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April 21, 2003, Chandigarh, India
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WHODUNIT Ghaziabad, April 20 The GDA records have no mention of the missing acres worth hundreds of crores of rupees. The officials don’t seems to know either, but many of them are known to be loosing their sleep over the matter. In a knee-jerk response, the GDA has pressed into service its engineering department to help ferret out the missing prime land. Incidentally, the commercial wing of the GDA is saddled with unsold commercial property worth hundreds of crores of rupees. The GDA has reportedly not been to find any takers for the property. The engineer in charge of commercial property, Shiv Raj Singh, disclosed that the authority has been able to dispose of commercial property worth only Rs. 35 crore in the last financial year. Besides this, residential property worth Rs. 1,000 crore is also lying unsold. A marketing scheme drawn for disposal of this property has also proved to be a damp squib. In fact, the GDA has to often meet the expenses incurred on advertisements for disposal of these properties from its own coffers. A senior official of GDA points out that the main impediment in the disposal of properties is the town planning and housing department of the state government. According to these sources, people have opened illegal shops in residential colonies. The government has issued orders to
regularise them. This has created a big hurdle in the disposal of the commercial property.
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Only six municipal council employees for Rohtak, April 20 Result? The streetlight arrangements are in a shambles in the town. A majority of the localities in the town plunge into darkness in the evening providing an opportunity to the miscreants to indulge in eve-teasing, robbery, theft etc. According to information, there are around 8,000 power points in different localities and markets in the town which include 500 sodium lights, 3,200 tubelights, 3,700 mini tubelights and 1,000 bulbs. Strangely, the Municipal Council has detailed only six employees for the maintenance of 8,000 power points. This is the reason why a majority of the power points in different parts of the town had been non-functional for several years. The residents of various localities said that five paise per unit was being charged from them for streetlights. However, they alleged that the MC authorities had miserably failed to provide the facility. Mr Ram Dev of Garhi Mohalla locality said that he had hardly seen any tubelight or bulb in the locality for many years. Mr Har Swaroop, a resident of Jind Road here, said he doubted whether the electricity poles in the locality had ever been fitted with the lighting equipment. Mr Ram Kishan of Janta Colony, Mr Jitender Singh of Salara mohalla, Mr Ram Prasad Kaushik of Kaisthan mohalla, Mr Shiv Charan of Para mohalla and some residents of Mata Darwaja Chowk, Gaukaran Road, Kuttcha Beri Road alleged that the streetlights in the town were in a pathetic condition. They said they had registered several complaints in this regard with the MC authorities but of no avail. The aggrieved residents said that several market committees and improvement committees of various localities had made streetlight arrangements at their own level. They demanded proper streetlights and an increase in the number of employees deputed for the maintenance of power points. They suggested that there should be proper coordination between the employees of the MC and those of
UHBVN.
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Master drug peddler in burka unveiled New Delhi April 20 The main accused, Sayeed Nafees Chisti alias Nafisuddin (35), also a resident of Ajmer, carried a reward of Rs 25,000. Sayeed had evaded the dragnet for so many years by concealing himself in a burka. Last evening the police received information that Sayeed and his associate had been spotted at the Dhaula Kuan bus stand. The police team, on reaching the spot, found a person in a burka. Initially hesitant, the police, after confirming that it was Sayeed, overpowered him along with his accomplice. Besides drug peddling, Sayeed is facing the rap in a sensational blackmail case in Ajmer. It is alleged that many college-going girls of affluent families and some minors were allegedly kidnapped, raped and photographed in nude. While many girls and their families opted to remain silent and coughed up the money, ten girls took the matter to the police. The CID branch of Rajasthan finally managed to arrest 12 persons involved in the sleaze racket. However, Sayeed and his six associates went underground. The district judge of Ajmer later sentenced eight persons to life imprisonment in the case. In 1995, Sayeed had sent a consignment of four kg of brown sugar worth Rs four crore to Kerala through carriers; the police had seized the contraband and arrested Sayeed’s brother Safiquddin. In January 2003, Sayeed had moved a brown sugar consignment worth Rs 24 crore in the international market. Then, the Surat police had managed to arrest seven of his associates, but Sayeed again managed to escape. The master drug peddler is now being interrogated, so that his alleged links with international gangs can be unravelled. |
