Chandigarh, July 1
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim’s CBI court hearing on July 5 in Ambala has put the Haryana police in a tight spot. Though the dera head’s security has been an issue and more so after the recent spate of protests by Sikh organisations against him, the police is particularly jittery about security issues for July 5.

The date of hearing happens to coincide with the “prakash utsav” of the sixth guru of Sikhs, Guru Hargobind, because of which it is being seen as “highly sensitive”.

In fact, given the threat perception to the dera chief, sources said there was a move to seek exemption from personal appearance of the dera chief from the CBI court on July 5.

The dera chief had been apprised of the situation and advised to seek an exemption, particularly, in view of the fact that the district administration has been apprehending trouble from Sikh organisations.

Sources said a number of Sikh organisations had already issued threats of blocking roads and there could be serious law and order problems in case the dera head came for the hearing on the date in question. Also, with functions to mark the “prakash utsav” on the same day, the situation could turn more volatile.

“While there is information that Sikh organisations have been preparing to protest against the dera head, the situation can become even more tense since the dera chief invariably is accompanied by a large number of supporters, who are a part of his entourage. This will make his security difficult to manage and we don’t want to take any chances,” a senior officer said.

Only recently, the dera chief had been “advised” to stay within the confines of his dera following protests by Sikh organisations, which broke out in Maharashtra and subsequently spread to this part of the region.

The sect head, who has been already provided Z security and has his personal security guards, has been asked to keep all his appointments in abeyance till the situation eases.

The dera, taking heed to the warning, has decided that Gurmeet Ram Rahim would not venture out for the next two months as a precautionary move. However, the CBI court hearings, which are held in Ambala, are an exception in this regard.

Gurgaon, July 1
Farmers demanding enhancement in compensation set afire two JCB machines after Reliance took over the possession of a land at Harsaru village to construct special economic zones (SEZ) here today.

The JCB machines were brought in to erect a boundary wall on the land.

The incident took place around 7 pm when the drivers of the machines were returning from the spot through Garauli Khurd village, one of the five villages whose 1,400 acres was acquired by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) for developing SEZs in collaboration with Reliance.

A case has been registered against unidentified miscreants on a complaint of HSIIDC and Reliance authorities. The police has started their identification with the help of the drivers of the JCB machines. No arrest was made at the time of filing the report.

As per a spokesperson of the district administration, the possession of the land was made under the supervision of the administration without any opposition from the agitating farmers led by Haryana Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Samiti.

Anticipating trouble, the police was deployed in substantial strength in anti-riot gear besides mounted police and policewomen. The police was sent back in the evening and a trail party in two gypsies was left behind when the incident took place.

Spokesperson of the samiti Satbir Singh claimed that the policemen left behind were made to run away by the farmers, who held a panchayat during the day to deliberate over the issue. He added that the takeover would be opposed at all costs. They maintained that the matter was sub judice and the administration should withhold the takeover till hearing of the case before the apex court on July 10.

The land in question was acquired from the farmers of Khandsa, Narsingpur, Mohmadpur Jharsa, Garauli Khurd and Harsaru villages during the Chautala regime.

Gurgaon, July 1
Assuring government help to agitating farmers of five Gurgaon villages over the issue of compensation, the state Congress unit today tried not to let opposition parties take advantage of the situation.

The Haryana State Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) had acquired their land for developing special economic zones (SEZs) in collaboration with Reliance during the INLD rule.

Explaining the stand of the state government on the issue, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) spokesman Ved Prakash Vidrohi said if the farmers decided to move court for enhancing the compensation, the state government would lend all help to them.

Around 1,400 acres of farmers belonging to Khandsa, Narsingpur, Mohmadpur Jharsa, Garauli Khurd and Harsaru villages was acquired during the Chautala regime. Notices under Sections 4 and 6 were given to land owners during that regime. Award of the land was announced in January 2006 after promulgation of Section 9 by the Hooda government.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had already announced the policy regarding acquisition of land in which floor rates were increased manifold. The farmers of these five villages were also benefitted by this policy as rates of their land were fixed from Rs 12.50 lakh to Rs 15 lakh per acre depending upon the location as per the new policy. As a result, these farmers were paid compensation, including the additional amount ranging from Rs 20.70 lakh to Rs 24.90 lakh per acre for the land, which was acquired by the Chautala government at the rate of only Rs 2 to Rs 4.5 lakh per acre.

