NEIGHBOURHOOD

Harpreet Murder Case
Probe officer cross-examined

Patiala, March 4
The hearing in the murder case of Harpreet Kaur, daughter of former SGPC president Bibi Jagir Kaur, was held in the Court of Special Judge (CBI Cases), Patiala, here today. The defence counsel said during the court proceedings, cross-examination of the then SP, CBI, Anurag Garg, who was the Chief Investigating Officer in the case, was conducted. "Garg was asked several questions pertaining to the case documents. The court has instructed that the CBI counsel should file a reply on March 11 if the CBI counsel wants to examine other witnesses in the case,” he said.

Main accused Bibi Jagir Kaur and the co-accused Paramjit Singh Raipur, Nishan Singh, Satya and Harminder Singh, were present during the proceedings. — TNS

Chandigarh, March 4
The hearing on Khushpreet’s case by the Police Complaint Authority (PCA) was deferred to April 1 today after police officers, accused of botching up the case, sought more time to file their reply in the case.

Inspector Udey Pal Singh, Inspector Narinder Patial and SI Balraj Singh appeared before the authority and demanded more time. Khushpreet’s father Lakhbir Singh also appeared before the PCA.

Justice (retd) NK Aggarwal of the PCA asked Lakhbir Singh to give a detailed account of the police inaction right from the day his son was kidnapped from outside his residence in Burail and till his body was recovered on January 5.

Lakhbir Singh also demanded a CBI probe in the case, as the police has completely failed to track the case since beginning.

Khushpreet was kidnapped on December 22 last year and the kidnappers had demanded ransom of Rs 4 lakh for his release. The police trap to arrest the kidnappers as they came to collect the ransom but had failed. Khushpreet’s body was recovered on January 5.

Three police officers were suspended for their negligence into the case. While a departmental inquiry is currently going on, a PIL in the case has also been filed in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. Advocate Gagan Aggarwal has moved the police complaint authority demanding stringent action against the police officers.

Chandigarh, March 4
A lower court today awarded life imprisonment to two persons in a case of murder in January 2010. A fine of of Rs 5,000 was also imposed on them.

The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge GC Garg sentenced Mahesh Kumar and Charan Singh, residents of Mauli Jagran, to imprisonment for life.

The case was reported last year, when a quarrel at Mauli Jagran turned bloody, with Pardeep, a teenaged boy, being stabbed to death by the duo.

Pardeep was returning home from a shop at Sector 9, Panchkula, where he used to work. He was atacked brutally by the two following a scuffle.

As per the prosecution, the quarrel erupted after Pardeep identified a youth who attacked him and snatched his cell phone and wallet, containing Rs 7,000, in the area a day before.

As Pardeep and his younger brother Kuldeep, who was accompanying him, attempted to get hold of the youth, the accused called more youths and they had a violent scuffle.

Mahesh drove a screwdriver into Pardeep’s stomach. He was taken to the Government Medical College and Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries, the police said.

Circumstantial evidence and statements of eyewitness Kuldeep made the case reach its logical conclusion, court sources said.

Chandigarh, March 4
The crime branch of the Chandigarh Police today busted a lottery gang operating from Pakistan, arrested one of its members and recovered Rs 11 lakh, fake voter identity cards, Dish TV coupons and mobile phones from his possession.

The accused was identified as 26-year-old Amit Khan, a resident of Bihar, who had been residing in the city for the past seven years. He had been working for Pakistan-based Abrahim and Muneer, who use to call up people in the region and inform them that they had won a huge sum in lottery.

After gullible persons fell in their trap, the swindlers use to ask them to submit a certain amount towards tax, bank fee, insurance, storage, shipping and transport costs so that they could directly transfer the prize money into their account. Giving details about the modus operandi, the police said Amit used to withdraw the money desposited in his SBI account at Sector 17 and purchase Dish TV recharge coupons from a shop at Sector 45. Amit had opened eight accounts with the State Bank of India, the Punjab National Bank and the State Bank of Patiala, of which he had opened fake accounts in the name of Ravinder Singh, Krishan Vir and Mohammad Samsher.

