Ambala, October 31
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has cautioned people against divisive forces that wanted to divide the country and the state on the basis of caste and religion.

Addressing a gathering at a mega blood donation camp organised on the occasion of the 29th martyrdom day of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi here today, Hooda said a blood bank would be set up at the Civil Hospital, Ambala City. He said projects worth Rs 295 crore would be thrown open in Ambala tomorrow.

These projects included the second Rs 28-crore railway overbridge on the Ambala-Amritsar track and a Rs 129-crore canal-based water supply scheme

Hooda directed the officers concerned to sort out the problem of supply of contaminated drinking water within a month. He also ordered the repair of damaged roads in the city in the same period. He asked the officers to submit a report to him in this regard.

Congratulating chairman of the Ambala Healthcare and Welfare Society Shakti Rani Sharma for organising this blood camp, Hooda said thousands of people had so far got free treatment in about 25 camps organised by the society.

Former Union Minister and MLA Venod Sharma denied any discrimination in development works, adding that allround development had taken place in the area.

Sirsa, October 31
Chandu (57), a labourer who was cleaning the floor outside a shop in the local grain market, was killed when an electric pole fell on him this morning. Agitated labourers boycotted the work, paralysng procurement operations in the market. The victim, who has five sons and five daughters, was the lone bread-earner, labourers maintained.

They alleged the authorities were responsible for Chandu's death as they had installed inferior cement poles.

Shopkeepers in the grain market asserted that they had complained about these inferior poles to the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) some time ago, but the authorities did not take any action.

The labourers have demanded suitable compensation for the victim's family from the DHBVN.

RC Yadav, Superintending Engineer of the DHBVN, however, said:"One of my SDOs visited the site today and found that the pole had been set up in a shallow ditch of two feet only while the DHBVN installs its poles at least seven feet deep". Yadav added that the pole might have been installed by the market committee to give power connections to shops.

Yashpal Mehta, Secretary of the Market Committee, said he had joined duties today and would get the matter probed.

Meanwhile, a farmer was killed when his motorcycle collided with a tractor-trailer on the Sirsa-Chopta road.

Sirsa, October 31
The local health authorities today sent notices to 131 persons after larvae for aedes mosquitoes responsible for spreading dengue were found in stagnant water in their houses and establishments during a three-day survey that concluded today.

During the intensive survey, health teams have so far covered only Central Town while outer colonies of Sirsa are yet to be taken up.

“We have taken the blood samples of 115 suspected cases and so far 14 cases have tested positive for dengue,” said Civil Surgeon Surender Nain.

He said fogging was being done in areas where cases of dengue had come to light.

Dr Nain said any private doctor, who received a suspected case of dengue or any other vector-borne disease like malaria, chickengunya or Japanese fever, should inform the health authorities.The health authorities would then take the blood samples of such patients for testing in government labs.

He said only government laboratories were authorised to declare cases of dengue.

Hisar, October 31
After a long wait, repair work of the over bridge on the Hisar-Bikaner rail section in the town, which was declared unsafe about five years ago, is expected to begin after Diwali.

The Railways has conveyed to the district administration about the project and asked the authorities to divert the route for traffic. However, in view of the festival season, the authorities have decided to start work after Diwali as the traffic diversion would cause congestion in the town as one-way traffic would be allowed on the over bridge during the construction work.

Divisional Railway Manager, Bikaner Rail Division, Manju Gupta, today said the 24-metre long portion of the flyover across the railway line would be entirely dismantled for the reconstruction. The height of the over bridge would be raised by three metres and single rail line used for railway traffic.

Karnal, October 31
Shopkeepers selling adulterated sweets and indulging in illegal sale of crackers on Diwali will face stringent action, said Vikas Yadav, Deputy Commissioner, here today. He asked the CMO to take samples of sweets frequently to ensure that there was no adulteration. He also directed the police and fire brigade to remain ready to meet any eventuality.

He said fire-fighting aids like sand, water be kept near stalls of fireworks. He also appealed to the people not to use fireworks in congested and thickly populated areas.

All senior administrative and police officers would do patrolling in various parts of the city from November 1 to November 3, Yadav said.

