NEIGHBOURHOOD

Ambala MC blind to choked drains
Attar Singh
Tribune News Service

Ambala, February 7
Heaps of garbage accumulated in the drains of Ambala Cantt have been restricting the free flow of water for the past few months, which exposes the lapses on the part of the district administration. Stench emanating from the stagnant water makes it difficult for passersby to walk along the drain.

Drains clogged with polythene bags at Gobind Nagar in Ambala Cantonment. Tribune photos: Dev Dutt Sharma

Expressing resentment, Surinderjit Kaur, a resident of Gobind Nagar, says: “Everyday water overflows from the drain. This drain always remains choked with garbage, but the authorities do not bother to clean it on a regular basis. The authorities should get them cleaned immediately.”

Since the past one month residents are complaining that in all the localities, drains are choked with polythene bags, heaps of garbage, rags and plastic remains, thus posing a threat of outbreak of diarrhoea.

Pointing towards a choked drain, Gurdip Singh, a resident of Gobind Nagar, says: “This drain is a health hazard for us. The level of accumulated garbage has been increasing with each passing day in this drain, but the corporation is indifferent towards this problem.”

“The drain has become a breeding ground for flies and mosquitoes. It can also lead to the spread of various diseases in the area. The authorities should immediately launch a massive sanitation drive to prevent the risk,” says Sushil Kumar, another resident of Gobind Nagar.

According to the residents, the safai karamcharis of Municipal Corporation are not sweeping the roads or lifting the trash scattered all over. Pigs in large groups are now seen amidst stinking garbage in thickly populated residential colonies.

When contacted, a senior official at Municipal Corporation said, “The administration is trying its best to maintain cleanliness in Ambala City and 
Ambala Cantt.”

Chandigarh, February 7
A local court today deferred the hearing of the financier murder case to Tuesday after a prosecution witness complained of uneasiness.

Evidence was recorded in the case today and the statements of investigating officer Inspector Amanjot Singh were recorded and he was crossed examined. The hearing was deferred amidst high drama in the court when heated arguments were witnessed between the defence counsel and the public prosecutor. After the witness complained of uneasiness and sought deferring of the case, defence counsel AS Chahal pleaded to the court opposed the plea.

He urged the court to let the witness undergo imprisonment for a day so that he doesn’t mix with the other prosecution witnesses and prepare himself in advance for the queries during cross examination. However, the hearing of the case was deferred for tomorrow.

Evidence is on the verge of being closed in the case as the prime witnesses have already been examined and have stood by the prosecution.

On November 25, 2009, a Sector 20-based financier was found murdered in his office. The police later arrested Davinder Singh, alias Whiskey, as the prime accused. The police also arrested six accomplices of Whiskey.

Dhillon had a Ford Fiesta car, which was reportedly in the name of Whiskey, and he wanted it back. Whiskey had been allegedly involved in several heinous crimes for the past 17 years. He allegedly had links with terrorists in the past and had also been booked for possessing explosives. So far, the police has learnt that eight cases had been registered against him in Punjab alone. 

Panchkula, February 7
Swami Aseemand, arrested in connection with Samjhauta Express blasts, was not produced in district court here by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) today.

The officials of the NIA moved an application before the specially designated NIA court stating that as the ATS of the Rajasthan police, probing the Ajmer blasts, has further sought the police remand of Aseemanand till February 11, so they would be able to produce the accused only after February 21.

Aseemanand, whose 10-day extended judicial custody ended today, was to be presented before the court here. However, the Rajasthan ATS had taken him into custody on production warrant earlier in connection with blasts in Ajmer.

Ajmer court’s order about the police remand of Aseemanand was also produced in the Special Court of NIA Justice Ritu Garg by an official of the Rajasthan ATS. After going through the documents moved by the NIA and the ATS, the court deferred the hearing till February 21.

Kharar, February 7
Anticipating attack on sarpanch Kulwant Singh Baliali, arrested in the case of murder of Baliali resident Rattan Singh on December 18, three persons were rounded up. Baliali was brought to the Kharar court complex to be produced before the court.

The Balongi police recovered a licensed revolver from one of the rounded up persons.

