The Tribune, Chandigarh, India - Chandigarh Stories

COURTS

Father-son duo acquitted of murder charge
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 6
A local court today acquitted 62-year-old Ravinder Gandhi and his 28-year-old son Amit Gandhi for the murder of their neighbour Santosh Kumar on the night of June 30, 2013.

As per the prosecution, the victim Santosh Kumar was working with a Sector 30-based grocery store. He was stabbed six times in head and stomach with a screw driver. Amit stabbed him as he tried to intervene to save his brother Alkesh from the murderous assault. Amit alleged that Alkesh’s wife Reena had instigated his (Amit’s) wife Leena against him. Leena had filed a complaint against her husband Amit of violence and harassment with the Women and Child Support Unit of the UT police.

Santosh resided with his elder brother Alkesh and his wife Reena. Amit and Ravinder entered into a heated confrontation with Alkesh. They allegedly attacked him in the head with a screw driver when Santosh rushed to save him. The father and son then stabbed Santosh repeatedly and left him in a pool of blood. Alkesh was also injured in the attack.

However, in court none charges could be proved due to contradictions in statements of the complainants.

Man gets 5-year jail

Chandigarh, May 6
The Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Anshu Shukla today sentenced a man to five years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 6000 for sexually harassing a five-year-old girl.

Pawan Kumar, 24, resident of Nayagaon was accused of sexual harassment of a minor girl. A case was registered on January 19, 2013 on the complaint of the girl’s father.

He had complained to the police that the accused is a driver and used to drop the girl to the school when he sexually harassed her while she was alone in the cab.

The traumatised girl narrated the incident to her mother following which the accused was arrested in a case under Sections 323, 354, 506 and POCSO. — TNS

Attack on Ranji player: 4 acquitted

Chandigarh, May 6
Four years after a murderous assault on a Ranji player Rajiv Nayar in Sector 35, a local court today acquitted all the four persons in the attempt to murder case.

The court acquitted a property consultant Subhash Sharma who was the prime accused in the case. Subhash had allegedly hired goons to attack Ranji player Rajiv Nayyar in June 2010. The court also acquitted Gurpreet Bawa, Sachin Sharma and Jasbir Singh. — TNS

CRIME

Doctor, mother held in dowry case
Tribune News Service

Mohali, May 6
The Mohali police today arrested a Bathinda-based doctor and his mother, also a doctor, on the charges of harassing his wife for dowry. The accused, Dr Parneet Singh and his mother Dr Manjit Kaur were arrested near Mohali district court complex while the two other accused in the case Dr Sukhdev Singh Sidhu (father of Dr Parneet) and Rana Ramneek Singh (his brother) are still at large. The accused family runs a nursing home in Bathinda.

Giving details, inspector Navin Pal Singh Lehal, station house officer of Mataur Police Station, said the mother-son duo was arrested from near Mohali court complex, where they came to attend a court hearing in a maintenance case, also filed by the victim, an ENT doctor at Government College Medical Hospital, Sector 32. We have registered a case under Sections 406, 498-A and 506 of the IPC against Dr Parneet Singh, his mother Dr Manjit Kaur, his father Dr Sukhdev Singh and his brother Rana Ramneek Singh, said Lehal. He added that the case was registered after a proper inquiry.

Notably, Dr Parneet Singh was facing a trial in another case, registered on the complaint of the victim under IT Act on November 26, 2013 in which she alleged that her husband had threatened her to upload her objectionable photos on social network sites.

The father of the victim Colonel SS Boparai (retd), a resident of Sector 71, said the couple had been sharing strained relationship since their marriage, held on October 19, 2008.

“My son-in-law has illicit relations with several girls. The fact was revealed to my daughter, when she found his several objectionable photos with another girl on his computer two years ago,” alleged Col Boparai adding that after that she had moved out of her husband’s house and started living with them.

On the other hand, Dr Parneet Singh alleged that his wife and her parents were demanding Rs two crores from him. “They want money from us and implicating us in false cases,” alleged Dr Parneet Singh.

Doctor booked on charge of raping 30-year-old
Victim says she was violated in a hotel on pretext of job offer
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 6
The UT police have booked a former District Health Officer (DHO) of Panchkula in a case of rape of a 30-year-old woman in a room in Shivalik View Hotel in Sector 17. The police have booked Dr Lalit Vermani (57) in the case. The accused is at large and raids are on to arrest him. The case has been registered at the Sector 17 police station. The accused doctor, who is an MBBS, took early retirement in 2006 and now runs a clinic in Sector 2, Panchkula.

