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Flag march in Sirsa; hearing today
Guruji innocent: Dera official |
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De-addiction centre
raided
Area under wheat declines
Varsity teachers’ dharna on March 19
SHO suspended for chowkidar’s suicide
Stench brings angry traders on road
Undertrial shot in court complex
INLD to move no-trust motion
Murderous attack
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Flag march in Sirsa; hearing today
Sirsa/Karnal, March 3 The dera chief will have to appear before the court for three days in a row in the Ranjit Singh murder case tomorrow and Ram Chander Chhatarpati case on Friday and Saturday. Followers of the dera assemble in large numbers on Barnala Road outside the court complex and queue up along the route taken by their chief whenever he appears before the court. The authorities apprehend an even higher turnout of followers in the next three days to exhibit solidarity with their head after the registration of a fresh case of murder against him by the CBI on the “disappearance” of Fakir Chand, a former manager of the dera. The police and paramilitary forces held a flag march in the town today. Starting from Lal Batti Chowk, paramilitary personnel moved in armed vehicles through Rori Bazar, Hisaria Bazar, Ghantaghar Chowk, Rania Road, Suratgarhia Bazar and Janata Bhawan Road. Balbir Singh, DSP (Headquarters) led the flag march. The SDM, SK Jain, today addressed a meeting of panchayat members and sarpanches. Earlier, he addressed municipal councillors. The Dc, Yudhbir Singh Khyalia, has directed all officers and government employees against leaving their station of posting without prior permission. The authorities have directed the petrol station owners against selling fuel in containers or bottles. “The situation is normal, but we are not taking any chances,” said Khyalia and added that the district had been divided into 24 sectors and duty magistrates appointed at each of these. Meanwhile, the authorities have begun patrolling by able-bodied villagers to guard public buildings and installations. While the situation remained peaceful in Karnal, Kurukshetra and Kaithal districts, miscreants set the office of the Nissing Block Development and Panchayat Officer (BDPO) at Chirao Chowk on fire in the wee hours of Wednesday. They poured petrol through a window. Pieces of furniture were burnt and the ceiling was damaged. Office record was also reported to have been destroyed. The miscreants also attempted to set ablaze a government vehicle and the adjoining Punjab National Bank building, police sources said. A team of forensic experts from Madhuban inspected the spot. Assistant Superintendent of Police, Ved Prakash Godara, said a case against unknown persons had been registered.
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De-addiction centre
raided
Panipat, March 3 Inmates of the centre, who were kept in illegal confinement, were also freed from there by a team of senior civil and police officials. As many as 17 inmates were freed. The administration had received a complaint from one Iswar, son of Prithvi Singh of Jind, in which he had alleged that inmates at Naya Milan Drug De-addiction Centre in the model town locality were being kept in illegal confinement. The complainant had stated that they were being given inhuman treatment, including physical and mental torture, in the name of rehabilitation. Deputy Commissioner Vijay Singh Dahiya asked the SDM and the district health authorities to raid the centre and take appropriate action. SDM Subhita Dhaka said on reaching the centre they found that it was being run in violation of the rules. The team of officials found 17 inmates on the premises and immediately asked the police to evacuate them from there. Civil surgeon SS Punia said the inmates were medically examined and it was found that they had not been put on any treatment by the rehabilitation centre. However, their guardians were being charged hefty amount each month on the pretext of treating them. The civil surgeon said it was also found that many of the inmates did not even need medical treatment. The officials spoke to inmates and recorded their statements. Meanwhile, the SHO of the Model Town police station was asked to carry out an investigation and submit a detailed report to the SDM. The SHO said action as per the law would be taken against the owners of the centre. However, it could not be confirmed whether a case was registered or not till the filing of the report.
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Guruji innocent: Dera official
Sirsa, March 3 This week, however, he is likely to depose in earlier cases being tried by the court.The registration of a fresh case had triggered violence across the state with government buses and property torched by dera followers. “It is still not clear whether Fakir Chand is dead or alive. His whereabouts are not known. Without any proof of his death, lodging a case of murder against Guruji (Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh) is beyond our comprehension,” said Aditya Insan, spokesperson of the dera. He claimed the central agency was yet to come up with a plausible motive for the dera chief to have done away with a “devotee”. He also questioned the motive of the complainant, who claims to have been told of the devotee’s gory end way back in 1993. The dera produced before the media one Ram Das and claimed he was the younger brother of Fakir Chand. Ram Das told mediapersons here that their family was devotees of the dera since 1965. “Fakir Chand’s wife died in 1985 and he went into depression. In 1987, I took Fakir Chand to our native village Diwan Khera, but he continued to frequent the dera. “He disappeared one morning and I lodged an FIR with the police,” maintained Ram Das, belying CBI’s murder theory. Sixty-year-old Ram Kumar Bishnoi, a former “sadhu” at Dera Sacha Sauda, whose persistent efforts led to the registration of the FIR, however, feels vindicated. Bishnoi has been pursuing this case for more than 17 years now.He had first submitted an application to the local police in 1993 expressing apprehension that Fakir Chand may have been liquidated. He has been fighting a lone battle since. |
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Area under wheat declines
