Leading club in Hyderabad is cheating customers by making false claims.

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FRIDAY 23 MAY 2014 | PAGES 16 | `3.00 Vol. 3 | No. 308 www.thehansindia.comHYDERABAD |SUNDAY 17 AUGUST 2014 | PAGES 36 | `3.00 www.thehansindia.comVOL. 4 | NO. 33
Life’s Like That
(Source: in.weather.com)
INDICES
Promises won't fill our stomachs.
We already have several baskets
No nation can
dare us: PM
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Admiral
RK Dhowan (right), Chief of Naval Staff, during the
commissioning ceremony of INS Kolkata at the Naval
Dockyard in Mumbai on Saturday (PTI)
S India’s largest indigenous warship INS
Kolkata commissioned
S Modi calls it a historic day for the nation
S One of the most formidable warships
anywhere in the world
S Indian Navy describes it as “a symbol of our
self-reliance in the field of defence”
S Report: P4
Islamabad (PTI): Over 25,000
supporters of opposition leader Im-
ran Khan and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri
vowing not to back down till Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif resigns and
dissolves Parliament and provincial
assemblies, poured into the streets
of Pakistan's capital, posing the
biggest challenge to the 15-month-
old civilian government.
Unfazed by the country's apex
court's order against any unconsti-
tutional step to topple the govern-
ment, the two opposition groups
held separate sit-ins, demanding
Sharif's resignation and fresh polls
alleging rigging during the last
year's elections. Khan, who had left
the protest venue to rest at his house
in Bani Gala area of Islamabad,
came out later to join his supporters
waiting for hours at the protest
venue. "I am going to the venue
and will not come back till Sharif
resigns," Khan, who heads the Pak-
istan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) told
reporters. Earlier, addressing thou-
sands of supporters who were part
of his 'Azadi March' from Lahore
that finally reached the capital at 4
am after starting off on Thursday,
Khan announced to stage a sit-in
in the capital from 3 pm on Satur-
day till Sharif resigns.
"I am not derailing democracy
because there is no democracy in
the country. We will not go away
till Nawaz Sharif resigns," Khan
told his supporters.As Khan spoke,
senior party leaders and workers
chanted the slogan of "Go Nawaz
Go". Meanwhile, thousands of sup-
porters of PakistanAwami Tehreek
(PAT) camping in an adjacent street
was addressed by the Canada-
based cleric, who demanded the
arrest of Sharif and Punjab Chief
Minister Shahbaz Sharif over the
killing of 14 of his supporters in a
clash with police.
OUR BUREAU
Hyderabad: The Pratyush
Sinha Committee appointed
by the Centre on allocation of
civil servants between Telan-
gana and Andhra Pradesh
states has finalised its list.
The committee which met
in Delhi on Saturday finalised
the number ofAll India Serv-
ices officers between the two
states. The roaster of distri-
bution of officers was decided
by a lottery, which had gone
in favour of Telangana.
Following this, the com-
mittee allocated 163 IAS,
112 IPS and 65 IFS officers
to Telangana state. The com-
mittee has allocated 211 IAS,
144 IPS and 85 IFS officers
to Andhra Pradesh. The allo-
cation of the civil servants
was carried out on the basis
of existing districts in each of
the states, in 13:10 ratio.
As the roster of distribution
had begun with Telangana
state, most of the senior civil
servants are expected to go to
Telangana.
However, several civil ser-
vants working in Telangana
and Andhra Pradesh states
had earlier given their pref-
erence in a sealed cover to the
committee. And the commit-
tee would take a final call on
the whole exercise after tak-
ing into consideration the
preferences. The committee
is expected to meet again on
August 23.
