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Ranbir case: Police theory incredulous
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Chakrata to grow Himalayan yew
Forest official with Thunar saplings in Chakrata. A Tribune photograph
Rs 77 cr okayed for improving Lakshman Chowk water supply
Media helped make blood donation popular, says expert
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Ranbir case: Police theory incredulous
Dehradun, July 6 The police claims that on July 3 at 1 pm, Araghar police picket in charge SI GD Bhatt while checking vehicles on Mohini Road signalled three motorcycle-borne youth to stop. The trio thrashed Bhatt and fled with his service revolver. How come Bhatt was checking the vehicles alone when every SI is invariably accompanied by a sepoy? “As the President was in city that day, policemen were deployed everywhere. Triple riding is strictly banned. It’s strange that the trio was not stopped at any checkpoint on the city’s main roads,” says Narinder Singh, a policeman who retired from the Uttar Pradesh crime branch.
Also, television channels have shown an eyewitness claiming that the Ranbir was arrested on the the spot. However, the police says, after the incident on Mohini Road, senior officers, including SSP Amit Kumar Sinha and SP NA Bharne, launched combing operations and a team was constituted to nab the trio. Before the encounter, the policemen visited Jain Dharamshala and searched Ranbir Singh’s room. When Ranbir and his friends had escaped, how come they knew he was staying in dharamshala? The entry register of the dharamshala mentions the name of Ranbir Singh and two more, Pradeep Kumar and Amit Kumar. But the victim’s family maintains that Ranbir was lodged alone in the dharamshala and had no friends in Uttarakhand. The police says it flashed the bike’s registration number (HR 06 G 9093) and began combing operations. Soon they were informed that said the bike had been spotted near the Jogiwala-Raipur ring road. At this, a team comprising personnel from the Nehru Colony and Dalanwala police stations reached there. At 3 pm, the police spotted the youths in the Ladpur forest area. They were asked to surrender but they opened fire. In the retaliatory fire, Ranbir was shot dead. The remaining two were injured too but fled. So far, the police has not revealed as to who had spotted the trio near Ladpur. Furthermore, if the youths had tried to flee, how come Ranbir sustained six bullet injuries on his chest and not his back? Why was the police unable to nab the the other two who ran away abandoning the bike? It is also strange that no policeman sustained injury in the encounter. It is strange that most encounters in Dehradun take place in the forest area. Chaman Lal Pradhyot, who retired as DGP, Uttar Pradesh Police, feels there are sufficient reasons to doubt the police version. Ranbir’s autopsy was video-graphed and photos taken too. The family of the victim agreed on taking away the body when assured by Chief Minister Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank that the death would be probed. The cremation took place in Bhagpat (UP) yesterday. The autopsy report says that Ranbir’s body bore 12 bullet bullets and 28 other injuries. This indicates that he was fired at from close range. The injury marks point to the possibility of torture before death. Human Rights activist and lawyer PC Tiwari says the blackened skin around the bullet injuries shows that Ranbir was shot from close range. “Six bullet injuries in the chest contradicts the claims that Ranbir was trying to flee,” he said.
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Meanwhile, more seek CBI probe, hold protest
Dehradun, July 6 One of the protesters, S Rathi, said: “We want the government to take stern action against the police officers concerned and hand over investigations to the CBI. In case of delay, we will step up protest involving the whole city.” He said since Ranbir’s autopsy report pointed out that he had been shot from close range and that his body bore torture marks, “we earnestly demand that a case of murder be filed against the police personnel,” he added. The protesters sought compensation for the family of the deceased and a government job for one of the members. The protesters dispersed after a few hours., but the public outcry against police “ excesses” are getting louder each passing day.
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Chakrata to grow Himalayan yew
Popularly known as thuner in Uttarakhand, the Himalayan yew has assumed paramount importance due to its anti- cancer properties as it contains the anti-cancer drug, taxol. Of high value monetarily, the species has been subjected to uncontrolled harvesting. The cost of taxol stands at 60 dollars per mg in the US which converted into Indian currency is Rs 180 crore per kg. The Chakrata forest authorities have taken up the plantation of the Himalayan Yew. Apart from including it in its monsoon plantation programme, it is assisting the villagers in preparing thuner nurseries. “As many as 40,000 Himalayan yew saplings are ready for plantation. We are awaiting rains before we begin the plantation,” said the conservator of Forests, Yamuna circle. He said the department was encouraging and assisting villagers in taking to thuner plantation as part of its extension programme. The ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine uses the Himalayan Yew bark and its leaves extensively. This has made the tree vulnerable and there is actual danger of it turning extinct from over-use. The species does not regenerate well from the seed, and that is another risk factor. Spread across 3.27 hectares in the Himalayas, the high-tech nursery of Devvan Kontalanee is managed by the Chakrata forest authorities. It has been working on vegetative propagation of the thuner and has started preparing its cut roots for plantation. Nomenclatured taxus baccata, the Himalyan yew has its distribution along the Himalyas, from Afganistan in the West to Bhutan in the East. Apart from Garhwal hills of Uttarakhand, the tree is found in Jammu and Kashmir and the North East, where it is grown at an elevation of 1,800 to 3,300 metres in the conifer forests.
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Rs 77 cr okayed for improving Lakshman Chowk water supply
Dehradun, July 6 The scheme envisages construction of an overhead tank and 30 hand pumps in the constituency. “The handpumps at Jhanda Mohalla, Patel Nagar, Majra lower and Pathribaag Vidya Vihar have already begun functioning while the work on the overhead tank is under way at Kanwali village Maharani Bagh, engineers enclave, Majra lower,” said Dinesh Agarwal MLA of the area. He said that the augmentation of existing sewage network and construction of sewage treatment plant under JNNURM at Vasant Vihar, Pandiwari, Indira Nagar, Maharani Bagh, Aashirwad enclave and Mohit Nagar has already been sanctioned. “Tenders have already been invited and work by Jal Sansthan is expected to start shortly,” said Dinesh Agarwal. He said that a proposal of a 40 mld sewage treatment plant at Motherawala-Dhodwal is also under discussion for which land has to be acquired. “The proposal is expected to come up for discussion in October,” said MLA Agarwal. He was optimistic about various other development projects being speeded up.
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Media helped make blood donation popular, says expert
Dehradun, July 6 “The feat was achieved mainly due to the use of popular means of communication. By employing these tools, we could reach the target audience. “Our phone-in programme on blood donation continues to be popular and has been on for the past nine years,” said Ghosh. He said that mass media like newspapers, periodicals, radio and TV were used effectively to spread the message. While tracing the movement of blood donation in the country, Dr PL Dhand, professor at GR Gardi Medical College, Ujjain, said that the blood donation movement began in the country only in 1954. “The big fillip came with the Supreme Court ruling in 1987 when only licenced blood banks were asked to conduct blood transfusions and professional donors were banned,” Dr Dhand said. It helped in streamlining blood banks and rooting out professional donors “who through blood donations were putting several lives at risk,” Dr Dhand said. The total collection of blood in Uttarakhand is 40,857 units and 16,201 units were collected through voluntary blood donation which is 39.7 per cent. The IMA Blood Bank organises 1,315 blood camps per month and has gained the status of Regional Blood Transfusion Centre. It will soon be coming up with mobile blood vans donated by the Lions Club.
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Dehradun, July 6
Dehradun, July 6