The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

NEIGHBOURHOOD

Woman sets herself afire in Sirhind
Tribune News Service

Fatehgarh Sahib, July 23
Unable to bear the torture at the hands of her husband and in-laws, Sonia, a resident of Brahman Majra in Sirhind, set herself ablaze. Incharge of the Sirhind police post Harminder Singh said the victim in her statement to the magistrate said she married Praveen Kumar, an employee of the block development office, four years ago. It was her second marriage.

She has two children from her previous marriage. She alleged that Praveen used to beat her up frequently and on the day of the incident, she had gone to his office, where the duo exchanged heated words.

She reportedly set herself afire after returning from the office.

A neighbour heard her screams and informed the police.

She was taken to the Civil Hospital from where the doctors have referred her to Rajendra Hospital in Patiala.

The victim has received 90 per cent burns and her condition is said to be serious. Her husband is absconding. Investigations are on, said the police.

Doctors resent state commission’s ruling
Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 23
The Punjab State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has penalised two senior eye surgeons of Patiala for not carrying out tests, such as EKO, X-Ray and B-Scan on a patient, who had developed complications after a few days of his cataract surgery.

City-based eye specialists have strongly opposed the ruling of the commission and have demanded to reverse it in the interest of patients and specialists.

Ophthalmologist and former professor and head of the eye department of Government Medical College and Rajindra Hospital, Patiala, Dr DC Bansal said, “The investigations are not required in routine cataract cases and are never recommended before a normal cataract surgery. Penalising the eye surgeons for not undertaking these investigations is not justified.”

Dr DS Bhullar, Media and Medico Legal Adviser of the Patiala chapter of the Indian Medical Association, said a review appeal would be filed or the ruling would be challenged in the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.”

Residents to get free-of-cost water supply in Lalru
our correspondent

Dera Bassi, July 23
Residents of Lalru Municipal Council heaved a sigh of relief when Chief Parliamentary Secretary NK Sharma announced that people residing in the houses measuring 5 marla need not pay their water bills.

Addressing a gathering at the municipal committee office Sharma said work was on to repair the tubewells.

Besides, the roads which were dug up for laying the sewerage lines would be re-laid soon and the link roads would also be repaired as the government had sanctioned Rs 31 crore for the purpose. He also asked the officials concerned to check the cases of old-age pensions. The students of the area will also be able to avail the free-of-cost education at ITI Lalru.

COURTS

HC rap for Mohali police
Accused of meddling in a case to favour a company
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 23
The Mohali police today found itself at the receiving end with the Punjab and Haryana High Court rapping it on its knuckles for alleged attempt to meddle in a case to favour Telephone Cables Limited.

The development is significant as the company is owned by Babli Brar, daughter of a former Chief Minister of Punjab. The company is under a debt of around Rs 184 crore.

As the case came up for hearing, a Division Bench made it clear to the Mohali police that it would not tolerate undue police interference in cases of recovery by financial institutions from defaulters. Such cases were civil in nature and the police had no role to play.

The matter was brought to the High Court’s notice by Mumbai-based firm Stressed Assists Stabilization Fund. It had approached the High Court claiming that a loan had to be recovered from Telephone Cables Limited. But the company belonged to influential and politically connected people. The company was in possession of the financial institution, but it was trying to re-enter the premises with the police help, the petitioner alleged.

The petitioner stated that after a nod from the Debt Recovery Tribunal, it published a notice for the auction of the unit. Subsequently, the officials of the financial institution were summoned by the Senior Superintendent of Police on January 15, asking them to join investigations.

The petitioner stated that the police did not provide them with a copy of the complaint. The police officers coerced the company to permit the officers of Telephone Cables Limited to gain entry to the premises. The petitioner stated that it was working to recover the amount as per the provisions of the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Act, 2002, and prayed that the police be restrained from preventing the petitioner from the recovery of dues.

