The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

COURTS

Accused acquitted in robbery case
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, February 18
A Class VII student, who was praised for his bravery for raising an alarm after a robber entered his house in Sector 10, Panchkula, failed to identify the accused, following which the youth was acquitted by the local court here today. The accused, Surya Kant, hails from Bihar and was nabbed on the spot.

Sometime ago, a youth had allegedly tried to commit a robbery after forcibly entering a house in Sector 10, Panchkula. The boy, Shivam (12), was taking a bath when he heard the screams of his sister and mother. They started screaming after they saw an unidentified person with a pistol. Shivam had scaled the wall in the backyard to call the neighbours. When the boy raised an alarm, the youth got scared and locked himself in the bathroom. When the police broke the door of the bathroom, the youth fired a shot into the air, but was arrested.

The youth was also carrying a bag carrying weapons, including a big knife.

During the court hearing, Shivam and the other eyewitnesses failed to identify Surya Kant. Shivam said he was in the bathroom and did not see Surya Kant firing into the air. Even the other witness, Krishan Lal, failed to identify the accused, following which he was acquitted by the court.

Five get jail for murder

Panchkula, February 18
A local court today awarded eight years of imprisonment to all five accused in the Barwala brawl. The miscreants were accused of killing a person in a brawl that took place in 2011.

The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 500 each on of the accused. In June 2011, Gurdeep visited Ram , where he had a brawl with him. Following which, Gurdeep called his accomplices and in that clash, Kumar got seriously injured. The next day, Kumar succumbed to his injuries. — TNS

CRIME

property dealer’s murder case
Key accused’s car found
Police sends teams to Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh to nab accused
Akash Ghai
Tribune News Service

Dera Bassi, February 18
Though the local police is yet to arrest the suspected key accused BJP leader Rakesh Mehta in the murder case of local property dealer Rajesh Bittu, it has recovered Mehta’s car from Kala Amb in Himachal Pradesh here today.

According to sources, Mehta’s Ritz car, bearing registration number PB 70 1009, has been recovered from near one of the Mehta’s relative, based at Kala Amb.

“The vehicle was lying parked near the house of his relative. We have impounded it,” said a police official on the condition of anonymity while adding that teams have been sent to Uttarakhand and further areas of Himachal in his search.

The police has also recovered a scooter, belonging to Mehta’s wife from the street, in which Bittu was murdered on last Thursday.

Meanwhile, two other persons, Joga Singh and his nephew Ranbir Singh have been detained by the police for quizzing. Joga Singh, who is said to be rural president of BJP unit, and Ranbir Singh have been named as accused in the FIR. On the complaint of kin of Bittu, the police has registered a case under Sections 302, 148 and 149 of the IPC against a total of seven persons including the BJP city president Rakesh Mehta, Shiv Tony, son of a sitting BJP councillor from ward No. 2, Rakesh Bansal, rural president Joga Singh and his three nephews, Ranbir Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Gurmail Singh of Jawaharpur village, here.

Three other accused Rakesh Bansal, Harbhajan Singh and Gurmail Singh had already been rounded up by the police. Mehta and Shiv Tony are still at large.

The Mohali SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar has constituted a Special Investigating Team (SIT), headed by SP (City) Darshan Singh Mann in the case.

According to sources, the SIT has been working on 11 different theories. “The real picture would be clear only after the arrest of Mehta,” said the police adding that two FIR has already registered against Mehta and his accomplices in different cases.

Notably, Bittu was brutally murdered near his residence in Preet Nagar Colony at around 10 pm on Thursday night following an attack on him by some unidentified persons armed with iron rods.

The attackers had hit the victim’s face and head with rods, which proved fatal. Bittu was declared brought dead at the Government Medical College Hospital, Sector 32, Chandigarh. The family members of the victim claimed that it was the fourth attack on Bittu. Earlier, he was attacked in 2006 at his residence. The second attack had taken place in 2011 at Municipal Council’s office and he was attacked again at Ramleela Ground last month.

3 held in Dadu Majra murder case
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 18
The UT police has claimed to have solved the murder of Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Dadu Majra Colony, who was attacked by assailants with sharp weapons on February 16. The accused succumbed to injuries at the PGI today. Two of the five accused are juveniles.

On February 16, the victim's mother, Meena, reported that her son Rajesh Kumar (23), alias Ricky, was attacked by Raj Kumar, a resident of the colony, and his five or six accomplices who were carrying batons and sharp weapons. The complainant had stated that they hit her son on the head with the intention to kill him and fled the spot.

The police officials stated accused Sunny, a resident of the colony, was arrested and during the interrogation he revealed the names of other accomplices, who were also arrested. The other accused have been identified as Raj Kumar and Rupesh Kumar, both residents of the same colony.

The police said all the accused were between in the age groups of 15-20 years while two of them are juveniles, who would be produced in a juvenile court.

The motive behind the murder was old rivalry.

Youth attacked in Sec 23

A Punjab police Sub-Inspector's son was attacked with sharp weapons outside his residence in Sector 23 here this evening. The victim, Gurpreet, suffered serious head injuries in the attack by three persons, who were armed with sharp weapons. He received six stitches on the head. The incident occurred around 9pm at the parking of Sector 23. The victim had gone there in his Zen to purchase something.An old enmity was stated to be the reason behind the brawl.

Cop’s daughter teased; youth arrested

In yet another case of eve-teasing, an 18-year old student of a Kendriya Vidyalaya was sexually harassed by a Mohali resident near a private school in Sector 48.

The police has booked Parminder, who was on his motorcycle, when he passed lewd comments at the girl.

The girl, a daughter of a UT policeman, was in her school uniform when the motorcyclist teased her and also tried to touch her.

