13 held for duping investors
By Amarjit Thind
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — Thirteen persons, including directors of some agro-forestry companies, have been rounded up by the local police for their alleged involvement in duping thousands of investors.

During a special drive, police parties specially formed by the Special Crime Cell, have been keeping a tab on the movement of the accused which has paid dividends. Many of the them had fled the city after closing shop and were residing in other states under fictitious names and pursuing other avocations.

Mr S.K. Singh, IGP, said those caught included Phool Chand Sharma, director of Aashiana Finance Company, Mani Majra, Jaswant Singh, MD of Opal Forests India, Mrs Bimla Sharma, chairperson of Himachal Housing and Fiscal Services Ltd, Nagesh Kumar Singh and Om Parkash Singh, directors of Akansha House Finance Ltd, Burail, and Mrs Tamanna Datta, director of Skyworld International.

The accused have been arrested from places like Kanpur, Pratapgarh and Rae Bareilly (UP), besides Chandigarh.

They had allegedly taken the money of the investors by luring them with big returns over the years. They would initially pay some returns. This lulled the investor into a sense of security and he was made to believe that the company was taking care of his money and the principal amount was safe. He in turn also asked his family members and friends to invest in that company. The people who did so were promised additional benefits.

There are instances when investors have urged their friends to deposit their hard-earned money in schemes which promised the moon.

Fuelled by the dream to become rich overnight, such companies thrived through the eighties but the bubble finally burst, leaving behind shattered dreams and in many cases, entire families.

The actual realisation would be done by the courts, but they were trying to get the property, which had been purchased with the siphoned off money of the company, Mr Singh asserted.

He said 103 cases were pending as the accused were evading arrest. As many as 14 cases were 14 months old. As many as 18 cases were one year old while 34 were six months old. In many cases, the courts had stayed the arrest of the accused or had reserved their judgement.

The actual amount duped runs into crores and the state of affairs of these companies can be gauged from the fact that Rajesh Syal and Ramesh Chander Kaushik, directors of Alpine Floritech, a leading company, have been declared proclaimed offenders by the police and a countrywide search for their arrest is under way.

Sources in the department said Jaswant Singh of Opal Forests had duped many investors of Rs 3.50 lakh and was reportedly planning to take away his family after coming to know about the special drive. He was nabbed from his Sector 37-D residence when he came to get his wife and children in the wee hours of August 29.

The management of Aashiana Finance had duped investors of Rs 1.65 lakh and had disappeared after closing their offices at the NAC, Mani Majra. The accused was nabbed from Kanpur where he was leading a lavish lifestyle.

Mrs Bimla Sharma was nabbed from Panchkula after the company stopped paying its clients and closed its offices after some investors complained to the police that they had been duped of Rs 2.50 lakh. While she is lodged at Burail jail, her husband, Mohinder Sharma, is at large and efforts are on to nab him.

Similarly, Nagesh Kumar Singh and Om Parkash Singh had opened their office in Burail and were accepting money towards the purchase of houses from people. They claimed that their company had hundreds of satisfied customers in Uttar Pradesh. They too closed shop and ran away. They had duped some investors of Rs 6.50 lakh. Surprisingly, they were still operating a similar company at the time of their arrest in Rae Bareilly, the sources added.

Other cases solved pertain to the arrest of Mrs Tamanna Datta and Rahul Sharma, who had duped several persons to the tune of Rs 35 lakh on the pretext of sending them abroad.

While her husband was arrested earlier, she had been evading arrest for the past two years. Rahul Sharma was arrested on September 13 and has been remanded to police custody till September 17.

Rs 10,000 for information

The police has announced a reward of Rs 10,000 each for information leading to the arrest of Rajesh Syal and Satish Kaushik, directors of Marigold and Alpine Floritech Ltd, who have allegedly duped Col V.M. Jain, an investor and his relatives and friends, of nearly Rs 40 lakh.

The information can be passed on to the police control room and the Crime Stopper Cell at phone numbers 100 and 544444. The name of the informer will be kept secret, if desired by the individual, according to the police.

MC seeks excise share
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17— The Municipal Corporation of Chandigarh (MCC) today urged the Chandigarh Administration to transfer a share of the excise duty collected by it from the sale of liquor in the city on the Punjab pattern.

A resolution, which was passed at a meeting of the civic body, requested the Administration to transfer 10 per cent of the income earned from the auction of contract of country liquor and 16 per cent share of the excise duty collected from the sale of English liquor and beer.

Through another resolution, the House cleared the setting up of the Electrical Division in the corporation. Pleading for more staff, Ms Kamlesh (Congress) raised the issue of excess billing of the streetlights maintained by the Administration on behalf of the corporation.

