Chandigarh, October 15
Peeved at the “false” case against him, Haryana transport and education minister Mange Ram Gupta today alleged that this had been done as part of a “conspiracy” and at the instance of INLD supremo Om Prakash Chautala.

Addressing a press conference here today, he said the case was false and he was willing to court arrest if proved guilty and even resign.

“I met Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda who assured me that the case would be cancelled. Let there be an inquiry to identify who is behind this.

After the INLD workers stoned our vehicle injuring my securitymen, we complained to the DC Mohammad Shayin, and SP Satish Balan.

“They assured us that these INLD workers would be booked. Instead, we get to know that a case regarding poll violence had been registered against me and my family.”

Gupta maintained that Chautala had pressured the district administration into registering a case against him. “I don’t understand why the bureaucracy is so weak that it gives in to pressure from Chautala.

“The CM had asked the DC to initiate action on my complaint, but nothing happened,” he said. Criticising the “offer” to register a counter case against INLD workers for the stoning incident, he said:

“I complained first. Why should I be asked to file a counter case? Let the police get to the truth and book the guilty,” he said. Maintaining that nothing was more important to him than self-respect, he claimed that he was willing to forgo his ministerial berth.

“What use is this ministership if I am denied justice? How will I face my people and explain that I could not prevent a false case against me. How will I watch their interests? The DC and SP slapped a case on us without recording our statement, without an inquiry. If this can happen to me, I wonder what the fate of the common man is,” Gupta, once a Bhajan Lal loyalist, said.

Yesterday, a case was registered against Gupta, his sons Mahavir and Radhey Shyam, grandsons Amit and Gobind and two others.

Sirsa, October 15
Inadvertently, the EC has given an opportunity to those involved in the “satta” trade to make hay for the next few days. The festival season has added flavour to betting.

“This unusual gap of over a week between the polling and counting dates has given enough time to bet on the results and make money. This has boosted the “satta” bazar this festival season and the trade is flourishing in Haryana, Delhi as well as in neighbouring states,” confided a satta agent. How many seats the ruling Congress or the main opposition party, the INLD or Kuldeep Bishnoi’s HJCor the BJP or any of the fringe parties would win are all a subject matter of betting.Though all parties and their leaders have their own calculations regarding the number of seats they are going to get, the “satta” market has its own estimates.

The “satta” trade gave 54 seats to the Congress, 15 to the INLD, 10 to the HJC and five to the BJP till the votes were polled on October 13.

As the exit polls have indicated a Congress government, the betting rates for a possible Congress government have come down considerably. As of today, the “satta” trade is giving 50-51 seats to the Congress, 18-19 seats to the INLD, six or seven seats to the HJC, three or four seats to the BJP and nine or 10 to Independents .No price is being offered for the victory of CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda from Kiloi or that of Tourism Minister Kiran Choudhry from Tosham. Former CM Om Prakash Chautala’s rate is 14 paise from Ellenabad and he is locked at 90:90 paise with Finance Minister Birender Singh at Uchana Kalan.

This means the “satta” trade considers Chautala’s victory from Ellenabad as almost a certainty. Among other stalwarts for whom the “satta” trade predicts victories are HJC supremo Kuldeep Bishnoi from Adampur, INLD secretary-general Ajay Singh Chautala from Dabwali, Haryana minister Savitri Jindal from Hisar, former minister Sampat Singh from Nalwa and State Planning Board Deputy Chairman Ranjit Singh from Rania.

Among the prominent leaders whom the “satta” market predicts as possible losers are chief parliamentary secretary Dharamvir Singh from Sohna and two parliamentary secretaries Paramveer Singh from Tohana and Dura Ram from Fatehabad.

Interestingly, the “satta” trade gives advantage to the Congress in constituencies that registered more than 75 per cent polling . Among the five seats coming in Sirsa district, the “satta” trade gives Ellenabad and Dabwali to the INLD, Rania to the Congress, Sirsa to an Independent, Gopal Kanda, and considers Kalanwali (reserved) as evenly poised between Sushil Indora (Congress) and Charanjit Singh (SAD).

In Fatehabad, the “satta” trade gives the Ratia seat to the Congress, Tohana to the INLD and Fatehabad seat to an Independent, Pahlad Singh Gillankhera.

The “satta” trade feels it’s advantage HJC in Hansi, Adampur, Dadri, Buwani Khera, Assandh, Karnal, Indri and Samalkha.

The BJP is in an advantageous position in Faridabad, Bhiwani, Narnaund and Mahendragarh as per those in the “satta” trade, while Independents find favour of the “satta” bazar in Beri, Meham, Badli, Sirsa, Fatehabad and a couple of more seats.

Highlight

As of now, the “satta” trade is giving 50-51 seats to the Congress, 18-19 seats to the INLD, six or seven seats to the HJC, three or four seats to the BJP and nine or 10 seats to Independents and others 

Panipat, October 15
The district police has registered a case against a son of a former minister in the Bansi Lal government and four others on charges of abducting, illegally detaining and threatening to kill a member of the panchayat of Noorwala village.

