H A R Y A N A

Jail break leaves cops red-faced
MAHENDERGARH, Sept 30 — The administration and the police authorities are apparently still in a daze over the sensational jail break and escape of 15 criminals from the district jail here on the night of September 27.

Traders adopt new strategy
FARIDABAD, Sept 30 — The hard stance taken by the district authorities in the matter of demolition of unauthorised structures and removal of encroachments has forced traders and shopkeepers here to adopt a new ‘strategy’.

Oil firm owes 2 cr to banks
FATEHABAD, Sept 30 — Rattan Chand, allegedly involved in the Rs 1.46-crore scam that has rocked a Jaipur branch of UCO Bank, is involved in financial irregularities here too.

Highest IT payers honoured
AMBALA, Sept 30 — The highest income tax payers of Ambala were honoured yesterday by the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, Mr J.S. Ahluwalia.

New IT courses by KU
YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 30 — New courses had been introduced in Kurukshetra University, the Vice-Chancellor, Mr R.S. Choudhary, said while addressing students at Maharaja Agrasen College, Jagadhari, on the eve of Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti here today. The courses included website designing, masters in information technology and other related courses.

3 held for looting, firing at police
YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 30 — The police has arrested three persons alleged to be involved in looting and arson incidents in Yamunanagar and Jagadhri.

Chief Secy visits Hathnikund
YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 30 — Chief Secretary Haryana, Vishnu Bhagwan, visited the Irrigation Infrastructural works undertaken by the Haryana Irrigation Department at Hathnikund Barrage, 40 km from here on Friday.

Price hike: SP threatens stir
FARIDABAD, Sept 30 — The district unit of the Samajwadi Party has condemned the hike in prices of petrochemical products and threatened to launch an agitation if the Centre and the state government failed to keep a check on the prices of essential commodities.

Governor to visit Kaithal on Oct 5

Jail break leaves cops red-faced
From Ravi S. Singh
Tribune News Service

MAHENDERGARH, Sept 30 — The administration and the police authorities are apparently still in a daze over the sensational jail break and escape of 15 criminals from the district jail here on the night of September 27.

The jail authorities have suspended two wardens on duty during the time of the incident and indications are that more heads will roll. The Director-General, Jail, Mr Budh Ram Bansal, arrived here yesterday and took stock of the situation along with high officials in the district at a marathon meeting inside the jail. Inquiries are being conducted at various levels into the incident.

The authorities are apparently shell-shocked over the incident and government officials have been avoiding mediapersons. Mr Bansal declined to make any comment stating that he was not in a position to do so.

The jail-break incident has more elements than any Bollywood soap opera. Just after about midnight on Wednesday criminals cut the iron rods of a ventilator in the toilet of the jail. Whether the ventilator was damaged by the inmates or some outsiders is, however, not known.

The incident has shocked many on account of the location of the jail, especially the toilet. The jail, court and other government offices are housed in a complex, which was once a fort. The jail is at a stone’s throw from the PWD Rest House. VIPs, including the Chief Minister, stay in the rest house during their visits here. The jail is less than 100 metres from the Haryana Roadways bus stand and the main market is cheek-by-jowl of the jail.

The escape operation reveals that it was well planned. Some of these undertrials were to be taken to Rajasthan to be produced in a court there. Although the police is tight-lipped, there is wide-ranging speculation that it may have conspired in the incident.

The Inspector-General of Police, Gurgaon Range, Mr Rajeev Dalal, told TNS that the police was always strained to produce the undertrials every fortnight in various courts in Haryana and other states. The police has already sent a proposal to be state government to amend the rules so that judges come to the jail concerned.

The laxity on the part of the jail administration is all the more striking when considered that the 15 undertrials accounted for hundreds of heinous crimes committed in various states.

A study of the profiles of these criminals reveals that four of them are natives of Bulandshahr, Gaziabad, Bijnore and Badauni in Uttar Pradesh, two from Mungair district in Bihar, six from Dadri in Haryana and two from Delhi. One of the undertrials, who was arrested in the vicinity of the jail after the incident, is from Dehra Dun.

According to Mr Dalal, the police in the state has been put on alert.

The Deputy Commissioner, Mr V. Raja Shekhar, and the SP, Mahendergarh, Mr Manjit Singh Ahlawat, told newspersons late yesterday that they were not in a position to comment until the undertrials were arrested.

Seven police teams have been sent to Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and various parts of Haryana to arrest the undertrials.

Traders adopt new strategy
From Bijendra Ahlawat

FARIDABAD, Sept 30 — The hard stance taken by the district authorities in the matter of demolition of unauthorised structures and removal of encroachments has forced traders and shopkeepers here to adopt a new ‘strategy’.

