Rohtak, January 5
One person was killed and at least six others were injured in a clash at Shyam Colony here today. The police identified the victim as Sonu, a resident of Surya Colony in the town.

Anand and Navdeep reportedly had some dispute over a plot at Shiv Colony.

The matter flared up as members of both the groups opened fired at each other. The armed clash left eight persons injured, one of them died later.

The police have registered a case of murder against six persons on a complaint lodged by Pawan, a brother of the victim, while members of the rival group were booked under attempt to murder charges.

The police said the preliminary investigations indicated that the two groups had some property dispute.

The injured were admitted to the PGIMS here.

Kurukshetra, January 5
After an assurance by Congress MP Naveen Jindal that their demands would be redressed, guest teachers today lifted their indefinite dharna. Jindal met the protesting teachers and said he would take their demands to the government and find a solution by January 10.

He said the government was committed to fulfill all promises and that he would put the association’s demand of regularising the services of the guest teachers without any delay.

Rajesh Sharma, state spokesperson of the Haryana Guest Teachers Association, said the dharna was withdrawn, following an assurance by Naveen Jindal.

If the MP fails to keep his words, we will have to start a massive agitation, he said.

Rewari, January 5
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda laid the foundation stone of Rao Birender Singh State Institute of Engineering and Technology at Zenabad village, about 25 km from here, today.

It will be constructed at a cost of Rs 34 crore.

Addressing a public meeting, he said as many as five industrial training institutes, two polytechnics, a Sainik School and five government colleges, were already functional in Rewari, which spoke volumes about the development works being carried out by his government for the past eight years.

Lashing out at the critics of the opposition parties, Hooda asserted that while development works to the tune of over Rs 457 crore had been executed during the INLD-BJP government before 2005, his government had spent over Rs 3,566 crore on the development projects in Rewari district in the last eight years.

Pointing to Rao Yaduvender Singh, Congress MLA from Kosli, and younger brother of dissident Congress MP Rao Inderjeet Singh, Hooda said Rao Yaduvender had always followed the footsteps of his father late Rao Birender Singh and taken the Congress to great heights by his noble acts.

Sirsa, January 5
The relay fast by the Haryana Bijli Andolan Sangharsh Samiti, the All India Students’ Federation (AISF) and Akhil Bharatiya Naujwan Sabha, in support of their demand for cheaper electricity, continued for the second consecutive day at Shaheed Bhagat Singh Chowk today.

Surender Chhindra, Vikram, Pinesh Bagri and Surender sat on a fast today. The samiti has threatened to launch a statewide agitation from January 18 if the government fails to reduce the power tariff by January 17.

Speaking to mediapersons at Kartar Singh Sarabha Hall here yesterday, Roshan Suchan, national secretary of the AISF and state convener of the Haryana Bijli Andolan Sangharsh Samiti, had said that their organisations had been demanding power tariff of Rs 2.50 per unit for domestic and Rs 3 per unit for those commercial consumers who have their bimonthly consumption up to 1,500 units.

Suchan said their agitation was apolitical and it was being carried out in 10 districts of the state.

Suchan, along with C Bhola, Happy Bakshi, Harbans Lal Sharma, Manoj Pacherwal, Mange Ram Panihari, Leela Ram, Ram Kishan, Ved Prakash and others, started the fast on Saturday.

Jhajjar, January 5
Residents of Badhsa village have opened a front against the power corporation. Accusing the power corporation of sending them inflated bills, infuriated villagers said they would not pay the bills till the amount was reduced. They have also demanded checking of the speed of power meters installed in the village. Badhsa is the only village in the district where the corporation has implemented its zero-power cut scheme on the lines of urban areas.

Earlier, a large number of villagers gathered at the village chaupal and held a meeting to decide the further course of action against the power corporation for dispatching them hefty bills.

“The meeting then resolved that no one would pay the bills until the amount was reduced and those who violate the decision will have to pay a penalty of Rs 21,000,” said Narender, a villager, while talking to The Tribune.

He maintained, “Villagers are shocked and angered over the electricity bills amount to Rs 15, 000 which are way more than the previous ones.”

