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Our Correspondent

Chandigarh, December 21
Just over 15 years after he provided clues to the identity of Punjab’s then Chief Minister Beant Singh’s assassins, one of the prime witnesses, Balwinder Singh, moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, seeking four-wheeler conveyance. Currently deployed as constable with the UT police, Balwinder Singh, and painter Surinder Sharma were instrumental in the arrest of the assassins, one of whom was facing the gallows. They had painted a grey ambassador car Franco white. It was subsequently used by the assassins in the crime.

Acting on the petition, Justice Permod Kohli asked the UT SSP to take a decision on his demand within a month. The petitioner claimed that he was working as mechanic at Sector 7 and it was on his information the assailants were nabbed and finally convicted.

Following the earlier directions passed in 2004, he was given adequate security cover, but conveyance was not provided, leaving him a sitting duck for militant strike.

He also claimed that as per the information collected by intelligence agencies, his name was on top in the list of people the assailants wanted to eliminate. “A legal notice was also sent to the UT SSP and the IGP to provide conveyance to the petitioner so as to make his security foolproof. It may be mentioned here that anybody can shoot the petitioner if he is coming on a motorcycle or scooter as he is open to firearm injury,” Balwinder Singh said.

He asserted a four-wheeler was required to be provided by the Chandigarh administration. It was the duty of the state to provide adequate and proper security to the petitioner as threat perception was involved in the case.

Chandigarh, December 21
High drama was witnessed in the UT district courts when a ‘sting operation’ by an advocate, exposing the ‘lackadaisical’ security measures at the courts raised a storm amongst lawyers who subsequently expelled the advocate from the District Bar Association by passing a unanimous resolution. 

The protesting advocates also lodged a complaint at the Sector 17 police station, demanding registration of a case under the Arms Act against advocate Arvind Thakur, as he entered the court with live cartridges.

Advocate Arvind Thakur, in a bid to expose ‘chinks’ in the security of the district court, had yesterday walked into the retiring room of District and Sessions Judge SK Goel with live cartridges in his pocket and then subsequently told mediapersons about it.

Following media reports today, all the advocates were frisked by security personnel and were made to stand in long queues at the entrance.

It all started at 9.30 am when lawyers confronted with security personnel for frisking them. After it came to light that stringent security measures were a result of the sting operation by Thakur, an emergency meeting of the Bar was called following which he was expelled from the District Bar Association.

Heated arguments were witnessed between the protesting lawyers and Thakur. Lawyers also pulled down his name board and threw his chair and desk after passing a resolution to debar him from the membership of the DBA. 

“During the emergency meeting held today morning, we have decided to expel Thakur from the membership of the Bar and a complaint has also been forwarded to police for action,” said AS Chahal, president of District Bar Association (DBA).

In its complaint to the police, the DBA has stated that carrying ammunition without licence and without permission of carriage is an offence under the Arms Act. “There is a specific order that nobody can carry ammunition on the court premises as well as in Chandigarh. Thakur has committed a crime under the Arms Act and he took an advantage of being an advocate managed to enter court premises with live cartridges,” reads the complaint.

Advocate Arvind Thakur defended his action and said he had not committed any offence and described it as a vendetta against him “I have a valid arms licence and was trying to expose the chinks in the security system. I was never given an opportunity to present my view and today’s proceeding of debarring me is just a pressure tactic so that I withdraw my petition filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court seeking action against lawyers who have failed to deposit their electricity bills,” said Thakur. 

Panchkula, December 21
Driving rashly son of a senior IPS officer of the Haryana cadre today rammed his Ford Fiesta car into another one at the Sector 8 traffic light points late this evening. According to eye witnesses, Yogesh was driving his Ford Fiesta car no HR 03J 4777 at a speed of around 120 km per hour and dashed into the side of another Honda Accord car no PB 65J 0006, which was coming from the Nohoria hospital side.

Yogesh also tried to manhandle the owner of the car.

The sources said that DSP Iqbal Kaur immediately reached the site. Both the parties, however, reached a compromise. SHO of the Sector 5 police station said they had not received any complaint. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 21
The Chandigarh Police today claimed to have solved 13 cases of burglary, snatching and auto-lifting with the arrest of nine persons.

The police also recovered a country-made pistol from one of the accused, who was part of a five-member gang that was planning to rob a petrol pump. 

The 13 cases solved by the police include five robbery cases in which the accused had robbed the victims after throwing chilly powder in their eyes. 

In the first case, the crime branch of the UT Police arrested four persons and recovered two mobiles and a motorcycle from their possession. The accused were arrested when they were riding a Pulsar motorcycle (CH-03-X-5570) at a police checkpoint near Punjab Engineering College in Sector 12. The two identified themselves as 18 year-old Chandan Kaku and 21 year-old Basant Ballabh, both residents of Naya Gaon in Punjab. Both of them were remanded in two-day police custody.

