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Mohali, January 22
Indicating possible connivance between the police and a woman, who has been accused of murdering her husband, the Mohali additional sessions court pointed out serious flaws in the police investigation and directed the Mohali SSP to conduct further investigation into the matter. Raising serious doubts over the police investigation in the case, in which Manmohan Singh had died after allegedly being administered liquor laced with poison extracted from lizard by his wife Manpreet Kaur, the Additional Sessions Judge, Mohali, Rajinder Aggarwal, observed that while the deceased had died in 2006, the so-called suicide note, attached with the documents of investigative proceedings, was written on a page from a diary of 2010.

“A serious doubt has arisen in the mind of the court that the suicide note placed on the file, the handwriting of which was compared with the specimen handwriting of the accused, has been fabricated by someone during the course of investigation,” the judge held in the order. “The availability of the copy of another suicide note in the police record, which has been produced by the additional public prosecutor, further strengthens this doubt. There is no memo vide which the suicide note was taken on record by the investigating officer. It seems that the original suicide note purported to have been left behind by the deceased has been removed and instead the fabricated suicide note has been placed on record,” the order added.

The court held that the possibility of the connivance of the police officials concerned with the accused couldn’t be ruled out.

In the case, popularly known as “Chipkali-kaand” (lizard murder case), the accused allegedly had extra marital relations with her husband’s cousin, Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Austria. She, along with her sister Baljit Kaur, had allegedly given a poison-laced drink to Manmohan Singh, who was an illiterate, on the night of June 14, 2006. The police had exonerated Baljit Kaur on the ground that her name did not figure in the recorded telephonic conversation between Manpreet Kaur and Kuldeep Singh, on the basis of which the murder case was registered. Manpreet Kaur is in police custody.

Panchkula, January 22
In the Jyoti murder case, accused Gurmeet and Dharampal, Doon MLA Ram Kumar Chaudhary’s nephews, and truck driver Tilak Raj, who had allegedly helped Chaudhary to eliminate Jyoti, were produced in the court after the completion of their five-day police remand.

Today, the court sent them to 14-day judicial custody at the Central jail, Ambala. The Panchkula police had not sought further remand of the accused.

The defence counsel pointed out in the court that an application moved on January 20 regarding the provision of B Class facilities to Chaudhary in the jail has not yet reached there and the matter may be looked into once again. During the last hearing, the court had ordered to send the application to the jail superintendent.

Jyoti was found dead on November 22, 2012, at Sector 20 in Panchkula.

Chandigarh, January 22
In a fast-track trial, the court of District and Sessions Judge SK Aggarwal today acquitted a 26-year-old man in a case of attempt to rape an 11-year-old girl. The court acquitted Basant Kumar after all the witnesses in the case turned hostile and the prosecution could produce no other evidence in the case. The entire trial was completed in just three days time. Charges were framed in the case on January 19.

The victim’s mother had told the police that the accused attempted to rape her daughter after forcefully entering her house when she was alone. The accused was her neighbour and the girl used to go to him to have momos. Basant Kumar used to sell momos at a rehri in Ram Darbar.

In the court, the girl as well as her mother retracted from their statements given to the police and the accused was acquitted. 

Panchkula, January 22
A woman, a resident of Rajiv Colony, Sector 17, alleged gang rape by her brother-in-law and paternal uncle here today. The woman said she was raped in September and since then she had been running from pillar to post to get a case registered, but all efforts went in vain.

The victim’s husband had died a few months ago and she lived alone. She alleged that after her husband’s death, her relatives were harassing her and had even snatched all jewellery available with her. The victim said she was beaten up and raped by her brother-in-law and paternal uncle.

The victim, who has submitted a complaint to the Deputy Commissioner of Police Parul Kush, today said since then she had been struggling to get a case registered, but to no avail.

The complaint has been marked to Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP under training) Noopur Bishnoi, who said she was still investigating the matter .—TNS

Chandigarh, January 22
An undertrial in a case of robbery, who was being taken to Shimla by the Himachal police, today fled from the custody after taking advantage of a road accident.

Kamal, a 28-year old notorious robber, escaped from the custody of the Himachal police in Manimajra.

The accused was in the custody of sub-inspector Babu Lal from Shimla when their car was hit by another vehicle near Fun Republic, Manimajra.

When the sub-inspector and two other constables came out of their car to check the damage, the accused managed to escape from the custody.

A constable tried to chase the absconding robber, but failed to nab him.

In his statement to the local police, Babu Lal said the robber was being brought from Amritsar after making some recoveries and he was being taken to Shimla when the incident took place.

A case was registered at the Manimajra police station. 

Mohali, January 22
The area outside the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium is being cordon off by the Punjab Police but when it comes to get hold of the black marketers, the forces seems to be helpless.

The police has failed miserably when it comes to check the black marketing of tickets for the upcoming one-day international day and night match between India and England scheduled for January 23.

The areas around gate no 14 and gate no 1A are among the hot-spots for getting a ticket in black. A visit to the spot by The Tribune correspondent revealed that people were selling tickets more than the original price, in order to make quick bucks.

“The one-day and the T-20 matches are the best way to make quick bucks. Selling sugarcane juice and vegetables is not enough to run our families. We need to earn in one way or another, so we opt for this. People do buy tickets from us, so what is wrong in giving them this facility by charging some extra amount,” said Nasser (name changed) a black marketer.

A purchaser, Parbhat, said, “The low category tickets are not available at any counters of either the PCA or the Central Bank of India, so we are only left with this option. One just needs to stand alongside the ticket selling counter and these people will approach you themselves. Bargaining also helps in getting the tickets at best price.”

On other hand, despite having a proper security cover, the police personnel were seen struggling hard to catch these people. During this visit, it was witnessed that a biker’ PCR personnel caught a group of black-marketers but later the accused managed to flee.