Rambir Singh, the village sarpanch, said resentment prevailed among the villagers due to inflated electricity bills and they wanted to get the speed of meters checked to ascertain the facts behind the hefty bills.

The villagers said the installation of meters on poles was not an issue but they wanted to get the speed of these meters checked.

Rambir Singh, the village sarpanch, said resentment prevailed among the villagers due to inflated power bills and they wanted to get the speed of meters checked to ascertain the facts behind the hefty bills.

“I have already apprised the power officials of the villagers’ demand and they have also assured me of sending their teams to the village next week for checking the meter speed,” said the sarpanch, adding that he would also meet Chief Minister Bhupinder Hooda and MP Deepender Hooda regarding the problem being faced by the villagers.

Anger reigns over

* Villagers said they would not pay the bills till the amount was reduced

* They have demanded checking of the speed of power meters

* A penalty of Rs 21,000 would be imposed on violators of the decision, they threatened

Fatehabad, January 5
Even as the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) awaits some important clearances from the Centre prior to the formal launch of Haryana's first nuclear power project at Gorakhpur in Fatehabad, anti-nuclear power forces have also started mobilising against the project.

Sources revealed that some important clearances like the administrative and financial approval of the project and a conservation plan for wildlife are still pending, which were leading to the delay in formal launching of the Rs 23,502 crore nuclear power project by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Parmanu Virodhi Morcha, a conglomerate of NGOs and forces which opposed setting up of 2800-MW Gorakhpur nuclear power project, has announced a seminar here on January 7.

Subhash Punia, convener of the morcha, said that Sunderam, a nuclear energy expert from the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) and Sandeep Pandey, a social activist and national convener of Narmada Bachao Andolan, would address the seminar.

Punia said that the Parmanu Virodhi Morcha, which fought two-year long battle with Gorakhpur farmers to save their lands from acquisition, has not given up its fight against the project after acceptance of compensation by the farmers.

He said that the Morcha had been carrying out a campaign among farmers who would be affected by the ‘ill effects’ of the project and has been mobilising people of the area too. Punia said besides Sunderam and Pandey, local activists Poonam Chand Ratti, Dalip Bedharak, Suman Lata Siwach, Vidya Ratti, Banarsi Dass Monga and Ram Swaroop Bishnoi will also address the seminar.

Meanwhile, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited is still awaiting some important clearances from the Centre before the Gorakhpur Haryana Anu Vidyut Pariyojna (GHAVP) could finally be launched.

Sources said that it was due to the delay in these important clearances that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's scheduled visit to lay the foundation stone of the project is getting delayed.

The NPCIL as well as the local authorities have already completed their preparations for the Prime Minister's visit, but the programme has been put off twice after the authorities announced two tentative dates of December 30 and January 3.

The Prime Minister, who was earlier scheduled to launch the Global Centre for Nuclear Energy Partnership at Jhajjar and GHAVP at Fatehabad on the same day, laid the foundation stone of the first project on January 3.

Though the local authorities have been giving a tentative date of January 13 for the Prime Minister's visit now, they are not sure whether the launch of the GHAVP will be possible on that day or it will be delayed further.

When contacted, TP Arora, Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited project director, said the administrative and financial approval of the project was awaited from the Centre.

He said the conservation plan for the black bucks living in NPCIL's township site was also to be prepared by the state government.

He, however, said he was not sure whether the delay in clearances was the reason for the delay in the laying of foundation stone of the project. 

The delay

* Some important clearances like the administrative and financial approval of the project and a conservation plan for wildlife are still pending, leading to the delay in formal launching of the Rs 23,502 crore nuclear power project by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

* The Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited as well as the local authorities have already completed their preparations for the Prime Minister's visit, but the programme has been put off twice after the authorities announced two tentative dates of December 30 and January 3.

Rohtak, January 5
Voices of protest against towers installed by mobile phone companies and other such service providers are getting louder by the day. Alleging that the radiations from these towers are causing serious health problems in people living in the vicinity, local residents have sought removal of these towers from residential areas.