During the hearing, Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih directed the Mohali SSP to appear before the court personally. During the resumed hearing of the case, the Bench expressed its displeasure over the manner in which the police acted. The Bench verbally held that the criminal complaint seemed to be abuse of the process of law.

Later in the afternoon, the Bench asserted the courts would not allow such a meddling. The Bench was also informed that police complaint by Telephone Cables had been withdrawn.

CRIME

2 held with gold ornaments
our correspondent

Zirakpur, July 23
The police has arrested two persons and with a gold jewellery worth Rs 3 lakh and a box of costly medicines worth over Rs 1 lakh. The accused have been identified as Munish Kumar, a resident of Shiv colony, Fatehabad, Haryana, and Pardeep, alias Pintu, a resident of Ashiana village, Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

Two thieves of the gang, Alen Jonson, a resident of Pabhat and Amit from Kanpur, are still at large.

The police has registered a case under Sections 457 and 480 of the IPC. Investigations are on.

Man held for supplying illegal weapons
Tribune News Service

Mohali, July 23
The police has arrested another member of a gang involved in supplying illegal firearms and fake arms licences. The accused has been identified as Arwinder Singh, alias Pappu (45), a resident of Prince Colony, Ludhiana. A .32 bore pistol and five live cartridges were recovered from his possession.

The police has arrested four members of the gang so far. The other three accused, who were arrested earlier, are Ashwani Kumar, owner of Alishan Gun House at Moga, Kapil Dev, owner of Kapil Gun House at Jalalabad and Nitish Bishnoi, a resident of Panchkula.

The police had recovered a number of firearms, including two pistols (.32 bore), one mouser (.30 bore), two .32 bore and .315 bore revolvers and several fake arm licences from the accused, who were arrested in the last week of April.

The police said Pappu supplied illegal weapons to the accused.

“A taxi driver, Pappu started working at Verma Gun House in Ludhiana. He used to get the weapons from Uttar Pradesh," said the police.

So far, he had supplied more than 60 weapons to his accomplices, said the police.

Five cases have been registered against Pappu at Mansa, Ludhiana and Abohar for supplying illegal weapons to different gun houses. Two members of the gang are yet to be arrested. The police presented Pappu in a local court which sent him to a two-day police remand.

Woman injured

Panchkula: A woman was mysteriously injured while travelling in an auto in the Saketri area at Mansa Devi Complex (MDC), Panchkula. The doctors have not been able to figure out the cause of injury.

They said the injury could be caused due to a gunshot.

The victim, Rinki, a resident of Hallo Majra, had gone to pay obeisance at Mansa Devi Temple and Shiv Temple in Saketri. She was accompanied by her husband and two. She is undergoing treatment at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Sector 32.

Commissioner of Police Rajbir Deswal said, "The victim was on her way home after when she suffered the injury."Deswal said, "It was not a fallout of any robbery as nobody was following them. The real cause can be ascertained only after the reports are out."

Peon held on extortion charge
Vigilance team recovers Rs 10,000 from his possession
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 23
The Vigilance Cell of the UT police today allegedly caught Chandu Ram of Sector 55 for accepting extortion money of Rs 10,000. Chandu Ram was working as a peon with the Punjab Water Supply and Sewerage Board and allegedly took money in order to return original National Saving Certificates worth Rs 12,000 to complainant Sadhu Singh.

The complainant stated that his National Saving Certificates were missing in his office since 2000. Chandu started blackmailing the complainant and said that he had the original saving certificates and would not hand over till he (complainant) paid Rs 12,000 to him.

The complainant disclosed that accused Chandu Ram was asking for Rs 10,000 to give back his missing original National Saving Certificates.

The extortion money has been recovered from Chandu Ram’s possession and seized by the Vigilance team in the Parking lot of Sector-26 D. The accused Chandu Ram has been booked for extortion and cheating under Sections 384 and 420 of the IPC.

