Kaithal, May 15
An English wine shop was set on fire by a group of about three dozen armed persons, who attacked the shop in the Pehowa chowk here today.

The wine stocks were damaged and cash was allegedly looted. Before leaving the spot, the accused reportedly locked shop owner’s brother and a salesman, seriously injured, inside the shop and were rescued from a side door. The firefighters reached the spot and controlled the fire.

According to information, this incident was a result of rivalry between two groups of wine contractors.

Yash Pal Malik alleged that the owners of the Country liquor vend situated at the Friends colony on the Karnal road here were behind this attack. They were selling IMFL which was unauthorised, he added. He said the owner of the Country vend suffered losses due to this practice as he brought this matter to the notice of the DETC Excise and Staff. But no action was taken to check the matter.

Yash Pal said this morning he went to the Country vend and asked them to stop illegal sale of IMFL. However, he was threatened and manhandled and there was exchange of hot words.

Yash Pal said at 2 pm about three dozen persons armed with iron rods, lathies, etc. with muffled faces reached the wine shop and severely beat his brother Sat Pal Malik and salesman Rajveer.

Later DSP Hari Kailash and SHO city Ravinder Tomar reached the spot. Meanwhile, SHO said the police had registered two cross FIRs under various Sections of the IPC.

Yash Pal said the losses could run in to lakhs of rupees according to preliminary estimates.

Meanwhile, role of the CID and other security officers had come under cloud as these agencies had no information about the assembly of about three dozen armed persons who attacked the wine shop.

Interestingly, the assembly of five or more persons and carrying of arms is banned due to enforcement of prohibitory orders.

This incident took place about 25 yards from the traffic police post, where numbers of police personnel remain present. The civil lines police post and residence of the SP and the DSP are also situated at about 200 yards from the place of incident.

Hisar, May 15
Activists of the Janwadi Mahila Samiti staged a demonstration here today seeking a judicial probe into the recent murder of a married woman, Kaushalya, and the registration of criminal cases against policemen who failed to prevent the murder despite a report lodged two days before the murder by the samiti fearing that she might be killed.

Addressing the protesters, samiti general secretary Shakuntala Jakhar said the Haryana police had failed to prevent crimes against women. Despite complaints by victims, the police failed to take timely action which led to their murders or suicides.

She said the recent suicide by Alka, a rape victim from Rohtak, and the murder of Kaushalya were proof enough. Last year, Sarita, another rape victim, had to commit suicide after the police failed to bring the culprits to justice.

Jakhar said in Kaushalya’s case, the samiti had lodged a complaint with the police two days before her murder. The complaint explicitly stated that Kaushalya feared for her life. The next day she was abducted and later found murdered.

She demanded immediate suspension of the policemen concerned and filing of criminal charges against them.

Jhajjar, May 15
The carcasses of 14 cows, two bulls and a calf were found in the fields of Mundakhera village under Bahadurgarh subdivision here today. The incident came to the notice of some villagers in the morning when they spotted the carcasses of the animals lying in a pool of blood. The animals found dead had been skinned.

They immediately informed the police and other villagers about the incident. Consequently, the news spread like wild fire in the area.

Thereafter, a large number of people from Mundhakhera, Lagarpur, Badhsa, Dewarkhana, Lohat, Samalpur, Fatehpur and Badli villages gathered on the spot and blocked the Badli-Gurgaon State Highway when the police or any administrative officer did not reach the site despite being informed.

Badli SHO, along with a police force, reached the spot and tried to persuade the protesters to lift the blockade but they did not budge from their stand. Later, Bahadurgarh SDM GL Yadav, Tehsildar Ajit Singh and DSP Mahavir Singh reached the spot and took stock of the situation. Doctors were called in to perform the postmortem examination there. Subsequently, the carcasses of these animals were buried on the spot.

The villagers lifted the blockade following an assurance by the officers that the guilty would be put behind the bars within five days and stringent action would be taken against him.

The protesters have reportedly threatened that if police fails to arrest the guilty within the stipulated time, they would not hesitate to block the highway again and gherao the officers as well.

The Badli police has registered a case against unidentified persons.

Gurgaon, May 15
The DLF Qutab Enclave Residents Welfare Association has alleged illegal encroachment by a liquor vendor near G and D blocks of DLF City-I here.

