Gurgaon, May 31
A district court has convicted former Haryana minister Dharambir Yadav of corruption and sentenced him to four years’ imprisonment. The court has also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on Yadav.

A local court had convicted Yadav a few years ago. However, he was later granted bail. He had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which directed the investigating agency to reinvestigate the case and file the chargesheet in a local court.

Pronouncing the judgment yesterday, Additional District and Sessions Judge Vimal Kumar retained the earlier verdict. Following this, Yadav was arrested and sent to Bhondsi jail.

The State Vigilance Bureau had arrested the former minister in 2002 on charges of corruption. He was a member of the Legislative Assembly between 1996 and 1999.

Yadav was a Cabinet minister in the Bansi Lal Government and allegedly purchased several properties. A case under the Prevention of Corruption Act was registered against him during the INLD regime in 2002.

As per the charges levelled against him by the State Vigilance Bureau, he bought about 80 to 90 acres of land in his name as well as in the names of his relatives and also owns six or seven cars.

Counsel for the former minister maintained that the conviction would be challenged in the high court.

Bhiwani, May 31
Six persons, including a woman and two children, were killed and some others injured when the cab they were travelling in rammed into a tree near Dhigava village on the Bhiwani-Loharu road today. Three of those killed belonged to one family.

Passersby came to the rescue of the injured and shifted them to a hospital in Bhiwani, where they were given first aid and later referred to the PGIMS, Rohtak.

The car was on the way to Loharu from Bhiwani. As it reached near Dhigava village, around 30 km from here, the driver lost control over the vehicle folliowing which it rammed into a tree.

Eyewitnesses said the vehicle was moving at a high speed when the mishap took place.

The victims were taken to the Civil Hospital where doctors declared Meenakshi (35), her son Vansh (4) and two-month-old daughter Bhavya of Krishna Colony, Bhiwani, Sonu (20) of Balkara village, Bijender Sharma (20) of Aadu and Rajender (25) of Gothara village as brought dead.

The injured - Dalbir, Kalu, Vijay, Neetu, Pawan, Omkar, Satbir, Ishwar and Vijay - were referred to Rohtak after first aid.

Karnal, May 31
Lavish expenditure on celebrating “important days”, presenting mementoes, purchase of batteries for invertors, tents, catering charges, repair of cameras, lunch, purchase of computers, construction of shops, and expenses on the family of a Judge and purchase of air tickets are some of the heads under “office contingencies” for which the Red Cross funds, meant for poor people, are being misutilised.

Officers managing the funds for carrying out Red Cross activities reportedly find it easy to divert these funds and even after objections raised by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) and directions from the Haryana Government to Deputy Commissioners to reimburse the Red Cross funds, the practice has not stopped.

The data regarding utilisation of funds by the Karnal District Red Cross Society, procured by advocate Rajesh Sharma under the RTI Act, revealed that during 2005-10, an amount of Rs 1,82,690 was spent on celebrating “important days”, Rs 1.84 lakh on giving awards for sanitation, Rs 2,53,700 on the construction of shops, Rs 2,19,490 for purchasing a generator set for the tehsil office, Rs 85,500 on replacement and repairs of cameras of photographers and Rs 1.30 lakh on tents and catering.

Strangely, during 2005-06, an expenditure of Rs 3,04,950 was incurred under the miscellaneous expenses head and Rs 1 lakh on the purchase of air tickets.

During 2007-08, X-ray films worth Rs 1,14,961 were purchased from Red Cross funds, an amount of Rs 17,932 was spent on lunch, refreshments and other expenses for the family of a Judge, Rs 30,315 on the repairs of a car of the Deputy Commissioner, Rs 37,500 on generator set for the SDM’s office, Assandh, and Rs 13,900 on the battery of an invertor for the DC camp office.

Even the charges of Rs 30,600 on the “Honour Board” for the DC office were paid from Red Cross funds in 2008-09 and the election expenses of Rs 30,000 and photography of voter ID cards, costing Rs 13,248, were also met from these funds during 2008-09.

During 2006-2007, the computer for the office of the DPRO, costing Rs 72,428, was purchased from Red Cross funds while an amount of Rs 19,450 was paid for the battery of an invertor in the room of the PA to the DC in 2009-10.

