Chandigarh, March 11
A local court today issued notice to actor Rahul Bose on a petition accusing him of hurting patriotic sentiments.

The petition filed by an advocate seeks unqualified apology from Bose. The court had issued notice to Bose seeking a reply. The petition was filed by advocate Mandeep Kaur seeking direction by the court to order Bose to render “unqualified apology” for his certain remark that “hurt the national and patriotic feelings of the plaintiff”.

The petition was filed following an article published in a newspaper in which Bose had stated that he was “ashamed of being an Indian”. According to the petition, Bose said in the article that, “he had taken admission in a Mumbai college but was ashamed to go there” as he did not want to study in India and had always preferred studying abroad.

Mohali, March 11
The Mohali court today awarded three-year sentence to Punjab Police constable Dalbir Singh in a bribe case. It also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on him.

The court of Mohali Additional District and Sessions Judge Dilbagh Singh Johal sent Dalbir to three-year jail for accepting a bribe of Rs 50,000 from Amandeep Singh, a resident of Gurgaon, Haryana.

Dalbir, who was posted as Reader of the Mohali DSP (headquarters) at that time, was nabbed red-handed by the vigilance team while accepting the bribe.

The accused had threatened Amandeep that his family members would be implicated in a dowry and harassment case filed by his (Amandeep's) wife, the probe of which was being conducted by the DSP (headquarters) then. 

Mohali, March 11
High drama was witnessed at the Courts Complex here when an Assistant Sub-inspector (ASI) of the Haryana police, who was reportedly in an inebriated state, created ruckus this afternoon.

The police said ASI Jagdish Singh came to the Mohali courts to produce Gurinder Singh, an accused in a theft case. "Immediately after entering the court, the ASI started shouting at people," said a Mohali police constable present in the court.

As people and advocates gathered, the Mohali policemen present in the court whisked away the ASI to Mataur police station. The medical examination of the cop was conducted following which a Daily Diary Report was lodged against him at the police station.

The Mohali police have informed its counterpart in Haryana about the ASI's misconduct.

Chandigarh, March 11
The court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Shalini Nagpal today sentenced a former employee of the Haryana government to six years of imprisonment in a 15-year-old lottery scam. The court also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the convict.

On March 7, the court had convicted Rajbir for misappropriating Rs 80 lakh in a lottery scheme.

There were total eight accused in the case. While the court convicted Rajbir, others were acquitted as prosecution could not prove the charge against them. Those acquitted included Harminder Singh, Subhash Tiwari, Jrawati Tiwari, Pankaj Aggarwal, Basudev Mishra and Dalip Arora, all lottery agents and residents of Uttar Pradesh.

Three separate chargesheets were filed against the accused.

As per the prosecution, the Haryana government, in order to promote state lottery in other states, appointed Rajbir as its representative in Lucknow in 1994. Rajbir started appointing agents for selling lottery tickets. The agents deposited the security and sale receipts with the Lucknow office.

The misappropriation of Rs 80 lakh came to light when the state government closed the lottery scheme in 1999. It was found that the accused did not deposit the amount with the government over a period of time.

Chandigarh, March 11
Four days after a mobile phone was snatched from a youth in Sector 20, the UT police arrested the accused today and recovered the stolen items from his possession.

On March 6, Parminder Singh, a resident of Sector 20-C, Chandigarh, reported that he was at home, when a youth entered his house and said that he had come to check the water meter. The complainant along with the said person went in the courtyard where the youth hit the complainant on his neck, due to which he fell down. The youth took away his mobile phone and purse containing documents and Rs1, 200 from the almirah and fled away after bolting the door from outside.

The UT police put the telephone on surveillance and the accused, Rajinder Singh (25), a resident of Khudda Lohara village, UT, Chandigarh, was nabbed and the stolen mobile phone recovered. — TNS 

Panchkula, March 11
A 16-year-old girl was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the toilet of a factory in Industrial Area, Phase II, this morning. The police was told that she committed suicide but the doctors conducting the post mortem examination said that the possibility of her being smothered cannot be ruled out.

