Chandigarh, June 27
In a daring daylight robbery, around eight to 10 armed youths, with their faces covered with black cloth, robbed a cash box containing Rs 5 lakh from a cash van parked outside the State Bank of Patiala (SBOP) branch in Khuda Ali Sher village today.

The police inspect the spot where the robbery of Rs 5 lakh took place outside the State Bank of Patiala at Khuda Ali Sher village on Friday (left) and the looted cash box belonging to the bank which was found empty and dumped on the Kaimbwala road a few hours after the robbery. Tribune Photos: Manoj Mahajan

Two security guards, including a bank guard, were injured in the incident. The robbers managed to loot the cash box after a scuffle with the guards of the van for about 10 minutes.

One of the guards with the van, Jagtar Singh, also fired a gunshot in the air as the robbers were trying to flee. The assailants came in a Fortunner car bearing a Punjab registration number. Later in the day, the car was recovered as abandoned in Panchkula and was stolen on June 22 from Peher village near Rajpura.

The incident occurred at 10.30 am when the cash was being transported inside the SBOP branch of Khuda Ali Sher.

The armed men chased the cash van inside the narrow lane in Khuda Ali Sher village leading to the bank branch. As the cashier had gone inside the bank to deposit the cash, the assailants attacked the driver of the cash van Prabhjit and another gunman Som Pal who were standing outside beside the cash van loaded with cash boxes that carried Rs70 lakh. The robbers then pulled out a cash box which contained Rs 5 lakh.

Gunman Som Pal retaliated and a violent scuffle ensued. The guard at the bank, Mohan Singh, also tried to resist the attack and was kicked and beaten up with the butt of a gun in the head. He was also hit with a brick.

The scuffle lasted for over eight minutes during which kicks and blows were exchanged. The robbers then managed to flee in their car towards Panchkula and also dropped a chopper and a sharp-edged weapon behind.

The bank visitors, who were inside the bank premises, remained mute spectators to the scene. The police reached the spot and began the investigations. Senior police officials, including the UT SSP, SS Gill, and a team of the crime branch reached the spot. A case has been registered. 

Car was stolen from Peher village

A team of the UT police recovered the Fortunner car abandoned in Sector 4, Mansa Devi Complex, Panchkula. The car had a fake number plate and its actual number was found to be CH01 AJ 0641. It was stolen on June 22 from Peher village, the police said.

Similar incidents in Panchkula

October 31, 2012: Rs 13.17 lakh was looted at gunpoint from the cash van by miscreants in a white Etios car near Vishal Mega Mart in Sector 5.

December 9, 2013: Four robbers, looted ~1.68 crore and two double barrel guns from CMS Company’s security van at gunpoint after throwing chilly powder in the eyes of four persons, including two armed security guards, in the van on the Chandigarh-Baddi highway. 

The chase

The cash van had started from the main branch of the SBOP located at the bank square in Sector 17 and reached Khuda Ali Sher after transporting cash to the SBOP branch in GMSH-16 and in the Sarangpur branch of SBOP. The robbers were chasing the van on the route and had also conducted a recce, the police said. 

Chandigarh, June 27
A day after the body of 25-year-old Ravi Kumar, a resident of Sector 49, was found dumped in the forest area near Dhanas, the UT police arrested his in-laws and another youth for the crime.

The police arrested Ravi’s father-in-law Naresh Kumar, his wife Rekha and a 19-year-old youth Ashu, a resident of Sector 25, for the murder. Ravi’s in-laws wanted to marry Ashu to their daughter Sangeeta and thus killed Ravi as he had married her (Sangeeta) secretly three months ago.

The body of Ravi was found dumped in the forest area of Dhanas at around noon yesterday. He was strangulated to death and his face was disfigured with a stone.

Police investigations revealed that accused Naresh, his wife Rekha and Ashu accompanied Ravi to Daddu Majra on June 24 before he went missing. They had gone to Dadu Majra to get medicine, but Ravi failed to return home. Naresh is an auto driver.

Chandigarh, June 27
The reservation of one of six NRI seats for a Scheduled Caste (SC) candidate in the GMCH-32 MBBS admission process and further criteria adopted on the directions of the UT Health Secretary, Anil Kumar, has increased the reservation for SC candidates in the UT Pool to 17 per cent against the Central Government’s specified maximum limit of 15 per cent.

