Chandigarh, July 5
Central government’s silence on withdrawal of cases under the Arms Act has created a roadblock for the Haryana government’s efforts to help out politicians booked by the previous Om Prakash Chautala-led regime.

At least one sitting MLA, who was booked during the tenure of the previous government, figures among the list of the people who faced charges under the Arms Act among other charges. As a result the MLA finds himself in a sticky situation now in spite of the government move to withdraw the cases against him.

Tejinder Pal Singh Mann, independent MLA from Pai in Kaithal district, was booked by the Haryana police under the Arms Act and various sections of the IPC when INLD was in power in 
the state.

The state government led by Bhupinder Singh Hooda recommended withdrawal of the cases against him like it did for other politicians booked similarly by the Chautala regime. However, the slapping of charge under the Arms Act against Mann has invited trouble.

Withdrawal of cases under the Arms Act requires concurrence of the Central government and it was not forthcoming in case of Mann. The government, as a matter of fact, has not responded to any of recommendations sent by the state government to it on withdrawal of cases against politicians booked under the Arms Act.

The state government, it is learnt, is now making a comprehensive list of recommendations with regard to withdrawal of cases under the Arms Act pending with the Central government. It intends take up the issue with the Central government to prevent further delay on the outcome of its 
recommendations.

Randeep Singh Surjewala, transport minister of Haryana, Jai Prakash, MP from Hisar, Karan Singh Dalal, MLA from Palwal, are among the other sitting members of legislatures booked by the Chautala regime.

However, Surjewala, Jai Prakash and Dalal reportedly did not have any case under Arms Act against them and thus cases against them could be withdrawn at the level of the state government.

The spree of cases filed by the Chautala-led regime against political adversaries had earned some notoriety as the ‘vendetta policy’ of the then Chief Minister. One of the first things done by the Hooda-led government after coming to power in the state was withdrawing these cases.

Chandigarh, July 5
The Haryana Government and the Western Command authorities have agreed to formalise a joint disaster management mechanism for timely response to unforeseen calamities in the state.

This was among several decisions taken at the annual civil-military liaison conference held at Chandi Mandir Military Station today. Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Western Command, Lt Gen Daljeet Singh and senior officers from Western Command and the state government attended the conference.

During this forum, important issues pertaining to security, welfare of serving and ex-servicemen as well as flood relief measures, required to be initiated in view of the ongoing monsoon season were also deliberated upon, a statement issued here said.

Certain new issues, including improving the coverage of NCC in Haryana, were also mooted. The Chief Minister also announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh for providing ancillary facilities to the transit hostel at Chandi Mandir, which provides boarding and lodging facilities to ex-servicemen and their families. Provision of land for ECHS and establishment of sainik sadans in different districts of Haryana was also agreed upon.

Earlier, in his inaugural address, Hooda lauded the role of the armed forces and expressed satisfaction on the strong bondage among the forces, the people and the Haryana Government.

The Army Commander thanked the Chief Minister for his prompt and favourable decisions and requested for early implementation of the same.

Chandigarh, July 5
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s escort vehicle met with a minor accident in Karnal district today evening.

The driver of the vehicle sustained minor injuries. Additional SP, Security, Verjinder Singh was also in the car.

In order to avoid collision with an oil tanker, the car skidded off the road, a senior police official said.

Karnal’s superintendent of police A.S. Chawla said in order to catch up with the Chief Minister’s cavalcade, the driver tried to speed up the car but got off the road to avoid collision near Kohar village.

He said the Chief minister was safe and had proceeded to Sonepat to attend a function. — PTI

Karnal, July 5
The Panipat police today registered a case against City Magistrate, Bhiwani, for not submitting a dying declaration of a victim who had allegedly committed suicide in 2003.

Confirming this to The Tribune this evening, Panipat police chief, M. S. Sheroan, said that the case was registered following the directions of the district court.

The woman HCS officer has been booked under Sections 166, 192, 201, 204, 217, 466 and 477 of the IPC at Samalkha police station.

During her stint as SDM, Samalkha, in 2003, Pankaj Chaudhari had recorded the statement of Anju, who had allegedly committed suicide over some issue.

According to the information, Anju had given her statement in the hospital to Chaudhari on April 20, 2003.

Anju, her brother Amit and mother Sunita died after they allegedly consumed some poisonous substance.

Following her dying statement, the police had registered a case against Baljit and his mother Ram Kaur and later arrested them.

However, during the trial when the court asked the prosecution to submit the document before it, the police reportedly informed the court that the then SDM had not handed over the statement papers.

The court was informed that only carbon copies were available with the 
prosecution.

Later, the court directed to register a case against the public officer.

The picture above should gladden the hearts of educationists in Haryana to see how, leave aside school or college students, even small children are hanging on precariously to the rear of the bus to reach schools. Safety? Well, that might take a back seat in the circumstances.—Tribune photo by Ravi Kumar

Karnal, July 5
In violation of rules bus operators continue allowing passengers to travel atop vehicles. As the district authorities have turned a mute spectator, these overloaded buses put lives of hundreds of passengers at high risk.

A visit by The Tribune team in the district today revealed that buses of Haryana Roadways and private operators were willfully permitting the passengers to travel atop the vehicles.

Inquiries revealed that these overcrowded buses ply mainly on the urban and rural belts of Karnal, Kaithal, Panipat and Yamunanagar districts.

