Sandeep Rana

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, February 6

The Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) has convicted Col BS Goraya (retd) in a case of selling his attached agricultural property in Punjab. Judge Akshdeep Mahajan has scheduled the quantum of sentence for February 8.In 2011, the court of special CBI judge had ordered initiation of criminal action against the former Army officer and had filed a complaint against him in the court of the then CJM. Proceedings against him under Section 340 of the CrPC were started in the court of the CJM. The property of the Sector 9 resident was attached during the investigation of a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. The court had directed that he was not entitled to sell his land. However, he sold off one of the attached properties.A case was registered by the premier investigating agency under Sections 13(2) and 13(1) of the Prevention of Corruption Act. It was stated that between January 1987 and August 1990, the accused and some others had acquired properties worth Rs 82.58 lakh. The properties were disproportionate to his known sources of income. The CBI court, during the trail, had also attached the Sector 9 house of the former Army officer.  He had several properties in his as well as his family members’ name in Chandigarh, Punjab and Haryana, which led to the registration of the case against him. Colonel Goraya, however, had submitted an application on March 26, 2014, seeking verification regarding the sale of the Sector 2 plot.

Shanta Kumar

Our Correspondent

Palampur, February 6

Member of Parliament and senior BJP leader Shanta Kumar today said a war memorial would be set up at Palampur soon.“A 10-acre plot at Saurabh Van Vihar near the town had been earmarked for the project. The Palampur war memorial will be bigger than that in Dharamsala as there is no shortage of land at Palampur,” Shanta Kumar said.He told The Tribune that a society would be formed to run and maintain the project. He said he had already discussed the matter with the Nek Chand Rock Garden Society, Chandigarh, which would provide the technical knowhow to establish the memorial.He said he would also urge other institutions like the Ministries of Defence and Home to extend the technical support to him so that one of the best war memorials could be set up at Palampur.Shanta said statues of all martyrs like Vikram Batra, Saurabh Kalia and Sudheer Walia who had sacrificed their lives in wars fought before and after Independence, militancy operations and the Kargil war would be installed in the war memorial.He also sought suggestions from other experts and asked them to come forward and give their suggestions to make his project a success. He said he had already released Rs 40 lakh for the project from his MP LAD fund and more funds would be procured from other sources.Shanta said Himachal’s contribution of personnel to the defence forces was the highest in the country. Besides the Kargil war, the state had lost hundreds of youths in militancy-related incidents and proxy war being fought with Pakistan in the past 15 years in J&K and other parts of the country. Kangra, Hamirpur and Mandi districts of the state were the worst affected as hundreds of jawans were killed in Jammu-Kashmir and North Eastern states while fighting militancy and Maoists in the past 10 years.He said unfortunately most of the projects named after the soldiers killed in the Kargil war in the year 1999 had been left mid-way for want of funds and other official bottlenecks by successive governments that ruled the state. Despite repeated requests to the government by the families of martyrs, no headway was made to complete the projects launched in memory of martyrs.

Army Chief pays tribute to Major Amit Sagar who lost life in J&K avalanche

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday attended the wreath laying ceremony of Major Amit Sagar who lost his life in avalanche that struck Jammu and Kashmir’s Gurez sector.

“We are working with snow and avalanche study to map avalanches so that we are better prepared and can move troops in case of danger. I want to assure families of jawans affected by avalanche in Jammu and Kashmir that we are with them,” the Army Chief told the media.

At least 15 Indian soldiers lost their lives in two separate avalanches in Gurez and Sonmarg on January 25.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi earlier in the day paid homage to the soldiers, who lost their lives in the avalanche in Jammu and Kashmir.

The Army on Tuesday gave a befitting farewell to its 19 brave hearts, who had died in separate avalanches in the Gurez and Machhal sectors.

Chinar Corps Commander Lt. Gen. J.S. Sandhu and all ranks paid rich tribute to the gallant soldiers who lost their lives while serving in the formidable heights along the Line of Control in two separate snow related incidents in North Kashmir.

Fourteen soldiers were swept away in a devastating avalanche in Gurez on January 26 while five soldiers in Machhal, who had been rescued after they got trapped under snow when the track caved in on January 28, succumbed to their injuries yesterday.

The Indian Army had earlier said that bad weather was preventing the pilot from bringing back the remains of the soldiers killed in the avalanche.

The valley had been experiencing bad weather over a week due to some western disturbances, resulting in rescue operations being hampered.

In a show of solidarity, officials from other security agencies, including the JKP, CRPF, BSF and SSB also joined in paying their last respects to the martyrs.

The mortal remains of the soldiers are being taken to their native places where their last rites will be performed by family members.

(This article has not been edited by DNA’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)