H A R Y A N A

Owners begin mining without paying royalty
Hisar, October 28
With the expiry of deadline of their ultimatum to the Haryana Government, a joint struggle committee of
tone-crusher owners and labourers in the Khanak mining zone began mining operations without paying royalty today.

Members selected for state Haj panel
Chandigarh, October 28
Mr Azad Mohammad, Deputy Speaker of the Haryana Assembly, Mr Habibur Rehman, Independent MLA from Nuh, and Mr Sahida Khan, Indian National Lok Dal MLA from Tauru, have been chosen to be members of the proposed State Haj Committee of Haryana.

Madhavan may be Chief Info Commissioner
Chandigarh, October 28
In a paradox of sorts, the Haryana Government is maintaining tight secrecy regarding its choice for the Chief Information Commissioner’s post. The CIC, to be appointed under the Right to Information Act, is supposed to bring in more transparency in government functioning by making available to public information sought on administrative matters.

Rape accused SDM may be suspended
Karnal, October 28
Rape accused HCS officer Jeet Singh Mehra, SDM of Guhla Cheeka subdivision of Kaithal district, is likely to be suspended after his arrest by the Panipat police on Tuesday. He was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days on Wednesday.

Petrol station robbery cracked, four held
Kaithal, October 28
The police has arrested all four members of a gang of robbers that looted Rs 1.85 lakh from a Reliance petrol station at pistol point on October 22 last week. Two pistols, that were used in the crime, Rs 1.70 lakh, one mobile phone and a Splendor motor cycle (without number) have been seized.

Stories from Haryana towns falling in the National Capital Region are put in
 Delhi & neighbourhood.

REGIONAL BRIEFS

YOUR TOWN

Ambala Chandigarh Fatehabad Hisar Kaithal Karnal

	Woman beats up drunk cop October 28, 2005
	Migratory birds arrive October 27, 2005
	CAT directs UPSC to promote HCS officer October 26, 2005
	Mining scam: VB begins probe October 25, 2005
	Unemployment allowance to blind enhanced October 24, 2005
	Judicial complexes for all subdivisions, assures Hooda October 23, 2005
	Haryana to form panels for better power supply October 22, 2005
	Deadline fixed for canal completion October 21, 2005
	Charges against IAS officer dropped October 20, 2005
	Bhajan Lal, sons skip Cong function October 19, 2005

Man moves court against wife
Fatehabad, October 28
The incidents of a wife suing her husband for maltreatment or domestic violence are common, but for a charge, a husband today lodged a criminal complaint against his wife in a local court alleging highhandedness by his wife.

high court
Directions to DGP
Chandigarh, October 28
The High Court on Friday directed Haryana DGP, Kanwar Nirmal Singh to personally supervise the investigation into the case relating to the missing girl, Seema, of Barwala village, Gurgaon.

Petrol station robbery cracked, four held
Kaithal, October 28
The police has arrested all four members of a gang of robbers that looted Rs 1.85 lakh from a Reliance petrol station at pistol point on October 22 last week.

Harijan Kalyan Nigam official nabbed
Ambala, October 28
The Vigilance Bureau, Ambala, has nabbed an official of Harijan Kalyan Nigam at Ambala city for taking bribe of Rs 1000 from a beneficiary.

2 booked for cheating

Owners begin mining without paying royalty
Sunit Dhawan
Tribune News Service

Hisar, October 28
With the expiry of deadline of their ultimatum to the Haryana Government, a joint struggle committee of stone-crusher owners and labourers in the Khanak mining zone began mining operations without paying royalty today.

The protesters defied the rule regarding the payment of royalty as the lease of the mining contracts was not cancelled despite their ultimatum.

Members of the committee assembled at Khanak this morning and held a meeting. A large number of police personnel were deployed to prevent any untoward incident.

Meanwhile, administrative officials of Bhiwani district informed the protesters that the lessees had been called for a personal hearing by the Director, Mining and Geology Department, in Chandigarh at 3 pm.

Following this, the crusher owners and labourer leaders decided to wait for a word from Chandigarh. However, when nothing emerged till around 3.30 pm, the protesters began mining operations.

The police personnel and the employees of the leasehold contractors did not try to stop the mining activity given the large number of crusher owners and labourers.

The crusher owners had alleged that the leaseholders had been carrying out mining operations illegally. They had warned that if the government did not cancel their lease and order a CBI inquiry into their “illegal” activities, they would begin mining operations without paying the royalty.

Meanwhile, the state Vigilance Bureau had started investigations into the allegations of “goonda tax” collection and other charges against the mining leaseholders. However, the lease was not cancelled, which infuriated the crusher owners and labourers.

