NEIGHBOURHOOD

  PPS to host conference from Dec 14

Patiala, December 12
Punjab Public School, Nabha, will host the Junior Regional Round Square Conference-2012 (South Asia and Gulf Region) from December 14 to December 16. As many as 150 students and 20 teachers will participate in the conference. Schools from Germany, Oman, Dubai and Bangladesh will also be present during the event.

Jagpreet Singh, headmaster of PPS, Nabha, said the theme of the conference was “Aspire to Inspire”. — TNS

Banur, December 12
The Banur police has booked five persons under the charges of illegal sand mining from the Ghaggar river. The police has also seized their five sand-laden trolleys and four tractors from the river near Manouli village on Wednesday.

The police said that after getting the information about illegal mining going in the area, the police raided the spot near Manouli village. All the accused fled from the spot after seeing the police.

A case against five persons has been registered under Sections 379 and 4 of the Mining Act. Notably, sand mining was banned by the High Court some time ago. Before the HC’s ban, the state government had already banned the mining to check the illegal mining.

Due to the ban, the mining has not been taking place for the past some months. But illegal mining has continued to take place.

Chandigarh, December 12
Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shalini Nagpal today amended the charge in the case of drug pilferage involving IPS officer and former Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) Director Saji Mohan as an accused. The court, which was likely to announce the orders today, amended the charge and added that Saji Mohan, during his tenure as NCB Director, Chandigarh, had provided 10 kg of heroin to a drug peddler, Nasib Chand, for further sale. The case has now been adjourned to January when witnesses will be examined for three consecutive days.

After the charge was amended, the defence counsel pleaded the court to summon five witnesses for cross-examination in the case. The witnesses include Custom Commissioner, Excise, in Amritsar Virat Dutt Chaudhery, Inspector Customs Pushpdeep, Upper Division Clerk with the NCB Parkash Ram, Intelligence Officer NCB Ganesh Baluni and constable Vijay Kumar. The case has now been adjourned for January 14, 15 and 16 when these witnesses will again be examined by the defence counsel.

According to the case registered in 2009, Saji Mohan, along with four others, was booked for pilfering heroin from around 13 unclaimed seizures, which were stored in the storeroom of the NCB Headquarters in Sector 2. The ATS (Mumbai) had first booked the 1995 batch IPS officer in January, 2009, when he was caught with 12 kg of heroin, following which the NCB, Chandigarh, had begun investigations, which revealed that Saji Mohan, during his tenure as NCB director here, mixed slaked lime in the drugs - keeping aside the ‘pure’ for his personal gain.

Mohan allegedly pilfered and manipulated the contraband seized from various places in Punjab and Jammu. Slaked lime was added to the contraband to enhance its quantity.

The subordinate staff was aware of the pilferage and cash seized from the spot was distributed among the residing staff. The 10 kg of the heroin was handed over to Naseeb Chand, an alleged drug smuggler of Jammu.

The NCB has also stated that the then NCB superintendent, Balwinder Kumar, used to actively help Saji Mohan in mixing slaked lime with heroin. He was arrested on the basis of the statements of constables Davinder Pal Singh and Naveen Kumar.

Attached with Saji Mohan as PSO, Davinder Pal Singh disclosed that he siphoned off 30 kg of heroin packed in 30 packets, which were kept in a red wooden box.

Mohali, December 12
The hearing in a case against former minister Tota Singh related to the recruitment of 134 clerks by the PSEB has been adjourned till Jan 16.

An education board official, Om Parkash, presented himself before the court as a prosecution witness. But his evidence could not be completed due to technical reasons.

After hearing both the parties, Additional District and Sessions Judge (Senior Division) Rajinder Aggarwal fixed January 16 as the next date of hearing. — OC

Chandigarh, December 12
A woman was duped of Rs 4 lakh in a bank by a conman who took the money from her on the pretext of depositing it. The woman, Manindr Kaur, who is an employee with a property dealer in Sector 21, had come to Axis Bank in Sector 8 to deposit the said amount.

A man approached her and introduced her as an employee of the bank. He then took the money from her on the pretext of depositing it and asked her to wait.