“The prescribed guidelines are not being followed in the installation of mobile towers in the region. Due to this, the health of the residents is getting seriously affected. We have apprised the district authorities of our concerns and hope that they have taken a note of our problem,” said Virender Singh Hooda, the president of the Tower-Hatao Sangharsh Samiti, Rohtak.

The concerns of the residents are endorsed by the medical specialists as well. Prof KS Lalar, head of the cardiology department at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) here, maintained that the radiations emitted from such towers were hazardous to health and should be installed away from residential areas.

“Even cell phones should be kept at a safe distance while sleeping,” he asserted.

The possibility of mobile-tower radiations leading to cardiac problems in human beings can also not be ruled out, he said.

Dr Ashok Chauhan, a senior professor of radiotherapy at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), observed that while some research studies attribute high incidence of brain tumours and other critical ailments to such radiations, other studies maintained otherwise.

“Nonetheless, these radiations are by and large considered harmful and should be avoided, as prolonged and excessive exposure to such radiations can prove detrimental to health,” he noted.

Hooda pointed out that apart from leading to fatal diseases like cancer, mobile towers had also severely affected birds, insects and honeybees.

Karnal, january 5
In order to check inter-state cow smuggling, the Haryana Police have constituted four teams to guard the entry and exit points of the state and prevent cow smuggling.

Each team will cover four to six districts. In this regard, Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) V Kamraja today conducted a meeting of police officials at the Mini Secretariat.

He has given directions to prevent cow smuggling and invited police officials to be a part of these teams. V Kamraja said Karnal, Sonipat and Yamunanagar were the most vulnerable routes for cow smuggling. Cows are smuggled from Rajasthan, Punjab, Himachal Pardesh and taken to Uttar Pradesh.

He said each district had a team to prevent the crime. Each team has carried 24 members. 

Routes for smuggling

* Punjab-Pundri-Nissing-Kaithal-Karnal-Merrut road
* Punjab-Gulla Cheeka-Pehowa-Dhand-Karnal
* Punjab-Narwana-Jind-Assandh-Karnal
* Punjab-Dabwali-Sirsa-Fatheabad-Barwala-Jind-Karnal
* Punjab-Rajpura-Ambala-Kurukshetra-Karnal
* Punjab-Rajpura-Ambala-Yamuna Nagar- Saharnpur
* Punjab-Derabassi-Barwala-Narayan Garh-Yamunanagar

Animal smugglers fire on police

Karnal: Animal smugglers fired on the police here yesterday. Smugglers fled the scene after the incident. Assistant Sub Inspector ASI) said he was on a routine checking along with a police team at Sector 6 when they were tried to stop a canter loaded with animals. Five persons, who were riding the canter, fired on them, he said. The police have registered a case against five unknown persons in this regard.

District-wise teams

* Gurgaon, Faridabad, Mewat, Palwal, Mahendergarh, Rewari

* Jhajjar, Rohtak, Sonipat, Panipat, Jind

* Sirsa, Hisar, Fatheabad, Bhiwani

* Karnal, Panchkula, Yamunanagar, Ambala, Kaithal, Kurukshetra

Officialspeak
"Police have to be bold, they should lodge an FIR under the Punjab Cow Shelter Act 1955, which is non-bailable. We will take help of NGOs and media" — V Kamraja, Additional Director General of Police 

Rohtak, January 5
Kalawati Devi, a Dalit widow of a policeman crushed to death by liquor smugglers during prohibition in Haryana, continues to live in a state of penury despite tall promises made by the state government and police authorities.

Kalawati’s husband Bhim Singh was posted at Rohtak in 1997 when liquor was prohibited in the state of Haryana. He got a tip-off on the arrival of liquor smugglers in the Indira Colony area and rushed to the spot.

On seeing the police party, the liquor smugglers crushed Head Constable Bhim Singh under their vehicle and fled the scene. Bhim Singh was critically injured and died within a few days.

The state government as well as police authorities told Kalawati that she could not be given a job on compassionate grounds as she was educationally unqualified.