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CRACKDOWN About 1,500 cases had been prepared and finalised by Saturday. The MCF has already completed a survey of the colony and found that about 3,775 families had been living on the land belonging to it for several years. It is reported that the SDM’s court would issue legal notices to all the occupants and if they fail to clear up or give up the occupation, the authorities may be authorised to take action. It is also reported that a similar procedure was being adopted to recover about five acres occupied ‘illegally’ by about 550 families in Bhagat Singh Colony in the NIT area here. The residents seemed to be jittery over the likely action to be taken by the authorities to clear encroachments in various sectors and colonies. “The authorities did not give even 48 hours to the residents of the Housing Board Colony of Sector-29, where extensions of hundreds of houses were brought down at a short notice last month,” said K L Gera, a resident here. He said that certain influential persons had encroached upon the green belt worth crores in the commercial area of NIT and other zones, but said the authorities seemed to be concerned only about the 1 to 5 feet encroachments done by the residents in colonies. |
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CUSTODY
DEATH Bhiwani, April 20 Rajesh and his father Dharmpal were already lodged in the jail as undertrials in a case registered by the Jhajjar police under Section 304 B of the Indian Penal Code. A court had remanded them in judicial custody on March 25. The case pertains to the death of Renu Bala, the wife of the deceased, who had allegedly committed suicide by consuming a poisonous substance on March 25. Rajesh’s in-laws, suspicious of the circumstances in which Renu died, had got a case registered under Section 304 B against the former, his father Dharampal and mother Murti Devi at Jhajjar police station. Rajesh and Renu were married on 27 March 2000. Rajesh allegedly committed suicide by hanging himself with a towel behind the barrack of the jail in the wee hours. The jail inmates immediately informed the authorities about the incident. The sub-divisional magistrate, Yashwant Singh, rushed to the jail and the doctors of the civil hospital conducted the post-mortem examination in his presence. However, the relatives of the deceased and members of the panchayat refused to accept the body unless the Bhiwani district administration registered a case against the in-laws. The police, however, took the plea that since the death had taken place in Jhajjar jail, a case could only be registered at Jhajjar. Later, the Jhajjar MLA, Daryao Singh, and representatives of 12 Dhankhad Khap of Kasni (Jhajjar) area also reached Bhiwani. The sarpanch of the village, Kasni Bimla Devi, persisted in her demand for registering a case against the in-laws of Rajesh who, according to her, were responsible for the suicide. Bimla Devi alleged that the relatives of deceased Renu had threatened them of dire consequences on April 11 when they appeared before a court. She alleged that they were demanding Rs. five lakh in cash. The Superintendent of Police, Bhiwani, who was earlier trying to prevail upon the panchayat to register the case at Jhajjar police station, relented and directed the local police to register the case. The Sadar police station has registered a case against Mehar Singh Faquir Chand, an uncle of Renu, and Sadhu Ram, latter’s father, under section 306 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code. The panchayat accepted the body in the evening. |
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Unemployed
engineer slashes mother’s neck Noida, April 20 At 10 am yesterday, his mother Mrs Kusum Devi, alias
The people in the whole village were shocked to see the blood-soaked body of Savitri Devi, 55. The police were informed soon who sent the body for an autopsy. After the arrest, Rajesh told the police that he had killed his mother for refusing him food for four days. |
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OPERATION TALAASH Panipat, April 20 The lackadaisical attitude of the administration, coupled with the alleged unwillingness of the powerful exporters and manufacturers of the handloom products to register the Bangladeshi workers under the Foreigners Registration Act, has ensured the ‘illegal’ stay of the hundreds of Bangladeshis workers, posing a serious threat to the national security. It may be recalled that employing Bangladeshi labour has certain advantages. Besides being experts in their trade, these workers are ‘cheap’ to hire as compared to their Indian counterparts. As they are illegal immigrants, they could be ‘hired and fired’ at the convenience of the exporters, as few labour unions would take up the case of illegal immigrants. The police had arrested 21 illegal Bangladeshis from an export house on October 7, 2002 and released some of them on personal bonds. When the media highlighted the gravity of the situation, particularly in view of their possible use in disruptive activities, the police arrested them again and produced them in a local court. Mamta Singh, who was the Superintendent of Police then, had directed the police to act ‘tough’ with illegal immigrants and verify the