Black marketeers take advantage of fewer low-rate tickets

The tickets of North VIP Block: Rs1200, Chair Block: Rs 1000, Student Block: Rs 750, are available with these black marketeers against the original price of Rs 1000, Rs 300 and Rs 150, respectively.

Chandigarh, January 22
Arrested in the kidnapping case of three-year-old girl Harmeini, 22-year-old Chinar Dutt today told the police that she was unaware of the entire conspiracy and was kept in the dark about the plan. She said it was only at 5.30 pm on January 15, when the girl was kidnapped, that she got to know of the plan from her friend, Jagpal Beniwal, and was threatened all these days not to disclose anything.

The police today recorded statements of the girl’s parents before the Magistrate. Both, Harish Arora and Priya Arora, parents of Harmeini, narrated the entire sequence of events to the Magistrate.

The UT police today got five-day custody of the accused, Chinar, and told the court that they need to unearth the entire conspiracy and know the sequence of the crime. While seeking the remand of the accused, public prosecutor JP Singh said the custodial interrogation of the accused was required to know the sequence of the crime, to know the places where the kidnapped girl was kept and to recover the cellphones used in the crime. The police also said the co-accused, Jagpal Beniwal and Raju, were yet to be arrested. The police said it had to recover the vehicles used in the crime by interrogating Chinar.

While granting five-day police custody of Chinar, the court said a lady police officer not below the rank of sub-inspector should be deployed for handling the accused while in custody. The accused will now be produced in the court on January 27 before the duty magistrate.

Harmeini was kidnapped on January 15 from Hotel Royal Inn in Sector 22 by her father’s business partner Jagpal and his woman accomplice, Chinar. A financial dispute was the reason for the crime and the accused were known to the family for the past over one year. The accused demanded a ransom of Rs 60 lakh. The girl was recovered from Jind in Haryana on January 19.

Panchkula, January 22
The most astonishing fact in the yesterday’s robbery case is that it took place on a high security road and the spot is just 50 metres away from Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Parul Kush’s residence. The robbery has exposed chinks in the armour of the Panchkula police.

Yesterday, four masked miscreants robbed Rs 17.58 lakh from a 30-year-old man after shooting him in the leg near the road separating Sectors 14 and 11 in Panchkula.

“As CCTV cameras have been installed at the DCP’s residence, we scanned the video footage, but actually no camera was installed on the rear side of the house where the robbery took place,” said a police official.

The police also scanned the video footage of CCTV cameras installed at the Zirakpur toll plaza, but no clue to the robbery was found.

‘Bystanders kept looking at me, no one came to my rescue’

Sharing his horrific experience, the victim, Ritnesh Tripathi said how he kept crying for help when the miscreants pointed a knife at him, but no one came to his rescue. After he was shot at, a passerby took him to a hospital. “When they took me at knifepoint, people gathered around me but no one came to my rescue. As I resisted, they shot at me and I kept crying in pain,” said Tripathi.

Mohali, January 22
The Mohali police today arrested a local youth along with his parents on the charge of eve-teasing a class IX girl student here. The accused have been identified as Gaurav Lamba, his parents Nidhi Lamba and Arvinder Lamba.

The police said Gaurav, a student of a private college at Kharar, used to tease the girl, a student of Gyan Jyoti Public School, Phase II, when she went to school or tuition.

“The victim's parents claimed that they tried several times to stop the accused from his nefarious activities, but he didn’t listen to them. Even he started teasing the girl in front of her mother, who started accompanying her daughter during the school time. Yesterday again the accused was scolded by the victim’s mother for his nefarious activities at a local market, following which he called his parents, who supported their son," said the police.

Later, the police arrested the trio from their residence and registered a case against them. — TNS

Mohali, January 22
The local court today announced five-year sentence to three employees of the education department in a case of preparing fake documents for getting promotion.

The Additional District Sessions Judge also fined Rs 2,000 to each of the accused Navtej Singh, Amandeep Singh and Mahajit Singh.

Notably, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau had filed a case under Sections 465, 468, 471 and 120 B, of the IPC against the trio on the complaint of Harnek Singh and Sukhdev Singh Gill about five and a half years ago.

Mohali, January 22
The ban on smoking in public will go up in smoke in the VVIP enclosure at PCA during the ODI match tomorrow as the PCA authorities not only curtailed the number of medical teams to check the menace by issuing challans but also restricted their entry to only one block of the stadium.

According to sources, the local medical staff recommended three teams, consisting two members each, to check the smoking in the stadium but the PCA authorities allowed only one team in the stadium and restricting its entry only to the Terrace Block. This means that the team cannot move out of the specific block in case someone is found smoking in any other block.

“What if the rules are flouted in other stands of the stadium? To check the menace in the entire stadium, at least three teams are required. The permission to only one team and that too with restrictions only shows that the PCA was not serious in checking the menace,” said a senior doctor.

Dr Neelam Bhardwaj, Mohali Civil Surgeon, on confirming the development, said she was miffed over the behaviour of the PCA officials.

“We have recommended the teams to perform duty. But they (the PCA officials) behaved in a manner like we were keen to see the match. I will surely apprise my seniors of the matter shortly and seek the directions for further matches”, said Dr Bhardwaj.

On the issue, GS Walia, Joint Secretary of the PCA, said the police would check smoking in public. “The matter has been discussed in a meeting today. Nobody will be allowed to enter the stadium with cigarette, matchbox or lighter.”

On the other hand, a senior police official confirmed that they have no right to issue challan on smoking in public.

Notably, Bombay Dyeing scion Ness Wadia, Australian cricketer Shane Warne and two women from Pakistan had been challaned for smoking in the PCA Stadium so far.