Crackers seized

Kurukshetra: Two persons have been arrested for allegedly illegally possessing and selling firecrackers without permission. As many as 307 kg of firecrackers have been seized from them. The police said Pramjeet of Nand Colony, Pehowa, has been arrested for illegally possessing and selling firecrackers.

Fatehabad, October 31
The police has recovered a 14-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped by two officials of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam. The police has also arrested the alleged kidnappers identified as Shamsher Singh, an assistant lineman, and Mohar Singh, a foreman.

On the complaint of the girl’s brother, a case was registered at the Sadar police station.

After the girl was allegedly kidnapped from her house at Jandwala Sottar village, hundreds of villagers blocked the highway outside the police station here today.

Sadar SHO Mukesh Kumar said the girl had been recovered and restored to her parents and both Shamsher Singh and Mohar Singh had been arrested.

Girl alleges rape

Sirsa: A resident of Raghuana village in the district has alleged that she was raped by a village youth on the promise of marrying her.

In her complaint to the Baragura police, she alleged that she had gone to attend the wedding of a friend, where the youth raped her in a room on the promise of marrying her later.

The police said an entry had been made in the daily diary report and further action would be taken after recording the girl’s statement in the presence of a woman counsel.

Two booked

Hisar: A married woman was reportedly gangraped after being abducted from the town last month. The police today booked two youths for gang rape and abduction.

The woman complained that Subhash and his accomplice took her to Jind forcibly and kept her in their custody for about 20 days and raped her. The woman said she escaped yesterday and went to her husband in Hisar.

Chandigarh, October 31
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said today that the state government had decided to increase the dearness allowance (DA) admissible to its employees on revised pay scales from 80 to 90 per cent with effect from July 1.

Greeting the employees on the eve of Haryana Day, Hooda said as a result of the enhanced DA, they would be benefited to the tune of Rs 456.84 crore annually.

He said the DA would be paid in cash for the month of November paid in December. The arrears of enhanced DA from July 1 to October would be paid in December.

Bonus to Haryana Roadways staff

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced an enhanced ex gratia of Rs 5,000 each to all eligible class III and IV employees of Haryana Roadways in lieu of bonus for 2012-13.

An official spokesman said about 17,000 employees would be benefited from the decision that would cost Rs 8.5 crore to the state exchequer.

Karnal, October 31
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today threatened to launch an agitation if the Pash library in the Kalpana Chawla Medical College complex is demolished.

Senior BJP leader Chander Prakash Kathuria said the library situated in the heart of the city was connected with public emotions. Literary people today gathered at the library and pleaded that it should be made a part of the medical college.

Saying that they were not opposed to the medical college, the intellectuals urged the government to find a way to save the library.

As the existing hospital road would be widened, the library would be demolished and the Shahid Smarak shifted to the new Police Lines.

Panipat, October 31
The life changed for 26-year-old Anamika (name changed) in the evening of November 19, 2009, after some miscreant threw acid on her face when she stepped out of Gian College near the GT Road in Panipat.

The action was so sudden that she could not even sense what had happened and an FIR was registered against identified person on the next day but no efforts were made to investigate the case and nab the culprit. The police contacted the victim once during past four years.

Abandoned by her husband after the incident, with whom Anamika, a Delhi resident, had eloped in 2007 to settle in Panipat, the victim is pulling with the support of his brother.

The matter came to light when the brother of the victim, who had spent Rs 7.5 lakh on her surgery and needed Rs 13 lakh more for further treatment, moved an application under the State Victim Compensation Scheme in the Women in Distress Cell, Delhi, and the application was referred to Panipat Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Parminder Kaur.

The CJM said when she inquired into the matter, she was told that there was “no record of acid attack cases in past five years ”. The SHO submitted that the report was untraced but later she came to know that the police had not submitted the report in the court as it did not meet the victim to get her sign that she was satisfied.

The CJM said she called the victim and asked her to come for recording her statement and the victim narrated how acid was thrown on her face when she was going back to her home and the owner of the institution Yashwinder Malik took her to a local hospital. She insisted that she should be taken to AIIMS, New Delhi, and finally she was referred to the PGI, Rohtak.