In a communication addressed to Deputy Commissioner Deepti Umashankar, association president RS Rathee and general secretary RS Gupta have reminded her of their earlier representation in this regard, complaining that no action had been initiated by the authorities concerned so far.

“At the time of the last representation submitted on April 13, the administration was apprised of the fact that the illegal encroachment had started with putting up of makeshift shacks and construction work was being carried out during the night to convert it into a pucca structure.”

“However, since no action has been taken, the illegal vendor has further consolidated his establishment by building a pucca structure, illuminating the area during night, besides making sitting arrangements,” the letter states, adding that a continued visible violation of the law of the land was taking place without any action on part of the administration.

The RWA has urged the DC to get the illegal encroachment removed by May 16, failing which the residents of the area would be forced to get it removed themselves.

Chandigarh, May 15
The stage is set for counting of votes for the Lok Sabha elections in the state tomorrow. The authorities have made adequate arrangements to ensure counting in a transparent manner.

The counting will commence at 8 am at 90 counting stations set up at 24 different locations in the 10 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state.

Stating this here today, Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Sajjan Singh said the strong rooms, where the electronic voting machines (EVMs) had been stored, were being guarded and videographed round the clock.

The counting would also be videographed. The Election Commission had directed the DCs and the SPs concerned to ensure vigil during night for the safety of the EVMs.

He said 3,837 officials had been deputed as counting staff and 5,855 as supporting staff. There would be one supervisor and two counting assistants at each table. An official of the union government would be the micro-observer. There would be a total of 34 observers instead of 30 earlier.

A duty magistrate would be appointed at each counting station and a DSP would be in charge of security arrangements at each counting station. A total of 8,100 police personnel had been deployed for the security duty.

He said to maintain law and order and ensure security, each counting station would have a three-tier cordon and prohibitory orders under Section-144 of the CrPc, would be imposed around each counting station.

The first security cordon would be at a radius of 200 metres from the counting station up to which Section-144 would be effective. The second cordon would be at the entry point of the complex of the counting station where each person would be checked at the entrance. The third cordon would be at the hall where counting would be conducted.

Sajjan Singh said after completion of each round of counting of votes, the micro-observer would randomly check two EVMs to ensure that each vote has been counted and there was no error.

Sajjan Singh said the results would be available first from Sirsa, Ambala, Kurukshetra and Karnal where the number of candidates was either 16 or less. Hisar was likely to be the last constituency to report the result as it had 38 candidates.

Chandigarh, May 15
What changes Haryana’s political scenario, particularly the state Congress scene, will undergo if former Chief Minister Bhajan Lal wins from the Hisar Lok Sabha constituency tomorrow? He is contesting on the ticket of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC), an outfit launched by his younger son Kuldeep Bishnoi.

HJC leaders claim that their candidates are in the reckoning in Hisar, Bhiwani and Gurgaon.

The issue of the HJC’s post-poll role has assumed importance in view of the near certainty of a fractured electoral verdict, when each MP would count in the formation of the government.

The debate gained further momentum when Congress spokesman and Union Minister Kapil Sibal, while listing possible allies of the UPA during a panel discussion hosted by an electronic channel, counted Bhajan Lal as one of them.

Though another regional party, the INLD, is also in the field, its options are limited. It is already in alliance with the BJP. Moreover, it can never go with the Congress, its main rival in Haryana.

This was one of the reasons why the BJP had preferred the INLD over the HJC before the elections. The INLD, if at all it walks out of the NDA, can go only with the Third Front.

There is no such compulsion before the HJC. Though it is part of the Third Front, the options before its president Bishnoi are many. It is no secret that his father still has many friends in the Congress who want him back in the party.

If need be, to please their supreme leader Sonia Gandhi, these old-time friends will certainly use their influence on Bhajan Lal to convince him to stage a “homecoming”. In that case the terms of the bargain are anybody’s guess. But certainly these would include “respectable” rehabilitation of not only the grand old “Lal” of the Haryana politics but also of his two sons, Chander Mohan and Bishnoi, in the party or the governments at the Centre and the state.

The HJC can also bargain with the BJP for being part of the NDA. But this may create an embarrassing situation for the INLD, which would not like to antagonise its Jat constituency by being in the company of Bhajan Lal, particularly when the Assembly elections are only a few months away.

When contacted to know his stand, Bishnoi did not take the call on his mobile. However. Tapesh Bagati, who is considered to be “Amar Singh of the HJC chief”, said since the day his party joined the Third Front, Bishnoi had been committed for the formation of a non-Congress and a non-BJP government at the Centre.

