NEIGHBOURHOOD

4 of family, driver killed in road accident
Tribune News Service

Ambala, January 7
Panic gripped the city when three members of a criminal gang opened fire in a busy area near the local bus station this afternoon. No one was injured in the incident.Drivers of the nearby taxi stand grabbed hold of the three and thrashed them, before handed them over to the police.

SP Shashank Anand said the three belonged to a criminal gang. One of them, Hanish Thakur, is a resident of Mani Majra, Chandigarh, while another Arjun Singh belongs to Meerut but currently living at Dera Bassi. The third accused, Ramesh, is a resident of Noida.

He said the police recovered five country-made pistols, several cartridges and a stolen car from their possession. The police was interrogating the accused.

According to the police, the car recovered from the youths was stolen from Ambala City a fortnight ago.

The owner of the car, Maharvir Singh Gujjar, was standing near the old Civil Hospital this afternoon when he noticed his stolen car being driven by some persons. As he tried to stop the car, one of the occupants fired at him and drove toward the local bus station. However, due to traffic congestion, they left the car on the Shukalkund road and escaped on foot toward the local bus station.

Mahavir Singh along with some taxi drivers pursued the three and alerted some other taxi drivers to reach the bus station. Finding themselves cornered, the accused opened fire near the bus station. An ASI, Jagdish Chand, who was on duty at the bus station, tried to fire at the youths but came under fire. The ASI escaped unhurt. The taxi drivers and shopkeepers of the area caught hold of the three and thrashed them. The police reached the scene and arrested the three. They were taken to CIA staff for interrogation.

Mohali, January 7
The police booked seven persons for allegedly assaulting Gurmeet Singh, a resident of Industrial Area, Phase III, here today.The accused have been identified as Jaspal Singh, Jaswinder Singh, Parminder Singh, Rajesh Kumar, all residents of Mohali village, Monu and his brother, residents of Sector 38, Chandigarh, and Jaspal Singh Saini, a resident of Kharar.

The case was registered on the complaint of Gurmeet Singh, a resident of 47 Assam Timber Trader in Industrial Area. The police said the incident took place on January 5 night when Gurmeet Singh was at his home. The accused came to his house with sharp-edged weapons and called him out. The complainant alleged that the accused attacked him on the forehead.

Dera Bassi, January 7
Following court orders, the panchayat department took possession of 10 acres of panchayat land at Mukandpur village here today. The land had been under illegal occupation of some villagers for the past few years.

The district collector, panchyat land, Mohali, had ordered to take the possession of land.

Village sarpanch Shiv Ram had filed a case with the DDPO, Mohali, seeking action into the illegal possession of panchyat land at Mukandpur.

The issue was raised during the sangat darshan programme of Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. The Chief Minister had marked the case to the ADC, Mohali, for investigation.

The case was later filed in the court of the DDPO, who marked it to the district collector. The court gave the decision in favour of the village panchayat on July 30 and ordered to take possession of the land.

Officials of the panchayat department with the assistance of the police today visited the village and took the possession of the land. Though the illegal occupants objected to the action, the land was later offered to the village panchayat.

Ambala, January 7
District Magistrate Samir Pal Saro in an order has cancelled the no objection certificate (NOC) issued to Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) for opening a retail outlet at Saha village on the National Highway-73, near Ambala Cantonment.

Ramesh Krishan Sharma, a resident of Ambala City, in a writ petition filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, had alleged that the BPCL had obtained an NOC to set up the retail outlet at Saha village by way of fraud with malafide intension.

The High Court, while disposing of the petition, directed the Ambala District Magistrate to take cognizance of the complaint made by the petitioner and dispose of the same in accordance with law/government policy within a period of one month from the date of receiving a certified copy of the order.

The District Magistrate, after hearing the both parties and going through the records, briefed in the order that the BPCL had filed an application for issuance of an NOC for opening a retail outlet at Saha village in 2003.

On receipt of reports from various departments, the then District Magistrate had issued an NOC to the BPCL.

He said after the High Court’s direction, while reconfirming the reports of various departments, it was revealed that the NOC was actually issued in favour of Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and not the BPCL.

Saro observed in the order: “It is established beyond doubt that the NOC issued to the BPCL for setting up a retail outlet at Saha village is incomplete even as on date and also proves manipulations to the extent that the NOC issued for another petrol pump in favour of the HPCL, in response to their application on January 10, 2003, from the town & country planning department, Ambala, was manipulated and deliberately put to use and replaced for issuance of an NOC to the BPCL probably with the connivance of the office. Besides, the required NOC from the NHA-73 has not been found to be obtained to date.”

He further ordered that the existing stocks of petroleum products of the outlet, including lubricants, were allowed to be sold till the clearance of stock or for seven days, whichever was earlier.

He also directed the District Town Planner to take necessary action with regards to the building structure at the retail outlet.

He directed the Additional Deputy Commissioner to look into the possibility of the involvement of staff of Deputy Commissioner’s office in the matter.

Panchkula, January 7
Two motorcycle-borne youngsters snatched a purse of a woman in Sector 21 here this afternoon.Rita, the complainant, told the police said that two youths on a motorcycle slowed down and sped away after snatching her purse.

She said the two were wearing helmet at the time of the incident.

She told the police that her purse contained around Rs 7,000, a cell phone and several important documents. — TNS

Chandigarh, January 7
The year 2010-11, which began at the Sports Complex, Sector 42, was inaugurated by Pradip Mehra, Adviser to the Administrator, by unfurling the games flag, here today.

Addressing the participants, Mehra said that sports played a crucial role in character building of a human being. It also brought the feeling of teamwork and universal brotherhood. Expressing contentment over the Indian player’s performance at the Commonwealth and Asian games he invited the guest players to see the “City Beautiful” and explore it.

Speaking on the occasion home-cum-education secretary Ram Niwas said that it felt good that the players from different corners of the country had come to participate in the games. He said that necessary facilities had been provided to all players participating in the games. He also expected brotherhood among the players during the games and a good level of sportsmanship at the competition.

Director Public Instructions (S), PK Sharma, joint director, Sports, JPS Sidhu and district education officer Chanchal Singh were among those present on the occasion.

Chandigarh, January 7
Fine batting performance by Uday Singh (91 not out) Government College of Commerce and Business Administration (GCCBC), Sector 42, beat College of Engineering and Technology, (CCET) Sector 26, by 5 wickets in the Panjab University Inter-College Cricket (Men) B-Division tournament, held on the PU campus here today.

Batting first, CCET was bundled out for 216 runs in 39.3 overs. Sahil Bansal 59 and Navi 32 were the main scorers. For GCCBC Daman Singh was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped three wickets giving away only 25 runs. Akshaya was the other bowler who impressed with his bowling figures of 1 for 10.

In reply GCCBC did not face any difficulty in achieving the target as they scored 217 runs losing only 5 wickets in just 37.4 overs. Uday Singh 91 not out and Rajat 38 were the main scorers. For CCET Sahil Bansal and Nikhil were the main wicket takers who took one wicket each giving away 26 and 29 runs, respectively.

Brief scores: College of Engineering and Technology: 216 all out in 39.3 overs (Sahil Bansal 59, Navi 32, Daman Singh 3 for 25, Akshaya 1 for 10) .

Government College of Commerce and Business Administration: 217 for 5 in 37.4 overs (Uday Singh 91 N.O., Rajat 38 Sahil Bansal 1 for 26, Nikhil 1for 29). — TNS