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Anonymous letter against dera head led to murders: CBI
Journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati, who was murdered.
Dera chief’s appeal for peace
1 shot dead over power supply dispute
Child
Labour
Build toilets for good health, villagers told
Panchkula to have air-conditioned mandi
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3 held for assaulting police party
Scribe threatened on phone
Fair price depot holder held
3 held for planning robbery
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Anonymous letter against dera head led to murders: CBI
Sirsa, August 1 After nearly four years of investigations, the CBI has submitted three reports involving the dera chief under Section 120-B in the two murder cases and also under Section 376 of the IPC on the allegations of sadhivs. The CBI has mentioned as many as 147 witnesses against the dera chief in the three
cases.
As per documents of the cases available with The Tribune, it all began in May 2002 when copies of an anonymous three-page letter of Sadhvi, written in Hindi and addressed to the then Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, demanding inquiry against the dera chief, accusing him of rape of sadhvis, was circulated in Sirsa. Journalist Chhatrapati had published a story about the letter of the sadhvi in his evening newspaper Poora Sach on May 30. Dera men suspected that Ranjeet Singh, who was a member of the dera committee, comprising 10 members, had circulated an anonymous letter of sadhvis. The reason was that Ranjeet Singh’s two daughters and sister stayed in the dera from 1999 to 2001. His sister was a teacher in the girls school of the dera. In 2001, Ranjeet Singh had taken out his sister and two daughters from the dera and thereafter visited the dera less often. He is said to have left the dera, as his sister alleged sexual exploitation in the dera, according to the details available from the CBI documents. On June 16, 2002, Ranjeet Singh was called in the dera. The dera men asked Ranjeet Singh to apologise, but when he did not, they told him to be ready to die. Ranjeet Singh also met the dera chief, who asked him to return to dera, but he denied the offer. On the same evening, the dera chief who was quite angry with Ranjeet Singh, ordered his confidant to eliminate Ranjeet Singh before he revealed anything further against the dera. Later Ranjeet Singh was shot dead by four youths while he was working in his fields at around 5 p.m. on July 10, 2002. There were serious nature of allegations in the anonymous letter of the sadhvi against the dera chief, which had led the high court to order CBI inquiry into the case on September 24, 2002. In the letter, the girl mentioned that she was a graduate and had been rendering services in the dera for the past five years. Besides, others girls in the dera ,too, render service for 18 hours and face sexual exploitation. She added that the dera chief had been committing sexual intercourse after an interval of 25 to 30 days for the past three years with her. She learnt that the dera chief, too, had sexually exploited other girls. Most of the girls residing in the dera were possessing degrees of BA, MA and BEd, she added. The girl also cited examples of the sadhvis who had got ill-treatment in the dera. In the Ranjeet Singh murder case, the CBI has so far arrested five accused, including former manager of the dera Inder Sain, his associates of dera, Avtar Singh, Krishan Lal Pradhan, Jasbir Singh and Sabdil Singh and also filed charge- sheets in the CBI special court, Ambala. While in the case of Chhatrapati, after publishing the news-report of Sadhvi’s letter, Chhatrapati had started receiving threat calls from the dera men. Even some dera followers visited his newspaper office and threatened him with dire consequences. He was shot at outside his house by the two dera men on October 24, 2002. Chattrapati’s son, Anshul Chattrapati, and his cousin Mukesh Kamboj, in their statements recorded by the CBI recently, had accused the dera chief of the murder of Chhatrapati. So far three accused Nirmal Singh, Kuldeep Singh and Krishan Lal had been arrested in the Chhatrapati case.
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Dera chief’s appeal for peace
Sirsa, August 1 Fatehabad: Followers of the Dera Sacha Sauda closed their business establishments and gathered at the local grain market immediately after the CBI submitted a report accusing the dera chief in the cases of rape and murders today. Defying prohibitory orders promulgated in the district, hundreds of dera followers assembled in the grain market |
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1 shot dead over power supply dispute
Fatehabad, August 1 Angry villagers blocked traffic at Chimo and Ratia after the incident. Panchayats of Chimo, Kalandergarh and Burj had decided that villagers running their tubewell motors on two-phase power supply would have to pay a fine of Rs 10000 to the panchayat. Last night, the tubewells of Kishan Singh and Nirmal Singh, both brothers and residents of Lamba village, whose lands fall under the territory of these villages, were found running on two-phase power supply. Villagers disrupted their power supply by cutting jumper on the power transformer installed near their tubewells. Kishan Singh and Nirmal Singh allegedly went to the transformer along with some policemen in civil dress. But, seeing a large number of villagers in an agitated mood, they returned. Kishan Singh allegedly disrupted the power supply of Burj, Kalandargarh and Chimo by throwing a cycle chain on the live power transmission lines early today. The villagers, who had noticed Kishan Singh doing the mischief, caught him to hand him over to the police. Kishan Singh informed his family from his mobile phone. After a while, Nirmal Singh, his son Gurbir Singh and Kishan Singh's son Gurpreet came there. After an exchange of words, Nirmal Singh shot at the mob, killing Sukhdev Singh, a resident of Burj village, on the spot, and the three ran away after freeing Kishan Singh from the captivity of villagers. Angry villagers blocked vehicular traffic in the morning today, when the police failed to reach for a long time even after the incident. Later, the police, led by DSP Harish Dutta, reached there and persuaded villagers to lift the blockade. The mob again blocked the Ratia-Budhlada road later in the day, demanding immediate arrest of the accused. SP Saurabh Singh said an FIR had been lodged and three police parties had been dispatched to nab the accused.
