How the trap was laid

October 5: Anokh Singh records a telephonic conversation in which Deshraj asks him to come to his residence.

October 12, 2012: Anokh Singh records conversation during a personal meeting with Deshraj in which he is allegedly demanding bribe. Anokh Singh met the SP at the police headquarters.

October 15, 2012: Anokh Singh submits a complaint to the CBI alleging harassment by Deshraj.

October 18: 12.30 pm: A CBI Inspector meets Anokh Singh on the rear side of the police headquarters, hands over to him a digital voice recorded.

1.30 pm: Anokh Singh heads towards the FCI guest house in Sector 8 to meet Deshraj. The CBI Inspector follows him. The recording of the conversation held on October 15 is handed to him, which verified that the demand of bribe has been made.

7.00 pm: The teams of the CBI reach the residence of the accused. Anokh Singh hands over the bribe amount to Deshraj and he is nabbed.

Chandigarh, October 20
Three days after an action taken report on the infamous booth scam was submitted to the UT Adviser, KK Sharma, the teams of the UT Estate Office today conducted raids in the Sector 41 Krishna Market to verify complaints of booths being sold on GPA or their sub-letting.

While initiating action on the magisterial inquiry conducted by PS Shergill, a former ADC of Chandigarh, the officials of the UT Estate Office received complaints that around 67 booths, of a total of 200 booths, had been either sold out or rented out. Some of the allotted booths were never opened by their allottees, it was pointed out by the whistle blower in the booth scam.

To verify the authenticity of the complaints, three teams of the enforcement wing of the Estate Office landed at the market and went from shop to shop to verify the credentials of the persons running their business from those shops. The proceeding of the of the verification process were videographed.

The raiding teams removed the encroachments from the corridor of the market. However, the encroachments were back soon after the teams left.

Assistant Estate Officer, UT, Rahul Gupta said once the teams submitted their reports, a suitable action would be taken.

It may be mentioned that the three-member probe panel, which was constituted to take action on the PS Shergill's report in the scam, in its report submitted to the UT Administrator has stated that proceedings had been initiated in eight cases for the cancellation of the allotment. The panel has recommended further probe into the monthly income profile in around 30 cases.

A few days ago, the whistle blower in the booth scam, in a representation to the Deputy Commissioner, Mohammed Shayin, had pointed out the selling and renting out of the booths.

Chandigarh, October 20
With the death of a teacher earlier this week still remaining a mystery whether it was a murder by her in-laws or a case of suicide, a team of the Central Forensic Scientific Laboratory (CFSL) today reconstructed the scene of her death by hanging a dummy from the ceiling fan at the Sector 21 residence of the victim. As the horrifying tragedy was reconstructed, Monica's relatives were in tears, reliving the trauma.

The dummy, weighing exactly the same as Monica Goyal's weight, was hung from the ceiling fan of her bedroom to ascertain if the fan twisted due to the weight of the body. This was done to find out whether Monica had indeed committed suicide by hanging herself. The fan was not twisted when she was found dead on Monday. Sources said the fan did not twist due to the weight of the dummy too, possibly pointing towards suicide.

The members of Monica's family have alleged her in-laws had beaten her and hung her body from the ceiling fan after she died. The CFSL reconstructed the entire scene when Monica was found hanging from the ceiling fan in her room as alleged by her in-laws. Monica's in-laws, who were in police custody and have been booked in a case of abetment to suicide, were also brought to the residence and were told to enact the scene on how they lowered the body, and then called a private ambulance which took her to the hospital.

Monica was declared brought dead at the hospital and the members of her family had alleged that she was murdered by her in-laws, as she was harassed by them for the past many years.

The CFSL will prepare a report on its findings and submit it to the police.

Panchkula, October 20
The Panchkula Municipal Corporation (MC) said the property tax would be levied on industrial and commercial units first. It was only after several protests by the residents that the MC had to take the action. The MC has also sought some clarification from the government over the formula of the tax.

"The residents were coming with a number of queries so we have decided to levy the property tax on the industrial and commercial units first. We have also sought some clarification from the government regarding the formula of the tax," said OP Sihag, Executive Officer of the MC. " We can say that for the time being ,the residents have got some respite." he added.

"During the elections, these people said no property tax would be levied and now they are going levy the tax. It is becoming difficult for a common man to survive and they are levying property tax," said Kalka MLA Pradeep Chaudhary. "In fact the residents were angry when the decision was taken as it had triggered a panic among the residents," said BB Singhal, a resident of Sector-10, Panchkula.

Gyan Chand Gupta, another resident of Panchkula said, "What about the senior citizens, who are living in great difficulty and now they will have to pay the tax.

