Chandigarh, October 13
A 32-year-old man strangled his 65 year-old father at their residence in Pulsora village in Sector 56 here last night following a dispute over the sale of their house. The accused fled after threatening his mother and family members of dire consequences if they informed the police. He was, however, arrested on Thursday evening.

Victim Chinta Ram entered into an argument with his son in the former’s room located on the first floor of the house last evening after Ajay asked his father to sell the house they were residing in saying he needed money. When Chinta Ram refused, Ajay took the extreme step and strangled his father.

The police said the scuffle began at 8.30 pm. However, it was only around seven hours later at 3.30 am that Ajay told his mother, who was on the ground floor, that he had killed his father and thrown his body on the bed. He then threatened his mother Gomti Devi of dire consequences if she informed the police.

Inspector Charanjeet Singh, SHO, Sector 39 police station, said Ajay was a drunkard and worked as a part-time caterer. He often fought with his parents over the issue of selling the house saying he needed money.

It was only this afternoon that Ajay finally left the house following which Gomti rushed to inform the police about her husband’s murder. She told the police that she had not informed the police earlier as she has remained confined to the house fearing that her son would kill her as well. She also told the police that her son had increased the volume of the television set while the scuffle was on.

The police said Ajay also had strained relations with his wife, as she along with their two sons had left him due to his wayward ways. The police eventually arrested Ajay in the evening and registered a case of murder against him at the Sector 39 police station.

Chandigarh, October 13
With three new cases of dengue being reported in the city today, the total number of people affected by the disease since September last week has gone up to 21. As per data collected by the UT health department, the patients hail from the areas of Bapu Dham, Maloya and Sector 51.

The malaria officer, Dr G Verma, said: “All patients are men and have been admitted to the PGI.” Their condition is reported to be stable.

Experts say that dengue is a viral fever and is spread by the aedes aegypti and aedes albopictus mosquitoes. It has a short incubation period, usually two to seven days. The symptoms include sudden high-grade fever, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, loss of appetite, rashes and deep muscle and joint pains. The rashes usually show up three-four days after the symptoms appear and begins on the torso, spreading out to the face, arms and legs.

Prevention is the best option in dengue. During the day, cover your hands and legs. Dengue is not always dangerous, it is generally present in the milder form. One needs to get worried only if bleeding occurs. Keep the area around your house clean and dry, the experts say.

Panchkula, October 13
Twelve days after the father of a missing 10-month-old child ran from pillar to post at the police headquarters here, seeking help to trace his baby, the police finally lodged an FIR today after the family received a ransom call for Rs 10 lakh from kidnappers. Born after three daughters, all of who, tragically, have since died, the boy had ushered joy in the family.

The police has since constituted a special team to trace the baby following the registration of an FIR for kidnapping at the Mansa Devi police station.

The police said Pinjore resident Anil and his wife Sarita lost their son Nishant during a visit to the Mata Mansa Devi Temple on September 29, the second day of the Navratras. The couple separated in the huge rush at the temple and Sarita tried to find her husband. On feeling thirsty, she handed over her baby to a couple standing in a queue in order to drink water. Before stepping out of the queue, she took the couple’s contact number. On returning five minutes later, Sarita was shocked to find that the couple had gone missing with her baby. She managed to find her husband and tried calling the number of the couple. Sarita and Anil further discovered to their horror that the number given to them by the couple to whom their baby had been handed over was fake.

Panchkula Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Maneesh Chaudhary said they had registered an FIR on receiving the ransom call. He added that they had recorded the statement of the parents and placed under surveillance the mobile number from which the ransom call had been made.

Chandigarh, October 13
A five-member delegation will pay a visit to Surat to study the functioning of garbage processing plant there. The delegation will include area councillor Kamlesh, superintendent engineer, public health, officials of the Chandigarh Pollution Control Board, MC medical health officer and representative of the Chief Engineer wing. The decision was taken in a meeting chaired of Mayor Ravinder Pal Singh with officials of the MC, Chandigarh Pollution Control Board and councillors.

However, MC Commissioner Prerna Puri has issued an order that for the next two days monitoring of garbage processing plant at Dadu Majra would be carried out under the supervision of Chief Engineer (CE) SS Bidda. Sources said it was decided that engineers of the CE department would monitor the plant and prepare a detailed report on the basis of which the visiting delegation would take up various problems that they were facing in managing the garbage processing plant at Dadu Majra.

Officials of the pollution board said heaps of garbage lying in the area led to foul smell.

Contractors outsourced the work of door-to-door garbage collection were not performing duty properly, said the MC officials. Officials added that the director, Institute of Microbial Technology, Sector 39, CPCB, Delhi, and CPCC, Chandigarh, had been asked to suggest ways and means to improve the situation.

Panchkula, October 13
In order to avoid mishaps during and after the field firing practices at the Bhud Mandlai Firing Range, the Panchkula Deputy Commissioner, Ashima Brar, has asked the defence authorities to inform about the firing practice schedule at least 15 days prior to the district administration.

Convening a meeting of district administration officials and Army officers here today, the Deputy Commissioner said the defence forces should ensure that all the used and unused ammunition was removed from the range immediately after the practice was over.

There were numerous instances when residents of the nearby areas picked the misfired bomb shells and took to their homes leading to casualties and serious injuries.

Chandigarh, October 13
In a special anti-encroachment drive, the Municipal Corporation has demolished a newly constructed 30-feet-high religious structure in pocket no. 11 today.

Chandigarh, October 13
Credited with pioneering the theatre movement in the City Beautiful since 1974, Abhinet, the oldest drama ensemble of the region, staged its prestigious all women cast Hindi play “Kajari Ban” at the Tagore theatre here today.

Sponsored by the North Zone cultural Centre, Patiala (NZCC), in collaboration with the Department of Information, Public Relations and Cultural Affairs the play was an exploration of the plight of women in rural areas whose spouses go to faraway places or cities for earning livelihood.

Written by playwright Dr Lakshmi Narayan Lal, the play structured in the rural ambience of eastern UP, progresses under the direction of Kamal Arora. The play bring alive the sordid story of protagonist Kajari, a young woman, who in the absence of her husband, is subjected to all sorts of indignation, humiliation and even character assassination by jealous orthodox residents especially the female fraternity. But courageous Kajari, fighting all odds continues to run her home and live in invincibility by making kites, stitching clothes and teaching folk dances. The play invariably depicts how lack of education affects their lifestyle as it makes them narrowminded.

Kamal Arora has made the script more concise and compact while Anupam as Kajari, Isha Mittal (Sita) spelt magic. All woman actors tried to outperform the other. Besides Anupam ,Isha Mittal, Kanwal preet, Arti, Parvita, Mankirat, Harkanwal, Yukti and Sunita formed the cast.

The music score by Subhash Ghosh was the lifeline of the production and lighting effects by Jaspal augmented the performance level. Chief guest Samir Mathur, Home secretary, Haryana, and guest of honour Dr RC Mishra, IPS, honoured the artistes and lauded the efforts of Abhinet to bring the social evils into focus through the medium of theatre.