Dehradun, November 3
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank, after stepping into the shoes of a former Uttarakhand Chief Minister, Major-Gen BC Khanduri (retd), tried to upstage him by announcing his own candidature from the Srinagar Garhwal assembly segment during his visit to the town two days ago.

The sudden announcement by the Chief Minister to contest the 2012 assembly elections from the Srinagar Garhwal assembly segment and reiteration that no one should have any doubt about his candidature from the seat is seen as a clever move to scuttle any move by the former Chief Minister to shift to the Srinagar Garhwal assembly segment, his home constituency.

Interestingly, Thailisain, the assembly segment of Nishank, ceased to exist in the new delimitation of the assembly segment and the area now forms part of the Srinagar assembly segment. On the other hand, General Khanduri, who entered the state assembly from the Dhumakot segment in Pauri Garhwal district on the seat vacated by a former Congress minister, Lieut-Gen TPS Rawat (retd), was also looking for a safe seat for him to contest the 2012 assembly polls. His Dhumakot segment also ceased to exist in the new delimitation details.

According to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sources, General Khanduri, being a Brahmin like Nishank, was also interested in contesting from Srinagar or Karanprayag assembly seats as these two segments are Brahmin dominated.

However, Nishank pre-empted any move by General Khanduri to stake claim to the Srinagar seat. Moreover, since General Khanduri, who represented the Pauri Garhwal Lok sabha seat in 1991, 1998, 1999 and 2004, is considered the tallest leader from Garhwal in the BJP. With the emergence of Nishank as Chief Minister in the fight between General Khanduri and another former Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshiyari, there is bound to be a tussle between Nishank and General Khanduri, who is also looking for a role in the 2012 assembly polls.

Nishank has started doing groundwork to prepare himself as a formidable candidate from Srinagar, a nerve centre of Garhwali politics.

Roorkee, November 3
The police is still groping in dark about the murder of an elderly person, which took place in Lehboli village, 12 km from here, on Sunday.

The body of the victim, Sukhbir Kaushik (85), was found with his hands and feet tied with a rope and mouth stuffed with a cloth at his residence, where the deceased used to stay with his wife Krishna.

Krishna had left the house around 8.30 pm with her son on the fateful day.

Though the house was found ransacked, the police said the kin of the deceased failed to provide details about the stolen articles and cash.

“The two sons of the victim, who live in Roorkee separately from their parents, have been showing inability to tell about the details of the stolen articles as well as cash,” said SP (Rural) Ajay Joshi.

As per the rumours the miscreants have taken away the jewellery and cash worth Rs 25 lakh, but the police officials do not seem to be convinced.

“We were told that some documents, including fixed deposit (FD) certificates were missing. Why did the miscreants take away the documents, which were not of their use anyway, with them ?” said the SP, adding that this raised doubts about the involvement of some close person in the crime.

In the postmortem report the reason of the death could not be ascertained, added Joshi. According to the report, it seemed that the murder had taken place in the evening, whereas the wife of the deceased left the place around 8.30 pm that day.

The victim was a retired district sugarcane officer and said to possess large property.

Roorkee, November 3
Similar to the pattern of metro cities, the police is all set to take effective measures to ensure security of senior citizens, living alone in the city here. The beat officers will soon be visiting the senior citizens at least twice a month to know about their well-being.

Speaking to The Tribune SP (Rural) Ajay Joshi said the police would be preparing a list of the senior citizens, which would include their addresses and 
contact details.

He said orders in this direction had already been issued and the beat officers had been asked to complete the lists within a month.

Joshi said rural areas would also be brought under the preview of these strictures. These orders have come in wake of three murders of elderly persons, which were reported in this sub-divisional headquarters of the district recently.

While an elderly person, namely Sukhbir Singh Kaushik (85) was found murdered at Lehboli village the other day with his limbs tied with a rope and the mouth stuffed with a cloth, another murder of around 75-year-old man Shareef took place at Peer Garhi village in January this year.

