Wednesday, September 29, 1999
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N E W S Wednesday, September 29, 1999 |
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Uproar at police
headquarter meeting CHANDIGARH, Sept 28 — The conference hall at the UT Police Headquarters turned chaotic today as leaders of the SAD-BJP and the Samajwadi Janata Party combine raised slogans, "Chandigarh Police Murdabad", and subsequently boycotted a meeting convened by the police authorities to discuss the deteriorating law and order situation in the city and to find solution to the problem. The boycotting leaders of local units of the political parties, sans the Congress and CPM, accused the police high-ups of playing a 'partisan role' in extending invitations to heads of different political parties and having " intentionally used and allowed its few hand-picked henchmen" to obstruct the course of the meeting, which was nothing but a "mere eye-wash" and a "planned exercise". The drama started at about 11a.m. and took a noisy turn at the very outset which culminated in the boycott amidst repeated attempts to defuse the situation by some senior police officers by urging the members of the SAD-BJP and the SJP combine not to adopt a hardline stance on the issue. Even as their efforts proved futile and the agitated leaders left the conference room, the IGP and the SSP conducted the meeting as per schedule after leaders of the Congress and some other political outfits urged him to do so. tension started mounting at the very outset when Mr Shivi Jaiswal, president of the local unit of the Samajwadi Janata Party, raised objection on the issue of presence of a "group of 20-25 members" of the congress, as the invitation extended by the IGP to all political parties had specifically mentioned that four members and a president of a party could participate in the meeting. The situation which turned chaotic when the acting president told that he had not invited more than four persons to the meeting, however, subdued a bit when Harmohan Dhawan and Davinder Babla, also of the congress stated that they had got separate invitation letters with the IGP assuring the participants that he will inquire into the matter. tension again mounted when Mr Babla, expressing concern over the deteriorating law and order situation, raised a question as to what action was taken by the police authorities against those from whom a big quantity of liquor was seized during the election process. there was an uproar in the hall as all office-bearers of the SAD-BJP, SJP and Lok Shakti leaders stood up and pointed out that Mr Babla was going out of context as the meeting had been convened to discuss the law and order situation and not to discuss such things which were not related to it. They also accused Mr Babla of using unparliamentary and abusive language against certain SAD-BJP combine leaders in the presence of the IGP and the SSP. As the officers were seen trying to defuse the situation, the leaders of these parties started proceeding towards the gate, where Mr CSR Reddy, the SSP and some junior officers tried their best to persuade them not to leave the meeting. all their efforts,however, resulted in a fiasco, with the leaders raising slogans, "Chandigarh Police Murdabad". Mr Gurbachan Singh of the Nationalist Congress, demanded that as a measure to check crime in the city SHOs should be transferred every one or two years as due to their long stay in a police station they start thinking a particular area to be their "fiefdom". "The problem was more because of the city being a UT, they could not be transferred out," he added. Mr Inder Lal Batra, president of the local beopar Mandal said due to rise in the number of snatching and other incidents of crime, the situation had come to such a pass that business community was feeling unsafe in the city. Mr Kulbhushan Gupta of the Congress blamed the overwhelming presence of liquor vends for rise in crime incidents in the city. Mr Rampal Sharma of the INTUC said the officials at police station level were not responsive enough and did not respond to complaints made on telephone. Mr Harmohan Dhawan, decried the arrest of 431 rickshawallahs by the police after murder of a business man in Sector 17 last week. He stunned all those present in the meeting by criticising the SP (Headquarters), who was present in the meeting for his 'indifferent' attitude towards the situation arising out of the arrest of rickshawallahs. He said when he reached the spot where the rickshawallas had been detained and questioned Mr Baldev Singh as to why they had been detained on a 'mass level' on mere suspicion, the latter retorted that crime could not be curbed unless such arrests were made and even went to the extent of saying," if you are so concerned about them take them to your home." Some speakers alleged the confidence of residents in the police was fading , particularly after the incident of Pardeep Singh Negi, a Delhi resident, who posed as an SP and enjoyed the hospitality of the local police for 11 days. They demanded a CBI inquiry into the incident. Mr S. K. Singh, IGP,
