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| Saturday,
July 7, 2001, Chandigarh, India   
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New lotteries to curb ‘satta’ Addl Sessions Judge seeks anticipatory bail Prayaas brings hope to drug addicts Lieut Rathi cremated |
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Irate residents block
road Bhajan visits demolition-hit HVPN move to hike power tariff
flayed Rich must donate, says Babu Parmanand Sulabh to share
MC’s work Cong to install
computers at block level Congress training camp concludes Cong protest
against meter replacement Anil Vij takes BJP to task Dangi’s bail plea dismissed
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100-yr-old freedom fighter shot Ambala, July 6 Mehtab Singh Chauhan, a freedom fighter of Ambala, was shot dead while he was going towards his home. He died on the spot. The incident took place at about 2.45 p.m. A resident, on condition of anonymity, said he was in his home when he heard a loud sound. “I first thought that something had burst. When I rushed out I saw that the old man was lying in a pool of blood,” he said the bullet had passed through his neck, he added. The Superintendent of Police, Mr Sandeep
Khirwar, who visited the spot, said, “We are hopeful of solving the case soon.” The dog squad and forensic experts had been called to examine the spot. The body has been shifted to the Civil Hospital, Ambala City. Mr
M.M. Rai, a close associate of Chauhan, said Chauhan was about 100-year-old. “He had not married. He was a freedom fighter and a social worker. He had been arrested during the freedom movement,” he said. The police suspects the involvement of two youths, hailing from Uttar Pradesh, in the murder. Two youths, in their early twenties, had visited the residence of Mr Rai enquiring about Chauhan last night. They had apparently given a reference of a person. The duo had again visited the residence of Mr Rai today, asking for Mr Chauhan. A few days ago, Chauhan had reportedly won a court case and gone to a nearby village in connection with the court order. The “munadi” could not take place. The investigators are suspecting that Chauhan could have been murdered regarding some property dispute. He was said to be owning some land in a nearby village and was contesting a few more property cases. |
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New lotteries to curb ‘satta’ Chandigarh, July 6 Introduction of the new schemes would mean an end to the current system of instant two-digit lotteries being run by the state government in various parts of Haryana. Sources said the existing system, in which the second prize was given to all those having ticket numbers with two particular digits at the end, had assumed the characteristics of gambling. The tickets are priced at a moderate rate of Re 1.10 and there are many persons who buy wads of tickets with numbers ending with two particular digits. “The first prize of the daily lottery is Rs 5,000 for which all six digits of the number on the ticket have to tally. Usually nobody is interested in the first prize”, the sources said, adding that there were sporadic reports of satta operators misusing the two-digit lottery system. As satta and the two-digit lottery virtually follow the same formula, illegal operators are stated to be accepting bets from gamblers and giving away the prizes as per the results of the official lottery. The aim behind this move by the satta operators is to satisfy clients, who otherwise do not have faith in the games conducted by illegal operators. However, while reports of satta operators misusing the official lottery do trickle in, the general attitude of the illegal operators toward the two-digit lottery is one of hostility. For instance, a tricky question relating to the two-digit lottery is stated to be the reported involvement of some legitimate vendors of lottery tickets in the illegal operations. While such instances are not rare, there are also reports of the police harassing “clean” vendors who do not have any illegitimate interest. It is believed the illegal operators are behind such actions by the police. Districts such as Jhajjar and Fatehabad, which virtually do not allow the official lottery, are also believed to be doing so under pressure from satta operators. Sources said that the new schemes would stifle satta operators. They would neither have any scope for misusing the official raffle, nor would it be possible for the vendors to mix up legal and illegal businesses. The proposed old-fashioned lottery system will be a monthly game confined to Haryana. The total prize money will be Rs 2 crore and the tickets will cost Rs 2 each. The first prize, for which all digits of the number on the ticket will have to tally, will be Rs 1 crore, followed by 299 other prizes of smaller denominations. “The idea is to create 300 winners of various prizes every month”, sources said, adding that the price of the ticket was proposed to be kept low to attract buyers from all sections. The existing two-digit lottery does not bring any net profit for the state government, though it earns sales tax amounting to Rs 5.5 lakh daily from the business. It has been projected that under the proposed new system, tickets worth Rs 4 crore will be sold every month out of which Rs 2 crore will be given away as prizes. Side by side, the department proposes to introduce instant game lotteries to cater to people having a strong gambling instinct. The tickets of this variety of lottery will have six-digit numbers on them with a cash reward on each number. The buyer will have to scratch the coated number and claim the reward from the seller if there is any against the digits. The price of a game lottery ticket will be around Rs 10 each. |
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Addl Sessions Judge seeks anticipatory bail Hisar, July 6 A local couple Mr Balraj Singh and Mrs Sunita Devi had filed a case against a local tantrik, Prem Dass, alleging that he had taken the custody of their male child on the pretext that the child was a genie six years ago.