Interestingly, most of such buses are ``loaded'' to more than its capacity at the Karnal bus stand. Though these overcrowded vehicles remain off the NH-1 but violate rules while plying on the state highways.

But inaction by the district authorities was evident from the ongoing practice.

Ironically, a police post located in the bus stand has also failed to take any action against the buses running in an unauthorized manner.

But sources blame the state authorities for failing to put sufficient number of buses of Haryana Roadways from Karnal to other adjoining districts that led to overload of vehicles. Though the officials admit that it was a risky business but showed their inability to take any action in ‘public interest.’

‘There is a lesser number of buses that ply in the rural areas. The state-run buses often run behind schedule, hence people prefer private buses,'' remarked an official.

In return the private bus operators miss no chance to pack the buses to the fullest capacity. It was observed that a number of these operators ask the youngsters to climb atop the bus.

Meanwhile, drivers and conductors of both government and private buses claim that they take care of safety of passengers. ‘We had to allow them to travel atop the buses due to the persistent demand by the passengers who have no other option to reach their destinations from Karnal,'' they said. 

Jhajjar, July 5
A teenager from Delhi was reportedly gangraped after being kidnapped by four youths of Asaudha village on Tuesday night. The police has registered a case against the youths and arrested one of them today.

According to sources, the girl hired an auto, driven by Sanjeet, to go back home. However, instead of ferrying the girl to her destination, he took her to the fields near the railway station in Asaudha village of the district. He then called three other accomplices identified as Jaibir, Arvind and Kuldeep.

After raping the girl, they took her to the residence of Kuldeep but the girl managed to slip out of their custody and reached the police station in Bahadurgarh yesterday.

Later, the father of the victim also arrived and a medical examination was conducted at the Civil Hospital. 

Ambala, July 5
Expert assistance has been sought for carrying forward the demolition drive initiated by the district administration along the national highway.

Deputy Commissioner R.P. Bharadwaj said the drive would resume as soon as the experts joined the team that had been carrying out the demolition of illegal structures.

He said there were certain structures close to the highway that were three-storey high.

“For multi-storey structures, we need experts to carry out the demolition so that there is no problem for the staff carrying out the demolition. The experts are expected to arrive in Ambala soon,” he said.

Bharadwaj said as soon as technical help was received, the drive would continue. “We will follow the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court,” he said.

In the past two days, a number of liquor vends on the highway have been demolished. Also, a major part of a mall on the highway has been razed.

Some buildings have also been demolished during the drive, being carried out by the district town and country planning department. The drive is being led by R.K. Singh.

Ambala, July 5
Renowned Hindi author Rakesh Vats died at MM Medical College hospital in Mullana this afternoon. He was 68.

He had written a number of stories, novels, drama and poetry books. He had received several awards for his contribution to Hindi literature.

Vats had met with a major accident near Pinjore on February 28 while returning to Ambala from Dharampur.

He was taken to a hospital in Mohali where he was under treatment. Later, he was shifted to Ambala Cantonment.

He was taken to MM Medical College Hospital yesterday after his health deteriorated, where he breathed his last today.

Haryana Sahitya Academy director R.S. Sharma and former Ambala Cantonment MLA Anil Vij have mourned the death of Vats.

They said the country had lost an author who had a deep understanding of human values.

Kaithal, July 5
The police has solved two different cases of kidnapping by recovering the kidnapped girls and arresting two persons.

Both the accused are in judicial custody.

Giving this information to mediapersons here yesterday, SP Rajinder Singh said in the first case a rickshaw puller belonging to Bulandshahar and at present residing at local Patel Nagar had lodged a complaint with the police that his 15-yr-old daughter left the house on June 28 saying that she was going to meet her aunt living nearby, but she did not returned.

After a search campaign a case under Sections 363 and 366 of the IPC was registered on July 2.

The girl was recovered from the house of Kashmir Singh, a resident of Salpani Khera in Kurukshetra district.

The police got the girl medically examined, which revealed that she was sexually exploited.

The SP said the girl had gone to her uncle’s place in Kurukshetra and the accused was a visitor to the uncle’s house.

In another case, a resident of Assandh lodged a complaint at Sadar police station, here, on June 1 that his 19-year-old daughter had gone to Geong village to meet her sisters. She left Geong on May 23 for Assandh but did not reached home. A case under Section 366 was registered and SI Mool Chand during investigation arrested Ravi of Assandh and recovered the kidnapped girl, who refused medical examination. — OC

Hisar, July 5
A milk vendor and a sweetmeats seller were shot dead at Hansi, about 24 km from here, late last night.

According to the police two motorcycle-borne youths accosted a milk vendor Kalu Pahwa in Uttam Nagar and the pillion rider fired at him from point blank range. He was removed to the hospital where he succumbed to injuries.

A few good Samaritans chased the culprits whose motorcycle skidded near Kali Devi temple but they managed to escape leaving their bike behind.

It is reported that some unidentified person had demanded a ransom of Rs 5 lakh from the Pahwa family a few days ago. They had lodged a complaint with the police also.

In another incident a sweetmeats seller Satish Sindhwani was shot at by two youths who came to his shop on a mobike. The shop assistant grappled with the youths but he gave up when he saw Satish falling down from the shop. The victim died in the hospital minutes later. — TNS