NEIGHBOURHOOD

Four of family attacked
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Dera Bassi, April 2
Following a dispute between sand contractors, a clash took place in the Ghaggar riverbed near Mubarikpur today.

A clerk working with one of the contractors concerned was attacked. Shots were also fired on the Alto car of the clerk.

In his complaint to the police, Ranjeet Singh of Khetpurli in the Panchkula district said around two dozen armed men attacked him near Mubarikpur. Ranjeet was injured and he tried to flee to save himself. DSP Anil Kumar and SHO Gurdyal Singh said the clash took place over sand mining.

They said the matter was being inquired into and action would be taken after the completion of the inquiry, adding that the incident of firing could not be confirmed. District and block officials with the mining department could not be contacted for comment. Cases of illegal mining at places not auctioned for the purpose had resulted in clashes earlier. — OC

Banur, April 2
A second-year BBA student, Rahul Puri, attempted suicide by jumping off the fourth floor of the Chitkara University here around 9 pm last evening.

He was admitted to the Gian Sagar Hospital and was stated to be critical. He took the step following allegations of mobile phone theft by his hostel roommate.

Some friends of his claimed that Rahul was doing a Fools’ Day act, which turned ugly. He originally hailed from Ferozepore.

Sources claimed that Rahul took the mobile phone of his roommate to tease him, but the latter alleged that it was stolen.

“He jumped from the building due to a sense of guilt,” said the sources. According to the police, Rahul’s parents were shocked on hearing the news.

The police maintained that the matter was being investigated and action would be taken only after a proper inquiry was conducted.

University vice-president RS Gill said they were also conducting an inquiry on their own before initiating any action.

Fatehgarh Sahib, April 2
An athletics meet was organised today at Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Engineering College, Fatehgarh Sahib. The students of Anand Isher School dominated the athletics meet.

It was held for the students participating in the state-level INSPIRE Science Camp, organised by Indian government at the college campus. This meet was a part of the recreational programmes.

Dr MS Grewal, college principal, inaugurated the meet. He said the participation of the students in both theoretical and practical sessions of INSPIRE is encouraged.

Results:

100 metre race for boys: Gaganjot Singh (Anand Isher Public School, Chappar);100 metre race girls: Satkarjit Kaur (Govt Sr Sec School, Khamanno); 200 meter race boys: Gaganjot Singh (Anand Isher Public School, Chappar).

200 meter race girls: Harmandeep Kaur (Anand Isher Public School, Chappar); 400 meter race boys: Aditya Garg (Anand Isher Public School, Chappar); 400 metre race girls: Harmandeep Kaur (Anand Isher Public School, Chappar). 1,500 metre race boys: Kamalpreet Singh (Guru Nanak Model School Doraha), Leg race girls: Jaswinder Kaur and Adity (FSS School, Naya Nangal). Tug of war girls: Anand Isher Public School, Chappar and Best player in volleyball: Maninder Singh (Gurshakti Public Senior Secondary School, Khamanon).

Chandigarh, April 2
The picture of dismay painted by a non-government organisation on the issue of whitewashing the frescos at the historic Mata Mansa Devi temple in Panchkula has failed to find favour with the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The petition was dismissed as withdrawn after the High Court was convinced with the Haryana Government’s submissions that its restoration work, instead of whitewashing was on.

After a city-based lawyer painted a grim picture of heritage being whitewashed at the historic Mata Mansa Devi temple at Panchkula, the High Court had ordered the maintenance of status quo.

The directions came on a petition filed in public interest filed by Ranjan Lakhanpal. The petition was filed on the basis of news-reports carried on how the heritage was being whitewashed.

In his petition, Lakhanpal had sought directions to stop whitewashing of frescos at Mansa Devi Temple and to take appropriate action against the officials responsible. Directions were been sought for restoring frescos in its original form and to prevent re-whitewashing of the frescos in future.

Lakhanpal asserted age old paintings depicting Indian culture of yore were being whitewashed and ordinary leaves and flowers were being painted at Mansa Devi temple, which was not only against the rules of restoration of old and rare works of art, but would also damage these rare painting of the walls of shrine.

“It is astonishing to note that even after whitewashing of frescos was reported in the newspaper, the concerned authorities did not wake up and continued to do whitewashing of frescos,” Lakhanpal asserted.

Panchkula, April 2
The court of the district and sessions judge today acquitted Tanmay Arora of Amritsar of the charges of murdering his friend Simran Kaur Kundra of Amritsar.

He was acquitted after the prosecution failed to prove the murder charges against him. The detailed order of the copy in the case had not been provided yet.

The case dated back to April 30 last year, when Simran, a student of the International Institute of Fashion Design in Chandigarh, was murdered.

Tanmay had allegedly dumped her body at a vacant plot near Lidhran village on the Jalandhar-Amritsar highway. She had been residing in rented accommodation at Sector 15 here.