He said Bishnoi would work for persuading other parties to join the Third Front. He said there was no question of joining hands with the Congress or the BJP. 

Fatehabad, May 15
The issue of the arrest of the Principal and two other staff members of the Akal Academy, Ratia, a CBSE-affiliated school run by the Kalgidhar Society of Baru Sahib (Himachal Pradesh), for their alleged “negligence” in the death of a student has snowballed with Tarlochan Singh, a Rajya Sabha member and former Chairman of the National Commission for Minorities (NCM), writing to the commission demanding an inquiry into the alleged highhanded attitude of the police with regard to an institution run by a minority community organisation.

Tarlochan Singh today alleged in his letter to Mohamad Shafi Qureshi, chairman of the NCM, that “highhanded attitude” of the Fatehabad district police with regard to the institution run by a minority community had forced the school management to close it indefinitely much to the detriment of the career of over 1,500 students.

“The police has taken an uncalled for and unlawful action against the school run by a minority community and has humiliated a young woman Principal and a teacher by arresting them without any fault of theirs. The Principal and the staff members were later released on bail,” the

The police, he said, had not been arresting those responsible for ransacking the institution and desecrating the “Sukhmani Path” thereby hurting the religious sentiments of the community, though criminal cases had been registered against 28 persons.

He demanded immediate intervention of the NCM in the matter so that the school authorities could have the solace of getting justice.

The school authorities, meanwhile, made it clear in a meeting of the parents of its students today that it was not in a position to reopen the school till those responsible for the May 8 incident were arrested.

The parents had assembled in the school today after the “bhog ceremonies” of the child, Rajdeep, whose death due to illness had sparked the controversy.

The parents then submitted a memorandum to the SDM demanding resolution of the dispute by Monday or else they would be forced to launch an agitation.

Gurgaon, May 15
The Gurgaon-Daultabad road will remain closed for commuters on May 17. The rail traffic will also remain suspended on this day as the Railways is going to launch three heavy girders on the railway overbridge across the railway crossing.

Stating this here yesterday, spokesman for the district administration said the construction of the railway overbridge at a cost of about Rs 26 crore was going on at the level crossing No. 25B on the Gurgaon-Daultabad road.

Now, three heavy girders of 37-metre length and weighing 130 metric tonnes each were to be launched on May 17. So, the road would remain closed on that day for total rail traffic and other vehicles as well as pedestrians to avoid any mishap.

The Railways has taken permission for closing this road on Sunday from 7 am to 7 pm from the Deputy Commissioner. The police authorities have also been requested to deploy traffic police personnel there.

According to PWD (B&R) officials, the railway overbridge is likely to be commissioned latest by July-end this year. A majority of the construction work has been completed.

Chandigarh, May 15
Governor of Haryana Dr AR Kidwai today expressed concern over the low ratio of officers in the armed forces hailing from the state. Speaking at a function organised to felicitate NCC cadets for Haryana who attended the Republic Day parade this year, the Governor said while Haryana was one of the leading states to provide soldiers in the ranks for defence forces, the strength of officers from the sate was not commensurate with that of men in services.

The Governor expressed hope that with the platform provided by the NCC to the ever increasing numbers of youth in the state, there would be more number of officers in forces from Haryana in years to come.

Complementing all members of the NCC Directorate for being instrumental in excellent performance of cadets from the state at the national level, Dr Kidwai said the nation was proud of the NCC as it provided disciplined and confident youth who are successful in all spheres of life.

The contingent of 44 cadets from the state that participated in the Republic Day parade happened to be the largest contingent sent by any state. Each cadet was presented a memento, inscribed the individual’s name on it, by the Governor.

Highlighting the future perspective plan of the NCC, Deputy Director General Brig Rajendra Singh said special emphasis was being laid on shooting and adventure activities.

Cadets of the region displayed tremendous keenness in adventure activities like trekking and mountaineering expeditions. Many cadets have also excelled at the national level in shooting, microlite flying, horse riding and show jumping.

Cadets from Haryana excelled in various competitions, bagging three gold medals -- Warrant Officer Retika in tent pegging and cadets Rajnish and Deeman in radio control glider model. Cadet Archana won a silver in horse riding while cadet Pawan got two bronze medals in riding competitions. Cadet Geeta Dahiya was adjudged as the best cadet in the state. 

