NEIGHBOURHOOD

85-year-old man found murdered
Tribune reporters

Station House Officer Ajit Pal Singh said the victim’s throat and chest had been hit by a sharp-edged weapon resulting in his death at the spot. A case has been registered against unidentified persons and efforts are on to nab the culprit.

Four arrested for fraud

Fatehgarh Sahib: Four persons have been arrested on charges of duping the public. The accused have been identified as Dev Anand, resident of Gill road, Ludhiana; Surinder Singh and Balkar Singh, residents of Patiala; and Sonu from Delhi. Rs 3.20 lakh has also been recovered from their possession.

The police said they received information that the four accused were moving in a car (PB-10CP-0833) and were telling the public that they had lots of black money in their possession. They asked the people for their help in converting their “black money into white”, for which they would pay them Rs 8 lakh per Rs 1 crore. A case under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered against the accused.

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 8
The local NIC office organised a training program for school principals to provide them with basic training for the implementation of various scholarship schemes available for students using the online e-scholarship portal--http://punjabscholarship.gov.in.

District Informatics’ Officer (NIC) SK Banga said the portal would help in automation, streamlining and effective management of processes related to receipt of applications, processing, sanction and disbursal of various scholarships. This would also facilitate faster and efficient disposal of applications and direct payment of scholarships to students in their bank accounts.

Students can create their accounts on the portal and apply online for sanction and disbursal of their scholarships. Institutes would act as verifier, who after verifying the credentials of the students, would forward the application to the sanctioning authorities online. The authorities would further send the applications to the departments concerned for direct disbursement of benefits in bank accounts of students. The entire process is time-bound and transparent.

District Welfare Officer Jasbir Singh Dhillon said the portal would include disbursement of scholarship to the SC/OBC students of Class XII, degree courses, postgraduate courses and professional degree courses. The department would also provide grant-in-aids to purchase books under book bank scheme: Rs 7,500 scholarship for engineering and medical students, Rs 5,000 for veterinary students, Rs 4,500 for agriculture science students and Rs 2,400 for polytechnic students. 

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 8
The State Rice Miller's Association has criticised the Secretary Food and Civil Supply for his communication to the Union Government regarding extending the delivery time of rice to the Food Corporation of India (FCI) from June 30 to July 31. The association had been demanding an extension of two months, till August 31.

The deadline fixed by the state government to deliver the milled rice to the FCI by June 30 has expired and more than 6 lakh MT of paddy is lying in rice mills.

The state government had asked rice millers to deliver the rice by the deadline, failing which they would be charged Rs 2,600 per quintal.

Press secretary of the association Nakesh Jindal said milled rice could not be delivered in a months' time because of the storage problem.

A delegation of Punjab Rice Miller's Association, led by the national president, Taresm Saini, had met the Minister of Food and Civil Supply, Partap Singh Kairon, and urged him to extend the deadline till August 31.

Chandigarh, July 8
The Court of Additional District and Sessions judge Surinder Singh Sahni today acquitted two persons of the charges of murder. 

Raju Yadav (25) and Budh Ram (31) were let off in the case of a 55-year-old security guard’s murder at a godown in Makhan Majra village. The court acquitted the two as the prosecution failed to prove the allegations against them. As per the prosecution case, the murder occurred on the intervening night of September 9 and 10 in 2011. The security guard, Prayag Raj Singh, was found brutally murdered at the godown where he was on duty.

Prayag Raj Singh, who hailed from a remote village in Uttar Pradesh, had been working as a security guard with Saluja Ford for the 18 months when the incident occurred. The prosecution had alleged that the accused, Raju Yadav, who worked as a security guard, and Budh Ram, a gardener, had murdered Prayag following a dispute over a cylinder.

The police had based their case on the extra-judicial confession made by the accused before Nand Kumar Yadav, a panch of Darua village. The police had claimed that the accused, after consuming liquor, attacked Prayag Raj Singh with a rod and beat him to death.

The prosecution, however, failed to prove the extra-judicial statement and there was no evidence to prove the motive.

Panchkula, July 8
In the controversial Dr Sumit Sofat case, the local court today awarded six-month imprisonment to the accused doctor. Dr Sofat, who is wanted in 25 criminal cases, had got a shootout and robbery staged at Morni to grill his enemies. A fine of Rs 3,000 was also imposed on him.

