The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

	Prison Dept’s request under consideration Tribune News Service Chandigarh, April 26 The Haryana Government may concede the Prison Department’s request for putting policemen deployed at a jail directly under the control of the jail officials concerned. Official sources said here that the Home Department received a letter to this effect yesterday from Mr A.S. Bhatotia, DGP (Prisons). According to the sources, the prevalent practice is to have four armed constables under the command of an SI deployed in each jail who are not under the control of the prison officials. The DGP’s letter in the wake of the gruesome murder of a jail guard by criminals in Hisar Central Jail earlier this month is said to be under active consideration of the state government. The DGP (Prisons) has also mooted the idea of having a separate building outside prisons where the visitors will be frisked before entry. Such an arrangement is said to be prevalent in UP. On the issue of the Prison Department’s demand for supplying the staff with better firearms (which funds mention in the DGP’s letter), the sources said steps were underway to provide the three seniormost prison officials — Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent and the Deputy Superintendent — with service revolvers which they would be allowed to take to their residences. The Home Department, the sources added, would also favourably recommend the Prison Department’s request to the state government for giving compensation to the slain jail guard’s family in the same manner as in the cases of killing of policemen on duty. Besides the Provident Fund etc, the family of Vijay Gulati had so far received about Rs 13,000 from a welfare fund and Rs 1.25 lakh raised by the deceased’s colleagues by contributing their one-day wages.
	Kushal murder case Probe sought into motive behind murder Tribune News Service Ambala, April 26 The family of Kushal Rani Sharma has sought a high-level probe to ascertain the real motive behind the murder of the 70-year-old woman in the Sharda Nagar locality of Ambala city on last Monday. While the police had yesterday arrested 28-year-old Jaswinder Singh, residing in Kushal Rani’s neighbourhood, for the murder and had attributed the same to an affair between the accused and the deceased's granddaughter, the charge has been denied by the girl's family. The family has, however, appreciated the efforts of the police in arresting the culprit within three days of the commission of the crime. Talking to mediapersons, Rakesh, elder son of the deceased with whom Kushal Rani was staying, pointed out that the story put forth by the accused was baseless and in doing so he had maligned the image of their family. He also blamed the police for acting in haste and depending solely on the information provided by a drug addict. The father of the 19-year-old girl, while ruling out any affair between his daughter and the accused staying across the house, has also demanded that a lie-detector test should be done to ascertain the truth. Further, there is no proof to indicate that they were having an affair. Even the fact regarding their daughter having been sent to Chandigarh for studies is not true for she had only gone there for a 40-day refresher course to prepare for an engineering couse and she had left only about 25 days ago. Rakesh further claimed that the accused, Jaswinder Singh, had never come to their house before the incident and ruled out the fact that he was offered water and tea by his mother. This fact along with the bad reputation of the accused, was corroborated by a few other people in the neighbourhood. One of the neighbourers, Mr Suresh Gupta, said Jaswinder Singh had committed a theft in his house about five years ago. In another development, Head Constable Balbir Singh, father of the accused, told mediapersons that he had given a clue to the police about his son's activities not being normal, more so after the incident, and that he could be interrogated in this case. He said his son would secretly look whenever the police would come to the house of the deceased for investigations and would then avoid it. The police arrested him on the basis of this suspicion. Mr Balbir Singh said nearly two months ago he had even disinherited his son from his property. “I am at the fag end of my career, and I have only done my duty by informing the police about the misdeeds of my son,” said Mr Balbir Singh. Meanwhile, the accused was produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Mr Surya Pratap Singh, for one-day police remand.
	No SARS case in Haryana: CM Tribune News Service Ambala, April 26 The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, has asserted that candidates of all opposition parties, including the Congress and the Haryana Vikas Party ( HVP), will forfeit their security deposits in the byelections of Fatehabad, scheduled to be held on May 21. Talking to mediapersons at Ambala Cantonment, today the Chief Minister said the byelection would prove to be the Waterloo for the Congress and it would be completely wiped out from Haryana after the byelection as its popularity was already at its lowest ebb. The image of the Congress state President, Mr Bhajan Lal and the state President of the HVP, Mr Bansi Lal, would further get eroded after the results of the byelection. It would be a personal defeat for its leader Bhajan Lal, who is dreaming of coming back to power, he said. Mr Chautala was in Ambala Cantonment to inaugurate the 7th All-India Homoeopathic Congress. To a question, Mr Chautala said the BJP should not file its candidate as it was their alliance partner in the state. For if they did so, the candidate fileded by them would only benefit the Congress, he added. Answering a question on the status of SARS in Haryana, he said the state was not affected yet as both suspected cases of SARS reported in Gurgaon had tested negative. However, a red alert had already been sounded and special teams constituted in the districts to take care of these patients. With regard to the formation of municipalcorporation in Ambala by merging the municipal councils of Ambala Sadar and Ambala City, Mr Chautala said the process was already underway and the decision would be implemented shortly.
