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| Tuesday, August 1, 2000, Chandigarh, India   
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Bhinder for
consensus on PCC chief Rohtak roads in
bad shape Rally against anti-worker policies Staff duping govt in LTC guise Thousand take
dip on Somvati Amavasya DCC
to support traders’ strike |
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Voter lists survey conducted Labourers stage
dharna Jot Mahotsava from Aug 4 Action sought
against cops Fauji’s I-card no more ticket for film
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Drug traffickers on the run FATEHABAD, July 31 — Sustained efforts to curb drug trafficking in the district have borne fruit with the police succeeding in recovering huge quantities of drugs during the past three months and arresting a large number of known drug traffickers. Though the police has not yet been able to put an end to the illicit trade it has at least been able to minimise the sale of drugs in this district. Fatehabad, it may be recalled, had earned notoriety for poppy husk trafficking. The area of the district close to the Punjab border, particularly Rattia subdivision, has always been notorious for poppy husk smuggling. The trafficking of poppy husk was being carried on by an organised gang of the area. Members of the gang have gone from rags to riches in a matter of a few years. The members of this gang have been so smart in their trade that they have been able to get patronisation of influential politicians of the area. Whatever the political party in power, the trafficking has thrived on the gangs’ unholy alliance with certain unscrupulous politicians. The police allegedly is hand in glove with these traffickers. A senior police officer of this district did try to get to the big fish behind this trade but the traffickers had the last laugh when they managed to get him transferred from the district. According to knowledgeable sources, the main reason behind the large-scale trafficking of drugs in this area is that drugs are in great demand in the adjoining Mansa and Sangrur districts of Punjab where 90 per cent of truck drivers and at least 50 per cent of rural youth are drug addicts. The number of addicts in Rattia subdivision of Fatehabad is also very high. Poppy husk being a cheaper means has always been in great demand in these areas. Its method of administration is also simple. The addicts administer it by simply putting the required dose in a glass of hot water or a cup of hot tea. The consignments of poppy husk are brought here from Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh where it is very cheap and can be easily procured. Poppy husk, according to knowledgeable sources, is crushed powder of dried poppy plant from which pure opium milk has already been oozed out. The traffickers show it as animal feed on their documents. It thus becomes difficult for the police to nab the culprits. The poppy husk, which is purchased for Rs 1800 to Rs 2200 per bag of 40 kg, is sold for Rs 3500 to Rs 4000 here. A trafficker who manages to sell a truckload of the drugs can earn anything between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 4 lakh through the deal. The modus operandi of the traffickers too is very interesting. Whenever they shift the drugs from one place to another their vehicle is preceded by one or more vehicles. The patrol party sound their masters immediately whenever they suspect any danger en route. This makes the task of the police even more difficult and the illicit trade has been flourishing in the area. The sustained efforts of the police in this direction during the past three months have shown definite results. Earlier, the open sale of poppy husk was being carried out in villages like
Mehmara, Rattangarh, Lalwas, Marh, Mehmadki, Sardarwala and Bahmanwala. Now this is a thing of the past. Earlier, any one could go and by a bagful of the drugs which the dealers kept at their residence in the open. Now the traffickers are on the run. The district police chief, Mr Shrikant
Jadhav, after joining here had launched drive to nab the traffickers. Many have been booked, many more are evading arrest. A large quantity of drugs has already been recovered by the police. An interesting situation arose at Lalwas village a few days earlier when some drug traffickers chased by the police, threw about three
tractor-trailor loads of poppy husk into the swollen Ghaggar river. The bags were seen floating on the water next day. The police, however, managed to recover 250 bags of poppy husk from the culprits and arrested them. Residents of these areas say though the drug trafficking has not been completely eliminated the frequency has come down considerably. The police officers, who earlier allegedly connived with the culprits, now fear being caught. Mr Jadhav when contacted said the police had recovered 7397.500 kg of poppy husk and 10.210 kg of opium during the first seven months of this year. The police had registered 87 cases in this connection and arrested 109 persons while during 1999 the police registered 46 cases, arrested 53 accused and recovered 3781.500 kg of poppy husk and 1.500 kg of opium. |
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Bhinder
for consensus on PCC chief Chandigarh, July 31 — Ms Sukhbans Kaur Bhinder, chairperson of the Congress party’s pradesh election committee (PEC) for conducting the party’s organisational elections in Haryana, said here today a clear picture regarding the party president’s election was yet to emerge. Ms Bhinder said that the best thing would be if someone was chosen as a consensus candidate to head the PCC in Haryana. There are also other options such as choosing the PCC president through voting by secret ballot, she said. Talking to TNS at the PCC office here today, Ms Bhinder described the result of membership enrollment drive as “satisfactory under the circumstances”. “The party had suffered defeat in the elections, we must keep this thing in mind while making an assessment of the membership drive”, she said. She said her brief for conducting the organisational elections was to involve all the Congress leaders in Haryana in the process so that no one felt sidelined or left out. “Recently also we had a meeting in Delhi regarding the PCC elections which was attended by about 50 persons, including the party MLAs”, she said. Ms Bhinder said for the PCC elections she would recruit impartial Congress members as the district returning officers and appoint the block returning officers in consultation with the