Panchkula, May 15
As a part of welfare measures initiated for the armed forces community in the state, the Haryana government will be starting a special monthly pension for war widows residing in the state.

This pension would be over and above the regular family or special family pension being received by the widow from the central government. The quantum of pension has been fixed at Rs 1,000 per month. Haryana, which is one of the largest contributors to the armed forces, has at present 1,348 war widows.

A spokesperson for the Rajya Sainik Board said the new pension was expected to be implemented from next month, once the enforcement of the model code of conduct for the general elections is over.

Though the special pension, along with some other welfare measures for ex-servicemen has been agreed to in principal, the files concerned are reported to be lying with the Finance Department pending final approval.

The state government would also be introducing free travel for disabled ex-servicemen in Haryana Roadways buses within the state and in Chandigarh and Delhi. This would benefit about 250 ex-servicemen whose disability has been assessed at 25 per cent or more.

In addition, the pension being paid to Second War veterans or their widows belonging to Haryana is being increased from Rs 1,000 per month to Rs 1,500. There are about 6,200 persons in receipt of such pension. The old age pension being paid to ex-servicemen or their widows residing in the state is being enhanced from Rs 600 per month to Rs 1,000.

Yamunanagar, May 15
Classified documents recovered from nine suspected Maoists arrested so far revealed that the state-level suspected Maoists organisation was active in Haryana since 2006 in organised manner.

The suspected Maoists leaders at higher rank were influenced with the Chinese communist theory include women and motivating people to join their movement and raise voice against the government. Although active members of the organisation were 25 only.

The Maoists were operating in different areas of the state include Karnal, Narwana, Jind, Hisar, Kaithal and Yamunanagar. The suspected Maoists had held three conferences in the state so far. First conference was held in May 2006 and last in December 2008.

DIG (CID) Rajbir Deswal today held meeting with SP Vikas Arora and DSP Mukesh Kumar at the police headquarters here to get feedback about the arrested suspected Maoists. The DIG (CID) learnt to have also discussed the ways to root out such movement and guided the officials to handle operations in such cases.

The suspected Maoists group had been motivating the villagers in some areas to boycott the Lok Sabha elections stating that the MPs had failed to perform their duties and miserably failed to provide justice to the poor and the Dalits.

Sanjay believed to be leader of this movement here and he is seriously linked with communist’s ideology and active in other parts of the country. He was arrested in 2007 but, after getting bail he was said to be escaped and was declared pro-claimed offender.

However, so far none of the arrested suspected Maoist have named Sanjay linked with the present case during interrogation, the police sources said.

The members of the suspected Maoists group belong to lower strata even not aware of what they were doing and about the ideology of their organisation. They have joined the movements with a view to get more land and equal rights, revealed the police sources.

DSP Mukesh Kumar, who is heading five police team constituted to arrest the suspected Maoists, told The Tribune that “We have arrested total nine Maoists and also raiding different places to arrest two main leaders include Samrat and Rinku operating in the district.

We have recovered revolver, country-made pistol, live cartridges, vital documents of state-level operation of the suspected Maoists, CDs of Maoists training in the Jharkhand area from the Maoists arrested so far.”

Jind, May 15
The Haryana unit of the Bharatiya Kisan Union (Gurnam Singh faction) has opposed the move to release an additional 125 cusecs of water to Delhi by the state government.

The union has decided to hold a demonstration here on Monday and has announced to stop the water flow at the Khubru head in Sonepat district in case the authorities release the water.

The union, at a meeting held here today, decried the move to allocate 125 cusecs of water this summer, claiming that farmers were already facing an acute shortage of irrigation water in several parts of the state and giving more water to Delhi at this stage was unjustified.

According to a spokesperson for the union, the state should pay more attention towards the shortage of water in the state.

Panipat, May 15
Leading scientist and former President APJ Abdul Kalam has called upon youngsters to move ahead and achieve new heights in their fields of choice.

Addressing gatherings at two engineering institutions in the district late last evening, Kalam gave some winning tips to budding engineers to succeed in life. He said hard work and rigorous skill training could enrich the youth and contribute to national development.

Kalam exhorted the students to pursue knowledge with integrity to find a permanent place in the hearts of people. He said knowledge laid the foundation for new ideas and enabled an individual to rise above his circumstances and contribute to the betterment of the mankind.

He said the country needed to get rid of evils like corruption.