According to the police, Panch Bhisham filed a complaint alleging that he was kidnapped by Atul, son of Om Prakash Jain, who has contested the assembly elections as an Independent candidate from the Panipat rural constituency.

Bhisham said on the polling day when he had gone to booth number 49 at his native village, Jain’s brother Rambaj asked him to accompany to his car on the pretext of speaking to him.

He alleged that when they reached there Atul and four others pushed him into the car and took him to a rice mill on the Gohana road, where Atul allegedly beat him up and threatened to eliminate him stating that he had not worked for the success of his father in the elections.

A number of women reached the rice mill and managed to rescue Bhisham. Consequently, he told the incident to other candidates, including BJP’s Surinder Ahlawat and HJC’s Bijender Singh Kadian, who approached the district police chief and asked him to register a case against the accused.

The SSP asked the SHO of the city police station to inquire into the matter, following which a case was registered against Atul and four others. 

Panipat, October 15
The state information commission has imposed a fine of Rs 3,000 on the state public information officer (SPIO) of the district welfare department and issued him a show-cause notice as why a penalty of Rs 250 a day not be imposed on him for delay in providing information under the RTI Act.

The verdict was pronounced by the commission while hearing a case filed by Rishi Pal Saini of Chuklana village of the district, who had contended that the SPIO had not provided the information sought by him as per the provisions of the RTI Act.

In November 2008, Rishi Pal had demanded eight-point information from the district welfare officer regarding norms that are followed for considering a person eligible for old age pension.

He had even deposited Rs 50 as fee for the information.

However, the queries put up by him were not addressed to by the official concerned. Finding no response, he approached the director of the state department of social welfare, following which he was asked to contact the SPIO in January this year.

After this, Rishi Pal was sent two letters in February, which he said did not contain the complete information sought by him.

Dissatisfied by the officials’ laxity, Rishi Pal moved the commission the same month.

The commission issued notices to respondents on May 2 and a rejoinder was sent on May 15. During one of the hearings, the commission asked the deputy director of the state social welfare department to look into the matter and submit a report before July 29.

The applicant contended before the commission that in the information that was provided to him, the age column was left blank. On September 22, Rishi moved an application seeking compensation for the delay as he had to incur avoidable expenses to get the required information.

After hearing both the parties, the commission concluded that there had been lapses on part of the officials concerned in providing the information, following which it pronounced that fresh information to the satisfaction of the applicant be provided free of cost.

The commission directed the respondent public authority, through SPIO, to pay a compensation of Rs 3,000 to Rishi Pal for having failed to provide timely and accurate information under the RTI Act. 

Karnal, October 15
A fresh case of swine flu has come to light in Baldi village of Karnal.

A 24-year-old woman, Suman has tested positive for swine flu. Her blood samples were sent to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, New Delhi, two days ago and the reports received last night confirmed that she has swine flu.

Suman has been admitted in the isolation ward at the trauma centre of the local Civil Hospital and doctors have taken blood samples of 30 persons staying in close proximity to the patient to ascertain that they are not infected by the virus.

The samples of four of them, namely Meena, Pali Devi, Tetu and Sonu, have been sent to Ram Manohar Hospital for the test. PMO PR Pruthi confirmed the case.

Suman’s husband Surinder Singh died in the PGI, Chandigarh, three days ago and as per the doctors he was suffering from phenomena. However, villagers suspected that he died of swine flu.

Meanwhile, a team of doctors visited Baldi village to take stock of the situation.

A spokesman for the state Health Department said there was no cause for panic as surveillance activities had been intensified and awareness was being created among the public to follow measures for prevention of the spread of the disease.

The districts are ready for quick response in identification, testing, isolation and treatment of swine flu cases. Besides, medicines and personal protection kits had been made available to all district units.

So far, 58 cases have been detected in the state and two persons have died of the disease. The Haryana government has already declared swine flu as an epidemic on August 10 to enforce certain regulations of the Epidemic Disease Act 1897.

Gurgaon, October 15
Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Anurag Aggarwal has appealed to the residents of the district to avoid exploding firecrackers on the occasion of Diwali. Greeting the residents, he observed that firecrackers were a major source of air as well as noise pollution.

Aggarwal said following a campaign involving young children initiated by some social and environmental organisations a few years ago, there had been a slight decrease in the use of firecrackers in some parts of the country.

He exhorted the residents to support the campaign and try to celebrate Diwali by lighting earthen lamps and avoiding the use of firecrackers.

“By doing so, we will not only be able to reduce our expenditure on celebration, but also save ourselves from asthma and other pollution-related diseases like anxiety and heart problems,” the DC said in a statement issued here today.

The Regional Officer of the Haryana Pollution Control Board , Gurgaon, Chand Saini, maintained that the use of firecrackers entailed a number of mishaps, besides triggering several health disorders. “The level of air pollution rises by 6 to 10 times, while that of noise pollution goes much beyond the tolerable limit,” he said, adding that firecrackers also emit toxic gases and pollute the air to perilous levels.

