NEIGHBOURHOOD

Aggrieved relatives flay police for inaction

Dera Bassi, April 29
The Dera Bassi police has failed to resolve various criminal cases including that of a child’s murder even after passing of over three months since the incident. The aggrieved relatives have expressed dissatisfaction and surprise over the police inaction and inability to show any results. Parents of the four-year-old boy, Jaskaran, who was found murdered and dumped in a well at Behra village in January this year, said the police failed to trace the culprits in all these months.

In another case, a Punjab Police hawaldar, Barinder Singh, belonging to Amlala village had gone missing in October last year. The police, however, has failed to find him. His brother, Manpreet Singh, said he had mentioned names of the accused, who hail from the same village, in the FIR, but the police failed to take any action. He alleged that some top political leaders were supporting the accused.

Superintendent of Police Anil Sharma and Station House Officer Gurvant Singh said the police was investigating both cases and all accused would be arrested soon. — OC

Fatehgarh Sahib, April 29
The procurement of wheat is in full swing at all the 33 procurement centres set up in the district. Till today 2,55,979 lakh MT of wheat has been purchased by various government procurement agencies and private parties.

Payments worth Rs 236.41 crore have been made to commission agents, said Deputy Commissioner Yashveer Mahajan. He said Pungrain had purchased 34,609 MT, Markfed 66,953 MT, Punsup 64,163 MT, Punjab Agro 18,997 MT, Ware House 24,757 MT and FCI 41,697 MT, while private traders had purchased 4,803 MT of wheat.

He said all the arrangements for the lifting of procured wheat and its payment have been made.

The DC directed officials of the procurement agencies to ensure drinking water, electricity and boarding facilities for farmers at all the centres. 

Banur, April 29
One person was killed in a road accident near here last night. The accident occurred when a truck hit the motorcycle he was riding on from the opposite side on the Banur-Kharar road near Tangori village. The deceased had been identified as Gurvant Singh, a resident of Mote Majra. The victim was admitted to Gian Sagar Hospital where he died of his injuries. The police has registered a case against the truck driver under Sections 279 and 304-A of the IPC. The body was handed over to the relatives. — OC

Chandigarh, April 29
Two years after Punjab and Haryana High Court directed a CBI probe on a petition alleging corruption in the Sports Authority of India (SAI), a Division Bench has clarified that the premier investigation agency has not been "restrained from performing its prescribed duties". The Bench clarified the same while taking up an appeal filed by the "whistleblower" in the case.

Acting on Raj Kumar's petition for a probe into "rampant corruption of more than Rs 500 crore in the Sports Authority of India", Justice Ranjit Singh had on March 15, 2011, made it clear that he was in the favour of an inquiry by the CBI.

On March 15 this year, the order, which was passed two years back directing the CBI to investigate "certain allegations" made by Raj Kumar, was recalled. The order by a Single Judge came after a review application was filed by the Union of India.

Taking up Raj Kumar's appeal against the recall orders, the Division Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice RP Nagrath asserted: "The appellant, projecting himself to be a whistleblower, claims to have informed various stakeholders regarding the malpractices, illegalities, corruption activities etc adopted/committed by some functionaries of the Sports Authority of India."

"It was in relation to some of those allegations that the Single Judge initially directed the CBI to investigate the same, but on a review application filed by the Union of India, the direction has been recalled. The order passed by the Single Judge reveals that with reference to some of the allegations, the CBI has already registered a case. There is no direction in the impugned order, nor can it be inferred that the Single Judge has restrained the CBI from performing its prescribed duties. The appellant, if he is a whistleblower in the true sense, has already done his duty and he need not pursue the matter in such a manner that it gives an impression that he is carrying a personal vendetta against the identified officials.”

Disposing of the petition, the Bench said: "There is no reason for us to doubt that even in the absence of directions by the learned Single Judge, the CBI would perform its duty objectively and in accordance with law."

Panchkula, April 29
Escaping the eyes of the Chandigarh authorities, many cattle owners were caught keeping their cattle ‘stealthily’ in Panchkula at the back side of a liquor vend at the Mansa Devi Complex, Sector 4, Panchkula, today evening.

Finding Panchkula a safer place to hide their cattle and then leave it to gaze around, as many as 60 head of cattle were hidden on the government land.