Nonetheless, they assured her that her son would be accommodated in government service once he attained the requisite age and educational qualification. However, more than 16 years after the tragic incident, Kalawati continues to wait for the authorities concerned to fulfill their promises.

“Her elder son Satender could not study due to the disturbing circumstances following the tragic death of his father. The younger son, Ravinder, has done his graduation and MBA, but he was denied a government job citing a change in policy,” maintains Kalawati’s cousin brother Surajbhan.

He laments that his sister did not even get the monetary compensation fixed by the government policemen killed in the line of duty.

Since 1997, Kalawati has been working as a labourer to support her family. Her elder son rears buffalo for a living, younger son Ravinder works for a private concern in Punjab. To date, Kalawati’s family has received only assurances from the authorities concerned. Neither government job, nor monetary compensation have materialised.

Some members of her family maintain that they have been treated unjustly because they belong to a Scheduled Caste.

“Had an upper-caste cop laid down his life while performing his duty, his family would have been given a decent job as well as a handsome amount as compensation,” observes a relative.

Kalawati’s family members point out that the Delhi Government has recently given Rs 1 crore compensation to the family of a Delhi Police constable who was allegedly beaten to death by the liquor mafia. They have demanded a government job or adequate monetary relief for the family.

Faridabad, January 5
At least five doctors running private clinics in the state have been booked for conducting sex determination tests on expecting mothers in the past one week. The accused include two doctor couples and a nurse based at Faridabad, Jhajjar and Bahadurgarh, respectively.

This is perhaps for the first time that the violation of the PNDT Act has come to the fore, despite the ongoing mass awareness programme of the state government. The number of females per 1,000 males in Haryana stands at 879 as per the last census.

The police have registered three cases under various sections of the PNDT Act against a doctor couple after a raid was conducted by officials yesterday.

It was revealed that the accused, identified as Dr Naveen Aggarwal registered as an ultrasonologist at a private hospital at Jhajjar, was having a portable ultrasound machine at his clinic in Sector 4 here.

Health officials, who raided the premises, have claimed that circumstantial evidences and investigation have found that the doctor couple was allegedly involved in the determination of the sex of a foetus, which was a clear violation of Section 4, 5 and 6 of the PC and PNDT Act 1994.

It is charged that Dr Naveen and his wife who were running a clinic under the name of Sangini Medical Centre had been misusing the facilities for conducting the USG and sex determination.

Dr Naveen was also found to be violating the regulation under which an ultrasonologist could not work at more than two machines simultaneously. The police have booked three cases against the doctor couple.

Earlier, the officials had registered a similar case against a doctor couple at Jhajjar and a lady doctor operating a private clinic at Bahadurgarh.

The latest series of raids by the department concerned to detect the violation of the act started in the last week of December when officials of the Drugs and Food Administration, Haryana, stumbled upon a diary of a nurse at Bahadurgarh, which revealed the network of certain private hospitals and clinics was involved in the activity of sex determination.

The department also got nailed a doctor operating in Rohini of New Delhi after sending a decoy patient a couple of days ago. The accused took Rs 6,000 from the patient for revealing the sex of an unborn baby. 

Fact file

* The accused include two doctor couples and a nurse based at Faridabad

* Dr Naveen Aggarwal, registered as an ultrasonologist at a private hospital at Jhajjar, had a portable ultrasound machine at his clinic

* He, along with his wife, had been misusing the facilities for conducting the USG and sex determination

Sirsa, January 5
In a show of strength, Reena Birat, the newly appointed president of the Sirsa Mahila Congress, along with hundreds of women supporters, gathered at MP Ashok Tanwar’s residence here today.

Shilpa Verma, whom Reena replaced as the new Mahila president of the party in Sirsa, was also present to congratulate her successor.

Two days ago, spokesperson of the District Mahila Congress Sanju Bala, former president of the District Mahila Congress Raj Rani Jindal, veteran Mahila Congress leader Kailash Rani and some others had led a protest against Reena Birat’s appointment.

The activists had raised slogans against Tanwar and his wife Avantika Maken Tanwar, whom they held responsible for Reena’s appointment.

