Ratia (Fatehabad), March 4
The police has registered a case against the director of a local nursing school following allegations of molestation by a nursing student of the institute.

Director of Shaheed Udham Singh Nursing Institute, Ratia, Balbir Singh Nadda, has been booked under Section 354 of the IPC for allegedly outraging the modesty of a girl.

The victim said she got admission to the institute four months ago. On February 20, a woman working in the institute allegedly took her to the director’s room, who allegedly molested her.

When she opposed to the director’s moves, he allegedly threatened her with dire consequences and later tempted her with promise of better marks if she responded to his overtures.

The girl informed her parents, who reached Ratia here today and went to meet the director, where they were allegedly beaten up by some staff members of the institute, the girl alleged.

Denying all allegations, Dr Nadda said the whole issue had been concocted as he refused to refund the fees of the girl as per the rules of the institute.

He maintained that the girl had failed to clear the pre-test necessary for getting the nursing certificate and her parents decided to take her home.

“They were demanding refund of their fees, which I refused as per the terms of the prospectus and it is because of this that the whole drama has been enacted,” Nadda maintained.

He claimed that he has been running the institute for the past 16 years and was the first in Haryana to bring nursing education in private sector.

He further claimed that the complainant’s mother was also a former student of the institute and the allegations of molestation were totally false. He claimed that he had been attacked by the girl’s kin and had received injuries.

Sirsa, March 4
Additional police force has been deployed in Rori village in the district, where residents have been agitating against the local police and demanding the arrest of those responsible for the gruesome murder of two women and the suspension of the then SHO of the local police station for the past four days.

The residents have also been demanding withdrawal of criminal cases registered against around 250 persons in connection with the ransacking of the police station after the crime came to light on Sunday.

A young woman and her mother-in-law had been murdered on Saturday night and the miscreants had decamped with cash and gold jewellery worth more than Rs 10 lakh.

The anger of the local residents further increased today after the 48-hour ultimatum served by them expired without the police making any headway in the investigation.

Residents alleged that the attitude of the local SHO was unbecoming of a police officer and he took more than two hours to reach the site of the crime situated at a distance of 50 metres from the police station. Residents today blocked all roads connecting the village and held a demonstration against the authorities.

Residents blocked the Sardulewala road, the Matad road and the Kalanwali road by placing barriers on the outskirts of the village and raised slogans against the police for its alleged indifference in resolving of this crime.

Used tyres were burnt and placed on roads to block traffic. Meanwhile, the INLD and the BJP today organised a demonstration here in the town against the incident.

A meeting of the Jain community, to which the victim family belonged, was also held today.

Padam Jain said after the meeting that the community was sore over the incident and the attitude of the local police after the incident.

Karnal, March 4
The DNA test conducted at Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban, to establish the parentage of a newborn girl has proved that how scientific investigations can help solve such intricate cases.

The complaint of baby swapping at Nidan Hospital, Palwal, turned out to be false as the DNA test of the parents and the baby girl proved that Tek Chand and Rekha were biological parents of the child. The DNA analysis helped in solving the crime within 24 hour and it would act as conclusive evidence in the court, police sources said.

The case was received in the DNA division of the FSL, Haryana, and as per the letter of advice and the contents of the FIR, a woman identified as Rekha, wife of Tek Chand, a resident of Palwal district, gave birth to a baby in their house.

After four hours of birth, the baby developed some respiratory problem and was admitted to Nidan Hospital. However, when the baby was discharged from the hospital the next day, Tek Chand and Rekha alleged that they had admitted a baby boy and not a baby girl. They alleged that the baby had been swapped by the hospital staff.

Doctors refuted the charge of baby swapping and insisted that the couple had brought a baby girl and not a boy. As both the parents of the child and the doctors remained firm on their version, a case was registered with the police.

The Superintendent of Police, Palwal, sent the case to the Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban, for the DNA examination to ascertain the truth. The DNA analysis conducted by expert Pandu Gugloth nailed the lie and conclusively proved that Tek Chand and Rekha are biological parents of the baby girl.

Fatehabad, March 4
The Sikh organisations today demanded the withdrawal of criminal cases registered against over 2,100 Sikhs, including Sant Baljit Singh Dadu, in connection with the congregation in Chandpura village in the district.

They have also demanded public apology from the district authorities for trying to stop them from holding the congregation.

A deputation of Sikh leaders led by Jagdish Singh Jhinda, “president” of the Haryana Sikh Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee (ad hoc), today submitted a memorandum to Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat. The memorandum was addressed to Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and the Governor.

The Sikhs have also demanded registration of criminal cases against dera followers, who they alleged, tried to create trouble in the peaceful organisation of the congregation.

Talking to mediapersons, Jhinda said the Chandpura congregation was announced by the local Sikhs one month in advance and the fact was well known to the dera followers and the district authorities.