	Homoeopathy cheap, safe: Chautala Tribune News Service Ambala, April 26 The Chief Minister, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, today said the state government had earmarked Rs 23.60 crore for the promotion of homoeopathy in the state during the current financial year. He was addressing delegates after inaugurating the seventh-All-India Congress, being organised under the auspices of the Indian Homoeopathic Organisation (IHO), at Rukmani Devi hall in Ambala Cantonment. On demand for a homoeopathic college in the state, the Chief Minister said if any organisation came forward to open a homoeopathic college here, the government would immediately give consent. Mr Chautala pointed out that at present 20 homoeopathic dispensaries were functioning in the state, even as there were 19 districts. The organising secretary, Dr Har Prakash Sharma, in his inaugural speech urged the Chief Minister that there should be at least one homoeopathic dispensary in every Civil Hospital in the state. The Chief Minister said with scientific advancement and massive industrialisation our environment had been polluted and diseases increased manifold. Highlighting the benefits of the homoeopathy system of medicine for curing ailments, he pointed out that allopathy was very costly and beyond the reach of the common man. On the other hand, the homoeopathic system was not only affordable, but also without any side effect. Earlier, Dr Har Prakash Sharma pointed out that a small state like Kerala had 4,000 homoeopathic dispensaries, while even states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Punjab had a large number of dispensaries, the same was not true of Haryana. He reiterated the demand for more dispensaries in the state. He urged the Chief Minister to look into the proposals lying pending with him and to also give nod to one of the proposals of the All-India Homoeopathic Council for setting up a college in Karnal. He pointed out that all formalities had been completed in this regard. The local MLA of Ambala Cantonment and chairman of the reception committee, Mr Anil Vij, welcomed the chief guest. Nearly 400 delegates from various states, including Uttar Bradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and Haryana, are attending the workshop which will conclude tomorrow. During the scientific sessions deliberations were held on hepatitis-B and SARS. In his paper, Dr R.P Singh, secretariat general of the IHO, said there was both preventive and curative treatment available in homoeopathy for the treatment of hepatitis-B and SARS. He claimed that while phosphorous-200 was preventive medicine for SARS, three doses of phosphorous-30 for five days was enough to cure SARS. Even diseases like pulmonary TB were curable, he said adding that there were no side effects. He said nearly 37 crore persons world over had been affected by hepatitis-B, which mostly included men in the age group of 20-40. Others present on the occasion included Minister of State for Social Welfare, Mr Risal Singh, MLA, Naggal, Mr Jasbir Singh Malour, Deputy Commissioner, Mr D.D Gautam, Chairman, Central Council of Homoeopathy, Dr S.P.S Bakshi, and SP, Mr H.S Doon.
	Exodus of partymen: Cong MLA lashes out at INLD Tribune New Service Panchkula, April 26 Mr Chander Mohan, Congress MLA from the Kalka Assembly constituency and elder son of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) chief, Mr Bhajan Lal, has lashed out at the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) leadership for using all means for weaning away councillors owing allegiance to the Congress. Mr Chander Mohan, addressing mediapersons at his residence yesterday, said though the INLD had received a poor mandate at the hustings, it used all means, fair or unfair, for winning over the councillors affiliated to the Congress to gain control of the first ever municipal council (MC) here. Besides Mr V.K. Kapoor, councillor from Ward No. 6, the district Congress chief, Mr R.S. Chauhan, and senior leaders in the local unit, Mr Ravinder Rawal and Mr Anil Pangotra, none of the other councillors affiliated to the Congress or senior party leaders were present today. It may be mentioned that while a former Congress city chief, Mr Krishan Nanha, and the present a city chief, Mr Sanjeev Kumar Chopra, have already joined the INLD, 13 other Congress-affiliated Councillors have agreed to back INLD candidates for the post of the president and the vice-president of the MC.