A former Mayor, Mr Gian Chand Gupta (BJP), wanted the corporation to try other options like the privatisation of the streetlights instead of creating a permanent Electrical Division.

To this, the Chief Engineer, Mr Puranjit Singh, replied that the staff demanded was the bare minimum and without the staff the civic body could not maintain the streetlights.

The Commissioner, Mr M.P. Singh, informed the House that the staff would be recruited for a period of two years on contractual or deputation basis. Following his assurance, the House passed the resolution which had been hanging fire for quite some time now.

Earlier, the letter from the Adviser to the Administrator to the Mayor urging the corporation to raise its own resources raised a lot of hue and cry. The Councillors — Ms Satinder Dhawan, Mr Raj Kumar Goyal, Mr Gurcharan Dass Kala and Ms Kamlesh — were on their feet alleging that various tax proposals went against the BJP-SAD manifestos which promised that no new taxes would be levied.

As the charges and counter-charges between the Congress members and the ruling party continued, Mr Prem Sagar Jain (BJP), while stressing the need for the imposition of new taxes, said efforts should be made to get more resources from the Administration.

Mr Harish Bhanot, a member of the committee formed with a view to raising resources, informed the House that a detailed note, incorporating the suggestions of the members, would be sent as the answer to the letter of the Administration.

Another issue which led to heated discussion was the show-cause notice by the Administration to the corporation over a resolution passed by the civic body allowing the use of area in Pocket Nos 2 and 11 in Mani Majra. The House resolved that it stood by its original resolution of February regularising the pucca structures in the area.

The meeting cleared the resolution for the auction of commercial property in Sector 9. However, the important issue of framing the policy regarding the operation of cable network in the city was deferred.

The House authorised the Mayor to appoint a technical member to the committee constituted to inquire into the change of design of the causeway connecting the city with SAS Nagar.

At the fag end of the meeting Mr Jain raised the issue of the alleged distribution of pamphlets by the Congress containing the details of the property tax to be levied on the commercial establishments on the eve of the Lok Sabha elections on September 5. Terming it as a serious issue, certain BJP members wondered how the official document reached the hands of a political party.

DC sets example for juniors
Tribune News Service

SAS NAGAR, Sept 17 — The official machinery was on the roads today to implement various guidelines of the Punjab and Haryana High Court orders regarding traffic rules and removal of encroachments from public land.

At least six vehicles, including two buses, were impounded. Special nakas were set up by the police and the transport authorities to challan the violators of traffic rules.

The drive, which was launched a few days back, gained momentum yesterday after Mr Kulbir Singh Sidhu, Deputy Commissioner, Ropar, visited the township to review its progress. The enforcement staff of the municipal council removed encroachments from corridors in markets from Phases I to XI.

Officials of the municipal council said shopkeepers had placed items in front of their shops, encroaching upon corridors. Faulty blinkers at road crossings, which were pointed out by Mr Sidhu, were rectified.

The Superintendent of Police, SAS Nagar, Mr B.S. Randhawa, could also be seen challaning motorists. As many as 190 violators were challaned by different teams led by the District Transport Officer and Station House Officers of different police stations.

At least one vehicle was challaned for having a black film. The team led by the SP also challaned two youths for overspeeding.

The Deputy Commissioner, when contacted on the telephone at Ropar, said he had advised his subordinates to follow the rules in order to set an example for the public. He urged the public to understand its civic duty and extend cooperation to the district administration. He said the drive was aimed at making the public understand its duties.

To set an example for his subordinates, the Deputy Commissioner removed the identification plate, specifying his designation, and black film from his car. He also urged officers, especially Sub-Divisional Magistrates of Kharar and SAS Nagar, not to support the identification plate on their official vehicles.

30 city teachers awarded
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — As many as 30 teachers from various schools of the city were given awards for their meritorious services from Lions Club International here today. The DPI (Schools), Mr D.S. Saroya, who was the chief guest, gave the teachers certificates and mementoes at a function held at Lions Bhawan, Sector 18.

The teachers who were awarded included Mr Dharam Paul Sharma, Ms D.K. Hanspal, Mr Deepak Vashisht, Ms Harwant Kaur, Ms Manjeet Kaur, Mr Shingara Singh, Ms Manju Singh, Ms Renu Maria, Ms Paramjit Kaur, Ms Saroj Mittal, Ms Kamlesh Sharma, Mr Kulwant Singh, Ms Kalpana Sane, Ms Loveleen Bedi, Ms Kusam Puri, Ms Urmil Seth, Ms Shashi Singla, Mr Sumesh Kumar, Ms Balbir Kaur, Mr Tarsem Lal Aggarwal, Ms Nisha, Mr sadhu Ram, Ms Sunita Suri, Mr Jagdish Chand, Ms Jyoti Mattia, Ms Paramjit Kaur, Mr Bharat Bhushan and Mr Rajinder Singh.