Two other persons were arrested at a police checkpoint near the Government College of Art in Sector 10. The accused have been identified as Mukesh, alias Chikna, and Ghanshyam, alias Lucky. They were apprehended while on a motorcycle, which was stolen from Sector 41. 

Following their interrogation, the police established their involvement in the burglary at a Verka booth in Sector 18 on October 12. They were remanded in one-day police custody. 

In another case, the police arrested one Kulwinder Kumar along with a stolen motorcycle. The police said Kulwinder was believed to have been involved in a snatching case registered on November 10. His accomplice, however, is still absconding.

Policemen from the Sector 31 police station arrested the kingpin of a robbers’ gang, Bablu, a resident of Burail. The police said the gang used to target people by throwing chilli powder in their eyes. The police also recovered a knife with which Bablu allegedly used to threaten his target. The police claimed it had solved five cases of robberies with his arrest. 

With the arrest of three persons, the police has claimed to have foiled a bid to rob Bitta petrol pump in Mani Majra. The three have been identified as Suraj Singh, Krishan Pal and Gobinda, all residents of Rajiv Colony. A country-made pistol, three live cartridges, one sword and a knife were recovered from their possession. They have been booked under various sections of the Arms Act. The police said two persons, identified as Kallu and Rakesh, alias Khopdi, managed to flee from the spot.

Zirakpur, December 21
The local administration, along with a police team, conducted anti-encroachment drive against kinnow vendors on the Chandigarh-Ambala Highway here today.

Meanwhile, the police booked and arrested six kinnow vendors for obstructing the smooth flow of traffic on the highway in four separate cases.

The accused have been identified as Amrik Singh, Ram Lal, Mehar Chand and Jagdish Kumar, residents of Nagla village, Jeet Ram and Joginder Pal, both residents of Singhpura.

The drive had started around 11 am where SDM Dera Bassi Puneet Goyal, DSP Dera Bassi JS Khaira, along with Zirakpur SHO Yogi Raj reached the spot and nabbed the vendors.

However, a few vendors managed to flee.

Puneet Goyal said they got complaints from the NHAI against the kinnow vendors. He said the vendors were removed from the highway and strict action would be taken against them if found violating the norms again.

Mohali, December 21
Yet another incident of inmate of Paraplegic Home in Phase VI being cheated by a former Verka employee Kulbir Singh has come to light. Prem Singh, an inmate of Paraplegic Home, complained that Kulbir Singh, Parminder Kaur, Baljit Kaur, Harpreet Kaur, and Sohan Singh formed a society and took Rs 2 lakh from him as fixed deposit.

Chandigarh, December 21
St Anne’s Convent School, Sector 32, and St Soldier’s School beat their respective opponents in the league matches of St Kabir (under-12) Cricket Trophy at St Kabir School, Sector 26, here, today.

While St Anne’s beat Strawberry Fields World School team by 44 runs in a pool B league match, St Soldier’s team thrashed Millennium cricket team by six wickets.

Earlier, batting first, St Anne’s team took full advantage of the wayward bowling by Strawberry bowlers (who bowled 43 wide balls in the match), to post total 137 runs for 4 in stipulated 20 overs.

Anmol hit 34 off in 34 balls whereas Mandeep made 26 off 45. Puneet and Sarthak chipped in 16 and 17 runs, respectively.

For Strawberry, Tanvir took 2 for 20.

Strawberry team were never in the hunt while chasing the target. The team was bowled out on 93 runs. Aassees played a defiant knock of 20 runs while Ahmad was out at 13.

Aryaman Kakkar broke the backbone of the rival’s batting line up with claiming 4 for 6. Utkarsh took 2 for 16.

Scores

St Anne’s: 137 for 4 in 20 overs (Anmol 34, Mandeep 26, Tanvir 2 for 20).

Strawberry: 93 all out in 18.4 overs (Aassees 20, Anhad 13, Aryaman 4 for 6, Utkarsh 2 for 6).

In the second match, electing to bat first the Millennium team managed 77 runs in the allotted 20 overs. Jasdeepak proved the highest scorer with 17 runs. Fagun Sahni bowled well and returned with the figure 4 for 15 while Abhishek took 2 for 19.

In reply, a fine unbeaten patient knock of 28 runs by Gagan Verma helped St. Soldier team to overhaul the target in 13.4 overs.

For Millennium, Sahil took 3 for 26 runs.

Millennium: 77 for 9 in 20 overs (Jasdeepak 17, Vaibhav 14, Fagun 4 for 15, Abhishek 2 for 19).

St Soldier’s: 78 for 4 in 20 overs (Gagan 28, Sahil 3 for 26).