said that he had been able to get the 'real' picture of
the crime scenario in the city and conceded that it might
have been possible that a 'rosy' picture was presented
before him during similar meeting with people organised
at the police station level. |
Nine Inspectors transferred CHANDIGARH, Sept 28 — In what appears to be a fall-out of the spate of snatchings in the city and arrest of an impostor posing as Superintendent of Police, the Chandigarh Police today ordered the transfer of nine Inspectors, including four Station House Officers of police stations, besides suspending a Sub-Inspector and a Head Constable. Sub-Inspector Rakesh Kumar Shukla and Head Constable Z.P. Khan, who figured prominently in the "fake SP case", have been suspended. Besides, Station House Officers of police stations Sector 39 (Inspector Chambel Singh), Sector 31 (Inspector B.S. Negi), Manimajra (Inspector Om Parkash) and Sector 26 (Inspector P.M. Walia) have been replaced by Inspector Satbir Singh, Inspector Dhan Raj, Inspector Jagbir Singh and Inspector Satbir Singh, respectively. Besides,the in charge of Maloya police post has also been shifted. The following transfers
have been ordered in the Police Department : Inspector
Chambel Singh, SHO Sector 39 to CID;Inspector B.S. Negi,
SHO Sector 31 to MT Section; Inspector Om Parkash, SHO
Mani Majra to OPs cell; Inspector PM Walia, SHO Sector 26
to Crime Against Women Cell;Inspector Satbir Singh from
Special Cell to SHO Sector 39; Inspector Jagbir Singh,
Crime Against Women Cell to SHO Manimajra; Inspector Dhan
Raj, Public Grievances Cell to SHO Sector 31; Inspector
Jasmohan Singh, CID to Incharge Public Grievances Cell
(He will also look after the work of Press); Inspector
Prem Singh Malik, MT Section to SHO Sector 26; Sub
Inspector Jai Singh, SO to IGP to Incharge Maloya Police
Post; and sub-Inspector Prem Singh, In charge Maloya
Police Post to Police Lines. |
Class XII results to be
rechecked SAS NAGAR, Sept 28 — The Punjab School Education Board has ordered rechecking of Class XII results of science and commerce streams of the board examination held in March, 1999. The move has been opposed by the Punjab School Education Board Non-Teaching Karamchari Association. Sources said the move followed a decision taken by the board management to get Class XII results of science and commerce streams held in March 1998 rechecked. In the recent order issued by the Secretary of the board, the Officer on Special Duty, Ms Veena Dada, has been entrusted with the task. The rechecking of the March 1998 results, which were prepared with help of computers from an external agency, were ordered after the employees' association had demanded a probe, alleging irregularities in compilation of results. The General Secretary of the Punjab School Education Board, Karamchari Association, Mr Jarnail Singh Brar, alleged that rechecking of the March 1999 results had been ordered to pressurise the employees, who had demanded rechecking of the March 1998 results of science and commerce streams. He said the issue had been raised with the Chairman of the Board, Dr Kehar Singh. He further alleged that the move to order rechecking of the March 1999 results within a week of the earlier order of rechecking of March 1998 results was an afterthought with a hidden motive. Four employees of the board had been served suspension orders for allegedly committing irregularities in tabulation of results of classes X and XII examinations held in March this year. The board, in an order, had pointed out that the results of roll numbers 308586, 313600, 309568 and 313937 had been tampered with at the time of giving the print order. In the case of roll number 309568, marks of the candidate had been changed from 16 to 46 in one subject. In the case of roll number 313937, the results had been declared on the basis of fake qualifications. All charges against the suspended employees have been refuted by the association. The Chairman of the
Punjab School Education Board, Dr Kehar Singh, was not
available for comment. |
Fraud accused denied bail CHANDIGARH, Sept 28 — The Sessions Judge, Mr B.S. Bedi, today declined the bail plea of Sandeep Gupta and Gobind Mohan, residents of Mohali and Mani Majra, respectively, who worked for Mid Xpose company and were booked by the Economic Offences wing of the Chandigarh police in connection with a fraud case. According to the prosecution, these suspects had asked Ms Vanita Behl and Ms Payal Bogra, employees of their company, to apply for car loan to the Punjab State Cooperative Bank. The prosecution maintained that as advised by them, Ms Behl and Ms Bogra applied for loan. The accused took the draft of the loan and purchased a car. Later, they sold the car to Joginder Singh. The fraud was detected by the Additional Managing Director of the bank. The prosecution
