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Thursday,
June 26, 2003, Chandigarh, India  
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BJP workers lathicharged
Forest fires dominate
House proceedings Ayodhya: DYFI’s charge against
govt |
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Buffaloes’ deaths: disease detected Anant Ram Negi’s bail plea
rejected CM to present Budget
today Two arrested
for murder
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BJP workers lathicharged Shimla, June 25 Led by former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal, the workers assembled on the Ridge for the protest. However, as soon as Mr Dhumal started addressing the gathering, the police, which was present at the venue in strength, swung into action and started pushing the protesters into buses. As the protesters resisted the police, a scuffle ensued. At this stage, the policemen resorted to lathicharge, in which some persons were injured. The drama continued for half an hour during which some of the protesters including legislators were virtually dragged towards the waiting vehicles. The Deputy Commissioner, Mr Sushil Negi, and the district police chief, Mr Yog Raj, denied that there was any lathicharge and maintained that the situation turned worse when some BJP workers including legislators ,targeted Mr Vijay Kumar, a head constable of the India Reserve Battalion, and gave him a severe beating. The policemen present on the spot used force to rescue him. An FIR has been registered against six persons, including Mr Randhir Sharma, BJP spokesperson, Dr Rajiv Bindal, Mr Ravinder Ravi and Mr Baldev Sharma — all MLAs. As the workers tried to stage a protest in a prohibited zone, a case of unlawful assembly was also registered under various sections of the IPC in connection with the incident. The police said that about 120 protesters were removed from the prohibited area and released on the outskirts of the town. No arrests were made. However, the BJP claimed that over 200 workers had been rounded up. While being taken away, the protesters stopped buses near tunnel no 103 and blocked traffic on the Shimla-Kalka national highway in protest against the statements of the district officials that there was no lathicharge but only a scuffle between two groups of BJP workers. Mr Dhumal alleged that the police resorted to an unprovoked lathicharge on peaceful workers, who only wanted to stage a dharna before the statue of Mahatma Gandhi to register their protest against the reign of terror let loose by the Virbhadra Singh government which was victimising party workers. He said the lathicharge was sudden and brutal as was evident from the fact that elderly persons like Mr Jaikrishan Sharma, state party chief, also received lathi blows. Mr Ganesh Dut, party spokesman, was hit on the head repeatedly. The legislators — Dr Rajiv Bindal, Mr Virender Kanwar and Mr Baldev Sharma — were also at the receiving end. Even women protesters like Ms Indu Goswami, Chairperson of the State Women Commission, and Ms Veena Thakur, state Mahila BJP chief, were roughed up by policemen. The former Chief Minister demanded a judicial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge into the incident and immediate suspension of Mr Sushil Negi, Deputy Commissioner, for giving misleading statement regarding the lathicharge. He said all officials concerned should be shifted to pave way for an impartial probe. Later, Mr P.K. Dhumal and Mr Jaikrishan Sharma along with other party leaders went to the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to the Governor Mr Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje, drawing his attention to the matter. The political vendetta being pursued by the Congress government had reminded the people of the dark days of the Emergency, they said. It was also alleged that the government was evading discussion in the Vidhan Sabha on important issues like drought and water scarcity. The Congress had promised to provide jobs to all unemployed persons but it had imposed a ban on recruitment after coming to power. On the other hand, a daughter of Mr Virbhadra Singh, Chief Minister, had been appointed Additional Advocate General and a grand daughter of an ex-MLA given a government job. The law and order situation had deteriorated, large-scale transfers of employees had been effected on political consideration and the bus fare had been increased by 25 per cent. Meanwhile, Mr Virbhadra Singh, has termed the BJP protest a flop show and said the memorandum submitted by it to the Governor was a bundle of lies. Instead of indulging in such gimmicks Mr Dhumal should own responsibility for the party’s poor performance in the election to Tribal assembly segments and resign from the leadership of the party. Talking to newsmen he said nothing could be more ridiculous than the allegation of vendetta levelled, by a person like Mr Dhumal, a former Chief Minister, who pursued a one-point programme to decimate his rivals during his five-year term. He said by his indiscreet and motivated actions, Mr Dhumal had earned the dubious distinction of being the most vindictive Chief Minister in the history of North India. He blatantly misused the state machinery and resources to harass his opponents. Mr Dhumal and his men, who were bent on mischief, deliberately created a scene on the Ridge. It was a prohibited area and they could have easily gone to Raj Bhavan to submit the memorandum without violating the prohibitory orders. He said there was no lathicharge but only a scuffle when the police forcibly removed them from the banned zone. |
