Ludhiana, September 13
Bidding for BSNL’s vanity numbers, the auction of which ended today, went as high as Rs 9 lakh. The auction by the telecom player, that continued for almost a week, received tremendous response.

Of the 3,000 numbers put for auction, bids were received for around 980.

The number for which the highest bid was received is 9464000005. Telecom subscribers sent their bids through SMS.

“We are quite happy with the response. Earlier, these numbers were given away for almost nothing. Considering that the reserve price was between Rs 100 and Rs 3,000, the auction is now fetching quite a significant amount,” DGM Sanjay Aggarwal said.

Recently, a city resident was in news for spending Rs 15.5 lakh to obtain a vanity number of a private telecom company. After private players, the BSNL also decided to go in for auction.

The craze is being attributed to the high-spending power and also a desire to appear important.

It was the first time that the BSNL auctioned its numbers for pre-paid and post-paid subscribers. The auction was conducted for mobile numbers of new level series, 94640 and 94641.

Among the numbers that received high bids were 9464000001 which attracted Rs 7.5 lakh, 9464000018 that got Rs 8.5 lakh and 9464000786 that fetched Rs 1.1 lakh.

In the 94641 series, 9464100000 was auctioned for Rs 3.5 lakh while 9464100001 got Rs 4.5 lakh.

Ludhiana, September 13
The district consumer forum has directed the BSNL not to allocate cell number 94640-00000 to any person. These interim orders were issued by the president of the forum, A.S. Narula while hearing a complaint by Neeraj Chawla, president of the anti-corruption federation of India.

It was alleged by the complainant that he had been allocated the same number and even the SIM card had been provided to him but it was not being activated.

He apprehended that the BSNL would allocate the number to somebody else through auction.

The case will come up for hearing on September 20. — OC

Ludhiana, September 13
Raninder Singh and Raminder Singh, son and son-in-law, respectively, of former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today appeared before the Ludhiana Vigilance Bureau in connection with the infamous City Centre scam.

Accompanied by Perneet Kaur, who was waiting outside the office, both of them were questioned by acting SSP, vigilance bureau, S.S. Grewal.

According to vigilance bureau officials, they were asked to produce statements of their bank accounts starting from 2002. The officials said they had objected to the bureau's demand stating that the statement of 2002 was irrelevant in the case as the work on the City Centre started in 2005. Hence, there was no need to study their bank statements prior to that.

Sources said the officials wanted to know about the financial status of the family before the alleged scam. Hence the demand. The vigilance bureau has asked them to appear again on October 4. 

Ludhiana, September 13
The police today claimed to have busted a gang of robbers and solved a number of robberies committed in the past few months.

The robbers were reportedly planning a robbery in Dharaur village when they were nabbed with arms and cartridges.

Addressing a press conference here today, the SSP said the accused had been identified as Neeraj of MHOW, Sanjay Kumar of Balia, Ghanayia Singh of Balia, Arvind Kumar of Gazipur and Anil of Unao, all from Uttar Pradesh.

They were nabbed by Dilpreet Singh, in charge, CIA staff, Ludhiana. The accused were staying in Mundian Kalan village near the city.

A .32 bore pistol and three live cartridges were seized from Neeraj, a .303 bore pistol and five live cartridges were seized from Sanjay, while a knife each was seized from Ghanayia Singh and Arvind Kumar. A countrymade pistol with four live cartridges were seized from Anil.

The SSP said they were wanted in several cases and they would break into factories by holding security guards captive. 

Ludhiana, September 13
Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal inaugurated a livestock fair at Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU) here today. Vice-chancellor V.K. Taneja was the guest of honour. “Uromin Lick”, a feed supplement prepared by the nutrition department was released by Badal on this occasion.

Director, extension education, O.S.Parmar, revealed that the main attraction of fair was the show of animals like murrah buffaloes, bulls, crossbred cows, goats, pigs, rabbit, poultry, and fish. Monthly Punjabi magazine “Vigyanik Pashu Palan” was also released on the occasion. The books on animal husbandry, university highlights and GADVASU diary were also available for the farmers.

All departments of the university, including the Punjab dairy development and fisheries departments, Milkfed, Markfed, pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and milk processing machinery had put up their stalls in exhibition. Various associations like the progressive dairy farmers association, Punjab piggery farmers association, innovative fish farmers association and the Punjab goat farmers association had also put up their stalls. 

Amloh, September 13
Madan Lal, resident of Gobindpura village near here, posted as line-man at Bhadson sub-division office of the PSEB, who believed that the post-office deposits were the safest, was not aware that he would be defrauded in small saving deposits. Talking to mediapersons, he disclosed photo copies of his complaint submitted to senior superintendent, post officer, Patiala, and senior officer of the department at Chandigarh. He has alleged misappropriation of Rs 1 lakh 46 thousand and 800.

It was alleged in the complaint that he opened six small-saving accounts in the name of his family members and deposited Rs 50,000 in each of the four accounts and Rs 44,000 in two accounts. He was surprised to know, out of Rs 2 lakh 44 thousand, only Rs 97,200 were shown in the post office record.

On August 27, a complaint was given to the senior superintendent and on August 28, he presented a complaint to N.C.Kalia, CPMG, Punjab circle in Chandigarh. Superintendent Mohinder Singh recorded the statement of concerned persons on September 1 at Bhadson post office and took the pass books containing entries in his custody. But no case has been registered till date, said the complainant.

When contacted, the in charge, Bhadson sub-post office Renu Malhotra said the statements were recorded but enquiry was still pending. 

Mandi Ahmedgarh, September 13
The Dehlon police has arrested a member of a gang of thieves and recovered two motorcycles from his possession. The vehicles were stolen from Rania village in Ludhiana Sadar police area and Jagera Bridge near here.

According to Gurpreet Singh Bhullar, a police party led by Prem Singh, SHO, Dehlon, had arrested Sat Pal, son of Rulda Singh of Chhanna village, during a naka.

Ludhiana, September 13
Neha (24), a resident of Model Town Extension, got married less than two years ago and her in-laws have allegedly been harassing her. An English (Honours) graduate from Khalsa College, Gujjarkhan campus, Neha was married to Anurag Chhabra, a local business, on May 5, 2005.

Despite all this, she was consistently being harassed by her husband and in-laws for bringing a small car in her dowry. During her one and a half years of marriage, she was allegedly beaten up by her husband. ‘‘I would often hear from my in-laws that Anurag never liked me. He doubted my character and would often tell me to sign divorce papers. I lived in that house like an unwanted guest and was constantly taunted,” she alleged.

She was not even allowed to meet her parents and make a call to them. After going through all this, Neha was sent home on October 6, 2006, by her mother in-law on the pretext of observing “karva chauth” at her parents’ house. After two days, her father got a feeler through a cycle parts manufacturers association that she would not be called by her in-laws.

‘‘I was really upset. My husband filed a divorce suit in a local court. Later, he filed another suit in the women cell in January,” she added. After her husband refused to take her back, the Model Town police booked Anurag Chhabra, his father Jagdish Chhabra and mother Shakuntla Chhabra under Sections 406, 498 of the IPC on May 5. Since then the accused are absconding.