	Govt schools trying to woo parents Tribune News Service Ambala, April 26 Teachers of government schools in the district have a new assignment on hand. To woo students to government schools, teachers of these schools are undertaking a door-to-door campaign in the city. Acting on a recent order of the district administration, teachers have already started approaching the parents of students asking them to enrol their other children in the primary wing of these schools. The admissions for the same will continue till August. Teachers of these schools have pointed out that while right to free and compulsory education up to the age of 14 years has been made a fundamental right, the enrolment of students in the primary classes is very low. Teachers have, therefore, been undertaking this campaign to find out the reason why children were not being sent to school. The rationalisation policy of the government in the state has also been forcing the teachers to undertake the door-to-door marketing for these schools. As per this policy, if the number of students in the school decreases, the government will remove the teachers accordingly. So to save their jobs and to comply with the orders, the teachers have been on the move to get more students admitted in this session. A Principal of a government school in Ambala Cantonment said the teachers of her school visited houses in nearby areas regularly to convince the people to get their children admitted in government schools. She pointed out that while there had been an increase in the number of students over the past three years, yet people belonging to poor sections of the society preferred that their children work and earn their livelihood rather than study. Meanwhile, the teachers have been having a tough time visiting the houses in the scorching heat, besides being doubtful of the result that the entire exercise would bring.
	School celebrates annual day Tribune News Service Ambala, April 26 Attired in colourful clothes, students of Kendriya Vidyalaya No 2, Ambala cantonment, celebrated their annual day this evening. The highlight of the evening was “Glimpses of freedom struggle”, in which tiny tots from primary classes forced the audience to recall the sacrifices of leaders to achieve independence. The students also presented the Punjabi folk dance, bhangra. Earlier, while welcoming the chief guests, the school Principal, Mr R.V.S. Shishodia, read out the annual report highlighting the activities of the school in various fields. Ms Ritu Sofat, president of the AFWWA, distributed prizes among the outstanding students. The chief guest, Air Cdre S.K. Sofat, AOC, 7 Wing Air Force Station and Chairman, Vidyalaya Managing Committee, congratulated the winners in his address and assured the Principal and the school staff of all possible help in their efforts to further promote the school. The school Vice-Principal, Ms S.L Rajput, proposed a vote of thanks.
	7 thieves arrested, vehicles recovered Our Correspondent Kaithal, April 26 The CIA branch of the district police has busted two gangs of robbers and vehicle thieves and seized arms and stolen vehicles from their possession. Seven persons have been arrested in this connection. Giving this information to mediapersons, the SP, Mr Arshinder Singh Chawla, said in the first case a team led by Sub-Inspector Banwari Lal on getting secret information that some persons were planning to commit dacoity, raided an isolated place near Sadarheri village on the Cheeka-Patiala road and arrested Virender alias Binna, Anoop, Birender alias Bindra, Naresh and Dharamveer. Two pistols with cartridges, an iron rod and a dagger were seized from them. A Maruti car was also recovered from their possession. During interrogation, Virender confessed that they snatched the car on pistol point near Santokh Mazra village and they had stolen a car and a motor cycle from Cheeka a few months ago. They had also robbed cash from a truck driver on the Panipat-Gohana road and cash and some other articles from another truck driver near Safidon. Mr Chawla said in second case, a police party led by ASI Roop Singh during patrolling on the Cheeka road picked up Amarjit Singh of Pehowa and Bhagwant Singh of Rewar Jagir. The police seized a pistol from them and later recovered 10 stolen motor cycles from them, which they had stolen from Kurukshetra, Pehowa, Pipli and Karnal during the past six months.

	Ambala youth ends life Tribune News Service Ambala, April 26 A 19-year-old boy reportedly committed suicide by hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his house on the Mall Road in Ambala this morning. According to police sources, the deceased, Ravi Kumar, who works at a shop in the wholesale cloth market here, was worried about his sister, who had been reported missing since April 22. His father, Sita Ram, who is a labourer, had lodged a complaint with the police that his daughter was missing after searching for her for two days. She had not returned home after appearing for her ongoing Class VIII board examinations on April 22. Ravi Kumar ended his life today when he was alone at home. His parents, who suspected that some boy in the neighbourhood had lured their daughter to run away with him, had gone to the police station to give the information. When they returned home, they found Ravi Kumar hanging by the ceiling fan. It is learnt that Ravi Kumar was mentally disturbed about his missing sister and was finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that she had run away with someone. While a case has been registered at Kotwali police station, the police handed over the body to the parents of the deceased after a post-mortem examination.