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14 minor boys rescued from foam factory
Ramandeep Singh Tribune News Service
Karnal, August 1 It is against the law to employ children below the age of 14 years. All the boys were 8-13 years old and were in a pitiable condition. They were malnourished and had not taken bath for many days. The boys were rescued by authorities here on the intervention of Shakti Vahini, a woman and child helpline, who received a letter written by children pleading to rescue them from the inhuman conditions they were working under. They were brought to the Civil Hospital, here, for medical examination, immediately after they were rescued. They were accompanied by SDM R.K. Singh. Most of the children, out of fear, said they were 16 or 18 years old. The owner of the factory, Pramod Agarwal, when questioned by mediapersons, claimed that he was unaware that the children were underage, adding that they were treated well. One of the boys, Satyander, who claimed that he was 18, though he did not look a day older than 12, said they all belonged to UP’s Barabanki district. Jagjiwan and Arjun, both aged 10, said they were made to work for 12 hours and were not allowed to go out of the factory. Rishikant, a member of the Shakti Vahini, and member, Central Advisory Committee on Child Trafficking, who was instrumental in the rescue of the children, rued the fact that there was no juvenile protection officer present at the hospital, which is mandatory by the law. The children were accompanied instead by a police constable. He said the infrastructure was completely lacking in the state to tackle this crime which is going on right under the noses of authorities which are turning a blind eye to it. He also said there was a well oiled racket going on where children are brought from poor areas of UP to work in Haryana. Deputy commissioner Balbir Singh Malik said strict action would be taken against the factory owner. The boys were handed over to officials of the social welfare department.
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Build toilets for good health, villagers told
Rohtak, August 1 “Getting toilets constructed may prove a big help in keeping various diseases at bay and saving the expenditure incurred on their treatment,” he said in a statement issued here yesterday. The DC appealed to the local residents to follow the examples of Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu, where people of thousands of villages had stopped defecating in the open. Doon pointed out that defecating in the open was an unhealthy practice as it spread disease-causing germs through flies and air. “A toilet can be constructed at a cost of Rs 2,500,” he said, adding that the DRDA and the village panchayats had been entrusted with the responsibility of encouraging villagers to have toilets in their households. A septic tank is also must along with a toilet, Doon maintained. Allaying the apprehensions of the villagers about having toilets at home, the DC asserted that the new toilets had been designed in such a way that they did not cause foul smell in
the house. Doon observed that having toilets at home would also keep the grace and modesty of the family women intact. He urged all village panchayats of the district to encourage the people to get toilets constructed. The DC also exhorted the educated youth to come forward and contribute their mite for the success of the sanitation
campaign. Karnal: The Haryana government has decided to reward panchayats of those villages which have toilets in each house and which pay 100 per cent electricity bills without fail. The government will give cash awards at the block, district and state levels. DC B.S. Malik said here today that block-level panchayats would get Rs 2 lakh, district level Rs 5 lakh and three panchayats would be honoured at the state level. |
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Panchkula to have air-conditioned mandi
Chandigarh, August 1 As a step in this direction, the government has announced the reduction of market fee levy for apple to 1 per cent, bringing at par with Chandigarh. Notification under the Punjab Agricultural Produce Markets (General) Rules has been issued to reduce market fee levy on apple for the Panchkula market to capture the produce during the current season. Chairman of the Agriculture Marketing Board (HSAMB), Haryana, Shadi Lal Batra told The Tribune: “Haryana was loosing out to Chandigarh because of higher market cess. We have reduced the market fee to capture the apple produce that has already started arriving from Himachal.” Haryana is hoping that once the Rs 45-crore multi-complex is ready in about one year time, Panchkula’s Sector 20 agriculture mandi on the highway between Zirakpur and Kalka would attract farmers from not only neighbouring areas, but also those from Punjab and Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh due to facilities that would be available to them here. In the coming week, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would lay the foundation stone of the apple market, which would start functioning in the next two months. “We will shortly start the construction of platforms for off loading of apple trucks,” Batra said. The entire complex would be completed in four phases. The complex would be ready in about a year and will be equipped with electronic grading-sorting lines, cooling chambers and electronic bidding systems. Batra said the auction for setting up of shops had already taken place. Besides earning huge revenue for Haryana, the move is also likely to reduce traffic congestion in Chandigarh, which attracts most of Himachal’s apple, owing to be the nearest wholesale market. The Panchkula market would also attract all those orchard owners, who till last year preferred to bypass Chandigarh and preferred to offload their produce in Delhi. |
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3 held for assaulting police party
Rewari, August 1 They were remanded them in judicial custody. Their third accomplice was reportedly absconding. A case of assault and causing damage to the police vehicle has been registered against them. Sources said when head constable Ramesh Kumar, who headed the police party, reprimanded the three who were allegedly under the influence of liquor, they assaulted the police party with lathis.
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Scribe threatened on phone
Ambala, August 1 Yogendra Sharma of Dainik Jagran said he received the threatening phone call at about 11 pm last night. "The caller used abusive language and he threatened to kill me. The caller stated that I would be shot dead," he said. The caller called him thrice in 15 minutes. "The call had originated from Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. I immediately informed police officials about the matter," he stated.
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Fair price depot holder held
Fatehabad, August 1 |
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3 held for planning robbery
Rewari, August 1 The police also seized a Tata Sumo (HR 23-B-5732) and some weapons from them. They were yesterday produced in court, which remanded them in judicial custody for 14 days.
— TNS |
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Kurukshetra, August 1
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NCC cadet
honoured
Ambala, August 1 Harmeet Kaur was honoured by Haryana Governor Dr A R Kidwai. She was given a trophy and a sum of Rs 1500, a press note stated.
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The CBI has found that it was an anonymous letter written by a dera sadhvi against the Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh which led to the murder of Ranjeet Singh and journalist Ram Chander Chhatrapati by dera men.