The accused then fled from the spot. A case has been registered in this regard. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 12
The St Kabir School, Sector 26, defeated St Joseph’s School, Sector 44, with a score line 40-17, during the league match of St Kabir Basketball Trophy for Boys, being held here today.

A basketball match in progress between Sacred Heart School and St Xavier’s School for the St Kabir Trophy in Chandigarh on Wednesday. Tribune photo: parvesh chauhan

For the winning side, Garv scored 16 points, Ritik gathered 10 points while Pranav contributed 8 points. In the second match, defending champion New Public School, Sector 18, overcame St Stephen’s Togan by 46-17 with Amit scored 19 points and Parvesh 20 points.

Earlier, the St Stephen’s team registered a narrow win over St Kabir by 47-46. Jasmeet Scored (19 points), Prabhmeet (14 points) and Kailash (6 points) were the main scorers for wining side while Garv scored 25 pts for St Kabir side. On the other hand, the New Public School routed St. Joseph’s by 40-22.

In the girl’s category, the team of Sacred Heart Schools, Sector 26, piped off St Xavier’s by 16-4. Ramya scored 4 points while Reet and Akriti scored 5 points each.

The team of St Kabir School went down tamely to St Joseph by 19-02. Muskan and Anchal scored 9 and 6 points, respectively. In another match, the St Joseph’s defeated Sacred Heart School by 34-20. Muskan (14 points) and Anchal (10 points) scripted team’s win.

Chandigarh, December 12
Batsman Pranjay and bowler Mehul, helped the cricket team of St John's School-26, to enter the final of ongoing Blessed Edmund Rice Cricket Tournament for Boys (U-17), held here.

Pranjay scored 82 runs while Mehul claimed a five-wicket haul against Vivek High School. The team posted 181 runs after loosing six wickets in 20 overs. Pranjay 82 off 60 with 10 boundaries in his kitty while Tejas contributed 37 off 22.

Kartavya was the other contributor with 18 off 12. For the bowling side, R Ajan and Aangad claimed two wickets each. In reply, Vivek High School failed to achieve the target and bundled out for 114 runs in 17 overs. — TNS

Panchkula, December 12
In the ongoing match of 1st Hardik Walia Memorial Cricket Tournament, the team of Satluj Stunners Cricket Academy, Sector 4, (SSCA-4) defeated LIC (Leaders in Cricket) Academy, Sector 26, Chandigarh, by 10 wickets.

After elected to bat first, the loosing side posted a total of 90 runs in 19.4 overs. Sahil (29) was the only main run-scorer for the team while for bowling side Mandeep and Rajat took 3 wickets each. In reply, the Satluj team achieved the target in 9.1 over with both openers an unbeatable identical score of 43 runs. — TNS

Chandigarh, December 12
In the first semifinal of the Molly Carver Memorial Cricket Tournament, the LFC School, Panchkula, beat Bhavan Vidyalaya School, Panchkula, by 13 runs, here at St Stephen’s School, Sector 45, here today.

Elected to bat first, the LFC team scored 165 runs in 29.5 overs with Sagar scoring 50 runs and Aishal contributing 20 runs. For the bowling side, Kishtig, Himanshu and Shivam took three wickets each.

Chasing the target, the Bhavan team was bundled out for 152 for 7 in 30 overs. Subham (49) and Kshitig (48) were the main scorer for the team whereas Kunal scored 22 runs. For the LFC team, Aishal and Chinmay claimed 3 wickets each.

Chandigarh, December 12
The cricket team of Punjab lost first four wickets against Delhi, during the first day’s play of North Zone Vijay Merchant Tie for Boys (U-16). After putting to bat first, the Punjab team scored 154 runs in 74 overs.

Openers Sahil Chander (10) and Sanvir Singh (17) chipped in 46 runs in the 24.3 overs for the first wicket. Later, a 98-run stand for the third wicket between Ekjot Singh Thind and Mansab Gill took the Punjab’s total to 144 for 3 in 69.1 overs. Mansab was snapped by wicketkeeper Vasu Sharma of Rahul Chaudhary for 52 off 127 inclusive of 11 boundaries.

The team soon lost Ekjot, who was snapped by wicket keeper off Rahul Chaudhary for 52 off 194 inclusive of 9 boundaries. For the bowling side, Rahul Chaudhary claimed 3 for 15. — TNS