They suspected that the tantrik had sold the child to a childless couple. The police arrested the tantrik, his brother Jagdish and his accomplices Dinesh. During the interrogation Jagdish and Dinesh revealed that the tantrik had handed over the child to a Judge. The tantrik was sentenced to 13 years’ imprisonment in a similar case last month. At present the tantrik was in police remand for three days. A police team had also gone to Jalandhar to recover the child two days ago. In his bail application, Mr Virdi claimed that his wife had given the birth to the child on September 24, 1995, at Abohar in Punjab when he was posted there as a Judicial Magistrate. He also claimed that he had got the birth of the child recorded at the municipal council there. |
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Prayaas brings hope to drug addicts Fatehabad, July 6 Jagdish worked with one of the leading transport companies of the area. He was considered a good truck driver during his youth. He used to load his vehicle with apples from Delhi and deliver the consignments in time in Mumbai. At times his employer used to reward him for his good work. During 30 to 34 hours of his journey, Jagdish could sleep hardly for two to three hours. This endless driving made Jagdish a drug addict. He started consuming poppy husk, as it was a cheap drug and went on increasing the dose day after day. Jagdish had no idea of what harm the drug was doing to him till his employer threw him out of his job and said he was no longer useful for the company. Jagdish’s eldest son is also a truck driver, but he realises that drug consumption has done much harm to the financial and social status of their family. After getting cured, Jagdish plans to marry off his 24-year-old daughter who could not be married earlier due to his addiction. Jagdish’s is not an isolated case of people taking to drugs for one reason or the other in this part of the state which has, of late, earned notoriety for drug trafficking and abuse. Naib Singh and Harvinder Singh, both farmers from Badalgarh village in the district, are only two other drug addicts who have vowed not to consume drugs again. The efforts of Prayaas have succeeded in dissuading them and some other residents of different villages in the district from the suicidal path of drug addiction. They are getting treatment in a camp organised by Prayaas. Teams of doctors of the Indian Medical Association and the National Integrated Medical Association visit these patients daily and prescribe them the required medicines. The medicines are provided free of cost by the Chemists Association. The Gurdwara Singh Sabha provides food to these patients. The district police chief, Mr Hanif Qureshi, said this was the 10th de-addiction camp in the past one year organised by Prayaas to treat the drug addicts. He said he considered these addicts as “victims” rather than perpetrators of crimes. He said in most cases, these addicts had been lured to drugs by their employers to extract maximums work out of them at minimum wages. The police had evolved a two-pronged strategy to combat the menace of drugs in the area. This involved treating the drug addicts as patients and bringing the culprits to book. Mr Qureshi said besides giving medical treatment and nutritious meals to the addicts, the experts gave them training in yoga. Spiritual discourses were also arranged for them. He admitted that they cannot persuade every addict to shun the path of drugs, but added that they had been able to make a dent. He said there was a problem of treated persons taking to drugs again, but Prayaas had been following these cases trying to dissuade them from the path of drugs. |
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Lieut Rathi cremated Rohtak, July 6 Lieutenant Rathi fell victim to enemy bullets in the Baramula sector in the wee hours of July 4. Capt Inder Singh, MP, paid tributes to the martyr on behalf of the state government, while the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Malik, the SSP, Mr Attar Singh Ahlawat and the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr T.K. Sharma, paid homage on behalf of the district administration. Besides, several leaders of various political parties also attended the funeral. Maj Jogendra Singh, who accompanied the body, said Lieutenant Rathi along with his platoon had started a search operation in the forest of Baramula for the infiltrators at nearly 2.30 a.m. on July 4. An encounter ensued in which he sustained a bullet injury on the left side of his temple, which proved fatal for him. Lieutenant Rathi was the youngest among his brothers and sisters. He is survived by his father Ch Khushiram (85), mother Raj Kumari (65) and a brother. |
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Irate residents block
