The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Four injured in house collapse
Suman Bhatnagar

Ambala, September 4
A room on a two-storey house at Kajiwara area, Ambala City, collapsed here this evening. The owner of the house was replacing the roof of another room when the incident happened.

Ajeet Singh, owner of the house, his wife, Saroj Bala, his daughter Palak and one of his three-year-old nieces, Kanhaya, were buried under the debris.

Neighbours rescued Ajit Singh and his family members. In the meantime, a team of fire brigade reached the spot.

The fire brigade rescued the three-year-old child after half an hour.

Ajeet sustained head injuries while his wife, daughter and the child admitted to the Civil Hospital, Ambala City.

The labourers, who were working there escaped unhurt.

Rail track repairs delay train

Kalka, September 4
Due to the maintenance work on the Kalka-Shimla rail track at Koti Railway Station today a train for Shimla was delayed for three hours. The passengers of the train had to face much inconvenience and had to opt for road transport.

When contacted, Vinay Arora, Station Superintendent of Kalka, said that due to a land slide, maintenance work was being carried out at Koti Railway station between 8.00 am to 11.00 am. The train from Kalka, which was to depart at 8.30 am, could only leave at 11.30 am, added Arora. — OC

Landline phones non-functional
Our Correspondent

Kalka, September 4
Hundreds of landline phones in Kalka area became non-functional due to severe lightning on Monday evening. The residents of the area remained cut from the outer world.

The users of BSNL broadband also had to face inconvenience. Some of the residents told The Tribune that several electronics equipments, including music systems, also got damaged due to the lightning.

COURTS

Trader gets 7-year jail in bigamy case
Parents get two-year jail for hiding fact from daughter-in-law
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 4
The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge SS Sahni today sentenced a 35-year-old businessman to seven years' imprisonment in a case of rape and cheating under Section 376 of the IPC. The court convicted Amarpreet Singh, a resident of Sector 19, and also imposed a fine of Rs 7,000 on him.

His parents have been sentenced to two years' imprisonment for abetting the act under sections 376 and 109 of the IPC.

The victim, who is Amarpreet's second wife, had moved the court in 2003 after her repeated pleas to the police against her husband fell on deaf ears. She moved a complaint in the court through an advocate alleging that her husband Amarpreet Singh married her without divorcing his first wife and also hid this fact from her.

"The court ruled that having sex in an illegal marriage is equal to rape. The husband hid the fact from his wife that he has not divorced his first wife. Moreover, the parents of the accused have been held responsible equally as they also hid this fact from their daughter-in-law," said advocate AS Chahal who represented the complainant.

Accused Amarpreet had earlier married in 1998 and again gave a matrimonial advertisement in 2003 stating that he is divorced and is seeking a match.

The complainant got in touch with Amarpreet and both married soon. Amarpreet's parents Rajinder Kaur and Rajinder Singh also hid the fact that Amarpreet has not divorced from his first wife.

After the victim got to know that her husband and in-laws cheated her, she filed a complaint of bigamy with the police.

She then moved court through counsel alleging rape and cheating. The accused Amarpreet Singh then absconded and failed to appear before the court. After remaining in hiding for a long period, he was declared a proclaimed offender in the 2010. It was only in January, 2010, that the UT police arrested him.

CRIME

Women’s gang busted; three arrested
Booked under murder, robbery charges
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, September 4
In a major breakthrough, the Panchkula police has arrested three members of a women ‘Sehsani’ gang that was on the prowl in Panchkula for a long time. The gang consists of women from well off families who would come in luxury cars and strike in different ways.

The accused were identified as Veena, Jyoti and Bithlo. All the three accused belong to Delhi.

Recently the accused had allegedly committed thefts at various showrooms in Sector 9, 10 and 11 in the presence of the showroom owners by keeping them busy.

“The accused were arrested today. A few men are also part of their gang. But they remained behind the scenes,” said a police official.

He added, “Even the thefts which were committed some time ago. The accused have revealed that two male members used to sit in the car outside the showroom and help them flee.”

The police said around five to six well dressed women would enter the showrooms. One of them kept the owners busy while the others committed theft. If someone pointed them out or resisted, the accused would point a pistol towards them and flee with their accomplices in the luxury cars.

“We have to investigate further. We will be able to reach other members from them only,” said another official.

Some gang members are known for striking after offering lifts to people. Sometime ago in two separate incidents, the women gang had robbed elderly women. Both the incidents had taken place in the same manner and that in Sector 17, Panchkula.

The victim, Neelam Bhatia, a resident of Sector 16, Panchkula, was walking to her house when two women in a white car offered her lift saying that some of her acquaintances was calling her. Neelam in her complaint said that then she could not recall what happened and how the gang robbed her bangles. She does not even remember their faces.

Similarly, a 70-year-old woman, Ravi Kant, was also robbed of her gold bangles in the same area.

The police informed that the ‘Sehsani’ gang is a group of 40-45 women, all from well off families that strike in different ways.

The gang hails from areas of Punjab and Delhi and is involved in robberies, thefts and snatchings. It was recently when some of the gang members had even hit a Sub Inspector at the Pinjore bus stand who was there to nab them.

A number of cases under Sections 307(attempt to murder) and 392 (robbery) have been registered against them in Panchkula.