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Forest fires dominate House
proceedings Shimla, June 25 The Speaker, Mr Gangu Ram Musafir, had to intervene repeatedly to maintain order while Mr Chander Kumar, Forest Minister, faced a volley of supplementaries from members on the issue of forest fires. Replying to Mr Mohinder Singh, he informed the House that from February 1 to June 20, there were 623 incidents of forest fires in which 11,777 hectares of forest land was affected, causing a loss of about Rs 74 lakh. He also spoke about the preventive steps taken by the Forest Department like the clearing of fire lines of 1284-km length and controlled burning over an area of 5,000 hectares. He said as many as 500 fire-watchers had been engaged for the season. An awareness drive had also been carried out to educate people. Mr Virbhadra Singh told Mr K.D. Dharmani and Mr Damodar Dass that 24,390 cases of widow, disabled and pensioners were pending. He said it was a huge backlog as the previous government had not sanctioned any new cases and provided pension only by way of substitution. He said the government would try to clear the backlog soon. It had already sanctioned 709 cases in March. Replying to a question of Mr Ravinder Ravi, Mr Sat Mahajan said the watershed development project under the Hariyali scheme would be managed by the local panchayats. However, the projects already under execution would continue under the supervision of the local elected committees. Mr Virbhadra Singh, replying to the call attention motion of Mr Mohinder Singh regarding the alleged murder of Ashok Kumar, a trade union leader, said there had been no delay in the registration of case. Section 302, IPC, was added in the FIR as soon as he died at the PGI in Chandigarh. Workers indulged in violence after his death and damaged computers and furniture at the office of the company engaged in the construction of the project. A case had been registered against four persons in this connection. He said additional police force had been deployed at Sainj. |
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Ayodhya: DYFI’s charge against
govt Shimla, June 25 Mr Tapas Sinha, national general secretary of the DYFI, stated that the Central government was surrendering to the forces of international monetary agencies and dismantling the public sector and downsizing the workforce. The DYFI state general secretary cited the example of privatisation in HPCL and the BPCL despite strong opposition by the majority of members in Parliament. The DYFI strongly opposed the move of the Central government to send troops to Iraq for policing under the US military command. Mr Sinha claimed that the organisation had a membership of 1.25 crore and the 7th all-India conference would be held in Amritsar in November. Over 1000 delegates would attend it, he added. Mr Tikender Panwar, state DYFI secretary, said the MoU with J.P. Industries on the Baspa project should be cancelled as the HPSEB would suffer a loss of Rs 100 crore. He stated that the board would buy electricity at the rate of Rs 4 per unit and the additional cost would be Rs 1.20 per unit, resulting in a Enron-like situation. |
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Buffaloes’ deaths: disease detected Chamba, June 25 The team observed that this was an infectious disease. The team comprising Dr. V.B. Joshi (microbiologist), Dr Anil Kumar Sharma (pathlogist), and Dr Surinder Chauhan (Physiologist) and headed by Dr A.K. Almadi, Joint Director of the H.P. Animal Husbandry Department was asked to survey the affected areas of Kihar and Chanju in the subdivision. |
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Anant Ram Negi’s bail plea
rejected Shimla, June 25 The prosecution alleged that the accused, Anant Ram had constructed a shed on the forest land in 1975 and later in 2000 he constructed sarai water tank on the land. It was alleged that a road was being constructed in the forest area for which the accused had deposited Rs 10,000. With the HPPWD. A water tank was also constructed on the land and electricity and telephone connections were illegally provided to the accused. It was found during the inquiry that for providing water connection the I&PH department spent Rs 88,640 and for providing electricity connection Rs 96,700 was spent by the government authorities illegally. |
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CM to present Budget today Shimla, June 25 The government had taken vote on account during the March session for four months to meet the expenditure while the regular Budget was passed. This will be the 11th Budget to be presented by Mr Virbhadra Singh during the past 20 years when he became the Chief Minister for the first time in 1983. —
PTI |
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Two arrested for murder Solan, June 25 Peeved at being a “slapped and humiliated” they started hitting him with stones causing serious injuries. The Arki police which arrived on the scene after receiving information today, has registered a case under Section 302, IPC. The SP, Solan, and DSP, Parwanoo, rushed to the spot and set up teams to nab Devi Dass. Dhani Ram was arrested today. The body of the deceased has been sent to the Civil Hospital Arki for a post-mortem examination. |
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