road Ambala, July 6 The traffic on the state highway remained disrupted and the blockade was lifted only after an assurance given by the police that the culprits would be nabbed soon. The road was blocked near Mahesh Nagar for about 30 minutes by the residents of New Tagore Garden who demanded that three persons, who had attacked three other persons on July 4, must be arrested. They raised slogans against the police and demanded speedy action in arresting the three attackers. They demanded that the medical cost of the victims must be borne by the government and a government counsel should be engaged. On July 4, an altercation had taken place in New Tagore Garden over some issue. Later, a compromise had been worked out. However, on the night of July 4 a few men attacked the victims in which three persons sustained injuries. The three persons, Pappu, Sita Ram and Shri Ram, were admitted to a local private hospital. |
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Bhajan visits demolition-hit Sonepat, July 6 Mr Bhajan Lal was accompanied by Mr Dharampal Singh Malik, former president of the HPCC, Mr Azad Singh Nehra, district president of the Human Rights cell of the HPCC, Mr Sham Dass Mukhija, Mr Hukum Singh Dahiya, Ms Shanti Rathi, all former ministers, Mr Ranjit Kaushik and Mr Satpal Chauhan, both Youth Congress leaders. Mr Bhajan Lal went around the colonies and talked to the affected residents. He visited the mandi area to listen to grievances of shopkeepers. He also visited the site of INLD leader Om Parkash Saroha’s residence and an akhara which were demolished without any prior notice. The leader also went to Murthal village from where two boys were kidnapped and murdered on July 1 last. He demanded immediate arrest of the culprits. Later, talking to mediapersons here, he described the demolitions as unjust and unwarranted. He demanded
compensation for owners and regularisation of all houses and structures built about four decades ago. He alleged that the Chautala government had unleashed a region of terror against the innocent residents in the name of removal of encroachments. A large number of people rendered homeless were living in terrible conditions, he said. Mr Bhajan Lal expressed anguish at the ‘inaction’ of the police in the case of murder of two boys. He alleged that five to seven murders were taking place every day in different parts of the state. Similarly, dacoities, kidnappings, abductions, loot, extortion of money and rapes were also on the rise. He said the Congress party had already launched a campaign against the government. He alleged that the government was promoting corruption. Recruitments and transfers were being done for a price. He announced that his party would raise the issues in the next Assembly and Parliament session and demand the dismissal of the Chautala government. He criticised the Chief Minister for his failure to face the no trust motion of the party in the previous
session. Mr Bhajan Lal said only MLAs of the party had given reply in connection with show-cause notices served on them. He indicated that disciplinary action would be taken against those legislators who did not respond to the notice. |
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Protest against demolitions Sonepat, July 6 The processionists were led by Mr Rajiv Jain, general secretary, Haryana Vikas Party (HVP). They submitted a memorandum to the Additional Deputy Commissioner, Mr Ashok Yadav, demanding immediate payment of compensation to the residents whose houses were demolished without any prior notice. The memorandum also demanded immediate withdrawal of criminal cases registered against the residents,
shopkeepers, property dealers and others and release of all persons arrested on the charge of violence and arson. |
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HVPN move to hike power tariff
flayed Chandigarh, July 6 A press note issued by Mr Subhash Papneja, general secretary of the association, said the HVPN increased power tariff frequently without assigning any valid reason. It had been unnecessary burdening the consumers. The last increase in tariff was made in January 2001. He said the HVPN had failed to curtail the line losses. Blatant stealing of electricity through illegal kundli connections had become the order of the day. The HVPN had no control over the thefts. Instead of burdening the common consumers, the HVPN ought to have taken stern action against those persons who were indulging in power theft and causing a loss of lakhs of rupees to the HVPN. He said the federation was of the opinion the cycle of the slab system being followed at present by the HVPN needed to be revised to 100 units in a month instead of 40 units. He said the proposed increase in power tariff was uncalled for. Therefore they lodged their protest against the revision in power tariff.
