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Conman Kohli lived in style while on the
run
Mohali, July 29 Talking to The Tribune on condition of anonymity, some of the police officers examining Kohli today said that Kohli continued to live in lavish lifestlye that he was used to in England even during his run. He was an alcoholic and a perpetual gambler. Extracting money out of innocent, trusting people for these two vices was easy for him. He told everyone that he was a rich NRI travelling across India as a tourist. People were charmed by his way of talking and stories of stolen bags, lost purses made them help Kohli with cash, said a police officer who had been examining Kohli through the day yesterday. If the revelations of these police officers are anything to go by, Kohli comes across as a master conman other than allegedly being a rapist and a murderer. Travelling on a train to Bangalore, he befriended three students Biru, Rocky and Roshan. They invited him to travel with them to Rameshwaram. He stayed with them for over two months. Then one day he walked out on them taking with him their cash and a mobile set. He virtually travelled across the country during these 16 months. He avoided coming to the North. During this period, he lived in Bangalore, Patna, Chennai, Mumbai, Goa, Patna, Rameshwaram and Darjeeling. In Darjeeling, he stayed in a hotel for two and a half months and one of his friends from Patna came all the way to pay his bills. At Kalimpong, Kohli met Bharti, daughter of a highly respected family there. They both worked for the Red Cross. According to a custom there, marriages are solemnised when either the girl or the boy elopes with the person they want to marry. In Kohli’s case, Bharti eloped with Kohli and after three days the marriage was solemnised by Bharti’s family. Kohli threw a party at one of
the grandest hotels there, said the police officer. The whole town of Kalimpong was shocked when the truth about Kohli became known to them. No one believed the fact that all this while they were interacting with an international criminal wanted for the most heinous of crimes. Kohli, too, tried to play an innocent there. He observed a fast during his stay in jail and insisted that his wife came to meet him. Bharti was finally called to the jail and he started eating only after he met her, said the police officer, adding that even now while he was being handed over to the Punjab police, she gave him Rs 200 for his journey.
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Sword-wielding youths rob two women near Sukhna
Chandigarh, July 29 The youths, who had followed them for some distance, got on to the rickshaw and beat the rickshaw-puller and Ms Prem Lata. In the melee, Sonika slipped got off the rickshaw and wrapped her ornaments in a handkerchief. According to Sonika, she first tried to run away but when she saw her aunt being attacked, she stopped. After snatching a chain from Ms Prem Lata, the attackers rushed towards Sonika and snatched one zoom camera and Rs 1,000 from her, Sonika told Chandigarh Tribune over the phone tonight. The robbers then escaped in a car. Ms Prem Lata was able to save her bag containing around Rs 10,000. The chain was later found lying on a nearby road. Ms Prem Lata’s condition deteriorated after the incident as she had high sugar and blood pressure, according to Sonika. Ms Prem Lata was hurting because of the blows inflicted on her. She said no one tried to save them from the attackers. The women then went to the Sukhna Lake police post, but were told that they would have to go to the Sector 3 police station to register a case. She said one of the by-standers had noted the number of the car. The police post informed them that the number had been flashed across the city. They then went to the police station, where an officer asked them to give a complaint and assured that the camera would be found soon. However, the official allegedly asked them not to press for an FIR, as then they would have to go to the court several times. The women agreed to the suggestion and did not press for the registration of a case. They only wanted their belongings returned. The shaken women said they believed the city to be a safe place, but now they would never venture out in the evening in. Sonika had borrowed the camera from someone. Sonika said two men, whom she recalled as Yashpal and Jagpal, had extended help after the incident. They had accompanied them to the police. |
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Police framed husband for rape of daughter, says
woman
