Chandigarh, April 16
The complainant in the corruption case involving Punjab AIG PS Sandhu as the accused moved an application in the CBI court today that he wished to die and sought the court’s intervention to exercise his “right to die”. The court dismissed the application.

The complainant, Nishant Shama, who is lodged in Burail jail, and has various cases registered against him, stated in the application that he was fed up of the system and had been harassed repeatedly both by the Punjab as well as the UT police.

He stated that he was not even allowed to meet the SP, CBI, by the jail authorities and was fed up of the torture.

Sandhu was arrested by the CBI in July 2011 in a bribe case after Nishant Sharma had submitted a complaint that the officer was demanding a bribe to favour him in pending inquiries against him. Nishant had earlier turned hostile in the case and refused to recognise his voice recordings.

Chandigarh, April 16
A day after the cheating case involving former president of Chandigarh Territorial Youth Congress Vijay Pal Singh Dimpy as the accused reached a compromise, Dimpy got bail from the court today.

The accused agreed to pay Rs 50 lakh to the complainant in the court and after a draft was issued to the complainant, he was given bail.

The Economic Offences Wing of the Chandigarh Police had booked Dimpy following a complaint by former Punjab DGP SS Virk. He was arrested during the wee hours of April 5 from outside his house in Sector 40.

Virk had stated that in 2006, they had paid Rs 50 lakh to Dimpy as an advance to look for a property in Chandigarh, which was never returned. — TNS

Chandigarh, April 16
The State Bank of India and its life insurance company have been penalised for forfeiting money from the complainant’s loan account allegedly opened without his consent in addition to an existing housing loan account.

The District Consumer Disputes Forum has directed the opposite parties (SBI and its insurance company) to refund Rs 1,38,435 - the balance amount retained from complainant’s loan account - and pay Rs 20,000 as compensation for mental agony to the complainant.

The complainant, Suresh Kumar, a resident of Sector 52, got a housing loan of Rs 20 lakh approved from the SBI on December 16, 2010. The house got insured from SBI General Insurance Company Ltd. on April 27, 2011 after paying the premium of Rs 10,324.

“In March, 2011, SBI opened another additional loan account of the complainant for Rs 2,18,300 and paid the entire amount without his consent to SBI Life Insurance. Neither any policy bond nor any certificate of insurance was issued to the complainant,” he alleged.

The complainant came to know about the said insurance and the new loan in August, 2011, on receipt of a letter from the Bank about the outstanding loan amount, he said.

On visiting the bank, the complainant was told that the loan account would be closed only after closing the SBI Life Insurance Policy.

Despite request, the policy was not closed. “None of the opposite parties had ever supplied either the first premium receipt or certificate of insurance or the final insurance policy bond to the complainant. At no stage, he was intimated about the detailed terms and conditions of the insurance policy, including the formula for deduction in case of surrender of the policy,” the forum ruled.

“All this shows that the complainant was kept under dark from the date of making an application for the issuance of the policy till the date of receipt of surrender value of the policy,” the judgment read further. 

Chandigarh, April 16
A local court today sentenced a superintendent with the Central Excise Revenue Department to four years imprisonment in a corruption case.

The Court sentenced Ravinder Kumar Arora to four years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 5,000 on him.

The case was registered in August 2011 following a complaint of Ambrish Arora, a resident of Sector 2, Panchkula.

The police had nabbed Ravinder Kumar Arora, superintendent (service tax) with the Central Excise Revenue Department, while accepting a bribe of Rs 10,000. He was arrested from the Central Revenue Building Sector in 17-C. The police said the bribe was allegedly being demanded in lieu of issuing assessment order regarding service tax return in respect of Pioneer Financial Services, SCO 18-19, second floor, Sector 8-C, Chandigarh.

The original assessment order along with the gratification amount was also recovered from his possession. 

Mohali, April 16
Two doctors of the Fortis Hospital recorded their statements in a court here today in the advocate Amarpreet Singh Sethi murder case.

Dr Neha Garg and Dr Jaggi Dhillon, who had treated the injured, also presented the medical report in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Tarsem Mangla. The doctors stated that Sethi had died before he reached the Fortis. However, they had treated Simarjeet Singh and Gaganjot Singh for injuries.

All the accused, namely Jaswinder Singh Mangli, Sunil Bhanot alias Chotti, Rajat Sharma, Dharminder Singh, Onkar Singh, Dyal Singh, Sanvir Singh, Deepak Kaushal, Vishal Kumar and Kevin Sushant, came to the court with their lawyers.

The charges in the case have already been framed. The court has fixed the next date of hearing as April 28.

On February 27 last year, Amarpreet was shot down in an indiscriminate firing in Phase III A here. A quarrel between neighbours over parking had taken an ugly turn when certain youths living as paying guests opened fire, killing Amarpreet Singh and injuring two others.

Panchkula, April 16
A three-and-a-half-year old girl was crushed to death under her school van when she got down at Bator village in Chandimandir here today.

