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H A R Y A N A |  |
 Wednesday, September 16, 1998 |
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Clues to identity of killer gathered ROHTAK, Sept 15 — The administration has gathered important clues to the identity of the serial killer who had since July 1995 taken the lives of 11 innocent girls at Bahadurgarh, a subdivisional town bordering Delhi. Fall of government "inevitable" CHANDIGARH, Sept 15 — Mr Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi, younger MLA son of the former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, said here today that the sacking of the Haryana PWD Minister, Dr Dharamvir Yadav, was another step towards inevitable fall of the HVP Government, whose days were now numbered. 5 ministers back Bansi Lal CHANDIGARH, Sept 15 — Five Haryana Ministers today criticised the former PWD Minister, Mr Dharam Vir, for speaking against the working of the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, and justified the decision of the Chief Minister to sack him from the Cabinet. |
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 Staff shortage hits work at GJU HISAR, Sept 15 — Academic work in Guru Jambheshwar University here has been seriously hit due to shortage of teaching staff in the university. Order against Rathore stayed CHANDIGARH, Sept 15 — The Supreme Court yesterday stayed the operation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgement which directed the Haryana Government to register a case against Mr S.P.S. Rathore, Additional Director-General of Police, in connection with the alleged molestation of Ruchika, a girl of Panchkula, more than eight years ago. |
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Land
grabbers act with impunity |
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Clues to identity of killer
gathered ROHTAK, Sept 15 — The administration has gathered important clues to the identity of the serial killer who had since July 1995 taken the lives of 11 innocent girls at Bahadurgarh, a subdivisional town bordering Delhi. The Deputy Commissioner, Jhajjar, Mr Arun Kumar, and the Senior Superintendent of Police, Mr A.S. Chawla, refused to divulge the information saying that it was still being scrutinised. The all-important information about the identity of the sex maniac has reportedly been provided by a resident of Sonepat in a letter addressed to Mr Arun Kumar. The Deputy Commissioner confirmed receipt of the letter but refused to divulge its contents. The measures initiated by the district administration to restore confidence among residents of Bahadurgarh following the kidnap and murder of Aarti last week appear to have started paying dividends. Mr Arun Kumar accompanied by senior police officials has so far met residents in 21 of the 25 wards in Bahadurgarh to solicit their cooperation in finding a clue to the maniac, who has created panic among children and their parents. Mr Arun Kumar told TNS that residents were now supporting the administration in the investigations by giving information about dubious characters and suspected killers. The SSP said suspicious persons living in the vicinity of the places from where the bodies were recovered are being closely watched by plain-clothes policemen. He disclosed that activities of at least six persons in Bahadurgarh were under surveillance. The police has also checked sex clinics at Bahadurgarh and neighbouring towns, including Delhi, to find any clue about the sex maniac, he said. Mr Chawla said letter boxes are being installed at least at 10 places in the industrial town to facilitate the public in providing information about the criminals. The letter boxes would be opened by the police only. The informer, he said, need not disclose his identity while putting in information about the criminal. Meanwhile, the district administration has started house-to-house survey at Bahadurgarh to prepare a record of the inhabitants in each house. The industrial labour, too, is being issued identity cards by the respective employers. Mr Arun Kumar said
streetlights in every ward of the town are being
repaired. Flash lights are being installed at sensitive
places. "There is no let-up in night patrolling by
the police", he said. |
Staff
shortage
