17062026-CT-01.qxd 6/17/2026 1:22 AM Page 1 c m y b Chandigarh tribune POST SHOOTING, CHEMIST SHOP PUTS UP WARNING DIKSHANT ACADEMY WINS U-15 FOOTBALL LEAGUE TITLE ANYA TAYLOR-JOY JOINS CAST OF FANTASY EPIC In ‘warning’ notice, Sector 11 chemist asks customers not to wear hoodies, hats, helmets or sunglasses. P3 Dikshant Football Academy, Zirakpur, emerges triumphant in U-15 event of Chandigarh Football League. P3 Anya Taylor-Joy joins cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, the upcoming fantasy epic. P4 » » Tribune News Service A woman riding a bicycle keeps her face covered to escape the scorching sun in Chandigarh on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: RAVI KUMAR 73 PANCHKULA 68 401-500 301-400 201-300 101-200 51-100 0-50 SEVERE VERY POOR POOR MODERATE SATISFACTORY GOOD WHAT’S ON APNI MANDI Chandigarh: Sectors 15, 40, 46 Please send information about events in Tricity at: whatson@tribunemail.com Chandigarh, June 16 The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a chargesheet against 13 accused in a case pertaining to misappropriation of funds from the Chandigarh Renewable Energy Science & Technical Promotion Society (CREST) accounts in IDFC First Bank. Five officials of IDFC First Bank, two CREST officials, two shell entities and four private persons have been made the accused in the nearly 240-page chargesheet filed before the court of Special Judge (CBI), Chandigarh, on Tuesday. All accused persons are presently in judicial custody. They have been accused of offences of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, destruction of evidence and corruption. The case pertains to over Rs 75.34 crore siphoned off by bank officials in criminal connivance with CREST officials. The funds were then diverted in connivance with several private persons, who too benefited from the fraud. The Reconstitute expert committee for Master Plan amendment: MP Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 16 MP Manish Tewari has submitted a set of objections to Chief Secretary H Rajesh Prasad against the Chandigarh Administration’s draft amendments to the Master Plan-2031, flagging procedural lapses, infrastructural gaps and threats to the city’s heritage character under the Centre’s Deregulation 1.0 and 2.0 initiatives. Tewari has objected to the constitution of the Expert Committee that recommended the amendments, noting it comprised 11 government officers with no independent heritage expert, environmentalist or public representative, in contravention of the Chandigarh Master Plan2031’s Section 8.10 mandate for a multidisciplinary panel. He demanded that the committee be reconstituted with at least six independent Manish Tewari, MP experts and two public representatives. The Administration had invited objections within 21 days to the office of the Chief Architect, Department of Urban Planning, but Tewari has called this insufficient given the scale of changes, pointing out that CMP-2015 had a 60-day consultation window with ward hearings. He also flagged the absence of any publicly disclosed traffic impact assessment, environmental impact assessment, utility load assessment or heritage impact study to back the proposed changes. Among the specific objections are building heights up to 30 metres, ground coverage up to 40% and an increase in the FAR across Phase II and III sectors. He flagged an inconsistency where stilt floors are exempt from height calculations in Phase II but count toward height limits in Phase III — calling this a “procedural loophole”. For Manimajra’s proposed stilt+5 development, he has warned of densities reaching 250–300 persons per acre against existing parking norms designed for 100 persons per acre, calling the resulting shortfall a fire hazard. Citing the failed 24x7 water supply pilot at Manimajra, ongoing solid waste issues at Dadumajra and the shelved Sector 17 parking project, Tewari demanded a publicly disclosed, ward-wise Municipal Civic Infrastructure Continued on page 2 Five bank officials, two CREST officers among accused CASE IN FIGURES ~83 cr 300 CBI investigation is continuing and more chargesheets are expected in the case. It may be recalled that the CBI had taken over three such cases — one from the State Vigilance and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Haryana, relating to eight departments of the state government, and Mayor Sham Lal Bansal (right) and MC Commissioner Vinay Kumar during the MC House meeting in Panchkula on Tuesday. RAVI KUMAR Rani Sharma, MC Commissioner Vinay Kumar, councillors and senior officials of various departments. The House discussed comprehensive plans for expand- ing infrastructure in various sectors and villages under the jurisdiction of the civic body. Several resolutions were passed unanimously. The House decided to devel- op Ward No. 4 as a model ward for cleanliness under which all streets would be cleaned at least thrice a week. Horticultural waste from parks would be collected daily. Additionally, the daily door-to-door garbage collection system will be strengthened. The House also approved relocation of the malaria wing of the Health Department from the old community centre in Sector 9. The building would be demolished and a new community centre equipped with modern facilities would be constructed on the site, providing residents with better facilities for social, cultural and community activities. A decision was c m y b two cases from the Economic Offences Police Station, Chandigarh, pertaining to Chandigarh Smart City Limited and CREST. So far, the CBI has filed two chargesheets against 17 accused in the Haryana case and one chargesheet against seven accused in the case pertaining to Chandigarh Smart City Limited. With Tuesday's filing, the number of accused chargesheeted across the three cases has risen to 37. The CBI said all three investigations were continuing and asserted that it remained committed to ensuring that those responsible for corruption and financial crimes were brought to justice. The frauds came to light after officers of the Municipal Corporation and CREST reconciled their funds deposited in the bank after a scam surfaced in Haryana government funds. As per the complaint, a reconciliation of CREST’s bank statements revealed nearly 300 unauthorised transactions, with a principal shortfall of Rs 75.16 crore and loss of Rs 7.88 crore as interest. Investigation revealed that the bank statements sent periodically to CREST from official email IDs of bank officials had been systematically forged to conceal the fraud. The