The police, when informed, reached the spot and nabbed one of the cattle owners, Gurmail Singh, who after interrogations confessed that to escape the eyes of Chandigarh administration; they found Panchkula a safer place to hide their cattle. Singh hails from Manimajra, Chandigarh.

After the death of a child because of stray cattle, the Chandigarh Administration has started picking up cattle and dropping them at Delhi.

It was after a residents of the sector, Davinder Mahajan and his neighbour LD Sharma, were having a walk outside their house when they found that canters packed with cattle from the Manimajra road were being got and tied at the back side of the liquor vend. On inquiry, they came to know that for the past few days this process was going on. The local police was informed and two PCRs reached the spot.

“Daily I used to see the cattle and at night these animals were left to gaze around. Today, when I was having a walk with my neighbour, we saw canters of cattle being transported from Chandigarh,” said Mahajan.

He said, “After getting suspicious, when we inquired, we came to know that actually these cattle did not belong to any Panchkula resident and the Chandigarh cattle owners were keeping it here ‘stealthily’ so as to escape the wrath of the Chandigarh administration.”

Mahajan also informed Panchkula Deputy Commissioner who sent officials immediately on the spot.

Panchkula, April 29
High drama was witnessed today when a man was badly beaten up by his neighbours on the suspicion that he tried to rape his daughter in the Peer Mushala area.

The man, who is a labourer, was rushed to the Civil Hospital, Dhakoli, from where he was referred to the GMCH, Sector 32, Chandigarh.

“The wife came to us with the child and told that the neighbours had misunderstood the situation. She said the child was suffering from fever and when she refused to take medicine, her father thrashed her. When she cried, neighbours thought he had raped her,” said Inspector Trilochan Singh, station house officer of the Zirakpur police station.

The wife was at her parents’ house when the incident took place.

The police is still awaiting medical reports of the child to ascertain the facts.

Chandigarh, April 29
Not only the local residents but also the organisers of the 12th All-India Police Water Sports Games are missing the glass structure, ‘watch tower’, at the Sukhna Lake.

The four-storey building was the best spot to judge the water sports competitions taking place at the lake. It was situated on the island of the lake and now the non-availability of any centralised eye-watch place is turning out to be a hitch for the organisers of the 12th All-India Police Water Sports Games.

The structure, a class symbol for Sukhna Lake, was destroyed in a fire that broke out due to a short-
circuit four years ago on October 7, 2009. And till date, the UT Administration has not come up any other substitute structure.

“The multi-storeyed building was a centralised place to conduct the event. It was the best place for any organiser to keep a hawk eye over what all is happening inside the 100 or 500 metre patch. It was the also the best place to keep all the instruments, including the umpire’s table and the other things.

“All the preparations are going well. Only thing that is missing is the glass tower,” said Prabhjeet Singh, secretary of the Punjab Kayaking and Canoeing Association and a member of the All-India Kayaking and Canoeing Association.

“The area is managed by the UT Administration and it’s in the department’s hands to come up with a new structure. Hopefully, the water sports lover will again see another watch tower at the lake soon,” he said.

The old ‘watch tower’ played an important role in the Asian Rowing Competition and the Junior Asian Rowing Competition twice. It helped the officials and the hosts keep an eye on the participants from a close distance. Besides these international tournaments, the same lake has hosted many inter-varsity north-zone competition in rowing, kayaking and canoeing.

“We are not aware of any watch tower, destroyed in a fire. For the officials, we have installed tents at the island. But if the authorities raise some tower at the island, it will be of great help in keeping a clear view of the participants or to get a quick hint of any untoward incident,” said one of the organisers from the Indo-Tibetan Border police (ITBP). 

Chandigarh, April 29
Constable Gayarshi Lal of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) bagged a gold medal in the rowing single scull event during the ongoing 12th All-India Police Water Sports Championship at the Sukhna Lake.

Gayarshi touched the finish line with a timing of 1:49.57. In the same event, Arwinder Singh of the Punjab Police bagged the second spot by completing the patch in 1:52.28 while Sishan Pal of the Central Reserved Police Force (CRPF) bagged the third position with 1:56.24. In rowing, the ITBP team won six gold medals and one silver medal while in kayaking, the team bagged three gold medals and two bronze medal. In canoeing, one bronze medal was won by the team.