hits work at GJU HISAR, Sept 15 — Academic work in Guru Jambheshwar University (GJU) here has been seriously hit due to shortage of teaching staff in the university. At present, there are about 90 vacancies of teacher. However, the university had made appointments against 22 posts of teacher in various departments. These were approved by the executive council of the university on August 11. But the next day, the Haryana Government banned the recruitment to three universities of the state, including the GJU, Maharshi Dayanand University, Rohtak, and Kurukshetra University. Haryana Agricultural University at Hisar was, however, exempted from the ban. Although the ban order did not affect MDU and KU much, GJU was the worst sufferer. The university is only three-year-old. It is the only technical university in the state offering courses in modern and applied subjects. The university is yet to complete the recruitment process. But due to the ban order, the growth of the university seems to have been sealed. The worst hit departments in the university are the departments of printing technology, computer sciences, management studies and biotechnology. In the department of printing technology, against a strength of 16 teachers, there are only three. These three have to cater to the needs of three classes comprising 150 students. The university had selected two teachers recently. Thanks to the ban by the government, these have not been able to join. The same is the case with the Department of Computer Sciences and Information Technology. For seven classes, there are only eight teachers against the required number of 22. The Department of Biotechnology, which was started this year, had selected five teachers. But due to the ban, none of these could join. The department is being run with the help of the guest faculty. The university has brought
the matter to the notice of the government. The
Vice-Chancellor, deans and professors of the university
have written to the Governor, Mr Mahabir Prasad, who is
the Chancellor of the university and the government to
lift the ban so that the students do not suffer. |
Fall of government
"inevitable" CHANDIGARH, Sept 15 — Mr Kuldeep Singh Bishnoi, younger MLA son of the former Chief Minister, Mr Bhajan Lal, said here today that the sacking of the Haryana PWD Minister, Dr Dharamvir Yadav, was another step towards inevitable fall of the HVP Government, whose days were now numbered. In a statement issued here today, Mr Bishnoi said Dr Yadav’s allegations against the Chief Minister reflected the growing awareness among the Haryana Ministers of the public disenchantment with the State Government. He claimed that Dr Yadav was only the first of the Ministers to desert Mr Bansi Lal and the process would soon snowball. Mr Bishnoi said despite the government’s all-out efforts to defeat him in the Adampur Assembly byelection, the people of that constituency rose to the occasion and signalled their rebellion against the government by electing him (Mr Bishnoi) with a big margin. He said the internal state of the HVP Government was a reflection of the anarchy and lawlessness that prevailed in the State. He alleged that the discriminatory and caste politics of Mr Bansi Lal were evident from the manner in which the country’s first technical university, Guru Jambheshwar University, had been downgraded to a level worse than a college solely because the university was started by his father, Mr Bhajan Lal. Due to narrow thinking the Chief Minister had deprived the people of Haryana of benefits of technical education. Meanwhile, a former Haryana Minister, Mr Surinder Madaan, has threatened to file a public interest litigation to demand an enquiry into allegations and counter-allegations being levelled by Dr Yadav and his former colleagues. Mr Madaan said here today that the allegations and counter-allegations certainly proved that something was seriously wrong and somewhere down the line public money had been siphoned off. The public has a right to know the truth. Mr Bansi Lal, who claimed to head a transparent government, must order either a CBI inquiry or a judicial inquiry into the allegations and counter-allegations being levelled by his own party MLAs and Ministers. The former Minister said if such an inquiry exonerated Mr Bansi Lal, despite being a Congressman he would openly support the policies of the Chief Minister. He said he was going to
Madhya Pradesh for a fortnight where he had been
appointed an observer by the Congress high command in
connection with the forthcoming Assembly elections. If Mr
Bansi Lal failed to order an inquiry as demanded by him
till September 30, he (Mr Madaan) would move the Punjab
and Haryana High Court on the issue. |