Chandigarh, October 20
Ignoring the complaints of a car buyer proved costly for Mercedes Benz and its dealer Joshi Auto Zone Pvt Limited, when Justice (retd) Sham Sunder, president of the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, ordered them to refund Rs 31,500 spent by the complainant on replacing tyres of the car. The commission also directed them to repair the vehicle and replace the defective parts without charging anything.

Ajakson Leather Private Limited had complained that the Mercedes Benz car was purchased at a cost of Rs 48 lakh from Joshi Auto Zone on January 10 last year for the managing director of the firm and at the time of the sale two years warranty with extended guarantee of one year was provided by the company and the dealer.

The complainant said the rear tyres of the car were getting unevenly worn out. On November 14 last year the car was examined by Joshi Auto Zone, who in a examination report had stated that the rear wheels' alignment was within permissible parameters. On the contrary, the service engineer of Michelin India Tyres later inspected the vehicle and concluded that the uneven wearing of tyres was due to improper alignment of the rear wheels. Later, the rear tyres were replaced at a cost of Rs 31,500 but the vehicle had covered only 14,053 km against the average life of 35,000 and 40,000 km, claimed the petitioner.

The commission has ordered to repair the car under the supervision of a panel of experts within 30 days. The commission has also ordered them to pay Rs 15,000 as cost of litigation to the complainant.

Chandigarh, October 20
During an inspection at Government Model Senior Secondary School, Mani Majra, today, Joint Secretary, Estates, SK Setia noticed a white layer on the surface of Rajma, the mid-day meal for the school children.

Although the taste of the meal was said to be satisfactory, Setia stated that the white layer indicated some degree of staleness in the meal. The supply and distribution of the food was also found to be satisfactory.

Setia, who also served as DPI schools in Chandigarh, said there were still some practical issues involved in preparation and supply of the mid-day meal in the city. He said unlike other cities, the city has centralised system for preparation and supply of mid-day meal.

Four centres, including Chandigarh Institute of Hotel Management, Dr Ambedkar Institute of Hotel Management, Sivalik View Hotel and NGO-run kitchen, are preparing and supplying mid-day meal to all schools in Chandigarh, about 100 to 110 in number. Recently, they were also burdened for preparing food for double shift schools.

“Since the food supply is to reach all schools by 10 am, the institutes start preparing the food as early as 2 am. By the time it reaches the schools, there are chances of staleness in the food,” he said.

“An experiment can be done by starting mid-day meal kitchen at a particular cluster level to streamline the overall scheme. This will also lessen the burden on the institutions,” he added.

Rajma-rice diet was served today in the school from the kitchen of Sector 47, run by NGO. Efforts were made to reach the officials of the NGO, but they could not be contacted.

Practice of hand washing given a miss

The school lacked the practice of hand washing before eating food. Setia said this was made mandatory a few years ago but was not followed strictly. He directed the school principal to make sure that students of every class washed their hands before having their meal and also brush their teeth after the meal.

Poor sanitation at school

A part of the GMSSS-Mani Majra, in the Mani Majra’s community centre, lacks hygiene and sanitation. General cleanliness in the school, having strength of about 270 students, was found to be missing. The floor of the classrooms was filled with dust. Besides, the boys’ toilet was chocked and stinking. Girls’ toilet too lacked proper sanitation. “We don’t have a permanent sweeper, reasoned a teacher when asked by SK Setia.

Chandigarh, October 20
Deliberations on ‘India Grows at Night-A Liberal Case for a Strong State’, the latest book authored by renowned writer Gurcharan Das was held today at the Indian School of Business (ISB) campus in Mohali.

The interaction was led by the author and Sunil Munjal, chairman of the Hero Corporate Services. The event, which was attended by the students and alumnus of the ISB, also witnessed participation from people from across the tricity.

Speaking on his latest book, Das said through the title of the book he meant to say that “India grows at night when the government sleeps”.

Highlighting the background of the book, Das gave examples of the Faridabad and Gurgaon, both the cities close to Delhi. He explained how Gurgaon that had rocky soil and was not even fit for agriculture has grown into a millennium city; however, Faridabad that had Municipal Corporation (MC) from last many years is still struggling to catch up with modernisation in comparison to Gurgaon that didn’t had an MC till a few years ago.

Further speaking about the subtitle of the book ‘A Liberal Case for a Strong State’, Das said “we need to reform the institutions of our state and we need to create a strong liberal state”.

Das said middle-class youth doesn’t know whom to vote for in the next Lok Sabha elections following which there is a need to form a liberal party that believes in economic and institutional reforms and is secular.