The victim, identified as, Rekha, was declared brought dead at the General Hospital, Sector 6. The parents of the victim were working in the same factory.

The post mortem revealed asphyxial death. Nail marks were also found on her neck.

The doctors have also collected other samples to ascertain whether the victim was raped or not.

The parents of the victim said that the girl had gone to the washroom. It was after she did not return for a long time that they went looking for her and found her hanging in the toilet.

The police did not find the body of the girl hanging so they doubt the theory of the parents and are investigating the matter.

Dr Sunil Gambhir said that no ligature mark was found on the victim’s body as in case of usual hanging case. 

Chandigarh, March 11
The UT police arrested a man carrying a huge consignment of liquor in a truck. The police said the liquor was meant to be distributed in slums during the coming Lok Sabha elections.

The Crime Branch sleuths received an input that a huge quantity of liquor was being supplied from Chandigarh to UP, Delhi and Haryana for distributing the same during the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.

As per the information, a huge quantity of liquor was being taken to UP in truck number HR46-B-1549. On a tip off, a team of the Crime Branch headed by SI Ashok Kumar laid a checkpoint near Railway Bridge, Industrial Area, where the police party noticed the truck coming from the Tribune roundabout and signaled it to stop. The driver of the truck, Atul Kumar, stopped the truck after crossing and managed to flee leaving the truck behind, whereas, the co-driver was apprehended who disclosed his name as Sonvir Singh Yadav, a resident of Nagla Tikka Ram village in Firozabad district of UP and the name of the driver as Atul, a resident of Indore, MP. On checking, 792 boxes of “Crazy Romeo” whisky were recovered from the truck. Yadav could not produce any licence/permit for possessing the same. Hence, a case under the Excise Act was registered.

The police said the liquor cartons were being carried by the accused truck drivers from a liquor vend located in Sector 31. Police sources said apart from smuggling of IMFL liquor on a large scale from Chandigarh to other states, illegal selling and distribution of country-made wine had also increased in suburban and slum areas of Chandigarh. As many as 19 persons had been arrested for illegally selling country-made wine in different colonies in the last three days. 

Zirakpur, March 11
The Statistics Surveillance Team recovered Rs 11 lakh that was being taken by a local builder in his car this evening.

Duty Magistrate Charanjit Singh Rai, who along with his team has set up a naka on the Chandigarh-Zirakpur border, said the builder identified as RM Singla, director of New Generation Real Estate Limited, was carrying the amount in his car.

Notably, carrying cash and liquor without proper documentary evidence have been prohibited under the model code of conduct.

Though Singla was said to have produced some account books/ledgers in this regard, those could not satisfy the officials. They called another team of the Income Tax Department and handed over the cash and the records to them. Confirming the development, Mohali Deputy Commissioner Tejinder Pal Singh Sidhu said Singla was claiming that he was taking the amount to make payments to his contractor and labourers at his project site.

"As he was not carrying the required documents, we handed over the case to the Income Tax Department for further investigation," Sidhu said. — TNS

Panchkula, March 11
Two persons were shot at in indiscriminate firing by five armed criminals and robbed of Rs 1.28 lakh in the Industrial Area, Phase I, here this evening.

The victims, Deepak and Pradeep, employees of the Pioneer Toyota agency, were in a demo Etios Liva car with a cash bag when the robbers, who were in a white Etios car, fired 10 shots at them.

Police sources said they suspected it to be the handiwork of the Zen gang that had committed several crimes using a white Etios.

The victims were taken to the General Hospital from where they were referred to the PGI, Chandigarh.

Commissioner of Police Ajay Singhal said the police were working on several angles. Deepak, an accountant who was carrying the cash bag, was shot at six times when he resisted the robbery, while Pradeep, a driver with the agency, was shot at in the chest. The bag also contained bank drafts.

The victims were on their way to a local bank to deposit the money when the incident occurred.

The police said Deepak was sitting on the front seat alongside the driver, Pradeep. The robbers first fired at the windowpane on Deepak's side. Both vehicles were moving when the first shot was fired.

Pradeep lost control over the car and it hit a wall. Two of the five robbers then came out and fired at the victims.