The Mahila Congress activists had threatened to hold demonstration outside Tanwar’s residence if Reena Birat’s appointment was not cancelled forthwith.

They had also declared that the Mahila Congress workers of the district would not take this injustice and would bring it to the notice of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Today, hundreds of rural women assembled at Tanwar’s residence and thanked him and Avantika Tanwar for Reena’s appointment.

Reena Birat and her predecessor Shilpa Verma said there was no discontent among the Mahila Congress workers and all of them would work together for ensuring victory of the Congress in the coming elections.

Yamunanagar, January 5
A team of agriculture scientists yesterday visited Ratangarh village where a case of yellow rust in wheat crop has been found.

The team comprising Dr Indu Sharma, Director, Dr Satish Kumar and Dr Mangal Sain of the Directorate of Wheat Research, Karnal, went to wheat fields and found yellow rust in two-acre land. Sharma said they took a round at the surrounding fields, but they were found disease free.

“The early arrival of the yellow rust in the wheat crop is a matter of concern, however, the farmers should not panic,” said Dr Sharma.

She advised the farmers to contact the agriculture scientists if they found the symptoms of the disease in their crop. On the other hand, Adity Pratap Dabas who visited the Ratanpura village today said he had sent a demand of anti-yellow rust fungicide for 25,000 hectares to the government.

He said he was expected to get the consignment by Monday or Tuesday and it would be provided to farmers on a 50 per cent concession. 

Ambala, January 5
Mahapanchayat of 19 villages, held at Kardhan village in the district, resolved not to pay the property tax imposed on them. These villages were brought under the ambit of the Ambala Municipal Corporation three years ago.

The representatives of the 19 villages alleged that though the civic body had not initiated any development work in their villages, they were being asked to pay the hefty property tax which was on a par with the urban areas.

The mahapanchayat assembled on the premises of the Kardhan government school at around 2 pm under the leadership of Avtar Singh in which more than 250 representatives of the 19 villages participated and unanimously decided to not pay the property tax.

The members of the mahapanchayat said they would not initiate any protest that would affect the law and order, but they were strictly against the imposition of the property tax on their premises.

They even accused Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda of misleading people of the state as earlier the same government had announced that no property tax would be imposed in the rural areas.

The villagers alleged several villages like Nagal, Kardhan, Khojkipur, boh, Babyal, shahpur and Tundla still lacked the facility of drinking water and the corporation had not taken any developmental work till date.

They said that these areas could not be considered urban in any sense and thus no property tax should be imposed here.

The grievances

* In a mahapanchayat held on Sunday, representatives of the 19 villages alleged that the Ambala Municipal Corporation hasn't carried out any development work in their villages

* Village representatives also alleged that despite the Chief Minister's decision that no property tax would be imposed in rural areas, they were burdened with heavy tax on a par with that of urban areas

Jind, January 5
Despite three extensions and exemption up to 30 per cent, many Jind residents are yet to pay their pending property tax.

Though the government has granted third extension till January 31, Nagar Parishad (NP) officers are not hopeful of 100% collection of tax and are planning to take strict action against the defaulters

As per official records, the city has around 53,000 properties on which the property tax is imposed. Of these, nearly 34,000 are residential properties and 9,000 are commercial; at least 9,535 are vacant plots, 250 government properties and the remaining 215 are industrial units.

So far, as per officials, around 20,000 property owners have paid their tax and the total tax collected is Rs 1.02 crore. Of the total tax collected, Rs 63 lakh came alone in December 2013.

“We have kept the office open even on holidays, but locals are not ready to pay. We have made numerous announcements for the last date of tax payment, but have failed to get a good response” said NP Tax Inspector Rajinder Kohli.

Confusion also prevails among some residents as they believed the Haryana government had recently announced tax waiver on properties. However, Kohli ruled out any such announcement and urged the residents to pay their property tax on time. He added that a strict action would be taken to collect all pending tax.