The victim, Natasha, was crossing the road in front of the van (Tata Magic) with her eight-year-old sister when the accident took place. According to the police, the driver fled from the spot.

Natasha's sister had already reached the other side of the road, where their house was located, while she was still crossing it when the mishap occurred. She was taken to a private hospital from where she was referred to the General Hospital, Sector 6. The victim was declared brought dead at the hospital.

Chandigarh, April 16
A 28-year-old man allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence in Hallomajra here.

The victim, Arvind Yadav, was found hanging from a ceiling fan by his cousin, Shiv Pal, on Wednesday at around 6:30 am.

Arvind used to work at a bakery owned by Shiv Pal and lived in a room on the top floor of the bakery.

No suicide note was recovered from the spot.

The police have ruled out any foul play. They said the victim, who hailed from Bihar, was to get married on May 9. His family members have been informed.

The police claimed that the victim was suffering from extreme depression.

However, inquest proceedings under Section 174 of the CrPC have been initiated. 

Chandigarh, April 16
Thieves are on the prowl in Sector 15 as all four tyres of a Swift Dezire car were stolen last night. Two tyres of a Polo car were also stolen in the same vicinity.

Gurdial Singh, a resident of Sector 15, said that he was shocked to see his car rested atop bricks in the morning.

“My house is adjoining the temple in Sector 15 and there is no police security. It seems the thieves stole away the tyres at around 2.30 am,” he said.

In the past too, tyres of cars parked outside houses have been stolen in the area.

A case has been registered at the Sector 11 police station.

Mohali, April 16
Six persons, including two women, were injured in a clash that took place at Madanpur village last night.

The injured were shifted to the Civil Hospital.

It is learnt that a function was being held at Satish Kumar’s residence in the village on Tuesday night when a neighbour, Monu, allegedly came with his friends and started allegedly abusing Satish. When Satish tried to he tried to calm him down, Monu allegedly attacked him.

Relatives who intervened were also allegedly beaten up by Monu and his friends.

Monu, however, claimed that he was forced to have liquor at the function and when he refused to do so he was allegedly beaten up. 

Chandigarh, April 16
Sub-junior badminton player Aashna defeated her opponent Dishita 15-9, 15-13 while Tanya beat Shreya 15-6, 15-4 in the girls (U-10) category matches during the ongoing Tricity Junior/Sub-junior Badminton Tournament, which began at the Sports Complex, Sector 42, here today.

The tournament was inaugurated by Finance-cum-Sports Secretary Sarvjit Singh. The Chandigarh Badminton Club, which is organising the event, received over 300 entries for various categories, including (U-10), (U-13), (U-15), (U-17) and (U-19). The winners will be rewarded.

Results

Boys (U-10): Avyay Jindal bt Rushil Garg 15-9, 15-10; Hardik bt Adi 15-13, 15-10; Bhaya Batra bt Aryaman Dhull 15-3, 15-7; Abhiroop bt Vibhor 15-8, 15-14: and Shiven bt Sharen (walk over).

Girls (U-10): Aashna bt Dishita 15-9, 15-13; Tanya bt Shreya 15-6, 15-4; Aradhani bt Pari 15-2, 15-2; Alisha bt Mehnoor 15-10, 15-8; Ridhi bt Ashnoor 15-10, 15-12; and Devanshi bt Aastha 15-14, 15-13.

Boys (U-13): Dharanjay bt Yathrath 15-8, 13-15, 15-13; Aditiya bt Tushar 15-8, 15-9; Ojasvi bt Shauraya 15-11, 15-13; Sidhanth bt Sehaj 15-8, 15-10; Shivam bt Sumit 15-1, 15-6; Hasil bt Bhaya 12-15, 15-13, 15-14; Prajay bt Punya 9-15, 15-10, 15-13; Ayush bt Harish 15-12, 15-9; Rishabh bt Shahbaz 15-7, 15-1; and Aman bt Pulkit 15-9, 15-9.

Girls (U-13): Sharone bt Somya Gupta 15-12, 8-15, 15-12; Dea Batra bt Jaisimen 15-5, 15-4; Aneesha bt Uyoma 15-10, 15-9; Mehak Verma bt Anna Shree 15-14, 10-15, 15-14; and Rashi bt Nimisha 15-5, 15-12.

Boys (U-15): Yovraj bt Gaurav 15-6, 15-14; Mayank bt Aman Kumar 15-6, 15-7; Shishir bt Yash 15-14, 15-8; Manish bt Anhadhir 15-7, 15-14; Aryan bt Samranjit 15-8, 15-13; Saynam bt Mukul 15-5, 15-6; Shaurya bt Abhishek 15-4, 15-6; Anant bt Paras 15-3, 15-1; Eshant bt Shaurya 15-10, 15-6; Shiriaj bt Akshit 15-9, 15-7; Abhishek bt Kinsukh 15-5, 15-7; and Divansh bt Jaskaran 15-5, 15-2.