On June 20, the corrigendum issued by GMCH-32 stated, “One (out of six) seats reserved for NRI candidates is now reserved for Scheduled Caste-NRI candidates, failing which the seat would revert to the Scheduled Caste-UT pool and not the NRI pool.”

In case of the seat reverting to the Scheduled Caste-UT pool, a total of 13 seats will be reserved under the SC category, that turns out to be 17 per cent of the total number of UT pool seats-77 (see box).

On June 27, Chandigarh Tribune had highlighted how the GMCH-32 has created a sub-category in the NRI quota by further reserving one of the six seats reserved for NRI candidates for Scheduled Caste candidates, merely on the basis of an official note sent from UT Home Secretary, Anil Kumar, that cited representations received by him requesting for the NRI Scheduled Caste seats.

Also, the fact that neither the UT Administrator nor the Ministry concerned had approved of any such move posed a srious question mark on the orders passed by the UT Home Secretary. 

Chandigarh, June 27
Putting an end to the fight for the post of UT Director Health Services (DHS) between the UT Administration and the Punjab Government, Dr VK Gagneja, a Punjab-cadre officer, has been finally appointed as the UT DHS. Dr Gagneja’s name was finalised in a meeting held on Thursday and he will serve a tenure of two years. A regular DHS has been appointed nearly two years after the post was being handled by officials on acting charges.

Dr Gagneja is currently posted as the Director, National Health Mission, Punjab. He will join as the UT DHS on July 1 after being relieved from his current responsibilities on June 30.

After the previous regular DHS, Dr Chandar Mohan retired on August 31, 2012, three doctors handled the charge of acting DHS in the past two years.

After Dr Chander Mohan’s retirement, the then Medical Superintendent of the GMSH-16, Dr Rajiv Vadehra, a Haryana-cadre officer, was given the acting charge.

However, with the UT Administration contemplating over appointing Dr Vadehra as the regular DHS, a controversy erupted. In July last year, Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal shot a letter to the UT Administration claiming that the post belonged to Punjab as per the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. Following this, the UT Administration appointed Dr SK Bhalla as the acting DHS in October, last year. In February this year, the acting charge was given to Dr Nirlep Kaur. Both were Punjab-cadre officers. 

Strengthening health services at the periphery

“I have a long association with Chandigarh. We have world-class facilities here. Only some improvements and area-wise division of patient load is required. We have a hospital in Mani majra. Now, upgradation of the Sector 45 dispensary and some developments in Dhanas area will take the patient load away from the GMSH-16 and the PGIMER,” he said.

Sukhwinder is full-time designated officer

Sukhwinder Singh has been appointed as a full-time designated officer, Food Safety and Standard Cell, UT Health Department, Chandigarh.

Chandigarh, June 27
In view of the MC House failing to pass even a single agenda item during meetings held on two consecutive days, a city-based lawyer today wrote to the UT Administration suggesting that the councillors should not seek meeting allowance for the two meetings.

“It is a painful to see the MC doing nothing for the past two days and wasting the tax payers’ money. The councillors should not claim any meeting allowance for the past two days and if they do so, their claim should be rejected, as provided under the law,” wrote advocate Ajay Jagga. It was also pointed out that in 2012, the MC had mooted a proposal to double the councillors’ salaries and other allowances. So, “now, the UT should propose that the expenses of unproductive meetings will be shared by the councillors themselves and the MC will not be burdened (with it).” — TNS

Mohali, June 27
The Director-General of Police, Punjab, Sumedh Singh Saini, today inaugurated ‘Suraksha’, a road safety campaign of Fortis Hospital, Mohali.

Expressing his gratitude, Saini said he would request the IG, Traffic, to streamline the entire campaign in an appropriate manner. He said government resources were limited and the Punjab police would maintain the required liaison with Fortis in this regard.

Dinkar Gupta, ADGP, Punjab, said Punjab had the highest road fatality rate in the country. Around 13 persons lose their lives daily on the Punjab roads. Questions in this regard have been raised in Punjab Assembly. Road safety had now been taken up as a mission, he added.

Gupta added: “We have been trying to ramp up our capabilities in this area. We have identified six locations for setting up integrated highway patrol centres which will be made operational soon.”

He said the road accident rate had come down in the country and the police hoped to achieve that in Punjab as well.

Fortis has launched ‘Suraksha’ as part of its 13th anniversary celebrations to reiterate its commitment to community and corporate social responsibility. Through this campaign, Fortis will provide free training to those who are first responders (police personnel) at accident scenes so that they can save even more lives by quick and appropriate interventions. 

