The Tribune...Haryana

H A R Y A N A

Monday July 6, 1998

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CBI reluctant to probe murder case
KARNAL, July 5 — The CBI seems to have washed its hands off the sensational Madhu murder case of Karnal.
The case, which had generated a lot of controversy and fear among residents of Karnal, was referred to the CBI by the Haryana Government on a request made by Dr G.D. Sharma, elder brother of Mr V.D. Sharma, SDO (PWD), Karnal, who was also injured in an armed attack along with his wife by the intruders on the night of July 31 last year.
Experts review water supply in Haryana
PANCHKULA, July 5 — Environmentalists, scientists, foresters, politicians and representatives of social organisations shared their views on "Problem of water supply in Haryana" at a seminar organised by Shivalik Vikas Manch, Haryana, here today.
The focus of the deliberations was on the problem of potable water and water for irrigation in the lower Shivalik areas falling in Panchkula, Ambala & Yamunanagar districts.

Father kills infant son, commits suicide
ROHTAK, July 5 — A resident of Gaddi Kheri village in the district allegedly poisoned his 14-month old son to death and later committed suicide by consuming celphos tablets yesterday
Pension payment 'irregular'
From Our Correspondent
SONEPAT, July 5 — The district administration has made adequate arrangements for the disbursement of pension and scholarship amounts to the handicapped persons identified in a special survey conducted in this district.
Silt problem in Panchkula
PANCHKULA, July 5 — Following the recent rain, silt has accumulated on city roads.
At the roundabouts, vehicles skid sometimes while negotiating a curve...

CBI reluctant to probe murder case
From K.G. Dutt
Tribune News Service
KARNAL, July 5 — The CBI seems to have washed its hands off the sensational Madhu murder case of Karnal.
The case, which had generated a lot of controversy and fear among residents of Karnal, was referred to the CBI by the Haryana Government on a request made by Dr G.D. Sharma, elder brother of Mr V.D. Sharma, SDO (PWD), Karnal, who was also injured in an armed attack along with his wife by the intruders on the night of July 31 last year.
Madhu, wife of the SDO, and their son, Munna (8 years), were beaten to death by armed desperadoes, while another son of the SDO was injured in the attack.
Politicians of various parties including Mr Bhajan Lal and Mr Om Prakash Chautala (both former Chief Ministers), as well as a number of MPs, MLAs and other prominent public figures, had visited the residence of Dr C.D. Sharma to express their anguish over the ghastly incident.
The local police was so shaken with the open criticism both by the public and the politicians that it lost no time in arresting a gang of five Bawarias to prove its credentials in public eye.
The family of Dr V.D. Sharma was not satisfied with the investigations as well as the arrest of the Bawarias. The police had handled the case in a hotch-potch manner and left many loopholes in the investigations.
The Haryana Government had referred the matter to the CBI, but for a long period the CBI seems to have taken no action in the case.
Distraught over the inordinate delay on the part of the CBI to take up the investigation, Mr Azad Kaushik, brother of Madhu, who is a visiting Professor in the USA, took up the matter with the Embassy of India in Washington DC.
Mr Kaushik in his letter of February 15, 1998, requested the Indian Embassy to intervene to expedite the investigation by the CBI.
The Indian Embassy took up the case with the CBI, and the embassy counsel, Mr Ajit Lal, vide his letter dated May 18, 1998, informed Mr Kaushik that the "present resources of the CBI are over-stretched" and therefore, it would be difficult for it to take up the investigation.
The CBI in its letter to the embassy had stated that "the matter has been carefully examined by the CBI". The Government of Haryana appears to be fully seized of the matter. It may be seen that the incident occurred on July 31, 1997. The local police had already finalised the investigation. The CBI letter further states that "as will be readily appreciated, the nature of the case is such as the local police can handle it more effectively".
The CBI has also concluded that the case has no inter-state ramifications. Moreover, its hands were full because of the existing commitments arising out of a number of cases entrusted by the high courts and state governments.
Mr Kaushik who has started "Madhu and Aditya Sharma Foundation for Family Values" is naturally upset over the denial by the CBI.
In the past the CBI had always not been handling the cases only with inter-state ramifications. For instance, the Yamunanagar rape case and the Bhutmajra abduction case, which had no inter-state ramifications have also been handled by the CBI.
Dr C.D. Sharma told TNS that he intended to move the Punjab and Haryana High Court in the matter to seek justice and directions to the CBI for taking up the matter

