Chandigarh, December 21
Haryana’s former top cop SPS Rathore was subjected to a “polygraph examination” in the forgery and criminal intimidation case registered on Ruchika’s father SC Girhotra’s complaint and was found “truthful” in his response.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) made this startling revelation in its closure report submitted to an Ambala court. A copy of the report was placed before a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court this morning.

The investigating agency said in its report that four accused were mentioned in the FIR. Sub- Inspector Prem Dutt and ASI Jai Krishan had expired. “Only two of the accused persons are available and both- SPS Rathore and ASI Sewa Singh - were subjected to polygraph examination.

They denied the allegations levelled against them and were found truthful in their response.” The report goes on to demolish the allegation of forgery. Girhotra had stated his signatures were taken on blank papers. Ruchika’s name was intentionally changed to Ruby and his name from SC Girhotra to Subhash Chand. Veena was shown as his wife, whereas she had died in 1988. The report says Girhotra, during inquest proceedings, had disclosed “his names as Subhash Chand and Ruchika’s name as Ruby and the same were recorded by the police as per his disclosure. Girhotra’s family has also verified the fact that Ruchika was called Ruby at home.

“The relatives of SC Girhotra, present during the inquest proceedings, stated there was no pressure on them to append their signatures on the statements…. They also stated that neither Girhotra nor Veena was forced to sign blank papers by the police”.

Another closure report on Ruchika’s brother Ashu Girhotra’s complaint says he was arrested by the CIA staff and the police took him, along with another accused, in handcuffs to their homes. “The shopkeepers of Sector 6 market, Panchkula, have stated they neither heard nor saw Ashu being paraded by the police in half-naked condition with handcuffs in December 1993”.

The report says Ashu made a “disclosure statement dated October 25, 1993, in FIR number 147/93 and admitted to have stolen nine vehicles” and Ashu was “arrested in cases only after Sandeep Verma (accused) disclosed his name as accomplice.

The CBI’s closure reports have raised a controversy. A witness has claimed the CBI misquoted him. Ruchika’s father SC Girhotra, too, has alleged the witnesses were not only threatened but statements of those deposing in their favour were not even taken on record.

Girhotra, his lawyer Pankaj Bhardwaj and Ruchika’s supporters made clear they would challenge the report.

The case saw the High Court come down heavily on Haryana on granting promotions to Rathore, pending an inquiry.

“How did you give promotions to Rathore, when a case was registered against him,” the Bench questioned. The court also directed the state to place on record its promotion policy with regard to officers facing criminal charges.

Panchkula, December 21
A key witness in the Ruchika Girhotra molestation case here today claimed that the CBI had distorted his statement in its closure report. Vijay Dheer, the key witness, who used to reside in the house opposite to Girhotra’s in Sector 6 here, while talking to the media at his residence, said the CBI had lied and altered his statement.

Dheer said he was the main eyewitness and in his statement had told the CBI that Ashu, Ruchika's brother, was handcuffed and paraded semi-naked in the locality on December 25, 1993. He said he had also told the CBI that Ashu was brutally beaten up by the Haryana police. Dheer was among the 76 witnesses listed by the CBI.

Recently, the CBI had filed its closure report in two FIRs registered against former Haryana DGP SPS Rathore before the Ambala special CBI court. The investigating agency, in its closure report, had stated that shopkeepers in the Sector 6 market had said they had no knowledge of Ashu being paraded in a semi-naked condition in handcuffs by the police in December 1993. Neighbours of SC Girhotra at Sector 6 also denied having seen Ashu being paraded.

SC Girhotra, Ruchika's father, said the CBI had conducted the entire investigation only to give relief to Rathore. He said he had written to the Union Home Minister in February this year complaining about the “biased attitude” of the premier investigating agency. “The Special Secretary in the Home Ministry had assured me of necessary action in this regard,” he said.

Chandigarh, December 21
Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi seemed rejuvenated as he arrived to address a press conference, accompanied by his father Bhajan Lal, MP, here today.

Bhajan Lal, who walked in with support from his son and former MLA and confidant Dharampal Malik, unveiled HJC’s new election symbol.

