NEIGHBOURHOOD

Burail resident dies in road mishap
Our Correspondent

Ambala, May 8
A resident of Burail village in Chandigarh was killed in a road accident on the Ambala-Chandigarh road near Ambala city this evening.

As per information, the deceased, Daljit Singh (47), belonged to Sahotra village near Shahbad. He was staying at Burail village in Chandigarh.

He was going to his native village to attend a religious function along with his wife on a motorcycle.

When he reached near Sadopur village, a truck hit his vehicle. Daljit died on the spot while his wife sustained minor injuries. She was admitted to the local Civil Hospital.

After getting information, the kin of the deceased reached the hospital late this evening. A case has been registered.

Chandigarh, May 8
Less than two months after the ball landed back in court with the Punjab and Haryana High Court indicating that the lease row would now be decided on the judicial side instead of mediation, a Division Bench today issued notice to the UT Administration.

As the case came up for resumed hearing this morning, the Bench, headed by Justice S K Mittal, asked the Administration to file its reply to the petition filed by the Golf Club against the fresh terms of lease renewal and hike in amount.

The notice came after attempts by the high court to sort out the issue through mediation failed. The case will now come up for further hearing on May 19. The high court, on a previous date of hearing, was informed that Supreme Court’s former Judge Justice Kuldip Singh was no more mediating.

Justice Singh was appointed as a mediator by the high court to resolve the renewal of lease row between the Golf Club and the Administration. The HC had earlier made it clear that it wanted the Administration and the club to put their heads together for resolving the row. Seeking directions for setting aside the order/letter issued by the Administration on November 15 and 16, last year, the club had contended that the same was totally illegal, arbitrary and discriminatory.

The Administration, vide the letter, had asked the club to deposit lease money from March 16, 2008, to March 15, 2013. The amount, as per the calculations, comes out to be Rs 9,27,48,000.

Directions were also sought by the club to extend the lease of the petitioner either in terms of draft lease proposed by letter dated December 2, 2009, or in terms similar to that of the Delhi Golf Club, both in terms of lease money as well as tenure.

The HC, during the course of hearing, had verbally questioned the club on the issue of paying the lease amount. Dubbing it as a rich club, a Division Bench of the HC had minced no words to say money was not being paid, while lakhs were being spent on elections and lavish parties.

The Bench had, in fact, asked the club counsel the reason behind its reluctance to pay the amount, though it was charging fees for organising functions. The observations were made verbally during the course of hearing as passing reference, and cannot be construed as expression by the Bench on the merits of the ongoing case. Drawing a parallel between the Central Club and the Golf Club, it observed the former could pay from its meagre resources. The latter was a club of the rich, but was yet to pay.

Mohali, May 8
The police claimed to have cracked the robbery cases of two jewellers - one at Naya Gaon and the other at Mullanpur Garibdass - with the arrest of two history-sheeters Jagdeep Singh, alias Johny (25), and Harjinder Singh, alias Billa (27), following a brief encounter at Kheri Gujran village in Dera Bassi last night.

Gursharan Singh Sandhu, Senior Superintendent of Police, Mohali, said Johny and Billa also opened fire at the police party after being cordoned off in a field at 9 pm. Taking advantage of the darkness, their third accomplice, Narinder Singh, managed to flee.

“The police overpowered the miscreants after a brief encounter. We recovered two country-made pistols, two empty rounds, three live cartridges, 400 grams of gold jewellery items and a motorcycle from their possession,” said SSP Sandhu.

The miscreants, who were coming on a motorcycle, stopped after seeing a naka laid on the Kheri Gujran Samgoli road. They entered the fields after leaving their motorcycle on the road.

SSP Sandhu said the recovered weapons were apparently used in separate robberies at Naya Gaon and Mullanpur Garibdass. In both cases, the victims (both jewellers) were shot at during the crime. The modus operandi was same in both the cases in which the victims, Subhash (Naya Gaon) and Goldy (Mullanpur), were targeted when they were returning home after closing their shops.

