Karnal, September 29
Relatives of Geetanjali Sharma, the newly-wed woman who died yesterday, brought traffic to a standstill for nearly an hour at Committee Chowk here today when they placed her body in the middle of the road in protest against the police for not arresting all accused in the case.

Though the police arrested Sandeep, husband of the deceased, and his parents, Joginderpal and Darshana Devi, three other persons - Sandeep’s brother Sudhir, his wife Garima and sister Pratibha are still at large.

Only after much persuasion by the police did the protesters agree to lift the blockade after they were assured that the accused on the run will be arrested soon. The SHO, City Police Station, sub-inspector Jagpal Singh, said according to the post-mortem report, Geetanjali died due to hanging.

“From our preliminary investigations, it appears to be a dowry death,” he added.

Yamunanagar, September 29
In one of the most daring robberies of recent times in the area six armed men, including two masked-men, looted Rs 2.80 lakh from a shop-cum-godown in Tirathnagar here this afternoon and shot a shopkeeper while fleeing. There were 20-25 labourers working in the godown when the incident took place.

The police had started a hot pursue for the robbers but no arrest was made till reports last came in. The loot was daring as they could have landed in serious problems as the area is densely populated and roads are narrow with heavy traffic.

The dacoits reached the godown located on a link road and four of them barged into the office located on the first floor while the two positioned themselves on the outer gate, the police said.

The four in the office asked the owner, Sushil Garg, to handover the cash lying in a cupboard. When Garg protested one of the robbers hit him with butt of a pistol twice. While the robbers were fleeing after collecting cash labourers and others started shouting.

A shopkeeper, Rajinder, picked up a brick and asked them to stop. At this one of the robbers fired upon him. He sustained minor injuries. Two local youths made a futile attempt to chase the robbers believed to be in their early twenties.

SP C.S Rao and DSP Ramchander reached the spot to carry out investigations. Involvement of an insider could not be ruled out as the robbers knew where the cash was lying.

Jind, September 29
The ‘National Sainik Prokost’, the ex-servicemen cell of the BJP has asked the state government to take up thier issues and also of the kin of other martyr soldiers at priority basis to ensure the desired relief to those who had rendered selfless service for the country. It has demanded to start an old-aged pension for the retired soldiers and officials, with the provision of a separate wage board for the defence personnel.

In a statement here today, the vice-president of the Prakost, Col. Brahmanand (retd) said though there were many problems faced by retired defence personnel and widows of the soldiers, he demanded that while setting up a special wage board for such category, the government ought to set up a separate commission on the pattern of National Minority Commission.

Claiming that there were over 18 lakh families of serving and retired soldiers in Haryana, but the government was still to come out with a proper policy and programme which could provide support and relief to these families.

According to the cell the old aged soldiers and widows could not be expected to stand in queues for payment of bills at counters and it would be better if the government provided mobile services at their door step for banking and other services at nominal or free of cost.

He said there were about 56,000 widows of such soldiers in Haryana alone at present.

Seeking atleast 50 per cent of the pension to war widows, it said the provisions for the family of martyrs and soldiers killed in action, including those in the operations against terrorism, should reach the near kin of the soldiers who laid their lives in the country’s honour in the past few decades.

Gurgaon, September 29
A class-XI boy Nitin, studying in a government school, Jharsa, died after being electrocuted on the school balcony on Saturday.

According to an eye witness Nitin, and his friend Sachin, went to the school balcony as their teacher, Birender Singh, asked them to bring down the students who were out there. They added that when they were climbing down they touched a GI pipe which had electric current. Sachin recoiled as he touched the GI pipe, but Nitin was stuck to it.

Both of them were taken to the local hospital by their friends.The students said that the teachers and the principal did not take appropriate steps to save Nitin’s life.

Students said the teachers fled from the spot instead of helping the electrocuted duo and taking them to a hospital for immediate medication. They requested their teacher to give them his car so that the two could be rushed to a hospital, but the teacher turned down their request. They managed to get a bike, but by the time they had reached the hospital the doctor declared Nitin as brought dead.

On hearing about the death of Nitin, the students and villagers went on rampage and damaged school property which included a car and bikes owned by school teachers and the principal’s office.

The police rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control. The police said they had registered a case of negligent act causing death against the school principal and one teacher under Section 304 A of the IPC. No arrest has been made till now and investigations in the case are going on.

Jhajjar, September 29
Residents of Palra village today impounded a school bus of RCM Senior Secondary School in Jahajgarh to protest against beating of two students by the teacher of the school.

The parents of the students, as well as other villagers, alleged that two teachers of the school had beaten up two students of class 10th so badly that one of them Narender had sustained a minor fracture in spine while another boy Sandeep had blue marks on his legs due to thrashing with stick.

When Sandeep’s parents went to the school to lodge a complaint against the teacher, the school authorities misbehaved with them and asked them to leave.

The parents then sought help from the villagers and the sarpanch, Anil, and decided to impound a school bus which daily came to the village to pick up students.

