Thief brothers arrested
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 18 — Two brothers , who were allegedly involved in a series of house thefts in the city, were nabbed by the Sector 19 police today. The two brothers, who are said to be drug addicts, were nabbed while carrying stolen goods for sale.

The duo, Varinder Kumar and Sunil Kumar, in their twenties , are sons of a class IV government employee and live in Sector 28 with their parents.

The police produced them before court and they were remanded to six days of police custody. More and more recoveries are being affected through them.

The duo used to break open locks of houses.

Cheated of lakhs: A resident of Faridkot has been cheated of Rs 3.90 lakh by a sector 45 woman and her family.

The man, Bikar Singh, was promised that he would be sent abroad. He gave the sum to Balwinder Kaur and her family members. The sum was neither returned and nor was he sent abroad.

A case under Sections 420 and 120-B of the IPC has been registered.

Shopkeeper booked: A Sector 20 shopkeeper has been booked for allegedly misusing the name of a gas stove manufacturer to sell fakes of the same product. The Sector 20 dealer,Verma Stove, has been booked on a complaint lodged by Mr Moti Kanwal Jain of NOIDA in Uttar Pradesh.

Mr Jain alleged that the logo and name of a gas stove manufactured by his company was being used by the Chandigarh dealer.

A case under Sections 420 of the IPC, Sections 51,63 and 64 of the Copyright Act and Sections 78 and 79 of the Merchant Act has been registered.

Man tricked: A Panchkula-based man was tricked of his motor cycle (HR-03-0017).

Mr Surja Ram of Sector 10 in the township had come to the Industrial Area, Phase II, here. His motor cycle developed some starting problem and he was offered help by an unidentified man. The man took away the motor cycle after starting it.

A case under Section 406 of the IPC has been registered.

Child injured: A child, Chotte Lal, was injured when hit by a car (DIC-350) just near the Burail jail.

The car sped off, while the child was admitted to the GMCH, Sector 32.

A case under Sections 279 and 337 of the IPC has been registered.

3 arrested: Three residents of Nawanshahr, Kulwinder Singh, Gurmeet Singh and Surinder Kumar, were arrested for allegedly carrying liquor in a truck (PB-32-A-4571) from Sector 30.

A case under the Excise Act has been registered.

11 held, bailed out: Two neighbours, members of their respective families and supporters were arrested following a brawl over some property in Kajheri village last evening.

The neighbours, Joginder and Bhajan Singh, had a brawl over raising of boundary wall. The police was called.

In all 11 persons, including a woman, were arrested and booked under Sections 7/51 of the IPC. They were bailed out by the magistrate today.

PANCHKULA

Liquor seized: Three persons have been arrested in two separate cases of peddling liquor in the district.

According to the information, Simranjeet Singh, a resident of Mani Majra, and Suresh Kumar, a resident of Nayagoan in Chandigarh, were arrested while carrying 24 bottles of IMFL.

The vehicle being used to carry the liquor has been seized by the police.

In another case Pawan Kumar was arrested for possessing 40 pouches of country liquor near Batour village in Barwala.

The police has registered a case under the Excise Act.

Rioting case: Three persons of Batour village in Barwala have been booked by the Chandi Mandir police for allegedly indulging in rioting and intimidation over a dispute in Batour village on Monday.

A case under Sections 148, 149, 324 and 506 of the IPC has been registered against Dharam Pal, Anil Kumar and Sonu on a complaint lodged by Karan Pal.

Drycleaner ordered to pay cost of sari
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 18 — The UT District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-II has directed a dry cleaner to pay Rs 2,000 to a complainant as compensation towards the cost of a torn sari, besides Rs 250 as costs.

In her complaint, Mrs Nilima Kapani, a resident of Panchkula, had alleged that she had given her sari worth Rs 3,000 for dry cleaning to Messrs Snow White Dry Cleaners, Sector 17, for dry cleaning. However, despite repeated visits the sari was not given to her and she was put off on one pretext or the other. And when the sari was shown to her it was found to be in a badly torn condition. The same could not be replaced as similar material was not available in the market.

