The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Agitating teachers given appointment letters

Kharar, March 22
The group of 7,654 agitating teachers of the Joint Front Teachers Union today got relief. The teachers converged at water works on the Landran road and protested against the state government for not giving them appointment letters even after a year of declaring results of recruitment.

The union’s president, Gurvinder Singh Rattan, said for the past one year education minister had been dilly-dallying over the issue of giving appointment letters to the teachers. The agitating teachers today threatened to jump off the water tank if their demands were not met with. Late in the evening, the education department gave appointment letters to four teachers, while the remaining teachers would be given letters in the next few days. — TNS

COURTS

SBI robbery case
Court calls witnesses to record statements
Sanjay Bumbroo/TNS

Panchkula, March 22
In a major development in the Sector 20 State Bank of India robbery case of May 2009, a local court here today called three key prosecution witnesses to record their statements before the court.

According to sources, Additional District and Sessions Judge Kanchan Mahi issued summons to bank manager Balbir Singh, peon Kishan Kumar and a female employee, to record their statement before the court on March 23 and 24. The police had already filed a chargesheet against highway robbers Rajiv, alias Raja, Gurshahib Singh Pawar, alias Shera, Chander, alias Chandu, Jaipal and Harinder Singh, alias Tinu.

The case dates back to May 15, 2009, when these four accused had targeted State Bank of India, Sector 20, and decamped with ` 11.5 lakh.

The police said the accused had planned the robbery in the bank just a day before the incident. The accused targeted the bank in broad daylight.

The police further said that the accused were carrying guns and their faces were covered while one of the accused was wearing turban. Two of them even fired in the air inside the bank premises. The robbers told the cashier to handover the entire cash to them. They fled in their Honda CRV towards Dhakoli after collecting the cash. After crossing Mohali they reached their rented flat at Sector 51, Chandigarh.

The Chandigarh police on June 30, 2009, had arrested Rajiv, Gurshahib Singh Pawar, Jaipal and Harinder Singh when they were returning from Ludhiana after looting Rs 4.64 lakh at gunpoint.

Later, the local police managed to nab the fifth accused Chandu as well. The police took the accused on production warrant after their arrest by the Chandigarh police.

CRIME

3 held in ear-chopping case
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, March 22
With the arrest of the remaining three accused, the police has arrested all the accused in the chopping of the ear of a rickshaw puller case.

The three accused, Irfan and Bhura and the victim’s nephew, were arrested by the police late last night and presented before the court, which remanded them to judicial custody at the Ambala jail for 14 days.

One of the four accused had chopped off the ear of Sharief, a rickshaw puller and a native of Uttar Pradesh, when he refused to give Rs 200 to them for gambling in Sector 20 on March 20.

The accused visited his “jhuggi” in Sector 20 around 8.30 pm in an inebriated condition and demanded Rs 200 from him. When he refused to give them money one of the accused, Usman, drew a knife and chopped off his ear.

The police had registered the case under Sections 322, 326, 506 and 34 of the IPC only after Manjit Kaur, chairperson of the Human Social Justice Panel, and Jaspal Singh, president of the Panchkula Bar Association, complained to DSP (HQ) Badri Parshad in this regard.