“We’ve decided to change our election symbol to a tractor, which is a symbol of greenery. We have got the requisite permission from the Election Commission. The earlier symbol (a woman with a pitcher) continues to be frozen in our name for six years,” he said.

He lambasted the Haryana government for taking away farmers’ land and for the poor law an order situation.

He said the HJC would initiate a public contact programme from December 27 from Ambala. “Thereafter, along with my workers and leaders, I will visit every single village and city,” he said.

Scheduled to cover as many as 7,000 villages and cities, this programme would be launched on January 16 and would be wrapped up with a rally to be addressed by Bhajan Lal.

Sirsa, December 21
Students appearing in the third semester of the BTech examination of Kurukshetra University had to face a dilemma a day before their exam due to the “hacking” of the university website on Monday.

The examinations began as per schedule today, while the website of Kurukshetra University, according to the students, kept displaying a notice yesterday announcing the postponement of the examination to December 28.

Students allege that they had to pass through uncertainty due to the “faux pas” of the university and claimed that they were not able to prepare well a day before the examination.

“I was informed by a student in the evening yesterday that our examinations had been postponed for a week and that the university had displayed the information on its website,” said Vipin Kumar, a student of Chaudhary Devi Lal Government Engineering College, Paniwala Mota, who appeared in the third semester (reappear) today. He said he kept trying to open the website, but it was not accessible.

However, he managed to open the website in the night and found a notice on a link that announced the postponement of the examination.

“I went to bed after switching off my mobile only to learn in the morning that the examinations were starting as per schedule,” he said.

Vipin said for students of his college, it was a case of double jeopardy as the university changed their centre from their college to the JCD College of Engineering, Sirsa, at the last minute without any proper information to them.

He maintained that till late on Monday evening, no student was sure about the examination centre.

Devender Singh More, Principal of the Devi Lal Government College of Engineering, said the centre was changed by the university considering the viability as their college had few students who were to appear in the examinations.

He, however, claimed that the students were telephonically informed about the change in the centre.

Dr Raghuvendra Tanwar, Registrar of Kurukshetra University, while admitting the problem, said some unscrupulous elements had tampered with the website by accessing its password.

He said it was not exactly “hacking” of the website, as those who tampered with it did it by accessing the password.

He, however, claimed that the university authorities had immediately noticed the mischief, which, he maintained, appeared to be the handiwork of some students, and set it right.

Jind, December 21
A group of students went on the rampage after one of their schoolmates was hurt in an accident near the general bus stand this morning. The police used mild force to disperse the students who damaged two buses.

According to the police, at least 50 students of a private secondary school assembled at two sites and pelted stones on two buses of the Haryana Raodways after 16-year-old Narender was hit by a bus and hospitalised.

Several of his schoolmates assembled at the bus stand soon after and damaged a bus parked there.They were chased away by a policemen. The adamant students re-assembled near the old Sabzi Mandi and staged a blockade. They also damaged a bus that passed by, pelting it with stones and threw garbage at it.

The traffic remained disrupted at the busy Patiala Chowk for over 15 minutes, causing inconvenience to motorists as the students demanded the arrest of the bus driver.

The police intervened to get the blockade removed after some persuasion.

In another accident, three youths were killed when their motorcycle was hit by a truck near Amarheri village at 8.40 pm last night. Vijender, Sonu and Kaptan were on their way home from Assandh in Karnal when the accident took place a few kilometres from the city. Sonu and Kaptan died on the spot while Vijender succumbed to his injuries at the PGIMS in Rohtak. Vijender was married to Sonu’s sister a year back.

The police has registered a case. The driver of the truck fled the spot after the accident.

Rohtak, December 21
The Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(UHBVN) commissioned its newly constructed 33 Kv substation at the Old Power House Colony here today.

With the commissioning of the substation, the existing 33 Kv substation at Model Town and the 33 Kv substation at the HUDA Commercial Complex would get a relief of 300 and 100 amperes of daily load, respectively.

As many as 8,150 power consumers of Ram Nagar, Jagdish Colony, Shivam Enclave, DLF Colony, Chinyot Colony, Jawahar Nagar, Patel Nagar and Labour Chowk would be benefited with the commissioning of the substation by way of better power supply.