02042025-CT-01.qxd 4/2/2025 12:55 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune ‘RISE IN AWARENESS BEHIND REPORTING OF AUTISM CASES’ TWO GET 5-YEAR JAIL FOR SNATCHING GOLD EARRINGS SATIRICAL JIBE AT THE MAHARASHTRA GOVT AGAIN Experts stress importance of awareness, acceptance and understanding of autism spectrum disorder. P2 Court sentences Mohit and Suraj, both residents of Mohali district, to five-year RI in snatching case. P3 Kamra posts a step-by-step guide on 'How to Kill An Artiste Democratically' amid the ongoing controversy. P4 » » WHAT’S ON CHANDIGARH Protest march on campus |Varsity bans entry of outsiders from today Deepankar Sharda Tribune News Service Tree walk: By Chandigarh Tree Lovers, Botanical Garden, Panjab University, April 6, 8 am, register for free by dropping an email at chandigarhtreelovers@gm ail.com before April 5, with the contact details and number of participants Cotton and Silk Expo: Himachal Bhawan, Sector 28, on till April 3 APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 15, 40, 46 and 52 Panchkula: Sector 25 Mohali: Phase11 Please send information about events in tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com INBRIEF OPD OF RADIATION ONCOLOGY SHIFTED Chandigarh: The Radiation Oncology OPD of Government Medical College and Hospital, Sector 32, has been relocated to Sector 48 South Campus Hospital from April 1. The OPD will function from room number 301-306 on the second floor of the building. A free ambulance service has been arranged for transportation of patients from Sector 32 to Sector 48. It will be available opposite D Block. TNS AAP PROTESTS MC FIREMEN SACKING Chandigarh: A delegation of the Aam Aadmi Party, led by its chief Vijay Pal Singh, met MC Commissioner Amit Kumar and lodged a protest against ‘unwarranted’ sacking of 47 firemen and 16 drivers of the Fire and Rescue Services. TNS Raj Kumar Singh gets officiating charge of UT DGP Chandigarh, April 1 A 2004-batch AGMUT cadre IPS officer Raj Kumar Singh has been entrusted with the officiating charge of the Director General of Police (DGP), Chandigarh, after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) today shifted Surendra Singh Yadav, a 1997-batch AGMUT-cadre officer, as the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) in the Border Security Force (BSF) on a deputation. The authorities in Chandigarh were requested to facilitate the smooth transition of responsibilities as Yadav takes on his new role in the BSF. — TNS Chandigarh, April 1 The UT Administration has ordered a magisterial inquiry into the stabbing incident during a music concert at Panjab University on March 28, which claimed the life of Aditya Thakur (22), a student of the University Institute of Engineering and Technology. Besides, the university authorities have banned the entry of outsiders on the campus from tomorrow. The directive applies to all campuses and buildings located in Sector 14 and Sector 25. The inquiry, ordered by the office of the District Magistrate-cum-Deputy Commissioner, will be conducted by Sub-Divisional Magistrate (Central) Naveen. He has been asked to submit a report within two weeks. “The inquiry officer will have the liberty to associate any personnel of the university along with other stakeholders associated in organising the (Friday’s) concert,” read the order. The probe will consider various aspects, including the circumstances under which Aditya was stabbed during/after the concert and security lapses. The SDM will also give recommendation in respect of preparing a standard operating procedure to be followed while organising such event/concert/shows on the university campus so as to prevent such incidents. In a public notice-cum- A UT cop speaks to victim Aditya Thakur’s father during a protest at the PU on Tuesday. PRADEEP TEWARI office order, PU Registrar Prof YP Verma stated that no outsider would be allowed entry on the university premises from April 2. “All students, employees and other stakeholders are urgently required to carry and display their identity cards on their person while entering the university. Henceforth, checking of vehicles and persons entering the university campuses (from different gates) and buildings will be a regular feature,” he said. Meanwhile, emotions ran high as never-before scenes were witnessed on the PU campus with students and members of political groups taking out a huge march along with the victim’s family. Ironically, even as Aditya was fatally stabbed by out- siders, non-students were part of the march today. Aditya’s father Parveen Thakur, who was among the protesters, said, “I demand justice from the university authorities, the Chandigarh Police and whoever is responsible. All accused should be arrested soon and a fair trial should be conducted against all of them.” The campus was turned into a fortress with heavy deployment of cops since morning on Tuesday. The march covered various departments and Student Centre before reaching Gate No. 2 (opposite Sector 15) where the protesters sat and demanded ‘justice’. The protesters then marched to the office of Vice-Chancellor. VC Renu Vig assured them that they were taking action in the case. “The police have failed to reveal the role of the four persons arrested in the case. There were many other culprits and we have been kept in the dark. The university authorities are not providing any detail as to who was responsible for the security lapse, which led to the incident,” said a student leader addressing protesters. After demanding resignation of