The police booked Tanmay after he surrendered before the police on May 14 last year. It had also registered a case against Simran’s former husband Karan Mehra.

Chandigarh, April 2
Two suspects, who are lodged in the Buail jail in a case of dacoity and serving seven-year jail term, masterminded a series of snatchings in the city. When one of their relatives came to meet them during the visiting hours in the jail, the two taught him how to snatch.

After the residents of the city had lost their sleep over a sudden spurt in the cases of snatching, the crime branch of the UT police sprung into action and arrested a snatcher who has been identified as Nawab Ali. He had links with the two suspects who are lodged in the Burail jail.

The police has solved five cases of snatching with his arrest and recovered the stolen jewellery from their possession.

Inspector Amanjot Singh, in charge, crime branch, said they received a tip-off that one person, who had been identified as Nawab Ali, was actively involved in snatching cases in the city and he was roaming in the area of Mani Majra, Chandigarh. Acting on the tip-off, a special ‘naka’ was set up near the Sheetla Mata temple, Mani Majra, and he was apprehended. He was produced in a court which remanded him in two-day of police custody.

The officials the crime branch said the accused had two of his relatives serving sentence in the Burail jail for their involvement in dacoity cases. “His brother-in-law Israr and his relative Abrar were lodged in the Burail jail. Nawab use to meet them in the jail during the visiting hours. Both asked him to commit snatchings,” said an official.

Chandigarh, April 2
With the arrest of five persons, the UT police today recovered 19 motor cycles and scooters, one mobile phone and one rotor machine from their possession and worked out 20 thefts perpetrated in the city. Incidentally, some of the cases of theft date back two to three years showcasing the failure of the police in arresting those who roamed about freely with stolen bikes in the city. Out of the 19 bikes recovered, two were stolen in 2009 while another two were stolen in 2008.

The police arrested Shaquir Alam, a resident of Mani Majra, and Sandeep Kumar, a resident of Darua village, and recovered one stolen motorcycle with a fake registration number from their possession. On their interrogation, the police arrested Surinder Maji and Rakesh Kumar and recovered one more stolen motorcycle with a fake registration number from their possession. Both the motorcycles had been stolen in the areas under the police stations of Sector 17 and Sector 31.

Their interrogation led to the recovery of 15 more motorcycles and scooters, one mobile (Nokia-C-6) and one rotor machine. All the suspects have a shady past and had been arrested in many cases of theft, snatching, dacoity by the Chandigarh Police.

Similarly, in another case a team of the Sector 39 police station Sikander, alias Dada, and recovered two stolen motor cycles from his possession.

Chandigarh, April 2
Three persons were injured when the Porche car belonging to an MLA of the Congress and another vehicle collided in Sector 28 today.

However, no case was registered as a compromise was reached between both the parties.

The Porsche car belonged to the Congress MLA from Guru Har Sahai, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, while the other vehicle (Skoda) was owned by Pushpinder Jain. Three persons, including Jain and Sodhi’s gunman and driver were injured in the accident.

Chandigarh, April 2
A jeep was stolen from the parking lot of a hostel at Panjab University here today.

Hardeep Singh, a resident of the boys’ hostel No. 3, reported that someone has stolen his jeep (PB-31H-9215) from the parking lot of the hostel. A case has been registered against unidentified persons at the Sector 11 police station.

Chandigarh, April 2
The nation might be waiting for the upcoming IPL but the local cricket buffs are busy with the ongoing Gully Cricket Tournament.

Sources said the Chandigarh administration has sanctioned Rs 15 lakh to organise the event.

Busy displaying their skills at various cricket grounds, cricket lovers are playing gully crickets that are held in different sectors of the city.

With majority of teams coming from the periphery of the city, the tournament will become an excellent platform for those who want to start their career in cricket.

The tournament, which was inaugurated yesterday, has witnessed a total of 547 teams participating to win the cash prize of Rs 2 lakh.

Sources said school-going children and self-employed persons are participating in the tourney.

The tournament will also host matches for women and special challenged persons.

A total of eight teams have confirmed their entry in this category which will be organised later.

“The matches for girls’ category will start after April 7 and the matches for handicap category will be organised later. The response is good and the limited-over matches will make the tournament more exciting. The audiences have also started to mark their presence. The excitement level will increase soon,” said inspector Ram Gopal.

The finals of the tournament are expected to be played at the football stadium of Sector 17.

“We have received an overwhelming response from the people which was our main aim. Through cricket we are trying to connect people of various societies and also spreading a message of awareness among the youngsters,” said one of the organisers.

Chandigarh, April 2
The cricket team of Saupin’s Cricket Academy defeated the team of Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, during the ongoing Third Junior Cricket Championship for Boys (U-13), here today.

