Sirsa, November 20
Suspended cop Mahesh Bhadu (25), who had allegedly beaten up an MBA third-semester girl student of Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU) yesterday, was arrested by the CIA staff at Adampur in Hisar this evening. He will be produced in a local court tomorrow. He was arrested by a CIA team headed by inspector Bharat Singh, SP Vikas Arora told The Tribune.

Earlier, students of the CDLU, who were holding a protest march demanding the arrest of the suspended cop, today faced the wrath of the police. The police resorted to a lathicharge on the students while they were marching towards the national highway to express their anguish over the failure of the police to arrest the suspended cop.

Later, the university students, along with students of Government National College, including girls, blocked traffic on the national highway passing through the city for nearly three hours.

Yesterday, the suspended cop had allegedly outraged the modesty of the girl student and had also beaten her up on the second floor of Tagore Bhawan of the university.

Irate students of the university gathered on the campus this morning and decided to block the national highway to press the authorities to arrest the accused. As the students reached near Bal Bhawan, police personnel lathicharged them to disperse them. However, soon after the university students were joined by students of Government National College in their agitation. Around 1,000 students, who have boycotted their classes, blocked the national highway. The victim student also joined the protest march.

A large number of police personnel were deployed today to control students and also divert traffic through alternative routes.

The students withdrew their protest at around 1 pm following an assurance by ASP Sajan Singh that the accused would be put behind the bars within 24 hours.

The ASP told mediapersons that the police resorted to a mild lathicharge to maintain law and order after the students become aggressive and started forcing shopkeepers to close their shops. The agitation of the students caused a lot of inconvenience to commuters.

Registrar of the university Wazir Singh Nehra told The Tribune that more cases of a similar nature against the suspended cop had come to light. “It has come to our notice that a few days ago two students, including a girl, were allegedly beaten up by the accused. Besides, he had also created ‘terror’ in the boys’ hostel,” he said .

Yamunanagar, November 20
Teaching in all eight colleges of the district is likely to be affected tomorrow as all teachers of the colleges will go on a mass casual leave to protest against the attack on a lecturer of MLN College.

They will take out a protest march through main roads of the town and submit a memorandum to the deputy commissioner and the superintendent of police.

No classes were held in MLN College here today as the teachers had gone on a mass casual leave to protest against the attack.

The teachers of the college along with office-bearers of the Haryana College Teachers Association (HCTA) sat on a dharna in the college.

President, HCTA, Yamunanagar-Jagadhri zone, Dr P.R. Tyagi said the agitation would continue till the culprits were arrested. He said it was not an assault on one teacher but on the whole teaching community.

He warned that if the police did not arrest the culprits immediately, the agitation would be intensified and teachers from all over the state would cease to work and join the agitation.

He announced that all teachers of eight colleges of the zone would go on a mass casual leave tomorrow.

President, HCTA, MLN College, Dr Shailesh Kapoor expressed anguish over the attack.

Dr I.P. Anand, Dr Ajay Sharma, Dr K.L. Bhardwaj, Dr Rajiv Kalsi, Dr Hari Parkash, Dr Mandeep Singh, Dr Dalbir Singh, Dr Meena Goel, Dr Madhu Kapoor Dr M.L. Singla Maharaja and Dr Rita also participated in the dhrana. 

Bhiwani, November 20
Taking cognisance of alleged misbehaviour with the blood bank in charge of the local Civil Hospital, Dr Aditya Swaroop Gupta, at the police station following his arrest in a wrong blood transfusion case, the police administration today sent Dinod Gate police station in charge Maha Singh Ranga to the Police Lines.

The manner in which Dr Gupta was arrested by the police and later allegedly beaten up had come in for criticism from various sections of society.

Dr Gupta was arrested in a case pertaining to a patient, Kamlesh, of Hanuman Dhani who was admitted to the Civil Hospital for an operation of a cyst in the stomach on May 30. Her blood group was A positive and she had been given two units of the same group before her operation. However, Kamlesh was allegedly transfused with one unit of a wrong blood group (B positive) soon after the operation following which her condition started deteriorating. Attendants immediately sent for the woman doctor who had performed the operation who referred the patient to the PGI, Rohtak.

The doctor at the PGI treated her for seven days, but she died.

Relatives of Kamlesh lodged a complaint with the chief medical officer, who instituted an inquiry and on the basis of its report, a case was registered by the police against the doctor and the lab technician of the blood bank.

It has been reported that further inquiries in the case could not yield any result and Dinod Gate police station in charge Maha Singh Ranga arrested Dr Gupta who, as the in charge of the blood bank, had signed the lab tachnician’s report.