The farmers were given an option of accepting the compensation according to the new policy, which a majority of them availed. As such, they received almost six times more compensation amount than they would have got during the Chautala regime. Not only this, the CM also announced that the farmers whose land was acquired by the HSIIDC after the formation of the Congress government would be given a royalty of Rs 30,000 per acre up to 33 years in addition to the compensation and that there would be an increase of Rs 1,000 per year in this royalty amount.

According to Vidrohi, benefits of this royalty scheme would also be extended to the farmers of these five villages, though the process of acquiring their land was started during the previous regime.

He said the state government would also ensure that at least one eligible member of each family got employment in industrial units coming up on their erstwhile land.

Besides these benefits, if the farmers were given some relief by the court, the state government would implement it without any reservations.

Vidrohi alleged that the INLD was trying to make an issue out of the land, which was initially acquired during its regime and that too at very low prices. He said since the farmers had lifted the compensation for their land and now it belonged to the HSIIDC so they should have no objection to whomsoever it shared the land with.

He claimed that the people who were now objecting the move of taking possession of the acquired land were not the owner farmers but, in fact, they were either INLD workers or property dealers engaged in real estate business in Gurgaon.

He appealed the farmers and other residents of these five villages not to get swayed by hollow promises made by Chautala and maintain peace in the area.

Chandigarh, July 1
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today announced an investment of nearly Rs 500 crore for students belonging to Scheduled Castes and families living below poverty line so as to enable them pursue their education up to college level.

Addressing a press conference after launching the scheme to give a monthly stipend and one-time allowance to all Scheduled Castes government school students, the Chief Minister said this would benefit eight lakh students. He announced that all Scheduled Castes students studying in colleges would get Rs 2,000 per year to purchase books. Besides, they would also get a monthly stipend of Rs 1,000. Earlier, such a scheme was applicable for the Scheduled Castes students up to class XII.

The Chief Minister announced that from this session all government school students from classes I to VIII would be given textbooks free of cost. Earlier, this facility was available to only SC students and girl students belonging to other communities.

He also announced a new scheme for boys belonging to below poverty line families. Under this scheme, a monthly incentive of Rs 75 would be given to boys studying in classes I to V. This would be raised to Rs 100 for those studying in classes VI to VIII and to Rs 150 for those in classes IX to XI. In case of science students of classes XI and XII, the incentive would be Rs 200 per month. All BPL students studying in colleges would get Rs 750 per month.

While launching the incentive-based scheme for Scheduled Castes students announced in January this year, he said the amount of monthly stipend would be Rs 100 for boys and Rs 150 for girls studying in classes I to V. This sum would be Rs 150 and Rs 200 for boys and girls, respectively, in classes VI to VIII. Similarly, it would be Rs 200 and Rs 300 for students of classes IX to XII.

Uklana (Hisar), July 1
Haryana Janhit Congress (BL) chief and Congress MP Kuldeep Bishnoi today appealed to the people of Haryana to give him and his party a chance to usher in a “change for the better” in Haryana.

Addressing a public meeting here, he said the Lok Sabha elections were round the corner and if the people of Haryana wanted to improve their lot, they must give him an opportunity by voting overwhelmingly for his party nominees in the next parliamentary polls.

Bishnoi said he had put his political career at stake for the sake of Haryana and its people when Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda “failed to deliver the goods”. He said both he and his father, former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal, had “accepted and respected” the decision of Congress president Sonia Gandhi to elevate Hooda as the Chief Minister.

This was despite the fact that Sonia Gandhi had “betrayed the mandate of the people of Haryana” by ignoring Bhajan Lal’s claim to the office of the Chief Minister. However, they were forced to reconsider their decision after people suffered under the Hooda regime.