records of the various factories in the city so as to flush out the ‘illegal settlers’. However, it is difficult to judge the follow up action of the police, as the presence of these illegal immigrants can be witnessed in all parts of the city. Sources said that flushing out the illegal immigrants was not on the top of the police agenda, since their hands were full with performing routine duties and containing the spiraling crime graph in the region. Sources in the police discounted their role in disruptive activities, as these workers were a peaceful community, with the sole aim of earning their bread and butter. The other intelligence agencies like the IB and CID do keep a track of their movement, but do not have any executive powers to prosecute them. A couple of years back, the police went into ‘overdrive’ when a Bangladeshi was arrested from a factory in the Kishanpura area. Ten workers, including five Bangladeshis, were burnt alive in a factory on the G T Road on July 19, 2001. Subsequently, however, the police drive to identify the illegal settlers was again put in the cold storage. It is learnt that a majority of the Bangladeshis had been living under assumed identities. While a large number of illegal immigrants were staying on the factory premises, others were put up in private accommodations. As providing details about the tenants was not compulsory for the landlords, the illegal immigrants continued to stay on in the city without any disturbance. On the other hand, the exporters have washed their hands off the whole controversy. Exporters contended that since the labourers were supplied to them by the contractors, they were hardly in a position to know the nationality of the labourers. As the features of the illegal immigrants from Bangladesh matched their counterparts from West Bengal, it was difficult to distinguish between the two, particularly since the skilled workers from West Bengal formed a sizeable part of the workforce in the industries of Panipat.
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SPECIAL FOCUS ON SONEPAT Sonepat, April 20 The Deputy Commissioner told mediapersons here today that this action followed the checking of 78 fair price shops in the city and elsewhere in the district by the officials of the department during the past one year. The department, he said, also cancelled the licences of three fair price shops and confiscated the security totalling Rs 13,600 of some other fair price shops on serious charges levelled against the owners of the ration shops. He disclosed that the department has also cancelled the licences of 20 brick kilns in the district following detection of several irregularities in the sale of bricks. The department officials, he said, also checked as many as eight petrol pumps and action was taken against the erring pumps. The DC disclosed that the department is taking steps to streamline the public distribution system (PDS) to ensure regular supply of the rationed commodities to the families living Below the Poverty Line (BPL) in the district. As many as 343 ration depots were functioning in the district and these include 240 in the rural areas. He disclosed that there were 14 LPG agencies functioning in the district and these include seven of the Indane and five of Bharat Petrolium. There are 1.03 lakh consumers and the number of beneficiaries with double LPG cylinders is 46,742. Meanwhile, the PDS seems to have collapsed following the diversion of rationed commodities particularly levy sugar and kerosene in the black market by certain unscrupulous owners of fair price shops with the connivance of corrupt officials of the department. Resentment prevails among the families living below the poverty line in the city and elsewhere in the district against the non-supply of rationed commodities to them regularly. They alleged that the flour and wheat being supplied at the fair price shops were sub-standard and not fit for human consumption. Many members of the BPL families complain against the poor and sub-standard quality of levy sugar, faulty weighing, over-charging and other irregularities. They alleged that the owners of the fair price shops never issue proper receipts to the consumers in the absence of any checking by the authorities concerned. Most of such consumers are being fooled and fleeced by the depot holders every month. These consumers are deprived of their monthly ration of levy sugar and kerosene and all the complaints made to the authorities concerned in this regard have fallen on deaf ears. Several consumers alleged that the offices of the Food and Supplies Department have become dens of corruption and no work is done without greasing the palms of the officials. Most of the employees in the office of the District Food and Supplies Controller had been working for the last three decades or more and the posts of some of them had become ‘non-transferable’. According to many depot holders, they had been paying bribe to the staff regularly when they approach for the release of levy sugar, kerosene and other grain. This is a common practice going on in this office every month. The role of the inspectorate staff is also under a cloud. Those in the know revealed that every inspector of the department collects money as ‘nazrana’ from the owners of the fair price shops, brick kilns, petrol pumps and LPG agencies for turning a blind eye to their irregularities. Money is alleged to be exchanging hands at different levels in the department. To make up for all the expanses, a majority of the fair price shop owners fleece consumers mostly in the rural areas. The situation in the city is going from bad to worse as the department officials are not bothered about the complaints against