Chandigarh, December 21
Six-wicket haul by Eashem Singh (6 for 22) enabled YPS, Mohali, to beat APJ, Kharar, in a low-scoring match but neck and neck contest that went to the last ball of the match of the under-14 Haier Cup Cricket Tournament at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 19 here today.

Batting first, APJ team were bundled out for 99 runs in only 26 overs. Rashem Singh was the top wrecker with six for 22. Sahil Chander (21) and Vikram Singh (18) batted well for the APJ team.

In reply, YPS banked on Shubham 23-run knock and Yuvraj’s 21 runs to achieve the target in 35 overs. However, the tight bowling spell by Sidhant (4 for 13), Shivam Bedi (2 for 17) and Ashish (2 for 21) made the things difficult for YPS batsmen.

The tourney is being organised by the Chandigarh Cricket Association affiliated to the Haryana Cricket Association

APJ: 99 all out in 26 overs (Sahil 21,Vikram 18, Rashem 6 for 22)

YPS: 103 for 8 in 35 overs (Shubham 23, Yuvraj 21, Sidhanth 4 for 13)

Tomorrow’s match: CCA-19 vs Saupin’s at 9.30 am.

Panchkula, December 21
Kabir Manrai of the Chandigarh Club Tennis Academy moved into quarterfinal round after registering an easy win over Dhananjay Singh of Himachal Pardesh 4-0, 4-0 in the ongoing Manav Mangal Talent Series Tournament for boys and girls under 12 at Manav Mangal School, Sector 11, courts here today.

Now Kabir will meet Ankrish Khanna of Chandigarh, who thrashed Naman Kumar Singla of Punjab 4-1, 4-0 in the pre-quarterfinal round match today. Top seed Rohit Kumar and second seed Utkarsh Bhardwaj also justified their rankings with having comfortable win over their opponents today.

The tournament is being organised by the Ideal Tennis Academy, Panchkula, and Chandigarh Club Tennis Academy, Chandigarh, at Panchkula,.

Pre-quarterfinal matches result

1. Rishabh Sharda (Chd) beat Shivin Sardana (Chd) 4-0,4-0

2. Parmeet Singh Deol(Chd) beat Abhi Garg (Har) 4-1, 4-2

3. Rohit Kumar (Har) beat Kanu Malviya (Har) 4-1,4-1

4. Anmol Raatan Kamboj (Chd) beat Saurabh Prashar (Chd) 5-3,4-1

5. Ankrish Khanna (Chd) beat Naman Kumar Singla (Pb) 4-1,4-0

6. Kabir Manrai (Chd) beat Dhananjay Singh (H.P) 4-0,4-0

7. Utkarsh Bhardwaj (U.K) beat Daksh Marwaha (Chd) 4-0,4-1

8. Naval Avasthi (Chd) beat Asav Kumar (Chd) 5-3, 4-0

Doubles first-round matches results

1. Yashwardhan Nehra/Abhi Garg beat Raghav Singh/Dhananjay Singh 5-3, 4-2

2. Amanjeet Sohi/Aditya Garg beat Vyom Sharma/Kartik Gugnani 4-1, 4-1

Doubles quarterfinal matches results

1. Rishabh Sharda/Rohit Kumar beat Kanu Malviya/Dhairya Vir 4-0,4-0

2. Kabir Manrai/Utkarsh Bhardwaj beat Naval Avasthi/Ankrish Khanna 4-0, 4-0

3. Chiraz Singh/ Asav Kumar beat Yashwardan Nehra/ Abhi Garg 4-2, 3-5, 11-9

4. Anmol Rattan Kamboj/Parmeet Deol beat Amanjeet Sohi/ Adit Garg beat 4-0, 4-2 

Chandigarh, December 21
Japleen and Aashin from Jal House secured first and second positions, respectively, while Parneet of Prithvi House finished third in U-15 girls category in the first Millennium School Inter-House Athletics Meet, commenced at the Sector 7 Sports Complex, here, today.

The meet started with the traditional march past and events, including 100 m, 200 m, 400 m races, high jump, long jump, triple jump, discus throw and shot put.

At the meet, all students of class III and above took part.

Today’s results:

Discus throw U-15 girls: 1 Japleen Class (Jal House), 2 Aashin (Jal House), 3 Parneet (Prithvi House).

Long jump U-9 boys: 1 Harohit (Agni House), 2 Safal (Aakash House), 3 Bhumin (Aakash House).

Discus throw U-15 boys: 1 Harpreet Sidhu (Jal House), 2 Sukhpreet (Aakash House), 3 Deshbir (Agni House).

High jump U-12 Boys: 1 Jagdeep (Prithvi House), 2 Anmol Singh (Aakash House), 3 Jasdeepak (Jal House).

High jump U-12 Girls: 1 Alisha (Prithvi House), 2 Amanpreet (Prithvi House), 3 Jasmine (Prithvi House).