NEIGHBOURHOOD

Death of five by drowning
Delay in autopsy irks relatives
Our Correspondent

Ambala, January 18
Delay in the conduct of post-mortem examination of five persons, who had drowned after their car plunged into a village pond at Noorpur on Sunday, irked their relatives who had assembled at the Civil Hospital, Ambala City, yesterday morning.

The post-mortem examination of the victims could start around 1.30 pm after the intervention of a senior officer of the district administration. The examination went on till 4.15 pm.

Later, the relatives took the bodies to their village for cremation. The bodies had been shifted to the Civil Hospital around 7 pm on Sunday.

The relatives had assembled at the hospital hoping that the examination would be conducted in the morning itself.

They requested the hospital authorities to conduct the post-mortem examination at the earliest so that the bodies could be cremated before sunset. However, a board of three doctors started the examination around 1.30 pm, once the police had completed its paperwork.

The tehsildar was also present at the mortuary.

Kalka, January 18
Resentment prevails among the residents of Bharat Nagar owing to the overflow of sewage on the main road of the locality.

Accusing the public health department authorities of callousness, the residents claim that they have been facing inconvenience due to the overflowing sewage for the past few months. This, despite the fact that the department authorities have been informed repeatedly about the problem.

The discharge of sewage on the road has been causing inconvenience not only to motorists but also pedestrians. The inhabitants have to live amid stench caused by the accumulated sewage on the road.

The road has already been in disrepair for the past five years due to the apathetic attitude of the local administration, they allege.

To make the matters worse, the accumulation of sewage has further damaged on the road.

The residents have urged the public health department to take immediate steps to repair the sewerage, which remains frequently blocked.

Ambala, January 18
Infosys, one of the major IT companies, selected 156 students of MM Engineering College in a placement drive held here at the MM University, Mullana.

The in charge of the central placement cell, MM University, asserted that last year 93 students of the college got selected by Infosys, but this time the number had increased to 156 students.

Manjit Ladar, a member of the team from Infosys, said the selected candidates would be appointed as software engineers.

Ladar said some new experiments were adopted in the placement process from this session to boost up the recruitments. He said under the new progression, faculty members were to undergo a training session on the pattern of test and interview taken by the company after which the teachers departed contents of the training to the students, along with their theory course.

Kharar: Infosys, the IT giant, has selected 126 students from the Rayat-Bahra Group. The selected students will join Infosys in February.

The students from CSC and IT would be joining in February, while that from electrical and mechanical would be joining in March and April.

Ambala, January 18
A head constable, Mahipal Singh (32), deployed as a prison guard, was found dead at a police post yesterday morning.

According to sources, the head constable was found lying in an unconscious state by some police officials when they reached the SP office in the morning.

The cop was taken to the local Civil Hospital, where he was declared brought dead. His body was handed over to his relatives after a post-mortem examination. The exact cause of the death could not be ascertained but the victim apparently died of heart attack. — OC

Chandigarh, January 18
In yet another blow to the prosecution in the Jammu and Kashmir sex scandal, a “victim” has turned hostile, giving a clean chit to five accused allegedly involved in the scandal. Taking a U-turn, the 25-year-old girl who had earlier alleged rape against five — former J&K Minister Raman Mattoo; former DSP Mohammad Ashraf Mir; IAS officer Iqbal Khandey; DSP (counter-insurgency) Mohammad Yousuf Mir, and former Additional Advocate General, J&K, Anil Sethi.

According to her previous statement, the “victim” had alleged that she had intercourse with the five accused and was supplied through Sabeena, the alleged kingpin in case. However today in the court, she submitted that she had never made any such allegations.

She added that neither did she know the five accused nor Sabeena. Giving a clean chit to the five, the girl weakened the case of the prosecution. On Monday, yet another witness, a 45-year-old had turned hostile. — TNS

Panchkula, January 18
Ramwati (32), a native of Uttar Pradesh, was killed and her husband Badshah seriously injured when their bicycle was hit by a rashly-driven Jeep near Sector 25 here on Sunday evening.

The police said the two were going towards Nadda Sahib Gurdwara from Sector 25 when a Bolero Jeep coming from the opposite direction hit them.

