Chandigarh, February 6
Two engineers of the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation have been defrauded of Rs 4 lakh by three Delhi -based travel agents, who promised to arrange a foreign tour for the duo. The UT police today registered a case against the three travel agents under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC at the Sector 17 police station.

SS Bidda, Chief Engineer, MC, Chandigarh, submitted in his complaint to the police that Amit Gupta, Ravi Kumar and Aakash Chaudhary, Engineer Development Council, 66 Triveni Apartment, Jhilmil Colony, New Delhi, cheated the MC Department.

SS Bidda, Chief Engineer, MC, along with Mukesh Anand, Superintending Engineer, MC, were set to leave on a seven-day study tour to Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand on May 22 last year.

The two had to return from the Delhi airport after the travel agents organising the tour could not take permission for visiting the buildings which they were supposed to visit.

The MC had paid the amount to the organisers for the tour.

Inspector Dilsher Singh, SHO, Sector 17 police station, said the engineers had to return as the terms and conditions for the tour were not fulfilled by the travel agents.

“The engineers told the travel agents to return the money and the travel agents replied that they would issue a cheque. However, the money was not returned, so a cheating case has been registered,” he said.

The travel agents are yet to be arrested.

The Audit Department of the UT Administration had asked the MC to recover the money from the officials.

The MC had withheld the salary of SS Bidda, Chief Engineer, and Mukesh Anand, Superintending Engineer (Building and Roads), for November to recover the Rs 4 lakh spent on a foreign tour, which ended before it could start.

Panchkula, February 6
A futile attempt was made by thieves late last night to break the automated teller machine (ATM) at a kiosk of Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Surajpur. Last year, the same ATM was targeted when the thieves decamped with the ATM machine containing Rs 16 lakh.

Footage of the CCTV camera installed at the kiosk showed that the thieves had sprayed some liquid on the lens of the camera to reduce visibility, yet one thief was visible in the footage. The footage has been handed over to the police. Recently, the Panchkula police had sealed over 50 ATMs in the district which had no security guards at the kiosks. The ATM in Surajpur is closed after the bank hours.

Sub-Inspector Sukhbir Singh, Additional Station House Officer of the Chandimandir police station, said that they were investigating the matter. “The thieves tried to break the ATM with the help of an electricity cutter but failed to do so. A cut is clearly visible on the machine,” said Singh. He further said, “The thief whom we can see in the footage is wearing a monkey cap. This has been captured before they could spray the liquid on the camera.”After a security guard was killed outside an ATM kiosk in Ambala, Panchkula-Ambala Commissioner of Police Ajay Singhal had issued a press note stating that three gangs from Chandigarh had been short listed that were targeting the ATMs.

Singhal said, “We are working on the leads that we have got. The case will be cracked soon.” Some ATMs in the district are still closed as the banks are in talks with their higher authorities to deploy security guards. The banks had told the Station House Officers of the respective police stations that until the security guards were deployed, the ATMs would be operational only during bank hours.

Chandigarh, February 6
Investigations into the case of a Sector 35-based doctor booked in a cheating case revealed that he had duped more than 10 persons of lakhs on fake assurances of getting them admissions in prominent medical institutes.

Narain Singh Sehgal, a resident of Sector 71, Mohali, was arrested for a medical admission scam by the Cyber Crime Cell of the police yesterday.

The police said Sehgal used to facilitate admission to medical professional colleges and had duped at least 10 persons in this part of the region.

Sehgal is actually a commerce graduate and used to act as a tout between colleges and applicants. The mastermind was in touch with several medical and engineering colleges for getting candidates admitted to management and NRI quota seats.

The police said Sehgal claimed that he was in contact with Christian Medical College (CMC), Ludhiana, Mullana Medical College near Ambala and a medical college at Jaipur (Rajasthan) for getting the candidates admitted there. He also claimed to have helped students get admission to the GMCH 32 and the PGI.

NS Sehgal (45) used to give out advertisements in leading newspapers announcing admissions to MBBS, MD and other courses in professional colleges. He used to pose as a doctor and never disclosed his residential address to any of his client. The police have recovered Rs 19 lakh and an LCD from the accused.