the Dean Student Welfare (DSW) and the Chief Security Officer, the protesters are now seeking resignations of DSW (Women) and associate DSWs. By the evening, the Panjab University Campus Students Council (PUCSC) president said the Continued on page 2 FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE MAYOR’S ELECTION Cong panel to identify those who cross-voted Chandigarh, April 1 Nearly two months after mayoral elections, the Chandigarh unit of the Congress has constituted a three-member fact-finding committee to identify the councillors who indulged in cross-voting leading to election of a BJP mayor. During the elections on January 30, three cross-votes from the Congress-AAP alliance had helped BJP’s Harpreet Kaur Babla become the first citizen. Chandigarh Pradesh Congress Committee (CPCC) president HS Lucky stated that the fact-finding committee would investigate and identify those behind the cross-voting. The committee has been tasked with speaking to all concerned individuals and submitting a report based on its findings. The members of the committee include vice-presidents of city’s Congress unit Jatinder Bhatia and Pawan Sharma, and senior Congress leader NK Nanda. The alliance has 20 votes, including 13 of AAP councillors, six of Congress and one vote of MP Manish Tewari as ex officio member. It was expecting a comfortable victory during the mayoral elections. However, three cross-votes helped Harpreet secure 19 votes, defeating AAP candidate Prem Lata by two votes. Sources said AAP had also decided to form a similar committee to identify who voted for the BJP candidate. — TNS A closed liquor shop in Sector 22 on Tuesday. PRADEEP TEWARI Apex court vacates stay, liquor vends in UT to open today Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 1 The Supreme Court has paved the way for opening of liquor vends in the city from tomorrow. On March 26, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had issued a notice of motion to the Chandigarh Administration for April 3 while ordering the maintenance of status quo on three petitions challenging the tendering process for liquor vends. The HC had ordered that vends allotted under the previous Excise Policy will not operate beyond March 31, while the new ones allotted through a tendering process will not start operations till April 3 – the next date of hearing in the case. Disposing of a petition filed by the Chandigarh Administration, the apex court vacated the stay on the order of the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The Supreme Court grant- Tewari, traders, residents slam Retd Colonel loses life savings UT over steep property tax hike in ~3.4-cr digital arrest fraud Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 1 MP Manish Tewari, traders and city residents today criticised the UT Administration for exorbitantly increasing the property tax levied on private residential and commercial units. Tewari stated that a table agenda to increase property tax was brought before the General House of the Municipal Corporation (MC) on February 17 and it was subsequently withdrawn before it could even be deliberated upon. “How can property tax be levied by the MC without the House being given a chance of even discussing it, much less passing it?” he questioned. “This is tantamount to subverting the constitutional mandate of the MC House,” he said, and added that had the House rejected the table agenda, even then under Section 423 of the Punjab Municipal Corporation Act-1976, a show-cause notice had to be issued by the government to the House through the MC commissioner before any proceedings are annulled or modified or held to be illegal. “What has happened is a complete travesty, if not a perverse illegality. The MC must uphold its constitutional remit and the power given to it under the Constitution of India,” he said. Expressing strong opposition to the hike in tax on commercial properties, the Chandigarh Beopar Mandal (CBM) condemned the UT Adminis- ❝ A table agenda to raise property tax brought before the General House was withdrawn before it was even deliberated upon. How can the MC levy tax without giving the House a chance of even discussing it, much less passing it? ❞ — Manish Tewari, CHANDIGARH MP tration and the MC’s decision, calling it “anti-commerce” and “unjustified”. CBM president Sanjeev Chadha said the hike was irrational and would harm businesses, which were already striving to survive. The CBM demanded that the UT Administrator, the MC commissioner and the Mayor reconsider the tax hike. Baljinder Singh Bittu, chairman, Federation of Sector Welfare Associations of Chandigarh (FOSWAC), said the exorbitant increase in property tax coming right after the heavy burden of enhanced collector rates came as a bolt from the blue for city residents. “Both the Chandigarh Administration and the MC are apparently mismanaged financially. Instead of curbing their wasteful expenditure, they are unfairly burdening the residents,” he said. FOSWAC strongly opposed the three-fold increase in property tax and demanded its immediate rollback. “If the decision is not revoked, we will have no choice but to take to the streets,” said Bittu. The Chandigarh Resident Associations Welfare Federation (CRAWFED) also expressed strong resentment against the increase in various taxes by the civic body. CRAWFED chairman Hitesh Puri alleged that the MC coffers were empty and the Centre was sending no money. “The corporation is resorting to punishing people for its failures by drastically increasing the