Ramwati died on the spot, while her husband was admitted to the General Hospital, Sector 6, with serious injuries.

The unidentified driver of the Jeep fled the scene, leaving the vehicle behind.

A case has been registered at the Chandi Mandir police station.

The body of the victim has been handed over to the family after a post-mortem examination.

Panchkula, January 18
The district police yesterday claimed to have arrested three persons for their involvement in two cases of theft.

One of the accused has been identified as Inderjit Singh, a resident of Blongi, Mohali, who had stolen a truck from Haripur village, near Raipur Rani, on January 16.

The Raipur Rani police arrested the accused with the truck (HP 12A 6932) and recovered Rs 14,000 in cash.

In another case, the police arrested two persons - Karan Singh, a resident of Mauli Jagran, and Manmohan, a resident of Railway Colony, Chandigarh - and seized several household items and an LPG cylinder. The accused were today presented before a court, which remanded them in judicial custody.

Mohali, January 18
The Mohali police has registered a case under the Dowry Act against, Kapil Gulati, branch manager of Bell Ceramics, his mother Kamlesh Gulati, both residents of Sector 38.

The complainant, Atamjit Kaur, wife of Kapil Gulati, alleged that her husband and her in-laws harassed her to bring in more dowry. She also said in her complaint that she was severelybeaten up by her in-laws after she refused to cater to their demands.

The woman also stated in her complaint that she was married to Kapil Gulati on December 4, 2007 in Zirakpur. After she refused to cater to the demand of her in-laws, she was harassed and forced to leave her home.

Panchkula, January 18
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation athletes maintained their dominance by winning eight gold medals in different events during the XXXI PSPB Athletics Meet held at Tau Devi Lal Sports Complex, Sector 3, here today.

Suresh Kumar of the ONGC won the top honours in 10,000m men’s race, while another athlete from the same department Pritam Kumar Bind bagged a silver medal in the event. The third position was secured by C Manwadkar of the IOCL.

Results

Men 200m race (veterans): PN Dutta (ONGC) 1, Placideo Fernandes (HPCL) 2 and PC Gogoi (IOC) 3; 800m race: Ghamanda Ram (ONGC) 1, Raman Yadav (HPCL) 2 and Sandeep (HPCL) 3; shot put: Jasdeep Singh (ONGC) 1, Om Parkash (ONGC) 2 and Kirpal Singh (HPCL) 3; pole vault: Charan Singh (ONGC) 1, Nitul Bora (ONGC) 2 and K Sonowal and T George (IOC) 3; 200m race: Abdul Nayeem Quereshi (ONGC) 1, Devender Singh (ONGC) 2 and Manish (HPCL) 3; long jump: men (vet): Laskar (Oil India) 1, Raj (ONGC) 2 and PN Dutta (ONGC) 3.; women: Mayochka (ONGC) 1, Chitra Soman (ONGC) 2 and Nirmala Gonsalvis (HPCL) 3.

Chandigarh, January 18
UT Administrator Shivraj K Patil today felicitated local football and hockey players, along with their coaches, who have brought laurels to the city by claiming various positions during the national-level competitions.

A function was held at Punjab Raj Bhavan.

A total of 50 players, 16 soccer players (boys), 34 hockey players (boys and girls) and three coaches-Harjinder Singh, international footballer, Olympian Rajinder Singh, Arjuna and Dronachraya Awardee, and Gurminder Singh were invited to the function.

The football U-14 boys team won the Subroto Mukherjee Football Cup followed by a gold medal in the 56th National School Games held in Chandigarh, while the boys hockey team emerged champions in the 56th National School Games held at Khargaon (MP). The girls hockey team finished as runners-up in the National School Games last year. Skippers of the winning teams-K Lalramzauva (football), Inderjit Singh (boys hockey) and Neha Rawat (girls hockey) also presented bouquets to the UT Administrator and VK Singh, Secretary Finance and Sports.

While congratulating the budding sportspersons, Patil said football and hockey should be promoted in a commercial way on the pattern of cricket.

“Our players have attained prowess in this game, but to compete at national and international levels, they need to put in a lot of effort,”said Patil.

He added that the Chandigarh administration had created world-class facilities in different disciplines of sports and players must optimally use all these facilities for achieving the best results in national and international events.