The victim said she took up a job in Gian College in Panipat a few months after her marriage and for two years, the owner of the institution physically and mentally tortured her and when she decided to leave the job, she was threatened and acid was thrown on her.

She suspected the hand of the owner of the institution in the attack and said she could identify the eyes but the police made no effort to make any investigation.

“The police said the accused was brother-in-law of the owner, who is no more but it is not true as the culprit was tall but the person named as accused by the police was not tall,” she maintained.

“No arrest has been made as the accused named by me wields considerable political influence and related to some political family”, she alleged.

Panipat SP Parul Jain said the matter would be investigated and the truth would be brought to light. “We are investigating the case and gathering facts to arrive at the truth”, she said.

Karnal, October 31
A day after members of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU) burnt an effigy of Cooperation Minister Satpal Sangwan and staged a dharna on the premises of the Haryana Cooperative Land Development Bank here against the auction of land of a farmer at Guller village, the minister today said the land of farmers would not be auctioned for default on payment the bank loans.

“The bank has only issued notices to farmers over non-payment of loans. It does not mean that their land will be auctioned,” Sangwan said while talking to mediapersons here today.

However, he expressed his anguish over default in payment of loans by farmers and said: “It is unfortunate that farmers get loans at lower interest rates from the cooperative banks but they make all kinds of excuses for not repaying the loans which affects the financial position of the banks.”

Ruling out the possibility of waiving the loans, he said it was not feasible as people’s money was involved and such move would hamper the growth of the banks.

Sangwan said the government was taking a series of steps to strengthen the cooperative institutions. More Vita milk outlets would be set up and rice procured by HAFED would also be sold at these outlets, he said.

Farmers led by Mehtab Singh Kadiyan had yesterday accused the government of indulging in "double talk" and said while the Chief Minister had assured that the land of the farmers would not be auctioned, Cooperation Minister Sangwan had given “go ahead” signal to the bank.

Sonepat, October 31
Additional District and Sessions Judge Manisha Batra today sentenced Sandeep to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs 10,000 in a dowry death case.

Ram Mehar, a resident of Bhadani village in Jhajjar district, had lodged a complaint at the Kharkhoda police station on July 18, 2012, stating that he married his daughter Kavita with Sandeep of Gopalpur village on February 11, 2010.

He said soon after the marriage, her in-laws started harassing her for dowry. When Kavita gave birth to a son five days before her death, many articles were given to her in-laws, he further alleged.

He said he received a phone call on July 18 from her in-laws that Kavita was ill and she was being taken to the PGIMS, Rohtak. When he reached the hospital, he found her dead and no one from her in-laws' side was present there.

Husband gets 10-year term

In another dowry death case, Additional District and Sessions Judge Manisha Batra has sentenced victim’s husband Rajinder, a resident of Chirasmi village, to imprisonment for 10 years with a fine of Rs 5,500.

The victim, Kamlesh, had committed suicide by hanging at her in-law’s house at Chirasmi on November 6, 2012. A case of dowry death was registered against Rajinder on the complaint of Kamlesh’s father Mai Chand, a resident Fazilpur village.

Mai Chand had alleged that soon after her marriage with Rajinder on November 20, 2011, she was tortured for dowry by her husband. 

Hisar, October 31
The police has not identified the accused who were indulging in crude oil pilferage in Lohari village of Narnaund block in the district.

Hindustan Petroleum officials detected the pilferage in the fields of Lohari village recently and seized an oil tanker and other items being used in siphoning off the oil from the Rama Mandi (Jalandhar)-Bahadurgarh pipeline of HP.

Sources said oil thieves had filled a tanker from a point in the fields of the village. But the vehicle got stuck in the muddy road when they were trying to escape and thus had to spill the oil in the fields to offload the tanker. The word spread in the village when they called a tractor from the village to pull the tanker out of the muddy road.

The HP security guard on getting the information informed his senior officials at Bahadurgarh who rushed to the spot with the police. The thieves had fled leaving tanker on the spot by the time.

Narnaund SHO Bijender Singh said here today that a case has been registered against the accused. "The police has seized the tanker. There are four different registration number plates on the truck. We are trying to trace the owner of the truck but no one has been identified so far," he said.