Dr Gupta had alleged police high-handedness at the police station. Later, he was produced before the court which granted him bail.

However, the police station in charge said he had only followed the findings of the report of Dr Pankaj Vats, who had conducted the inquiry in was Dr Gupta was held responsible.

Relatives of Dr Gupta claimed that the present chief medical officer, Dr Khazan Singh, had cancelled the then principal medical officer, Dr Pankaj Vats’ report in this case, but despite this the police arrested Dr Gupta.

Sources say the administration has directed the chief medical officer to conduct a fresh inquiry into the case.

Meanwhile, the Haryana State Lab Technicians Association has condemned the alleged misbehaviour with the blood bank in charge of the local Civil Hospital, Dr Aditya Swaroop Gupta, by the police two days ago and the “false implication” of lab technician Ashok Lamba in a wrong transfusion case in which the patient died.

Chandigarh, November 20
An IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, Ashok Khemka, has protested to the state government against his transfer as well as against the manner in which the transfer orders were served on him.

According to sources, Khemka has written to chief secretary Promila Issar and principal secretary to the Chief Minister M.L. Tayal that he was transferred four times in 70 days, with his latest posting as “special secretary to the Haryana government, land use board”.

Khemka was posted as director, agriculture, on September 6. On October 24, he was posted out of the agriculture department and made director, rural development. A few days after that he went to the USA for training.

Khemka was shifted from the agriculture department, reportedly after he raised an objection to the manner in which the power utilities were claiming subsidy on the power supplied to the agricultural sector.

In his absence, he was transferred as director, land record and consolidation, on November 12. The next day he was posted as “special secretary to the Haryana government, land use board”.

Khemka, who could not meet Issar today, met Tayal and lodged his verbal protest also.

The sources say Khemka has written in his letter that the transfer orders should have been served on him at his “last known place of posting”, which in this case was Washington, where he had gone on the orders of the government. Instead the orders were served on his minor son, aged 10 years, in the thick of night. “Receiving an official communication and signing on the dak book in the middle of the night was a trauma for my minor son and my old mother who were alone in the house,” the officer has reportedly written to the chief secretary.

The orders could have been served on him through the Indian Embassy in Washington, Khemka argued.

He also pointed out that his transfer orders were erroneous because a special secretary could be posted only in an administrative department and not in a board or corporation. 

Panipat, November 20
With the rural housing scheme being inaugurated today for the second time in the past three years by different governments, residents of Madlauda village in the district finally hope to see the beginning of the ambitious project.

Deepender Singh Hooda, Lok Sabha MP from Rohtak and son of the Chief Minister, was the chief guest at today’s public function of re-inauguration of the project, falling under the Karnal parliamentary constituency.

On Monday, The Tribune had highlighted how the Haryana Housing Board was getting the housing scheme re-inaugurated to please political high-ups.

Former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had laid the foundation stone of the project on December 14, 2004.

Interestingly, to avoid embarrassment to the VIP guest, the Housing Board today organised the function away from the plaque mentioning the inauguration by Chautala at the site.

Speaking on the occasion, Deepender Hooda said the colony would be constructed within one year at a cost of Rs 17 crore. The Madlauda panchayat had given 4.5 acres to the board for the project.

Sources said the board would allot the constructed low-priced units primarily to residents of Madlauda village.

Chandigarh, November 20
A new outfit is set to be launched in Haryana by the state government to push infrastructure development in the rural areas.

The proposed Haryana rural roads and infrastructure development agency (HRRIDA) is slated to take up infrastructure projects, especially roads, for the development of the rural areas. It will particularly focus on rural road works approved under the pradhan mantri gram sadak yojana (PMGSY).

The HRRIDA will be headed by the PWD (building and roads) minister who will be the president of the agency. The principal secretary, PWD (B&R), will be the vice-president of the agency while a person not below the rank of chief engineer in the PWD (B&R) will be the secretary-general.

Also, the engineer-in-chief of the PWD, the chief engineer (roads), the chief engineer (buildings), a joint secretary of the union ministry of rural development, a class I officer of the state finance department and five more officers nominated by the state government will be members of the executive committee of the agency.

All chief engineers and superintending engineers of the PWD (B&R) will be members of the HRRIDA. Private persons and organisations can also become members of the agency on the payment of Rs 1 lakh provided the membership is cleared by executive committee of the HRRIDA.

Apart from looking after the PMGSY and the road network in villages in general, the proposed agency will also provide services for the training of manpower for roads, the infrastructure industry and other fields related to the development of the rural areas. It will also provide technical cooperation to the state government and organisations for improving rural infrastructure.

