05052022-CT-01.qxd 5/5/2022 12:57 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh TRIBUNE THURSDAY | 5 MAY 2022 | CHANDIGARH MIDDUKHERA CASE: MOTIVE OF MURDER STILL NOT CLEAR Police still trying to join dots in the sequence of events that led to the murder of YAD leader Middukhera. FORECAST PARTLY CLOUDY TRICITY COVID REPORT CHD P’KULA MOHALI POSITIVE 92,097 44,197 95,828 RECOVERED 90,865 43,762 94,623 NEW CASES 5 3 10 ACTIVE 67 21 57 CHANGE 3 4 DEATHS 1,165 414 1,148 NEW 0 0 0 AIR QUALITY INDEX CHANDIGARH 98 PANCHKULA 107 MOHALI 105 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD INBRIEF PERSON ARRESTED WITH ILLICIT LIQUOR Panchkula: The Pinjore police have nabbed a person for possessing 200 cartons of illicit liquor being carried in a vehicle bearing a Himachal registration number. The suspect has been identified as Vishal Thakur, a resident of Saradh Mangli village in Kangra district of Himachal. According to the police, a team of the Excise Department, along with police personnel, arrested the suspect during a special checking drive. A case under the Excise Act has been registered against him at the Pinjore police station. He was produced in a court on Wednesday, which remanded him in two-day police custody. TNS PAGE 2 HARYANA WARRIORS, BEAS XI WIN TITLES IN CRICKET LEAGUE Zirakpur: Two unidentified youths attacked a journalist with a baseball bat and an iron rod and robbed him of his wallet and a mobile phone in Zirakpur on Tuesday night. The victim, Alok Verma, a journalist with a Hindi newspaper, suffered serious injuries on his head when the robbers attacked him while he was returning home after duty. He was admitted to a hospital. A case has been registered. TNS In city, computer instructors not paid for 5 months Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 4 As many as 115 senior and 48 junior computer instructors working in various government schools in the city have not been paid salaries for the past five months. The problem has been persisting for a long time and the instructors allege that do not get paid on time. As many as 150 senior and junior computer continued on page 3 MAX 37°C | MIN 24°C | YESTERDAY MAX 33.3°C | MIN 26.3°C SUNSET THURSDAY 7:02 PM TWITTER/THETRIBUNECHD FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE Rain cools down city as mercury dips 4°C Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 4 Rain brought the much-needed relief to residents of the city from the scorching heat after a long spell of summer. With intermittent rain since early morning and thundershowers at many places, the maximum temperature dropped by 4°C in the city. The maximum temperature was 33.3°C, whereas the minimum temperature remained at 26.3°C, five notches above normal, said the Meteorological Department. The department said the city today received a total of 6.2-mm rainfall. Areas near Panjab University also received hail in the morning. The Met office has predicted that there would be no significant change in the maximum temperature in the city during the next two days and will rise by three to four degrees thereafter. The department said the sky would be partly cloudy tomorrow and light rain could also take place as a western disturbance cycle was still Brings much-needed respite to people from scorching heat; light rain likely today 6.2 MM TOTAL RAINFALL 33.3°C MAX TEMPERATURE Vehicles move on a waterlogged road after rain in the Industrial Area, Phase 1, Chandigarh, on Wednesday; and (right) children on the way to school. PHOTOS: NITIN MITTAL & MANOJ MAHAJAN active. From Friday onwards, the sky would remain clear. It started raining early in the morning and a storm during the afternoon left several areas without power. An official of the department said the heat wave was expected to return after the end of the rainy spell. Admn speeds up process for installation of 2 solar plants One to come up at Sec 39, other at Sec 42 lake parking Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 4 The Chandigarh Renewable Energy and Science and Technology Promotion Society (CREST) has expedited the process of installation of two solar plants in the city. The executive committee of CREST today approval a tender for setting up of a 2 MWp floating solar power plant at the Sector 39 waterworks and a 800 kWp solar plant at the Sector 42 lake parking. In addition to producing power, the Sector 39 project will prevent the evaporation of up to 382 million litres of water annually and the Sector 42 lake project will also provide shelter to vehicles parked underneath it while generating electricity. Debendra Dalai, Chief Executive Officer, CREST, said the 2MWp solar plant at the waterworks would be completed at a cost of ~11.70 crore, while the 800 kWp plant would cost nearly ~4.66 core. Both projects would be completed within four months, he said. The Sector 39 waterworks plant of the Municipal Corporation (MC) could help earn a revenue of around ~1.38 crore WILL ALSO PREVENT WATER EVAPORATION In addition to producing power, the Sector 39 project will prevent the evaporation of up to 382 million litres of water annually and the Sector 42 lake project will also provide shelter to vehicles parked underneath it