During the trials, the police even argued that the accused doctor had got bullet planted in his driver’s body to make the shootout look real. However, that was later ruled out.

In 2010, Ludhiana-based Sofat was arrested by the Panchkula police. The police had registered an FIR against Sofat on July 19, 2009, under Section 182 of the IPC, after he lodged a false complaint against Ramesh Pashan and his sons, all residents of Ludhiana, stating that they had robbed him of Rs 32 lakh at Morni hills.

The accused alleged that Pashans had fired gunshots at his driver Nelson as well. In this incident, Nelson had suffered two bullet injuries in his chest.

The Pashan family produced evidence before the police to establish their innocence in the case when summoned by the local police. The police during investigation found that Sofat had a dispute with Pashans over a piece of land since 2005 and had allegedly cooked up the story to frame them in a criminal case.

The Pashan family had reportedly presented as evidence their photographs and a CD showing them present at a function at the time of the incident. The police said Sofat had a criminal background in Punjab and the UK and was wanted in about 25 cases in Punjab. In five of the cases, non-bailable warrants had been issued against him, and he was declared a proclaimed offender in a rape case.

Chandigarh, July 8
The UT police today arrested 24-year-old Shahid Khan for the murder of a book binder at Ram Darbar, Phase II. The 25-year-old victim, Pardeep Kumar, was found dead with his throat slit yesterday. The incident came to light around 11.30 am, after passers-by spotted the body in a pool of blood, and informed the police control room (PCR).

The police said Shahid Khan, another book binder, confessed to having committed the crime during interrogation. He was nabbed from Ram Darbar this morning. Shahid told the police that yesterday evening Pardeep and he consumed liquor at a vend in Ram Darbar. Later, they went to an isolated area and consumed charas.

Shahid told the police that Pardeep started making sexual advances towards him. Shahid said when Pardeep did not stop despite repeated requests, he took out a knife and slit his throat. Pardeep was rushed to Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, where doctors declared him brought dead. The police had registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC.

Confesses having committed crime The 25-year-old victim, Pardeep Kumar, was found dead with his throat slit. The incident came to light around 11.30 am, after passers-by spotted the body in a pool of blood, and informed the police control room. The accused, Shahid Khan (24), confessed that he had murdered Pardeep when he tried to make sexual advances at him after consuming charas, the police said.

Chandigarh, July 8
The soccer team of Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 22 (GMSSS-22), surged ahead in their ongoing campaign of Pre-Subroto Cup Football Tournament for Boys (U-17) after registering a thumping victory over Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 40 (GMSSS-40), at the football stadium of Sector 17 here today.

Playing under wet conditions, the players displayed a perfect combination of skill and enthusiasm. With the word "go", the players of GMSSS-22 dominated the game. Jaiprakash scored the first goal in the third minute of the match. On toes, the half-line continued to supply good passes to the strikers and soon the doubled the lead with Deepanshu successfully trapping the ball and posting it over the goal line in the 21st minute. With two goals in their kitty, the team started to build more pressure on the rivals.

Chandigarh, July 8
All efforts of the UT Education Department and other top officials fell flat as the organisers failed to receive entries in the girls’ (U-17) category during the Pre-Subroto Cup Football Tournament.

The winning teams of the cup represent their states in the All-India Level Subroto Cup, which is the main edition of the tournament and being organised every year by the Indian Air Force, Delhi. It is for the first time, that the organisers are conducting matches in the girls' category. However, no team will represent the city in the main edition of the Subroto Cup in girls (U-17) category.

"We have received no entries in the girls category. "We were ready to send the winning side to Delhi, but as not girls' team is participation in the tournament, we have to drop city the idea of representing the city in the girls’ category," said the organisers. As per rules, only the winner of the cup is allowed to play in the main edition.

Many officials said that being a self-financed tournament, a majority of schools avoided participation in the tournament. "The winner of the cup plays in the main edition of the tournament at their own expenses. Schools cannot ask for money from players, so majority of the schools avoid participating in these kinds of tournaments. No doubt, the city has a good girls team, but the competition at the all-India level is pretty good. And no one wants to earn a bad image," said an official. 