As far the imposition of tax is concerned, houses up to 300 sq yd will have to pay 50 paise per sq yd; those of 300 to 500 sq yd, Rs 2 per sq yd will be levied on them; 500 to 1000 sq yd Rs 3 per sq yd, Rs 3.50 per sq yd from 1,001 sq yd to 2 acres and above 2 acres the government has fixed Rs 5 per sq yd as property tax for all residential properties. 

Jhajjar, January 5
A youth was shot dead by a group of assailants at Silothi village under Bahadurgarh sadar police station here on Saturday night. The assailants fled the spot in a Scorpio jeep after perpetrating the crime.

Infuriated kin of the deceased, Kuldeep Singh, along with other villagers today blocked the traffic outside the civil hospital on the Rohtak-Delhi road in Bahadurgarh town in protest against the delay in the postmortem of the body. Since the situation remained tense in the area, the body was cremated in the village in the presence of police personnel this evening.

The Bahadurgarh police suspect it to be a case of old enmity and have started investigation after registering a case against six youths Sonu, Kesav, Kala, Karambir, Ranbir and Satyender of Silothi village on the complaint of the deceased's brother Dalbir Singh. No arrest was made till the filing of the report.

In his complaint, Dalbir Singh said the accused had come to their house in a Scorpio around 9 pm and started thrashing Kuldeep.

One of the accused also allegedly opened fire on Kuldeep from a close range. Thereafter, the accused fled the sopt. Kuldeep was rushed to the civil hospital in Bahadurgarh where he was declared brought dead, said the police.

The doctors on duty conducted the postmortem of the body which was later handed over to his kin.

Kurukshetra, January 5
Almost 10 months ago, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had claimed that the extinct Saraswati river, which once passed through Pehowa town near Kurukshetra, would be rejuvenated in a year.

The government had also assured to provide water to the river from the Dadupu-Nalvi canal to infuse new life into it, but till now there are no signs of the revival of the river.

According to the archeological reports, the source of the Saraswati, which became invisible at the surface about 4,000 years back, is in the Shivalik Himalayas of Sirmour. The river from there passes through Addi Badri, Bilaspur, Mustfabad, Bhagwanpur, Pipli, Kurukshetra, Pehowa, Kaithal, Tohana, Fatehabad, Sirsa and at last merges into the bay of Khambat through Kuch and Nal Sarovar, Saurashtra.

Saraswati Nadi Shodh Sansthan spokesman Bharat Bhushan Bharti said the excavation work to find the river was expected to be completed in two phases - first from Adi Badri to Bhagwanpur in Kurukshetra district and second from Bhagawanpur to Sirsa.

The excavation work from Adi-Badri to Pipli is complete. Though demarcation from Pipli to Pehwa has been done, due to incompletion of the treatment plant the excavation work has not started yet, he added. Bharti said the project was directionless in the absence of a single authority to manage the work as various agencies, such as ONGC, ISRO, Haryana Space Applications Centre (Hissar), the Archaeological survey of India and the Ground Water Department are working separately on it.

Shodh Sansthan president Darshan Lal Jain has urged the Central and the state governments to constitute the Saraswati Nadi Development Authority to coordinate with all agencies for the completion of the project. The project would benefit the state and the country in terms of economic gains, water augmentation, flood control and boosting of tourism, he added.

The Saraswati project work was initiated by ISRO centres (Regional Remote Sensing Centre, Jodhpur, and Space Application Centre, Ahmdebad) in 1990s and they got success in 2000-2001 by discovering the Saraswati palaeochannels below the Thar Desert in Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Chandigarh, January 5
An official spokesperson said as per the schedule issued by the HSLSA, the adalats would be held at Dohki village in Charkhi Dadri-Bhiwani and Bardu Chaina in Loharu-Bhiwani on January 11, at Gehli village in Narnaul, Rajolka in Palwal district, Bansudhar in Sirsa district and Khizrabad in Yamunanagar on January 12.