Order against Rathore stayed CHANDIGARH, Sept 15 — The Supreme Court yesterday stayed the operation of the Punjab and Haryana High Court judgement which directed the Haryana Government to register a case against Mr S.P.S. Rathore, Additional Director-General of Police, under Sections 354 read with Section 509, IPC, in connection with the alleged molestation of Ruchika, a girl of Panchkula, more than eight years ago. A full Bench of the Supreme Court consisting of the Chief Justice, Mr M.M. Punchhi, Mr Justice K.T. Thomas and Mr Justice M. Srinivasan, which stayed the operation of the judgement, also admitted a special leave petition filed by Mr Rathore. In his special leave petition Mr Rathore stated that the motive behind filing the petition before the high court seven years after the incident was to disrepute the petitioner who was at the threshold of his promotion as Director-General of Police. Mr Rathore brought to the notice of the Judges that none of the family members of Ruchika, who was allegedly molested, filed any complaint in any court of law during the past eight years. Mrs Madhu was not related to the family. She is the wife of Mr Anand Prakash who was "involved in fraud and forgery in the PWD before joining the Haryana Agricultural. Marketing Board. He is at present in the Haryana Marketing Federation facing more than seven charge-sheets involving acts of corruption. He added that the enquiry report submitted by Mr R.R. Singh, Director-General of Police, was not relied upon by the government as it was one-sided, biased because Mr R.R. Singh did not care to record evidence of any of the 15 witnesses, including the coach, manager, ballpicker and chowkidar, who had appeared before him and had knowledge about the incident. He refuted the charge
levelled by Mrs Madhu in her affidavit before the high
court that Ruchika had committed suicide after the
incident. The fact was that Ruchika had died three years
and four months after the incident "due to her
unfortunate family circumstances". |
5 Ministers back Bansi Lal CHANDIGARH, Sept 15 — Five Haryana Ministers today criticised the former PWD Minister, Mr Dharam Vir, for speaking against the working of the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, and justified the decision of the Chief Minister to sack him from the Cabinet. In a joint statement, Mr Narain Singh, Technical Education Minister, Mrs Krishna Gahlawat, Minister of State for Printing and Stationery, Mr Subhash Chaudhary, Minister of State for Environment, Mr Raj Kumar Saini, Minister of State for Agriculture, and Mr Ram Saroop, Minister of State for Sports, described Mr Dharam Vir as a person who tried to grind his own axe. They termed as a white lie the allegation of the sacked Minister that the Chief Minister was not taking interest in the construction of two overbridges at Jhajjar and Kutubpur railway crossings. They said it was common knowledge that a bridge over a railway crossing could not be constructed without the approval of the railway authorities. In fact, the Railways and the State Government generally shared the cost of construction of such overbridges on 50:50 basis. They said that these bridges had not been approved by the railway authorities till now. In fact, for Kutubpur railway crossing even the sanction of the Haryana Government did not exist. Therefore, no proposal has ever been sent to the railway authorities for construction of this overbridge. They also dismissed the allegation of shifting of hot mix plant from Kosli to Bhiwani. They said as the range of such plants was 35 km these were not stationed at a particular place permanently. After a large number of roads around Kosli had been repaired during the last more than one year, a proposal was sent by the Superintending Engineer of the circle to shift the plant to Obra village in Loharu tehsil of Dadri sub-division as there were sufficient number of sanctioned works awaiting execution.
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Land grabbers act with impunity KAITHAL: The indifferent attitude of the present and past leadership of the state and its bureaucracy towards land encroachers has boosted the morale of 'land mafia' in this district, resulting in illegal occupation of valuable land worth crores of rupees by the mafia. This has not only highlighted the bankruptcy of the existing laws, but has also exposed the weakness of the persons at the helm of affairs, who seemed to have bowed before such anti-social and unscrupulous elements. Land belonging to HUDA opposite the local truck union office on Jind Road, worth crores of rupees is reported to be under the illegal occupation of a large number of people, most of whom have constructed pucca buildings and many of them taking benefit of their physical possession, have passed on their rights to others at a premium. This has been going on for
the last so many years and during this period the state
has been ruled by leaders of nearly all the main
political parties. But no leader or the government has
dared to touch such "land-grabbers" and get the
land vacated or regularise their possession by charging
reasonable allotment price. The influence of vote banks
or connivance of local political leaders and the officers
of the departments concerned have been responsible for
