Liquor bottles seized, 2 held

Kharar: The police have arrested two persons following the recovery of illegal liquor from their possession. The police have laid a naka at the Khanpur T-point. A car bearing registration number HR70-9062 was stopped for checking at the naka. During the search, eight boxes of liquor were recovered from the vehicle. Supinder could not produce any document or licence for the liquor boxes. In another case, the police stopped a motorcyclist for checking. During the search, 12 bottles of liquor were recovered from his possession. The suspect has been identified as Kuldeep Singh, a resident of Ghoga near Nijjer road. OC

One held for illegal mining

Dera Bassi: The police arrested a man for illegal mining and seized a loaded tractor-trailer here on Thursday. The suspect has been identified as Rajesh Kumar, a resident of Paragpur village here. According to the police, a naka was laid near the Dera Bassi bus stand when Kumar, who was coming on his sand-laden tractor-trailer, was signalled to stop. The police said the suspect could not produce any valid document about the material loaded in the vehicle. A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Mining Act at the Dera Bassi police station. Kumar was produced in the court which remanded him to judicial custody. OC

Annual meet of surgeons ends

Chandigarh: Over 500 paediatric surgeons from various parts of the country, SAARC, Middle East, the US and other European countries participated in the 44th annual conference of the Indian Association of Paediatric Surgeons. The conference, which was organised in conjunction with the annual meeting of the Federation of Associations of Paediatric Surgeons from SAARC countries, concluded here recently. Prof Ram Samujh, Head, Department of Paediatric Surgery, said a one-day nursing CME was also organised. More than 100 nurses interested in paediatric surgical care attended the CME. Prof Jagat Ram, Director, PGI, was the chief guest, while Mark Devenport, president of the Federation of Associations of Paediatric Surgeons from SAARC, was the guest of honour.  TNS

Baltana resident held with heroin

Chandigarh: The police have arrested a resident of Baltana in Zirakpur with 36 grams of heroin. According to the police, the accused, Parveen Kumar, was nabbed near Sant Nirankari Bhawan at Mauli Jagran village. A case under the NDPS Act has been registered against him at the Mauli Jagran police station. Cops are investigating from where the accused procured the contraband. TNS

CHB holds camp for allottees

Chandigarh: As part of the Vigilance Awareness Week, the Chandigarh Housing Board (CHB) organised its first ‘Samadhaan Shivir’ to resolve issues of the allottees on the spot. The camp was held under the supervision of the Chief Executive Officer and the Secretary of the CHB. Forty-one allottees aired their grievances at the camp. Over 90 per cent of the problems were resolved on the spot. TNS

Complaint box at Raj Bhawan

Chandigarh: City residents can now drop their complaints, grievances and suggestions/feedback in the form of letter at the Administrator’s open house grievance box kept outside Punjab Raj Bhawan in Sector 6 here. The grievances received shall be taken up by officials of the respective departments on a daily basis and the interim status shall be communicated to the complainant. The UT Administrator will take up the matter with the complainant if the department concerned failed to redress the grievance. It is yet another step towards increasing accessibility, transparency and efficiency of the UT Administration. Earlier, the UT Administrator had held an open house session where he heard out people. Last month, the Administrator's Complaint Box was installed at the UT Secretariat in Sector 9. TNS

Two sweets units challaned

Chandigarh: A team of Food Safety Administration, Health Department, on Thursday conducted raids in Daria and Kishangarh villages and Bapu Dham Colony. Six samples of sweets made of milk products were seized during the raids and challans were issued to two units where sweets were being prepared in unhygienic conditions. Around 2.4 quintal of sweets lying in unhygienic condition were destroyed by the food safety team. TNS

Traders meet MC chief

Chandigarh: A delegation of Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM) met MC Commissioner KK Yadav and demanded that the vending zones be notified immediately and vendors shifted from market complexes to designated places. CBM chairman Charanjiv Singh said the rates for garbage collection from commercial establishment were very high and should be brought down.  Ravikant Sharma, councillor and CBM adviser, said due representation should be given to the traders’ body by including the names of two of its senior office-bearers in the Town Vending Committee so that there should not be any confusion or conflict while earmarking the vending zones. The Municipal Commissioner assured the delegation of considering their demands. CBM president Anil Vohra and advisers Jagtar Singh and Balwinder Singh were part of the delegation. TNS

Fatal mishap: Cop walks free 

Chandigarh: A UT police constable was acquitted of the charges of causing death due to negligence and rash driving due to lack of evidence. The cop had allegedly hit a motorcycle with the police recovery van, resulting in the death of the rider. However, the allegations could not be proved in court and the constable walked free. On June 8, 2016, Constable Manjeet Singh was booked under Sections 279, 337, 338 and 304A of the IPC. Later, Section 304A was added to the case. The victim, Nitin Kumar of Khuda Lahora, was injured in the accident and succumbed to his injuries a day after. However, the constable's lawyer stated that some other vehicle had hit the motorcycle and Manjeet had reached there to help the rider. The accident had taken place at around 9 am when Nitin was returning home. The FIR had stated that Manjeet had fled from the spot after the accident. However, the defence stated that it was Manjeet who took the rider to the hospital. TNS

Anticipatory bail plea rejected

Chandigarh: A local court dismissed an anticipatory bail application of NR Munjal, managing director-cum-chairman of Ind-Swift Group of Companies, which is under scanner for allegedly evading VAT running into crores. A former accountant of the firm, Vipin Mishra, was arrested on September 12 in the case. On July 17 this year, the VAT tribunal court was being held with UT Adviser Parimal Rai presiding over. The firm was imposed a VAT of Rs 5.9 crore by the Excise Department. On being asked by the Adviser, the company's counsel said the matter was resolved on March 31, 2015. It added that the Excise Department had challaned them and they had paid Rs 5,000. The Adviser then asked how could a sum of Rs 5.9 crore could be knocked off by a mere Rs 5,000. An inquiry was marked and the fraud was unearthed, following which the Vigilance Department registered a case. TNS

Inter-school debate

Patiala: A student of Our Lady of Fatima Secondary School, Simarleen Kaur Bajwa, bagged the best speaker award at the annual inter-school debate competition, organised by The British Co-Ed High School, Patiala, in the memory of its first founder chairman, Sardar Amar Singh Kamboj, here recently. St Stephen’s School, Chandigarh, emerged as the winner of the English debate competition. As many as 10 teams from leading schools from the region – Budha Dal Public School (Patiala), Kaintal School (Sr) (Patiala), St Stephen’s School (Chandigarh), General Gurnam Singh Public School (Sangrur), Our Lady of Fatima Secondary School (Patiala), Yadavindra Public School (Patiala), Wynberg Allen School, Mussoorie, Yadavindra Public School (Mohali), Stawberry Fields High School (Chandigarh) and The British Co-Ed High School (Patiala) – participated in the debate. The competition was organised to promote proficiency in the articulation of thoughts and public speaking wherein the topic of debate was “Renewable forms of energy should be subsidised by the government”. TNS