l Prathyush Sinha
panel decides
roaster by lottery
l TS gets 65 IFS, AP 85
l Several had
submitted their
preferences earlier
l Committee to take
final call, to meet
on Aug 23
CIVIL SERVANTS
LIST FINALISED
ISLAMABAD
UNDER SIEGEl Imran Khan, cleric Qadri, leading the Azadi march, storm into
capital, stage sit-in protests l Vow not to back down until Sharif
resigns l Sharif puts Islamabad under Army control for 90 days
Murder charge against Sharif
The Lahore Sessions Court on Saturday ordered framing of
murder charges against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, his
brother and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz and 19 others over
the June violence near Canada-based cleric Tahirul Qadri's
headquarters here that killed 14 of his supporters. S Report: P8
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (left) is facing onslaught of Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaaf leader Imran Khan (middle) and Pakistan Awami
Tehreek chief and cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri
OUR BUREAU
Hyderabad: The meeting between
the Chief Ministers of Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana, N Chan-
drababu Naidu and K Chan-
drasekhar Rao, on Sunday is likely
to put an end to the stand-off be-
tween the two chief ministers over
several pricklish issues which had
resulted in a sort of running battle
between the two states.
It was governor ESL Narasimhan
who took the initiative and had dis-
cussions with both the chief min-
isters for over an hour during his
‘At Home’ on Friday held on the
occasion of Independence Day. He
would act as a mediator at the talks.
Both the Chief Ministers are
likely to discuss issues like the fee
reimbursement, the household sur-
vey, sharing of water and power,
cancellation of PPAs by Andhra
Pradesh government, and allotment
of separate chambers for the min-
isters of both the governments dur-
ing the Assembly session.
TheAPAssembly budget session
would begin on August 18 and the
Telangana session during the last
week of this month. Both the gov-
ernments would have parallel ses-
sions for at least 10 days. Since this
simultaneous session could cause
confusion, both the chief ministers
had agreed to meet immediately.
Earlier on Saturday, Speakers and
chief secretaries of both the gov-
ernments met their respective chief
ministers and had discussion.
The two chief ministers also held
meeting with officials to list out the
contentious issues between the two
states and prepare a status report.
The Governor would be mediating
in the talks which have been sched-
uled for one hour.
Continued on P4
KCR­Naidu talks today
ESL who initiated the talks to act as mediator
K Chandrasekhar Rao and
N Chandrababu Naidu
S Both CMs are expected to break ice and thrash
out contentious issues S KCR is reluctant, believes
it is at the initiative of Centre S Gajapati Raju hopes
it will be for the good of two peoples
AMIT SHAH
UNVEILS NEW TEAM,
DROPS VARUN
NAIDU TO RELEASE
WHITE PAPER ON
BIFURCATION TODAY
PAGE4
SRINIVASAN
QUESTIONED
PAGE12
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Temp: Max.31°C. Min. 23°C.
Forecast: Mostly Cloudy Humidity:
63% Sunrise: 05:46 Sunset: 06:23
WEATHER
Gold (10g): `28,900 `10
Silver (Kg): `44,000 `80r
r
(Source: NVS)
Chain-snatcher
killed in
encounter
SI suffers knife attack,
another cop shoots him down
TV9 CEO arrested,
released on bail
OUR BUREAU
Hyderabad: Ravi Prakash, CEO of news
channel TV9, surrendered before LB
Nagar police on Saturday in connection
with a criminal case against the
channel. Based on the directions of High
Court at Hyderabad, Prakash, who had
last month sought anticipatory bail, was
supposed to surrender before a local
court, but he failed to do so and on
Saturday he surrendered before LB
Nagar police here and surrendered his
passport, DCP LB Nagar P Viswa Prasad
said. Earlier L B Nagar police in June had
registered a case against the news
channel following a magistrate’s order.
A lawyer had filed a private complaint
in the court alleging that a program
telecast by the channel ‘belittled’
Telangana MLAs. It may be recalled that
the broadcast of ABN Andhra Jyothi and
TV9 Telugu channels had been blocked
by the association of Telangana Multiple
System Operators since June 16 for
allegedly demeaning Telangana dialect
and hurting people’s sentiments.
OUR BUREAU
Hyderabad: A most notorious chain
snatcher who was accused of committing
nearly 300 chain snatchings in the past few
years was killed late on Friday night in an
encounter with the police at Outer Ring
Road (ORR) at Kotwalguda in Shamshabad
under RGIA police limits. A Sub-Inspector of
Rajendranagar Central Crime Station,
Venkateswarlu, sustained multiple wounds
when the snatcher attacked him with a
knife after being intercepted by police
around 10.30 p.m. The incident occurred
when CCS police Cyberabad on specific
information about the movements of Shiva
in Narsingi and Shamshabad areas
oranised vehicle checking.