Man fires into air during scuffle
Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 4
In yet another firing incident, a person fired four gunshots into the air following a minor scuffle between his friend and another person over a debt of Rs 5,000 at Phase V here tonight.

The incident occurred at around 11.15 pm. Amadeep Singh, a resident of Madanpura village, suffered minor bruises in the scuffle with Mehndi, whom he has allegedly given Rs 5,000 as debt few months ago. Mehndi's friend Amandeep Singh Bains, a resident of Phase VII, fired four gunshots into the air and both he and Mehndi fled the scene.

Mohali SSP GS Bhullar said to solve the debt issue between Mehndi and Amandeep Singh, their common friend Deepak had called them at Khalsa Sweets at Phase V. An argument among them turned into a scuffle. "Bains, who was with Mehndi, fired shots into the air," said Bhullar, adding that police teams have been sent to nab Bains and Mehndi.

Fourth firing incident in Mohali in 25 days

On August 28, the the police arrested Sukhpreet Singh, a trustee of Bhaddal Engineering College and resident of Phase V, for firing three shots into the air with his licensed .32-bore revolver at Phase V following an argument with a neighbour's tenant and his friends.

On August 23, Tajinder Singh of Phase VI had flattened tyres of a Toyota Innova belonging to Gurpreet Singh, a tenant of his neighbour, by firing two shots over a parking issue.

On August 8, the police had arrested Gur Iqbal Singh and his son Jaspreet for firing shots after challenging their neighbour Tajinder Singh on August 7 night following a rivalry.

shooting incident
Accused gives police the slip
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Mohali, September 4
Satinder Singh alias Pappu, one of the main accused in shootout incident at Sector 69 involving PU students, managed to give slip to the Mohali police at his residence in Panchkula here today. While chasing Pappu (29) today, the police reached his house at Sector 15, Panchkula. But when they (policemen) entered the house, Pappu managed to run away through the backdoor of his house.

However, the police has recovered the grey-coloured Skoda , which was used in the shootout incident, which had occurred during late hours on June 20. SP (City) Swarndeep Singh, said that the vehicle has been confiscated. “Pappu lives there with his family. He will be nabbed soon,” said SP Swarndeep Singh. Notably, two PU students-Pankaj and Jaswinder had sustained minor injuries when fire shots by a group of other students, including Pappi, Baljinder Singh alias Skintu and Jeevanjot Singh alias Jugnu, just brushed past their necks. Both were admitted to a hospital. The police had already arrested Skintu in this connection.

SPORTS

PU fail to qualify for league stage
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 4
The football team of host Panjab University, compromising inter-university players, has failed to defeat DAV College, Hoshiarpur, in the opening game of the ongoing inter-college tournament for men here today.

After a gap of almost three years, the team failed to qualify for the league stage of the competition. Both the teams missed a number of chances to score, but it was the strikers of the DAV team who kept their calm and took the team to the league stage of the competition. Notably, the hosts underwent proper training sessions before the competition and were provided with a comfortable tournament schedule. However, they went down 1-0 on the home ground.

The solitary goal came in the second half of the match after the PU defenders failed to intercept a strong header by a DAV striker. With the early exit, the chances of local players to get selected in the inter-university football team has become difficult.

"We were expecting a far better result. The team has players of international standards and played under the supervision of a well-known coach. However, the players failed to play their natural game. Had it been some other opponent, they could have lost by a margin of at least three goals," said DS Rawat, a spectator.

In another match, GHG Khalsa College, Gurusar Sadhar, defeated GNN College, Doraha, 3-0. In the match between SGGS College-26 and GN Khalsa College, Abohar, the former overcame the latter by a margin of 6-0. In the last game of the day, defending champions, SGGS Khalsa College, Mahilpur, thrashed PG Government College-11 by 2-0.

Players given jerseys without number
Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 4
In the ongoing inter-college tournament, the players representing Panjab University campus have been provided with jerseys bearing no numbers on the front or the back. The players have had to write numbers by hand, leaving them embarrassed in front of other teams.

The Directorate of Sports, Panjab University, claims to provide world class facilities to its players, but the reality seems to be different.

The players of PU soccer team, who made an early exit from the ongoing inter-college football tournament for men (A-Division), were seen wearing these jerseys. Last year also, the volleyball team of mens (B-Division) was provided with kits bearing no numbers.

According to Director Sports, PU, the players were to receive new kits, but due to the delay in tender and purchase, the players were given old kits bearing no jersey numbers. “This year, the inter-college tournaments are being organised a bit early. We have finished the tender and purchasing and will soon get the new kits. The early dates of the tournaments was the actual problem. The other teams will be provided with proper kits,” said Gurmeet Singh, Director of Sports (additional charge).

On other hand, many players were seen objecting to the step taken by the authorities. “We were told to write numbers on jerseys using black markers which is quite embarrassing. Printing number on jerseys hardly takes one hour. We were provided kits on Friday, so the authorities could have given us proper kits. The numbers written using markers fade away during the match due to sweat, and the referees ask us to darken it again,” said a player, requesting anonymity.

Dr CS Grewal, former Director, Sports, PU, said, “During my tenure, we always asked for kits in advance. It does not take much time to print numbers on jerseys. Numbers are the on-field identity of players and they should have been given proper kits.”