A similar incident had taken place last year in April, in which the body of an old person Irshad was found at Tanda Bhannera village. Incidentally, all these incidents took place in the Manglore area.

Apart from that, the growing incidents against senior citizens living alone in nearby towns also forced the law-enforcing agency to initiate measures for the security of the elderly people here.

“Registers containing the records about the visits of beat officers will be maintained which will be checked by senior officials regularly,” said Joshi while adding that it was for the first time that the police had contemplated such a measure for the safety of the senior citizens here.

Dehradun, November 3
Even though the police claimed that it had identified the dacoits who looted a Herbertpur-based jewellery shop near Rambagh, any outcome of the probe would take some time as the cops were still struggling to get to the culprits.

The shop was allegedly robbed of ornaments and cash worth Rs 6.5 lakh on the fateful night of October 29.

The dacoits, who were reportedly five in number, had shot at the owners of the shop before leaving. The shop owners are still admitted in hospital.

While speaking to The Tribune, Superintendent of Police (SP) Dehat, said, “The dacoits have been identified and some suspects are also there, but we are struggling to locate them. We cannot disclose their identity right now as it might hamper the police investigation”.

“We have sent our teams to various places and some of them have come up with good results. A few police teams have come back from different states and other teams have left for new places where dacoits suspected to be hiding,” added the SP.

The police had earlier claimed that the robbery was done with the connivance of a local, while the main dacoits were from out-stations. But it has failed to make any arrest till now.

Meanwhile, to make the police job difficult, the two brothers Naresh (24) and Sunil (28), who had got seriously injured after the robbers shot at them, are unable to identify the criminals.

The sources in the police said they had hopes that once the victims recovered, they would help the police in great deal in identifying the criminals.

“It could be a psychological reason also that they are unable to identify the criminals. Once the victims have fully recovered, I think that they can help us in the investigation,” opined the SP.

Dehradun, November 3
A woman has been arrested while her son has fled after they allegedly gave poison to their bride who died here late last night. The bride’s family members, in a statement to the police, alleged that their daughter was being beaten for dowry by her in-laws for a long time.

They alleged that she died after the in-laws gave her poison.

The police said after investigation it had been proved that the bride was beaten and died of having taken a poisonous substance. The police has arrested Bichi Devi (61), mother-in-law of the deceased.

Her husband Bijender Singh, who is working with the Army and is posted at Muzaffarnagar, has fled after the incident.

The bride’s in-laws are at Balawala village and her family’s house is at Tuntowala.

Haridwar, November 3
Political heat in the city has intensified with two major political parties, the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), seem to be on a virtual verbal battlefield and the issue being a successful organisation of the Maha Kumbh in Haridwar next year.

While workers of both parties are fighting it at out at streets through protests, allegations and effigy-burning, the real verbal battle is going on between Harish Rawat, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment and MP from Haridwar, and Madan Kaushik, a state government minister and local legislator.

Rawat has alleged that despite being a local parliamentarian neither he is consulted nor his suggestions are taken by the state government and mela administration. If this is being done to an MP, then one can only imagine the people’s voice and concerns being taken care of.

The BJP, particularly Kaushik, alleges the Centre for not providing adequate food and ration quota to Haridwar despite the Kumbh on the anvil. The BJP activists have been burning effigies of Rawat and the Congress government daily for alleged step-motherly treatment to the state government for it being a BJP one.

Reacting to this allegation, Rawat comes with details and points out that while last year the food quota was 5,000 metric tonne for Haridwar this year it has been upped to 6,000 metric tonne.

Putting a question to the state government, he asked: “Earlier, the state government used to boast of record buying of wheat, but now when it has to be used in the Maha Kumbh, why is it not falling on that record production buyout?” This is all being done by the BJP government fearing the growing influence of the Congress in the region, Rawat added.