Fake call sends UT police in a tizzy
Man booked for providing false information to police
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 23
A fake call of kidnapping of a young girl at the Sector 31 and 32 light point sent the UT police in a tizzy today. A 40-year-old Mohali resident concocted the story of his daughter’s kidnapping and called the police control room. Later in the afternoon, the police came to know that the contractor had cooked up a story after he met with an accident in Panchkula last evening.

Giving details, the police said that Naneh Singh of Sector78, Mohali, went to the Sector 34 police station and reported that at 8.30 pm on Monday, he with his seven-year-old daughter Aarti was travelling on his motorcycle PB 65-5769. Naneh claimed he was coming from Barwala and when he reached the road dividing Sector 31 and 32, a boy stopped his motorcycle. Four to five boys gathered there and snatched his purse and mobile phone. Naneh alleged that they thrashed him and when his daughter raised the alarm they threatened her before kidnapping her. Naneh also alleged that the four also took away his motorcycle.

The police launched a major operation to locate the girl in Mohali, Panchkula and Dera Bassi.

After preliminary investigations, the police came to know that Naneh had rammed his motorcycle into a car in Panchkula on Monday evening. Following the accident, his daughter had been injured. Naneh’s motorcycle was impounded and he was booked for negligent driving. Meanwhile, Naneh’s daughter Aarti was admitted to a hospital in Panchkula. The police has registered a case against Naneh for providing false information to the police. The police is questioning him as to why he came up with a false story.

Man stabbed, robbed off cash
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 23
A Sector-20 resident was robbed off his bag containing cash in Sector 48 here last night. Vikas Jain of Sector 20-A, alleged that three unidentified occupants of a red coloured motorcycle came near him while he was near a showroom in Sector 48-A. One of the three took out a knife and stabbed him and snatched Jain’s bag containing Rs 65,000 and four mobile phones.

A crowd gathered as Jain raised the alarm.

Jain was injured and was admitted to GMCH-32. he is being treated there. The police has registered a case of voluntarily causing hurt while committing robbery (394) at the Sector-31 police station.

SPORTS

Eklavya trounces Kanishka in tennis
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 23
In the ongoing CLTA-AITA Talent Series Tennis Tournament, local trainee Eklavya Singh marched ahead defeating Kanishka Garg 9-2, in the match of the boys’ (U-18) category, at the CLTA Complex, Sector 10, today.

In the first round matches of boys (U-18) doubles category, the pair of Dalwinder Singh and Jajbir Singh defeated Vikas Berwal and Barun Gill at 4-1 and 4-2 while Dushyant and Surya Singh overcame Mayank Sharma and Parasdeep Virk by 4-1 and 4-2. The quarterfinal rounds of singles and doubles matches will be played tomorrow.