while generating electricity. annually. The plant will generate 28 lakh units per annum and will be set up under the CAPEX mode where all expenditure will be borne by CREST. Of the total, 70 per cent of the revenue (~97.21 lakh) will go to the UT Administration and 30 per cent (~41.66 lakh) to the cash-starved MC. As per the construction layout plan provided by the MC to the agency, the construction of a few water tanks is to be completed before the site will be handed over to CREST for installing the plant. The MC House has already approved the project. CREST is the agency for the implementation of various rooftop solar projects in the city. The Science and Technology Department of the UT Administration will bear the entire cost of the project to come up on two water tanks. The waterworks has eight tanks. This solar plant is initially planned on two tanks with a capacity of around 1 MW each and after that other tanks will be covered. Dalai said the project would help meet the solar power target of the Administration. The Administration has kept a target of 75 MW of solar power by August 2023 and efforts are being made to complete the target by identifying buildings for plants. As per records, the Administration has achieved 46.2 MW so far. The green energy generated from the Sector 42 lake parking will meet the power requirement of the new building of the UT Secretariat in Sector 9. A floating solar power plant, which will produce 500 kilowatts peak (kWp) of power will also be set up at the Dhanas lake. Respite for those suffering from respiratory diseases Tribune News Service GYM OWNER MOWED DOWN YOUTH WITH BMW IN SECTOR 22 MARKET In a recent case, a Nawanshahr gym owner, Swapan Preet Singh (26), was arrested for allegedly mowing down a 24-year-old youth with his car near a hotel in a Sector 22 market on Friday around 11.30 pm. The victim, identified as Shubham, a resident of Dadu Majra Colony, died during treatment at the PGI on Monday. and female, including collegegoing students and gym trainers — working as bouncers in the tricity. Invariably, it begins with brawls outside pubs, nightclubs and gyms. A tiff over a girlfriend, parking space, in a movie hall or in eateries often turns ugly and leads to bigger crime. In the recent case, a Nawanshahr gym owner, Swapan Preet Singh (26), was arrested for allegedly mowing down a 24-year-old youth with his car near a hotel in a Sector 22 market on Friday around 11.30 pm. The victim, identified as Shub- ham, a resident of Dadu Majra Colony, died during treatment at the PGI on Monday. A case has been registered against Swapan Preet Singh for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 (1) of the IPC at the Sector 17 police station. c m y b PAGE 3 Chandigarh Badminton Association to bid for hosting a national ranking U-19 badminton championship. SUNRISE FRIDAY 5:36 AM 2 of Bishnoi gang held with two pistols, mobike Tribune News Service Mohali, May 4 The police have arrested two members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and recovered two pistols and a stolen motorcycle from them. The suspects have been identified as Muktsar residents Manjinder Singh (24), and Dilabg Singh (29). A case under the Arms Act was registered at the Sohana police station on March 29. The duo has been remanded in five-day police custody. The police said the duo was planning to extort money from people in Mohali and other areas, but was held during a naka recently. They were allegedly working for the Bishnoi gang for the past one year. Dilbagh Singh has earlier been booked in cases of rape, theft, rioting and fraud in 2011 and 2019. The police said a .30 bore pistol and two live rounds, a 315 bore pistol and one round and a stolen motorcycle were recovered from them. The wheat harvesting season has led to a spurt in patients suffering from respiratory diseases. The ongoing harvesting and pollen season has triggered cases of asthma, acute bronchitis and pulmonary obstructive diseases. Truck mows down man on road median Pb varsity set to host Naidu for convocation tomorrow Tribune News Service VC holds meeting |1,119 PhD degrees to be awarded Mohali, May 4 A middle-aged man sitting on the median of a road was run over by a speeding truck in the Industrial Area, Phase 8, here today. The police said the deceased had been identified as Sanju, aged around 35 years, who was a vagabond. Tribune News Service Driver flees; vehicle goes missing after sometime He was taking shelter near a footpath during the rain around 3 pm. A speeding truck went out of control and hit him. After the incident, the driver of the truck fled from the spot, leaving the vehicle behind. The police said the vehicle was at the spot for sometime as the crowd gathered around the deceased. Later, the vehicle went missing under mysterious circumstances. The police have registered a case against the absconding driver under Section 304-A of the IPC at the Phase 8 police station. The police are searching for the owner on the basis of the registration number of the vehicle. No family member has come to claim the body, which has been kept in the mortuary of the Civil Hospital, Phase 6. Crime incidents show gym owners, bouncers in poor