“It was to protect the interests of the common man in Haryana that we launched a struggle jeopardising my political career. I, therefore, now want the people of Haryana to give me one chance to serve them,” he added.

Bishnoi said Hooda was not the “common man’s Chief Minister”. The Hooda government had not paid any attention to the perennial problems of water and power shortage in Haryana. The law and order situation was worsening by the day. The life of the “aam aadmi” had become miserable.

He said the recent bypolls to Haryana assembly had proved that the HJC was the only alternative to the Congress in Haryana and if the people ensured the victory of his candidates in the next Lok Sabha polls, the Congress would be wiped out in the state forever.

To a question after the meeting, he said he had resigned from the Lok Sabha already and it was up to the Lok Sabha secretariat to accept his resignation. He said it was unfair to describe his resignation as a farce.

Former minister Hari Singh Saini and Vinod Bhayana from Hansi were among those who addressed the meeting. 

Rohtak, July 1
Prof S.S. Sangwan, vice-chancellor of the Pt Bhagwat Dayal Sharma University of Health Sciences here, has been honoured with the coveted Dr B.C. Roy National Award.

The award was presented to Professor Sangwan by President Pratibha Patil at Rashtrapati Bhawan today.

Professor Sangwan was selected for the prestigious award as an eminent medical teacher and honoured with it on the occasion of Doctors’ Day (July 1).

An MS and DNB in orthopaedics, Professor Sangwan is regarded as a renowned orthopaedic surgeon of the region.

In his illustrious career spanning over three decades, he has served the PGIMS here as director, dean and medical superintendent, apart from remaining the head of the orthopaedic surgery department at the PGIMS.

He has developed several surgical techniques, besides designing new tools and modifying the existing ones.

He has also carried out several limb-salvage surgeries on patients of bone tumour, using advanced techniques like rotation-plasty and mega-prosthesis. By using these methods, the height of patient is preserved and mobility maintained even after the amputation of lower limbs.

Professor Sangwan has received several national and international honours and awards for his innovative efforts.

These include the SICOT World Congress Award, the Commonwealth Fellowship, UK, and the Dr C.L. Sahni Award by the IMA College of General Practitioners. He has more than 100 research publications and scores of scientific presentations to his credit.

Kurukshetra, July 1
As the CBI has failed to initiate criminal investigations into a three-month-old case in which the bodies of nine members of a Pehowa-based trader’s family were recovered from the Bhakra canal, the crime branch of the state police has decided to pursue the case.

The DIG of the state crime branch visited the crime spot along with Kurukshetra police officials on Saturday.

Following the persistent demand of the family of the deceased, Mam Chand Singla, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had assured to hand over the investigation to the CBI.

Singla, a “debt-ridden” arhtiya from Pehowa town, along with his family comprising nine members, had allegedly driven his car into the canal. Seven bodies, including three children and one pregnant woman, were recovered from the canal on March 31. The bodies of his two sons were recovered from the canal waters in Karnal district.

ADGP (law and order) V.B. Singh confirmed to The Tribune today that the state crime branch was investigating the case.

However, he clarified that it should not be made out that the CBI had dropped the case.

Chandigarh, July 1
The Haryana Pradesh Aggarwal Sammelan has demanded that the notices issued by various banks for recovery of loan to 82-year-old mother of Mam Chand, a trader of Pehowa, who allegedly committed suicide along with his other family members on March 18, should be withdrawn.

Mam Chand reportedly had to take money from certain persons, who were not paying him. On the other hand, his debtors were pressing him for paying up his loans. He reportedly wrote the names of those persons who were harassing him on a wall of his house before he took the extreme step.

A delegation of the sammelan led by its president Gopal Sharan Garg met Governor A.R. Kidwai today and regretted that no action had been taken against those who had harassed Mam Chand though three months had passed. In a memorandum to Kidwai, the sammelan said though Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda had conceded the demand for a CBI inquiry, no investigation worth its name had taken place.

The delegation demanded that a compensation of Rs 1 crore should be paid to the family of Mam Chand.