Chandigarh, April 16
It began as just any other match, say Shubman Gill and Nirmal Singh, who created a world record for the first-wicket partnership on the grounds of Mohali Cricket Association (MCA) on Tuesday.

Happy to be members of the ‘record-holders’ club, Shubman and Nirmal had never thought of achieving the milestone on their home ground. While they were on the crease, they did not know that they were heading towards breaking the world record until those keeping the scores told them that they were just two runs away from making it to the top. “After we finished our innings, there was some confusion about the record. However, the association later confirmed the achievement. We are happy,” they said.

Representing Mohali in the ML Markan Trophy, an ongoing inter-district cricket championship of boys (under-16), Shubman and Nirmal created a world record of 587-run partnership for the first wicket. The duo created the record playing against Amritsar.

Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) spokesman Sushil Kapoor said the duo surpassed the existing record of 561 runs for the opening stand between Waheed Mirza and Mansoor Akhtar in a match between Karachi Whites against Quetta held at Karachi in 1977. The partnership was the highest opening partnership of the first class cricket.

Shubman, a student of Manav Mangal School, Phase X, Mohali, is taking coaching at the MCA for the past seven years. The opener believes in maintaining patience while playing and to provide his team with the best of starts. “It is unbelievable for me. To be a part of this partnership is a proud moment for me. Facing cameras and giving these interviews, is a new thing. But I am liking it. We had not planned the mammoth partnership. Taking full advantage of the home ground and playing with patience, I contributed to this partnership,” said Gill, who slammed 351 off just 272 balls in his inning studded with 49 boundaries and two sixes.

Nirmal Singh, who contributed unbeaten 231 runs off 335 deliveries that included 32 boundaries, is equally ecstatic about the feat. A student of DAV School, Phase X, Mohali, Nirmal is brushing his cricket skills at the MCA. “It is an unforgettable achievement. We played well. It was not an easy task to perform but compatibility and advantage of playing on the home ground helped us score big. In the middle overs, I started supporting Shubman. It is the result of my hard work and presence of mind that helped me play such a long inning,” Nirmal said.

“Their achievement is praiseworthy. Both of them believe in working hard to bring out the best in them. With the record partnership they have proved their mettle,” said their coach Sukwinder Singh Tinku. 

Chandigarh, April 16
Teams from Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Delhi zones defeated their respective rivals during the quarterfinals of the Bank of India Inter Zone Cricket Tournament at the cricket stadium in Sector 16 here today.

In the first match, the Ahmedabad team defeated Hyderabad zone by 42 run. A five-wicket haul by off-spinner Bhavin Mehta for 22 runs enabled Ahmadabad to register a thumping win. Batting first, Ahmedabad zone posted 152 runs in stipulated 20 overs with Divyand Bhdhiyar scoring an unbeaten knock of 33 and Umesh Patel scoring 28 runs. Chasing the target, Hyderabad zone was bundled out for 110 runs in 17.5 overs.

Brief scores

Ahmadabad zone: 152 for six in 20 overs (Divyand Bhdhiyar 33 n.o., Bhavin Mehta 26, Umesh Patel 28 and Raunak Kumar 22; Ramesh Chandra two for 18, Vinod Kumar two for 21)

Hyderabad zone: 110 in 17.5 overs (Jagdish 24, Vikrant Kumar 19 and Vinod Kumar 15; Bhavin Mehta five for 22, Raunak Kumar two for 22).

Kolkata beat Chennai

In the second match played at Guru Nanak Public School, Sector 36, Kolkata zone beat Chennai zone by six wickets. Batting first, the Chennai team scored 121 runs. The Kolkata team attained the target in 18 overs with S Bhattacharya scoring an unbeaten knock of 51 runs.

Brief scores

Chennai zone: 121 for eight in 20 overs (Vijay 21 and Pawan Kumar 17; K Das two for nine, S Banerjee two for 13, M Lodhi two for 22)

Kolkata zone: 123 for four in 18 overs (S Bhattacharya 51 n.o. and SC Cherian 18; Vinoth two for 10)

Delhi too good for Ranchi

In the third match, Delhi zone trounced Ranchi zone by 86 runs. In reply to Delhi’s total of 159 runs, the Ranchi team was bundled out at mere 73.

Brief score

Delhi zone: 159 for eight in 20 overs (Ankur Dadwal 55 and Shiv Kumar 34; Anand four for 22, Sujit two for 37)

Ranchi zone: 73 all out in 16.2 overs (Sudip 20 and Arun 13 n.o., Pradeep Kanojia three for seven runs, Vijay Gatta two for 22 and Raj Kumar two for 17).

Chandigarh, April 16
The Chandigarh Athletics Association will conduct trials to shortlist the city’s junior athletics team for the upcoming Federation Cup National Junior Athletics Championship. 

The trials will be held at the Athletics Stadium, Sector 7, on April 18 at 3:30 pm. Bona fide athletes residing in Chandigarh are eligible to take part in the selection trails. — TNS