maintained that the fraud was committed in connivance
with a bank official. |
Police to re-launch servant
verification drive PANCHKULA, Sept 28 — The police here has initiated proceedings to seek orders from the Deputy Commissioner under Section 144 of the CrPC to re-launch its servant verification drive which had earlier evoked a lukewarm response from the residents. Only 37 per cent of the forms distributed by the police came back to the respective police stations and police posts in the town. Initially, the residents were given two months, starting February 9, to furnish details of domestic help, part-time as well as full time employed in their houses. Even after four months had elapsed, the information was found wanting. This was followed by another order stating that action would be taken against landlords, tenants and those running commercial establishments in the township who fail to furnish requisite information about their servants at the nearest police post or police station by July 30. However, no follow-up action was taken against them and the orders were resigned to the files of the department. The Superintendent of Police, Mr Alok Mittal, confirms that no case was registered in any of the police stations in this regard. In the absence of any action, the orders became redundant and the police, in an effort to ascertain credentials of domestic help, has embarked on the mission again. This has been necessitated due to the reported involvement of servants in many incidents of crime here. In most cases, investigations have revealed the involvement of "insiders" and the finger of suspicion has been, invariably, on the servants employed in the house. In the absence of verification, the police is left groping in the dark with few leads to follow while the absconding servant often returns to his native village. The rising incidence of crime and the involvement of servants in these incidents are the motives behind the re-launching of the drive. the police had distributed forms and the employers were required to submit these after completion. Mr Mittal informs that the staff would be pressed into service to make the drive a success. Speaking of the ineffectiveness of the drive launched last time, he says,' "The residents fail to cooperate with the police whenever we undertake such an action. Without their cooperation, it becomes difficult for the police to operate and brings our efforts of reducing crime rate and solving cases to a naught.'' residents, on the other hand, are wary of anything that involves the police. A resident of Sector 9 says,"I have changed three servants till now this year but I would rather keep a servant at my own risk rather than getting his antecedents verified at the police station. As far as the police go, I do not want my name to figure anywhere in their records.'' Another resident, who has three people working in her house in Sector 8, explains,"If we register our servant with the police, any small incident in our vicinity could mean endless rounds to the police station to prove their non-involvement. Therefore, when they came to give forms, I categorically told them that we had employed none in our house.'' Also, there are others who do not get their servants verified for the simple reason that the servants are unwilling to be photographed and have their names in the records, preferring to leave their job at times, if forced to do so by the employers. Procedure for verification The employer is required
to fill the form supplied by the police, giving details
of the antecedents of servant and submitting the same at
the nearest police station. This form is then sent by the
officer concerned to the police station at the native
place of the servant from where it is verified and sent
back to the police station at the place of employment. |
3 killed in mishaps KHARAR, Sept 28 — Three persons were killed in two different road accidents here. According to an FIR lodged with the Kharar police, Yadwinder Singh and Jasbir Singh, who were coming towards Chandigarh from Nadala village in Kapurthala district, were killed and Karam Singh and Harvinder Singh were seriously injured when their Maruti van (PB-8R-8092) was hit by a tempo near the local bus stand after 12 midnight. They were going to meet Bibi Jagir Kaur, President, SGPC, in Chandigarh. While Yadvinder Singh died on the spot, the driver of the van, Jasbir Singh, died at the PGI. The other two, Karam Singh and Harinder Singh, have been admitted to the PGI, Chandigarh. The police has registered a case under Section 279/304-A of the IPC against Jumesh, the driver of the tempo (CH-0I-V-1459). In another accident,
Gurmail Singh died on the spot while Achar Singh was
seriously injured when the scooter they were riding was
hit by an unidentified vehicle near Sante Majra village.