He said the adalats would be held at Bajina village in Bhiwani district, Fathepur Billoch in Faridabad district, Bhimewala in Tohana-Fatehabad, Nalwa in Hisar, Sorkhi in Hansi-Hissar, Machhroli in Jhajjar, Rai Chandwala in Jind, Dharamgarh and Amargarh in Jind, Teontha in Kaithal, Harigarh in Kaithal, Balrangran in Karnal, Benchari in Hodal-Palwal, Chhanisha in Palwal, Gandhra in Rohtak, Mehna Khera in Sirsa and Rohat in Sonepat on January 19. Similarly, it would be held at Siwani in Bhiwani, Haily Mandi in Gurgaon, Pataudi in Gurgaon and FP Namak at Nuh on January 25.

He said the adalat at Ado Majra and Kalal Majri in Ambala, Chhara in Jhajjar, Ishaq in Kurukshetra, Khotpura in Panipat, Budana and Bahala in Rewari, Madina and Bhurri in Sonepat would be held on January 26.

The spokesman said in February, the adalat would be held at Kachwa in Karnal, Pali in Narnaul, Behalba in Rohtak, Madhusinghana in Sirsa and Kail in Yamunanagar on February 2, at Sarupgarh and Bidhnoi in Bhiwani on February 8 and at Palwas in Bhiwani, Rajthal in Hisar, Buhawi in Kurukshetra, Boupur in Kaithal, Behali in Narnaul, Teekri Brahaman in Palwal and Dakhora in Kosli-Rewari on February 9. Similarly, the adalats would be held at Badhkal in Faridabad, Nangli in Fatehabad, Kohli in Hisar, Guliyana in Kaithal, Salwan in Karnal, Ujina in Nuh, Sondh in Hodal-Palwal, Mamolaka in Hathin-Palwal, Basana in Rohtak, Neemla in Sirsa, Bindroli in Sonepat and Ledi in Yamunanagar on February 16. Also, they would be held at Kalod in Siwani-Bhiwani, Damdama in Gurgaon and Farrukh Nagar in Gurgaon on February 22 and at Ghel Kalan and Karasan in Ambala, Matan Hail and Nilothi in Jhajjar, Intal Kalan and Morkhi in Jind, Lodhar in Narwana-Jind, Noorpur Gugran in Panipat, Barwala in Panchkula, Punsika in Rewari, Bhaiswan Khurd and Chandoli in Sonepat on February 23.

Fatehabad, January 4
The driver of a milk tanker was killed while a truck driver was critically injured when the two vehicles collided head on late last night.

Sources said Sandeep (30), a resident of Jodhpuria village, died on the spot. When the victim’s vehicle reached near a canal on the outskirts of the town, it collided with a truck loaded with kinnow.

The truck was coming from Abohar and was going towards Banaras.

Sirsa MP Ashok Tanwar, who was going towards Sirsa with his family members, stopped there to inform the police and the local authorities for the rescue operations.

Sandeep was trapped in the debris of the tanker and died on the spot. Truck driver Krishan Kumar was rushed to the General Hospital. —TNS

Sirsa, January 5
A Dalit woman was allegedly raped by a man at Dabwali town in the district when the victim had gone to see a portion of his house that he had offered for rent.

The victim raised the alarm after the man allegedly bolted her inside a bathroom and raped her.

People living in the vicinity rescued her and thrashed the accused, identified as Jarnail Singh alias Jassa Patwari from Mangeana village.

The police have booked the accused for rape and under provisions of the Schedule Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

In her complaint to the police, the 30-year-old victim said she went to Jassa’s house to see an accommodation. While showing her the house, Jassa allegedly bolted her with him in a bathroom and raped her. The victim said she cried for help and some neighbours came to rescue her. The neighbours caught Jassa and beat him up before handing him over to the police.

The police said the woman was taken to the General Hospital for medical examination.

Sonepat, January 5
Sunita, a drug peddler, attempted suicide when she was caught red-handed with 230 gm smack at the Railway road last evening.

She was taken to the civil hospital by the police. Later, she was referred to the PGIMS, Rohtak. Police sources said after receiving information that a woman carrying drugs was coming to Sonepat by a train from Rajasthan, a team laid a trap on the Railway road. When the police approached her, she swallowed some intoxicant. The police said Sunita had been arrested earlier in the cases relating to drug trafficking, murder and attempt to murder. – OC