In Brief

Chandigarh SSP gets police medal
SSP Sudhanshu Shekhar Srivastva has been awarded the police medal for meritorious services. An MBA from Punjabi University,Patiala,he joined the Punjab cadre of the Indian Police Services in 1994. He has held important posts in various capacities viz ASP Amritsar,SP (HQ) Fazilka,SP (HQ) Hoshiarpur,SP Chief Minister’s Security,AIG Intelligence,SSP Mansa,SSP Ferozpur and SSP Amritsar. He was also selected for UN Mission Kosovo for peacekeeping duties for a year. Posted as SSP,UT Chandigarh since September 2007,the officer has taken keen interest in modernisation of the police force.

President’s Police Medal for Satbir Singh
Satbir Singh,Deputy Superintendent of Police (CID) and incharge of the Special Crime Investigation Cell,has been awarded the President’s Police Medal for distinguished service. The DSP joined the Chandigarh Police as an assistant sub-inspector in 1979. Satbir has headed several police units as SHO and intelligence units. He was promoted to the rank of deputy superintendent of police on November 29,2007.

Graduation parade of first ITBP
Women contingent on Friday
The passing out parade of the first women contingent of the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force will be held on Friday at ITBP,Bhanu. The Centre had sanctioned a mahila contingent to ITBP last year. “An intensive recruitment process was carried out across the country to select girls for the contingent. The selected constable recruits have been imparted training in firing,drill,rock climbing,battle craft,field craft and various other duties at par with male recruits. After induction in the main stream,these women constables will be deployed on security duty on the Indo-China border. Their services will also be utilised to provide security to pilgrims for the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra which is conducted by the Ministry of External Affairs,with the help of the Uttarakhand government and ITBP force,every summer,” said the spokesperson for ITBP.

Two held for blackmarketing cylinders
Two natives of Nepal,who were living in Sector 70 at present,were arrested on charges of blackmarketing LPG cylinders on Monday. Six spurious LPG refill cylinders were recovered from their possession,the police said. The arrested persons — Kul Bahadur and Kashyab — were nabbed by a police party led by Phase I SHO Inspector Harjinder Singh when they were allegedly refilling 3 small cylinders of 5 kg capacity each from two domestic and a commercial use LPG cylinder in an illegal manner for further selling at exorbitant prices,the police said,while adding that a case under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act,1955,was lodged against the accused.

Gang of vehicle thieves busted: police
With the arrest of three persons,the district police on Monday claimed to have busted an inter-state gang of vehicle lifters and recovered four stolen cars and four motorcycles from their possession. Addressing a press conference,Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Gurpreet Singh Bhullar said two other members of the gang were still at large. The gangsters were reportedly active in the region for the past sometime and used to lift parked cars and motorcycles. They either sold the stolen vehicles by preparing fake registration certificates or numbers or abandoned the chasis of the stolen vehicles after removing their spare parts,Bhullar said. The SSP added that arrested gangsters Satveer Singh,Ranjit Singh and Tarsem Singh were removing the spare parts of a stolen Maruti car without a registration number at a secluded place near Mohali when a police party swooped on them. Lal Chand and Vikas are still on the run. “We hope to crack several other cases of vehicle thefts with their arrest,” asserted Bhullar.

Civic body employees hold protest
Employees of the Mohali Municipal Council staged a massive protest rally outside the Municipal Bhawan in Sector 68 here on Monday against the deployment of staffers in the forthcoming bypolls of the civic body. While addressing the protesters,the MC Employees’ Union president Krishan Lal Saini said a driver and two other MC employees were requisitioned by the local SDM since long under the garb of election duty.

MC to discuss viability of fire academy
The Municipal Corporation will be taking up the issue of setting up a fire academy in the city during the House Meet scheduled for Friday. The agenda had last been taken up in the House in November. In a hurry to end the meeting as the contentious issue of Congress councillor Devinder Singh Babla’s exemption was to be discussed,the agenda was passed amidst chaos. While former mayor,Kamlesh,claims the agenda was passed,there is no clarity yet. The aim of the academy is to train fire fighters who could be absorbed into the Fire Wing of the civic body. The councillors had mooted the idea after seeing a similar academy while on a study tour to Gujarat. MC officials have,however,raised some objections over the proposal.