On the sugarcane issue, too, both sides differ. Kaushik says the state government is trying to help sugarcane farmers in whatever way it can and says that the sugarcane rates will be much higher than those in neighbouring states. He adds while Uttar Pradesh owes Rs 800 crore, we in Uttarakhand are buying the crop produce at Rs 127-132, which is quite reasonable. Terming the condition of sugarcane farmers as pathetic, Rawat said farmers needed central funding as the state had failed to fulfil their demands.

The two leaders do not see eye to eye. This personality clash triggered during the last Lok Sabha elections. Till last general assembly elections, Kaushik had a strong hold in Haridwar, but with the cancellation of his party ticket from the constituency, he suffered personal humiliation. Then came Rawat who originally used to contest from the Almora constituency and won by a record margin in the whole state from Haridwar. This increased his political stature as well as dented Kaushik’s, putting the BJP on backfoot since then.

And both sides take no chances to pin allegations on each other whatever be the issue, be it Kumbh, central schemes, communal tension or being the chief guest of a function.

But, on one point both Rawat and Kaushik agree and that is on the successful hosting of the Maha Kumbh and both agree that the focus should be on Kumbh’s peaceful completion. Rawat says: “Political battle can be fought later in the upcoming assembly elections but the Kumbh should not suffer due to it”. Kaushik reacts: “The Maha Kumbh is nearing and there is no time for allegations and whatsoever. Fifty million people will come to Haridwar and it’s our duty and the Congress should also not deny this”. 

Dehradun, November 3
Congress MP from Pauri Garhwal Satpal Maharaj has accused the state BJP government of shielding those responsible for Kaladhungi incident.

Satpal, in a statement issued today, alleged that there were a large number of BJP workers behind the Kaladhungi incident and accused the state BJP of trying to protect these leaders.

While seeking a CBI probe into the matter, Satpal also pointed that while Congress leader Sanjay Negi had been bailed out by the court, the state administration was preparing to put him behind bars under the Gangster Act.

Joining the issue, former Congress Minister Mantri Prasad Naithani too accused the state government of harassing Congress workers. He said the BJP government was trying to defame the Congress by linking its name with the Kaladhungi incident.

The Kaladhungi area of Nainital district area saw large-scale violence almost a month back when Head Constable Puran Lal Sharma was stoned to death by an irate mob after a political leader was stabbed inside a police station. 

Dehradun, November 3
Kachalu or arbi (colocasia root), a popular form of potato, can be relished in a variety of ways, like boiled, fried, stuffed or the very enticing chaat. When combined with boiled cholas, it gives a relishing taste to street-food lovers. Following this tradition of serving kachalu chaat, Dehradun over the years has been satisfying customers with many such street vendors found in every nook and corner of the city.

In the midst of growing competition, city’s famous Kachalu Chaat Corner being run by Veeru, the main hand behind this 30-year-old business started by his father, is always jam-packed with street-food lovers. The mini shop is situated in the clumsy lane of the old fish market in the Paltan Bazar area.

“This shop was started by my father and from the past eight years I am looking after the business,” informed Veeru.

Attracting the customers, who come from far-off locations to either eat it at the spot or pack it, signifies his ability to maintain the taste and authenticity. Where cholas are already kept aside in a big utensil, boiled kachalu on the spot are peeled and cut into pieces to make a ready-to-serve mixed chaat.

In a piece of green leaf as per the requirement of the customer, a desired amount of cholas and kachalu are firstly combined and then to make it super mouth watery, with a pinch of salt, red chilly powder and garam masala, lemon juice and tamarind juice is added fulfilling the desire for something indifferent from the regular served menus. “I prepare the chaat as per the taste of the customer and as my aim is to serve good food and not run after money, my chaat comes for a reasonable price varying between Rs 5 to Rs 10 only,” added Veeru.

“I love the tangy taste of the cholas and the kachalu and for the past so many years I am a regular visitor of Veeru’s shop. I come here to relish my favourite chaat,” said Ramesh, a resident.

Furthermore, with great taste and quality cooking, the shop only opens from 11am to 4 pm, aiming to serve fresh stuff rather then old and stale food, the sole reason for which many people avoid having street side junk food.

