediately as I did not know what to do. But later I realised that such actions should not be tolerated and finally lodged a complaint with Civil Surgeon VK Bansal and at the Sector 5 police station,” said Dr Chaudhary.

She said an inquiry committee was constituted by the hospital after the incident, which recorded the statements of six persons, including Dr Anjuman and Manish. She said instead of taking any action against the accused or preparing any report the hospital authorities forwarded the same to the police.

However, the police returned the same asking for the action taken report. Neither the hospital authorities nor the police took any action against the former District Health Officer, she claimed.

Some of the doctors, on the condition of anonymity, said Dr Chaudhary and Dr Garg had an old enmity and the complainant did not want him to be appointed on contract as medical officer of urban slum dispensaries.

Ex-HCS officer hurt in assault
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 15
A dispute over parking of vehicles in a residential area took an ugly turn when a resident of Sector 37 allegedly assaulted his neighbour, former HCS officer Vir Bhan Arora, and hurled a brick at him this afternoon.

The 70-year-old victim suffered a head injury and was taken to the Government Multi-Speciality Hospital, Sector 16, where he was administered stitches.

Arora’s son Rajeev Chug told the TNS that his father also suffered a fracture on the shoulder after their neighbour, Ritesh Batish, attacked him around 2 pm outside their residence.

He said his father was standing outside his house when their neighbour attacked him with a brick.

The brick hit the back of his father’s head and he collapsed. The accused then assaulted the victim as he lay on the floor. Hearing cries for help, Chug rushed outside and saw the accused assaulting his father.

The accused also manhandled him when he tried to intervene and fled. He took his father to the hospital from where the police was reported about the incident.

ASI Jagdish Chand reached the hospital and recorded the victim’s statement.

In the evening, police station-39 SHO Janak Rana said a case of causing voluntary injuries and criminal intimidation against Ritesh Batish, a charter accountant by profession, had been registered. He was absconding and efforts were on to arrest him, the police added.

Chandigarh, October 15
Displaying excellent batting skills, Rohan Sodhi helped Saupin’s-32 storm into the quarterfinals with a 10-wicket victory over St Joseph’s School, Sector 44, in the Chandigarh Administration Inter-School Cricket Tournament for under-16 boys played at GMSS, Sector 32, here today.

Wining the toss and deciding to bowl first turned out to be a blessing for Saupin’s, as fiery bowling helped wickets fall in quick succession, bundling out St Joseph’s team at a score of 60 runs in 15 overs. The opening batsman of St Joseph was bowled out in the fourth over with only three runs to his credit.

Saupin’s Karaninder bagged three wickets for 14 runs and Abhi Kochhar scalped two wickets for eight runs, respectively. Karaninder was the highest wicket taker, as he scalped three wickets for 14 runs.

In reply, Rohan Sodhi with his batting prowess piled up a mammoth of 24 in only 23 balls, including three boundaries. Saupin’s overhauled the target in just nine overs without any wicket lost and thereby winning the match in mere 9.2 overs.

With this, the team sailed into the quarterfinals where they will be facing GNPS, Sector 36, on October 19 at GMSS, Sector 32.

Brief scores:

St Joseph’s School: 60 runs all out in 15 overs (Rasamjeet 9 runs in 19 balls, Waris 9 runs in 16 balls; Karaninder 3 for 14, Abhi 2 for 8).

Saupin’s-32: 61 in 9.2 overs (Rohan 24 runs in 23 balls, Abhishek Sharma 22 runs).

Chandigarh, October 15
SD Public School, Sector 32, won the U-19 Inter-School Basketball Championship defeating New Public School, Sector 18 (NPS-18), by 87-80 points in the final held at the Sector 46 stadium here today.

For SD Public School, Ravi (45), Aman (16) and Gurpinder (12) were the main scorers, while for NPS-18, Sartaj (29) and Anshuman were the main scorers.

Chandigarh, October 15
A total of 120 golfers will tee off for the Business Today Honda Pro-Am of Champions on the par-72 greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club here tomorrow.

This is for the first time that Chandigarh is playing host to the national event. The national final will be held in Delhi in February next year.

The tournament, sponsored by Honda Siel cars, will be played on a stable ford format with 75 per cent of the handicap being applied for scoring purposes.