New Delhi, December 14
The Election Commission has not taken kindly to the union agriculture ministry for dragging its feet and refusing to take action against Amit Jha, a Director-level IAS officer of the Haryana cadre, for taking off to tourist destinations thereby compromising his responsibility as a poll observer during the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu last year.

The EC, a creation of the constitution vested with the duty of overseeing the conduct of elections in the country, had sought disciplinary action against Jha, a civil servant of the 1987 batch, for making repeated trips to locations outside his jurisdiction without prior and proper permission. The commission appears to be at its tether’s end after having sent the agriculture ministry at least two reminders.

The EC was dismayed that the agriculture ministry had let him off despite the commission finding him guilty of “desertion from duties, dereliction of duty and absence of responsibility and accountability”, sources stressed.

Jha was deputed by the EC as its observer for the Tiruparankundram constituency in Madurai district in April last year. He, however, is believed to have utilised the opportunity to travel around using the official vehicle alloted to him. He made trips to not only Rameshwaram and Kodaikanal, which did not fall under his jurisdiction, but even went round Thekkadi, Mehamalai and Munnar in the neighbouring state of Kerala.

The sources disclosed that the EC had received a communication from the ministry of personnel recently stating that the agriculture ministry had secured the approval of union agriculture minister Sharad Pawar that “there was no case for institution of disciplinary proceedings against the officer”.

It is apparent the EC will not allow the union agriculture ministry to undermine its authority. This assumes significance as the commission’s decision is based on the complaint received from the district collector and the district election officer about Jha’s misconduct.

The union agriculture ministry has taken the stand that “the material brought on record by officials of Tamil Nadu is totally inadequate and insufficient to hold, even on a prima facie basis, that any of the allegations made against Jha is correct”.

The sources made it clear that the EC was the final authority in deciding about misconduct by the officers deputed by it for election duties. The commission was actively considering approaching the President to complain that the union agriculture ministry had tried to sit in judgement over its decision to take disciplinary action against the officer it found guilty of “serious lapses”.

Gurgaon, December 14
Azad Yadav, father of the 14-year-old schoolboy, who allegedly killed his classmate along with a friend at a school in Gurgaon on Tuesday, surrendered before the police in the evening. Yadav, who appeared at Sector 40 police station, Gurgaon, had gone into hiding after the incident.

“I went into hiding as I was terrified,” the middle-aged Gurgaon based property dealer said while interacting with mediapersons after the police took him into custody. Yadav said the weapon used in the killing was obtained from one of the city-based friends.

He has been booked under the Arms Act, DCP, south Gurgaon, Satish Balan stated.

Balan said post interrogation few other charges could be levelled against the father of the accused. He claimed that the surrender was the outcome of the police pressure.

He must not have allowed his child to steal the revolver and take it to school, Balan said. Meanwhile, the police have found that Yadav did not have a licence for the weapon.

“He was granted the permission only for a double-barrelled gun,” commissioner of police Mohinder Lal said. He, on the other hand, said the US-make .32 gun belonged to his neighbour.

According to Lal, if this was the case, both Azad and his neighbour were equally responsible for the lapse. Abhishek Tyagi, a class VIII student of Euro International School, Gurgaon, was killed by his classmates.

Karnal, December 14
President of the Republic of Mauritius Sir Anerood Jugnauth visited Karnal yesterday on the invitation of the National Integrated Forum of Artists and Activists (NIFAA), a leading socio-cultural organisation of the region.

NIFAA, along with 30 other social, cultural, religious and educational institutions of the city, extended a warm welcome to Jugnauth and his wife Sarojni.

The President was received by Pritpal Singh Pannu, founder chairman NIFAA, accompanied by Suresh Ramburn, president of federation of Hindu organisations of Mauritius, and three other delegates.

Welcome hoardings were placed on the main points of the town. A programme titled ‘Ek sham Bharat Mauritius dosti ke naam’ was organised at the NDRI auditorium to welcome the President and to promote bilateral relations between the two countries.

Jugnauth said the people of both the countries had blood relations with each other because their forefathers were from the same country.

He said Mauritius like India also believes in unity in diversity. Mauritian Hindus protect their Indian identity, culture, traditions and religious beliefs despite all hardships.

He specially remembered Indira Gandhi who called Mauritius a mini India away from India. The President said he would never forget the love and affection shown by NIFAA and people of Karnal.

The programme was also attended by Justice Nawab Singh, Punjab and Haryana High Court, who said there was no difference between the people of both the countries because of the same culture.

Chandigarh, December 14
The Khaanak area of Bhiwani district is tense following a dispute among partners of a mining company. The rival groups have alleged an exchange of fire also by opponents. But the district administration denies that any firing has taken place in the area. But it admits that the area is tense following which prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC have been imposed. A heavy police force, including personnel from the adjoining districts, has been posted there.

According to information received here today, tension in the area has been prevailing for the past couple of days.

The genesis of the dispute lies in the rivalry among leaders of the ruling party.

The mining rights of the area were leased out by the previous government to Baba Mungipa Mines and Minerals Company, in which eight persons are partners. Informed sources say while six partners, led by Ved Pal Tanwar, are on one side, two partners led by Devender Sooty are on the other.

The minority group is reportedly supported by the Congress MP of an adjoining constituency and an influential MLA of Bhiwani district. The majority group, too, enjoys the support of certain Congress leaders, who, it seems, are not as heavyweight as the supporters of the minority group.

