Panipat, April 5
Despite strict measures, as claimed by the state prisons authorities, illegal mobile phones continue to ring in various high-security jails of Haryana.

With the state prisons authorities recently confiscating five cell phones from Sonepat jail, it seems that jails continue to be a safe haven for various criminals.

The jail authorities recovered mobile phones during a checking, which was conducted by chance on April 1. The mobile phones were hidden at different places of the jail. Two cell phones were placed in hot cases in kitchen whereas three were found in toilets.

It is the third such incident since January where the jail administration had recovered mobile phones from jails. As many as 33 mobile phones had been recovered from inmates of the Gurgaon district jail during a raid conducted by the Gurgaon police. It also recovered mobile phones from jail staff.

Similarly, on January 17, four mobile phones were recovered from a jail tubewell operator, who had allegedly entered the Kurukshetra jail premises along with the phones.

IG, prisons, M.S. Mann today said the confiscated phones had been handed over to the Sonepat police for further investigation. Showing deep concern over the latest seizures, he said it was important to track the call details.

Sources admitted that in the absence of any effective control, criminals had unrestricted access to mobile phones.

Inquiries revealed that there were just two mobile phone signal jammers of private operators on the jail campus. Interestingly, in January, the deputy jail superintendent of the Sonepat jail was charged with manipulation of jammers installed in the jail.

There are 19 jails, including one central jail each at Ambala and Hisar, 13 district jails and four sub-jails, in the state. Sources said taking advantage of poor jail arrangements, inmates in connivance with the jail staff were freely using phones.

Chandigarh, April 5
The Haryana government’s decision to abruptly call off acquisition of a massive area near the industrial model township (IMT), Manesar, in Gurgaon district has prompted the INLD to accuse the government of being involved in a multi-crore scam.

“We have always said the present state government is a government of colonisers and property dealers. The Manesar incident is an evidence of that,” INLD leader and former Haryana finance minister Sampat Singh said in a press conference here today.

Sampat Singh, who was accompanied by INLD’s Haryana unit president Ashok Arora, said a notice under Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act was first issued in August 2004 for acquiring 950 acres near the IMT for providing housing facility to the workers of industrial units.

Some of the affected parties went to the court to challenge the acquisition and eventually 688 acres out of 950 acres was available for acquisition. Proceedings under Section 6 of the Land Acquisition Act were initiated by the government in August 2005 as the next step for taking control of the land. Finally, in August 2007, the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) transferred Rs 50 crore to the land acquisition collector (LAC) for awarding compensation to the landowners.

The compensation was to be given from August 25 onwards. But one day before that, on August 24, the state government wrote to the LAC for cancellation of the entire acquisition.

Sampat Singh alleged that during the period separating the first step for acquisition in 2004 and the final cancellation in 2007, the ownership of the land of the area changed as property dealers and colonisers purchased the land from the original owners, who were farmers.

The INLD leader said one Atul Bansal bought 200 acres by paying Rs 2.35 crore per acre. Similarly, others also bought the land from the original owners after notice was served for acquisition of the land. He said after having purchased the land, the new owners had also asked for permission for change of land use (CLU). The state government cancelled the acquisition of the land to make it easy for the new owners to use their land for profitable ventures, Sampat Singh said.

He said the state government must issue a white paper on who were the original owners of the land and the owners of the land at present. The government must also clarify how many of the present owners had applied for CLU.

He said the cancellation of the acquisition defied logic, as the state government simultaneously started the process of acquiring 3,718 acres in the same area.

Bhiwani, April 5
Condemning the central government for its “failure” to check the rising inflation in the country, Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) chief Kuldeep Bishnoi has announced to distribute wheat among the poor free of cost.

Bishnoi said the UPA government had failed in taking any step against the rising inflation and rates of essential commodities were increasing day by day. Poor people of the country were on the verge of starvation.

He said to protest against the Congress-led central government, the HJC would distribute free of cost wheat to poor at district headquarters outside the DC’s office on April 8, adding that he would bear the expenditure of the distribution.

He further said for the past two years he was condemning the Congress government for its policy against the inflation. He had also opposed the proposed SEZs in the state, as these were the main cause of inflation.

He emphasised that the government should bring an Act under which only barren lands be allotted for SEZs. He also lashed the Rajya Sabha MP and INLD secretary general, Ajay Singh Chautala, for targeting only the Haryana Janhit Congress instead of criticising the state and central governments during his demonstrations against the inflation yesterday.

Chautala was afraid of the rising popularity of the HJC and might have not forgotten his defeat in Bhiwani parliamentary elections.

Talking about the byelections, he challenged all political parties to test their popularity in the forthcoming byelections against HJC candidates.

Karnal, April 5
Blaming the centre for going slow on including the high-profit paddy variety - PUSA 1121 - in the category of basmati, the All-India Rice Exporters Association has appealed to the Chief Ministers of northern states to make joint efforts for its early clearance.