Chandigarh, July 29 Anju claimed that the drama took place around 4 pm on May 8. When she returned home at around 6 pm, she saw a large crowd gathered near her jhuggi. People said her husband Ram Bahadur had raped their daughter. She said her neighbours and her eight-year-old son, Sunil, had gone to the police station to lodge a complaint about the incident. Anju said she asked her daughter if her father had assaulted her sexually. Her daughter said her father was drunk and had called her near him. She said he beat her up when she did so. The girl then fell unconscious and did not know what happened to her afterwards. She neither confirmed nor denied the incident. However, the alleged rape victim was not present at the press conference to answer queries. A human rights lawyer, Mr Amar Singh Chahal, however, said he was ready to bring the girl before the Press. Anju claimed that a police officer came to her house and got her thumb impressions on a few papers. She said when she asked the police officer about the papers, he told her that they were for getting her husband released. Anju said she did not get a copy of the FIR for a month. When she got the copy through post, she came to know that her husband had been booked for rape of her daughter on a statement attributed to her. Anju said as she was illiterate, she got the FIR read out to her by one of her employers and was shocked to know that her husband was accused of raping his daughter. Anju’s ‘statement’ in the FIR said that she saved her daughter from the clutches of her naked husband who was fondling her and was trying to rape her. Anju asked how she could have seen the ‘act’ when she was not present on the spot. Anju claimed that she was told about the incident by her son who also informed her that he threw stones at his father when everybody told him that his father had raped his sister. Anju also said that when she accompanied her daughter to two doctors for a medical examination, she was told by one of the doctors that nothing wrong had been done to her daughter. A copy of the medical examination report supplied to the Press also said that the hymen of the girl was intact and her body bore no injury marks. Anju claimed that she did not meet her husband after the ‘incident’ as her husband had been apprehended by the police by the time she reached home. She said she kept on running from pillar to post afterwards to meet her husband in the jail but she failed to do so as the jail authorities asked for proof that she was Ram Bahadur’s wife. Finally, she met her husband recently and he told her that he was innocent.  |
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Local judges' transfer: Bar decides to set up panel
Chandigarh, July 29 The committee will submit its report to the general house of the association within three months. This and some other resolutions were passed on the concluding day's session of the meeting of the members of the association. The meeting witnessed acrimonious scenes as some members exchanged hot words with each others. The other resolutions passed by the members included an appeal to the members to strictly follow the earlier decision of not appearing in the court after work has been suspended following the death of a member-lawyer; seeking fair inquiry and action against those involved in the attack on Sirsa-based lawyer Gur Rattan Singh Kingra. Today, some members opposed the demand for shifting local judges while others supported it. Advocate I.S. Saggu questioned the very purpose of the requisition that led to the convening of the meeting. He opposed the demand for transfer of local judges. His views found support from advocate Surinder Lamba. Another lawyer, Mr S.D. Sharma, said that the demand for shifting all cases in which kin of the sitting Judges were appearing to a Bench headed by the Chief Justice was wrong. Opposing the demand for transfer of all local judges, he asked the other members to come out with specific instances of favouritism, if any, to buttress the claim of alleged wrongdoings by the judges. He cautioned the members against turning the issue into a fight between the Bar and the Bench. However, advocate Rajeev Godara argued that the demand for transfer was not due to some personal grudge of any member with the judges. He said that recent happenings in the High Court had affected the image of the institution and it was necessary to shift all local judges immediately. Supporting him, leading advocate J.S. Toor said the institution was facing serious challenges from within and the time demanded introspection. He said that notions had been formed about the judiciary and in order to save the independence of judiciary, it was necessary to shift all local judges. Mr Toor said that the Bar had already, on at least two previous occasions, passed resolutions seeking shifting of all local judges. "Then, why no action has been taken so far?" he asked. Advocate R.S. Bains, in his address, said that due to host of reasons the image of the judiciary had taken a beating here. "People are circumspect. This should not be the case," he said. |
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Increase in NPAs of banks cause for
concern
Chandigarh, July 29 Whereas earlier there used to be one bank branch to cater to the needs of 15,000 people, now there is one branch for 18,000 people in the country. In fact, there was a proposal of the Union Government to provide one branch of bank for every 10,000 people. However, it has not happened. Mr N.K. Gaur, joint secretary of the All- India Bank Employees Association, when asked in this connection, said that the banking sector required to be expanded on a fast pace. He said that banks had become popular mediums of transactions of money but expansion was not taking place on the same scale. He said that the RBI should look into the matter. It had been proved beyond doubt that nationalised banks compared to private banks were providing better service in the country. However, what is a matter of great concern is the increase in the NPAs of nationalised banks. This is happening