A doctor at the General Hospital said Deepak had suffered two bullet injuries on the left hand, two on the left side of the abdomen and two on the left thigh. Doctors at the PGI said the condition of both victims was critical.

A case has been registered at the Sector 20 police station.

Zirakpur, March 11
A middle-aged man duped a railway manager of Rs 67,000 on the pretext of helping him withdraw money from a PNB ATM here on Saturday.

Kailash Rai, the victim, alleged that the fraudster changed his ATM card while helping him withdraw Rs 20,000 from the ATM which was sans security guard.

Rai claimed that he had lodged a complaint in this regard at Zirakpur police station but the police were yet to register a case.

The fraud came to light on Monday when Rai checked his account online. “The accused withdrew Rs 20,000 on Saturday and transferred Rs 47,000 in three transactions to one Raj Rani’s account in Delhi. The funds were transferred from an ATM located in Rajpura,” said Rai.

Mohali, March 11
The Mohali police arrested three persons on the charge of attempt to murder late last night. The accused have been identified as Tajinder Singh and Hardeep Singh alias Raju, both from Chandigarh, and Davinder Singh alias Ashu from Sector 66 here.

The police said a monetary dispute led to the incident. "The accused had a dispute with one Rohit Kumar, who is the complainant Vipin Bajaj's friend. The accused reached the complainant's shop in Phase 11 last night and enquired about Rohit. When Vipin told them that Rohit was not there, the accused manhandled him. In the meantime, Hardeep fired a shot at him, which missed the target. The trio then fled from the scene," said the police.

The police nabbed the accused along with the weapon. A case under the IPC and the Arms Act was registered at Phase 11 police station.

Mohali, March 11
The Mohali police today arrested a man booked in a year-old dowry case.

The accused, Vivek Sharma, who is posted as a clerk at the DPI, Punjab office, in Mini-secretariat, Chandigarh, came to the Mohali District Courts to attend a hearing when a cop recognised him and arrested him immediately.

A case against Vivek was registered on January 2, 2013, following a complaint by his wife Jyoti Sharma, a resident of Phase 2.

The poilce said Vivek had applied for bail in the district court and later, in the Punjab and Haryana High Court. But the application was rejected by both the courts.

Vivek Sharma had now filed his bail plea in the Supreme Court. When arrested, he tried to mislead the police. He showed his bail application to the police and told them that the apex court had accepted his interim bail, the police said.

Vivek would be produced before the court tomorrow. 

Panchkula, March 11
The son of a former minister was convicted today by the Kalka court for bribing voters during the 2009 Assembly elections.

The quantum of punishment would be announced on March 18.

The accused, Bhagat Singh, is son of former Haryana minister Lakshman Singh. He has been convicted under Section 171 of the IPC.

In 2009, Bhagat Singh had contested elections as an independent candidate from Kalka but had lost to INLD's Pradeep Chaudhary.

Counsel Kapil Goad said a case was registered at the Pinjore police station then. It was alleged that Bhagat Singh distributed cash for votes. The police had impounded three vehicles also. 

Chandigarh, March 11
The India Bulls team defeated the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) by 101 runs during a match of the ongoing CII-ATS Corporate Sports League, being played today. The winning side posted 190 runs in the allotted 20 overs.

Inderjeet Singh and Mohinder Singh helped India Bulls to achieve the total by scoring 35 runs and 32 runs, respectively.

In reply, the CII team bundled out on a mere total of 89 runs with Inderjeet claiming five wickets for India Bulls.

In the second match, Godrej Ltd defeated the GMCH by 69 runs. Batting first, the Godrej side scored 167 runs with Maninder (38 off 27) and Gurtej (29 off 31).

For the GMCH, Harish took 2 for 27. In reply, the GMCH could manage to score only 98 runs in 20 overs. In another match, Fiat Metro Motors defeated Bharti Airtel by 48 runs. After batting first, the Fiat Metro Motors scored 182 runs. Their innings was strengthened with a 61-run contribution by Lalit while Jagjit scored 30 off 18.

For Bharti Airtel, Devan took 2 wickets. In reply, Bharti Airtel bundled out on 134 runs with Vinay (45) and Aanchal (46) scoring the major share.