According to the police, Amit use to receive more than Rs 50,000 in each account on a daily basis. The police recovered three voter identity cards, eight ATM cards and three mobile phones from his possession. DSP (Crime) Satbir Singh said the accused used to visit the ATM of the State Bank of India at Sector 17 to check the balance of his account. The police got a tipoff and arrested him.

Chandigarh, March 4
The UT Police today arrested 10 teachers from Punjab who had threatened to immolate themselves if their demands were not met.

Three of the teachers who were arrested have been identified as 30-year-old Poonam, 35-year-old Swarna Devi and 20-year-old Satbir Kaur. They all are working with the Punjab Alternative and Innovative Education (AIE) of the Sarv Shiksha Abhiyaan and were approaching the residence of the Punjab Education Minister in Sector 39 when they were arrested.

Acting on the tip-off, three of them were apprehended at the Tribune roundabout while the rest were arrested from near Sector 39. They were produced before the SDM and were sent in judicial custody.

Chandigarh, March 4
It seems that senior-level soccer in the city is on the verge extinction, as there has been no organisation of tournaments by the Chandigarh Football Association over a long period of time here.

As those teams which qualify for the quarterfinal stage of the Santosh Trophy, get eligible for participating in the football event at the National Games held after every four years. The Chandigarh football team has so far participated only once in the National Games after getting the affiliation from the All India Football Federation (AIFF).

The senior team has failed to qualify for prestigious games due to lack of practice, infrastructure and negative approach of authorities for senior players above 21 years age group.

In order to make a career in football, many players from the local academies and schools approach different neighboring states, as here they never get a chance to show their talent after a crossing a certain age.

Former players of the Chandigarh Football Academy represented the Punjab football team in the recently held 34th National Games at Ranchi and some city based players of different schools are representing many national clubs. Even though they all were trained at the local sports complex but due to no infrastructure they moved to other cities.

A player on the condition of antinomy shared his views with TNS team, “The association does not function properly and there is no exposure to the players. The players are just called on the field for a 10-day camp during the Santosh Trophy tournament that too with a holiday of Sunday and one can see the poor result of the senior team after the camp in the senior tournament. Otherwise also, there is no tournament for the players. On the other hand, the announcement is made to come up with clubs in the city from time to time but the authorities have failed to come up with any kind of professionals clubs here, forcing the local players to approach better platforms outside the city” said the national -level player.

The Chandigarh Football Association also failed to organise the senior-league football tournament, which they used to organise earlier every year and as a result, the city team failed to play the second division football tournament organised by the AIFF.

Former international player and coach at the Chandigarh Football Academy Harjinder Singh stated that, “ There is no lack of talent in the city but there is a need of proper planning to polish the skills of players at this level as the age-limit is crucial for making a career in sports”.

Chandigarh, March 4
There is very little doubt that in a sport as gruelling as tae kwon do, the one with maximum fight in him succeeds. But to slog it out in a bout is different from fighting for what you have earned off it. For Sandeep Kundu, gold medals won at the recently-concluded National Games in Ranchi, and the Commonwealth Championship in Chennai earlier in January might reflect his tremendous potential, but they do little to show the apathy he has been facing off it.

A constable with the Chandigarh Police, Sandeep has done enough to merit, not one, but two promotions, but the authorities somehow are yet to take notice. He has been a constant performer at the national and international level, and has the medals to show for it, but off it, the shine of the medals starts wearing off, courtesy, official apathy.

“I have been with the Chandigarh Police for more than two years now, and I have done my utmost to deliver, be it in uniform, or in my sport. The authorities have been extremely co-operative while providing permissions to help me attend camps, but I feel that my achievements have gone largely unnoticed,” says Sandeep.

The son of a police officer himself, Sandeep knows that people have to wait for years to come in the reckoning for promotions, but he also knows that meritorious showing at sports meets, have often created perfect platforms. “I am thankful to all my superiors, for they have always been supportive of my endeavours, but now that I am delivering the goods, I am just hoping for some motivation to hit the next level.”

