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Congress workers block highway
Tribune Reporters

Protesting Congress leaders and workers block the Chandigarh-Ambala highway at Dera Bassi on Thursday. Tribune photo: Nitin Mittal

Dera Bassi, January 16
Workers of the Block Congress blocked the traffic on the Ambala-Chandigarh national highway for over an hour today.

The protesters have sought for an expulsion of Revenue Minister Bikram Singh Majithia. They also urged the authorities concerned to initiate a CBI probe into the multi-crore drug racket.

According to information, workers of the party assembled on the national highway at 12 noon and blocked the traffic at a chowk putting commuters into inconvenience. The blockade was lifted only after the police intervened. Ambulances and some VIP cars were also reportedly stuck in the jam. The Congress workers also staged a dharna in a nearby park to press their demands.

The state secretary of Congress, Manpreet Kaur Dolly, Block Congress president Harbhajan Singh, Congress leader Kuljeet Singh Randhawa and Amritpal Singh addressed the protesters on the occasion.

Mohali: A protest by local Congress leaders, against the drug scam, at Kharar-Landran T-point turned out to be a damp squib if one goes by the turnout of the party activists on the occasion.

Contrary to the expectations of a large turnout, hardly 200 Congress activists turned up at the spot to hear the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee (PPCC) president Partap Singh Bajwa. The Anandpur constituency’s Member of Parliament, Ravneet Singh Bittu, was also present.

Due to a very low turnout, Bajwa was forced to take halt at a local Congress party office in Mohali before reaching the venue. He arrived there just 25 minutes before the culmination of the protest at the set time, 2 pm.

Earlier, a close associate of the PPCC president confirmed that they had stopped midway due to sparse gathering. “We were told that the number of media persons was more than the Congress activists. In this situation, waiting for some more time seemed like a better option,” said the Congress activist. He added that Bajwa left his residence at 12.15 am and reached at the spot exactly at 1.30 pm.

The protest began at 12 pm, as per schedule, with the address of local Congress MLA Balbir Singh Sidhu.

In comparison, the number of Congress activists was far more, over 500, at the protest venue in Kharar.

In wake of today’s ‘chakka jam’ programme, the traffic was diverted from all the roads leading to the protest venue. The Kharar-Landran road, which is one of the busiest roads in the area, was seen almost deserted due to the traffic diversion.

Kharar: Though police diverted the Kharar-Ropar and Kharar-Ludhiana traffic due to blockade at the main chowk here today, several commuters were seen facing inconvenience due to traffic jam. In absence of local MLA Jagmohan Singh Kang, president of the local unit of Congress, Gurminder Singh led the party activists in today’s protest.

Chandigarh, January 16
A local court today acquitted an accused of a gang rape of a 35 years old woman after the victim turned hostile. The court acquitted Dinesh of the charges.

Another accused Dhruv was earlier acquitted by the court after the victim failed to identify him.

They were accused of gang raping a married woman by threatening her of killing her husband and children. The case dates back to January 20, 2011.

Chandigarh, January 16
The driver of an i20 car was booked for ramming it into a police officer’s car. The police said Vishwapreet of Sector 28, hit official car of UT DSP Traffic Kamal Deep near the Sector-27/28 light point.

Chandigarh, January 16
A highly decomposed body was found in the forest area near the regulatory end of the Sukhna Lake today. The body is believed to be least four months old. The police reached the spot and shifted the body to the mortuary of GMSH, Sector 16.

The body was noticed by a security guard, Paramjit, at 3 pm. The police said the pieces of the body were found scattered and a pair of jeans and a blue shirt were also found at the spot. It could not be ascertained whether the body was of a male or female. — TNS

Police personnel take part in the kabaddi

In the finals today, Traffic and Security unit defeated their rivals by 56-32. In the Tug of War, the unit form PCR and Communication won the trophy by defeating Sub Division South unit. The unit from Indian Reserve Battalion (IRB) defeated combined team of other units to claim the title of volleyball.