Results:

Rowing: Single scull: Const CT/GD Gayarshi Lal of the ITBP won the gold medal (1:49.57); Arwinder Singh of the Punjab Police won the silver medal (1:52.28) ; Sishan Pal of the CRPF won the bronze medal (1:56.24). Double scull: Nitish Kumar Lal and Gayarshi Lal of the ITBP won the gold medal (1:38.67); Vakinder Singh and Jagmeet Singh of the Punjab Police won the silver medal (1:41.34); ASI/GD M Anthony Singh and CT/GD L Dinamani Singh of the CRPF won the bronze medal (1:46.62). Coxless pair: R Rajesh Kumar and CT/GD Sushil Kumar of the ITBP won the gold medal (1:41.11); Constable Rajinder Singh and Tarsem Singh of the CRPF won the silver medal (1:44.60); Constable PC Sandip D Khule and PC Rahul S Jagzap of the Maharashtra Police won the bronze medal (1:54.62). Coxless four: MR Sahoo, Jaibir Singh, CS Sahoo and Sharma Singh of the CRPF won the gold medal (1:35.15); Vipan Kamboj, Mangal Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Harkamaljit Singh of the Punjab Police won the silver medal (1:39.53); Lalit Kumar, Pravindra Dhasmana, Hariom Singh and Mahesh Chandra of the Uttrakhand Police won the bronze medal (1:38.83). 

Chandigarh, April 29
The cricket team of Ropar bounced back against the local team during the ML Markan Trophy for boys' (U-16) at DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 8, Chandigarh.

Bating first, the local team scored 217 runs in 81.2 overs. Jasnoor scored 97 runs off 216 balls while Yogesh Aggarwal contributed 33 runs off 83 balls. For the bowling side, Gurdeep Singh took 4 wickets while Raghav Bali and Amritpal claimed two wickets each.

In reply, the Ropar team was bowled out for 161 runs in 76.3 overs. Gurdeep Singh scored 102 runs for the Ropar team. For Chandigarh, Adarsh took 5 wickets while Raman Bishnoi took 3 wickets. Yogesh Aggarwal took two wickets.

Playing their second innings, Ropar came back strongly and dismissed Chandigarh on a mere total of 95 runs.

Raghav Bali damaged team's batting line up by grabbing 6 wickets while Naveen and Nitin Bali took two wickets each.

Ropar, in their second innings scored 11 for 2 in 10 overs at close of second days match.

Chandigarh, April 29
The third seeded player, Yuki Bhambri, and Vivek Shokeen faced resistance from Neeraj Elangovan and Ajai Selvaraj, before winning the match during the first round (doubles) of the ongoing ITF Men's Futures US$-15,000 Tournament at CLTA courts, today. In a close two-set game, the winning pair defeated the rivals 7-5, 6-4.

In the singles category, the second seed Sriram Balaji moved ahead into the second round by defeating Pranav Suri. He won the first set 6-2 while facing some tough competition from Pranav in the second set before naming the set 6-4. Pranav stood 1 hour 20 minutes against his experienced rival.

In other match, seventh seed Vijyant Malik defeated qualifier Anvit Bendre 6-3, 6-1. Another qualifier, Rakshit Rishi, ranked 1,146 went down against Ajai Selvaraj in a hard fought match. Ajai took the first set at 6-0 but Rishi managed to revert with winning in the second set at 6-4. Later, Ajai utaking advantage of his experience took the final set at 7-5.

Results:

Vijyant Malik bt Anvit Bendre 6-3 6-1; Rakshit Rishi bt Ajai Selvaraj 0-6 6-4 7-5; Jatin Dahiya bt Ojas Rathi 6-0, 6-1; Balaji Sriram bt Pranav Suri 6-2 6-4; First round doubles: A Rajagopalan and Vishnu Vardhan bt Deepinder Bains and A. Chaudhary 6-4 6-0; Lakshit Sood and Abhijeet Tiwari bt Rohit Sarwate and Ranjeet Singh 6-0 6-2;Yuki Bhambri and Vivek Shokeen bt Neeraj Elangovan and Ajai Selvaraj 7-5 6-4; Zach Itzstein and Ashwin Vijayragavan bt Ronit Singh Bisht and Ajay Yadav 3-6 6-3 (10-4) ;Kunal Anand and Ronak Manuja bt Sagar Ahuja and Saurabh Patil 7-6(1) 6-2; Jayant Malik and Saketh Myneni bt Vignesh Peranamallur and Vijay Sundar Prashanth 6-1 6-4;Fariz Mohammed and Vignesh Veerabadran bt Rutger Cramer and Neishit Vakil 6-2, 6-0; Sriram Balaji and Ranjit Virali Murugesan bt Jatin Dahiya and Shahbaaz Khan 7-6(9), 6-4.

