NEIGHBOURHOOD

Jolt to Cong in Ropar as candidate withdraws nomination papers
Tribune News Service

Dera Bassi, May 9
The agriculture department organised a camp at Hebatpur village near here on Wednesday for the proper use of fertilisers according to the variety of land. The camp was presided over by the chief district agriculture officer Dr Parminder Singh, who informed the farmers about the proper use of fertilisers after the testing of concerned land sample.

Addressing the farmers, the agriculture officer said that they should use fertilisers after getting the land sample tested for more production. He informed that the agriculture department has adopted over 25 villages in the whole district following the campaign of testing of land samples. He appealed to the farmers to use the balanced fertilisers for more production from crops. Land sample tests are being conducted for free so farmers should go for it, he added. — OC

Dera Bassi, May 9
An 18-year-old youth was killed in a road accident today in Lalru. The deceased has been identified as Ankit Kumar, a resident of Jursi, district Panipat, Haryana.

As per information, Ankit was coming on a motorcycle and suddenly his mobike rammed into a pole on the roadside. The police has taken action under Section 174 of the IPC. The body of the victim has been handed over to relatives after conducting postmortem examination.

Dera Bassi, May 9
Six candidates of panchayati zones of the Dera Bassi block are set to be elected unopposed in the absence of any opposite candidate. Returning Officer-cum-SDM, Inderjeet Kaur Kang, said six candidates contesting for panchayat samiti polls are set to be elected unopposed in the absence of opposite candidates.

After the scrutiny, and withdrawal of nominations it had been cleared that six candidates are set to be elected unopposed in the absence of opposite candidates. — OC

Fatehgarh Sahib, May 9
On the last day of withdraw of nominations for panchayat samiti and zila parishad elections, as many as 188 candidates remained in the fray. For 10 seats of Zila Parishad, 43 candidates had filed their papers and today, 21 candidates withdrew their papers. Now, there are 22 candidates for zila parishad elections.

Giving details, Arun Sekhri DC-cum-District Electoral Officer said for five Panchayat Samitis, there are over 166 candidates in the fray. In Sirind Panchayat Samiti, there are 34 candidates in fray. In Bassi Pathana, there are 32 candidates in fray, in Amloh Panchayat Samiti, there are 34 candidates, in Khamano Panchayat Samiti, there are 33 candidates in fray and in Khera Panchayat Samiti, there are 33 candidates.

He said for zila parishad election ADC (G) MS Jaggi will be Returning Officer, where as Astt Commissioner (G) will be Astt RO and for Panchayat Samiti elections respective SDMs will be RO, where as tehsildars and naib tehsildars will be Astt ROs. He said there are 434 village panchayats and Fatehgarh Sahib has been divided into 10 zones for Zila Parishad and 5 block samitis. — OC

Chandigarh, May 9
Mangat Ram, the head cashier with the UT Electricity Department, who had earlier been sentenced to five years and eight years of imprisonment in two separate cases, was handed down another term of eight-year rigorous imprisonment in another challan against him.

The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shalini Nagpal on Monday had convicted Mangat Ram under Sections 409 (criminal breach of trust), 467 (forgery of valuable security, will), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 477-A (falsification of accounts) of the Indian Penal Code, besides various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.

Mangat Ram has been convicted against two FIRs, for which the police had filed five separate chargesheets. Today’s sentence was pronounced on the third challan filed against him.

He was booked in 2008, after an audit of the State Bank of India (SBI) revealed that he had not deposited Rs 1.64 crore, collected through electricity bills and new connections, in the SBI’s treasury from 2003 to 2007.

He used to forge bank vouchers and prepare fake stamps to show that the amount had been deposited. The statements of the UT Electricity department officials and CFSL reports proving that the vouchers were fake helped the prosecution nail Ram.

Chandigarh, May 9
The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge SS Sahni today ordered that two of the three accused arrested for the murder of a Nepalese resident, Raj Kumar, near the Inter-State Bus Terminus, Sector 43, in September last year be tried in a juvenile court.

The two, Kamal Khatri and Vikram, had alleged that they were juveniles and were wrongly reported to be adults by the police. The bone marrow test of the accused confirmed the same.

The police had arrested Kamal in Uttrakhand, along with his uncle Ramesh and Vikram, for the murder.

Raj Kumar, allegedly, was the kingpin of a gang of robbers that used to target Nepalese labourers. Ramesh and Vikram were his old associates. Raj Kumar, allegedly, betrayed them by not giving them their actual share of some loot, which led to his murder. 

Chandigarh, May 9
The Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate today framed charges against an accused in the case of Rs 18 lakh theft reported at Hotel Park Plaza, Sector 17, in February this year. The court framed charges of theft against Ramesh Bhanaji Chhag who was nabbed in Mumbai. His accomplice Jayesh R Sejpal is still absconding.

The accused were staying in Hotel Attawa and had come to Park Plaza after conducting a recce. The duo fled with cash and jewellery worth Rs 18 lakh from a room of an NRI doctor couple. A day before the theft, the accused had committed a similar crime at Hotel Radisson in Jalandhar. The closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage had helped in identifying the accused.

Ramesh Bhanaji has been involved in various crimes for the past 13 years.

Chandigarh, May 9
Heat played a spoilsport during the clash between Kings XI Punjab and Rajasthan Royals, here this afternoon at the PCA Stadium, Mohali, when the local cricket buffs preferred to sit back home and enjoy the match on the TV instead of coming to the stadium. The stadium witnessed empty stands throughout the match.

Filled to its one fourth of the capacity, the stadium witnessed a low turnout of the audiences. “Being a hot day, we avoided watching the match at the stadium. Although we had received complimentary passes, we did not want to take chances in this scorching heat,” said Kumar, a Mohali resident.

The low turnout was also witnessed in the corporate boxes and the AC Lounge. An official of the organising team mentioned the hot day, a main reason of less turn out. “Unless you are a big fan of the game, you won’t step out of home in this type of climate. The corporate boxes and other comfort giving zones also witnessed emptiness due to the same reason,” said he.

With less people coming to witness the match, the local police officials were also seen having a relaxing day. No barricading was performed at the outer areas of the stadium and people were allowed to park their vehicles near the stadium.” We understand people’s problem and we are also suffering from this heat. Wherever, it is needed, we are patrolling and performing a through checking. The officials are following every measure that needs to be follow and essential,” said a police personal on duty.

Mohali, May 9
The weighing round along with entry confirmation was performed today at the Skating Rink, Sector 10, ahead of 32nd Boys (freestyle and Greco-Roman) and 15th Female Junior National Wrestling Championship being hosted by the Chandigarh Wrestling Association under the aegis of the Wrestling Federation of India at the Sector 10 Skating Rink here from May 9 to 12.

Making the championship more credible, Raj Singh, general secretary of the Wrestling Federation of India, said the federation was making sincere efforts to make wrestling more attractive for the spectators.

“I have suggested that dull moment should be completely removed in a bout. The bout should be fast and attractive. There should be no role of passive wrestling in a bout. General public does not know the difference between Greco-Roman and freestyle bout,” said he.