In the last match of the day, the PGI thrashed HDFC Limited by 113 runs. The former scored 149 runs in 20 overs. While chasing the target, the HDFC side bundled out on a mere total of 36 runs in 9.1 overs.

Chandigarh, March 11
Riding high on his calibre, local golfer Karandeep Singh Kochhar is all set to represent the country in the Sir Nick Faldo Golf Series for Boys (U16), to be held at Mission Hills Faldo Golf Course, China, from tomorrow.

Sixteen countries, including USA, Japan, Indonesia, England, China, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Czech Republic, Vietnam, Chinese Taipei and Phillipines will vie for the top honours during the three-day event.

Karandeep will participate in the boys (U16) category, whereas Syed Saqib Ahmed from Bengaluru will represent the nation in the boys (U21) category. Manu Gandas of Delhi will play in the Boys (U18 category.

In the girls category, Gursimar Badhwal from Kapurthala (U21), Tavleen Batra from Ambala (U18) and Ridhima Dilawari from Delhi (U16) will lead the Indian challenge.

During a telephonic conversation, Karandeep said: “I am excited to participate in the event and win laurels.

The competition is expected to remain a high-pitch affair.”

“Top golfers from across the world will showcase their talent in the event and I am ready to put forth the best to claim the top spot. I am looking forward to perform well in the international meet” said Karandeep.

The Indian team is accompanied by Jasjit Singh, national performance manager, Indian Golf Union, and Seetu Puri.

Chandigarh, March 11
The Netball Association of Chandigarh will conduct selection trials to shortlist the local netball team of boys and girls at KB DAV Senior Secondary School, Sector 7, on March 15 (3.30pm), here.

The selected probables, after going through the coaching, will participate in the 19th Sub-Junior National Netball Championship scheduled to be held at IVM College, Dhanbad, Jharkhand, from March 27 to 30.

Chandigarh, March 11
Hearing impaired Parul Gupta (17), a resident of Patiala, is preparing her best to represent the nation in the upcoming 2nd Open Deaf Youth Tennis Cup for girls (U-14 to 20 years), to be held in Hamburg (Germany).

Parul, a professional tennis player, has shifted her base to Chandigarh in order to take rigorous training, prior to participate in the competition scheduled from May 28 to June 1.

Explaining her desire for bagging a top spot in the game, the ace player maintained that she was leaving no stone unturned and living with tennis to achieve fame.

“I have opted to shift base to Chandigarh to learn every aspect of the game. I will try and claim the top spot in the coming game. As for me, living with the fame of tennis is the biggest aim. My parents have supported me throughout and I want to make them proud,” said Parul, who has been getting training at the Tennis Excellence Academy of Sunny Enclave, Kharar, under her coach Gurvinder Singh Sahota.

Earlier also, the tennis player has added many feathers in her cap. She represented the country in the 22nd Summer Deaf Olympics Games held in Sofia (Bulgaria) in July 2013. She participated in both badminton and tennis events of the tournament.

“The last international tournament remained a tough patch to pass through. Our participation was confirmed at the very last hour that left us to suffer more. However, playing in the tournament, proved to be a good experience for me,” she said.

“Watching other players, with some or other deficiency, performing well like normal players, has given me a confidence to go ahead with my passion. I am preparing for the Germany event since a long time and hopefully my hard work will bear fruits” said Parul.

For making the state proud, Parul, daughter of a government employee and a school teacher at YPS School, Patiala, was awarded with a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh by Bikram Singh Majithia, Information and Public Relations and Revenue Minister, Punjab, in September.

Prior to that, she also participated in the 1st Dosti Cup between Pakistan and India, held in Chandigarh.

She claimed all top positions in the badminton category. She has also represented Punjab in two national games organised by the School Games Federation of India and participated in state championships for three consecutive years. When asked about the issues she face during her games, Parul added, “With the growing age, hearing-impairment is creating a lot of problems. I also underwent a minor operation and now, it becomes difficult to manage with it. I hope my pain will repay me in the form of fame during the upcoming international tourney,” added Parul.