despite the setting of bank recovery tribunals, passing of the Securitisation Act to recover loans from defaulters. Officially, nationalised banks are showing decline in the NPAs whereas during the year ending on March 31, 2003, the NPAs were worth Rs 54,082 crore of the nationalised banks. These came down to Rs 51,529 crore by the end of March 31 this year. Mr N.K. Gaur says that the management of the nationalised banks have been funding the figures to show the decline in NPAs. He said that actually NPAs had crossed Rs 71,000 crore by the end of last financial year. About Rs 20,000 crore from the NPAs was written off by the nationalised banks during the last financial year. Besides it, about Rs 24,000 crore was adjusted under provisioning to show the decline in the NPAs in the balance sheets. He said that there should be no provision of conversion of bad loans as equity capital of borrowers. Bank loan defaulters should be debarred from holding public offices and wilful bank loan defaulters should be brought under criminal offence. The government should publish the list of bank defaulters. The association has also urged the government to withdraw the permission to allow foreign direct investment up to 74 per cent of capital in banks. The association wanted that there should 100 per cent ownership of the public sector banks with the government. The way private banks were increasing, the government should become more careful while giving licences to set up banks in the private sector, said Mr Gaur. Mr Gaur said that the banks should enhance advancing of loans in the agriculture sector where recovery of loans was better compared to other sectors. He said that interest on rural and agriculture credit should be slashed to loans viable for those living in rural areas. The government should abolish the tax deduction at source on bank deposits and should give tax benefit on banks deposits as was given in case of certain mutual funds, he added. |
Spate of burglaries shock Mohali
residents
Mohali, July 29 Thieves struck at two different places in Phase VI last night and decamped with cash and valuables worth Rs 4 lakh. The first burglary took place at a house in Phase VI where thieves entered the house while its occupants had gone to the gurdwara. Mr Ramandeep Singh, owner of the house, told the police that he, along with his family, were out when the burglars struck. The thieves allegedly entered the house by breaking in through the back door. The thieves decamped with 2000 Canadian dollars, jewellery worth Rs 1.5 lakh, a DVD player, a digital camera and some other items that belonged to the occupants. In another incident, thieves struck at a shop in Phase VI last night. The cloth shop Fashion Point, was found ransacked by the owner, Mr Sameer, this morning. He told the police that he had closed the shop in the evening yesterday and when he came to the shop this morning, he found the shutter lock broken. He found cloth worth Rs 20,000 missing from the shop. The township has seen a sharp rise in incidents of theft in the past one month. On July 27, jewellery and cash worth Rs 1.5 lakh were stolen from a house in Sector 70. On the same day, thieves decamped with valuables worth Rs 70,000 from a house in Phase V. On July 5, four unidentified youth armed with revolvers decamped with cash and gold worth lakhs of rupees from a industrialist’s house in Sector 71. Robbers committed the crime at gunpoint in the presence of the businessman’s wife and servant. Before escaping on motorcycles, the robbers also drugged the wife and the servant, rendering them unconscious. On June 2, goods and cash worth Rs 50,000 were stolen from a house in Phase 10. On May 27, thieves broke into the residence of Indu Sehgal, a Municipal Councillor here while she was out of station. The local police has not been able to solve even one of these robberies. Taking cognizance of the situation, the SP Mohali, Mr Rakesh Agarwal, held a special meeting with the various SHOs today and asked them to step up security arrangements in the township. He said various thefts seemed to be the handiwork of the same gang. ‘‘We have rounded up a dozen persons for questioning from the nearby slum areas. “We have conclusive evidence that the gang belongs to Bihar or UP’’ said Mr Agarwal adding that no arrests had been made so far. |
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Most shops in Mohali close at 6
pm
Mohali, July 29 There is resentment among shopkeepers as they say they were being forced to close shops at a time when the real business of the day started. They said such a step would adversely affect their business, though customers could go to Chandigarh to get whatever they needed. Welfare associations of two markets had even approached the local SDM, Mr M.L. Sharma, to help them out of the problem. The SDM said they demanded that shopkeepers should be allowed to run their shops till 8 pm. It is learnt that some associations also held meetings in this regard. The Assistant Labour Commissioner, Mr Beant Singh, said his Inspectors were ensuring that were was complete compliance of the orders of the government. He said barber shops, shops dealing with photostat and STD, eating joints, and restaurants had been exempted from this order under Section 4 of the Shop and Commercial Establishment Act, 1958. |