DROs. |
Rohtak roads in
bad shape ROHTAK, July 31 — While the work of concretisation of town roads, which was taken on a large scale during the tenure of the previous state government, is pending, the condition of other metalled roads has worsened. This has been mainly due to the stagnation of rain water and failure of the authorities to maintain a proper upkeep. The situation has become worse in places where the authorities could not take up concretisation work and where roads are made of coal tar. Although residents of the localities where the roads were concretised seem to be satisfied, a majority of the roads in outer colonies, especially those which bear a heavy rush of traffic, have become shapeless. Big potholes have come up due to the withering away of the upper layer of the metalled crust. These have not only been causing a hurdle in traffic movement, but also leading to accidents and inconvenience to passersby. The Circular road, Delhi road, the linking road to Sukhpura
byepass, Sonepat roads and nearly all roads in urban sectors, Housing Board colonies, Model Town, Subhash Nagar, Prem Nagar, DLF Colony Shivaji Colony and Jhajjar road have been badly damaged. While half of the stretch of the Jhajjar road has been made of concrete, the work was left incomplete due to some technical and legal problems. After the change of government in the state last year, the Vigilance Bureau had filed a case of corruption and misappropriation of funds in the construction of roads against the then Urban Development Minister, Mr Kishan
Dass, and two senior officials, including the then Deputy Commissioner, Mr Anil Kumar. It was alleged that the accused had a main role in diverting extra funds for the construction of roads in Rohtak. Vigilance officials have been investigating the matter and all main accused were again interrogated here recently. About 28 contractors, two subdivisional officials and some junior engineers have also been interrogated in this connection.
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Rally against anti-worker policies SONEPAT, July 31 — On the call of the Haryana committee of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU), hundreds of trade union workers, affiliated to CITU, held a procession here today in protest against the anti-people and anti-worker policies of the central and the state governments. Carrying placards and raising anti-government slogans, they marched through the main streets of the city. Mr
S.N. Solanki, and Mr Howa Singh, president and vice-president, respectively, of the state unit of CITU, led the procession. Workers of several industrial units also joined the procession. The protesters staged a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office and shouted slogans against the government. A rally was also held which was addressed by Mr Solanki, Mr Howa Singh and other trade union leaders. Expressing concern over the violation of the labour laws and the Factories Act by the employers in Haryana, CITU leaders blamed the state government and the Labour Department authorities for it. They also urged the state government to enforce the labour laws and the Factories Act strictly in the industries. They demanded the immediate withdrawal in the hike of the prices of essential commodities, petroleum products, urea and fertilisers and prepare separate ration cards for people living below the poverty line. |
Staff duping govt in LTC guise ROHTAK, July 31 — A large number of employees of the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam in Rohtak and Bahadurgarh subdivision have reportedly duped the government of several lakhs by taking undue advantage of the LTC facility in the past five years. It is learnt that many employees claimed reimbursement by producing fake travelling tickets of the same agency while they actually did not go anywhere on the
LTC. Sources claimed that a major scam could be busted if a high-level inquiry was conducted into the matter. Besides the
nigam, they said certain gangs could be busted in other departments also which were allegedly assisting employees in such malpractices. The sources said the travelling tickets and other documents of over 150 employees in both subdivisions were similar to the ones possessed by employees against whom a criminal case was registered in the Jhajjar police station a few months ago. A majority of the nigam staff who “availed” the LTC facility during the past five years were Class III and IV employees. Most of them “visited” Kanyakumari or Thiruvananthapuram. The sources claimed that several employees could not even name the places they had visited as per their travelling tickets. However, they have received reimbursement between Rs 7,000 and Rs 30,000 in the form of travelling expenses. A study of these tickets and documents raises certain questions which challenge their genuineness. For instance, generally the buses plying on such long routes do not have more than 40 seats while the passengers’ list, provided by employees, showed the seating capacity between 55 and 60. A criminal case was registered against 17 employees of Jhajjar division after an inquiry by the vigilance cell of the then Haryana State Electricity Board in the same connection. They were charged with seeking reimbursement of the fare by producing fake travelling documents of the Tourism Department of the Nagaland Government. The owner of the travel agency concerned has been absconding since the past two years. The buses shown in the documents reportedly never run on the specified routes. According to police sources, Jacob