Interactive Workshops

The focus will be on:

n What leads to loss of life in road accidents

n How to assess a trauma victim in the shortest possible time

n Basic life support for trauma victims

n Aspects, including spine stability, log roll, bleeding control and penetrating injuries

n How to prepare for the smooth transfer of the victim to a hospital 

Panchkula, June 27
Golf sets worth Rs 25 lakh were gutted when a major fire broke out at the golf club in Sector 3, Panchkula, today.

The exact cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.

According to the police, the manager of the club, Ranbir, found flames coming out of the room where the expensive golf kits were kept.

The police reached the spot following which two fire tenders was rushed, who tried to control the fire. It took around one and a half hours to control the fire.

“We are yet to check what the exact reason behind the incident is. It could be short circuiting,” said a police official.

Chandigarh, June 27
In a late evening decision of the UT Administratrion, various posts were reshuffled. Rahul Gupta, who was handling the post of Assistant Estate Officer was relieved of the charges and was given various other charges.

Gupta has now been given the charge of Additional IG Prisons, Superintendent Model Jail, Burail, Controller of printing and stationary and Secretary House Allotment Committee (lower).

The post of Assistant Estate Officer has now gone to Balbir Dhol. He has also been given the charge of Secretary Red Cross, Nodal Office State Agriculture Marketing Board and State Agriculture Marketing Board.

HCS SK Jain, who has recently joined the UT Administration, has been given the charge of Director Industries, Secretary, State Transport Authority, Controller Weights and Measure Department and Joint Registrar Cooperative Society. 

Chandigarh, June 27
Stating that border management was a vast and highly complex task, Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil stressed that paramilitary forces need continuous modernisation and upgradation of their training and operational capabilities.

Delivering the inaugural address at Digital Eye - Real Time Border Surveillance, a seminar organised by the BSF’s Western Command at Panjab University here today, the Governor said modern electronic surveillance equipment, aircraft and armoured vehicles were essential for paramilitary forces to discharge their responsibilities in today’s security environment. He pointed out that while fences erected along the international borders have paid big dividends, these are not totally impregnable and cross-border smuggling of arms and narcotics continues. He cautioned that elements engaged in such activities perpetuate criminal acts in the country.

Delivering the keynote address, Mahesh Kumar Singla, ADG, Western Command, BSF, said such initiatives would certainly enhance the capabilities of the BSF and also equip the force to discharge its border guarding duties more effectively.

The BSF is also launching a pilot project on electronic border surveillance and will send its recommendations to the Ministry of Home Affairs in this regard.

Eminent speakers from different institutes also participated in the seminar and shared their ideas as to how the latest surveillance gadgets and other technology can be used in a better way to make border guarding more effective. Several commercial firms also displayed their surveillance equipments and gadgets.

Chandigarh, June 27
The City Beautiful’s atmosphere elevated to Sufi and folk musical notes as singer Gurdas Maan performed during an event organised by the Rani Breast Cancer Trust at Tagore Theatre here today.

Mann’s soulful performance mesmerised the audience of all ages at the auditorium, which was packed to its capacity. Dressed to the nines, Maan kept the evening’s momentum gearing with his renditions and humorous titbits.

As the evening progressed, the dhol beats were soon replaced by plaudits. Audience became a part of his troupe and roared for more.

The singer captivated the audience with his evergreen tracks. The event witnessed its crescendo when the vocalist danced to his most popular numbers.

Panchkula, June 27
The woman who allegedly set herself ablaze was seven-month pregnant and was being troubled by her in-laws. This was alleged by owners of the neighbouring houses where the victim worked as a maid, raising doubts on the statement of the police that she had committed suicide.

The neighbours also said the victim, identified as Kiran (19), was made to starve for 20 days. She used to cry that her in-laws would kill her. They said the police should have recorded their statements as well to know the truth rather than the girl’s family. They said her family was staying in Uttar Pradesh and wasn’t aware of her condition. Kiran got married eight months ago to a resident of Sector 12-A here who was a barber by profession.

“Kiran was seven-month pregnant. She would often cry that she is not being given food as her in-laws wanted that she should die of starvation. She also said her husband wasn’t talking to her for the past three months,” said Sanjeev Kumar, a resident of Sector 12A, where the victim was working as a maid.

