NEIGHBOURHOOD

Two arrested for taking bribe
Parmod Mehta

Ropar, May 24
Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) vice-president Rana KP Singh has alleged that there was bungling at a large scale in the counting of votes for the Zila Parishad and Panchayat Samiti elections in Anandpur Sahib.

Addressing a press conference here today, Rana alleged that while counting of votes for the Darrauli (lower) zone of Anandpur Sahib Panchayat Samiti, 50 votes polled by Congress candidate Pushpa Devi were counted in the account of BJP candidate Nirmala Devi.

Rana claimed that Congress candidate Pushpa Devi polled 1,564 votes against 1,472 votes polled by the BJP candidate. Still, the returning officer declared the BJP candidate as the winner by manipulating the figures.

This malpractice was evident at the zones of Tapparian, Taluha and the Zila Parishad zone of Bibhor Sahib as well, he said.

At the Tapprian zone, Congress candidate got 388 votes against 279 votes polled by the BJP candidate at polling booth number 98, he claimed. The figures were tampered with to show the result contrary to it and the BJP candidate was declared the winner on the seat, he alleged.

At the Thaluh zone, 129 votes were cancelled to ensure the victory of the BJP candidate, he said.

At the Bibhor Sahib Zila Parishad zone, the Congress candidate got 564 votes against 209 votes polled by the BJP candidate at polling booth number 103, said Rana.

The result was changed and instead of the Congress candidate, the BJP candidate was shown to have polled 564 votes, he alleged. It was another matter that Congress candidate Darshana Devi won the election, he said.

The party was seeking a legal opinion and would file an application in the Punjab and Haryana High Court to seek justice and action against erring officials, said Rana.

Ropar, May 24
A 70-year-old Mohali resident was killed when a Tata 407 hit his car near Solakhian Gurdwara here today. The deceased has been identified as Madan Gopal, a resident of Phase V, Mohali.

Singh Bhagwantpura SHO Rawinderpal Singh said Madan was going towards Ropar when his car was hit by a mini-truck.

The victim suffered serious injuries and was rushed to the Ropar Civil Hospital where doctors declared him brought dead.

The driver of the mini-truck fled the spot after the accident. A case had been registered against the driver, said the SHO.

Chandigarh, May 24
The CBI court today dismissed an application seeking case diary and statements of those named in the theme-cum-amusement park case to the complainant.

The court accepted the argument of the CBI and the counsel of former UT Adviser, Lalit Sharma, that the complainant, Vivek Aditya, was not entitled to receive the copies as per the provision of the law.

The case has now been adjourned to May 30 when the CBI as well as the complainant are likely to submit arguments on the closure report filed by the CBI and the protest petition filed by the complainant.

The CBI had filed a second closure report saying there was no evidence against former top bureaucrats of the UT Administration regarding the alleged corruption in the project. Earlier, the court had rejected the first closure report filed by the CBI last year.

The first CBI closure report was rejected by the court on May 18, 2012. A fresh probe was ordered on August 30, 2012. The closure report submitted by the CBI stated that the agency had already recommended and written to the Ministry of Home Affairs, recommending action against the then UT Home Secretary Krishna Mohan and the then IT director Vivek Attray for alleged departmental lapses.

The scam also brought out the names of former UT Adviser Lalit Sharma and Unitech Limited managing director Ajay Chandra. All the four accused were booked on the charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, destruction of evidence and corruption by the CBI.

There were allegations that top UT bureaucrats in connivance with Unitech Limited indulged in criminal conspiracy and awarded 73.65 acres in Sarangpur village to the firm at a fixed annual licence fee of Rs 5.5 crore and 1.1 per cent revenue sharing.

Mohali, May 24
The Mohali police presented the challan in the advocate Amarpreet Singh murder case in the court today.

The challan was presented by the investigating officer, ASI Jagir Singh. It was presented in the lower court and will be heard in the sessions court after the court holidays.

Amarpreet Singh was shot dead on February 27 in Phase III-A. A quarrel between neighbours over parking had taken an ugly turn when a few youths staying as paying guests opened fire, killing Amarpreet Singh and injuring two others, Gaganjot Singh and Simarjit Singh.

