Chandigarh, May 9
With the announcement of MC elections here today, political parties in Haryana are in the poll mode since these elections are being seen as a test of strength ahead of next year’s parliamentary and assembly elections.

While the main opposition party, the INLD, and the BJP have announced that they will contest the elections on the party symbol, the Congress is still undecided .

HPCC president Phool Chand Mullana said that the decision to contest the election on the party symbol whether or not will be taken within a week though the party had never contested any local body election on the party symbol.

Traditionally, most parties choose not to fight such elections on party symbols and provide outside support to candidates. This leaves scope for the parties to “poach” candidates and claim them to be their own once they are elected.

It will be for the first time that the INLD will fight the MC poll on its party symbol, primarily to prove that its rank and file are firmly together nothwithstanding the conviction of party chief Om Prakash Chautala and his elder son, Ajay Chautala, in the JBT scam earlier this year. This will be the first main election for the INLD under the stewardship of Chautala’s younger son, Abhey Singh Chautala.

While the BJP has chosen to contest the election on the party symbol, its alliance partner, the HJC, has decided to stay away from the elections and concentrate on preparing for next year’s elections. Party supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi said twhile the party leadership would not campaign for the MC elections, it would not stand in the way of any party activist wanting to contest the poll on his own.

Chandigarh, May 9
The state has directed all its Deputy Commissioners (DCs) to initiate action against unauthorised occupants of panchayat land.

The directions issued by the state government came to light during the hearing of a petition filed by Narsingh and other petitioners against the state and other respondents.

In the petition filed in public interest placed before the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, the petitioners had earlier sought the issuance of directions to the state and other respondents to take action against ‘those who are in unauthorised occupation of the shamlat deh or gau-charand land’. Shamlat deh refers to common village land.

Taking up the matter, the Bench asserted a specific remedy was available under the provisions of Section 7 of the Punjab Village Common Lands (Regulation) Act, 1961, for the purpose of initiating action against the unauthorised occupants of common village land.

The Act, which is applicable in Haryana as well, provides that any resident of the village is empowered to file an application for ejectment of unauthorised occupant of the public land.

Refusing to pass a favourable order, the Bench added, “The petitioners may avail that remedy.” Referring to the instructions issued by the government on redeeming panchayat land, the Bench added, “Otherwise also, directions have already been issued by the state to all Deputy Commissioners to take action against those who are in unauthorised occupation of the panchayat land.

Before disposing of the petition, the Bench observed, “Furthermore, the persons, who are in unauthorised occupation of the land of panchayat, have not been made party to this writ petition. In view of above, this writ petition stands disposed of.”

Rewari, May 9
The Model Town police here has arrested four persons for trying to sell minor girls.

It has arrested a resident of Bhakti Nagar colony, Ramesh Yadav, who in connivance with some middlemen, reportedly tried to sell his three minor daughters — Kavita (16), Savita ( 15) and Antima (14) — for Rs 50,000.

The police has also arrested three agents - Sewa Ram Sharma, his son Jeet Ram Sharma, both residents of Bhakti Nagar Colony, and Ajay Yadav of Model Town here.

All four accused were today produced in a local court which remanded Ramesh in one-day police custody while Sewa Ram, Jeet Ram and Ajay were sent in 14-day judicial custody.

When the girls somehow got an inkling of their father’s plans, they came to the office of Superintendent of Police Pankaj Nain here and told him that their father, who is a liquor addict, was bent upon selling them to a villager in Gurgaon district through middlemen. They said their mother, who was suffering from mental discomfiture, was helpless .

On orders from the district police chief, the Model Town police booked the four accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offence Act and arrested them. Meanwhile, the girls have been restored to their mother.

Bhiwani, May 9
A man gunned down his brother-in-law (the husband of his wife’s sister) in the high security area outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office here in the presence of a large number of visitors today.

The police takes away Sandeep after he shot dead a relative in Bhiwani on Thursday. Photo: Sushil Manav

Assailant Sandeep, a resident of Mandhana village of Bhiwani, soon after killing Anil, a clerk in a government school at Masarwas village, surrendered.

Sandeep revealed that he had already gunned down his wife Shobha and her body was lying in his house in Mandhana village. The accused worked as a security guard in a private placement agency.

The reason behind the murders is not yet known, but the police believes that illicit relations might be the reason for this crime. The incident occurred around 11 am when Sandeep was standing outside the Deputy Commisioner’s office in Bhiwani’s Mini-Secretariat.