stolen funds were invested into jewellery, bullion, cash and real estate. Smart City fund scam accused’s bail plea allowed Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 16 The Sessions Court here has allowed a default bail application of businessman Vikram Wadhwa, who was arrested in a case registered in the IDFC First Bank scam pertaining to Chandigarh Smart City funds to the tune of over Rs 153 crore. Wadhwa had applied for default bail in an application filed under Section 187 (3) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023. Sumesh Jain, counsel for the accused, said Wadhwa was arrested on March 14 and remanded to custody the same day. He said ever since, he remained continuously in custody and had not been released on bail at any stage. Jain said the maximum period prescribed for completion an investigation and filing a police report was 90 days in this case. He argued that the statutory period stood exhausted and the Continued on page 2 UT to take up law & order issue at zonal council panel meet Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 16 Law and order and infrastructure development are among the issues that the UT Administration will take up at the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of Northern Zonal Council (NZC) scheduled to be held in Shimla on June 19. After committing crime in the city, most criminals sneaked into the neighbouring states to avoid arrest. According to officials, the UT would seek better coordination with the member states in tracking down and passing of information about criminals. Several senior officials, including the chief secretaries of four states and the UT, will participate in the meeting. The NZC comprises Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan, National Capital Territory of Delhi and the Continued on page 2 Strengthening waste collection, infra development among resolutions passed in MC House meet Tribune News Service 240 quantum of loss unauthorised transactions pages of to CREST, including revealed during reconciliation chargesheet ~7.88 cr as interest of bank statements filed by the CBI Panchkula Ward No. 4 to be model for sanitation Panchkula, June 16 Ward No. 4 as a model ward for cleanliness, strengthening of door-to-door garbage collection system and a new modern community centre in Sector 9 were among the resolutions passed during an MC General House meeting on Tuesday. The House approved several important proposals for the city’s development, strengthening of sanitation and improving civic amenities. The meeting was chaired by Mayor Sham Lal Bansal and attended by Panchkula MLA Chander Mohan, Kalka MLA Shakti FACEBOOK/CHANDIGARHTRIBUNE CBI chargesheets 13 for siphoning off UT society funds from IDFC Bank Ramkrishan Upadhyay CHANDIGARH MAX 39°C | MIN 25°C YESTERDAY MAX 36.9°C | MIN 24.5°C SUNRISE THURSDAY 5.21 AM /THETRIBUNECHD Sunscreen AIR QUALITY INDEX PARTLY CLOUDY SUNSET WEDNESDAY 7.26 PM » WEDNESDAY | 17 JUNE 2026 | CHANDIGARH FORECAST also taken to ensure 100% property tax collection. Deliberations were held on the issue of waterlogging in Sectors 9 and 10 during monsoon. Officials informed that the construction of two proposed sump wells in Cactus Park in Sector 10 had been left incomplete. It was decided to investigate the matter and take action against the agency concerned. It was also decided to impose a fine on the agency as per rules. The House also approved proposals for cleaning the underground storm water drainage system with super suction machines, recarpeting of roads in Sectors 9 and Continued on page 2 Mayor Saurabh Joshi washes the feet of sanitation workers before launching a cleanliness campaign in Sector 15, Chandigarh, on Tuesday. TRIBUNE PHOTO: PARDEEP TEWARI City Mayor launches phase-wise deep-cleaning drive from Sec 15 Joshi says ward numbers 4, 5, 6 to be covered next Tribune News Service Chandigarh, June 16 Mayor Saurabh Joshi on Tuesday launched the city’s first ward-wise mega deep cleaning drive from Sector 15, describing it as a model campaign that will be replicated in all wards of the city in a phased manner. The campaign commenced with the Mayor washing the feet of women safai karamcharis and performing the Tilak ceremony to honour their contribution towards maintaining cleanliness in the city. He described safai mitras as the backbone of Chandigarh’s sanitation system. Before launching the campaign, the Mayor inspected residential and commercial areas of Sector 15 for sanitary conditions and civic infrastructure. Addressing area residents, Mayor Saurabh Joshi said Sector 15 had been selected as the first model ward under the initiative and the next phase of the deep-cleaning drive would be undertaken in ward num- WAR OF WORDS ERUPTS BETWEEN MAYOR, MP Mayor Saurabh Joshi on Tuesday claimed that MP Manish Tewari was in Chandigarh because there was vacation in court these days. Reacting to the charge, the MP, who is also a lawyer, posted on X: “…when I moved a Bill in the Lok Sabha for a five-year term for the Mayor directly elected by the people of Chandigarh and more powers to the MC, I did not hear a squeak from any city BJP leader in support. When I moved a Bill to provide for a Rajya Sabha seat for Chandigarh, I did not hear even a peep in support from any city BJP leader.” bers 4, 5 and 6. He stated that the campaign would thereafter be expanded systematically across all wards of the city. “The objective is not merely to clean roads and public spaces, but to improve the overall quality of civic infrastructure and public services in every ward,” the Mayor said. He directed all departments concerned to ensure proper planning, inter-departmental coordination and optimum deployment of manpower and machinery for the successful implementation of the drive. Joshi added that the campaign focused on a comprehensive improvement of civic amenities and infrastructure, including repair and recarpeting of damaged roads, cleaning of road gullies, repair of footpaths, restoration of broken railings in markets, beautification and maintenance of parks, cleaning of sewers and storm water lines, plugging leakages in drinking water pipelines, repair of streetlights and pruning of trees. NSS volunteers led by Prof Parveen Kumar of the PU, members of the Resident Welfare Association (RWA) and members of the Market Welfare Association (MWA) participated in the campaign. MC Joint Commissioner Balbir Raj Singh, superintending engineers, executive engineers, health supervisors and other senior officers of the civic body were also present.