Panipat, February 17
A year after twin terror blasts on the Samjhauta Express left 68 persons dead near here, gutted remains of the coaches stand mute testimony to the ghastly tragedy.

But the probe into the bombing and the resultant fire has reached nowhere. On the night of February 18, a burning inferno in two coaches of the Samjhauta Express snuffed out many Indian and Pakistani lives on the outskirts of Diwana, 15 km from the industrial city.

While the burnt coaches are the only reminders of the terror attack, even these have not been spared. Over the year, vandals have thrived on stealing steel and other parts from the coaches.

In nearby Mehrana village is the final burial place for 29 passengers, mostly Pakistanis, who were charred beyond recognition, and 23 of them remain unidentified to date and are only known by the numbers at their graves. Fate has not been very kind even in death as their graves are in shambles, some of them even caving in.

“A lot of leaders and other people came here and talked of making a memorial and museum in the memory of those who died, but nothing happened. No one has even bothered to look at this (burial place) even once,” Mehrana graveyard caretaker Shakoor Ahmed said.

Meanwhile, it seems that the state and the central investigating agencies have preferred to “bury the investigations” into the incident.

While the special investigating team (SIT) of the Haryana police has failed miserably to make any headway in the yearlong investigations, the CBI had reportedly refused to take over the case.

According to the FIR lodged at the RPF police station, Karnal, the blast suspects continue to be “unknown” individuals. The high-profile SIT had even failed to pinpoint the group or agency responsible for the blasts.

Police sources said the state government should have pressed the centre for a CBI probe. The result had been negligible as the Haryana police had no vast experience in investigating these types of cases, remarked an official.

However, the officials dispute the functioning of the top brass of the state right from the beginning. After the incident, the state government had constituted the SIT under the chairmanship of DIG (crime) R.C. Mishra, but within 24 hours, he was replaced by ADGP V.N. Rai.

The SIT had to again release the sketches of the suspects within a week's time in February, but to no avail.

Quoting official ballistic experts, The Tribune was the first (even before the SIT) to report that there were six suitcase bombs and not four as claimed by the state police.

The only “big catch” so far with the SIT are three workers and the owner of an Indore-based Abhinandan Bag Centre from where the suspects had allegedly purchased the suitcases used for the blasts. Interestingly, these suspects were released by the SIT after a probe in March last year.

Chandigarh, February 17
The Haryana government’s claims about the fairness of the below poverty line (BPL) survey seem to have fallen flat. Now, for the first time, statistics are lending credence to the assertion of political parties that the BPL list was “goofed up” by the private agency hired by the panchayat department.

Over two lakh “new, genuine claimants” have emerged in representations received by the first appellate authority. From 6.51 lakh families identified in the original list, this addition takes the total number of families seeking BPL benefits to just under nine lakh. This first round of representations have also thrown up names of nearly 25,000 families that were wrongly included in the first list which opened a Pandora’s box in December last year, an official said.

“SDMs and tehsildars have been identified as the first appellate authority by the department for accepting applications of the aggrieved public. As many as seven lakh representations were received all over the state of which two lakh were found to be genuine,” he explained.

Presently, the second appellate authority, deputy commissioners in all districts, is receiving applications from the public about claims and counter-claims of names that have made it to the BPL list. This process will continue all of February after which the final list would be prepared in March this year.

The still-to-be-finalised list had raised the hackles of political parties in December last year when a draft list of BPL families had been made public. President of the HPCC Phool Chand Mullana, too, had demanded that the list should be scrapped. Statewide protests from the public and political parties had followed.

It also emerged that a 100 sq yd plot was at the heart of the fuss being created in the name of the BPL survey. The desire to own a plot, promised to landless Dalits and those covered under BPL at a rally in Jharli in October this year, had been the cause of provocation. Official sources had maintained that the “deprived” section of public whose names had been deleted from the list was raising a hue and cry. The list, it was contended, had been prepared fairly, without fear or favour.

While Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had sought the removal of the ceiling on a number of families to be covered under the list in a letter to the planning commission, chief parliamentary secretary Dharamvir said plots would be given to all eligible Dalits independent of their names appearing in the list, as a damage-control exercise.

Subsequently, the department concerned had appealed to all those persons who have a grievance against the draft list of BPL families to avail themselves of the opportunity of the two-stage appeals so as to get their grievances redressed.

This gave the aggrieved person a right to appeal against the non-inclusion of his name or inclusion of ineligible persons in the list before the SDM or tehsildar. After this, if someone was still aggrieved, a second appeal could also be filed before the deputy commissioner concerned.

Rewari, February 17
While reiterating his government’s commitment for accomplishment of equitable distribution of available canal water in Haryana, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced that south Haryana’s legitimate share of canal water would be made available to its peasantry before the next Lok Sabha (LS) poll positively.

He said this at “Haqiqat rally” at Ateli, 36 km from here. The rally was held under the auspices of the Haryana Yuva Kisan Sangharsh Samiti (HYKSS) headed by Naresh Yadav, who is also an independent MLA from Ateli.