Chandigarh, July 8
Local soccer coach Surinder Singh added another feather to his cap after successfully passing the "A" licence test of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The test was conducted by the All-India Football Federation (AIFF) at Navi Mumbai from April 15 to April 30 (first module) and May 18 to May 31 ( second Module).

A total of 24 candidates from all over the country attended the course under the supervision of Robert Bann, technical director, AIFF, from Holland and Scott O'Donell, director-coach, Education AIFF, from Austrailia. The course included practical and theory sessions based on match-related coaching and for the assessment each candidate went through three practical, two theory exams besides one dissertation. "I enjoyed the course and learned a lot. To learn all essential basics of the game is the most important task," said Surinder. 

Patiala, July 8
Patiala SSP HS Mann honoured boxing coach Harpreet Singh and three international boxers Manpreet Singh, Amritpreet Singh and Kanwarpreet Singh for their achievements at the international level today.

While congratulating boxing coach Harpreet Singh, who has produced more than 40 international boxers from his boxing centre at Government Multipurpose Senior Secondary School, the SSP said it was a proud moment for the entire state and hoped that he would continue to keep up the good work. He honoured boxers Manpreet Singh, silver medalist in the China Open Boxing Championship, Amritpreet Singh, bronze medalist at the Youth Asian Boxing Championship, Philippines, and Kanwarpreet Singh, who won bronze medal at the Pre-Olympic President Cup.

Chandigarh, July 8
Dreams always remain a real motivation behind a man's achievement and for local lad Tinjit Dhanota his dream to become a successful shooter led him to secure a place in the Indian shooting squad for the World University Games.

Tinjit, a student of Punjabi University, Patiala, and a resident of Sector 11, Chandigarh, made it to the final squad during the trials held at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. He will represent the nation in the World University Games to be held at Kazan (Russia) from July 7 to 18.

"I am happy with my selection in the final squad. I have been working on my skills for long and finally, my hard work bore results this time," said Tinjit.

Tinjit started his shooting career from Chandigarh but as he went for higher studies, he faced many problems in finding a shooting range. So, he decided to pursue his studies at the Patiala university but as Chandigarh is coming up with a proper set-up for shooting, he is looking forward to shift his base to the city.

"It was the Chandigarh Open National Games where I got the opportunity to the the city. The Patiala-Ki-Rao shooting in Sector 25 was in really a bad shape then. But now, a shooting range is coming up at Panjab University and Patiala- Ki- Rao- being looked after by the Chandigarh police. I am looking forward to shift my base here. After coming from Russia, I have kept my options open and will take some steps to mprove my skills," said Tinjit.

Tinjit is a student of MA (defence studies) and is among the outstanding shooters of Punjabi University, Patiala. He bagged a team gold in the Inter-University Shooting Competition, held from January 14 to 18 at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.

"After the Olympic games, the World University Games are ranked among the major competitions in the world . Shooters form more than 158 countries are going to participate in this championship. I hope to bring honour in the 10 mt air-pistol event. There are players who have more experience than me and It will be tough for me to handle them, " said Tinjit. He further added," My sister Ninjit Dhanota is one of my idols. Her gold medals in academics encourages me to compete with her in a positive manner." 

Mohali, July 8
Nischay Sharma and Jagdeep Bajwa registered impressive victories during the ongoing AITA Paragon Total Tennis Championship, being played at Paragon School, today. Nischay defeated his rival Hirday Nagi 8-3 while Jagdeep Bajwa routed his opponent Yuvraj Kooka by 8-5. In other matches of the day,Siddhant Mahal outclassed Manveer Sohi 8-1 while Parav Dev beat Karan Bhalla by 8-4.

Results:

Final qualifying round-Harshdeep Mehala beat Siddarth 8-4; Amit Beniwal beat Aditya Partap 8-1; Kabir Manrai beat Nischay Sharma 8-1; Parav Dev beat Parmeet Deol 8-1;

Main Draw-Parav Dev beat Karan Bhalla 8-4;Siddhant Mahala beat Manvir Sohi 8-1; Nischay Sharma beat Hirday Nagi 8-3; Jagdeep bajwa beat Yuvraj Kooka 8-5.