The shopkeepers, a majority of whom face demolition of their structures, including canopies which extend up to several feet, have approached members of the Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, who have asked the authorities to stop the demolition drive temporarily.

Shopkeepers in NIT area (No 5) observed a strike for at least two days last week in protest against the demolition. The police had to lathi charge and use force to disperse the mob trying to stop the demolition work. Many agitated shopkeepers dumped rubble and waste products on the main roads to create a traffic chaos. Now while the authorities have reportedly slowed down the anti-encroachment drive in some congested markets, shopkeepers and local leaders have chalked out a proposal to be placed before the authorities.

According to the proposal, a shopkeeper should be allowed a canopy up to six feet in the front and keep his items up to three feet outside the shop.

It has been decided that shopkeepers be given adequate time to remove the encroachments. The shopkeepers and traders have met Mr A.S. Mann, Joint Commissioner of the MCF, to get approval in this connection.

Oil firm owes 2 cr to banks
From Sushil Manav

FATEHABAD, Sept 30 — Rattan Chand, allegedly involved in the Rs 1.46-crore scam that has rocked a Jaipur branch of UCO Bank, is involved in financial irregularities here too.

The accused, whose family members are engaged in the business of cotton milling, oil processing and trading under various names having the prefix Sharda, owes over Rs 2 crore to various banks, including the local branch of UCO Bank. A bank here has already filed a suit in the Debt Recovery Tribunal for the recovery of its loan.

Sharda Cotton Ginning and Oil Processing Mills of which Rattan Chand is a partner had a bank cash-credit limit of Rs 1 crore in the local branch of the State Bank of India. The bank had issued the limit against the hypothecation of stock lying with the firm.

The firm, according to bank sources, was having a clean record for many years, but stopped transactions in December, 1999. Much to the chagrin of the bankers, the firm sold out all stocks lying in its godowns against which the loan had been issued and spent the money elsewhere. It is not known when the firm sold its stocks, but the bankers came to know of it in February, 2000.

When the matter came to light, senior officers of the bank transferred the then branch Manager, Mr H.L. Rawal, and the Field Officer, Mr L.N. Goyal, finding them guilty of neglect. The firm did repay some debt but when it stopped doing so, the bank filed a suit for the recovery of its money in the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Chandigarh, in May, 2000. The sources said the suit was for the recovery of Rs 69 lakh along with interest accrued upon it.

The tribunal had already appointed a recovery commission for the purpose and made a list of all movable and immovable property of the accused, the sources added.

The firm also has a bank limit of over Rs 1 crore in United Commercial Bank here. Officials in this branch are scared at the turn of events but are tight-lipped regarding the status of the bank accounts of the party.

Meanwhile, some more details have come to light in the Rs 1.46-crore scam in Bhagwan Dass Road branch of UCO Bank in Jaipur. The Rajasthan police, according to reliable sources has taken into custody a branch manager of the Bank posted in Rohtak district and another branch Manager posted at a Jaipur branch.

The police, the sources said, had found evidence of their involvement in the scam.

Highest IT payers honoured
Tribune News Service

AMBALA, Sept 30 — The highest income tax payers of Ambala were honoured yesterday by the Chief Commissioner of Income Tax, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, Mr J.S. Ahluwalia.

At a samman samaroh organised at Ambala Cantonment, the three top tax payers — Mr G.D. Chhiber of Ambala Cantonment, Mr O.P. Nagpal of Karnal and Dr M.M. Dutta of Ambala — were honoured with samman patras for declaring the highest income under the categories of salary, business and profession, respectively, for the financial year 1997-98.

Among others, Mr S.N. Prasad, IT Commissioner; Mr Raj Kumar and Mr R.K. Gupta, Joint Commissioners IT; the Haryana Chamber of Commerce and Industry Senior Vice President, Mr N.C. Jain; General Secretary, Mr A.D. Gandhi; Ambala Rotary Club president, Capt Baldev Singh and noted industrialists Mr Rajinder Nath and Dr Jaidev were present on the occasion.

Speaking at the function, Mr J.S. Ahluwalia, said, in future e-filing of returns would take place through computers. “Everything will take place at the press of a computer button. The e-filing of returns can take place at designated service centres,” he said.

“The calculation of the tax field, will be done by the computer itself and once a return has been filed through computer, three will be a software to check the calculation. Also, the Income Tax Department is going to be linked to the RBI, which will ensure that the refunds to the income tax payee can be done at the specified bank branch,” he said.