The injured has been admitted to the PGI. The Kharar
police has registered a case under Sections
279/337/304-A. |
Judicial remand for fake SP CHANDIGARH, Sept 28 — The Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr H.S. Madan, today remanded Pardip Singh Negi, who impersonated as an SP and visited various police stations in the city, in judicial custody for two weeks. He was arrested by the local police on September 23 on the charge of cheating and impersonation. After his police remand, he was sent to judicial lock-up. Hailing from Garhwal, Negi is a postgraduate in English. He belongs to a poor family. While his father, Ram Pal Singh, works as a guard with a private contractor, his mother, Rajeshwari, works as a domestic servant. Negi had taken the All-India Civil Services Examination. Although he had not qualified the written test, he told his parents that he had made it to the IPS. He impersonated as an SP
with a view to impressing his sister, who lives here in
Sector 28, and his parents. |
Panchkula gets new skating rink Chandigarh, Sept 28 — Panchkula has now become the nerve centre of skating activities in this part of the country. It has to some extent surpassed Chandigarh which so far is known for the good skating facilities, particularly in the Sector 10 rink. A new rink of international standards and dimensions (44 m x 22 m) with Kota-stone track is ready for completion at Blue Bird School in Sector 16 of Panchkula. It will be thrown open to public in the first week of October. Ms R. Bhatnagar, Chairperson of Blue Bird School, said Panchkula had become a transit point for tourists. Also children of most VIPs spent most of their time here. These children sought sport facilities which this so called poor cousin of Chandigarh lacked. Schools of the town, however, provided good facilities for sport, particularly skating. Ms Rajni Thareja, President of the Roller Skating Association of Panchkula, said every year, skaters of Panchkula achieved titles at national and international levels. Recently, five girls of Panchkula figured in the Indian team (roller hockey event) for the forthcoming Asian Roller Skating Championship to be held at Shanghai in China, next month. Mr K. Bhatanagar, Vice-President of the Blue Bird School management said at the new skating rink, they planned to hold a tournament involving international skaters. Panchkula has skating facilities at Hansraj Public School; Bhavan Vidyalya, Sector 15; Manav Mangal School, Sector 11, and Blue Bird School, Sector 16. Except Hansraj Public School, all others till date were using basketball courts for skating events as a makeshift arrangement. The new rink at Blue Bird School will give more exposure to budding skaters who start skating at the age of even three nowadays. Ms R. Bhatnagar said the salient features of the new rink, besides the Kota-stone surface, would be six poles for lighting, CD and 4,000-watt stereo systems with two speakers and cordless mikes. She said goal posts erected were of the international dimensions. There will be seating arrangement on all sides of the rink. A skating office (12 ft x 12 ft), power backup system and two furnished bathrooms will also be set up. Ms Thareja said now Panchkula had become the hub of this fast growing game. She said the School Games Federation of India (SGFI) had included skating in its current-year calender and recently, Chandigarh had hosted a skating tournament for schools. Keeping this in mind, she would press hard to get it included in the Haryana schools sport calender. About the modifications in the skating rink at her school, she said these could be possible only next year. Ms Bhatnagar also said
that Blue Bird School offered exclusive facilities for
basketball and table tennis. |
Decision on bylaws welcomed CHANDIGARH, Sept 28 — Mr Chaman Lal Sharma, Mr Amarjit Sethi and Mr Tejbans Singh Jauhar, President, General Secretary and PRO of the Chandigarh Nagrik Sabha, respectively, today lauded the efforts of the Chandigarh Administration in initiating a move to amend the outdated bylaws which were causing harassment and undue miseries to the residents of the city who had either already built houses or were in the process of building theirs. In a joint statement, they said that there was need to study the ground realities by a group of officers who should visit each and every sector to assess the problems faced by owners of houses, shop-cum-offices and other buildings and take steps to amend the bylaws suitably to remove anomalies in the present context. They also stressed the need for study of rules in vogue in other cities in the country and abroad for incorporation in the amended bylaws so as to create a vibrant and growing Chandigarh. Such measures, they felt, would provide immense relief and satisfaction to the soul of Le Corbusier. Mr Sharma, Mr Sethi and Mr Johar also appealed to the Chief Administrator, Mr Rakesh Singh, to adjourn all the cases where show-cause notices had been issued to owners or tenants of various commercial establishments and residential complexes for major or minor violations till the new measures were adopted by the Administration and decide their cases only after these had been adopted in the context of the amended bylaws. They also appealed to
the people of the Union Territory to respond to the
advertisements of the Administration inviting suggestions
and amendments to the existing laws. They felt that
architects, townplanners and other professionals could
contribute immensely to make the bylaws user friendly and
effective so as to maintain the character of the city. |
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Lawyers strike