the present state of affairs. Taking a cue from the "no action" attitude of the departments concerned, a chunk of highly priced land opposite the old post office building was encroached upon by some persons patronised by local politicians. Recently a highly priced piece of land opposite the Nirwania Building, reported to be a property of the local improvement trust, was allegedly occupied by some influential persons and they started construction on this piece of land to assert their 'kabza'. Surprisingly enough the construction on this plot was started at night, on a number of occasions in the past, but was demolished by the civic body next morning or the day after on instructions of the respective Deputy Commissioners during the past few years after the public raised a hue and cry. But now suddenly some shops had been constructed without any action on the part of the administration. It is being alleged by the public that some influential local political leaders have benami shares in these shops. They say that if there was nothing illegal in the construction of these shops, then why were these demolished on the orders of the administration in the past and they ask, why no action has been taken this time? The residents demand that this matter needed a judicial inquiry and apprehend that the political and the bureaucratic nexus would not allow the truth to surface. Similarly in old Anaj Mandi, Chhatravas road, Bhagat Singh Chowk, Railway road, Jind road, Mal Godown road, New Karnal road and at number of other places in the main bazars and other commercial areas, people have raised constructions and installed iron sheds and extended projections in front of their shops, business establishments and residential houses in violation of building laws and are using such extended portions and places to carry on their business activities. The modus operandi adopted by such elements is that they first raise kutchha constructions to deceive civic body officials and gradually taking benefit of the apathy of the administration and civic body officials raise pucca construction. They then establish links with the bureaucracy or the officials concerned and get such encroachments regularised by paying a nominal fee, thus depriving the public exchequer of lakhs. The money thus saved in this process was reportedly shared between the benefactors and beneficiaries and others keep such land in their possession, even without making any payment to the civic body.
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12-year RI for rape GURGAON, Sept 15 — The Additional Sessions Judge, Mr R.K. Bishnoi, has sentenced Kanwar Singh (19) of Bai Nangla village to 12 years' rigorous imprisonment for raping a 10-year-old girl of the same village two years ago. According to the prosecution, the girl had gone to graze her cattle in the field on July 19, 1996, where Kanwar Singh was also grazing his cattle. Kanwar Singh forcibly took the girl behind a bush, gagged her mouth and raped her. He also threatened to kill her if she disclosed the incident to anyone. The traumatised girl narrated her tale of woe to her father and the incident was reported to the police. The court held Kanwar Singh guilty of committing rape and awarded him rigorous imprisonment for 12 years and a fine of Rs 5000 u/s 376 of the IPC and also six months' RI and a fine of Rs 200 u/s 506 of the IPC.
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Child murder mystery solved KAITHAL, Sept 15 — The police claims to have solved the mystery behind the murder of a 12-year-old boy in July last at Rajond village. According to the SP Mr Sudhir Chaudhary, the body of Sukhdev Singh (12) son of Baljit Singh of a Dalit Basti of Rajond village, was found floating in the village pond on July 23 and after preliminary investigations the police registered a case of murder under Section 302 of the IPC against 10 persons of the same village. Further investigations revealed that Mohinder Singh a tailor and his wife Ram Kali, who did not have any issue, were told by a tantrik Mahavir that if they could get fresh blood of a human being and Ram Kali drank it they would have a child. Mohinder conspired with his brothers and other relatives and planned the kidnapping of Sukhdev, a neighbour's son. Mohinder lured the boy to his house and is reported to have forced him to take some wine. The boy become unconscious after having wine. According to the police the victim was hit with a screw driver and Mohinder and his wife collected blood from different parts of the body of the boy. They went to a temple with the tantrik on the outskirts of the village, where the tantrik chanted some mantras and Ram Kali consumed the blood. Then they threw the body of the child in the village pond at night. The SP said the accused confessed having killed the boy during interrogation.