He said the rally was held to make farmers of the region conversant with the truth that it was Hooda alone, who had been relentlessly working for equitable distribution of canal water.

Mentioning numerous measures initiated by his government for the welfare of farmers, workers and other underprivileged sections of society in the past three years, the Chief Minister asserted that a comprehensive employment programme, which would provide either some job or self-employment to each family in the state, was on the anvil.

In response to the various demands raised by Naresh Yadav in his detailed charter of demands, the CM said while a sainik school would be set up at Pali Gothra village, 15 km from Rewari, the Haryana government had also written to the union government that south Haryana was its preferred site for the establishment of a proposed central university here.

He announced that while Ateli’s existing hospital would be converted into a 50-bedded hospital, sewage would be laid in Ateli town at a cost of Rs 1.27 crore.

Simultaneously, establishment of an industrial training institute at Sujapur village as well as construction of Rs 25 lakh community hall at Ateli was also accorded by the CM.

Earlier, the CM laid the foundation stone of Rs 19.50 crore 132 kV substation at Saika village.

He also inaugurated Rs 78 lakh primary health centre at Seema village, a canal-based water supply scheme at Fatehpur village and the Swatantrata Senani Rameshwar Dayal Joshi Memorial Gate of Government Senior Secondary School at Mundia Khera village.

Karnal, February 17
With the arrest of a Karnal-based youth, the local police claims to have busted a multi-crore cricket-betting racket in the state. The police today raided a residence in Sector 13 extension and nabbed Vikas, a resident of Sadar Bazar, Karnal, while four others managed to evade the arrest. It seized 19 cell phones and well-maintained betting accounts.

Karnal DSP Surinder Singh Bhoria said the local police was following the movements. “We had secret inputs confirming the racket involving youths of the township,” he added.

According to information, a group of youths was allegedly involved in the betting on the India-Australia one-day match played in the ongoing Tri Series.

He said other accomplices of Vikas, including three from Karnal and one from Sonepat, had been identified.

They took away at least five other cell phones with them.

He alleged that Nitin, whose house was raided, was also involved in the crime.

Meanwhile, the police said technical investigation of the confiscated mobile phones, two registers and one diary would further reveal about the involvement of more persons.

Kurukshetra, February 17
The president of the Rashtriya Kisan Khet Mazdoor Congress and MLA from Kaithal Assembly constituency, Shamsher Singh Surjewala, demanded that loan cases of small and landless farmers should be squared up at one time.

Surjewala suggested that either their loans should be waived off or after waiving off interests, the capital amount should be recovered in instalments so that poor farmers might get relief.

Poor people should be provided domestic loans without guarantee on low rate of interest and daily wages of the labourers should be enhanced.

He further demanded that the wheat’s maximum support price (MSP) should be increased from Rs 1,000 to Rs 1,100 per quintal while the paddy’s MSP should be fixed at Rs 1,000 per quintal.

Stressing upon the implementation of crop insurance scheme, Surjewala demanded that under the scheme, a village should be considered as a unit instead of a block or a tehsil. The rate of interest on loans provided to the farmers should be decreased from 7 per cent to 5 per cent because the country would prosper only after the prosperity of the farmers.

Expressing resentment on the increasing unemployment, he suggested that the present education system should be improved by introducing vocational education so that after completing their technical education, the students could establish their own business under self-employment schemes or could serve at any business establishment.

The central and state governments were well aware with these problems and were trying their best to control the situation, he added.

Palwal (Faridabad), February 17
As paddy farming fetched handsome returns to farmers last season, the authorities are going on an overdrive to prevent its negative impact on sugarcane production in the region.

The Palwal Cooperative Sugar Mill (PCSM), which has a catchment area of about 400 villages encompassing the entire Faridabad district and parts of areas of other districts of south Haryana, including Gurgaon and Mewat, is trying to popularise the concept of trench and pit techniques of farming in the area to convince the farmers of higher yield and better returns from them.

Managing director of the PCSM S.S. Dala said farmers getting better value for paddy crops recently might not have direct negative impact on sugarcane plantation.

The authorities have been galvanised with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s recent public commitment that the government would increase the support price/procurement price for sugarcane crops by about Rs 10 per quintal in the coming season. Many in this sector, especially the farming community, see it as another indication of the government’s precautionary step and serious intent to boost up sugarcane plantation in the state.

There is also another angle, which the local authorities, would like to be diplomatic in expression. The PCSM is second to Sahabad Cooperative Sugar Mill (SCSM) in the state in terms of procuring sugarcane crops and crushing them for sugar.

The PCSM sees itself in great opportunity to score over the SCSM in the very next season.

The government feels that the trench and the pit model have the potential to push up the yield from about 200 quintal per acres from traditional style of farming to about 600 qunitals per acre. In effect, the farmers would get dividend of about Rs 90,000 per acre as compared to the present dividend of Rs 30,000.

Chandigarh, February 17
Union cabinet’s recent approval of the report of the Delimitation Commission for restructuring Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha constituencies in the country has given a shot in the arm of the three rebel Congress MLAs of Haryana, Bhajan Lal, Dharampal Malik and Rakesh Kamboj, facing disqualification from the House as a result of their floating a new political party.