Courien, owner of Naga Travel Agency, is the kingpin of the gang and is hiding in Dubai. Mr Mohammad Akeel, SSP, Jhajjar, said the possibility of this malpractice in other departments could not be ruled out. |
Thousand take
dip on Somvati Amavasya KURUKSHETRA, July 31 — On the eve of Somvati Amavasya thousands of pilgrims took a holy dip in the sacred Brahma Sarovar and Sannihit Sarovar here today. The pilgrims started converging on the banks of the holy tanks early in the morning while some of them reached in the afternoon. Talking about the significance of the Somvati dip, a veteran purohit on the banks of Sannihit Sarovar here said in the Mahabharata Bhishma told Yudhishtra that whoever would be visited by Somvati would be prosperous and disease-free and there would be no grief and sorrow. PHAGWARA: Thousands of devotees, mostly married women, on Monday took a dip in the sacred sarovar of Gurdwara Sukhchanana Sahib to celebrate Somvati
Amavasya, considered auspicious for married woman. A fair was held on this occasion. A congregation was also held. |
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DCC
to support traders’ strike SONEPAT, July 31 — The Sonepat District
Congress Committee (DCC) has decided to extend full support to the
proposed statewide strike on August 9 the call for which has been
given by the Haryana Beopar Mandal in protest against the imposition
of professional tax and other taxes as well as the introduction of ST
form No 38. A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of
party workers held here yesterday. A large number of party workers
took part in it. |
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Voter lists survey conducted PANIPAT, July 31 — The district Election Department has completed the survey in the three Vidhan Sabha constituencies of the district i.e. Naultha, Samalkha and Panipat. The Naib
Tehsildar, Election Department, Mr Prahlad Singh said that during the survey it was found that 8785 voters had died in three Assembly constituencies since the lists were last revised. Around 11,165 voters from Panipat, 1,173 from Samalkha and 802 from Naultha and left the constituency and notices issued to their relatives for removal of their names from the list. Around 24,087 voters in Panipat, 9,324 voters in Samalkha and 7,141 in Naultha constituencies had not made photo identity cards. Another 7057 voters in Panipat, 4415 in Samalkha and 3,628 in Naultha had been issued identity cards but their names had not been entered in the records. |
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Labourers stage
dharna ROHTAK, July 31 — Several labourers staged a dharna in front of the office of the Deputy Commissioner under the banner of Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) today in protest against the economic policies of the Centre. Addressing the protesters, Mr Satvir Singh, secretary, district committee of CITU, alleged the implementation of “faulty” economic policies by the Vajpayee government had hit the labour community adversely. He alleged that the move had forced industrialists to close down their industries which had rendered thousands of labourers jobless. He sought the implementation of the labour laws, protection of trade unions’ rights and fixation of minimum salary of labourers at Rs 3,500 per month. Later, a memorandum was submitted to the Deputy Commissioner. |
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Jot
Mahotsava from Aug 4 SONEPAT, July 31 — The Shree Mahavir Dal, a religious organisation of the city, will organise a three-day Jot Mahotsava commencing from August 4 at Hardwar in Uttar Pradesh. Mr Shashi
Nasa, a spokesman of the organisation, told mediapersons here today that devotees from Haryana, UP, Delhi, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan will take part in it. A group of Pakistani pilgrims will also join the mahotsava for the first time after the partition of the country. He also disclosed that the organisation had already arranged 21 buses for the devotees of Sonepat which will be pressed into service on the evening of August 4. Ms Aradhana Shukla, District Magistrate of Hardwar, will inaugurate the mahotsava. |
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Action sought
against cops SIRSA, July 31 — The Sarpanch of Nahrana village in the district, Mr Dharam Pal Valmiki, in a letter to the Haryana Chief Minister, has accused an ASI, two head constables and three constables of confining him illegally and humiliating him. According to the information received today, Sarpanch Dharam Pal alleged that on the evening of July 29, an ASI of Nathusari Chopta police post, along with two head constables and three constables, came to his house and started abusing him. They allegedly pressurised him to withdraw a case registered by him against certain persons. They took him to the police station and detained him there for over an hour. He was released after a former Sarpanch Tara Chand and Mr Jai Singh, along with others, reached there. Demanding strict action against the said police personnel, Mr Dharam Pal termed the whole episode as an act of personal vengeance. |
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Fauji’s I-card no more ticket for film AMBALA According to the Deputy Excise and Taxation Commissioner, Mr
D.P. Sirohi, they will now have to fill up a form which has to be signed by a competent authority not less than the rank of a JCO to avail themselves of tickets at concessional rates. He observed that with the implementation of the forms, the department is hopeful of an increase in revenue. “The army personnel must ensure that the form is duly signed and clearly stamped. This decision will not prove to be an inconvenience to the army personnel but will ensure that no one misuses a facility meant specially for the
faujis,” he stated. An army official said that although the forms would definitely be a minor inconvenience, but they would know exactly where the soldier is heading for. The cinema hall employees said that the direction was received early this month. “However, we are facing problems as the faujis feel harassed when we ask for the form. |
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