	King of fruits to be elusive this summer Poonam Batth Tribune News Service Ambala, April 26 A city, known for its varied varieties of mangoes and from which it eventually drew its name, does not hold much promise for mango lovers this season. The district is likely to have an average crop of the fruit this year going by less flowering of trees. Two recent spells of rain, followed by hailstorm, in the area during the past three weeks have also damaged the crop as this was the peak time for flowering. The trees normally get the flowers from the last week of March till the third week of April. While mango growers are making all possible efforts to improve the yields, horticulture experts are also concerned about the poor growth prospects of mangoes in the area. They said the city experienced the phenomenon of the trees bearing less fruit every alternate year. From the good old days, the city abounds in mango gardens and according to historians, it got its name ‘Ambwala’ due to this, which subsequently became Ambala. As per figures of the Horticulture Department, there are mango gardens in about 125 hectares of this area but pollution, coupled with certain other natural calamities over the years, has led to a decline in the growth of the fruit. A visit to some of the gardens revealed that the trees do not have sufficient fruit this time. This would have an adverse effect not only on the mango growers of the area, but also consumers who will be forced to depend on the fruit coming from Uttar Pradesh. Mr Krishan Singh, who owns a 7-acre mango farm, is not hopeful of a good crop this season as only 40 per cent of the trees have borne fruit so far. His farm normally yields a good crop and is often visited by the agriculture experts of the area. Mr Zahid Khan, a mango trader hailing from Uttar Pradesh, is also perturbed by the poor flowering. Every year he takes three to four big mango farms in the district on a contract basis, much before the start of the season, so that he can look after the trees and get maximum yield. But this year, the condition of the trees have dashed all his hopes. In fact, he is not expecting much yield from the two gardens, for which he has already paid Rs 2.5 lakh. Contrary to his expectations, there are some trees, which have not flowered at all. Pointing out to the trend of the district having a poor mango crop every alternate year, a horticulture expert, Mr Devender Kumar Chahal, said there was need to do a research on this issue as the effect was being seen on different varieties of the crop, which is bad for farmers of the area. The common man is also likely to feel the pinch as they will have to shell out more for buying the mangoes, which come from other states. A major part of the demand for the mangoes here is met from Uttar Pradesh.
	Sec 12 residents’ plea to admn Tribune News Service Panchkula, April 26 Women residents of Sector 12 here have given an SOS call to the district administration and the HUDA authorities against their “harassment by encroachers in Railla village”. The villagers and the residents have been at loggerheads for the past couple of months. The women who got together today said that though the administration and the HUDA authorities had made tall claims of removing these encroachments from near their houses, they had been left in the lurch. Now, almost all houses and vacant plots (14 kanal houses) near this village are up for sale. The residents, who did not wish to go on record, said the villagers let loose their cattle near their houses, defecated in the open, and cowdung cakes made by these villages “adorned” the walls of houses of the sector residents. The unhygienic surroundings have made this area a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Residents said they feared the spread of seasonal epidemics because of stagnant water. “We dare not protest openly, as the villagers then gang up and assault the ones who protest,” said a resident of the sector. She said that in at least two cases, two retired defence personnel residing here had been assaulted by the villagers after they protested against the villagers letting off their cattle here. They alleged that all vacant plots in these sectors had been encroached upon by villagers. “The original area of this village was 1.94 acres, which had spread to 4 acres. Even the villagers have now sold off their land to migrant labourers, who are responsible for a large number of burglaries in the area,” they said.
	3 of family die in mishap Hisar, April 26 Three members of a family, including two children, were killed and two seriously injured when their car collided with a truck near Mayyar village on the Hisar-Delhi national highway last night, the police said today. In another incident two children, aged 10 years and 12 years, drowned in a pond at Ratangarh village, the police said today. In yet another incident a member of a marriage party was killed and three injured when a vehicle carrying them overturned near Sachha Khera village, here yesterday, the police added. PTI
	3 women held for cheating Tribune Reporters Ambala, April 26 The Ambala police has arrested three women for fraudulently taking away one gold chain and two pairs of earrings from a jewellery shop located in the Model Town area at Ambala City today. The SP, Ambala, Mr Hardeep Singh Doon, giving the details said three up-to-date women came in the shop of the jeweller and asked him to show some chains and earrings. They selected one gold chain and two pairs of earrings and asked the shopkeeper to get them weighed. Later, on some pretext they left the shop without purchasing the chain and the pairs of earrings. After a few minute when the jeweller checked the chains and the earrings, he found that they were duplicate ones. The jeweller informed the Model Town police. The police within an hour arrested the three women. The police recovered the chain and the pair of earrings from their possession which cost around Rs 15,000. The women belonged to Ambala Cantonment.
	Miscarriage of couple’s hopes Our Correspondent Kaithal, April 26 The case of a couple of Fatehpur near here requesting court to restrain their daughter-in-law from aborting her female foetus) had an anti-climax today. The daughter in-law, Rekha, told the court of Mr Mohinder Singh, Additional Civil Judge ( Senior Division), that Moman her father-in-law, her brother-in-law and some villagers had came to her parental house at Brass village to urge her not to terminate the pregnancy. She alleged, in a written statement filed by her lawyer today, that Moman and her brother-in-law indulged in physical violence with her. As a result she had an acute pain in the abdomen. Doctors said the heart beat of the child was missing. The same opinion was given by a radiologist of Karnal. she had a miscarriage.