The victim, who hails from Hamipur in Himachal Pradesh, is staying in a rented accommodation in Sector 11 and had earlier stayed in Panchkula.

She complained to the police that she was raped by the doctor on the pretext of providing her a job.

Narrating the sequence of events, she told the police that she went to Vermani Clinic, owned by the accused, in Sector 2, Panchkula for the treatment of her son. She also had a thyroid problem and thus took treatment from Dr Vermani. The woman went to the doctor for treatment on April 30 too after she got free at 8.15 pm on that day. She said as no auto-rickshaw was available, the doctor offered her a lift and told her that he was also going towards Chandigarh.

The victim told the doctor on the way that she was divorced and was in search of a job. Dr Vermani then allegedly told her that he had a friend who ran a factory and he would talk to him for any computer-related job for her. The doctor then dropped her at her residence.

On May 4, the doctor called her and told her that he had arranged for her interview with his friend for a job. The doctor then came to her place and picked her from her Sector 11 residence and told her that they would be going to Shivalik View Hotel for the interview.

After reaching the hotel, he asked for the keys of the room from the reception, much to the woman’s surprise. He then told her that his friend had booked a room for the interview.

The two then reached the room of the hotel where the woman was offered lunch. She refused when the doctor gave her sedative-laced juice. The woman said she felt unconscious after drinking the juice.

She gained consciousness after two hours when to her shock she realised that she had been raped. The doctor was sleeping beside her and she was shocked to find that she was without her clothes.

The woman was then threatened by the doctor and later dropped at her residence. She said she was still under the effect of the sedative and woke up only the next day. She then complained to the police following which a case was registered.

Police collect CCTV footage from hotel

The UT police have collected CCTV footage from the hotel where the woman alleged she had been raped. The woman is seen going to the room and then coming out of the room. The room in which the woman was alleged raped has been sealed for forensic examination and the police are scrutinising the CCTV footage of the hotel for establishing the sequence of events.

DSP Ashish Kapoor said they had conducted raids at various places and the accused would be arrested soon.

SPORTS

Yogeshwar rises like a phoenix
Deepankar Sharda
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 6
Padma Shri awardee wrestler Yogeshwar Dutt, who was out of tournaments due to an injury, is ready to grapple again and bring more medals for the nation.

The 31-year-old Olympic (bronze) medalist in 60 kg weight category has shifted his focus and will now mark his aim in the 65 kg category. Recovering from his prolonged back and knee injury, Dutt is looking ahead to perform well in the upcoming Italian wrestling championship to gain boost for this year’s main event- Glasgow Commonwealth Games 2014 to be held in July.

Yogeshwar Dutt who was in city to attend a havan and community kitchen programme at the Kapishwar Akhara, run by the wrestlers of the Chandigarh Police, was seen confident of surpass his 2012 Summer Olympics performance. “The time gets tough and it’s very difficult to get hold of the wrestling mats after suffering from injuries. However, I am working harder with shifting my focus to participate in the high weight category. On daily basis, I am practicing for 5 to 7 hours and performing various exercises to gain weight with improving my techniques and flexibility. To survive in the toughest of conditions, one has to be prepared, and this is exactly what I am trying to do this time,” Dutt said.

On his take on the upcoming tournaments, Dutt revealed that the upcoming Italian wrestling championship, to be held later this month, would be the real testing platform and will play an important role in gaining confidence for the upcoming Commonwealth games. “I am looking forward to perform in the upcoming tournament in Italy. As Commonwealth games are around the corners, I will give my best to the Italian championship, a must event to gain form. Competition in upper weight category is as difficult as learning the basics as an amateur, however, I am hopeful of fetching the best,” Dutt said.

On comparing facilities, Dutt maintained that the budding wrestlers of the nation need more of exposure, infrastructure and professional coaching at the earliest. “The budding wrestlers need more exposure not in terms of tournaments but in provision of getting more mats (wrestling turf), professional level coaching and conditions, including proper diet, look after and care, to improve the standards of wrestling in India. Back in my village, I have come up with three indoor mats, including a modern gym, and on these lines, we need to develop more infrastructure. For instance, on rainy days, where these juniors (of Kapishwar Akhara) will perform their exercises?” questioned Dutt, while giving example of proper and modern infrastructure.

Wrestler’s take on acting in films

My aim is to bring medals for the nation. Keeping in mind the 2016 Rio Olympics and the upcoming Commonwealth Games, I am only concentrating on wrestling. I was approached by many television channels but I humbly rejected all offers — Yogeshwar Dutt, wrestler