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Cops raid Yadav's farmhouse GURGAON, Sept 15 — On the second day of the sack of the PWD Minister, Haryana, Mr Dharamvir Yadav, a number of police personnel, officials of the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) and some persons in plain clothes swooped on his residence-cum-farmhouse at Kanhi village, near here, yesterday to clear encroachment on land by him. Although Mr Yadav could not be contacted for comments, his brother, Mr Jagmal Yadav, told TNS at the residence that more than 50 police personnel and HUDA officials had come to the site. Some workers of the Haryana Vikas Party (HVP) had accompanied them, he added. The incident took place at about 6 p.m., when the sacked minister was holding a ‘darbar’ of his supporters in other part of the farmhouse, Mr Jagmal Yadav added. The district authorities continue to remain tightlipped over the incident. However, sources said the former minister had encroached on about one acre of HUDA land in Sector 45 adjoining his farmhouse. The encroached land was used as a nursery by the family. Mr Jagmal Yadav said about over one lakh saplings of "sangwan" trees were being raised in the area. "Now we will shift it to our farmhouse land", he added. The officials took away the barbed wire and other material used for fencing the area. It is learnt that they even asked the family members to clear the site from encroachment immediately. According to relatives of
Mr Yadav, the posse of police stayed at the site for
about 10 minutes. |
Government's inaction condemned CHANDIGARH, Sept 15 — The General Secretary of the Indian National Lok Dal, Mr Pradeep Choudhary, has urged the Haryana Government to take immediate steps to prevent damage to crops by wild animals in the Shivalik foothill areas of Panchkula, Ambala and Yamunanagar districts. After visiting several villages of three districts, Mr Choudhary said here today that farmers of the area were spending sleepless nights to protect their crops. Women had to stay alone and unprotected in their houses during the nights because all men were on guard against wild animals in their fields. Regretting official apathy in this regard, Mr Choudhary alleged that despite several complaints the official machinery had remained indifferent to the sad plight of the farmers. The least the administration could do was to hold meetings with the farmers of the area and listen to their suggestions. The Lok Dal leader alleged that the Bansi Lal Government had failed to compensate the farmers for losses incurred by them due to natural calamities. He demand that arm licences should be liberally issued to farmers of the affected area so that they could protect their crops.
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Chautala alleges phone tapping CHANDIGARH, Sept 15 — The Haryana Lok Dal (Rashtriya) president and Leader of the Opposition, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has alleged that the telephones of politicians, including ministers, ruling party MLAs and Opposition leaders, are being tapped in Haryana. In a statement issued here today, Mr Chautala said the Chief Minister, Mr Bansi Lal, should remember that a Karnataka Chief Minister had to quit on the issue of telephone tapping. He claimed there was nervousness in the HVP-BJP camp because of the "dictatorial style of functioning of the Chief Minister". He also criticised the state government for arresting employees in large numbers. He urged the Governor to intervene and press the government to reach a negotiated agreement with the employees.
Bodies of 3 youths identified ROHTAK, Sept 15 — The police identified the bodies of three youths which were recovered from a well at a village in Jhajjar district on Saturday. According to a report, the deceased have been identified as Raj Kumar of Kanina village, Sant Lal of Gudha village and Dhanraj of Rassolpur village of the same district. Raj Kumar was the driver of the jeep which was taken away by some assailants who had allegedly murdered these youths. Sant Lal was a mechanic and was accompanying his friends at the time of incident. The vehicle was reportedly hired by some persons who later asked the driver and his friends to hand over the jeep. But the assailants allegedly killed' all three when they showed some resistance. No arrest has been made so far. Meanwhile, the police has
recovered another body near Sunlana Minor in the district
yesterday. The body bore some injury marks. |
213
criminals
arrested FARIDABAD, Sept 15 — The police claims to have arrested more than 213 criminals involved in armed robberies, chain snatching, vehicle thefts and kidnappings and recovered jewellery, valuable articles, cars and scooters worth over Rs 2 crore from them. Mr Mohammad Akil, SP told newspersons here yesterday that 59 cases of murder had been solved in eight months. He said five women belonging to an inter-state gang, had been arrested and 12 minors girls who had been kidnapped from Delhi and other areas and sold at Agra for prostitution had been recovered. He said to develop better relations with the public all police stations had been instructed to register FIRs. He asked public to report the matter directly to him if there was any delay in the registration of complaints.