The team which comprised inspector
Narasimha Reddy, sub-inspectors
Venkateswarlu and Hari Prasad,
launched vehicle checking at
Kothwalguda crossroads from 10 pm on
Friday night When SI Venkateswarlu
intercepted the bike rider -- unaware that
he was Shiva -- and started searching,
Shiva took out a knife and stabbed him
indiscriminately. As the snatcher tried to
flee as the SI was writhing in pain,
Inspector Narsimha Reddy, who was a
few yards away checking vehicles, rushed
there. But the snatcher lunged at him as
well and inflicted knife wounds on him.
The inspector in self-defence opened
three rounds of fire from his service
revolver, killing Shiva on the spot,
according to Cyberabad Police
Commissioner C V Anand. The injured
Sub-Inspector was immediately shifted to
Himagiri Hospitals in Gachibowli, where
his condition was reported to be stable.
It is learnt that Shiva’s family which is in
Nellore has refused to claim his body. The
accused had been to jail earlier and was
released in 2012.
VENU K KODIMELA
Hyderabad: It’s a telemarketing
gimmick tuned to perfection over
the years. Prospective customers
believe that they have won a
jackpot, but they are tricked into
buying membership of a presti-
gious club, which offers attrac-
tive holiday getaways and land
in a gated community or at a
hill station.
The city-based Country Club
is accused of cheating scores of
customers of their hard-earned
money by making false promises
to them. The old club members
are also cheated with false claims
and the club is extracting huge
amount from them. Even gov-
ernment officials, high ranking
army officers and professionals
have fallen prey to the charms of
the club’s executives.
Finally, a victim knocked on
the doors of justice in the city.
Retired Major General Vinai
Singhal from Old Lancers Line,
Secunderabad, has filed a com-
plaint with the Consumers Fo-
rum. He said the modus operandi
of the club was to call any person
and claim that he or she had won
a prize and invite them to a hotel.
“Executives present a rosy pic-
ture of the country vacations,
convince people to buy member-
ship and rush through the agree-
ment process. Soon the new
members realise that they are
cheated.”
Saroj Mini Singhal, wife of
General Singhal, received a call
on September15, 2012, stating
that she won a cash prize of Rs
30,000. After the presentation,
Saroj paid Rs 1.3 lakh to avail of
the membership. The couple later
realised that they were cheated
after they received the documents
from the executives. The offers
made during the presentation did
not figure in the documents.
“After our complaint to a
newspaper came to light, the ex-
ecutives approached us to pay
back the amount. I refused to ac-
cept their offer and demanded in-
terest on the amount,” says Gen-
eral Singhal. Similar is the case
of N K Ganguly, a retired central
government officer. He and his
wife Jayashree told The Hans In-
dia there are more than 50 per-
sons with similar complaints. The
senior citizens are interacting
with other victims to find a way-
out to resolve the issue.
The scam is not restricted to
Hyderabad; several persons from
Noida, Mumbai, Nagpur and
Bangalore are also reportedly
cheated in a similar manner.
The club also plays another
tactic by offering gift vouchers
for a holiday package. A newly
married couple was presented a
holiday voucher a couple of years
ago. During their honeymoon in
Goa, the executives convinced
them to buy the club membership
as it offered holiday packages
across the country plus a free plot.
“We bought two membership
cards for Rs 1.5 lakh. They prom-
ised a free plot in Bhongir on my
wife’s card, while they offered
international packages such as
Dubai and Singapore on my card.
They even promised a plot at Ko-
daikanal,” says K Shashidhar
from RK Purum.
They alleged that the club was
violating laws with impunity. It
refuses to register plots in the
members’ names; instead it
promises them gift deeds. The
victims are left in the lurch as
they suspect that people in high
places are protecting the club
from law. They hope that the new
government would initiate action
against the club and do justice
to them.
Country Club leaves scores cheated
Goes back on promises of plots made on membership cards
Entrance of the Country Club at Begumpet in Hyderabad
TS gets 163 IAS, 112 IPS; AP 211 IAS, 144 IPS
S Is Pakistan heading for military coup? P6