The dry cleaner in his reply contended that the sari was old and sub-standard and hence bound to get damaged in the process of dry cleaning.

The forum bench, comprising its President, Mr R.P Bajaj, and member, Mr H.S Walia, held that it was a clear case of grave deficiency on the part of the dry cleaner . They further observed that since the sari was gifted to the complainant by her mother on the occasion of her 25th marriage anniversary, it was 10 months old when it was given to the dry cleaner and must have been used by the complainant in between. Hence, they directed the dry cleaner to pay a compensation of Rs 2,000 towards the cost of the torn sari.

Forum order set aside

While setting aside an order of the District Forum-II dismissing the complaint, the the UT Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has directed the Oriental Insurance Company to pay a sum of Rs 90,000 along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum for an accidented vehicle to the complainant.

Earlier, in his complaint filed before the District Forum-II, Mr Ravi Inder Singh Bhalla had alleged that his Maruti car insured with Oriental Insurance Company for Rs 1,03,000 met with an accident near Kharar during the insured period and it was assessed to be a case of total loss.

The District Forum had dismissed the complaint on the ground that the complainant had failed to prove the occurrence of the accident.

After considering the facts, the Commission comprising its President, Mr Justice J.B Garg, and members, Col P. K. Vasudeva and Mrs Devinder Jit Dhatt, held that `` the mere fact that no FIR was lodged or that the complainant did not obtain any medical aid could not be a ground for rejection of the claim.''

They observed that since the factum of accident of the vehicle, its being fully insured and that it was a case of total loss was established, hence the insurance company is directed to pay a sum of Rs 90,000 along with interest at the rate of 12 per cent per annum with effect from April 17, 1998, till its realisation.

Cabbage, tomato costlier
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, May 18 — If the prices of some of the commonly used vegetables have gone up, there were certain other vegetables the prices of which decreased during the past two days.

During a survey of the market today, it was found that vegetables like cabbage, beans, tomato and lemon turned costly, while bittergourd, lady's finger, and brinjal have come within the reach of common people, as their prices have fallen during this period.

A kg of cabbage, priced at Rs 10 a kg two days back, was available today for Rs 12. The wholesale price of the vegetable has increased from Rs 35 to Rs 40 per five kg. The hike was attributed to lesser arrivals from Himachal Pradesh, which is the main source of the vegetable these days as there is no local crop in the market .

Similarly, if a kg of beans was priced at Rs 20 just two days back, was available today for Rs 24. The wholesale price of the vegetable has increased from Rs 80 to Rs 100 per five kg during this period. According to traders, the price has increased owing to a slight fall in arrivals from some parts of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana.

The hike was also considerable as far as the price of sqashgourd was concerned. A kg of the vegetable, priced between Rs 12 and Rs 15 two days back, was available today for Rs 20. The wholesale price has also increased from Rs 55 to Rs 70 per five kg.

The case of tomato was not different as its price increased from Rs 6 to Rs 8 a kg. The wholesale price of the vegetable has increased from Rs 20 to Rs 25 per five kg. Like other vegetables, the increase was said to be due to lesser arrivals from parts of Rajasthan and Punjab. " The hike is temporary and will last for only two to three days . The price will fall once the local crop started dominating the vegetable scene within this week," said a Sector 22 vegetable trader.

Once again, the prices of lemon have started increasing. A kg of the vegetable, priced at Rs 20 two days back, was available today for Rs 24. The price has soared owing to increasing demand of the vegetable due to the heat wave and shrinking supplies in the local market.

On the other hand, if a kg of brinjal was priced at Rs 16 a kg two days back, it could be purchased today by paying Rs 12 a kg, as the arrivals from different parts of Punjab were on rise due to a good crop there. Similarly, if a kg of lady's finger was priced at Rs 20 two days back, the vegetable could be fetched today by shelling out Rs 16.

The prices of certain other vegetables remained stable during this period. A kg of cauliflower was still selling at Rs 16, and a kg of peas was available at the old price of Rs 40. Similarly, the price of capsicum did not witness any change as it was available today for Rs 24 a kg. A kg of onion was priced at Rs 8.