Mr Ahluwalia said that 80 per cent of the public grievances will be reduced with the proposed system. “It will greatly increase effeciency and transparency in functioning,” he said. “If a income tax payee approaches an officer with a problem, the officer would immediately known from the computer what is the exact problem,” he said.

Mr Ahluwalia said a data base is being created. “Soon, investigations are going to be independent on the income tax payer. The IT payee would not know that an investigation in on. After the investigation proves conclusive, the IT payee would be asked to explain himself,” he said.

He stated that the surcharge is only a temporary measure. “The surcharge will not continue,” he said. “This year no fresh cases have been taken up for scrutiny. For less than Rs 2 lakh, there is the one page saral scheme besides the samman and samadhan schemes,” he said.

Already re-structuring of the IT department is on. In the group C cadre, the post of Tax Assistant has been abolished during restructuring. Nearly, 4.75 per cent strength is going to be reduced following restructuring, Mr Ahluwalia added.

New IT courses by KU
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 30 — New courses had been introduced in Kurukshetra University, the Vice-Chancellor, Mr R.S. Choudhary, said while addressing students at Maharaja Agrasen College, Jagadhari, on the eve of Maharaja Agrasen Jayanti here today. The courses included website designing, masters in information technology and other related courses.

Mr Choudhary said the courses like MBA, LLB, and MCA, had been upgraded. He said the state Cabinet had accepted UGC recommendations regarding teachers’ grades and career advancement scheme.

The decision on the election of students union would be taken at the government level, he said. Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala had allocated more than 200 acres for the Postgraduate Regional Centre, Sirsa.

Mr Ashok Buvaniwala, president of Yuva Agrawal Manch, presided over the function. He demanded Maharaja Agrasen chair at the university campus.

Dr Raj Kumar, Principal of the college and Advisor to Maharaja Agrasen Institute or Management and Technology, here, also spoke.

3 held for looting, firing at police
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 30 — The police has arrested three persons alleged to be involved in looting and arson incidents in Yamunanagar and Jagadhri.

The accused allegedly fired at the police when the car they were travelling in was stopped for checking at the Yamuna bridge near Badi Majra village. No one was injured in the incident.

The arrested persons have been identified as makhan Singh of Sirsa, Tarsem Singh of Bhatmajra village in Fatehgarh Sahib district and Sudesh of Yamunanagar.

According to sources, one SLR, four live cartridges, one .12-bore pistol and one country-made pistol were seized from them.

The police said the gang was wanted in a case of robbery of a wine shop and theft of two cars from here. A case has been registered against them.

Chief Secy visits Hathnikund
From Our Correspondent

YAMUNANAGAR, Sept 30 — Chief Secretary Haryana, Vishnu Bhagwan, visited the Irrigation Infrastructural works undertaken by the Haryana Irrigation Department at Hathnikund Barrage, 40 km from here on Friday.

He inaugurated the captive power system through remote control. The scheme of landscaping and beautification of the project area for environmental improvement, as prepared by the Haryana Irrigation Department was also appreciated.

He said with the construction of Hathnikund Barrage costing Rs 175 crore, new road link between Uttar Pradesh and Haryana had come up. The peaking effect of Hydro Power generation located in Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh will get absorbed at Hathnikund Barrage.

He stated that the work of 16 megawatt capacity Hydro power house and the Hydel Channel has also been taken. With the construction of Eastern Yamuna Canal (EYC) in Uttar Pradesh area by the UP Irrigation Department, Irrigation facilities to that state and Haryana will become more assured.

He said that the 4 km long link channel connecting Hathnikund Barrage with the existing Western Jamuna Canal (WJC) system has also been completed at the cost of Rs 29 crore. The work of construction of 22 bays Pathrala Dam at Dadupur, estimated to cost Rs 20 crore is also in an advanced stage of completion and the bridge across river Somb would be made operational by the end of this year.

Price hike: SP threatens stir
From Our Correspondent

FARIDABAD, Sept 30 — The district unit of the Samajwadi Party has condemned the hike in prices of petrochemical products and threatened to launch an agitation if the Centre and the state government failed to keep a check on the prices of essential commodities.

ROHTAK: The state committee of the CPM has also criticised the hike. In a statement issued here today, Mr Inderjit Singh, Secretary of the committee, said the hike in prices of petrol, diesel, LPG and kerosene would hit the common man, especially farmer.

He said the prices of other commodities would also be increased due to the hike.

Governor to visit Kaithal on Oct 5
From Our Correspondent

KAITHAL, Sept 30 — The Haryana Governor, Babu Parmanand, on his first visit to the town will address district officials at a meeting in the mini secretariat here on October 5.

This information was given by the Deputy Commissioner, Dr Mahavir Singh, here today.