‘Regional PIXE facility needed’
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — A day-long workshop on "Regional facility for proton induced X-ray emission technique'' was organised by the Department of Physics, Panjab University, today. Nearly 50 delegates from various universities and institutions of this region attended the workshop.

Inaugurating the workshop, Mr N.S. Tiwana, Executive Director, Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, said in the changing scenario of globalisation, it is imperative to apply the fundamental research carried out in different institutions for the benefit of society and for achieving self-sustainability. This facility will also control pollution in this region.

Earlier, while welcoming the delegates, Prof I.M. Govil, Chairman of the department emphasised the importance of PIXE technique for non-destructive trace element analysis in archaeological, geological, industrial and environmental samples.

Dr V.S. Sethi, Director of Terminal Ballistics Research Laboratory, in his presidential address pointed out the use of such facilities for defence applications and emphasised on the need to have a close collaboration in the university for this purpose.

Delegates from the PGI, Chandigarh; Water Pollution Board, Patiala; Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Chandigarh and Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology, Dehradun, spoke on the use of this important technique.

The workshop concluded with a panel discussion on the subject. The panel felt that immediate steps should be taken to create a regional facility for the benefit of the users. It also recommended that adequate funds should be provided by the DST and other fund-giving agencies to make this facility a success.

Eye, steroid cure for lepers stressed
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The three-day 21st Biennial Conference of the Indian Association of Leprologists started this morning at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) with a symposium on continuing priorities.

Examining the involvement of nerves in this disease, the symposium today covered areas of post-therapy monitoring and evaluated the genetic homogeneity of the leprosy bacillus and the dysregulation of the body's chemical messengers resulting in the development of reactions.

Dr Diana Lockwood from the UK, lead speaker of the day, gave a detailed description of the involvement of the nerves in leprosy and also stressed on the need for steroid treatment as the best chance available to salvage and retain nerve function.

Talking to TNS, Dr Daniel Ebenezer from Vellore, said health workers working in the field of leprosy should look into eye examination since ocular changes in leprosy need to be examined. He also advocated eye check-ups for patients who have been released from leprosy treatment.

Stating that almost 60 per cent of leprosy patients in India alone, Dr K.V. Desikan said the focus today is on recognising fresh cases through health education and leprosy awareness. He said that there was hope of this disease being eradicated because a majority of the cases coming today were fresh cases since most people today know that leprosy is curable.

Dr Yasin Al-Qubati from Yemen said that in his country leprosy was still a social problem rather than medical. With an incidence of 0.34 cases per 10,000 people, leprosy patients even today face rejection in the Yemen society, Dr Qubati said, though an increasing awareness about the disease is being generated.

At the conference, Dr K.V. Desikan from Wardha discussed the monitoring and evaluation for fixed duration drug therapy for leprosy and said that there needs to be an adequate surveillance system to be built in the programme so that it may not fail. Dr Indira Nath, New Delhi, also highlighted the alterations in the body's chemical messengers that resulted in abnormal functioning of cells of the immune system. This phenomenon, she said, was responsible for the development of reactions which are commonly observed during the course of treatment for leprosy.

An important discovery bearing on the origin of leprosy, both in historical terms as well as geographical distribution, was described by Dr A.N. Chakrabarty from Calcutta. He described the fact that leprosy bacilli could be derived from the soil which were similar to those isolated from patients.

The afternoon session was devoted to a continuing medical education (CME) programme, 'The New Frontiers', which focussed on community participation, integration of health services, vaccines and their use, standard treatment protocol, recognition of resistant cases and their treatment and the direction for leprosy research in the next millennium.

Dr N.S. Dharmasanktu discussed the national leprosy elimination programme and its various modifications. Dr S.K. Satpathy highlighted community participation in these programmes, while Dr Arvind M. Dhople and Dr K. Prabhakaran from the USA discussed the development of new drugs for the treatment of leprosy. Dr G.P. Talwar from Delhi discussed the use of combined drug and vaccine therapy in the control and treatment of the disease.

Tomorrow's programme would focus on the recurring lesions in leprosy, the changing trends in childhood leprosy and the muscular lesions in the disease.

Meenakshi's in-laws arrested
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, Sept 17 — The in-laws of Meenakshi, who allegedly committed suicide due to harassment by them, have been arrested by the police today.