The Naya Gaon incident occurred on February 4, while the Mullanpur Garibdass robbery took place on April 18.

SSP Sandhu said the caliber matching of the recovered pistols and the empty rounds (recovered from the robbery spots at Naya Gaon and Mullanpur) had been done. The final foot printing of the bullet with the barrel grooves would be done through ballistic experts soon. The victims had also identified the duo.

He said the miscreants admitted that their third accomplice in the Naya Gaon incident was Gurdip Singh, alias Deepa, who had helped Jagtar Singh Hawara and other extremists in the Burail jail breaking. Deepa is presently lodged in Nabha Jail.

Johny, a resident of Rohnu Kalan village in Ludhiana, is a kingpin of the gang and has been facing at least nine different cases of the similar nature at various police stations in the state. The second arrested accused, Billa, a resident of Rani Majra village in Mohali district, is also a history sheeter and has been facing at least three cases at the Lalru police station.

Lauding SP (detective) Gursharan Singh Grewal and the other officials involved in the operation, SSP Sandhu said with the arrest of these gangsters, several other heinous crimes would be worked out.

Panchkula, May 8
Thieves struck at five flats of Rail Vihar, a housing society, in the Mansa Devi Complex, Sector 4, in broad daylight today. They decamped with cash and valuables worth lakhs of rupees.

This is the third such theft which miscreants committed in broad daylight in the past fortnight, raising doubts over the functioning of district police officials.

While two theft incidents remain unsolved, the thieves again committed the crime in a densely populated society and caught the police personnel napping.

According to information, the thieves struck at Rail Vihar and broke into five flats located on the third and fourth floors of the G-block of the society. The miscreants committed the theft in absence of the flat owners.

Ashwin Shanvi, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Panchkula, did not pick up the phone. Mamta Sauda, Assistant Police Commissioner of the area, said the details of the thefts were with Vikash Kumar, station house officer of the area.

The SHO said the thieves broke into the flats (Nos. 209, 210, 211, 309 and 310) between 11 am and 11.30 am when the owners were away.

He said the victims were either employees or retired officers. The flat owners, Saurabh (209), who works with a company in Mohali, CP Singh (210), who is a retired Railway employee, and Nisha (309), found the locks of the main doors of their flats broke open when they returned home in the afternoon.

“The victims complained that the thieves took away cash and gold jewellery worth lakhs of rupees from their flats,” the station house officer said.

He said a team of forensic experts had been pressed into service and efforts were on to solve the theft incidents.

The police have initiated investigations after recording the statements of the victims.

Chandigarh, May 8
St Stephen's School, Sector 45, will host the 17th edition of the St Stephen's Carrom Ranking Tournament on the school campus, under the aegis of the Chandigarh Carrom Association, from May 24 to 26 here.

A total of six events will be organised in the three-day tournament and the events will be conducted in men's and women's singles, boys' and girls' (junior singles) and boys' and girls' (sub-junior singles) categories. Players under the age of 18 and 14 years as on December 31, 2014, will be eligible to participate in the junior and sub-junior categories, respectively.

The top eight ranked players will be awarded ranking points that will be counted while selecting the local team in the forthcoming national championships. Interested players can submit entries with SK Mishra (09216512422) and Diwan Singh Aithani (09872922514) before May 19 (5pm).

Chandigarh, May 8
Kings XI Punjab in association with the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar, will invite 300 children to watch an IPL match in Cuttack on May 11. They will get a chance to interact with their favourite cricketers who, in turn, inspire them to work towards a brighter future.

Commenting on the initiative, Promoters of Kings XI Punjab said: "We are happy to provide a platform to these children from Odisha to interact with their favourite cricketers and host them at the Cuttack stadium. We are also honoured to have partnered with KISS for this initiative."

"I would like to thank Kings XI Punjab for providing the children with this platform. We are happy to have joined hands with them," said Achyuta Samanta, founder of KISS.