work According to Mr N.K. Nanda, President of the Chandigarh District Courts Bar Association, Mr Sanjiv Gupta, a Panchkula-based advocate was roughed up by his clients on September 15 at his house and was also threatened. He got a case registered with the Panchkula police under Sections 323, 506 and 452 of the IPC. Mr Nanda said the Panchkula Bar Association went on strike to protest against the inaction of the police to arrest the accused. The Panchkula Bar Association had also given a call to the Chandigarh Bar Association for going on strike. Prohibitory order passed The step has been taken as a precautionary measure for maintenance of peace and law and order. In the likelihood of interference by anti-social elements or unscrupulous persons who were likely to cause danger to human life, health and safety, or disturbance to public tranquillity, or riot or affray, the District Magistrate imposed Section 144 of the CrPC within 200 m of the place of storage of ballot boxes from October 4 to October 6. Parties submit memo to Adviser According to Mr S.K. Singh, the IGP, the meeting will take place at 11 am tomorrow. Those who did not attend a similar meeting today had been invited so that their views on the law and order situation could be taken. Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Mr Dharampal Gupta and Mr Gian Chand Gupta, both of the BJP, Mr Gurpartap Singh Riar of the SAD, Mr Shivi Jaiswal of the SJP, Mr Ravi Parkash Kansal of the Lok Shakti and Mr Ranjit Singh Dhaliwal of the Samata Party, demanded an inquiry into today's incident and that how come about 20 Congressmen were invited to attend today's meeting. Mr Dharam Pal Gupta, alleged that the police had adopted a 'pick and choose' policy while extending invitation to different parties. He also said though personal allegations were levelled in the meeting against some BJP leaders, the IGP did nothing to prevent the same. Class VIII exam schedule According to the Deputy Registrar of the exams, Mr Chanchal Singh, the last date for submitting the forms is October 20, for both regular and private candidates. The forms will be available at the office of the Director, Public Instructions (DPI), Sector 9, from tomorrow. The students can submit forms with a late fee of Rs 5 till November 2, and a late fee of Rs 10 till November 15. However, if the forms are submitted in the period between November 15 and 25, the students are required to pay a late fee of Rs 10, in addition to Rs 2 per day till the form is submitted. Mrs Joginder Moti has been appointed Registrar of the examinations. Hindi Fortnight rally held The Mayor, Mr Kewal Krishan Addiwal, flagged off the rally from Sector 23. After passing through sectors 23 and 22, the rally culminated at the Sector 17 plaza. Addressing the rally, Mr K.L. Khanna, Director of Punjab and Chandigarh branches of the kendra, said Hindi was not only a nationwide link language but also an ever-increasing historical evidence of the secular and democratic culture of the country. Mr G.S. Bajwa, Youth Co-ordinator of the city branch, said it was the duty of every citizen to learn and use Hindi. Meanwhile, following are the results of the various competitions organised by the State Bank of India (main branch) as part of the 'Rajbhasha Maas': short note-writing competition: Pratima Singh 1, Namita Singh 2, Sudheer Kumar 3; Hindi-English translation competition: Amarjeet Singh 1, Pratima Singh 2, Praveen Bhatia and Namita Mehta 3; essay-writing competition: Manoj Walia 1, Namita Mehta 2, Sudheer Kumar 3. Mr V.K. Gupta, DGM, who presided over the function, exhorted employees to use Hindi to the maximum in official work. Punjab Govt’s days
numbered: Tohra He was addressing a gathering of party workers organised here today to thank the workers for their work during the elections and to prepare the programme for the new membership drive of the party. Mr Tohra said Mr Badal was solely responsible for the present state of affairs of the Government, which could not pay the salary of its employees. He said it was police extremism that a youth of Hasanpur village was murdered by torturing him in police custody. He claimed that no section of society was happy with the functioning of the government. Mr Tohra asked the workers to start a membership drive, but told them not to indulge in bogus membership. He asked them to appoint a committee of eleven members in every village, having representation of all sections of society. Addressing the gathering, Mr Prem Singh Chandumajra, a former MP, claimed that Mr Badal would remain alone after October 6 as most of his loyalists would desert him. He alleged that the farmer of the state was being looted because of wrong policies of the government. Mr Rajbir Singh Padiala, Vice-President, SHSAD, Mr Sukhdev Singh Bhaur, Secretary, Mr Ranjit Singh Dunna, Junior Vice-President, and Mr Harminder Singh Gill, President, AISSF, also addressed the gathering. CM’s order to PSEB In Order to specify whether a particular premises was within the jurisdiction of the committee, a report from the patwari concerned would be a sufficient proof. Likewise in the municipal areas of Kharar, Dera Bassi, Banur and Zirakpur, the requisite ‘no objection certificate’ for electricity connection will henceforth be issued by the Executive Officer of the Municipal Council or nagar panchayat concerned and not by PUDA. The decision has been taken to simplify the procedure and save people from hardships arising out of lengthy procedures and red-tapism. Plan to develop parks The work on the park would start soon which will be provided with benches and play-equipment for children, she said. She said the renovation of toilets in these sectors which was in progress would be completed soon at a cost of Rs 2.93 lakh. Besides this, streetlights would be provided in the backlane of showrooms (SCF 1-26) in Sector 9-D at a cost of Rs 53,000, she added. Encroachments ‘not removed’ In a representation to
the Principal Secretary, Punjab, the committee President,
Mr N.S. Minhas, said that except for issuing notices the
Estate Officer had failed to take concrete action in the
form of physical removal of encroachments on government
and PUDA land. The committee, he said, had made
representations to officer in this connection but to no
avail. |
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