Chandigarh DIG Alok Kumar while speaking to The Tribune, said, “We have a sports committee in place and we will make sure that the case is looked into. After careful consideration we will see if he fulfills the required criteria, and that will decide our future course of action in this regard.”

It is not an isolated case of a sportsperson not getting his due, but it definitely does not take away the extent to which the system is becoming insensitive to merit. In addition to his Gold in Ranchi and Chennai, Sandeep was a quarterfinalist at the 2010 Asian Games in Guanghzou, China, won Gold at the 2010 South Asian Games in Dhaka and also has a Gold medal at the 2008 National Championship in Jalandhar.

The sparkle on his career is all in place, but will the authorities add some shining stars to it as well? It is anybody’s guess!

Chandigarh, March 4
The Rs 40 lakh PGTI Players’ Championship is set for a grand finale. As the drama unfolded on the penultimate day today, Himmat Singh Rai and Shankar Das occupied the tied top slot at 208. And breathing down their neck barely a stroke or two behind are the big guns, Jeev Milkha Singh (210), Gaganjeet Bhullar (209) and Mukesh Kumar (210) with just one round to go on the par-72 greens of the Chandigarh Golf Club.

The fans could not have asked for a better setting for the final round. Fortunes fluctuated as pressure mounted on the players. First it was overnight joint leader Shankar Das, who seemed to be on a fortune hunt, firing five birdies to be four under 32 at the turn. But he succumbed to pressure to play a three over par 39 back nine.

The Kolkata golfer said, “I was going great guns till 12th. But three putt that led to a par on the 13th turned out to be the spoiler. I just lost focus after that.”

Himmat Singh Rai climbed up the leader board to share the top spot firing the best card of the day a four under par 68. In his words, “I hit a fantastic six-iron tee shot that landed a couple of feet from the flag on the par-three 11th. The pitching wedge approach shot on the 15th was equally good. I am glad that I have been consistent through this week with three under par scores. I have taken it hole by hole till now and would just look to keep doing that even in the final round.”

Jeev Milkha Singh continued to improve as his fans remained on his trail. Starting with a one under 71 on the opening day, he followed it up with a two under par 70 card on the second day. His three-under 69 performance today saw him climb up the ladder to be tied fourth at 211, along with an equally steady Mukesh Kumar.

And it was Mukesh Kumar (70-71-69), who nailed the final ingredient into the day’s excitement. Yes, this veteran golfer from Mhow sank an albatross (triple birdie) on the par-five 13th hole. He achieved this rare feat when his second shot (four iron) from 210 yards ended up in the hole. This rare feat was cheered with excited shouts from the fans, who had gathered in large numbers, despite cloudy weather.

Gaganjeet Bhullar, who has had a good start this season, carded a par 72 and assured he was just one stroke behind the leaders. Bhullar’s third round featured three birdies and three bogeys. He ended the day with an overall score of 209 to be placed third.

Leading scores:

208-Himmat Singh Rai (69-71-68) and Shankar Das (69-68-71); 209-Gaganjeet Bhullar (67-70-72); 210-Mukesh Kumar (70-71-69) and Jeev Milkha Singh (71-70-69); 211-Digvijay Singh (71-69-71), Arjun Singh Chaudhri (69-71-71) and Chiragh Kumar (68-71-72); 212-Vijay Kumar (69-70-73); 213-Ajeetesh Sandhu (70-73-70) and Abhinav Lohan (70-69-74); 214-Raju Ali Mollah (69-75-70), Kapil Kumar (68-74-72), Vinod Kumar (70-72-72), SSP Chowrasia (69-72-73), Harendra P Gupta (70-72-72) and Aditya Singh Chauhan (70-71-73); 215-Amardip Singh Malik (75-70-70), Mandeo Singh Pathania (71-73-71), Sanjay Kumar (71-69-75), Shamim Khan (66-74-75) and Mohd Zamal Hossain Mollah (70-69-76).