The association lauded the decision of the Punjab government for acknowledging it as basmati well before the paddy sowing season.

Addressing mediapersons here today, Vijay Setia, president of the association, said it was the most expensive and most preferred rice variety the world over. He claimed that a delay in the decision for its final categorisation would cause a huge loss of foreign exchange.

Once granted the basmati status, PUSA 1121 would be officially allowed to be exported to Europe, giving a boost to the economy of farmers and the industry.

He said the hybrid variety had a yield of 20 to 22 quintals per acre. Since it had a maturity period of 137 days, it required less water for irrigation.

He said nearly 60 per cent of the paddy-sown area in Haryana was under the PUSA 1121 variety. He said there was an apprehension that the new variety might be included in the non-basmati segment.

Earlier, the commerce ministry had stated that any rice variety could be termed as basmati only if it was developed from pure varieties of basmati.

However, Setia added that the agriculture ministry had objected to it and agreed in principle to include new hybrid varieties, including PUSA 1121, in the premium rice segment.

Sirsa, April 5
The police today claimed to have succeeded in nabbing a most-wanted criminal, who had been declared a proclaimed offender.

According to a spokesperson for the district police, the crime investigation agency, Dabwali wing, of the police today arrested Harjinder Singh, alias Jinda, a resident of Badian village of Muktsar district of Punjab.

The accused had been eluding the police since November 16, 2006, when he, along with four others, had forcibly taken away a Santro and Rs 1.14 lakh from Suresh, a Fatehabad resident.

While the police had succeeded in arresting the other four accused, Harjinder managed to evade arrest.

Fatehabad, April 5
Warrant officers of the Punjab and Haryana High Court today raided a brick-kiln in Kanheri village in this district and freed 43 bonded labourers from there. The freed labourers then proceeded to their native villages in Rajasthan.

According to police sources, the families of these labourers had moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court by way of a writ petition of the habeas corpus nature.

The families had alleged that the brick-kiln owners had been keeping their men as bonded labour and were not allowing them to visit their families. Warrant officers Ish Kumar and Arun Luthra today went to the brick-kiln, Tara Chand Chhottu Ram and Sons, in Kanheri village with a police force and freed the 43 labourers from there.

Yamunanagar, April 5
Thousands of auto-rickshaws, one of the main modes of transportation in the district, today came back on roads after a day’s strike. The auto-rickshaw drivers had pulled their vehicles off roads yesterday alleging “indiscriminate” challaning by the police.

Today, a large number of auto-rickshaw drivers reached the mini-secretariat and met the deputy commissioner and informed him about their problems. A deputy superintendent of police was also present in the meeting.

Ramesh Manga, vice-president of the Jagadhri-Yamunanagar Auto-Rickshaw Union said the meeting was “fruitful” and the authorities had assured them that they would not be harassed. He said the district administration had launched a campaign against the overloading of vehicles and all auto drivers would cooperate.

There are more than 2,000 auto rickshaws plying in the district. Sources in the police department informed that a large number of vehicles were being driven without proper documents and drivers did not even possess driving licences. The administration had time and again made efforts to streamline auto-rickshaws on the roads and officials claimed that to an extent they had succeeded.

Jind, April 5
A resident of the Poonch area in Jammu and Kashmir has been sentenced to seven years in jail after being convicted in several criminal cases, including an attempt to snatch a private taxi in the district last year. He was also fined Rs 16,000 by a district court here today.

The accused, Shekhawat Hussain, alias Sahil, had been arrested about a year ago after an encounter in which his accomplice was killed, who was also involved in various criminal cases.

Shekhawat, a resident of Poonch, along with Sunil, alias Sanju, hailing from Raichandwala village of the district, hired a taxi from Bahadurgarh on April 5, 2007, to come to Bhuslana village here. According to taxi driver Sushil Kumar, the duo overpowered him near Dalamwala village and tried to run away with his vehicle. He said the locals and the police came to his rescue after he raised an alarm. The police opened fire and killed Sunil while Shekhawat was nabbed.

According to the police, both were involved in various criminal cases. While Sunil had allegedly murdered a labourer and was also involved in a looting case, Shekhawat later admitted his involvement in at least six different cases, including illegal sale of weapons.

Fatehabad, April 5
Show-cause notices have been served on 14 councillors of the Tohana Municipal Committee in the district in connection approving the site plan of an unauthorised colony.

K.L. Malhotra, secretary of the municipal committee, yesterday served the notices issued by director, local bodies, R.P. Bhardwaj, to these councillors.

The councillors have been given 10 days to explain why their membership of the municipal committee should not be annulled for wrongfully giving accent to the site plan of an unauthorised colony.

The notices are being linked with a case pending before the Punjab and Haryana High Court regarding this colony, where the state government had said in its reply that the site plan of the colony had been approved by the municipal committee in violation of the rules.