As Kulwant was to be produced in the court, a large number of people reached the court complex to support him. His supporters spotted three suspicious men.

DSP, Kharar, Sukhdev Singh Virk, too, reached the spot. Later, the court sent Kulwant Singh to 14 days judicial remand.

Chandigarh, February 7
Acting on the directions of a local court, the police today registered a case of cheating against the owner of Oceanic Consultants, an immigration company based in Sector 9.

The court of Judicial Magistrate Ranjeev Kumar had directed the police to book Naresh Gulati, director and chief executive officer of Oceanic Consultants under Section 420 of the IPC on February 1.

Gulati has been accused of transferring shares worth crores of rupees in his and his mother’s name by using forged share certificates. His estranged wife, Shalini Gulati, has lodged the complaint against him.

The complainant said that Naresh Gulati prepared a forged share transfer certificate in 2009 and transferred 9,031 shares belonging to his wife worth more than Rs 11.5 crore in favour of Sharda Gulati, his mother. Shalini also alleged that he prepared a forged sale agreement of 469 shares belonging to her in favour of Oceanic Consultants, Australia, and an amount of Rs 60 lakh was also deposited in their joint account without her knowledge, which Naresh subsequently withdrew.

The complainant alleged that she was also the shareholder in another company owned by Naresh Gulati, BPO Intelligence, and he transferred 25,000 shares in his and his mother’s name by using forged documents. 

Panchkula, February 7
In a major success the police today nabbed the main accused in the Rs 30 lakh robbery case in January 2009. The police team headed by the Sector 20 Police Station had sought the production warrant of the accused identified as Jagdeepak, alias Twinkal, a resident of New Colony, Amritsar, from Jalandhar Jail on January 31.

During investigation, the accused told the police that he had kept the jewellery in Pune. The accused was remanded in police custody and raided his house in Pune and recovered 16 gold bangles worth Rs 10 lakh.

The accused was produced in the court today, which further remanded him in three-day police custody till February 10.

The case dates back to January 22 when Jagdeepak, along with three other accused robbed employees of an Amritsar-based jeweller, of gold worth Rs 30 lakh by offering them sedative-laced beverages at a flat in Sector 20.

A case under Sections 328, 342, 392, 380 and 420 of the IPC has already been registered at the Sector 20 Police Station.

Jeweller Pardeep Seth, a wholesale dealer in Amritsar, told the police that someone posing as Ashish, a resident of Panchkula, contacted him and expressed his intention to purchase around five kg jewellery as he was opening a shop in the town.

The accused told Seth that he had fractured his leg and could not come to Amritsar and that the payment would be made in cash as soon as he got the delivery.

Seth had sent his employees, Omkar Chand and Om Parkash, with the gold and the accused took them to the fourth floor of a society. There Jagdeepak offered them tea and three more persons joined them. They tied them with ropes and fled with the jewellery.

Later, when the victims regained consciousness and managed to free themselves, they raised the alarm, following which neighbours helped them out and admitted them to the Sector 6 General Hospital.

Chandigarh, February 7
City girls Karishma Mehta, Sukriti Singh, Sonali Bansal and Vibhuti Khullar have done the city proud by winning silver medals at the recently concluded CBSE National Tennis Championship in Dubai.

While Karishma and Sukriti emerged runners-up in the U-14 group, Sonali and Vibhuti secured second spot in the U-19 category.

The event was organised by The Indian High School, Dubai, in which nearly 200 players (64 teams) from India, Bahriain, Doha, Kuwait, Oman and UAE had participated in two age groups- U-14 and U-19.

In the U-14 section, the Chandigarh team, including Karishma and Sukriti lost to Hyderabad 0-2 in the finals. Karishma lost to Saranya 5-7 and 1-6, whereas Sukriti was beaten by Surta Keerti 0-6 and 1-6. In the U-19 finals, the Chandigarh team, including Sonali Bansal and Vibhuti Khullar lost to Haryana 0-2.

Haryana’s Himani got the better of Sonali Bansal 6-1 and 6-1, whereas Vibhuti lost to Medha Toor 1-6 and 1-6.