Harbhajan Singh, retired from Health Department in Punjab, said: "The advertisement by Sehgal used to come every week in leading newspapers." Harbhajan said they got in touch with Sehgal after reading an advertisement in July last year and he promised to get their son admitted to the CMC Ludhiana. Harbhajan gave money to Sehgal in five instalments. He took loan for giving the amount."

Chandigarh, February 6
Vikas Thakur of Indian Air Force created a national record in the 85 kg men’s category of weightlifting. He snatched 152 kg of steel plates in the ongoing 57th Inter-Services Weightlifting Championship being held at 3 Base Repair Depot (3BRD), Air Force station.

In the 94 kg category, Gurmail Singh lifted 147 kg to claim a new service’s record but the jubilation went short when Virender Singh lifted 149 kg to claim new service’s record.

In snatch 85 kg category, Vikas lifted a total of 152 kg, to name the new national record. Harpreet Singh claimed the second spot lifting 138 kg while Veer Kumar claimed the third spot lifting the same weight (138kg). In the clean and jerk, Vikas claimed top spot with 171 kg followed by Harpreet Singh and Sudhir Kumar who lifted 165 kg, respectively.

Chandigarh, February 6
Tavleen Batra comfortably defended her title at the Punjab Open Ladies Golf Championship which concluded at the Chandigarh Golf Course on Wednesday.

Tavleen carded a three-over-par, 75 to win the 36-hole competition by three strokes with a total of 151. "I could have saved two or three strokes during my round today but I am quite happy with my game," said an excited Tavleen.

However, the lowest round of the day was a level-par, 72 carded by Gurjot Badwal who shot 83 yesterday. Hailing from Kapurthala, Badwal, was introduced to the game after ace golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar's father advised her to try golf and she showed her skills by moving up to finish second at 155.

Shruti Naik finished third while 11-year-old Vasundra Thiara was fourth in the overall scores.

Chandigarh, February 6
The Commonwealth Youth Programme, Asia Centre, located in Chandigarh will shut down its centre in the city.

This was stated during a press meet by Katherine Ellis, director, youth affairs, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, who was presiding over the two-day long meeting of regional senior officials. She said Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP) is undergoing a period of renewal, which will result in a new operating model. The CYP will continue to be a driving force in the development of youth. It will support governments and youth-led organisations in policy-making and programming.

This would mark the end of almost forty years old Commonwealth driven institution which was created in 1975 aligned with Ministry of Youth Affairs, Government of India. The Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre located in Chandigarh, India was one of four centres established to serve the Asian countries of the commonwealth namely Bangladesh, Brunei, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Singapore and Sri Lanka.

A new centre named Regional Centre of Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development overseen by Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will be opened on the premises.

Chandigarh, February 6
The Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) has rescheduled the matches of upcoming Punjab State Inter-District Tournament for FC Mittal Trophy.

The meet will be held from February 8 to 14 at Patiala, Mohali, Chandigarh and Ropar. The matches scheduled on February 10 will be held on February 11.

 — TNS

Chandigarh, February 6
GHG Khalsa College of Education, Gurusar Sadhar, (Ludhiana) defeated Department of Evening Studies, Panjab University, in the final of Panjab University Inter-College Hockey Championship of men (C-Division) for evening and education colleges, held today.

In the final match of the championship, the winners outclassed the home team 3-0. The Ludhiana side controlled the ball strongly and penetrated in rival’s defence on regular intervals. Gurwinder Singh scored a goal in the 20th minute. He converted a well executed pass from his half-back teammate.

Soon after scoring the lead, the score was further pushed when Talwinder Singh managed to get a goal through an awarded penalty corner. He smartly defeated the home custodian to post another goal.

In the second half, the home side made some effort to make a comeback but remain disappointed.

All efforts went in vain when Harpinder scored the third goal, in favour of visiting side, in the 46th minute. In their previous match, the Department of Evening Studies beat Babe Ke College of Education, Daudhar, 5-1.