Dehradun, January 22
Even after 22 months of its rule, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttarakhand has failed to set up the Waqf Board. But now with the parliamentary committee on Waqf properties’ scheduled visit to the state on January 27 and 28, the government finds itself in a tight spot.

The BJP government, led by Maj Gen BC Khanduri (retd), has failed to re-constitute the Uttarakhand Waqf Board since March 2007. The board constituted during the tenure of the previous Congress government was superceded and since then there has been none to take care of Waqf affairs in the state. The rented building where the board office was located was also vacated. Therefore, the work of the Waqf board - that manages properties donated by the Muslim community - has been suffering since long.

But after confirmation of the visit of the parliamentary committee, the entire state administration is in a tizzy. District Magistrate Amit Negi, who has been given charge of the state Waqf Board administrator recently, visited the office and found that except one 
employee nobody was present. There was also negligence in maintenance of records.

In addition, there is no ground level survey of Waqf properties and an order of the previous government in 2006 to conduct a survey has not been implemented. After formation of Uttarakhand in 2000, a total of 2053 Waqf properties were there. Sixteen new properties have been donated during the past eight years.

Like in other states, most of the prime Waqf properties here have been encroached upon or tenants are paying very less rent as compared to the market rate. More than 200 cases pertaining to Waqf properties of the states are pending before local courts and even the Supreme Court.

There is also a growing resentment among the local Muslim community over the attitude of the state government. “The actual work of the waqf - to help the poor and needy Muslims and to provide monetary help to students - has been stalled due to want of a proper board,” alleged Razia Baig, a lawyer and former member of the Uttarakhand Waqf Board.

Meanwhile, the parliamentary committee, administrator Waqf Board and the state government has asked all DMs to furnish details of Waqf properties in their respective districts.

Chairman K. Rehman Khan would lead the committee that comprises leading Muslim parliamentarians cutting across party lines. Other members include Ahmed Patel, Tariq Anwar, Satish Misra, Shivanand Tewari, Syed Shanawaz, Mohd.Salim, Abdul Mannan, Salim Sherwani. The members would visit Roorkee and Dehradun to review the ground situation. 

Haridwar, January 22
An anti-encroachment drive in Bairagi camp area here took an ugly turn when residents and police clashed this morning.

The administration had started the anti-encroachment drive from January 17 as the ongoing Kumbh mela project work was getting hampered due to these illegal camps.

Police personnel had cordoned off the area since the morning today and loudspeaker warnings were issued. However, when the residents paid no heed and later started pelting stones the police had to resort to lathicharge in which several of them were injured. Some policemen were also hurt.

Official vehicles of the ADM, SDM, tehsildar, executive engineer of the irrigation department and a police gypsy were also damaged in the clash.

Initially, as there was less police force the mob managed to keep them at bay. But when additional forces reached the place the mob was overpowered. Some local politicians also joined the mob, but they were also arrested. SP Asim Srivastava himself took on a BJP leader who tried to impede the drive. He said it is imperative to clean all encroachments and the Bairagi camp area would be used for temporary camps for various exhibitions during the mela. Notably, the last mela was held here in 2004 and eversince hundreds of people live here illegally.

City magistrate Archana Grehawar said the illegal occupants were informed well in advance about the drive and they should have complied with the orders.

On the other hand, Usha Paswan, a resident who was injured in the clash, complained that the police was rude. “Where will we go on such a short notice? The behaviour of police personnel with the women was degrading. Women constables were standing while their male counterparts mishandled us,” she alleged.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate Shailesh Bagoli said the anti-encroachment drive would be carried out as per schedule. “The drive will continue as planned. The illegal establishments have to be removed as we need space to provide better facilities during the mela,” he said.

Those present during the drive included SP Asim Srivastava, ASP Sweety Aggarwal, Circle Officer Traffic Shweta Chaubey and Circle Officer City Navneet Singh.

Bhagwanpur, January 22
The police here has arrested Israel of Nagla Khera for hiring professional criminals to kidnap his son-in-law Salem for ransom. Interestingly, after the kidnapping Israel himself lodged a police complaint.

SP (Rural) Ajay Joshi said 55-year-old Israel hired three professionals for kidnapping his 22- year-old son-in-law Salem and demanded Rs 20 lakh as ransom. “Israel, who was with Salem and his younger brother Wajid at the time of incident, himself, informed the kidnappers on phone about their location near Hakimpur.