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Rich must donate, says Babu Parmanand Narnaul, July 6 He was speaking at a function at the ITI ground here today after distributing artificial limbs, sewing machines, sarees and school uniforms to the needy. Babu Parmanand appealed to mediapersons to write more on religious teachings and discourses so that people were inspired to help one another. He said those children who drop out from school owing to poverty should be helped. The Governor announced a grant of Rs 1 lakh for poor students in Mahendragarh district. Babu Parmanand handed over the keys of an ambulance to the president of the Red Cross Society and gave 50 tricycles and 20 wheelchairs to the handicapped. Ms Sudesh Kumari, the Governor’s wife, gave sewing machines and sarees to 20 women, besides school uniforms to students. |
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Sulabh to share
MC’s work Faridabad, July 6 The agreement between the corporation and the Sulabh International was signed here yesterday. The organisation will take charge of the eastern part (urban Sectors) on the Mathura road against a monthly payment of about 25 lakhs. The government is seen as a step towards privatisation of services of the corporation. The corporation had recently removed 1,519 employees, mostly safai karmcharis, describing them as surplus. The authorities believe that such measures will not only improve the quality of work, but also save the expenditure. |
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Cong to install
computers at block level Hisar, July 6 Addressing the concluding function of a training camp for party workers at Barwala, about 30 km from here, last night, former Union Minister and All-India Congress Committee (AICC) secretary, Ms Shelja, said computers would be installed at every block headquarters soon. She said the record relating to party workers and the organisation would be maintained through computers. Activities and names of workers would also be recorded. |
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Congress training camp concludes Jind, July 6 Top Congress leaders from the Centre and the state, including Mr Mukul Vasnik, member, Congress Working Committee, Mr Salman Khursheed, chairman, policy and planning committee and other senior Congress leaders participated in the camp and delivered lectures on the policies, programmes and philosophy of the Congress party. |
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Cong protest
against meter replacement Kurukshetra, July 6 Mr Jai Parkash said the agitation launched by the president, district Mahila Congress Samiti, Ms Sona Devi Numberdaarni, against installation of new meters had spread in the state. The forcible replacement of the old meter |
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Anil Vij takes BJP to task Ambala, July 6 Talking to mediapersons here, Mr Vij said that the BJP state unit had no clear stand on the issue. “They do not seem to be either part of the Chautala government or against them. They seem to be hanging somewhere in between”, he said. Mr Vij said that there was not much weight in the statement that the Haryana unit was maintaining relations with the Chautala government under direction of the party high command. He pointed out that Vikas Parishad had formed a committee to look into flood-related matters. He said that the committee will submit its report soon. |
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Dangi’s bail plea dismissed Ambala, July 6 The bail application had been moved by the petitioner on the ground that there is a change in the circumstances after the decision of the bail application on May 14, 2001. It was pleaded that the accused was released on bail in FIR 3 of April 8, 2000, which is the main case. |
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