Another delegation led by president of the Haryana Beopar Mandal Bajrang Dass Garg met Hooda in this regard and demanded money owed by Mam Chand to Confed should be written off.

Meanwhile, Hooda announced that the state government would again write to the CBI for taking up the investigation into the suicide of Mam Chand and his family.

Chandigarh, July 1
Just over a year after Manoj and his wife Babli were slain in Karnal district, allegedly because of their love marriage, the groom’s mother Chanderpati has moved the High Court seeking a CBI probe into the matter. Taking up the petition, Justice Nawab Singh issued a notice of motion for August 13 to the CBI, state of Haryana and the district police chief of Kaithal.

The murder was committed between Pipli and Karnal, when the couple had boarded a bus. Marriage with a man from the same village and same gotra was cited as the reason behind the offence.

The petitioner’s counsel asserted that head constable Jayendra Singh was a member of the security provided to the couple. He allegedly provided vital information about secret places where Manoj and Babli used to hide themselves to save their lives.

Panipat, July 1
Concerned over the increasing incidents of attacks on health institutions by agitated mobs in case of the death of a patient, doctors have called upon the state government to come up with an ordinance to protect doctors and their property.

The doctors, who had assembled here to attend a seminar organised by the state unit of the IMA on “Increasing attacks on hospitals”, said Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan had already passed ordinances in this regard. According to these ordinances, any person who attacks a health institution can be punished with imprisonment for a period of three years and a fine. Besides, such an offence can be considered to be cognisable and non-bailable. Under this law, an offender is liable to a penalty of twice the amount of purchase price of the medical equipment and property that is damaged in the attack.

According to the doctors, a similar ordinance should be passed by the state as violent assault, intimidation and harassment of medical professionals was leading to improper medical care of patients. Rather then providing timely treatment to emergency cases, doctors refer them to government hospitals.

The doctors said the issue had been raised at the local, state and national levels to seek a permanent solution. However, till date there had been no relief for the medical professionals who continued to work under fear of attack.

They said it was a common for relatives of a deceased person, in the tide of sentiments, often attacking doctors and medical establishments, causing immense loss of property. Due to this increasing insecurity among the medical professionals, several doctors were now reluctant to take up emergency cases.

The doctors asserted that such an ordinance had become indispensable for the medical professionals, who otherwise had adopted a cautious approach while dealing with emergency cases. This at times delayed the much needed medical care that even proved fatal in some cases.

Sirsa, July 1
Following threat e-mails addressed to controversial Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh from a local cyber cafe, deputy commissioner V. Umashankar has directed owners of all cyber cafes in the district to install closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras inside their premises. Cyber cafes in Sirsa have been ordered to install CCTV cameras so that the record of visitors, including their photograph, could be maintained.

A state government spokesman said cafe owners had been directed to properly maintain a register containing information concerning their customers, including their full names, addresses, contact numbers, identity card details and signature or thumb mark.

He also asked the café owners to verify identity and addresses of visitors by crosschecking their identity proofs. These proofs could be passports, driving licences, ration cards and identity cards issued by schools or colleges.

He added that violators of the directive would be liable to be punished under relevant law, which entailed imprisonment or fine or both. Meanwhile, the visiting cyber crime cell team from Panchkula impounded five central processing units (CPU) from the café from where the threatening e-mail was sent to DGP Ranjiv Dalal.

Gurgaon, July 1
A widow and her son were found murdered under mysterious circumstances in their house in Ghamdhoj village on Sohna Road here last night.

The deceased have been identified as Shrimata (55) and Karamvir (19). The police has registered a case at the Bhondsi police station. The incident came to light when their neighbour Mukesh came to their house in the morning. He noticed blood coming through the door. Getting suspicious, he informed the police. Their bodies bore injuries on the head and the neck, believed to have been caused by some sharp-edged weapons. The wife of her eldest son living in the same house was away to her parents’ place when the murder took place.

As per the preliminary police investigation, the deceased widow had sold some family land last year for around Rs 1 crore, which was distributed equally among her four sons. DCP (south) Inder Singh Saini said the investigation so far did not yield any clue.