He alleged that the dera followers intentionally announced their naam charcha from February 28 to March 2 to enter into a confrontation with the Sikhs and the authorities acted under their pressure and tried to stop them from holding the congregation.

Ahlawat told Sikhs that no ban on the congregation had been imposed as such and the prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC had been promulgated only to avoid clash between the two groups.

Fatehabad, March 4
Residents have heaved a sigh of relief at the peaceful passing off of the three-day congregation of Sikhs in Chandpura village in this district, situated on the Punjab border.

Tough postures adopted by both Sikhs and Dera Sacha Sauda followers had prepared the ground for a possible clash between the two groups and hundreds of armed supporters of both groups had gathered in the village between March 1 and March 3, but the standoff was averted by the authorities by some apt handling of the situation.

Interestingly, after the congregation has passed off peacefully, neither the Sikhs nor the Dera Sacha Sauda followers are happy with the district authorities and both have been accusing them of working under the pressure of the other, but the peace-loving residents of the district are relieved that the confrontation between the two has been averted.

Sikh organisations had announced “Gurmat Samagam” in Chandpura from March 1 to March 3 and publicity regarding this had been started a month in advance.

Sant Baljit Sigh Dadu of Dadu Sahib, who has been involved in many a Dera-Sikh confrontation in Sirsa and surrounding Punjab in the past, was to address the congregation among others.

As the date of the congregation drew near, the dera followers met the authorities and demanded ban on the congregation on the plea that such occasions were used to launch derogatory attack on their head Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

However, Dadu said the “Gurmat Samagam” was aimed at propagating Sikh religion and did not harm anyone.

When the dera followers failed to get any positive response from the authorities in this regard, they too announced their “naam charcha” from February 28 to March 2 in the village.

The announcement of dera followers took the authorities by surprise as Chandpura had already witnessed ugly clashes between the two groups in the past.

The authorities moved quickly and imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC in the village.

A heavy police force was deployed in the village to meet any challenge.

The authorities were all prepared to arrest Dadu at the time of his entry in the village on March 1, but the presence of hundreds of his armed followers proved a deterrent to the police to take any action.

He was “arrested” and made to sit in police vehicles with his followers but was “released” by his sword-wielding followers after some time.

As the congregation proceeded, the Dera Sacha Sauda followers too started gathering in Chandpura as well as in Fatehabad and at one state, hundreds of them proceeded to the village armed with stones and sticks.

However, the authorities handled the situation well and not only saw the congregation through peacefully, but also kept their cool and did not use any force.

Gurgaon, March 4
Taking a serious view of the violation of the model code of conduct by seeking publicity through different modes of media, District Electoral Officer-cum-Deputy Commissioner Deepti Umashankar in a meeting held here today asked representatives of political parties to strictly follow the model code of conduct as the dates for the Lok Sabha elections had been announced.

The DC said as per the orders of Supreme Court of India, the registered national and state political parties as well as contesting candidates proposing to issue advertisements on TV channels would have to apply to the Election Commission or the designated officer not later than three days prior to the date of the proposed commencement of the telecast.

Any other person or unregistered political party would have to apply seven days prior to the date of the telecast. She said such an application should be accompanied by two copies of the proposed advertisement in electronic forms along with a duly attested transcript.

The Deputy Commissioner also retreated that no cable operator shall telecast any advertisement unless it was approved by the committee constituted for the purpose.

KARNAL: The new Deputy Commissioner of Karnal, Chander Prakash, who is also the returning officer for the Karnal Lok Sabha elections, has appealed to political parties and officers to strictly abide by the model code of conduct during the coming parliamentary elections.

Addressing a meeting of officers and representatives of political parties here on Wednesday in run up to the elections, he asserted that the elections would be conducted in a free and fair manner and cautioned that any breach or lapse in observing the code would attract strict disciplinary action.

He directed the officers concerned to immediately remove the hoardings highlighting the achievements of the government and asked the officers to refrain from publishing publicity material.

He also directed the officers involved in the election process to ensure that the electronic voting machines were in order. Ranjeet Chaudhary had been appointed deputy district election officer for the purpose, he said.

Rohtak, March 4
The issue of the implementation of the recommendations of the Sixth Pay Commission in the state is far from resolved.

Employees of state power corporations have announced to observe a two-hour strike on March 6 in protest against the alleged failure of the authorities to release the revised pay structure for them. There are 31,293 employees in the department.

Meanwhile, the joint action committee of the two main government employees’ federations have convened a meeting at Jind on March 8 to announce their programme of agitation on their demands, including pay revision.

A spokesperson for the All Haryana Power Corporation Workers Union said here today that the staff of the state power corporations had rejected outright the new wages.