Now, the committee has said that it would continue the mining operations till the lease is cancelled.

Members selected for state Haj panel
Shubhadeep Choudhury
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 28
Mr Azad Mohammad, Deputy Speaker of the Haryana Assembly, Mr Habibur Rehman, Independent MLA from Nuh, and Mr Sahida Khan, Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) MLA from Tauru, have been chosen to be members of the proposed State Haj Committee of Haryana.

The three MLAs have been chosen as members against an equal number of vacancies of members reserved in the committee for Muslim MLAs or MPs from Haryana.

The committee, which will be formally notified early next week, has 11 other members belonging to three categories. Under the category of experts in Muslim theology and law, there are three members. They are Maulana Mohd Yahua of Tirwada village in Mewat, Maulana Mohd Ayub of Ferozepur Jhirka and Maulana Abdul Rahim, also of Ferozepur Jhirka.

Five members of the committee from voluntary organisations are Mr Suban Khan of Mewat, Mr Jakir Hussain of Chhachhrauli, Mr Alam Khan of Siroli village in Mewat, Haji Abdul Rehman of Ferozepur Jhirka and Mohammad Illyas of Ranyala Patakpur village in Mewat district.

Three representatives from local bodies are Mr Usman of Mandi Khera village in Mewat, Mr Abdul Latif of Jalalpur village in Mewat and Mr Ishaq of Ferozepur Jhirka.

The members of the committee will elect one member as the chairperson at the first meeting of the panel. The meeting will have to be convened by the state government within 45 days of formally notifying the names of the members of the committee. Each member has a tenure of three years.

Mr M. K .Midha, Special Secretary, Home Department, Haryana, will be the member-secretary of the committee.

The functions and duties of the committee include providing assistance to Haj pilgrims.

Madhavan may be Chief Info Commissioner
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, October 28
In a paradox of sorts, the Haryana Government is maintaining tight secrecy regarding its choice for the Chief Information Commissioner’s (CIC) post. The CIC, to be appointed under the Right to Information Act, is supposed to bring in more transparency in government functioning by making available to public information sought on administrative matters.

A meeting was held here today to finalise the choice for the CIC post and recommend the name to the Governor for appointment. The Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, the Excise and Taxation Minister, Mr Venod Sharma, and the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, Mr Om Prakash Chautala were supposed to take part in the meeting. The latter did not turn up.

Nobody from the government side was ready to reveal what transpired at today’s meeting.

Speculation, is rife that Mr G. Madhavan, Chief Secretary of Haryana, who retires on October 31, will be appointed to the post. The speculation has been bolstered by reports of the state government seeking clearance from Delhi for Mr Madhavan’s appointment. It is believed that Mr Madhavan’s name will be formally recommended for appointment after he retires.

There will also be 10 Information Commissioners in the state along with the Chief Information Commissioner.

Rape accused SDM may be suspended
Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 28
Rape accused HCS officer Jeet Singh Mehra, SDM of Guhla Cheeka subdivision of Kaithal district, is likely to be suspended after his arrest by the Panipat police on Tuesday. He was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days on Wednesday.

Ambala Division Commissioner Mahavir Singh and Kaithal DC Balbir Singh Malik told The Tribune that action would be taken against him by Chief Secretary Mr G. Madhvan.

However, the Chief Secretary could not be contacted on the phone.

While Mr H.P. Rana, Special Secretary could also not be contacted despite repeated attempts, highly placed sources said Mehra would be suspended and departmental inquiry would be initiated against him. At present Mehra was lodged in the Karnal jail.

Earlier, the Panipat police had arrested him when his anticipatory bail plea was rejected by the Supreme Court on Monday.

Mehra has been absconding for some weeks to avoid arrest when the Panipat police made several attempts to nab him after cancellation of his anticipatory bail by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

Petrol station robbery cracked, four held
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, October 28
The police has arrested all four members of a gang of robbers that looted Rs 1.85 lakh from a Reliance petrol station at pistol point on October 22 last week. Two pistols, that were used in the crime, Rs 1.70 lakh, one mobile phone and a Splendor motor cycle (without number) have been seized.

Giving this information, SP Sat Parkash Ranga said here today that the accused told the police that they had also taken away the Scorpio vehicle of a person by force near Pundri in August.

The SP said a police party, led by CIA Inspector Amrik Singh, arrested gang members Babli, son of Sardara, and Sunil, son of Bhim Singh, both residents of Naina village, Balraj, son of Zile Singh, a resident of Mundri, and Pawan Kumar, a resident of Kasan.