The CAG, in its report, pointed out that many societies in Haryana had purchased gifts, mobiles and vehicles from the funds meant for ambulances and victims of different tragedies and said the “audit of 12 district Red Cross societies revealed that funds amounting to Rs 2.86 crore were spent on items such as expenditure on the maintenance of government office buildings, purchase of gifts, furniture, mobiles phones, telephone bills, purchase and repair of vehicles for the Deputy Commissioner and Subdivisional Officer (Civil).”

“These items were not covered under the aims and objectives for which the funds of the society were meant. Expenditure on these items from Red Cross funds was, therefore, irregular,” the report concluded.

However, Deputy Commissioner Neelam Pradeep Kasni, who occupied the office during 2006-2010, said, “I feel that there is no harm if a small fraction (1 to 2 per cent) is spent on the maintenance of the office and other minor activities for improving work efficiency. However, in case the amount is spent on purposes it is not meant for, an explanation would be sought from the officials concerned.”

The income of the District Red Cross Society was over Rs 5.11 crore for the period 2007-2010, of which Rs 1.82 crore was earned from the “HARIS/HALRIS project” under which computerised land record documents are supplied on the payment of the prescribed fee. The other sources of income of the society are rent, interest from bank deposits, donation, miscellaneous income, panchayat contributions, membership fees and grant-in-aid.

Rohtak, May 31
“Despite around 2,200 deaths being reported each day in the country due to tobacco-related diseases, smoking and use of tobacco products continues unabated. More than half of the women in the state are smokers. It is high time that the government and social organisations take up the cudgels against the menace and rid society of this evil,” said Dr KB Gupta, Professor and head of the department of TB and chest disorders of the PGIMS, on the occasion of World No Tobacco Day today.

Dr Gupta said the studies conducted in the recent past had revealed that the number of active smokers in the state was on the rise with the percentage of men addicted to tobacco-related products reaching 87 and that of women smokers 53 per cent.

He said the number had increased despite the rising level of education and growing awareness of the dangers of consuming tobacco.

Tobacco consumption leads to various diseases, including allergy, respiratory disorders, TB, skin disorders, cancer, heart attack, angina pain, infection in lungs and food pipe, brain stroke, acidity and blood pressure, he added.

Revealing that as many as 50 lakh persons die due to tobacco-related diseases each year in the world, around 2,200 persons die daily. This includes 40 to 60 per cent of people aged between 15 and 50.

Around 30 per cent of the deaths caused by cancer were mainly due to cigarette smoking.

Meanwhile, activists of the Patanjali Yog Samiti and the Bharat Swabhiman Manch took out a rally in the town, seeking a proper ban on smoking. They asked the government to take strong measures to check the production and consumption of tobacco.

Jhajjar, May 31
Machinery and raw material worth lakhs were destroyed in a fire in a paint factory at the Modern Industrial Township (MIT) in Bahadurgarh last evening. The fire also engulfed a godown located beside the factory, damaging material kept there.

According to the police, the incident took place after employees of Jeet Paints and Chemical Private Ltd had returned home after finishing their duty.

A watchmen noticed a smoke of fire in the rear portion of the factory. The factory owner and the fire brigade were informed about the incident.

However, the fire spread fast to engulf not only the factory but also the adjoining godown.

As many as 12 fire tenders from from Jhajjar and Rohtak took over five hours to control the fire, said the police.

“The total loss is yet to be calculated but the fire has destroyed costly machinery and raw material in the factory”, said the factory’s owner.

Yamunanagar, May 31
A newly married runaway couple who entered the wedlock without the consent of their families were given a sound beating by relatives of the bride, Sarabjeet Kaur, even as they were on their way to the District Courts to seek police protection yesterday.

However, a police team arrived at the scene and saved the couple from the clutches of the bride’s relatives, who had come all the way from Sangrur district in Punjab. They were reportedly on the trail of the couple for sometime.

Acting on a complaint lodged by Sarabjeet Kaur, the police has begun investigations after lodging a DDR against her mother, Raj Kaur, brother Jagir Singh and maternal uncle Sandeep Singh, at the HUDA police post here. It is learnt that Sarabjeet and her husband, Manoj, were having an affair for over a year.

The relatives of Sarabjeet alleged that the couple were “sister and brother” in relation. Shakuntla and Jogindro, both relatives, said, “We are sisters and Manoj is our brother and he was residing with us in Sangrur for the past two years. Earlier, he was in Mundakhera village in Yamunanagar district. They said on Sunday night he fled with Sarabjeet.”