All the four girls are from Carmel Convent School, Sector 9, and are getting training under the supervision of senior coach Baldev Singh.

“I am happy with the performance of my players as the tournament was a challenging one for our players due to different conditions in Dubai,” said Baldev.

Fatehgarh Sahib, February 7
Annual sports day was organised at Ashoka Senior Secondary School here on Saturday. Students participated in slow cycling race, potato race, tug-of-war, three-leg race, basketball and other events.

Narinder Kumar, a Class Xth student, was declared winner in slow cycling, Charanjit Singh (team captain) of Class IX, was first in tug-of-war and Surinder Singh of Class VIII was declared winner in three-legged race and Malkit Singh of Class VI won the potato race.

School principal Ravinder Joshi and president of Ashoka Education Trust Rajiv Datta said students must take sports seriously along with academics.

The trust president said two new courses would be introduced in the next session and students would be encouraged to participate in sports.

Chandigarh, February 7
After proving their mettle at national-level, four city footballers are set to bring laurels to the country in the Youth Asian Games (YAG), tentatively scheduled to be held in July.

The selected football players for the U-19 national team during a practice session in Chandigarh. Tribune photo: Vicky Gharu

Ace forward Rajinder Kumar, central halfback Akashdeep Singh Kahlon, Summet Passi and Sehnaj Singh Hothi, all trainees in the state-run Chandigarh Football Academy, Sector 42, are part of the 35-member group, selected by All India Football Federation (AIFF) for international tournament.

The group is slated to attend a national camp (U-19), starting from end of this month in Goa. The final squad would be selected from here.

“We are ready to make it big,” said the confident foursome.

“We know the performance in the camp will matter for the selection of the national team. We have been toiling hard to achieve our goal,” said Akashdeep while talking to Chandigarh Tribune at his academy in Sector 42.

Notably, all the four players had hogged the limelight when the Chandigarh team bagged the first-ever Dr BC Roy Trophy (U-19) in July last.

Rajinder, Akashdeep, Summet and Shehnaj played a vital role in the win. After that they were selected for a trip in China (from October 5 to 30), where the Indian team got a chance to play three matches against certain clubs and academies’ teams there. The trip was organised by the AIFF.

Sehnaj Singh Hothi, who was a member of the AIFF Club last year and also had participated in the Indian I-League last year, felt that the chance to represent the country or better performance in the camp would help him further boost his career in the game.

“I have to prove myself in the camp. It not only gives me a chance to fulfill my dream of representing the country at international-level, but will also help me to renew my contract with the AIFF club, which was abolished recently,” said Sehnaj Singh Hothi, who has won the ‘player of the tournament’ title in S Harbhjan Singh Memorial Football Tournament, concluded at Mahilpur (Punjab) last week.

Similarly, Rajinder Kumar, who was captain of the junior Indian team at the exposure trip in China, and Summet Passi said they were looking forward to be a part of some professional club of Goa. “We have to be in the final 24. For that we are training hard under the supervision of our coaches in the morning and evening sessions. We will also try to be a part of some professional club, but it all depends on our performance there,” said the duo.

The elated coach Harjinder Singh has full confidence in his trainees. “I am sure that at least three of them will be successful to make it in the Indian team. All of them are top class footballers and ready to make it big in the arena. The camp will provide them a big opportunity as well as the exposure to understand the finest nuisances of the top level game,” said Harjinder Singh.

Chandigarh, February 7
Gagandeep of Vodafone and Farheen of St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, will be leading Chandigarh’s men and women carrom teams, respectively, in the forthcoming 40th Senior National and Inter-State Carrom Championship scheduled to be held at Chennai, Tamil Nadu, from February 22 to 27.

The teams have been selected by the Chandigarh Carrom Association (CCA).

Other members of the team are as under:

Men: Mohammad Hassan, Mohammad Talib, Asif Iqbal, Mubashar and Neeraj.

Women: Tuba, Priya Sharma, Sushila Prasad and Gulshan.

Mazhar Khan and Surinder Kaur will accompany the teams as managers. CCA official Mahesh Sekhri has been nominated as the technical director of the national championship by the All-India Carrom Federation.

A coaching camp is also being organised at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, from February 10 to 18.