NEIGHBOURHOOD

YPS Patiala claim T20 title
Tribune News Service

Bassi Pathana, April 14
President of the Bassi Pathana Municipal Council Kulbhushan Malhotra today demanded vigilance probe into the use of substandard water pipes laid in various wards of Bassi Pathana.

Malhotra said one out of four tubewell connections was lying defunct for the past around five years due to the non-payment of electricity bill to the tune of Rs 22 lakh. The bill was, however, paid after collecting money from different government funds and the tubewell was made functional around three months ago.

“Water released through pipes failed to reach beneficiaries as it got leaked from many places. Even repeated repairs failed to bear any fruits and the matter was brought into the notice of senior functionaries of the sewerage board, but to no avail,” said the MC president.

He rued that the inferior quality of pipes seems to be the culprit due to which water fails to reach the consumer’s home. He said the pipes are in a dilapidated condition.

Manoj Banda, a resident of Gilzian Wala Mohalla, said area residents are irate over the issue as despite spending Rs 22 lakh, people of ward numbers 1, 2, 3, 12 and 13 failed to get water.

He said that despite writing letters and personal meetings with officials concerned of the sewerage board, nothing was done in this regard. He said people are contemplating to launch an agitation if the problem is not fixed in the next few days.

Lalru, April 14
An unidentified person was killed in a road accident when he was hit by a vehicle near Lalru on the Ambala-Chandigarh highway last night. The deceased was apparently 65-year-old.

As per reports, the victim was walking along the road when he was hit by the vehicle near Sawanram International School.

The police has sent the body for identification after registering a case.

Rajpura, April 14
A farmer reportedly in debt of Rs 6.95 lakh today committed suicide by consuming celphos tablets at his farm in Khanpur Barring village.

The farmer, Sahib Singh, consumed celphos tables near the tube-well of his farm this morning. Some passerby detected him lying in an unconscious state and took him to a private hospital. He was declared dead in the evening.

Sahib is survived by two young sons and wife.

The police said Sahib owed money to his cousin Inder Singh, who was an arhtiya (commission agent). Inder Singh had died around six months ago in a road accident here.

Arhtiya’s son Charanpreet Singh had demanded Rs 6.95 lakh from the farmer and also lodged a complaint with the police. Charanpreet said Sahib had given a cheque for Rs 6.95 lakh to his father and the matter was sub judice.

An investigating officer from Ganda Kheri police station, who recording the statements of Sahib Singh’s family members, said a complaint had been marked by the Rajpura DSP and a head constable had summoned both parties to the police station a few times.

While Charanpreet had demanded his money, Sahib had claimed that he had already paid the money to Inder Singh, a month prior to his death.

Charanpreet claimed that Sahib had taken barren land on contract at high cost in the surrounding villages but failed to turn it into cultivable land. He had taken the land on contract with borrowed money.

The matter was discussed with his family and in-laws who had reprimanded Sahib for wasting money.

Sahib’s younger son Jatinder Singh, however, alleged that Charanpreet had pressurised his father to repay the debt.

“My father was picked up many times and was harassed by the police. He was summoned to the police station today as well and fearing torture, committed suicide,” he said.

Ganda Kheri police station SHO Karnail Singh, however, refuted the allegations and said Sahib had committed suicide after an altercation with his wife and other family members over the issue of debt.

The body was later handed over to family members after a post-mortem examination at the Rajpura civil hospital.

Later in the evening, the police registered a case against Charanpreet Singh and his cousin Gurmeet Singh under Sections 306 and 34 of the IPC.

Chandigarh, April 14
All four top seeds — Vishnu Vardhan, Yuki Bhambri (both India), Jullien Dubail (Belgium) and Marc Fornell (Spain) — made it to the semifinal in the singles category of the ongoing Union Bank ITF Men’s Futures US $10,000 Tennis Tournament at Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association courts, Sector 10, here today.

Top seed Vardhan ended the challenge of Murad Inoyatov of Uzbekistan in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. After losing the first set 1-6, Murad put up a stiff resistance in the second set but it was Vardhan who emerged victorious 6-4 to secure his berth in the semifinal.

In the second match, third seed Dubail Julien of Belgium disposed of Hsin Han Lee of Taipei in straight sets 6-2, 6-2.

The third clash between Yuki Bhambri of India and Rohan Gajjar of India could not be completed as Rohan Gajjar retired after pulling his groin in the first set when he was trailing 3-0. Yuki Bhambri was declared the winner.

In the fourth quarterfinal match between fourth seed Marc Fornell of Spain and Ashutosh Singh of India, the former won 6-7(8), 7-6 (5), 6-2.

Having come through the qualifying round, Ashutosh matched his opponent stroke by stroke and clinched the first set in a tiebreaker 6-7(8). Fornell then came back strongly in the second set and was able to get past Ashutosh 7-6(5) through a tiebreaker.

Fornell, however, had a lot of reserve stamina that ultimately helped him overwhelm Ashutosh Singh 6-2 in the final set. The battle for supremacy between the Indian and the Spaniard lasted three hours and five minutes.

Vishnu Vardhan will cross swords with Julien Dubail, while in the second semifinal Yuki Bhambri will face Marc Fornell.

The singles semifinals and doubles final matches will begin at 10 am on Friday. The matches will be covered live by Doordarshan on its national network.

The other results: Men’s singles: Quarterfinal: Vishnu Vardhan (IND) b Murad Inoyatov (UZB) 6-1, 6-4; Jullen Duball (BEL) b Hsin Han Lee (TPE) 6-2, 6-2; Marc Fornell Mestres (ESP) b Ashutosh Singh (IND) 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 6-2; Yuki Bhambri (IND) walked over Rohan Gajjar (IND) 3-0 (retired).

Men’s doubles: pre-quarterfinal: Divij Saran (IND) & Vishnu Vardhan (IND) b Fumiaki Kita (JPN) & Junn Mitsuhashi (JPN) 7-5, 6-2; Hsin Han Lee (TPE) & Bumpei Sato (JPN) b Srirambalaji Narayanaswamy (IND) & Ashutosh Singh (IND) 6-4, 6-4.