rates of various services without proposing any improvement in it. This has caused great resentment among both the common people and the business community.” The Chandigarh Congress has decided to gherao the MC office on Friday to protest against the unprecedented hike in property tax. City Congress president HS Lucky said the hike was an outright exploitation of the public. He accused the local BJP unit of being complicit in the Administration’s decisions. “After an exorbitant increase in the collector rates, this sudden spike in property tax will add to the financial strain on residents. This is nothing short of daylight robbing of the residents’ hardearned money,” said Lucky. c m y b MAX 33°C | MIN 16°C YESTERDAY MAX 32.6°C | MIN 16.4°C SUNRISE THURSDAY 6.09 AM /THETRIBUNECHD Magisterial probe ordered into PU student’s stabbing MAINLY CLEAR SKY SUNSET WEDNESDAY 6.42 PM » WEDNESDAY | 2 APRIL 2025 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST ed two-week period to the Chandigarh Administration and Kler Wines and others to complete the ‘pleadings’, and directed the High Court to take up the matter for final disposal on the next day of the completion of ‘pleadings’. The Chandigarh liquor vend tendering process for 2025-26 came under judicial scrutiny after a contractor alleged cartelisation and non-compliance with the Excise Policy. One of the petitions in the HC contended that the tendering results revealed that 87 out of 97 vends had been allocated to just two or three individuals operating under different firm names or through their relatives, associates, and employees. Challenging the notice inviting tender dated March 13, M/s Kler Wines and another petitioner had argued that the entire process had been conducted in contravention of prescribed rules. SCOOTERIST’S DEATH Fake ED officials fabricated money laundering case Court grants Porsche driver pre-arrest bail Sheetal Tribune News Service Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 1 A 10-day digital arrest ordeal fraught with threatening video calls and fake court notices saw 82-year-old retired Colonel Dalip Singh and his wife Ranvinder Kaur Bajwa lose their entire life savings worth Rs 3.4 crore to swindlers posing as Enforcement Directorate officials. The couple, residents of Sector 2-A, Chandigarh, filed a complaint with the Cyber Cell of Chandigarh Police after being alerted by an acquaintance. A case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita has since been registered and police are probing the matter. The ordeal began on March 18 when Singh received a WhatsApp call from an unknown number. The caller falsely accused him of being involved in a money laundering case linked to an account at a Canara Bank’s branch in Mumbai. Col Dalip Singh (retd) shows a questionnaire sent by scamsters. Recalling the ordeal, Singh’s wife said, “We got a call from an international number with the caller saying that we are under scanner for involvement in a money laundering case linked with Jet Airways owner Naresh Goyal, who had been in the news for bungling. They told us that there’s an account under my husband’s name, Dalip Singh Bajwa, in Mumbai and even showed a card with his name on it. Everything looked real at the time.” The scamsters, after showing the card with Singh’s name on it, alleged that he was connected to a Rs 5,038crore fraud. They sent the couple photos of 24 supposed victims, falsely claiming that one had ended his life and that a whistleblower had been murdered by Goyal. For the next 10 days, between March 18 and March 27, Continued on page 2 Chandigarh, April 1 A local court has granted anticipatory bail to Sanjeev Baboota, the driver of a Porsche car that rammed into a scooter and claimed the life of its rider at Sector 4 here on March 10. The police had registered the FIR on a complaint of a woman who had stated that she was riding a scooter when a white car driven by the accused allegedly crashed into another scooter, which was ahead of her. The car driver the allegedly dragged the scooterist, identified as Ankit, before crashing into a pole. The 27-yearold injured rider was taken to a hospital in Sector 16 where he died. The car driver had also rammed his car into the complainant’s scooter due to which she fell down. Terminder Singh, the counsel for the accused, argued that the accused joined the Continued on page 2 UT sees slight rise in GST mop-up in March Chandigarh, April 1 The Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection in the city witnessed an increase of just 1% in the month of March against the gross levy collected during the corresponding period last year. According to the Ministry of Finance, the GST collection for March this year stood at Rs 241 crore, Rs 3 crore more than Rs 238 crore mopped up during the same month in 2024. The GST collection in February was Rs 236 crore, Rs 25 crore (12%) more than Rs 211 crore collected during the same month in 2024. After witnessing a decline in December last year, the GST collection in January saw an increase of 8% compared to the revenue generated during the corresponding period in 2024. In December last year, the GST collection saw a decline of 20%. The tax collection saw a growth of 20% in November 2024. The collection for Octo- ber stood at Rs 243 crore, Rs 33 crore more than the corresponding month in 2023. There was a decline of 10% in September, while August saw an increase of 27% in levy receipts. The collection for August stood at Rs 244 crore, Rs 52 crore more than the tax collected in 2023. — TNS