The trio was coming from Saharanpur side. The criminals forced Salim into their Indica car on gunpoint and took him to an unknown place,” he said.

Later, Israel lodged a complaint at Bhagwanpur police station. However, the police got suspicious when Israel said the kidnappers had demanded Rs 20 lakh as ransom from him.

“It was later found that Israel had contacted the kidnappers on phone just an hour before the incident. During further interrogation, he admitted his crime and was arrested,” said the SP. The police have also rescued Salem from Pohana, but the three kidnappers including, Wazid, Arshad and their driver, are still at large.

It was also found that Israel had taken a loan of Rs three lakh that he was unable not repay. However, as he knew that Salem had sold 27-acre land and was purchasing land somewhere else, he hatched a plot for his kidnapping. 

Dehradun, January 22
Administration officials, led by a team of doctors from the Doon Hospital, today raided the Chitra Ultrasound and Diagnostic Center that was allegedly carrying out clandestine sex-determination tests in violation of the ban on the same.

According to sources, the team, comprising Dr GS Rana, radiologist at the Doon Hospital, Sushila Baloni, senior member of Kanya Jeevan Dayni Samiti, among others, reached the clinic of Dr Chitra Agarwal in the morning. But when the tehsildar SP Tyagi tried to seize the ultrasound equipment, Dr Chitra bit his hand. However, the clinic was later sealed under the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994.

During raids in November last year, the administration had taken action against five other centres that were carrying out clandestine tests.

"In order to check female foeticide, the Pre-natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994, was enacted and brought into operation from January 1, 1996. We will take strict action against persons engaged in any such activity in the state," said deputy CMO Dr BS Rawat

"The declining child sex ratio is a cause of concern in the state and any person violating the Act is liable for punishment and fine," he added.

Dehradun, January 22
Vishwakarma Cricket Academy (VCA), IPS, Shah Satnam and National Club have cruised into the semifinal of the 3rd All-Indian SP Singh Memorial U-13 Memorial Cricket Tournament underway at Indian Public School Ground here.

Batting first, Vishwakarma Cricket Academy went on to score 121 runs in their allotted 20 overs. Ashish made 48 runs off 54 balls and Yashu made 23 runs. Balaji Cricket Academy failed to reach the target in the stipulated 20 overs.

In the second match, IPS beat Basawa International team to advance into the semifinal.

In the third match, batting first, Shah Sarnam went on to score 161 in their allotted 20 overs. Sagar was the top scorer for Shah Sarnam. He made 71 runs off 48 balls whereas Ashish made 52 runs off 45 balls. In reply, Amritsar was all out for 86 runs in 17.2 overs.

In the fourth match of the day, National Cricket Club scored 159 runs in their allotted 20 overs. Siddharth was the star batsman for National Cricket Club and hit a fine century. He made 103 runs off 64 balls. In reply, SIS XI were dismissed for 99 runs. 

Haridwar, January 22
In the quarterfinal matches of the 77th Swami Sharaddhanand All-India Hockey Tournament, intense contests were witnessed with players displaying excellent dribbling and ball control.

In the first match of this second phase of the tournament, Core of Signals thrashed host Gurukul Kangri University 3-0. The Gurukul team, though being the national university champions, displayed below-par performance as several top players are not playing in the tournament.

Signals began aggressively in the first half which bore dividends as in the third minute, RK Yadav converted a penalty corner. Then, SK Tanveer dodged the defenders and smashed a beautiful field goal to make it 2-0. In the 24th minute, S Moki made it 3-0 with a penalty corner conversion.

Gurukul University couldn’t convert even one of their four penalty corners which had been their forte in the National University Championship.

In the second quarterfinal, BEG Roorkee and DHA Etawa locked horns. BEG won 3-0. In the sixth minute, Kripal scored a field goal. In the 14th minute, P Khanna converted a penalty corner. In the second half, Ram Nagina, in the 47th minute, scored the third goal for the Roorkee team.

NR Delhi in the third quarter final match defeated Bareilly by a solitary goal which was scored through a second-half penalty corner conversion in the 44th minute. The fourth quarterfinalist is PNB Delhi.