Chandigarh, March 19
A local court today issued non-bailable warrants against eight persons for failing to appear before the police in a Rs 300 crore fraud registered last year. The court issued the non-bailable warrants against Sukhbir Singh Shergill, Gurbir Kaur Shergill, secretary and vice-chairperson, respectively, of the SAS Institute of Information Technology (Mohali) and six others.

Non-bailable warrants have also been issued against Jatinder Singh Dua and Sagar S Dua, the owners of a Sector 35 and a Sector 8-based hotel, respectively.

Judicial Magistrate Mahesh Grover issued the non-bailable warrants after it came to light that the anticipatory bail plea of the accused had been rejected by the Supreme Court last week.

The non-bailable warrants have also been issued against Paramjit Singh Chopra (Jatinder Singh Dua's brother-in-law), Gurmeet Kaur Dua (Jatinder Singh Dua's wife) and Pukhraj Singh Dua (Jatinder Singh Dua's son) and Itinderjit Singh. Anticipatory bail applications of these three had been rejected by the Supreme Court on March 12.

Besides, the Directorate of Enforcement (Ministry of Finance) is investigating independently the allegations of money laundering against all the accused, sources said.

The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the UT police has registered a case of forgery of valuable securities, criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of company funds worth Rs 300 crore in April last year.

The complainant, Raman Uppal, has alleged that Shergill cheated him of crores of rupees during the opening of a company, International Customer Related Management Services, in Sector 9 here. There are a total of 13 accused in the case.

According to the FIR, it was stated that in 2000-01, Raman Uppal wanted to expand his business. He met Shergill, who purchased a plot in Industrial Area, Phase VIII, Mohali.

The complainant decided to jointly fund and promote a private limited company to be incorporated under the name of Customer Related Management Services (ICRMS).

Ramesh handed over the paper work to Shergill and the company was eventually incorporated for purchasing the said plot. It was alleged that Shergill, in connivance with his family, introduced his brother-in-law as director. It was alleged that the funds were being misused blatantly and properties were purchased by all the accused. A number of properties were bought by Dua in his name and those of his family members and nominees. The market value of the properties is more than Rs 300 crore.

The complainant said since he was based in Delhi, he remained oblivious to the entire scam, even as the accused prepared forged documents, including balance sheets, annual reports, income tax reports and profit and loss accounts.

Chandigarh, March 19
The CBI court of Vimal Kumar today granted bail to income tax officer Rakesh Jain, who was arrested while taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 from a real estate agent.

The IT officer, who was sent to judicial custody on February 11, had remained in CBI custody for five days after his arrest.

Jain was arrested while taking a bribe of Rs 50,000 from Ashok Arora, a real estate businessman, at his house in Sector 22 on February 6. Jain was demanding the bribe to dispose of income tax notices issued to him. Two gold bricks and Rs 24 lakh was recovered from his residence.

Later, a scrutiny of his bank lockers had revealed another haul of gold. Two more gold bricks were recovered from the bank lockers.

The CBI had said disproportionate assets worth Rs 1.56 crore had been recovered from his possession. It is contemplating registering a separate case of disproportionate assets against the accused.

Mohali, March 19
The Punjab Vigilance Bureau today arrested a panchayat officer on a charge of taking a bribe of Rs 10,000.

Sheesh Pal Singh Brar was arrested from the office of the BDPO in Kharar while taking a bribe of Rs 10,000 from Baljinder Singh, sarpanch of Popna village.

Baljinder Singh had come to the office of the BDPO in connection with a hearing. He was involved in a case related to the RTI Act.

According to reports, the panchayat officer had allegedly been demanding money for not taking up the matter. He had allegedly taken Rs 3,500 and Rs 1,000 from the sarpanch earlier for not pursuing the matter.

Later, the panchayat officer allegedly went to the village of the sarpanch and demanded more money, failing which he would be suspended.

The sarpanch brought the matter to the notice of vigilance officials after which a trap was laid to arrest the official. 

Mohali, March 19
The police has busted a gang of robbers with the arrest of three persons and has recovered two motorcycles from their possession.

SSP Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said the arrested persons are Manjit Singh (25), Gurpreet Singh (24), and Amritpal Singh (22), all are the residents of Bela in Ropar district.

The three suspects had allegedly forcibly taken away the motorcycle, a bag, a mobile phone, ATM card and Rs 1,200 in cash from complainant Dinesh Kumar of Balamgarh Madhwara in Ropar district. The motorcycle and other stolen items were recovered.

One more motorcycle in another case had also been recovered from the suspects.

A case under Sections 394 and 34 of the IPC had been registered on the complaint of Dinesh Kumar.

Zirakpur, March 19
The Zirakpur Police today arrested Ashok Kumar, husband of Anu who was murdered at her residence in Gurunanak Colony, Dhakouli.

SHO Shinderpal Singh Bhullar said Ashok had admitted his crime that he had killed his wife by strangulating her. The SHO said that there were differences between the couple as the wife could not give birth to a child.Ashok Kumar would be presented in the court on March 20.

Chandigarh, March 19
The local sepak takraw girls’ team defeated Tamil Nadu by 3-0, in the opening match of 15th Sub-Junior National Championship for Boys and Girls, being held at Mount Carmel School, Sector 47, here today.

In the league stage, the team registered a 15-11, 16-14, 15-7, 15-12, 15-3 and 15-11 while in the opening match of boys’ group, the local side went down against Delhi by 3-0.

Results:

Girls: Odisha beat Delhi by 2-0; Manipur beat Karnataka by 3-0; Delhi beat Andhra Pradesh by 2-1; Chandigarh beat Tamil Nadu by 3-0; Odisha beat Andhra Pradesh by 3-0; Manipur beat Tamil Nadu by 3-0. Boys: Andhra Pradesh beat Tamil Nadu by 2-1; Manipur beat Odisha by 3-0; Tamil Nadu beat Rajasthan by 3-0; Manipur beat Kerala by 2-0; Andhra Pradesh beat Rajasthan by 3-0; Delhi beat Kerala by 3-0.—TNS

Chandigarh, March 19
The local hockey team of DAV College, Sector 10, regained its glory after 32 years, after winning the title of Panjab University Inter-College Hockey Championship.

In the last league match, the team defeated GHG Khalsa College, Gursar Sadhar, by 3-1.—TNS