According to police sources, Sat Pal Singla and Raj Rani, surrendered in the court of JMIC (South). Both have been remanded to police custody till September 19.

With their arrest, all accused in the case have been arrested. Rajiv Singla, husband of the deceased, is in judicial custody since September 15, and two other accused are lodged in Burail jail. Their bail applications were rejected by the court today.

HUDA forms panels to redress grievances
Tribune News Service

PANCHKULA, Sept 17 — The drive for eradication of congress grass and the misuse of residential places for commercial activity were the topics of discussion at a meeting of the residents' welfare associations of all sectors. It was chaired by Mrs Sumita Singh, Administrator of HUDA, here.

It was pointed out that no concrete cooperation had been received from the residents' welfare associations for eradication of congress grass. HUDA had formulated a comprehensive policy for its removal recently. It was also informed that three XENs of HUDA had been made responsible for its removal from road berms whereas the XEN (Horticulture) has been assigned open areas and unallotted land.

HUDA will also remove the congress from vacant plots by issuing notices to the owners to remove it at their own level within 20 days, failing which HUDA will get the grass removed by charging Re 1 per square metre.

It was decided to formulate zonal committees for the redress of grievances of residents. The XEN I has been made convener of the committee for Sectors 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 20 and the meeting will be held on the third Friday of every month at 10am at the office of XEN I, HUDA, Sector 8. For Sectors 5, 10, 11, 12, 12 A, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, Phase I and II, XEN II would be the convener while the meeting would be held on the second Friday of each month at 10 am at his office in Sector 8.

The meeting of the third committee will be convened by XEN III on the first Friday of every month at 10 am at the HUDA workshop, Industrial Area, Phase I, Panchkula.

It was also stated that if Friday happens to be a holiday, then the meeting of the zonal committee would be held on the next working day at the same time.

In addition, an open darbar will be organised at the office of the Estate Officer, HUDA, on the second Thursday of every month at 11am to redress the grievances of the residents.

The Administrator also said that the residents' welfare associations should inform the residents in their areas that no commercial activity of any sort was allowed in the residential places as per the terms and allotment letter issued to them. Hence, these should be closed down within 15 days, failing which HUDA will launch a campaign to get the same closed.

PU boys clash on campus
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — The issue of constitution of ‘Cyanide', an inter-college cultural group, led to a fight between two fourth year boys of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology at Boys Hostel No. 1 at Panjab University this morning.

Heated exchanges allegedly took place between Gurvinder Singh and Navdeep. Gurvinder Singh wanted to organise the annual function of ‘Cyanide’ but differed on the issue of who will be the members of ‘Cyanide’. Gurvinder Singh allegedly thrashed Navdeep and when he slapped him, his kara hit him on the temple.

The warden, Professor Kataria, said he reached the hostel immediately and solved the matter mutually.

Navdeep was later sent for medical examination. However, no case was registered.

SNIPPETS

Rally by safai karamcharis
Tribune News Service
SAS NAGAR, Sept 17— The safai karamcharis of the local Municipal Council today organised a rally to protest against the move of privatisation of sanitation in certain parts of the township. The members of the Safai Karamchari Union raised slogans against the council and demanded scrapping of the privatisation move.

The General Secretary of the Safai Karamchari Union, Mr Ram Gopal, said instead of privatising the sanitation, the council should recruit more persons. It may be pertinent to mention that today the council had called tenders for the privatisation job.

Swimsuit round held
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, Sept 17 — Twenty three girls participated in the Miss India North '99 contest at a hotel here today. The swimsuit round was organised by the Fashion Revelers, an event management company. While the results for most of the titles would be declared on Sunday, the Shiva Jewellers catwalk round title was bagged by Khushboo Kochhar, a local girl. The event was adjudged by a panel comprising Mr Ashok Kaushik, Mr Aditi Srivastava, Mr Thakur Paramjit, Mr Ravi Lakhanpal, Mr T.S. Dhillon and Ms Richa Aggarwal.

NIIFT launches website
From Our Correspondent
SAS NAGAR, Sept 17 — A website of the Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT) was inaugurated here today by Mr Ramesh Inder Singh, Secretary, Industries, Punjab, and Chairman of the governing council of NIIFT. The students of third semester, studying fashion design, presented craft documentation.

Five students had been sent to Orissa and four to Madhya Pradesh, as part of their course, to study the crafts and culture of these states.

Those who went to Orissa worked on 'bonkai sarees', 'silver filigree' and 'patachitra paintings'. Those who went to Madhya Pradesh covered traditional block printing of bagh 'batik painting' and leather toys.