Results

Girls (U-14) second round-Seerat Pannu bt Saisha Khanna 9-2, Tanya Batra bt Nandini 9-2, Seerat Sidhu bt Adity Dogra, Bani Singh bt Ashpreet Bajwa 9-0, Jannat Khurana bt Raahat Mangat 9-1, Prakriti Bainwani bt Priyanka Khanna 9-1, Itika Shama bt Hanshika 9-6, Simran Pritam bt Jahnavi Shivran 9-5; Boys (U-14) second round-Ankit Rao bt Sehaj Sidhu 9-3, Aditya Vashisht bt Rishabh Sharda 9-6, Calvin Golmei bt Gaurav Seth 9-0, Lakshay Gupta bt Harshit Yadav 9-2, Anmol Rattan Kamboj bt Ishan Sethi 9-5, Gurjot Singh bt Shivam 9-0, Sahishnu Sharma bt Siddharth Kanchustam 9-4, Sabrang Sandal bt Abhimanyu Rozra 9-1; Girls (U-18) second round-Gayatri Kumraiah bt Simarjeet Kaur 9-7, Shivangi Sharma bt Ankita Ghotar 9-4, Seerat Sidhu bt Rubani Ahluwalia 9-2, Pooja Maurya bt Jahanvi Shivran 9-1, Nandini Sharma bt Gurmehar Kaur 9-3, Bhavya Wadhwan bt Prakriti Bainwani 9-4, Charvi Saxena bt Shrishti Dhanda 9-1, Aarushi Kakkar bt Seerat Pannu 9-8 (5); Boys (U-18) second round-Jajbir Singh bt Digvijay Pratap 9-5, Ravinder Singh bt Krishna Rajput 9-4, Param Pun bt Jagtar Singh 9-4, Anmol Gupta bt Akhil Bansal 9-2, Eklavya Singh bt Kanishka Garg 9-2, Udyan Bhakar bt Jotpal Singh 9-8 (4), Jagmeet Singh bt Azad Singh 9-5, Dalvinder Singh bt Digvijay Naruka M 9-0; Boys (U-18) first round doubles-Dalwinder Singh and Jajbir Singh bt Vikas Berwal and Barun Gill 4-1, 4-2, Dushyant and Surya Singh bt Mayank Sharma and Parasdeep Virk 4-1, 4-2, Jagmeet Singh and Anmol Gupta bt Aman Pandoh and Durgesh Aggarwal 4-1, 5-3, Manjot Singh and Karan Thind bt Mayank Yadav and Ankit Rao 4-1, 4-0, Digvijay Pratap and Sultan Atwal bt Harish Bera and Amrit Bhinder 4-0, 4-0, Calvin Golmei and Jagdeep Bajwa bt Kanishka Garg and Azad Singh 4-2, 4-1, Akhil Bansal and Jotpal Singh bt Sahishnu Sharma Abhimanyu Rozra 4-2, 4-0, Raghav Jai Singhania and Param Pun bt Jagtar Singh and Ravinder Singh 2-4, 4-1, 8-6; Girls (U-18) first round doubles-Bhavya Wadhawan and Aarushi Kakkar bt Sharishty Dhanda and Khushbeen Kaur 4-0, 4-1, Shivangi Sharma and Aishwarya bt Jahanavi Shivran and Komaljeet Kaur 3-5, 5-3, 8-6, Priyam Kumari and Sofia Khan bt Twenty Nehra and Ankita Ghotar 4-0, 2-4, 7-2, Nandini and Simran Pritam bt Bhavya Sangri and Ikshika Sangri 4-1, 4-0, Rubani Ahluwalia and Tanya Batra bt Charvi Saxena and Saumya Saxena 3-5, 4-1, 7-2, Pooja Mourya and Simarjeet Kaur bt Aarti Nayan and Nikita Kharangra 4-0, 4-0, Pious Moudgill and Mariyam Gracias bt Bindu Kulharia and Priyanka Jakhar 4-1, 4-1, Nandini Sharma and Gayatri Kumaraiah bt Gurmehar Kaur and Bani Singh 4-2, 4-2; Boys (U-14) first round doubles-Sabrang Sandal and Rishabh Sharda bt Sidharth Goel and Vikramaditya Kadian 4-0, 4-0, Savneet Singh and Dhruv Sharma bt Pranav Chopra and Udayveer Singh 4-0, 5-4 (4), Yuvraj Kooka and Chaitanya Choudhary bt Harshit Yadav and Lakshay Gupta 1-4, 4-1, 8-6, Bhupinder Dahiya and Shashikant bt Vatsal Chauhan and Aishwaray Goel 4-0, 4-1, Gaurav Seth and Shreyas Chopra bt Arunab Singh and Jasmol Arora 4-1, 4-2, Gurjot Singh and Aditya Vashisht bt. Abhay Mohan and Rohit Malik 4-0, 4-0, Sehaj Sidhu and Akshit Chabra bt. Saurabh Prashar and Karan Bhalla 0-4, 5-4 (0), 7-5, Anmol Rattan Kamboj and Kabir Manrai bt. Chiraz Singh and Shivam Vij 5-3, 4-2.