Mitesh Jain, Superintendent of Police, Yamunanagar, said the relatives of the girl who have been rounded up included Sandeep Singh, Jagir Singh (brother), Raj (mother of girl), Jogindro, Amarjeet Singh, Godha, Shakuntala, Mahilo and Chhinder.

They were produced in a local court which remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.

The SP said the couple had been sent to the “protection House” at Yamunanagar.

Karnal, May 31
Two lovers, who had been missing for the past five days, were found unconscious on the banks of the Bhakra Canal in Jamba village. They died on the way to a hospital.

The police suspected that they had consumed some poisonous substance and sent the body for a postmortem.

The cause of the death would be ascertained after the postmortem report, but it appeared to be a case of suicide.

The man (27) hailed from Ameen village and was a father of two kids, while the woman aged 38 was mother of four.

None of their relatives came to the hospital even after they were informed of the incident. 

Rewari, May 31
Irked by the “lackadaisical approach” of the Kosli police towards employees of a liquor vend, who allegedly indulged in violence against a CRPF jawan, Mahipal, a resident of Lilodh village, on Sunday night, irate villagers yesterday set the liquor vend in Lilodh village on fire and then blocked traffic on the Kosli-Dadri road at Lilodh village, 7 km from Kosli.

They demanded the registration of a criminal case and the arrest of the errant employees of the liquor vend.

The blockade, which lasted around four hours, was lifted by the villagers following the intervention of SDM Pradeep Kumar, who assured that the needful would be done.

Hisar, May 31
Haryana Agricultural University has issued admit cards for the common entrance test (CET) scheduled for June 11 for admission to undergraduate and post-graduate courses.

Registrar SS Dahiya said here today that all candidates who had applied for admission to B.Sc. (Hons.) Agriculture and M.Sc. in the disciplines of food science & technology, biotechnology and bioinformatics had been sent admit cards by post

Since the admit card was mandatory for entry into the examination centre, the candidates who do not receive their cards by June 7 may collect the duplicate admit cards in person between June 8 and June 10 from the academic branch, Fletcher Bhawan for undergraduate courses and from the Assistant Registrar(PGS) for PG courses during office hours after paying a fee of Rs 20. They should also bring one recent attested coloured photograph as pasted on the admission form. 

Karnal, May 31
Baljit Singh of Garhi Birbal village was provided a financial assistance of Rs 25,000 from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for treatment by Deputy Commissioner Neelam Pradeep Kasni at an open door camp in Hansa Majra, 40 km from here. He had been suffering from an intestinal ailment for the past two years.

Expressing concern over frequent theft of power transformers, she directed the police to step up vigil to check theft of public property.

Acting promptly on the demand for making it mandatory for patwaris to stay in the village for at least two days in a week, she said patwaris would sit in the patwarkhana on every Saturday and Sunday to attend to public problems. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 31
Issuing notice of motion to the state of Haryana, MP Deepinder Singh Hooda, MLA Rajinder Singh Joon and other respondents for July 25, the Punjab and Haryana High Court today ordered the maintenance of status quo on a petition filed by ex-MLA Nafe Singh Rathee and 73 other petitioners, alleging the acquisition of their land due to political reasons.

In their petition placed before the Bench of Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Garg, the landowners alleged their land was being acquired “as the owners have allegiance with the INLD and the land belongs to former MLA Rathee and his family”.

The petitioners added Joon was “playing an active role in the acquisition of land of the petitioner to take revenge”. As such, the petitioners sought quashing of the notifications issued under section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act on February 24, and under Section 6 on February 22. Directions were also sought for quashing notice dated May 16 under Section 9 of the Act. The petitioners claimed the action was illegal, unconstitutional and politically motivated.

Rewari, May 31
Irate shopkeepers and other residents of Kosli observed a near-total bandh today in protest against the alleged highhandedness of Shaheed Surender Singh Gas Agency towards its customers.

On May 28, a customer. Hemant Jindal, was allegedly locked in the office of the gas agency and brutally thrashed as he had sought a copy of his LPG connection papers.

While Hemant was admitted to the PGIMS, Rohtak, the police had registered a case against five errant employees of the gas agency.

The agitating residents today submitted a memorandum to SDM Pradeep Kumar, demanding stiffer penal action against the errant employees, cancellation of the licence of the gas agency and a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for Hemant.

AS infuriated residents had gone on the rampage at the office of the gas agency yesterday, the Kosli police has registered a case against some villagers.