When Anil arrived there, Sandeep took out his revolver and shot Anil.

He was rushed to Chaudhary Bansi Lal General Hospital here but the doctors declared him brought dead.

Based on Sandeep’s revelations, the police went to his house in Mandhana village, where they found his wife Shobha’s body on a cot.

The accused shot his wife after gagging her and tying her hands and legs to the cot with a rope. After tying Shobha, the accused pumped in a bullet in her forehead.

A colleague of Anil said the victim was about to leave for his school, when he received a call from Sandeep, who asked him to come to Bhiwani. He had a plan to dispose of some pending work in the school and was about to leave for the school with him when Sandeep had called.

Bhiwani SP Mitesh Jain said the accused had been arrested and investigations in the case had begun. He, however, refused to divulge the motive behind the murders and said it was part of investigation, which could not be revealed.

Ambala, May 9
The management of Parijat Industries Pvt. Ltd today joined the investigations that were ordered after a major fire broke out in their unit at Mandhour village on Monday night.

The company management, which was being accused of having gone underground after the fire, today met investigating police officials as well as senior district officials and assured full cooperation in the investigations. They also offered to help the villagers whose houses had been damaged in the fire.

The police had booked the owners of the company while the civil administration had ordered a magisterial probe into the incident.

Deputy Commissioner Shekhar Vidyarthi said any further action would be taken after the SDM submits his report on the incident.

The fire, which was believed to have been caused by a short-circuit, had reduced the multi-crore establishment to ashes. Some houses in the vicinity of the unit were also damaged.

Vikram Anand, a director on the board of Parijat Industries, said the company was into exports of various kinds of pesticides and other chemicals to several countries. “The losses might run into several crores of rupees, but the company is not running away from its responsibilities,” Anand said.

Meanwhile, the Deputy Commissioner along with senior officials today visited the affected village following complaints by villagers that they had been suffering from breathing and skin problems after the fire incident.

The DC asked the civic authorities to dig a channel and divert effluents from the chemical factory to a nearby drain instead of letting it flow into the village pond. The DC also asked the pollution control board authorities to serve notices on all chemical factories to install water treatment plants, besides ordering chemical examination of the pond water. A team of doctors was asked to stay put in the village.

Karnal/Panipat, May 9
The Karnal police has arrested a 20-year-old youth for sexually assaulting a minor girl. The accused was produced in a court, which remanded him in police custody. The victim's father said Mukesh of Nilokheri forcibly took his minor daughter on his motorcycle on May 4 and sexually assaulted her.

Chandigarh, May 9
Against the backdrop of allegations of huge expenditure on foreign and domestic tours of state functionaries, including ministers and senior bureaucrats, the Centre has got tough on such tours. The state governments would now have to disclose the details of these tours to the Centre on a quarterly basis.

In its latest directive to the state governments last month, the Union Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, has again asked the state authorities to comply with the instructions issued on September 11,2012, while undertaking these tours.

The public authorities are required to “proactively disclose the details of all foreign and domestic official tours of ministers and officials of the rank of Joint Secretary to the Government of India and above (Principal Secretaries to the state governments) and heads of departments.They are also required to update the disclosure once every quarter.

Saying that new directive should be complied with strictly, it rued that certain public authorities were not disclosing such information or were providing only partial info.

Prior permission of the Union Finance Ministry for official trips of ministers and bureaucrats has already been made mandatory. “The post-facto approval will not be allowed and the expenses incurred on such travels, without mandated approval, would be treated as unauthorised inviting stringent action, a recent circular said.

Gurgaon, May 9
Rebel Congress MP from Gurgaon Rao Inderjit Singh has stated that he will attend the stone-laying ceremony of the country's first national defence university only if he is allowed to address the gathering.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is slated to lay the foundation stone of the university at Binola village in the district on May 23.

The Lok Sabha MP, who has been angry for not being invited to his own party's programmes in his constituency by the state government, said he had been invited for the stone-laying function, but his attendance would be conditional.

“The Defence Minister has invited me for the event, and I have told him that I will attend it if I am given a chance to speak there,” Rao Inderjit revealed while talking to The Tribune today.

The MP said he had put in concerted efforts to get the defence university established in Gurgaon during as well as after his tenure as Minister of State for Defence Production, and there was no point in attending the function "as a piece of furniture".