The district administration has banned the bursting of firecrackers from 10 pm to 6 am. According to the Environmental Protection Act, 1986, exploding firecrackers within a radius of 100 metres from schools, hospitals, courts and religious institutions is a punishable offence.

FATEHABAD: Children of MSD Springbells Public School on Thursday took out a rally to exhort the residents to celebrate Diwali without crackers. Additional Deputy Commissioner, Fatehabad, Ashok Kumar Garg flagged off the rally.

KURUKSHETRA: The sale and use of crackers has been restricted in Kurukshetra district to avoid any untoward incident on Diwali. Deputy Commissioner Pankaj Aggarwal on Thursday issued orders to regulate the sale of crackers in thickly populated areas.

The sale of fireworks will be restricted to areas notified by the administration.

Aggarwal said the dealers interested in sale of crackers would have to obtain a temporary licence of fireworks from the Subdivisional Magistrates concerned. 

Chandigarh, October 15
Over two years have lapsed since the then Chief Justice of the Punjab and Haryana High Court directed taking up on judicial side a letter by judicial officer MM Dhonchak against Haryana IPS officer Manjit Singh Ahlawat, the case has failed to make any headway. So far, only one of the three respondents has put in his appearance before the court through counsel, while the remaining respondents, including Ahlawat have remained unserved. Ahlawat is currently posted as the Inspector-General (Vigilance) at Gurgaon.

As the matter came up for hearing, Justice Kanwaljit Singh Ahluwalia this afternoon referred the matter to registrar (judicial) for the completion of service. The case will now come up for hearing only after the service is complete.

The high court has already issued a notice of motion in the matter. In the letter, Dhonchak had sought CBI probe into the allegations of forgery and fraud against Ahlawat during his tenure as SP, Rewari, along with other police officials.

Dhonchak was then posted as additional CJM at Rewari and is now posted in the high court. Issuing the directions, the then Chief Justice had observed the there was merit in the application and it be treated as a civil writ petition.

Going into the background of the matter, Dhonchak's letter had mentioned that during his tenure in Rewari he had launched prosecution in cases against Ahlawat. In a bid to browbeat the complainant, Ahlawat got the investigations reopened into an FIR allegedly involving Dhanchok's brother, against whom a case under the Essential Commodities Act was registered in May 1998. It was ordered to be cancelled by the then Gurgaon DIG.

The letter added that Ahlawat got bogus official records prepared by fabricating "zimnies". Later, in collusion with the then SHO, Rewari, and another, he projected that Dhonchak launched prosecution against Ahlawat as a counter blast to the reopening of investigation against his brother.

Rewari, October 15
The police has registered a case against nine persons, including four policemen, a former Inspector, a Subdivisional Magistrate and three medical officers of the local civil hospital, in a case of custodial death of Chhaju Ram, which took place here on July 14, 2005.

The case of abduction in order to kill the kidnapped person, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, preparation of incorrect record to save person (s) from legal punishment, destruction of evidence of offence and criminal conspiracy has been registered against the then Inspector, Randhir Singh (now retired from the service as DSP), the then ASI, Raghuvir Singh, the then havildars, Rakesh Kumar and Gur Dayal Singh, Dr PD Mehra, Dr JK Saini and Dr Ashok Saini, all three medical officers of the local Civil Hospital, the then Rewari SDM, Sujan Singh (now Narnaul SDM), and the then Rewari DSP, Pat Ram.

They have been booked following an order recently passed by Justice Mahesh Grover of the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

The high court had issued the above order on a petition filed by Khillo Devi, wife of Chhaju Ram, a native of Manakpur village of Charkhi Dadri area of Bhiwani district, who was then living in a rented accommodation in Arjun Nagar Colony here.

The high court has also issued a directive that while the CBI will investigate the matter, the state government will pay Rs 5 lakh by way of financial assistance to the petitioner.

The incident occurred when Vinod Sharma, kingpin of a gang of hardcore criminals and resident of Mithathal village of Bhiwani district, was apprehended while his accomplice Umesh, a resident of Jahidpur village of Rewari district, was killed in a police encounter on July 13, 2005, in Berli Kalan village, 16 km from here.

After Sharma reportedly told the police during interrogation that Chhaju Ram, who supplied illicit arms to criminals, had close links with the underworld, Chhaju Ram was abruptly picked up on July 14, 2005, from his home and brought to the CIA police post here for interrogation.

Later, when his condition worsened during interrogation, he was taken to the Civil Hospital, where he died.

A postmortem was then conducted by a board of three doctors - Dr PD Mehra, Dr JK Saini and Dr Ashok Sani - who all reportedly accorded concurrence to the police version that Chhaju Ram seemed to have died of cardiac arrest.

However, dissatisfied with the report, when Karan Singh, brother of the deceased, sought a second postmortem examination at the PGIMS, Rohtak, his plea was granted by the then Deputy Commissioner.

Thus, when the doctors of the PGIMS reported that injuries found on the body could have caused the death, it buttressed the apprehensions of the family members of the deceased, who had alleged that Chhaju Ram had died of police torture.

Consequently, Khillo Devi filed a petition in the high court seeking justice for herself as well as punishment for the guilty.