Body found ROHTAK, Sept 15 — An unidentified body has been found by the police from a minor at Sundana village, 15 km from here today. The post-mortem report revealed that the youth had been killed by a sharp-edged weapon. The Kalanaur police has
registered a case under Section 302 and 201 of IPC. |
Gramin bank staff to observe
strike AMBALA, Sept 15 — Employees of gramin banks will observe a strike on September 22 and to press for the acceptance of their demands. The president of the All-India Gramin Bank Workers Organisation, Mr D.C. Sharma, said here yesterday that one lakh officers and employees of 14539 branches of 196 regional rural banks in 23 states would take part in the strike. The organisation also decided to show black flags to the Union Finance Minister, Mr Yashwant Sinha, and gherao him during his visits to any part of the country.
Four employees suspended ROHTAK, Sept 15 — Pt. B.D. Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences administration today suspended four employees. Those suspended include Balwant Singh, Raj Kishore, Ram Kumar and Savitri. According to official sources, the employees were suspended on the charge of misbehaving with the Director of the institute. It may be recalled that certain class IV employees had shouted slogans against the Director and manhandled him a few days ago. They were protesting against the arrest of some class IV employees by the police on the charge of stealing some money from the Director's residence. Meanwhile, the Haryana
State Medical Teachers' Association has condemned the
manhandling of the Director by the employees and sought
action against the erring employees. |
Gang of car thieves busted AMBALA, Sept 15 (PTI) — The Ambala police today claimed to have busted a gang of car thieves who had allegedly stolen more than 15 cars from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. The police has arrested Ranjit Singh, Satish and Shashi in this connection. Tow country-made revolvers, eight cartridges and a car was recovered from their possession. Three other members of the gang belonging to Punjab had absconded.
Breach in canal plugged HISAR, Sept 15 (UNI) — A major breach which occurred in Jui feeder canal today near Singhwa village under Bhiwani irrigation circle was plugged by the authorities. According to official sources, the water turned its direction to a nearby sugar mill, 3 km away from the national highway on the Hisar-Delhi road. Further release of water
to the canal was soon stopped but a vast stretch of land
was inundated with the canal water causing losses to
local farmers. |
TRAI proposals decried SONEPAT, Sept 15 — The Sonepat Telephone Subscribers Welfare Association has criticised the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for proposing a massive hike in the rentals for telephone and local call charges in the urban as well as rural areas. In a press release, it demanded that the proposed hike should be withdrawn immediately. While terming the proposed increase as ridiculous it alleged that the proposals had been made to benefit multinationals at the cost of the poor as the rates of ISD and STD calls had been reduced and charges for local calls increased. The association also urged the Union Minister for Communications not to implement the proposals in the wake of poor telephone services.
24 villages facing water shortage BHIWANI, Sept 15 — About 24 villages under Loharu tehsil are facing an acute shortage of drinking water. Some of the villages do not even have water connections. Stating this here yesterday, Mr Hiranand Arya, a former minister and Congress leader, alleged that the "proteges" of the present government were pressing for an undue share of water for their fields. Mr Arya, who was here to
mobilise villagers to participate in a demonstration on
September 17, said the water supply to Kalali village had
been stopped by certain employees of the Irrigation
Department. |
3 held for leaking question papers SONEPAT, Sept 15 — The police has arrested three persons, including a constable and a son of an Inspector, in connection with the alleged leaking of question papers on the eve of the JBT entrance examinations. According to a report received here, the arrested were identified as Mahabir, a driver, Balwan Singh a police constable posted at Jind, and a youth, said to be the son of an Inspector of Police. The police also impounded a car and recovered a large number of question papers from it. The car was going from Gohana to Jind. A case under Sections 420, 407, 408, 471 and 34 of the IPC had been registered at Gohana police station and further investigation was in progress.
Bimla Poonia is ZP chief HISAR, Sept 15 (UNI) — The Haryana Vikas Party candidate, Ms Bimla Poonia, was declared elected as chairman of the Hisar Zila Parishad here today. She secured 15 votes while
her nearest rival Bimla Rose of Congress got nine votes
and Shila Bhayan of Indian National Lok Dal, got only
five votes. |
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