Tent pegging events during the Inter-Unit Police Sports Meet at the Police Lines in Sector 26, Chandigarh, on Thursday. Tribune Photos: Manoj Mahajan and Pradeep Tewari

Results

Athletics: 5,000 m (men)- First- C Ramesh, IRB; Second- C Vikas, IRB; 1,500 m (men)- First- C Vikas, IRB; Second- C Ramesh, IRB; 800 m (men)- First- C Baljit, CIA; Second- C Balram, IRB; 400 m (men)- First- C Baljit, CIA; Second- C Vinod Kumar, RTC; 200 m (men)- First- C Devinder, VIP Security; Second- C Vinod Kumar, RTC; 400 m (women)- First- L/C Manpreet, IRB; Second- L/C Anju, RTC; 100 m (women)- First- L/C Savita, IRB; Second- L/C Balwinder Kaur, IRB; 100 m- First- Inspector Maninder Singh, EOW; Second- Inspector Dilbag Singh, PCA; Wrestling-61 kg (men)- First C Ajay, Operation Cell; Second- C Ramesh, IRB; 65 kg (men)- First- C Satinder, IRB; Second- HC Nirmal, PCR; 77 kg (men)- First- C Neeraj, Security unit; Second- C Vikas, IRB; 74 kg (men)- First- C Joginder, Traffic Unit; Second- C Shrada Nand, IRB; 86 kg (men)- First- C Ravinder, East Division; Second- C Anil, IRB; 97 kg (men)- First- C Jagat, East Divison; Second- C Deepak, PCR; 97+ kg (men)- First-HC Amit Kumar, Police Lines; Second- C Karamvir, Law and Order; Wrestling (women)- First- L/C Manpreet, IRB and Second- L/C Neetu, IRB.

Chandigarh, January 16
Livewire Coaching Centre (senior) defeated Government Model Senior Secondary School (GMSSS), Sector 43, by 36 runs in a match of the T-twenty League Cricket Tournament held at Divya Public School, Sector 44, here today.

Batting first, Livewire Coaching Centre posted a total of 179 runs for 7 wickets in the allotted slot of 20 overs. Abhishek (41 runs) and Sachin Sayal (36 runs) were the main contributor’s in the team’s total whereas Nitin Ranga (32 runs) and Jaspal Singh (20 runs), with their respective shares, pushed forward the total score. For the bowling side, Manpreet and Akshat claimed two wickets each.

Chandigarh, January 16
The City Beautiful is not earning the fame what it actually deserves in the field of sports. This was stated by former finance-cum-sports secretary VK Singh during an interaction with this correspondent. He said the city needs to attain more in sports and the officials appointed to improve it required a common aim and united efforts towards it.

Talking over his experience in handling sports in the City Beautiful, the former sports secretary said, “The city needs to spread its infrastructure in order to involve mass participation. This will help in encouraging the youth here in performing well to the level it deserves.”

When asked about the non-completion of projects, including basketball court at Sector 42 sports complex, new turf for hockey field at Sector 42 along with synthetic athletics track, Singh added, “I am not defending anyone but in a system there are many ups and downs. I have seen many things lying pending during my tenure. I managed to work on a few projects but I hope the rest are carried on in the best manner. The officials should know how to deal with problems and go fair in all aspects.”

On the inquiry marked by him following a complaint by some parents against irregularities in the UT Sports Department, he added, “The fact-finding report found nothing against anyone. Yes, there are shortcomings, and I have submitted my recommendations for overcoming these.”

“Overall, my tenure was good and hopefully the city will shine in the field of sports at the national level,” said the former secretary.

Mohali, January 16
Besides several other changes, three station house officers (SHO) of different police stations and one in charge of a police post in the district were sent to police lines today.

The SHO of Phase I Police Station, inspector Dharampal, SHO of Dera Bassi Police Station Gurwant Singh, SHO of Lalru Police Gurdial Singh and in charge of Handesra Police Post Bharat Bhushan have been sent to police lines by the Mohali SSP Inder Mohan Singh Bhatti.

Under fresh orders, the in charge of Majat Police Post, sub-inspector Rajiv Kumar has been given charge of SHO, Phase I Police Station, Mohali traffic in charge inspector Kanwaljit Singh has been appointed as SHO, Naya Gaon, Atul Soni, who was given charge as SHO, Naya Gaon, just a week ago has been shifted to Dera Bassi Police Station as the new SHO.

Inspector BS Riar, who was given charge of SHO, Phase VIII Police Station recently, has been made in charge of Police Control Room. Inspector Gurdip Singh has been shifted in Riar’s place. Inspector Gurjit Singh Dhindsa has been given charge as SHO, Lalru Police Station.