misdistribution of the rationed commodities, particularly kerosene, the bulk quantity of which was being diverted to blackmarketing every month. Representatives of various consumer organisations have demanded a high-level probe into the racket and stern action against the erring officials. They demanded immediate transfers and suspension of those officials have a longer stay in the office of the DFSC and other subordinate offices to ensure an independent and impartial probe. Meanwhile, the leaders of the Residents Welfare Association and the Sonepat Citizens Council have also urged the Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to appoint a senior officer for making a thorough probe into the racket and punish the erring officials in the department concerned. They also threatened to launch an agitation if the authorities failed to check the malpractices of the depot holders and misdeeds of the officials. |
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Admn turns a blind eye to encroachments Sonepat, April 20 According to a report, the shopkeepers and the residents are encroaching upon the public, municipal and HUDA land in front of their houses and shops. Concrete structures, counter benches, signboards and sprawling merchandise on pavements make walking quit an exercise for pedestrians. Then, there are the tarpaulin sunsheds over the shops. In the residential areas, it is the angle irons, hedges, barbed wires and concrete structures that hog the roads. On visiting these areas, one found that some residents had grabbed public and municipal land by landscaping the area while others had planted saplings right on the edges of the roads. The intrusion on pedestrians’ rights has often led to accidents in the congested lanes. Motorists find it difficult to pass through the roads as many vehicles are parked there. The shoppers have a tough time passing through the congested markets. One cannot even walk through these bazaars easily, leave alone driving one’s vehicle. The shopkeepers have choked the roads and the administration seems to be doing nothing about it. Repeated anti-encroachment campaigns had proved futile as they were carried out either half-heartedly or biased against certain traders and shopkeepers. The business of the shopkeepers also suffered because it discouraged customers. Since the present Deputy Commissioner, Mr Balwan Singh, had taken over the charge, the shopkeepers have started encroaching on the public, municipal and HUDA land with impunity and without fear in front of their shops and houses. Most of them are busy in constructing the unauthorised structures, tharas, sunsheds and pucca floors. This seems that the entire administration in the city has collapsed. Similarly, the footpaths in the main bazaars have been occupied illegally and the shopkeepers have put up their goods for sale. The pedestrians are forced to go on the roads which has led to many accidents. Some of them proved even fatal. The authorities of the Sonepat Municipal Council and the PWD (B and R) as well as the HUDA have remained silent spectators whereas the land worth crores of rupees had been grabbed by the shopkeepers and the owners of the houses. In the button factory area, the shopkeepers have grabbed the land meant for a municipal park along the boundary walls of the ESI dispensary and concrete platform built for parking the vehicles. Similarly, the owners of wooden stalls have illegally occupied the land along the boundary walls of the godown of the Food and Supplies Department on the Atlas Road, the PWD (B and R) rest house and the office of the Fisheries Department in the absence of any checking by the authorities concerned. Similarly, the slum dwellers had occupied the embankments of the Drain No. 6 and built pucca houses and shops on them. The former DC, Mr S N Roy, it may be recalled, had got vacated the municipal, public and HUDA land worth several crores of rupees during his tenure, but the land-grabbers are at it again. They occupy the land got vacated earlier by the district, municipal and HUDA administration. The fire-brigade vehicles cannot pass through the main bazaars in case of fire incident. |
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Mayawati
has unleashed political terror: Bitta Noida, April 20 He challenged Ms Mayawati to take action against him if she has the guts to do so. He said he would get in touch with Mulayam Singh Yadav, Amar Singh, Motilal Vora, Priyanka Gandhi, Promode Mahajan, Raj Nath Singh and others, and open a front against political terrorism of Mayawati, which Mr Bitta felt was more dangerous than terrorism as such. The Centre should withdraw its support from her government in the state in the interest of the ‘common man’, Mr Bitta said. Mr Bitta was inaugurating a fashion show organised by the International Institute of Fashion Technology in Sector-18 on Saturday.