The police reached the spot and arrested the accused.

Body found on rail track

The body of a 35-year-old man was found on railway track at Kishangarh here. The investigating officer, Jagdish Kumar, said the body was yet to be identified.

Rs 80 lakh seized from CMD's house
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 18
The income tax investigating cell, which had raided 13 places of the Synergy Thrislinglton company in the past two days, is verifying the documents seized by its teams from Baddi, Nalagarh, Mohali and Jammu. Sources in the department said the team had also seized Rs 80 lakh from the residence of Chief Managing Director, Synergy Thrislinglton, Harpal Singh.

Teams from Chandigarh, Haryana, Punjab and HP raided the centres of the company and seized a number of documents. The officials are preparing a report on the documents of the company.

Besides, with regards to the survey conducted by the team at Kirloskar Green DG in Sector 26, the company surrendered Rs 9 crore to the department.

park plaza theft
Accused deposited Rs 49,000 six times in bank

Chandigarh, February 18
Still absconding in the case of theft of valuables over Rs 30 lakh from Hotel Park Plaza in Sector 17, the police investigations revealed accused Jayesh Sejpal had deposited Rs 49,000 six times in his bank account this month.

A day after the arrest of Ramesh Chhag, the police said the scrutiny of Jayesh's bank accounts revealed that he deposited Rs 49,000 on February 4, 5, 6 and 7, 15 and 16.

The accused used to sell off the stolen items at cheap prices in Delhi and Mumbai.

The police said the accused had conducted a recce of three other luxurious hotels in the city before they chose Park Plazas as their target. The police said this was the first time when an incident was reported in which burglars came from Mumbai and safely returned after committing a crime in Chandigarh. — TNS

p’kula rape case
Accused admitted to jail hospital
Hina Rohtaki
Tribune News Service

Panchkula, February 18
Major Harish Chander Sharma (retired), who has been arrested for allegedly physically abusing three minors in his locality in Sector 12, has been admitted to the hospital in the Central Jail, Ambala.

Sharma was yesterday sent to judicial custody by a local court. The police didn't seek his further police remand after no immoral clippings were found from his residence.

According to the jail officials, Sharma has been admitted to the hospital on medical grounds. “He has been admitted to the H1 ward of the hospital. He is suffering from acute diabetes as well,” said a senior official of the jail.

Yesterday, when Sharma entered the jail after he was set to judicial remand, he was asked to broom the third class cell. According to the members of his family, Sharma is also suffering from manic psychosis.

Missing boy's father makes fake murder call
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 18
The UT police was on its toes today when a Sector 46 resident called the police control room to say his son has been murdered. The police rushed to the spot and found that a class IV employee of 3BRD had called up the police as he was upset over his missing son.

Mitrapal called up the control room to say his 22-year-old son Satish has been murdered. As the police reached the spot, he told them that his son had been missing since January 13 and he suspected their estranged relatives in Haridwar had killed him.

“I can only go after the police here but the officials always turned me back saying that the case related to Haridwar and I should go there to lodge a complaint. There has been no clue about my missing son and the police is not acting,” said Mitrapal.

Doctor held on charge of teasing nurse

Panchkula, February 18
A doctor was arrested from a Sector 14 private hospital in Panchkula late last night after he tried to outrage the modesty of a nurse by asking her to share the bed. The accused, Pawan Kumar, was released on bail by a court this morning.

The nurse told the police that the accused used to tease her time and again. Last night the doctor asked her to spend some time in a room and tried to outrage her modesty. — TNS

SPORTS

Expert in city to hunt for tennis talent
Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 18
Striking the right chord, at the right time, is an expert's job and James Downing is doing the same, to find a bunch of future tennis players', for the nation, here. James Downing, the new tennis director of Harvest Tennis Academy, was seen running pillar to post at the CLTA courts, not to find anything unusual but to judge performances of the young legs.

He has been putting up all his effort while listing and presenting the best in the junior Indian tennis.

The just concluded CLTA-AITA talent hunt tennis series witnessed the foreigner coach making his presence felt throughout the tournament, in order to boost the players and guide them in right direction. The weeklong event made him to judge some top class performances and he believes that the region got but a prefect talent to serve the nation.

"I am impressed with performances of players during the talent series tournament. It was an amazing experience and beat everything it provided me great confidence and zeal to cheer for this talent. I wish that my efforts on the players of Punjab will bring real results for Indian Tennis in the very near future," said James.

He was the first foreign coach to stage camps in Bombay at the MSLTA two decades ago in 1993. He also brought the sponsor's interest towards to serve the upcoming juniors' talent. "The region has got real talent, in terms of physical strength and courage to handle pressure situations. I have witnessed the fighting spirit from players here. The young legs performed well during the tournament. The trainees of our academy also performed well. My basic motive is to let the young legs come out, try their hand on racket and we will be guiding them to keep their interest in the game," said James.

Over his new directorship of Harvest Tennis Academy he added, "The players played well and the region including this city has a great craze for the game. Not only their players but also their parents take keen interest. I have taken time away from my tennis academy back in Washington DC to find talent here. The Harvest Tennis Academy just opened a centre of tennis excellence headed by internationally acclaimed coach Todd Clark in Delhi and with same facilities at Jassowal (Ludhiana), I am confident that tennis for juniors in India is on the up," said James.

On his past trainings sessions, he added: "I had organised tennis training camps in Maharashtra, Haryana and Jossowal. I have my pockets full over the availability of the right talent. We will be taking 12 of the best players to a four-day Wimbledon tennis action on courts, a week of intensive tennis coaching and a series of international tournaments played in the UK during the month of June and July for the Wimbledon Championships and again in September for the US open," said James.