The police had arrested Dharminder Singh Grewal, Sunil Bhanot, Rajat and Vishal Shekhawat in connection with the case from a locality in Indore where they were staying in a rented accommodation. The police had also allegedly recovered four pistols along with cartridges and a car from their possession.

The other accused in the case are Onkar Singh, Sunbir Singh, Jaswinder Singh and Deepak Kaushal. Jaswinder Singh is the son of an SGPC leader from Ludhiana while Onkar Singh and Sunbir Singh are residents of Amritsar.

Chandigarh, May 24
The Court of District and Sessions Judge SK Aggarwal today acquitted a 28-year-old man in a case of rape of a minor girl. The court acquitted Ramandeep Chaudhery of all charges.

The police had registered a case in June, 2011 after a 17-year-old girl had alleged that she was raped by the accused on the pretext of giving her a job. The police had then arrested Ramandeep Singh, a Sector 29 resident, for allegedly raping a girl for one year on the pretext of marrying her.

As per the prosecution case, the victim came in contact with the accused through an advertisement offering her a part-time job. Ramandeep then developed physical relationship with the victim in 2009 after which he brought her to his residence in Sector 29 and ever since, he was luring her on the pretext of marriage. The girl was underage at the time when she met the accused. However, the accused refused to marry her later and she approached the police and the case was registered after a police inquiry was conducted.

However, during cross examination in the court, the girl broke down and admitted that she had given consent to their physical relationship.

“The entire chain of events showed that the girl had willingly maintained physical relations with the boy and she admitted the same during cross examination resulting which the accused was acquitted,” said defence counsel Rabindera Pandit.

Chandigarh, May 24
A married woman, resident of Modern Housing Complex, alleged that she was molested by a tailor.

The women alleged that she along with her husband went to give a suit for stitching in Mani Majra on May 23. She said while taking the measurement, the tailor tried to outrage her modesty by touching her. Police sources said that acting on her complaint, they registered a case against Ranvir of Mani Majra. The police has registered case under Section 354 of the IPC and arrested the accused.

Girl kidnapped, rescued

A two-year old girl was allegedly kidnapped by a drunkard person near her residence in Daddu Majra Colony yesterday. The police arrested the accused identified as Jaspal Singh, a resident of Daddu Majra Colony. A case under Sections 366-A and 506 of the IPC had been registered. The police said the child was playing near her residence and was picked up by the accused. He then took the girl to his residence. Neighbours chased the accused and recovered the girl and informed the police which reached the spot and arrested the accused. A case has been registered at the Sector 39 police station.

18 constables appointed on compassionate grounds

The Inspector General of Police today approved the appointment of 18 dependants of employees of the Chandigarh Police, who died in harness, as constables on compassionate grounds. The candidates will be called for further process of medical examination and antecedent verification next week.

In 10 other cases, where no dependent family member was eligible for the post of Constable, recommendations are being sent to the Regional Employment Officer (UT) Chandigarh, to consider them for appointment against Group “C” or “D” vacancies existing in other departments of the Chandigarh Administration.

Chandigarh, May 24
The Chandigarh Tennis Ball Cricket Association today announced the names of 26 players who will undergo training at a camp to be held in Shishu Niketan Public School, Sector 43, from May 27 to June 1 at 6.30 am to 8.30 pm.

Probables for the 18th Sub Junior (U-16) National Tennis Ball Cricket Tournament to be held at Kushinagar, UP, from June 13-16 will be selected during the training. The selected players are Lagan, Pardeep Rawat, Aniket Chand, Karun Thakur, Lalit Singh, Mohit Kumar, Himanshu Guleria, Gurpreet Singh, Navsimran Singh, Gaurav, Jagseer Singh, Madhav, Ashutosh, Kamesh, Paras, Ashdeep, Ishan, Shubham Kestwal, Deepanshu, Akash, Sagar, Hemant, Shivam, Kshitij, Sahibjot and Abhinandan. — TNS

All participants are required to have a valid handicap recognised by the club while the event will be played in two handicap categories of 0-12 and 13-24. The scoring for the event will be done according to the Stableford Points System (3/4 Nett Stableford Points). — TNS