Experts review water supply in Haryana
From Our Correspondent
PANCHKULA, July 5 — Environmentalists, scientists, foresters, politicians and representatives of social organisations shared their views on "Problem of water supply in Haryana" at a seminar organised by Shivalik Vikas Manch, Haryana, here today.
The focus of the deliberations was on the problem of potable water and water for irrigation purposes in the lower Shivalik areas falling in Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts.
Dr R.K. Mehla, national president of the Welfare Association of Young Agricultural Research Scientists of India, said that water shortage in the lower Shivalik area was due to inadequate distribution of water resources in the state by politicians from time to time.
Dr Mehla, who has studied the problem of water logging in western Haryana, said that northern Haryana contributed 46.15 lakh tonnes of the total 109 lakh tonnes of the foodgrains produced by the state annually. Despite this, the area was being given only 22.9 per cent of canal water.
In the case of western Haryana, he said the annual foodgrain production was only 48.34 lakh tonnes whereas it was using 72.86 per cent of canal water. Similarly, southern Haryana had also been neglected.
On the water problem in lower Shivaliks, he opined that by checking soil erosion and by constructing check dams the water table in the area could be recharged. He also suggested sowing of less water-consuming crops.
Mr S.P. Malhotra, a retired Chief Engineer from the Haryana irrigation department, said the state's green revolution was due to tubewells. But due to official neglect the water table at which the tubewells had been sunk could not be maintained.

Pension payment 'irregular'
From Our Correspondent
SONEPAT, July 5 — The district administration has made adequate arrangements for the disbursement of pension and scholarship amounts to the handicapped persons identified in a special survey conducted in this district.
This was stated by Mr P.K. Mahapatra, Deputy Commissioner, while presiding over a "janata darbar" held at Ganaur, a subdivisional town about 20 km from here, yesterday. Mr Sandeep Garg, Additional Deputy Commissioner, and other district officials were also present.
The Deputy Commissioner took serious note of complaints about the non-receipt of pension and scholarship amounts by handicapped persons and directed the officials concerned to ensure regular payments.
Referring to complaints about encroachments on municipal, public and panchayat land, Mr Mahapatra asked the police and other official agencies to take immediate steps to remove these.
A large number of persons were present at the 'darbar" where 62 complaints were made pertaining to various departments. Most of these related to the HSEB, the Irrigation Department, the PWD (B&R), the Public Health Department and the civic administration. Many persons came with grievances regarding pensions.
Consumers charged that LPG dealers were creating a man-made shortage of gas cylinders and alleged that they were being harassed on some pretext for the other. They also alleged that consumers were being forced to buy hot-plates from the dealers at the time of releasing new LPG connections.
Residents criticised the working of the Municipal Committee, Ganaur, and alleged that it had failed to improve sanitation.
Some residents decried the erratic power supply and breakdowns, particularly at night.

Father kills infant son, commits suicide
From Our Correspondent
ROHTAK, July 5 — A resident of Gaddi Kheri village in the district allegedly poisoned his 14-month old son to death and later committed suicide by consuming celphos tablets yesterday.
According to police sources Jagdish a labourer, had been finding it difficult to make both ends meet, and in sheer frustration he "gave" poison to his 14-month old son Bhola who died on the spot. Jagdish himself also consumed several tablets of pesticides and died at the PGIMS, a few hours later. It is learnt that the victim's wife had also committed suicide a few months ago in similar manner. The police has registred a case in this regard.
Meanwhile in another case the city police has booked four youths for allegedly gang raping a married woman and threatening to kill her.
According to the complaint lodged by the victim, a resident of Vijainagar locality, four youths identified as Ashok of Dubaldhan village, Yogesh, Kamal and Dharambir of the town forced entry in her house on the night of Friday last and raped her after threatening to kill her if she made a noise. The accused later fled away.
The police has registered a case under Section 376, 452 and 506 of the IPC against the accused. No arrest has been made so far.

Police remand for murder accused
From Our Correspondent
ROHTAK, July 5 — The four suspects in the Devender Coach murder case were remanded in police custody for three days by a local court today.
The suspects identified as Rajiv, Yashpal, Pawan and Rajesh were produced in the court of the Duty Magistrate Mr Bhupender Nath by the police earlier today. The accused had been taken into 'custody' by the police outside the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge here yesterday in a dramatic manner.
While the police sought custody of the accused for at least seven days. The counsel of the accused Mr R.C. Dalal opposed it saying that his clients were not even in the FIR of the police and there was no need of sending them to police custody more than one or two days.
Directing the police to get medical examination of all suspects by the Chief Medical Officer of the Civil Hospital, the court sent the accused into police custody for three days. Now the suspects will be produced in the court on July 8 again. Two of the suspects are residents of local Kailash colony and two others belong to nearby Bohar village. The fifth suspect named in FIR is still absconding.

Silt problem in Panchkula
From Our Correspondent
PANCHKULA, July 5 — Following the recent rain, silt has accumulated on city roads.
At the roundabouts, vehicles skid sometimes while negotiating a curve.
Although the HUDA's engineering staff have started removing the silt, the situation has not improved much. The drainage system is also in bad shape.
Mr M.L. Sharma, president of the Residents Welfare Association of Sector 2, said heaps of silt had accumulated in gullies in the sector.
"Removal of grass from road berms and cleaning of the gullies has been totally ignored", he said.
Similar complaints have been received from residents in other sectors.
The repair of inner roads is another problem.
Mr Kapil, a resident of Sector 10, complained that stagnant water had become a big problem.
Industrialists lament that compacted layers of gravel had not been covered with a pre-mix layer. This had created potholes and the situation was likely to worsen in the rainy season, they felt.