Pawan is a dismissed employee of the petrol station and he had planned the robbery, Mr Ranga added.

In the Scorpio case Vinod, son of Balwant of Badhana, Jind district, and Sukhdev, son of Baldev, a resident of Kalta, Jind district, have been arrested while another accused Bahadur Singh is at large. Three of the accused involved in the petrol station robbery were also involved in this case, the SP added.

Man moves court against wife
Our Correspondent

Fatehabad, October 28
The incidents of a wife suing her husband for maltreatment or domestic violence are common, but for a charge, a husband today lodged a criminal complaint against his wife in a local court alleging highhandedness by his wife.

The court has fixed the case for hearing on January 4, 2006. Guldeep, a resident of Mohamadpur Rohi village today appeared in the court of the Judicial Magistrate, Ms Ritu Y.K. Bahl, with a criminal complaint under Section 211 of the Indian Penal Code against his wife Bimla Devi.

The complaint inter-alia said he was married to Bimla on June 17, 1993, but his wife had not stayed with him for long during this period. The complainant alleged that his father-in-law was a greedy person and (he wanted to grab) his property and with that motive in mind he used to instigate his daughter against him.

He alleged that his wife had lodged an FIR against him, his father Garib Dass, mother Nanhi and brothers Ranjit and Bakshish under the Dowry Act on November 6, 1995.

Guldeep further alleged that the case under Sections 498A and 406 of the IPC was totally false and lodged with an intention to harass and humiliate him and his family members.

He said he and his family members were acquitted by the court in that case as the court found them innocent, but as the case was in process, his father Garib Dass died due to the humiliation.

He said his wife had filed a false criminal case against him and his family knew fully well that her allegations were untrue.

high court
Directions to DGP
Our High Court Correspondent

Chandigarh, October 28
The High Court on Friday directed Haryana DGP, Kanwar Nirmal Singh to personally supervise the investigation into the case relating to the missing girl, Seema, of Barwala village, Gurgaon.

The 16-year-old girl was allegedly taken away by some persons in April 2002 and remains untraced. Two accused allegedly involved in the crime were acquitted by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Gurgaon, sometime back. 

Petrol station robbery cracked, four held
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, October 28
The police has arrested all four members of a gang of robbers that looted Rs 1.85 lakh from a Reliance petrol station at pistol point on October 22 last week. Two pistols, that were used in the crime, Rs 1.70 lakh, one mobile phone and a Splendor motor cycle (without number) have been seized.

Giving this information, SP Sat Parkash Ranga said here today that the accused told the police that they had also taken away the Scorpio vehicle of a person by force near Pundri in August.

The SP said a police party, led by CIA Inspector Amrik Singh, arrested gang members Babli, son of Sardara, and Sunil, son of Bhim Singh, both residents of Naina village, Balraj, son of Zile Singh, a resident of Mundri, and Pawan Kumar, a resident of Kasan.

Pawan is a dismissed employee of the petrol station and he had planned the robbery, Mr Ranga added.

In the Scorpio case Vinod, son of Balwant of Badhana, Jind district, and Sukhdev, son of Baldev, a resident of Kalta, Jind district, have been arrested while another accused Bahadur Singh is at large. Three of the accused involved in the petrol station robbery were also involved in this case, the SP added.

Harijan Kalyan Nigam official nabbed
Our Correspondent

Ambala, October 28
The Vigilance Bureau, Ambala, has nabbed an official of Harijan Kalyan Nigam at Ambala city for taking bribe of Rs 1000 from a beneficiary. According to information Shakuntla Devi, a resident of Naya Gaon close to Ambala city had filed a complaint with the DIG, Vigilance Bureau that Shyam Lal, an official of Harijan Kalyan Nigam had been demanding Rs 1000 from her for sanctioning loan for a buffalo.

The DIG constituted a raiding party under the supervision of Inspector Ved Prakash. Today when Shakuntla was handing over the amount to Shyam Lal, the raiding party nabbed him red-handed. The Vigilance Bureau registered a case under the Prevention of Corruption Act against Shyam Lal and reported the matter to the headquarters.

2 booked for cheating
Tribune News Service

Karnal, October 28
The police registered an FIR of cheating against two persons on the direction of a local court. The FIR was registered at city police station against Balwinder Singh of Nalwi Khurd village and Hari Singh of Karan Vihar under Sections 406, 420, 120-B and 506 of IPC.

Complainant Vinod Kumar of Sector 7, Urban Estate, alleged that the accused had not returned him two blank cheques given to them five years ago on the condition that the same would be returned when he would repay their amount. However, they did not return the cheques after he had repaid their amount, he alleged.