The agency will receive annual subscriptions from members and can also receive contributions and donations from members as well as non-members. It can also mobilise resources from other sources.

The HRRIDA will be free to recruit persons on a non-permanent basis for carrying out its activities and can make payments to an individual or an organisation for services rendered to the agency.

Sonepat/Gurgaon, November 20
Ten persons, including three students of an engineering college, have lost their lives in road accidents.

Four persons died on the spot and several others were injured, one of them seriously, when a tempo they were travelling in overturned after it was hit by a speeding canter between Khandrai and Bichpuri villages on the Gohana-Safidon road late last night.

The deceased have been identified as Kuldip, tempo driver, Satbir and Rajpal, residents of Bichpuri villages, and Hira Lal of Darbhange district in Bihar.

A case has been registered against the canter driver, who absconded after the accident.

Three engineering students, Kamal and Sonu of Gurgaon and Arun of Adrash Nagar, who were on their way to Sonepat on a motorcycle after appearing in a practical test in their college at Bahadurgarh, died on the spot last night when their motorcycle collided with a tractor-trolley near Jharonth village on the Kharkhoda-Sonepat road. The driver of the tractor-trolley sped away with the tractor leaving behind the trolley.

The police has registered a case against the driver.

Meanwhile, three persons died in two road accidents on the Delhi-Jaipur highway in a span of eight hours.

Two people were killed when a speeding cab knocked them down about 2 km ahead of Vilaspur Chowk yesterday.

The police said the two persons identified as Sultan and Babula were getting their truck repaired when they were crushed to death by the cab.

A case has been registered against the driver. An official said the accident took place at about 12.30 pm.

The cab was heading towards Delhi.

In another incident, a speeding truck killed a pedestrian near Pachgaon today.

Rewari, November 20
The Khol police has booked a young woman, Anita Yadav’s husband Vishwa Mitter Yadav, father-in-law Om Prakash Yadav, mother-in-law Savitri Yadav and brother-in-law Pawan Yadav, all residents of Mundi village, 12 km from here, for the dowry death of Anita Yadav (22) who reportedly committed suicide by hanging herself at Mundi in the wee hours yesterday.

A case under Sections 498-A, 304-B and 34 of the IPC has been registered against them following a complaint made by Ranbir Singh Yadav, uncle of Anita Yadav and resident of Nandha village.

The complainant stated that his niece Anita, daughter of Sher Singh Yadav, who is in the Central Reserve Police Force, was married to Vishwa Mitter on December 5, 2006. He alleged that her in-laws, who were not satisfied with the dowry comprising Rs 1.31 lakh and a motorcycle, asked Anita to bring a car as well.

However, when their demand was not met, they started harassing her which forced her to take the extreme step. 

Kurukshetra, November 20
Eastern Uttar Pradesh (UP) region clinched the overall winner’s trophy in a two-day All-India Quiz Competition organised by Vidya Bharti on the premises of Gita Niketan Awasiya Vidyalaya here today.

The competition was based on Indian traditional values and ethics.

Western UP region was declared first in the primary wing, while eastern UP region secured the first position in middle wing, secondary wing as well as senior secondary wing in the contest.

Vidya Bharti All-India Educational Institute runs schools across the country.

The quiz contest was held amongst the representative teams of various regions. The competition was held in four categories viz. primary, middle, secondary and senior secondary.

Rajesh Purohit, curator of the local Shri Krishna Museum, Dr B.K. Kuthiala, chairman, department of mass communication, Kuruksehtra University, and Dr R.B. Langyan, former deputy commissioner, presided over the middle, secondary and sr. secondary group contests, respectively.

A book titled ‘Azadi Ki Thi Chhidi Ragini’ written by Rattan Chand Sardana was also released by Pankaj Aggarwal, deputy commissioner, Kurukshetra, who also inaugurated the competition.

Swami Gnananand said the Indian culture was undoubtedly the richest in the world but over the years there had been a downfall in moral values, traditions and ethics.

He said programmes like these would help in uplifting the values.

An exhibition based on the pictures of freedom fighters of the 1857 revolution was put up. The pictures were drawn by students of various schools.

A group dance and a play titled ‘Naya Savera’ based on the revolution of 1857 were also staged.

Chandigarh, November 20
Haryana has won the first prize in the country for its performance in the solar urban areas programme and in the solar cooker programme. It has also won the second prize in the solar photovoltaic demonstration programme at the national level.

Stating this here today, Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said these national awards were being given on the occasion of the silver jubilee celebrations of the union ministry of new and renewable energy. He futher said that Haryana had won the maximum awards in the country.

President Pratibha Devisingh Patil will give away the awards at a ceremony on November 22 in New Delhi.