Chandigarh, March 3 Over the past three years, area under wheat cultivation had been rising. Though this was mainly to do with the hike in the MSP announced by the government, the shifting of large portions of land from sugarcane cultivation to wheat cultivation too had added to higher wheat production. It is estimated that in the past two years, almost 60,000 hectares of area under sugarcane cultivation had been diverted to wheat and paddy cultivation. Since sugarcane farmers were not amused with the state advised price offered by the state government on sugarcane, they started shifting to more economically remunerative crops like wheat and paddy. However, this year, the government has hiked the MSP of wheat by just Rs 20 per quintal (from Rs 1,080 per quintal in 2008-09 rabi marketing season (RMS) to Rs 1,100 per quintal in this RMS). With the input costs going up substantially, especially because of the frequent hike in diesel prices, farmers were hoping that the MSP would be raised to Rs 1,250 per quintal. This factor too has contributed in decline in area under wheat cultivation. It is learnt that as against an area of 24.62 lakh hectares under wheat cultivation last year, the area under wheat cultivation this year is 24.52 lakh hectares. Sources in the Agriculture Department say that this might also lead to a slight fall in wheat production. As against wheat production of 113.60 lakh metric tonnes in the last RMS, the wheat production in Haryana this year would be around 108 lakh metric tonnes. The state had set a target of 114.60 lakh metric tonnes for wheat production this year. However, in spite of suitable weather conditions, the state might fall short of its target wheat production. |
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Varsity teachers’ dharna on March 19
Jhajjar, March 3 Stating this here today, Dr Vazir Nehra, vice-president of AIFUCTO, claimed that a large number of teachers across the country would participate in the dharna. This was to send out a mesage to the central as well as the state governments that the teachers would neither tolerate denial of just benefits nor the “whimsical” decisions of governments. “AIFUCTO is surprised and unhappy over the unnecessary delay in granting the designation of Associate Professor to teachers who have completed three years in the Reader/selection grade,” said Nehra, adding that a notification of UGC regulations in this regard
was being delayed unnecessarily. He said office-bearers of AIFUCTO had been in regular touch with the
regulation committee of the UGC and the Human Resources Ministry regarding their main demands. A delegation had recently met the UGC chairman who had pointed out that the regulations must take into account the ground reality, he maintained. |
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SHO suspended for chowkidar’s suicide
Rewari, March 3 Manjit Singh Sheoran, DSP (HQ), has been asked to conduct a probe into the matter. A case under Section 306 of the IPC has been registered against the SHO, village sarpanch Abhey Singh and Babu Lal, headmaster of Government Primary School, Dhani Kahtian village, under the Bhungarka village panchayat on a complaint filed by Santosh Devi, wife of the deceased, and her two sons. She alleged that her husband committed suicide by jumping into a well at Bhungarka village on February 28 fearing further police torture in a case of theft of DTH equipment from the school on the night of February 25. The thieves, who were wearing masks, reportedly assaulted chowkidar Kailash Sharma after which they took away the DTH apparatus. The headmaster, Babu Lal, along with the sarpanch Abhey Singh, lodged a complaint following which the Nangal Chaudhary police summoned Kailash to the police station on February 27, where he was allegedly tortured to get a clue about the theft. He was let off and directed to appear again at the police station the next day. However, suspecting more torture, he committed suicide.
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Stench brings angry traders on road
Sirsa, March 3 Hira Lal Sharma, president of the district unit of the Haryana Pradesh Beopar Mandal, who led the traders, alleged that the safai workers of the municipal council dumped garbage taken out from the drains on roadsides leaving the entire market stinking. “We have made several representations to the authorities concerned, but to no avail,” said Subhash Sherwala, a trader who deals in gur and sugar. He alleged that the market gives the look of a dumping ground with heaps of refuse lying here and there. The blockade continued for over an hour before municipal executive officer Neki Ram Bishnoi, SHO Hans Raj Bishnoi and traffic police SHO Krishna Yadav reached there and assured traders of an action. The traders lifted the blockade after the municipal authorities started the process of shifting the garbage from the market. |
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Undertrial shot in court complex
Ambala, March 3 Bobby was brought to the District Courts under heavy security for appearance in a case from Central Jail, Ambala, and sustained three or four bullet injuries. His wife and child were also present in the court at the time of the incident. The victim, bleeding profusely, was taken to the Civil Hospital by the police. The victim was operated upon, but doctors could not save his life. Bobby’s married sister, Ritu, too, was shot dead outside her parent’s house in Ambala Cantt a few months ago. Bobby reportedly got into criminal activities in 1998 and allegedly killed a local councillor, Raju Dhallaiya, at Ambala Cantt.
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INLD to move no-trust motion
Karnal, March 3 Talking to mediapersons here, he said the government performance had been dismal on all fronts and no concrete steps had been initiated to fulfill the tall promises made during the elections. Launching a frontal attack on the government, Sangwan said people were reeling under skyrocketing prices, essential commodities were out of the reach of the common man, prices of petrol and diesel had been arbitrarily increased and discrimination with north Haryana in jobs was continuing. He stated that 35,000 out of 45,000 jobs were given to Rohtak district alone while other districts, especially the northern Haryana, were given a raw deal. |
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Murderous attack
Rewari, March 3 Considering him as dead, the assailants fled in a car after abandoning him there. Some people got him admitted to the trauma centre here. However, when his condition worsened, he was referred to a private hospital in Gurgaon. Sources said the alleged assailants, who picked him from the above colony, made him telephonically ask his associate Vicky Gujjar to come over there where they could eliminate Vicky to settle an old score. However, when Vicky did not turn up, they opened fire that hit Umesh in the thigh and also stabbed him.
— OC |
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