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Dowry victim’s parents protest outside
in-laws’ house
Chandigarh, July 29 Sunaina (20), who died yesterday after allegedly consuming some poisonous substance, had been sending messages to her parents in Sonepat that she was being harassed by her husband’s family, says her father, Ram Bhagwan. Members of the girl’s family today sought to block traffic in the area to make the people listen to their story. They said they did not intend to disturb anybody, but wanted to expose those who kill daughters-in-law for dowry. He wanted right-thinking people to join their fight. Ram Bhagwan said only a week after the marriage, a panchayat had to be called to sort out a dispute over dowry. And a month after the marriage, his daughter had been poisoned, he alleged. He said no one from the in-laws’ family attended her cremation today after the postmortem. Her in-laws also did not visit her in the hospital, he added. The police said the house of the in-laws of the girl was locked and the police was making efforts to arrest them. A case has been registered in this regard. |
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She spent winters in
Antarctica
Chandigarh, July 29 Back home after the accolade, an elated Dr Vilku recalls her experience in the cold, barren continent of Antarctica where she spent 16 months from December 1999. Armed with a masters degree in transfusion medicine from the PGI, Chandigarh, and being physically fit, thanks to her stint with Assam Rifles, Dr Vilku says she fitted well in the team of 24 scientists conducting experiments. Her job was to ensure that the members had no medical problems. She also studied the effect of the South Pole’s magnetism on the human body. When living away from family and friends in harsh climactic conditions, with temperatures dipping to minus 60 degrees, blizzards and no sun for days together, she says it is the psychological problems that pose a bigger challenge. Besides tackling injuries caused by the cold like chilblains and frostbite, Dr Vilku managed a suspected spinal chord injury, a crush and a burn injury following accidents and operated upon a scientist for sebaceous cyst. While staying at Maitri, the Indian station, she was obliged to perform all duties, including cooking, clearing snow, burning garbage and housekeeping. She remembers the walks taken around a lake, called Priyadarshini, in front of the station as also the friendly beautiful penguins with their white shirt fronts and black tailcoats. |
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Hans show today
Panchkula, July 29 Hansa Raj Hans said he had started penning lyrics for his albums. His latest album, ‘Tera Ishq’, had Sufi songs with lyrics of Bulle Shah and music by Uttam Singh. |
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49 officers attend foresters' workshop
Chandigarh, July 29 According to information reaching here, the workshop was organised for the IFS officers of 1979 batch. IFS probationers of 2001, 2002 and 2003 batches participated in the deliberations. In addition, IFS officers and scientists posted in institutions at Dehradun, belonging to the Uttaranchal Forests Department also attended the inaugural function. |
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‘Bhajans spring from
consciousness’
Panchkula, July 29 The famous bhajan and ghazal singer, in town for a couple of performances, says that he feels satisfied to have lived up to the family name. In typical Lucknawi style, with all the right P’s and Q’s, he says “ We have a different ‘andaz’ of singing, and only those with immense knowledge of singing can develop this style. While others are relying on the ‘filmi andaz’, we have cultivated our distinct style, which helps us sing bhajans and recite the ‘padas’ in the same breath”. He says that as a child he found singing very fulfilling. “Since our father was a famous bhajan singer, we, too, inherited his passion for singing. I was never inclined towards academics, but learnt singing from my father and elder brother. My aim has been to carry on the family legacy to new heights,” he says. Ramesh also plays the harmonium as he sings and in all his bhajan sandhyas, he has the crowds swaying. Ramesh also writes the lyrics and composes his own music. Ramesh is not only famous for his bhajans like “Tere hathon mein Nand Kishore” and “ Jab tera man hari charanon mein lagne lage” , his ghazal singing too has brought him critical acclaim. His album “An evening with Ramesh Jalota” has been a bestseller. Other than singing his own ghazals, he also sings the ghazals penned by Nida Fazli, Gulzar and Bashir Badr. Ask him how he crossed over to ghazals from bhajans, and he laughs it off saying: “ Bhajan comes from the consciousness, while ghazals come from the heart. Since consciousness is related to God, and the heart experiences the varied human feelings. Thus I manage to tide over both these forms of singing with ease.” |
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Forum flays CM’s statement
Panchkula, July 29 Contest A word power competition was organised at Shishu Niketan Public School here to encourage students and assess their command over the English language. Tulip House won the first prize in the Junior section. Jasmine House won the first prize in the senior section.
