Insecurity pervades Rohtak
From Jatinder Sharma
Tribune News Service

ROHTAK, Sept 17 — The kidnapping of Madhur, grandson of the Urban Development Minister, Mr Siri Kishan Dass, has generated a feeling of insecurity among residents of the town.

Madhur, an MBA student at Maharshi Dayanand University here, was kidnapped at gunpoint in his own Maruti car on the national highway near the Sheila bypass yesterday. He was going to the factory owned by the family when the incident took place.

Mr Siri Kishan Dass said Madhur was himself driving the car and there was no one else with him, as suggested by reports earlier.

Though the incident occurred at about 6.30 p.m. on one of the busiest highways, neither the police nor any other person was aware of it. Even his family members, including Mr Siri Kishan Dass, came to know only after an injured Madhur returned home around 8.30 p.m.

The minister said a blue-coloured Maruti car intercepted the car being driven by Madhur. Two persons armed with pistols got into the car and one of them occupied the driver’s seat, pushing Madhur to the back seat.

The kidnappers along with their "catch" reportedly kept driving the car on the city streets for 90 minutes and got petrol filled in the car from a station situated on the Jind bypass. They asked Madhur to pay for the petrol.

The kidnappers, the minister said, blindfolded his grandson, tied his hands and legs with a rope and hit him with a screw driver in the chest before throwing him in the fields on the Madina-Ghirawar link road. They took away Rs 1,500, a wristwatch, a gold chain and bracelet before escaping in the victim’s car.

The incident has evoked sharp reaction both from the ruling as well as the opposition parties. Mr Om Prakash Jindal, former MP and a senior leader of the ruling HVP, expressed concern over the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. It was likely to deteriorate further in the days to come, he told newsmen at the local medical college and hospital where Madhur has been admitted for treatment.

Describing the incident as tragic, the secretary of the state unit of the CPM, Mr Inderjit Singh, said criminals appeared to be ruling the roost and the administration existed only on paper. The incident, he said, had thoroughly exposed the law and order situation in the state and people were feeling totally insecure.

The CPM leader regretted the Centre had not taken serious note of the memorandum submitted by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to the Union Home Minister regarding the law and order situation in Haryana. With the gangsters striking at will, life today has become unsafe, he said.

Mr Inderjit Singh held the HVP-BJP government responsible for the present day situation and demanded publication of a white paper on law and order after the coalition partners came to power in the state. The government should also take the people into confidence about the measures taken to checkmate the criminals, he added.

Mr Pradip Jain, district president of the BJP, condemned the kidnapping and said the incident had given a clear indication of the deteriorating law and order situation. He said gangsters appeared to be disturbing the peace of the town and asked the district authorities to enforce law and order strictly.

Former Minister of State for Home Subhash Batra alleged the law and order machinery in the state had collapsed as was evident from the kidnapping of the grandson of a senior minister.

The Commissioner, Rohtak division, Mr P.K. Chaudhary, has expressed unhappiness over the deteriorating law and order situation in Rohtak and Jhajjar districts. He said incidents like kidnapping in the city were matters of serious concern. He advised the police authorities to chalk out a strategy to ensure citizens' safety.