Dehradun, November 3
A group of 26 persons held a protest here today for not being given the possession of the land, which they have been irrigating for decades in Udham Singh Nagar district. They also wrote a letter to Uttarakhand Chief Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank in this regard.

The protesters alleged that they had been paying land revenue for decades, but hadn’t been given the possession of it.

Omkar Deep Singh, who led the protesters, said they were farm labourers of Kashipur and Jaspur. They contacted the administration several times, held fasts and protests, but nothing concrete happened, he lamented.

Administration officials, just to gain publicity in newspapers and to gain pat by the government, gave the papers of the land, but that remained only on papers. “We didn’t get the possession of the land”, he alleged.

The present Kashipur-Udham Singh Nagar Commissioner was given requests in writing and was also contacted individually. He also assured us of getting the possession of the land, but nothing happened, he alleged.

Nainital, November 3
The pathetic conditions prevailing at the base hospital at Haldwani made Health Director Harish Bhatt lose his calm and issue a 15-day deadline to the hospital authorities to put things in order.

It was during a surprise visit on Monday to the hospital, touted to be amongst the best in the region, that the Director came face to face with the grim reality of filth lying at most of the places.

Dr Bhatt inspected both the old and the new buildings of the hospital. He was shocked to find piles of waste lying unattended. He ordered Chief Medical Superintendent (CMS) JP Bhatt to put things in order within a fortnight.

He asked the CMS to take stringent action against the contractor responsible for maintaining cleanliness at the hospital if things did not improve over the next 15 days.

Incidentally, this is the second time that the contractor has come under fire for failing to deliver on his job front. Earlier, he had been pulled up by none other than the Minister of State for Health Balwant Singh Bhauryal. Things did improve for a few days, but the filth returned after a while.

Officials said the Health Director later held a meeting with the authorities at the hospital.

He was apprised of the staff shortage being faced here and promised to look into it. He also conveyed that efforts were being made to appoint a neurosurgeon at the hospital soon.

Dehradun, November 3
The Planet Earth, an exhibition by photographer Debatosh Sengupta, is on display from today at Uttarakhand Gramin Bank (UGB). The exhibition was inaugurated by Swami Nirvikalpanand, head of Rama Krishan Ashram, Dehradun.

This 12-day exhibition which has 45 images, which are random selections from the photographer’s recent works, is on till November 14. “My work brings forth the beauty of nature in the country. These are not only photographs, but an honest documentation to raise conscience of people to protect earth,” said Sengupta.

He also expressed gratitude to Thireesh Kapoor, Chairman of UGB, for letting him display photographs in the bank’s premises.

Other eminent artists present at the event were Alok Ulfat, TV artiste and Major Ashok, whose bonsai art gained appreciation last week.

Nainital, November 3
District Collector Shailesh Bagauli has ordered a special cleanliness drive to be conducted at Nainital on the occasion of the forthcoming foundation day celebrations of the state. He has also ordered that all statues that have been erected at public places be painted afresh and cleaned properly.

While the local administration is yet to receive a government order regarding the celebrations of the state foundation day, preparations are being done following the local initiative to mark the occasion. A meeting was held here today to chalk out the celebration plans.

The programmes are to be held for three days, right from Nyaya Panchayat-level upwards. Bagauli has ordered that it must be ensured that prominent citizens and statehood activists are invited to the functions. He has ordered the lighting up of government and semi-government buildings during these three days and has also made an appeal to the citizens to light up their homes.

The highlights of the celebrations will be prabhat pheris from Tallital to Mallital, cultural programmes showcasing the tradition and culture of the region, presentation of plays and awareness drives about the government programmes through stalls that will be erected at the Flats Ground. A special flower exhibition and an inter-school quiz competition will be organised at Haldwani to mark the occasion.

Bagauli has asked the heads of various departments to provide him with a list of schemes and programmes which they propose to launch for the public. These programmes will be announced before the public on the statehood day.