Bank cell The State Bank of Patiala has set up a cell for senior citizens at its main branch at Kalka to provide efficient services to the elderly. Branch manager S.C. Dhall said it was the first time such a cell was being set up by a bank at Kalka. |
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Body found hanging from tree; youth immolates self
Chandigarh, July 29 Jaswinder Singh was not married. He reportedly told the police that he did not want to add more years to his life and wanted to end it. He gave no reason as to why he wanted to die. Jaswinder Singh had a shop in Sector 40, the police said. According to the police, Ram Bachan Yadav seemed to be alone as there was none from his family in the city. |
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Five booked for minor’s abduction Zirakpur, July 29 The Dera Bassi police has booked five suspects — Banwari, Dangri, Rani, Nikka and one unidentified person — on directions of the Senior Superintendent of Police, Patiala, under Sections 363, 364 and 120-B of the IPC. Earlier, Ms Suman, mother of the girl, in a complaint to the SSP, had alleged that the said persons helped certain persons in abducting her daughter on July 9. The persons abducted the girl when she had gone to answer the call of nature near a slum. The persons also offered her ‘burfi’ following which the girl fell unconscious. Later they took her to Ambala city. She was later allegedly raped by Danveer, Nikka, Banwari and Ram Singh, said Ms Suman. She further alleged that Jugal Kishore, their accomplice, also helped the four in committing the crime. The youth and the girl were later recovered by the brother and sister-in-law of the girl from Ambala city, he claimed. In her complaint to the SSP, Ms Suman alleged that the despite repeated representations the local police turned a deaf ear to their grievances. |
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3 arrested for assaulting IT official
Zirakpur, July 29 The arrested persons are Santokh Singh, lambardar, Desh Aman and Jagtar Singh. Meanwhile, the accused were granted bail in the evening. |
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Driver held on abduction charge
Panchkula, July 29 After Gurmeet and the girl were caught by the police, they were taken to the General Hospital and a medical examination was done. The girl was sent home. |
BIS helping industry improve
quality
Mohali, July 29 In his keynote address, Mr Sharma said the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) was a standard body engaged in the formulation of national standards as well as certification of products and services. ‘‘The regional office of the BIS is situated in Chandigarh and it covers the states of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pardesh, Jammu and Kashmir and some parts of Uttar Pradesh. This office offers various types of services to the industry in the region and has helped entrepreneurs as well as the industry to upgrade the quality of the products as well as the services being generated through implementation of standardisation,’’ he said. He added that the certification marks scheme had been popular and it had also gained the confidence of consumers. Under the scheme, more than 2,500 units in the region were registered with the BIS and were providing certified quality products to the consumers. Mr Sharma informed the audience that the BIS had a well-equipped laboratory in Mohali. Apart from the infrastructure as well as the testing facilities, the laboratory was supported by a team of over 30 qualified experts. |
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