light Chandigarh, May 4 Over the years, the involvement of gym owners and bouncers in crime has gone up in the tricity. Whether it is about cases of rioting, murder, road rage or negligent driving, they are often found on the wrong side of law. The urge to dominate and establish an intimidating presence in their business or social life often turns out to be their Achilles’ heel. Mostly, youngsters are involved in crime incidents and slowly get sucked into the world of crime. As per conservative estimates, there are 400 persons — male BADMINTON ASSN TO VIE FOR HOSTING NATIONAL C’SHIP Haryana Warriors defeat Punjab Warriors to win the wheelchair category final of the Divyang Cricket League. Dushyant Singh Pundir SCRIBE ROBBED OF WALLET, PHONE PAGE 3 The complainant, Mani Khosla, a friend of the deceased and eyewitness, said on Friday night, he, Shubham, Tanish and Manthan were standing on the rear side of a liquor vend and were waiting on the road for a cab they had booked. A BMW car driver suddenly came there and applied brakes just in front of them. The car slightly brushed against Shubham’s leg. There were some arguments and counter-arguments between the two, following which one of them threatened to hit the other with the car while the other dared him to do it so. continued on page 2 Chandigarh, May 4 The Panjab University ViceChancellor, Prof Raj Kumar, today headed a meeting of various committees formed ahead of the Chancellor’s visit, scheduled for May 6. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu, who is also the Chancellor of Panjab University, is scheduled to visit the campus for the 69th convocation of the university on May 6. “Ahead of his visit, Prof Raj Kumar held an important meeting of all committees set up to make the convocation a success. A rehearsal was also held this evening. Over 100 faculty members have been assigned different duties,” However, the rain brought a smile on the faces of patients suffering from such diseases as it settled down pollen suspended in the air. M Venkaiah Naidu said a senior functionary of the university. As many as 1,119 PhD degrees are to be given during the convocation. “A rehearsal for students is scheduled for May 5. The rehearsal as well as the convocation will be held at the gymnasium hall of the university,” he said. The convocation will be held after a gap of two years and only PhD degrees, three honoris causa degrees and six Panjab University Ratnas will be conferred this time. The security forces are expected to set up a war room and cordon off the venue tomorrow evening. “There will be tight security inside the campus and a trial run will be organised by security personnel tomorrow. Various advisories have already been issued to campus residents and students. Three parking lots have been allotted for smooth traffic inside the campus. To avoid any untoward incident, we will conduct a meeting of all stakeholders tomorrow,” said another senior official. HC quashes FIR against IGP Cheema was booked in a case of alleged abduction, trespass Saurabh Malik Tribune News Service Chandigarh, May 4 More than two years after Punjab Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Gautam Cheema was booked in a case alleged abduction, trespass, criminal conspiracy, wrongful confinement and other offences, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today quashed the FIR registered against him and another accused. The ruling by Justice Arvind Singh Sangwan came on petitions against the Central Bureau of Investigation and other respondents by Cheema and the other accused through senior counsel Bipan Ghai with Rishabh Singla. Justice Sangwan observed that the allegations levelled in the FIR were that the complainant, ASI Dilbagh Singh, received information at the Mohali Phase I police station that a proclaimed offender, Sumedh Gulati, was present at Max Hospital. He was later taken in custody. In the meantime, Cheema came in an inebriated condition and took Gulati with him in his private car. Asserting that the allegations were not established, Justice Sangwan observed that there was no medical record that Cheema was in an inebriated condition. Also, there was no CCTV footage to show Cheema visited the Phase I police station. Even the DDR entry showing the arrest of Gulati was not there. Justice Sangwan added that the CBI investigation showed that Cheema came in a separate car. Gulati, along with his wife, was in another car. ASI Dilbagh Singh came in a third car. Later, Dilbagh Singh took Gulati with him. Thereafter, he registered a DDR in the police station regarding his arrest. “The investigation is silent about any evidence to prove the visit of Cheema to the police station, where he allegedly abducted Gulati. Rather, the investigation reveals that it is petitioner Aryan Singh who informed Cheema about the movement of Gulati, and Cheema told him to inform the police,” Justice Sangwan asserted. Before parting with the case, Justice Sangwan observed that as per the investigation, both petitioners, being vigilant citizens, rightly informed the police about the free movement of a proclaimed offender. Therefore, the prosecution of petitioner-Aryan Singh in just continued on page 3