Supporters of the majority group allege that efforts are being made to ensure that the entire mining area should be taken over by the minority group, which, they allege, is being supported by the Mining Department also.

The Mining Department issues “mining slips” to the lease-holders, who, in turn, issue these to those who quarry minerals from the area. The majority group alleges that though the company has not authorised any member of the minority group to get these slips, the department is issuing these to it and not to the majority group.

The sources say, to win the sympathy of the labourers and crusher owners, both groups have stopped taking royalty. This has resulted in a free-for-all situation in the area. Large quantities of stones are being taken away without the payment of royalty and taxes to the state exchequer. Even explosives are being used in an unauthorised and unscientific manner to quarry stones from the hills. 

Hisar, December 14
Hundreds of CPM supporters staged an angry demonstration here today in protest against the recent survey for identifying BPL families.

They were led by Haryana CPM secretary Inderjit Singh. The protesters marched to the mini secretariat and handed over a memorandum to deputy commissioner Deepti Umashankar in which they demanded that a fresh survey should be conducted.

Inderjit Singh said many BPL families had been left out while influential and affluent persons had been designated as BPL families. Alleging large-scale bungling in the survey, he demanded action against those responsible for falsifying the data.

He said villagers were already under financial pressure because of the unremunerative prices of agricultural produce and if the survey did not identify the right families, it would create unrest.

Activists of the Jan Sangharsh Manch also staged a similar protest and handed over a memorandum to the deputy commissioner.

FATEHABAD: Hundreds of villagers on Friday blocked traffic on the local Bhattu road near Bhodia Khera village in protest against alleged irregularities in the survey to identify BPL families.

BHIWANI: Slum dwellers of Hanuman gate area blocked the Bhiwani-Jaipur road for about one-and-a-half hour on Friday to protest against the alleged irregularities committed during the BPL survey in the district.

The villagers ended the protest only after they were given an assurance by the tehsildar that the BPL list would be reviewed.

Residents of Gujrani village today submitted a memorandum to the additional deputy commissioner in this regard. Dalit families, whose names were left out from the list, staged a demonstration outside the BDPO’s office.

YAMUNANAGAR: The panchayat of Gadhoula village here has complained that several persons whose names have been mentioned in the survey report relating to the BPL list were living in foreign countries.

Panipat, December 14
A three-year-boy had a lucky escape after he was thrown from a three-storeyed building by an armed criminal last night.

The boy, Mayank, was admitted to a private hospital and reported to be out of danger.

The criminal after looting gold ornaments and throwing down the child managed to escape under the cover of darkness.

According to information, an unidentified person knocked at the door of a house in local Aggarwal colony last evening and as soon as Ruchi, housewife, opened the door, he held her captive at knife point.

The man after looting gold ornaments took Ruchi’s three-year-old son to the third floor threatening that if she raised the alarm, he would throw the boy down.

However, when Ruchi raised the alarm, the criminal jumped over to the adjacent building, threw the boy and escaped.

Luckily, the boy fell upon some bags filled with rags and escaped with some injuries.

As Ruchi fainted after the incident, it took some time for neighbourers to know the incident and inform the police.

The police has registered a case and had called in a dog squad and finger prints experts to nab the culprit. – UNI 

Karnal, December 14
An unclaimed bag lying about 100 metres from the residence of Karnal SP A.S. Chawla created quite a scare here today.

The bag, which was spotted by college students passing through the area, was lying outside the house of superintending engineer M.K. Ahuja on Mall Road.

Jitender Singh Virk said he and his friends were going on their bikes when they saw the abandoned bag at around 4 pm. “We waited for about 10 minutes for the owner to come and take the bag away. But when nobody turned up, we informed the police,” said Jitender.

The police cordoned off the area and called up the bomb disposal squad and a dog team from Madhuban. But they took more than two hours to reach the place. After cordoning off the area, a sniffer dog was sent to check the bag. Later, the bomb disposal squad set off a controlled explosion after attaching a small quantity of explosive to the bag to open it.

When the bag was opened, it contained medical equipment and it belonged to Dr Vinod Sharma, a resident of Karnal. According to the SP, it appeared to be a case of robbery.

“It looks like that the bag was stolen and it was thrown here. But the matter will be investigated,” Chawla said.

Sirsa, December 14
A JBT teacher, Harbansh Singh, of a primary school, Kirpalpati in Ellenabad was today sentenced to five years of rigorous imprisonment for bid to rape a 10-year-old class IV student by a local court.

A fine of Rs 10,000 was also imposed on him. Additional district and sessions judge V.P. Bishnoi said the teacher would have to further undergo a rigorous imprisonment of one year, in case of default of fine.

The police had registered a case against the accused on the complaint of victim’s father.

According to information, the teacher had called the minor student in a room of the school and had made an attempt to rape her on February 28.

Yamunanagar, December 14
Three persons, including a tantrik and his wife, were sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a Buria-based couple by a local court. Tantrik Irfan, his wife and one other person had killed Ahmed Ansari and his wife Afsana on March 6, 2006, for their property.

Additional District and Sessions Judge Darshan Lal announced the punishment today. Irfan, his wife Hamida and accomplice Julfan had murdered Ansari and Afsana and a case was registered by the Buria police.

The bodies were recovered from Badshahi Bagh in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh after two days of the incident.

The court acquitted two other accused in the case, Yunis and Tohid. The case was registered on the complaint of Alka, an adopted daughter of the Ansari couple. The couple owned a house and shop in Buria and they were killed for the property.