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Grand finale to Bhakti Utsav New Delhi, April 20 Mantra Uccharan by the girls from Varanasi Vidyapeeth and Kabir Bhajans in folk tradition by Prahlad Singh Tipanya were appreciated by the audience. Kumar Gandharva’s wife and daughter gave the audience an insight into the classical style of his compositions on Tulsidas and Surdas. The festival inaugurated on April 18 was organised at the Nehru Park in the Capital.
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Probe ordered into flesh trade racket in hospital Sonepat, April 20 According to a report, the Senior Medical Officer, Dr Arun Garg, has been appointed as an inquiry officer and he has been asked to submit his report within two days. The Medical Superintendent has also informed the Civil Surgeon, Dr Rukmani Garg, about the incident, but she has reportedly declined to take any action against the erring employees as she is due to retire from service by the end of the month. A police party, it may be recalled, had conducted a surprise raid in an X-ray room of the Civil Hospital and apprehended a woman alleged to be involved in the flesh trade there. However, the employees managed to escape and could not be arrested even after a hot chase by the
police. |
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Executive
body of Gohana Congress reconstituted Sonepat, April 20 Bijli Board Employees’ election results: Other elected office-bearers of the unit included: Suraj Bhan as senior vice-president; Vedpal Chikara as vice-president; Jagdish Sharma as treasurer; Rampat as secretary, Bijender Kadian as co-secretary and Virender Dahiya, Hari Singh, Jagdish and Om Prakash Mor as organisers.
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NCR BRIEFS Rohtak, April 20 He threatened to observe fast unto death and file a case in the Punjab and Haryana High Court if his demand was not conceded. On the other hand, several residents alleged that they had been facing acute hardship due to the erection of the gates, which they claimed was often found closed till late in the morning and evening. They said their wards had to wait for a long time at these gates as the gate man was often found absent from duty. Moreover, they said they faced the same problem while taking patients to the PGIMS during odd hours. According to district administration, the gate was removed from its place in view of the complaints registered by a large number of residents of Sector I. However, the authorities said the gate had not been damaged.
Youth commits suicide Bhiwani: A youth reportedly committed suicide by jumping in front of the train yesterday. According to information, Suryakant (18), son of Radhey Shyam, resident of the New Housing Board Colony, jumped before the running train. The cause of suicide could not be ascertained. Meanwhile, the police recovered a body of an unidentified woman near Gujrani pump house yesterday.
Protest by examinees Sonepat: Hundred of examinees of Bhawar, Nizampur and Garhwal villages, appearing in the matriculation and middle standard examinations, demonstrated in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner. They were protesting against the shifting of their examination centre for the second time. They have demanded that they be allowed to appear for their examinations from the Government Senior Secondary School, Bhawar. According to information, there are 309 students, including 100 girls, from these villages who are appearing in middle standard examination. Also, there are 287 students, including 80 girls, who are appearing in the matriculation examination. Following reports of large scale copying by the Gohana SDM, Suraj Bhan Jangra, the centre was shifted to Sher Singh Memorial Public School at Gohana. This had created resentment among the students and their wardens.