“I feel happy and satisfied that the defence university finally gets to see the light of the day, but it doesn't make any sense if I merely sit there and watch while somebody (read Chief Minister) tries to seek undue credit for the project,” he maintained, asserting that address of the sitting MP on such occasions was part of protocol as well.

On being questioned about Union Defence Minister AK Antony’s response to his ‘condition’, Rao said the minister had told him that the details of the programme were yet to be finalised and he would be informed after it was done.

Asked why he abstained from Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s recent organisational meeting held at Panchkula, Rao Inderjit said he had met Rahul a few days ago and conveyed his concerns to him.

The Congress MP, who recently formed a public forum Haryana Insaaf Manch to protest against the regional bias in development in the state, has also been alleging that the Chief Minister was trying to seek credit for several Central projects which did not fall under his purview.

While Union minister Selja bitterly criticised the Hooda-led Congress regime in Haryana before Rahul Gandhi, it will be interesting to see how things turn out if Rao Inderjit is allowed to air his views on Hooda's functioning before the Prime Minister.

Kaithal, May 9
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has sent the financial help of Rs 5 lakh from the Chief Minister's Relief Fund to the management of Sri Krishan Gaushala, Pundri, where 20 cows perished and some were injured in a devastating fire and fodder worth lakhs of rupees burnt in Dhand on Tuesday.

The Chief Minister sent the relief through his special emissary KL Sharma, chairman, Haryana Gausewa Aayog, who reached the gaushala and took stock of the situation and inspected the damaged structure.

Deputy Commissioner Chander Shekhar, Superintendent Police Kuldeep Singh Yadav, ADC Dinesh Singh Yadav, the gaushala president and other office-bearers were present on this occasion.

The DC said a team of veterinary doctors was treating the seriously injured cows. He also briefed Sharma about the rescue steps taken to save the cows.

Sharma said the Chief Minister was shocked over this incident. He announced that Rs 1 lakh would be provided by the Animal Welfare Board of India to the gaushala. He asked the district administration to conduct a survey to asses the loss.

Rohtak, May 9
Expressing resentment over alleged delay in the implementation of various demands, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Haryana Power Workers Employees Corporation has threatened to revive the agitation soon. The JAC has convened a meeting of leaders on May 14 to discuss the issue.

Alleging non-seriousness on the part of the authorities concerned, a spokesperson of the JAC said here today that it was lack of commitment on part of the government that had resulted in unnecessary delay in resolving some important issues concerning the functioning of the department.

Claiming that after the state government had held a meeting with the JAC and the management of the power corporations on November 18 last year, the authorities had agreed to accept various demands, including recruitment of staff on a regular basis, a probe into the irregularities and anomalies in the EPF and ESI, withdrawal of the cases against union leaders and workers, etc.

He said the government had announced to hold a review meeting regarding the issues in March this year but neither the meeting nor any order had been passed by the department in connection with the issues so far.

He said the total loss of the power corporations (generation and supply) had risen to Rs 22,000 crore and these were under a debt of around Rs 30,000 crore, which, it claimed, had been due to wrong policies of the department.

Sirsa, May 9
Sirsa Subdivisional Magistrate (SDM) Sant Lal Pachar has attached a piece of land of prime commercial value situated on Dabwali road in the town under Sections 145 and 146 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1898, after a face-off between two parties over its ownership.

In his orders issued today, Pachar has appointed the City Police Station SHO as a receiver for the land.

Advocate Vinod Kumar, a trustee of the Dera Bhumman Shah, maintains that the piece of land belongs to the Dera.

He said the then dera mahants had sold a part of their 32 kanal 2 marlas purchased in 1959 while 14 kanals 11 marlas was still registered in name of the dera in government records.

On the other hand, Dr Pitambar Dayal has claimed that the land belongs to him and he has registered a sale deed of the land in his and his wife’s name.

The two sides had been quarreling over the issue for the past some days. However, the situation became tense today, when people from both sides claimed the ownership of the land.

Supporters of Dr Pitambar Dayal started a dharna in his support in the morning when Advocate Vinod Kumar came there with his supporters and followers of the Dera Bhumman Shah.

When mediations by the police failed to move both parties, the police moved the court of the SDM and requested him to issue an order under Section 145 of the CrPC.

In his orders, the SDM has directed Pitambar Dayal and his wife Usha Dayal, Advocate Vinod Kumar, Labh Chand and Rakesh Kamboj to appear in his court on Friday in person or through their counsels.