Chandigarh, April 29
To ensure that they purchase their books, a total of 10 children from periphery and nearby slums area, have shifted their base at the venue of the ITF Men’s Futures Tennis Tournament.

The Chandigarh Lawn Tennis Association is hosting the international ranking tournament at the tennis courts of the CLTA, Sector 10, Chandigarh. In order to earn some money for purchasing their school books and notebooks, this group is acting as the ball boys during the ongoing tennis competition.

Natives of Sector 25, Bhaskar Colony, Nayagaon (Near PGI) and Khuda Lahora area, these children are performing the duty from 9 am to 5 pm and in return they are getting Rs 190, per person, for each day.

“To purchase our books, we usually work on daily basis. One person from our locality asked us to join the competition for a week. For working as a ball boy, we will get around Rs 1,350 and the amount will help us in buying books and notebooks,” said Mohit, a resident of Sector 25.

“Instead of roaming at various places, we are getting money for standing at the court and collecting balls for players. In addition to this, if we will perform our job well, the organisers will call us again to perform the work. I will use the amount to buy some books and will keep some for the upcoming days,” said Salman.

Notably, these children do not know posses any knowledge regarding tennis. All they are aware of is collecting the tennis balls and passing it to the players, if demanded by them.

“We have been told just to collect the balls and pass it to the players. The person in charge, who brought us here, has guided us to do this. We are not aware of any rules of the game. But like cricket, they (the players), hit this tennis ball really hard. We wonder how the other player (rivals) mange to hit the fast coming ball inside a restricted area,” said Kapil.

When asked about their school’s attendance, they said, “All we need is to get a letter signed by our parents and then submit it in school. We will manage the attendance, as we usually do. After all, we are earning money to study,” said Rajesh.

While all mentioned purchasing book as a reason behind their presence at the court, few of them hinted the need of 9 am to 5 pm duty. “We do study but we earn money for ourselves and family members. Daily earning helps us to support our family too,” said Goldy. Kundan and Usman said, “Some purchase books while we prefer to purchase food. We are here to make some money and support family members with the best possible way we can. We also keep some money in our piggy bank,” said the duo, from Khuda Lahora. 

Chandigarh, April 29
In the 2nd Open Speed Skating Carnival, skaters Sammarth Puri, Advit Kathuria and Darshit Chohan won the top spots in boys (U-4) quads category. Over 300 skaters participated in the event.

Results:

Boys quads (U-4): Sammarth, Advit, Darshit . Girls' (U-4) quads: Diara , Baani, Saira . Boys' inline (U-6): Saksham , Tanay GS Chauhan, Purajas. Boys' (U-6) quads: Vivaan , Raghav , Pranav. Girls' (U-6) inline: Mauravi. Girls' (U-6) quads: Ishita, Garima, Chahat. Boys' (U-8) inline: Vihan, Karmanya, Hardik. Boys' (U-8) quads: Nishit , Nitansh , Sujal. 
Girls' (U-8) quads: Neha, Aashverya. Girls' (U-8) inline: Tamanna , Srishti, Harshita. Boys' (U-10) quads: Raghav , B Pranay , Kartik . Boys' (U-10) inline: Haren , Manjinder , Daksh . Girls' (U-10) inline: Dayita , Seerat , Mehr. Girls' (U-10) quads: Vidushi , Tarannum , Saachi. Boys' (U-12) quads: Aryanpal/Saksham, Adhiraj, Aryan. Girls' (U-12) quads: Khyati , Molina, Alamdeep, Vasundhra. Boys' (U-12) inline: Harsh, Rishit , Shivam. Boys' (U-14) inline: Gaurav , Love, Ojas.