In Brief

Golden Katar Division gets new General Officer Commanding
Ahmedabad: Major General Iqbal Singh Singha on Thursday took over as General Officer Commanding of Ahmedabad-based Golden Katar Division. He took charge from Major General Sunil Kumar Jha,Sena Medal,Vishisht Seva Medal. The General Officer was commissioned in Rajputana Rifles in December 1977.
He was the Brigadier General Staff at Vajra Corps in Western Sector before taking over the reins of the Golden Katar Division.

Hotel manager killed in city,waiter at large
AHMEDABAD: The body of a restaurant manager was found half-buried inside the kitchen of a house at Makarba Village in Ahmedabad on Thursday while the suspect,a waiter in the same eatery,is at large. The victim,Manish Gupta,worked as a manager at Panjeri restaurant in the Satellite area owned by one Vikas Patel. The suspect,Ramesh Desai,worked there as a waiter and stayed with Hirasingh Rana,the cashier. “On Wednesday afternoon,Gupta and Desai left the restaurant at 3 pm. About three hours later,Desai returned without Gupta. When Rana asked him about Gupta,Desai said the manager had gone to Mehsana for some official work. When Rana returned home late night,he saw Gupta dead with his head buried and cemented under the kitchen slab while some heavy utensils were placed on the body,” said Inspector M C Patel. The police said Rana raised an alarm and rushed to Patel’s house. Both later called in the police. Police said both Gupta and Desai were staying together in Makarba Road. So far,the motive behind the murder is not clear,Patel said.

HC reserves order on plea against 3 councillors in 1 ward
Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has reserved its order on a petition challenging the provision of having three councillors in one AMC ward. Calling the scheme unconstitutional,the petitioner has urged the court to direct the State Election Commission to either increase the wards in AMC to 192 or reduce the number of councillors to 64. The court reserved its order after directing the Advocate General to submit in writing the reasons why the court should not declare the scheme as contrary to the constitutional provisions.

Disproportionate assets case: CBI team in city with Desai
The CBI on Thursday brought former MCI president Dr Ketan Desai to Ahmedabad for investigations into the disproportionate assets case. CBI officers refused to confirm Dr Desai’s links in the city,but sources said some builders from the city,who are closely associated with him,are likely to be questioned.
The former MCI director has been put up at the Circuit House. Sources further said that no one from the B J Medical College has been contacted for the inquiry.
“We will call some people in the city. We might not go to B J Medical College,” said a CBI officer.
The CBI team is also expected to speak to Dr Ketan’s wife,Dr Alka,who had sought anticipatory bail from the High Court. “We will speak to her about the anticipatory bail. We intend to find more details about the disproportionate assets,” the officer added.