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DELHI DIGEST New Delhi, April 20 The former Delhi Health Minister, Dr Harshvardhan, honoured 12 needy meritorious students with silver medals. The honoured students were Shikha Shiva Sharma, Poonam, Sweta Gupta, Preeti Das, Ummul Khair, Prachi Agnihotri, Anju Jaiswal, Preeti Kumari Barwal, Sri Ram Gupta, Deepika Sahni and Satnam Singh, a press release said. Inaugurating the function, he congratulated the students and appreciated the efforts made by the Parishad for the last 28 years. He said that after 55 years of independence, 37 per cent of the Indian population still remained uneducated. Sri Krishan Gupta, patron of the Parishad, presided over the function. The general-secretary, Mr Rakesh Jain, presented a brief report of the Parishad. The convenor, Mr Ashok Jain, disclosed that more than 500 needy students were provided textbooks, note books, help books and other study materials at the function. Mr Inder Chand Jain, the chairman of the reception committee, welcomed the guests. Seven lifers’ term commuted:
He ordered for their release subject to the execution of personal bonds and surety to the satisfaction of the District Magistrate, sources said. |
Jangpura
robbery case solved, 4 youths held New Delhi, April 20 Three stolen motorcycles, one cellular phone, one .315 bore loaded country-made pistol and one knife were recovered from their possession. According to the police, the armed intruders had forced their way into the house of Dinesh Singh, a businessman, by inquiring about the whereabouts of his wife, Alka Mahajan, who was a teacher in St. Pauls School. While he was talking to the intruders, they overpowered him. They robbed him of his cellular phone, jewellery worth lakhs of rupees and Rs 25 000 cash at gunpoint. During interrogation, Nadeem, the leader of the group, disclosed that they had their hide out at Sabzi Mandi, Okhla, where all the gang members would usually assemble to carry out their criminal activities. The police said that they belonged to lower-middle class and committed crime to fulfill their day to day requirements. In the past, they had attempted to commit robberies in Gobindpuri and Chitranjan Park but had failed to execute their plan properly. The suspects disclosed that they had received specific information from ‘Baba’, a neighbour of the victim that there would be no resistance in the house and cash worth lakhs of rupees would be found in the house. The robbed jewellery was sold to a jeweller in Meerut by
Nadeem. The police said that the suspects preferred the G B Road area for stealing motorcycles, as they believed that the victims would not lodge the report with the police as it might expose their association with the flesh trade in the area. They stole the motorcycles from the red light area with the intention to use them in their criminal activities. The police said that the gang, nicknamed ‘Sonu gang’ consisted of ten members. One of the members, Yashpal, was expert in stealing motorcycles. Most of the motorcycles stolen were of the old models.
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SHOWCASE Machino Group has launched its flagship publication, ‘Ready to Go,’ the only magazine in India that provides students and their parents with comprehensive information on education abroad. The bi-monthly magazine has been launched in cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Pune and Hyderabad. Arjun Jindal, CEO, said, “my own experiences and interaction with Indian students abroad made me realize that there is a complete lack of comprehensive information on opportunities on education overseas. Thus, ‘Ready to Go’, was conceived to fill in this void.” State-of-the-art refrigerators:
Ichiban has introduced a range of refrigerators with no-frost 3-D airflow system. The range is available in three attractive designs–purity door design, radius design and edge door design and has features like ‘triangular holistic cooling’, ‘air curtain’, which locks in the freshness’ and ‘convertech’ that converts freezer into refrigerator. The series boasts of specifications like clean back design, antibiotic deodorizer, fresh chilled room and shelves that come in choices of premium crystal, wire or class varieties. Theme-based Ambience:
Temptation from Monte Carlo:
Sandals for summer:
Pooh
series: Mahindra Intertrade has introduced an exciting series of Winnie the Pooh. In this series, one can find Pooh in different moods that includes a playful Pooh with a football, a funky Pooh with a guitar, a happy Pooh with flower and Pooh with his honeypot. Parag Dani of Marketing Services said, “Winnie the Pooh is one of the most endearing and attractive characters of Disney and is immensely popular with kids. This charming Pooh is a collectors delight.” Hi-fi DVD
player:
Palm digital camera:
Blue Star:
Flat CTV:
Beltek India has introduced Delta-21, digital true flat colour television with stereo surrounding sound at highly affordable price. Available all over India, Beltek’s true flat CTV is laced with state-of-the-art Japanese technology that ensures hi-fi sound, clear picture, latest hi-tech features and powerful performance for the years to come. Family Talc:
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Faridabad, April 20
