Panchkula, April 3
The court today acquitted the stepfather of the three-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in Sector 5 here last year. With the acquittal, the mystery behind the crime remains unsolved.

Ekram Ahmed, the stepfather, was arrested on the charge that he committed the crime to settle score with his second wife, who used to ill treat his children with his first wife.

On finding no circumstantial evidence against him, the special crime against women court’ acquitted Ahmed.

The prosecution said it was surprising that the deceased’s mother was not made a witness in the case.

Ahmed’s counsel Manbir Singh Rathi said, “The police had claimed that the location of the accused’s mobile phone matched with the locations where he took the child. However, records stated that it was only at 9.58 pm that the location of Ahmed’s phone was found to be in Sector 5. At that time, he was called by the police to the spot after the body was found.”

Rathi said a witness, Manoj Kumar who had stated that he had seen Ahmed and his daughter while he was having a walk in the park, was speechless during cross-examination when asked what he was doing in the park in Sector 5 when he was a resident of Sector 27 and had a herbal park nearby.

Chandigarh, April 3
A local court today issued non-bailable warrants against a retired UT police inspector after his repeated failure to appear in the court as a witness to an eight-year old case in which policemen were allegedly attacked.

The court issued warrants against inspector (retd) Hukum Chand after he failed to appear in court after repeated summons.

Inspector Hukum Chand is the main eye witness in the case. The incident dates back to May, 2007, when the police were attacked by a mob of over 2,000 persons. The incident took place during a construction of a boundary wall in Janta Colony, Nayagaon. A total of 34 cops, including women, were injured in the incident.

The police had earlier added Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC against the 16 accused in the case, but the court had later dropped charges of murder attempt against them.

Charges were framed of assault on public servant and rioting under Sections 353, 147, 148, 149 of the IPC against them.

Chandigarh, April 3
The UT police have arrested a 40-year-old man for attempting to molest a 22-year-old girl. The accused has been identified as Balwant Singh, a resident of Khuda Ali Sher.

The accused was known to the victim.

The girl informed her parents about the incident, after which the police were informed.

The accused has been arrested.

A case of assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered at the Sector 11 police station. Further investigations are on in this regard, said the police.

Panchkula, April 3
Some thieves struck at the Samsung showroom 'Samsung Cafe' at Mansa Devi Complex (MDC) in Sector 5, Panchkula, and decamped with expensive mobile phones worth Rs 5 lakhs. The showroom had opened just three months back.

The incident took place at 6.30 in the morning. Notably, a naka had been laid right in front of the shop.

The shutter was, reportedly, lifted by the thieves without touching the locks. As per the CCTV footage, one person was in the shop, but some voices can be heard in the background indicating that there were more persons.

All the wires of the alarm system that were attached to 17 mobile phones were first cut and the automatic glass door was pulled down. Though the alarm system on mobile phones was on but the same on the glass door had been switched off.

Owner of the showroom Naresh Dhingra said, “The main alarm at the glass door was inactivated. But I am surprised that despite the active alarm system on the mobile phones, which rings even when someone tries to disconnect the wires, did not work.”

He added, “The thieves were technically aware of the entire system.”

Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashwin Shenvi said they are working on significant clues.

Assistant Commissioner of Police Mamta said the crime was executed in a perfect manner. “They are professionals, someone who knew more than the owner. They were technically sound as well. We have got some major technical clues and the case will be solved soon.” A case of theft has been registered at the MDC Police Station.

Chandigarh, April 3
The UT police have arrested a person for allegedly stabbing a Ram Darbar resident.

The accused has been identified as Manish, a resident of Ludhiana. The accused had stabbed the victim, Suraj Kumar, on April 2.

In his complaint to the police, the victim reported that he had a confrontation with Manish, who was also residing in Ram Darbar at that time, a few weeks ago. On April 2, the victim went to a store where the accused, along with his friends, attacked him with a knife. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 3
The static surveillance team constituted to put a check on use of liquor and cash during the Lok Sabha elections, rounded up six persons and recovered over Rs 7 lakh in separate incidents.

The team headed by Executive Magistrate Parveen Mittal along with Sub-Inspector Jai Singh set up a naka on the road near the Zirakpur barrier and recovered Rs 1 lakh from the driver of a Xylo car (HP-72-9228), identified as Saurav Khandelwal, a resident of Una. Rs 2.49 lakh was seized from Sanjeev Kumar, a Delhi resident, who was driving a Duster car (DL-8CZ-2056). Rs 2 lakh was recovered from the driver of another car (CH-04A-0508), who has been identified as Dharam Dhaneja of SAS Nagar.

In a naka laid near Furniture Market, Rs 80,000 was recovered from Gurdutt Singh, a resident of Ferozepur, who was driving a Scorpio car (PB-05Y-2535). Rs 1.38 lakh was also recovered from the driver of another car (CH-01AV-7910). He has been identified as Arvinder, a resident of Sector 8. 

Chandigarh, April 3
In the opening match of the 32nd Petroleum Sports Promotion Board’s (PSPB) Inter-Unit Hockey Championship, Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) defeated GAIL 2-1 at the hockey stadium of Mohali, today.

Starting their day at ease, the BPCL maintaining ball possession and soon attainted the lead in the 6th minute through Amir Khan. Strikers of GAILs started penetrating in rival’s area and put the score at par in the 15th minute through Aminder Kapoor. However, BPCL maintained the lead and scored another goal in the 25th minute through Pundlik Bellary. BPCL maintained their performance throughout the match and sealed their victory 2-1.

In the second match of the day, ONGC went down against Indian Oil 4-1. The ONGC took the lead in the 6th minute. The IOC scored equaliser in the 28th minute from a penalty corner, successfully converted by Didar Singh. The Roshan Minz from IOC chipped in the second goal and thereafter, Didar Singh scored two goals.

Chandigarh, April 3
Renowned badminton coach Surinder Mahajan has been appointed as the coach of the junior Indian badminton team.