Yamunanagar, January 5
The gruesome killings of children at Nithari village of Noida have set alarm bells ringing in the Haryana Police and today it sought list of all missing persons in the state during the past one year.

The police heads of each district have been asked to specially mention the number of persons below 18 years of age who went missing.

The police heads (Superintendents of Police and Senior Superintendents of Police) have been asked to report back at the earliest in the communique issued by the Police Headquarters in Panchkula. They have also been asked to tell how many of such cases were solved.

The reports of the visits of Moninder Singh Pandher, the alleged child killer, to Ambala and the 18 missing children from the district has led to speculations that some of the missing children from the state may have ended up in the Kothi No D - 5 of Nithari. Police sources said the parents of several missing children from the state had gone to Noida in wake of the killings.

The sources in the Police Department said the SPs and SSPs had been asked to compile lists of all persons who went missing in 2005-06 in their respective districts.

A senior police official told The Tribune that there were no reports that missing children from the state were kidnapped by Moninder Singh and his servant.

A police official from the district said the list of missing persons from the district was expected to be ready by tomorrow.

Chandigarh, January 5
Despite the recommendation of the Union Government, successive governments in Haryana have been refusing to set up a human rights commission on the plea that there are no human rights violations in the state.

But Mr Dharam Veer of Panchkula does not agree. And he has reasons to differ with the government's stand.

Mr Dharam Veer, who supplies law books to several advocates in the Punjab and Haryana High Court as well as in various districts of the state, had a brush with the keepers of law, which he finds difficult to forget even after over a month. So much so that he is undergoing psychiatric treatment at the Panchkula General Hospital.

In a complaint sent to the National Human Rights Commission, Mr Dharam Veer has alleged that when he went to Hisar on November 21 last, he was beaten up by the police at the Hisar Cantt police post. He said he had taken petrol for his Maruti from a filling station worth Rs 300. The attendant asked him to replace a Rs 100 note, which, he says, he did.

However, Mr Dharam Veer’s car was intercepted by the police at Hansi barrier. He and Sandeep were taken to the Hisar Cantonment police post, where he was severely beaten up by policemen, including an ASI. He was also taken to a government hospital, where the doctor did not agree with the police contention that he was under the influence of liquor. Dharam Veer was taken back to the police post and was allegedly beaten up again. Later, he was arrested under Section 356(snatching) and produced before a judicial magistrate around 4 p.m on November 22.

Since the advocates known to him had gone home, he could not get the bail and was sent in judicial custody. However, when he was being taken to jail, he met an advocate to whom he used to supply law books and he arranged for his bail the same day.

Mr Dharam Veer says after he was released from the jail around 7 p.m, but he was again picked up by the policemen, including the ASI who had earlier beaten him up. He was not taken to any police station or police post but to a private house and was allegedly pressurised to sign a statement saying that the police had not misbehaved with him and had served him food while he was in custody. Mr Dharam Veer says when he refused to do so, he was kept in illegal confinement till November 23 noon, when he was dropped outside the General Bus Stand, Hisar.

Since the Hisar general hospital is nearby, he went to a doctor there, who treated him for the injuries. The doctor's report is in possession of Mr Dharam Veer.

Later Mr Dharam Veer, along with some elders of his village, met the S.P, Hisar, Mr A.S Chawla, who asked the DSP to inquire into the matter.

Mr Dharam Veer alleges that though the DSP was convinced of his allegations, the officer told him to compromise with the policemen and not to press charges against them. Dharam Veer alleges that the police had taken away about Rs 95,000, which he had collected from his clients that day. A sum of only about Rs 15,000 was returned to him.

Mr Chawla, however, said the allegations levelled by Mr Dharam Veer seemed to be baseless. If Dharam Veer had any grievance, he could request the I.G, Hisar range, Mr Yash Pal Singhal, to order an inquiry by any officer posted outside Hisar district or even by the police of any district other than that of Hisar. He said he had no objection to an inquiry by any agency decided his superiors.

Ambala, January 5
A young woman, who is an aspiring airhostess, was kidnapped from Delhi late last night and was left in Ambala Cantonment this afternoon.

The alleged kidnapping took place when the 20-year-old woman was going to a temple in East Patel Nagar in New Delhi. The woman, who has been admitted to Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt, has levelled serious allegations of sexual violation against her father and a few others.

The Superintendent of Police, Ambala, Mr Amitabh Dhillon, said that the young woman has claimed that she was raped by her father and a few others. “A case is said to have been registered in Delhi in this regard a couple of months back,” he said.

“We are verifying the facts. We are also passing on information to our counterparts in Delhi about this case,” he added.

The woman said that last night at about 8 pm, she was going to the temple when two women approached her. They said that they were aware about her case and they would fight for her. They asked her to meet their ‘president’ who was sitting in a vehicle parked nearby. "When I reached the vehicle, I was dragged into it," she said.

She claimed that two persons, who were sitting in the vehicle, had sexually violated her on an earlier occasion. "The vehicle was driven for about three hours. The men kept on using verbal expletives. One of the men even placed a gun on my face," she stated.

After a while, two more men joined them. "The vehicle kept on moving for about an hour more. Thereafter, one of the men said that she had to be finished off soon as it was approaching daybreak. They said that they would choke her to death instead of using the gun as there would be a loud noise. After that, I do not recollect what happened," she said.