The team booked the quarter-final berth after defeating the rival by five wickets.

After choosing to bowl first, the winning side restricted the opponent by a total of 119 runs in 25 overs.

Ubedullah scored54 off 61 balls and Rahul scored 25 off 21 balls. They were the main scorers for the Guru Nanak Public School.

In reply, the Saupin's school achieved the target in the just 21st over.

Prithvi Lotiya got 36 runs in 47 balls and Satyam got 23 runs in 28 ball. They were the main scorers for the team.

From the winning sid, Tavi and Ankit took two wickets each.

Chandigarh, April 2
Local tennis player Sachit Malhotra won boys (U-18) category after defeating Rohit Dhiman during the ongoing Swami Ram Tirath Total Tennis Championship played here today.

In the final match, Rohit Dhiman won the first set by 6-3 after taking full advantage of ground strokes. Rohit lost his control after loosing six games consecutively. Both the players played neck and neck till the score 3-3. In the 7th game, Rohit took a crucial lead of 4-3 but Sachit won the game by 3-6, 6-1 and 6-4. In the boys (U-12) category, Asav Kumar drubbed Akshit Chabbra by 4-1, 4-0. 

Chandigarh, April 2
The world is becoming hi-tech and so are the fans. At the Delhi Public School, Sector 40 (DPS 40), when the coach-cum-captain of Kings XI Punjab, Adam Gilchrist, came to launch footwear, students wanted to click his photograph rather than taking autographs.

However, no mobile phones were allowed in the city-based school. As soon as the ace former Australian team skipper reached the venue, students run toward him to have a glimpse of their favourite ‘Gili’.

“I just wanted to meet him and get a photograph clicked. But I do not have my personal camera or mobile phone here. He is one of my favourite cricketers. I don’t know when I will get a chance to meet him again,” said Anubhav.

The young fans adopted new ways to interact with him. Students prepared a questionnaire and were seen interacting with him one by one.

“This questionnaire is a joint effort of all the students and teachers. It was a great interacting with him. He answered our queries with a smile. However, due to less time we couldn’t ask him all the questions,” said students.

Earlier, he flagged off the event of finding ‘India's fastest runners’.

The winners of the event will be given title of fastest man and woman in the nation. They will get a chance to meet fastest man of the world Usain Bolt, later this year in Zurich.

The event will be held across seven other cities, including Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Delhi NCR, and Cochin.

Chandigarh, April 2
The Chandigarh Cricket Association (CCA) will conduct trials to select city’s cricket team on April 8 at DAV School Sector 8. The session will commence at 2 in the afternoon.

The selected group will undergo coaching before the final selection.

The selected team will represent the city in the forthcoming Punjab inter-district cricket tournament for boys (U-16) from April 20.

The players born on or after September 1, 1996 can participate in the trials.

The Mohali Cricket Association will conduct trial for admitting new trainees for its academy on April 4 (6:30 am) in the ‘C’ ground behind PCA.

The players who are born in Mohali or studying in any institution of Mohalican take part in the trials. Anyone who is residing in Mohali can also take part in the trails.

Chandigarh, April 2
Sukhdeep and Mansimran, father and son duo, excelled in the recently held Big Bore National Shooting Championship (300 metre) organised at the CRPF Academy Shooting Ranges at Kadarpur (Gurgaon).

They brought laurels to the city after winning top honours in the tourney organised by the CRPF under the aegis of National Rifle Association of India. In the XXI edition of the competition, the shooters won four medals in both the 300 metre position events. The 21-year-old Mansimran Singh won four medals and a created a new meet record in this competition.

During the 55th National Shooting Championship Competition (Big Bore), which was also conducted at the same venue, Mansimran Singh shot down five medals after bagging gold medals in three different events.

Mansimran was adjudged as the best shooter of the tournament while his father Sukhdeep Singh won two medals. There teammate Bhagwant Singh won a bronze medal.

Result:XXI All India GV Mavlankar Shooting Championship (Big Bore)

Mansimran Singh: Big Bore free rifle 3 position (NR) Championship - Gold (New Meet Record) 525/600); Big Bore Peep Sight Standard Rifle 3 position (NR) Championship -Bronze (435/600)

Sukhdeep Singh- Big Bore free rifle 3 position (NR) Championship - Silver (430/600); Big Bore Peep Sight Standard Rifle 3 position (NR) Championship - Gold (478/600)

55th National Shooting Championship Competitions (Big Bore) : Mansimran Singh-300M Rifle 3 position Men (ISSF) National Championship-Bronze (1037/1200); 300M Rifle 3 position Men (ISSF) Civilian Championship-Gold (New National record 1037/1200); 300M Rifle Prone Men (ISSF) Civilian Championship- Gold( 565/600); 300M Rifle Prone Men (ISSF) Civilian Championship Team-Bronze.