Before Thursday’s decision by the union cabinet, all efforts of the rebel legislators were directed at avoiding facing the electorate in byelections that could have been held in their respective constituencies in the event of their getting disqualified from the Assembly.

Today Dharampal Malik, who is among the three MLAs against whom petitions under the 10th schedule of the Constitution have been moved, speaks in a vastly different tone on the issue of disqualification.

“They seem determined to remove us from the Assembly,” Malik said referring to the camp headed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, adding that he and his associates were fully geared up for byelections. “We shall give our best shots and defeat the candidates of the ruling party in the byelections,” Malik thundered.

The rebel legislators are counting on the work of the implementation of Delimitation Commission prescriptions coming to their rescue by pushing the probable byelections to a later date than what would have desired by the Hooda camp.

Satpal Kaushik, named as Yamunanagar district president of the new party, expressed feelings that byelections for the seats of Bhajan Lal, Malik and Kamboj could now take place only along with the next Lok Sabha elections. Kaushik, however, admitted that the Lok Sabha elections would have to be held at least six months ahead of its slated time to coincide with the probable byelections in the state.

Delay in the holding of the byelections opens up a lot of possibilities for the disgruntled Congress MLAs who have floated the new party under the name of the Haryana Janhit Congress. Bhajan Lal, Malik and Kamboj - none of whom have yet figured in the list of office-bearers of the Janhit Congress to avoid getting caught on the wrong foot on the issue of defection - will primarily expect to cash in on the anti-incumbency mood with the work relating to delimitation of constituencies coming in the way of holding of byelections quickly.

Sajjan Singh, chief electoral officer (CEO), Haryana, indicated that the implementation of the Delimitation Commission proposals in the state would be a time-consuming process.

He said the work was not confined only to getting hold of the voters’ lists of the redefined area of a constituency. It also entailed fieldwork, including identifying of polling booths.

The ECI had, on February 7, directed the CEOs of the state to undertake one case study and incorporate the lessons emerging from that before universalising the process of delimitation in a state. The Haryana CEO’s office here is engaged in preparing the pilot project, which is to be completed by February 29.

Assembly Speaker Raghubir Singh Kadiyan had yesterday fixed February 22 as the last date for replies by the rebels to charges levelled against them by three fellow MLAs seeking disqualification of the rebels from the House.

Yamunanagar, February 17
The Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) has demanded a high-level inquiry into the recruitments made in government jobs during the current government on the pattern of the inquiry, which was conducted during the erstwhile Chautala government.

President of the district unit of the party and a secretary of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee Sat Pal Kaushik said the Bhupinder Singh Hooda-led government was favouring Rohtak area and alleged that the government was spending 70 per cent of the total budget allocation on developing Rohtak.

He also alleged that residents of Rohtak and its adjoining areas were getting majority of the government jobs.

Kaushik said due to the weather, farmers had suffered a loss of more than Rs 1,000 crore but the government had failed to order a special girdwari.

KURUKSHETRA: The district president (rural) and the district president (urban) of the Haryana Janhit Congress (BL), Pawan Garg and Banta Ram, respectively, assumed the charge of their respective office at a function held on the premises of Brahman Dharamshala here on Sunday.

All state office-bearers of the party hailing from Kurukshetra district were present on the occasion.

Former Haryana minister and state general secretary of the party as well as Kurukshetra district unit in charge Hari Singh Saini said the HJC workers would be given due respect. Hike in petrol and diesel prices was also condemned.

He said in order to form the youth wing of the HJC (BL) district unit, a meeting had been convened here on February 28. The meeting would be presided over by the state president of the youth wing of the HJC (BL), Jai Bhagwan Sharma.

Earlier, hundreds of HJC (BL) activists escorted Garg and Banta Ram in a procession from Ladwa, 20 km from here, to the meeting venue.

Kurukshetra, February 17
Promulgating Section 144 of the CrPC, district magistrate Pankaj Aggarwal, in an order issued here, has directed all telecom companies in the territory of the district to obtain concrete and authentic residential proofs and photographs of the customers while issuing new connections and maintain proper record in this regard.

They were also asked to send a monthly report in this regard to the superintendent of police, Kurukshetra, so as to enable the local police to carry out the verification of character and antecedents of such persons.

Similarly, all shop owners dealing with sale, purchase and repair of old mobile phones were asked to keep a record of such transactions, repair made by them along with verified details of the sellers and purchasers of the old phone in the shape of an affidavit to be given by the seller or purchaser.

The affidavit should clearly state the name and address of the seller or purchaser and IMEI number of the mobile set and that the set is not stolen. The details of such transactions should be sent to the local police so that the same may be scrutinised on regular basis.

The STD booth owners and operators were asked to maintain a verified record of all calls and call makers especially in respect of STD and international calls in the jurisdiction of Kurukshetra district and inform the local police, if any person coming to them for using the telephone facility fails to produce a valid and solid proof of his identify.