He said: “Even on the day of the incident, she told my wife that her in-laws are conspiring to kill her. She did not tell us the reason but feared threat to her life. The police should have recorded our statements as well.”

Meanwhile, the police said the victim’s family told them that Kiran was disturbed and took this extreme step. On this, the neighbours said the statements made by the victim’s family should have been verified in depth by recording their statements as well.

“We were ready for the action, but no complainant from the victim’s family turned up. If the neighbours are ready to record their statements, we will definitely take action against the culprits,” said inspector Baljeet Singh, Station House Officer of the Sector 14 police station.

The exact cause of death would be known after the post-mortem, which would be conducted tomorrow,” the inspector said.

Chandigarh, June 27
A story-telling and reading session was organised by the Children Library of the TS Central State Library, Sector 17, Chandigarh here today.

The reading session for children readers was conducted by poet, playwright and award-winning filmmaker Sagari Chhabra. The programme was compered by the librarian, Neeza Singh.

Chhabra read out the story of her latest book for children “The Talking Tree”.

As many as 60 children attended the programme

Chandigarh, June 27
The Panjab University Students Union (PUSU), today inaugurated a help desk and announced its panel for the campus and state body.

The inauguration was done by a physically-challenged student of the university, Jagwinder Singh, who has many records and achievements to his credit, including being a state-level cyclist and state-level painter for which he was felicitated by the President of India.

NSUI leader Jatinder Singh and SOI Vice-President and girls wing in charge Shikha Dhir have joined PUSU. Party president Sahejpal Singh Sidhu announced that Jatinderpal Singh was the election in charge. 

Chandigarh, June 27
In view of the delay in the declaration of results of some courses, the UT Higher Education Department has extended the last date for the submission of online admission forms of undergraduate courses by a day.

The last date for the online submission of application forms was June 27. But after receiving an overwhelming response of 25,000 applications, the department has extended the date till June 28 midnight.

Besides, the last date to apply online for BA/BSc/BCom/BCA II and III, and MA/MSc I and II, has also been extended till the midnight of July 7.

PCS Sandeep Hans, Director, UT Higher Education, took this decision during a meeting with the officers of the Department of Higher Education and principals of all government colleges today. It was also decided that in case the results are not declared till the last date, the date would be extended accordingly.

The admission fees would be collected through e-sampark centres in the city. A sufficient number of fee collection counters would also be set up by the Society for Promotion of IT in Chandigarh (SPIC) through e-sampark on the campuses of all colleges.

Chandigarh, June 27
A total of 15,232 applicants have made it to the first common merit list for securing admission to Class XI in government schools today.

The list was uploaded on the official website of the Education Department.

Though the official website stated that the students have been selected between the CGPA 3.40 to 10, however the department authorities informed that the students had been selected only till 4 CGPA.

The common merit list included the names of all those eligible candidates who had applied for admission to Class XI and applied for science, commerce, vocational and humanities streams.

During the week-long counselling, the department received over 16,000 forms for admission to around 12,500 seats in 37 government schools for four streams, vocational courses.

The uploaded common list had been prepared in the order of CGPA before the tie break. Tie points will be settled at the time of allotment of the school and stream.

A list of ineligible candidates along with the list of students, who had mentioned invalid preferences in their forms, has also been uploaded on the website. Only nine students have been considered ineligible due to compartment in the Class X board.

The authorities said in case of discrepancies, candidates will have to report to the Grievances Redressal Cell formed in Sector 16 and 19 on June 28, before 2pm. The final list indicating allotment of school and stream will be displayed on July 1 at 11am.

Chandigarh, June 27
The Panjab University Teachers Association (PUTA), has decided to approach the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), to reconsider the capping of the Academic Performance Indicator (API) scores for the promotion of university teachers.

The decision was taken at a meeting here today.

PUTA is of the view that instead of quantified research, the university should encourage quality research.

The meeting also decided that the MHRD will be approached and requested to device a mechanism to improve quality of research in universities and reconsider the capping of the API.

PUTA also resolved that the neighbouring universities will also be contacted and the case will be presented to the ministry officials by inviting them to the city.

PUTA also wishes to clarify to its members that the 2nd Amendment regarding API (capping) has so far not been considered by the Senate and is not yet effective for promotion.

The members also discussed the rotation policy for institutes of the university where it has not yet been implemented.

The meeting also decided that PUTA will approach the Vice-Chancellor to resolve the matter at the earliest.