Narender, son of Ashok Kumar, who lives with his mother alone as his father is in the Army, said the principal of the school called him in his office and beat him with a stick which led to serious injuries in his spine about a month ago. When his mother complained to the school authorities, they agreed on bearing the expenses of his treatment. However, when another student Sandeep hailing from the same village, was thrashed yesterday by the physical instructor of the school, Atul, the residents decided to protest against it. The student had blue marks on his legs.

The school owner Joginder Dabas later came to the village accompanied with the police and assured the villagers that the guilty teacher would be removed from the school.

Jind, September 29
A young couple died under mysterious circumstances at Barsola village in the district last night. The victims, who had consumed a poisonous substance after dinner, succumbed to death before being admitted to the civil hospital. Though the matter has been reported to the police, the cause of this development has been unknown. They leave behind a two and half months old infant.

According to reports the couple identified as Jaiveer (25) and his wife Suman (22) had reportedly consumed Celphos tablets last night around 9 pm at their house. While the husband took as many as three tablets, the woman consumed one tablet. The couple however raised an alarm after some time and told the kin that they consumed poisonous substance meant for storage of wheat.

They were rushed to a private clinic, but the doctor there told them to shift to the civil hospital. But it is reported that both of them died before reaching the hospital at around 10.30 pm. Though no complaint has been lodged against anyone in this regard, it is stated that the couple had been married for about two years and had been upset due to an unknown factor. Suman’s sister is married to Jaiveer’s brother and resides in the same village.

Fatehabad, September 29
Irate residents blocked the local Bighar road and stopped vehicular traffic last night against the alleged “corrupt” attitude of some Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) officials.

The officials,who had come to rectify a fault in the power lines at the local Bighar road went back without doing their duty, when, according to residents, they could not meet their unjustified demand.

The residents alleged that the power supply in the area broke down at about 11 am yesterday. After repeated complaints by the residents, some officials of the DHBVN came to the area and allegedly told the residents that the cable on the transformer had burnt and would be replaced only if the residents paid them money for the cable.

The residents protested that when the cable was available in the office, why they were being made to pay for it. The officials of the Nigam allegedly went back and told the residents that their power supply would be restored only after they paid the money demanded.

Angry residents resorted to road jam in the evening after which the police reached there and resolved the matter. Residents Harjinder Singh, Manohar Lal, Avtar Singh and Jasbir Singh alleged that the DHBVN officials who turned up for repairs demanded money for the repairs.

Eventually, the police called the DHBVN officials and asked them to rectify the fault. However, DHBVN sources denied the allegations.

Rohtak, September 29
UPA chairperson and Congress president Sonia Gandhi will lay the foundation stone of a 1,500 MW power project during her visit to Jhadli village in Jhajjar district, where she will address a “bijli rally” on October 7. This was disclosed by local Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda while addressing a public meeting at Kalanaur township in the district yesterday.

The MP has been visiting several villages of the Rohtak parliamentary constituency to invite people for the rally. During his tour, the Congress MP has addressed a number of workers’ meetings and public meetings in various parts of the district.

Underlining the significance of the “bijli rally”, Deepender said it would be a big political message to many political parties which were against the 123 nuclear deal. He said ever since the formation of Haryana, the state was producing around 1,537 MW power, which was far short of the actual requirement. He said the Jhajjar power plant would produce 1,500 MW and it would be the biggest single power station in the entire North India.

The MP said a second power unit was in the pipeline at Jhajjar, which would produce an additional 1,200 MW. He pointed out that the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, had already laid the foundation stone of a power plant in Khedar village near Hisar, adding that progress on the project was in full swing.

He said Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda would inaugurate the Yamunanagar power plant on November 1, which happens to be Haryana Day. “The commissioning of this unit would provide an additional 300 MW to the state production from November 1 and another 300 MW by February, 2008, he added.

Hisar, September 29
The town’s oldest slum in the new sabzi mandi area refuses to go away despite the demolition of hundreds of jhuggis by the local administration following a court order on September 19.

Within days of the demolitions, the jhuggis have started coming up again. The settlement came into being over 60 years ago when several families belonging to the Singikaat community built shacks on a large piece of land adjacent to Sainian Mohalla. It gradually grew in size.

Several years ago, the municipal authorities staked claim to the plot, but the dwellers disputed the claim. The matter went to the court where the colony dwellers lost their case. Within days the authorities arrived at the settlement with police force and despite stiff resistance and stray incidents of stone throwing the settlement was demolished.

Leaders of the Singikaat community said they were settled here under a scheme launched nationwide by former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. They said the plot had been in their possession for over six decades and they had nowhere to go.

They say they had lived there peacefully and the residents of the nearby areas had no problems from their side all these years. Terming the demolitions as unjustified, they said they were not even given notice before the bulldozers razed their dwellings.

The community members justified attempts to rebuild the settlement despite legal hitches on the ground that they did not have any means to buy land and build their shacks again. Besides, all of them had been earning their livelihood from smalltime jobs in the nearby areas. A change in location would mean loss of livelihood.

However, sabzi mandi shopkeepers are opposing the slum dwellers’ attempts to rebuild their shacks. Their opposition stems from two factors. One, the slum dwellers had exchanged brickbats with the shopkeepers the day the demolitions were conducted. The dwellers had also blocked the road and asked the shopkeepers to close their shops. Some shop owners refused to do so which resulted in violence.