At about 3.30 pm, the woman regained consciousness in the Cantonment area. She hailed a rickshaw and asked him to take her to the bus stand.

She alighted from the rickshaw on Nicholson Road and went to a photocopy shop. “She collapsed there. We immediately informed the police," Mr Vijay Goel, a local resident, said.

The woman was taken to the Civil Hospital, Ambala Cantt, by the police personnel. Doctors at the hospital said that there seem to be some injury marks on her neck.

The young woman said that she was living alone in East Patel Nagar for the past five months. She alleged that her father sexually violated her for the first time in December 2005. She was again violated in January 2006. In February 2006, her father and three others had allegedly sexually violated her.

She alleged that a photographer had even prepared a x-rated film on her. She said that on July 19, 2006, a case in this regard was registered at Tilak Nagar police station.

After staying away from her parents, she had taken up a job in a firm. She had also undertaken a course for airhostesses.

Yamunanagar, January 5
The gangrape case of a Tirathnagar woman on New Year Eve took turn today when one of the accused confessed to paying Rs 30,000 to the woman.

The accused, Davinder, said he had gone to his home at around 8.30 p.m. on December 31. According to him, later in the night the police reached his home and told him that he had been accused of rape.

He admitted that he knew the woman. “When I saw that we have been trapped we paid Rs 30,000 to her to save our reputation,” said Davinder. He claimed that the money was given to her after the police had gone away. He further said after paying the money they asked the woman to write a compromise letter and she obliged. The accused also claimed that the woman was demanding Rs 1 lakh and a piece of land.

Meanwhile, the district police has appointed Deputy Superintendent of Police, Headquarters, Haith Ram to look into the matter. The police has not made any arrests in the case so far, claiming that investigations are still on. Ram Dayal and Davinder, both property dealers, have been booked under Section 376 of the IPC.

Hisar, January 5
Haryana Agriculture University (HAU) here in the New Year got from the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) two projects worth Rs 6 crore, for research in basic and frontier sciences.

The HAU Vice-Chancellor, Dr J.C. Katyal, said here yesterday under the first project, the ICAR had allotted additional grant of Rs 5.50 crore for strengthening and development of the university. This grant will be used to replace obsolete equipment, support researches in basic and frontier sciences and allied disciplines.

Dr Katyal disclosed another Rs 46 lakh had been allotted for the second project aimed at producing bio-fertilisers, medicinal and aromatic plants through tissue culture.

Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor yesterday delivered a lecture-presentation on “Stagnation in Agricultural Productivity: Breaking the Barriers” before faculty members and officials of the university.

Addressing the gathering, Dr Katyal asserted on the agriculture front, the greatest challenge before the country was to sustain the growth in production and productivity to feed its population.

“India has nearly 17 per cent of world’s population, but merely 2.3 per cent of land area and 4.2 per cent of world’s water,” he maintained, adding since the chances of area expansion to increase agricultural production had largely been exhausted, the major focus had to be on sustaining productivity.

The Vice-Chancellor pointed out rich gains of the green, white and yellow revolutions notwithstanding, problems of poverty and malnutrition persisted in the country. He attributed it to rapidly increasing population, declining soil fertility and climatic variations.

To increase agricultural productivity, Dr Katyal stressed on the need to bring more land under agriculture in arid zones and making wastelands fertile.

The Vice-Chancellor exhorted the farm scientists to do out-of-the-box thinking to tackle the challenges before Indian agriculture. He urged them to develop more high-yielding, thermo-tolerant and disease-resistant hybrid varieties, apart from location-specific technologies.

Rohtak, January 5
An assistant security officer of Maharshi Dayanand University has been sacked for having secured the job on the basis of a forged degree. He had been in the service of the varsity for 15 years now.

The dismissed employee, Balraj Singh, is a former president of the MDU Non-Teaching Employees Association.

He was appointed in 1991 on the basis of a BA degree, reportedly conferred on him by Magadh University, Bodh Gaya.

However, a retired teacher, Prem Singh Rathi, got the wind of the scandal in 1998 and launched a campaign to expose the employee and get him sacked. However, the university authorities failed to take action because of political pressure.

Ultimately, Rathi approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court which accepted his application as a writ petition and ordered the police to conduct a probe.

The probe confirmed that the degree was bogus. A criminal case in this regard has been registered against the sacked employee.

Karnal, January 5
The National Integration Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA), an NGO, and the local police have joined hands to celebrate Lohri on mass scale for the new-born girl child. The main aim of the celebration was to spread awareness against the female foeticide.

They have urged the parents to register themselves with the NGO.

Mr Pritpal Singh Pannu, NIFAA chairman, said the NGO had collected birth records from various districts and was motivating parents to participate in Lohri celebrations.

Rohtak, January 5
Four persons, including two policemen, were killed when they were run over by a tractor on the Jind-bypass here late last night.

The two cops have been identified as Constable Krishan and Constable Suresh. A rickshawpuller and a bystander were also killed. All four victims died on the spot.

Head Constable Shailendra was seriously injured in the mishap. He has been admitted to a local hospital where his condition is stated ‘serious’.

The police said the cops were manning a checkpost when they signalled the truck to stop. But the truck driver tried to speed away.

The crew of the truck has absconded.

The police has impounded the truck (HR46 3436).

No arrests have been made so far.