Around Town

Medical officer sent to prison for 18 months for accepting bribe

CHANDIGARH: A lower Court on Wednesday awarded one-and-a-half years rigorous imprisonment to a medical officer,who was caught taking a bribe. The Court also slapped a penalty of Rs 5,000 on the accused. The case dates back to August 2008. CBI on August 8,2008,had arrested R M Singh,who was posted as a senior medical officer at a civil dispensary in Manimajra,from his home in Sector 19. The investigating agency said that Singh was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 from Sanjeev,a private distributor of a mineral water company. Singh had demanded the money to pass the sample of the mineral water.

Trial of Pak spy commences

CHANDIGARH: The trial against Pakistan spy Kashif Ali,who was arrested a year back,started in Chandigarh district courts on Wednesday. Recently,the district court had framed charges against Kashif Ali and others. Ali,a 22-year-old from Faislabad in Pakistan,was arrested on July 10,2010,from Sector 44. The police had maintained that he lived in the city on a fake identity of Pawan Kumar,a Delhi resident. Investigations revealed that the accused was a resident of Zulfkar Colony in Faislabad,Pakistan Punjab,and kept an eye on vital defence installations. The UT police had sent the documents recovered from him to the Indian Army to ascertain whether those were restricted under the Official Secrets Act. The police had also sent photos recovered from Kashif’s camera to the Army. The defence authorities had confirmed that the photos were vital and could be used by neighbouring countries for insurgency of the state.

Father tried to sell baby boy for Rs 80,000

Panchkula: In a chilling incident,a father tried to sell his 10-day-old baby boy in Barwala. Somnath,who works as a daily wage labourer,has been living with a Bihari woman Hasina at Barwala bypass for the last six years in a rented room. Hasina had given birth to a baby boy 10 days ago at General Hospital,Sector 6,Panchkula. Few days ago Somnath,who is alcoholic,made a deal with a resident of Behra village for selling the child for Rs 80,000.

On August 9,Hasina did not find the child at home. Getting suspicious,she informed Barwala police post and filed a complaint against Somnath. The police apprehended Somnath with the child near Barwala.He added,“The deal was attempted at Rs 80,000. But we stopped the sale of the baby boy by acting on time.”

Three vehicle thefts in past 24 hours

CHANDIGARH: The city witnessed three vehicle thefts during the intervening night in various sectors. Police said a Tata Safari,owned by Ravi Bhatia a resident of Sector 34 C,which was parked outside his residential house was stolen by unknown persons. The second vehicle robbery took place from Sector 51 A. A complaint was lodged by Jagjit Singh,of Sector 51 A,alleging that someone had stolen his Bolero Jeep which was parked in front of his house. The third incident of vehicle theft was reported from Sector 37. The Bolero Jeep of Taranjit Singh of Sector 37,was stolen during the intervening night. Cases have been registered under section 379 of the IPC.

Two arrested for Scorpio theft,car recovered

CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh police has arrested both the persons who had allegedly stolen a Scorpio during the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday,they have also recovered the SUV. “

“We arrested one of the accused Jai Kishan alias Michael,a resident of Sector 28 on Tuesday evening. On questioning him,the second accused in the case,Ravinder was arrested on Wednesday evening. We also recovered the Scorpio,” Sub Inspector Hans Raj said. Amit,a resident of Sector 20 had been stabbed by Jai Kishan and Ravinder with a knife before snatching the Scorpio.

One arrested for sexual harassment

CHANDIGARH: The Chandigarh police arrested a Sector 25 resident for alleged sexual harassment of a student. Police said a student lodged a complaint with the Sector 11 police station accusing,Ajay a resident of Sector 25 of sexual harassment. “She was harassed near Sector 25,school on August 9. We registered a case under section 354,506 of the IPC and arrested the accused,” a police officer said.