Secondly, the shopkeepers allege that over the years many young boys living in the colony had taken to crime as a result of which residents of the areas around the slum had developed serious security concerns. They also complain that the slum area was a source of communicable diseases because of unhygienic conditions in which the dwellers lived.

Meanwhile, the municipal authorities maintain that the colony will not be allowed to resurface since they plan to make better use of the vast piece of land for community service.

Karnal, September 29
Haryana is the number one state in the country as far as attracting investments is concerned. Five years ago it was 16th. This has resulted in the demand for power increasing day by day, said Randeep Singh Surjewala, minister, public health and power, at a press conference here today.

He said the state government was working on a war footing to make the state self-sufficient in power.

He said as Haryana was progressing rapidly, the demand for power was growing both in the rural and urban areas.

“For meeting this growing demand, we drew up an action plan two and a half years ago to invest Rs 25,000 crore in the power sector,” he said.

He said on October 7, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi would lay the foundation stone for the construction of the Rs 8,000 crore 1,500 MW Indira Gandhi super thermal power project, which would have three units of 500 MW each, in Jhadli village in Jhajjar district.

He said another plant with a capacity of 1,200 MW would be set up at a cost Rs 5,000-6,000 crore by a private firm opposite the Indira Gandhi thermal plant.

He said the Deen Bandhu Chhotu Ram power plant (600MW) in Yamunanagar was 95 per cent complete and would start producing 300 MW from November 1.

He said another power plant, the Rs 4,000 crore 1,200 MW Rajiv Gandhi super thermal power plant, located in Khedhar village, Hisar, was almost 10 per cent complete and by December,2009, power would be made available. Surjewala said a 2,800 MW nuclear power plant was proposed to be set up in Fatehabad.

“We have also signed agreements for plants running on gas having a total capacity of 4,500 MW,” he said.

Meena Mandal, minister of state for archaeology and museums, and Neetu Mann, block president, kisan and khet mazdoor Congress, were among those present.

Panipat, September 29
The district administration has ruled out the detection of any patient with a positive blood report of dengue, Japanese encephalitis (JE) and chikanguniya in Panipat.

Talking to TNS today, district malaria officer Dr Ashwani Kumar Garg, who is also in charge of the team to control the vector-borne disease in the district, rubbished reports that patients from the adjoining UP villages were rushing in the local nursing homes.

He informed that blood samples of 10 patients were sent to the Indian Institute of Communicable Disease (IICD) and six have already shown a negative report. Reports for rest of the cases are expected to reach here in the next couple of days, he added.

Meanwhile, deputy commissioner Mahender Kumar has instructed the health authorities to intensify the survey to detect patients, if any, suffering from the three diseases.

These teams will inspect private nursing homes and various residential pockets to take blood samples of the suspected cases. It will also suggest the residents to take the precautionary measures to control the outbreak of any disease. 

Ambala, September 29
Two-year-old Chahat, who was suffering from a major heart ailment, was able to receive treatment after members of the Rotary Club of Ambala came to her help.

Chahat's father works as a hawker at a tea stall at the Ambala Cantt railway station. She was born with a hole in her heart, windpipe and food pipe joined and the stool passage blocked. The family did not have the money to get her operated upon. Rotary Club of Ambala members learnt about the plight of Chahat from her grandmother Sushma.

Club president Pradeep Jain said he discussed the problem with his colleagues in Jain Samaj of Ambala as well as Rotary Club of Chandigarh. Thereafter, a decision was taken to get the girl operated upon at Fortis Hospital, Chandigarh.

He said that with the efforts of Dinesh Jain of Shri Digamber Jain Sabha as well as Baldev Aggarwal and Kewal Seth of the Rotary Club of Chandigarh, the girl underwent an operation at Fortis Hospital earlier this month. It took seven hours to complete the operation and now the girl is recuperating at her residence in Lal Kurti area of Amabla Cantt.

Chahat's grandmother Sushma said that she was happy with the help extended to her granddaughter by Rotarians.

Ambala, September 29
A light and sound musical programme on the first war of Independence was presented by the Haryana Police at Kharga stadium in Ambala cantonment late this evening.

“1857: Bharat Ka Swatantra Sangram” was one of India’s largest light and sound shows in which more than 750 trainees of the Haryana Police Academy participated. Besides that, there were 20 horses, a contingent of the police motorcycle stunt daredevils and two police bands. The show was spread over 400 metres. Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was the chief guest.

Hooda said the first war of Independence actually began at Ambala, nearly nine hours before the outbreak of the Meerut mutiny. He said we must learn from the ideals of the freedom fighters.

Hooda said that the Haryana Police had succeeded in bringing down the crime graph in the state. He said the trainees, who have participated in the programme, will be joining the police force soon.

He announced that a sum of Rs 5 crore will be allocated for the construction of mutil-purpose halls in Madhuban as well as Bhondsi.

Director general of police Haryana Ranjiv Dalal said the programme was conceptualised and executed by Haryana Police Academy director VN Rai.