Fatehabad, June 11
The second phase of the panchayat elections in 36 blocks of 12 districts of Haryana will be held tomorrow. The districts include Ambala, Bhiwani,Fatehabad, Jind, Jhajjar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Sirsa and, Sonepa.

All preparations have been made for free, fair and peaceful poll, Electoral Officer Dharam Vir said today adding all Deputy Commissioners and the police authorities had been asked to deploy additional force in sensitive areas.

He said there were 5,976 polling stations in which 30,18,531 voters would exercise franchise to elect 1,888 sarpanches, 18,262 panches, 854 panchayat samiti members and 234 zila parishad members.

As many as 2,895 officials had been deployed on election duty for 114 panchayats in Fatehabad district. “ As many as 57 panchayats in the Fatehabad administrative block, 29 in Bhuna and 28 in Bhattu will elect representatives of Panchayati Raj organisations tomorrow,” said JK Abhir, SDM, Fatehabad. The authorities have declared 22 villages “sensitive” and 14 “hypersensitive”.

“At least 1,256 policemen will be on duty during polling tomorrow, out of whom 588 will be looking after the security at polling booths.The rest will man barricades and be part of patrol parties,” said Jagwant Singh Lamba, SP, Fatehabad.

Mallar, Mochiwali and Bhattu have unanimously elected their sarpanches.

Similarly, 282 panchayat members in the Fatehabad block, 116 in Bhattu and 151 in Bhuna have also been elected unanimously. Gorakhpur with 7,422 voters has the maximum number of candidates for the post of sarpanch.

In all, 47 candidates, all male, are in the fray. The authorities had to attach three EVM polling units to accommodate such a large number of candidates.

Nehla with 25 candidates and Bhuna with 24 are some other panchayats with a large number of candidates for the post of sarpanch.

Jind, June 11
To ensure smooth conduct of the second phase of polls for Panchayati Raj bodies in the district, the authorities have deployed as many as 3,236 employees and policemen on poll duty tomorrow.

About 43 villages listed “hypersensitive” and “sensitive” will be given extra attention during polling in the villages covered under the the four panchayat blocks of Alewa, Uchana, Pillukhera and Julana.

Polling for the three blocks inf Jind, Safidon and Narwana has already been held in the first phase.

At least one DSP has been given the charge of law and order in each of the panchayat blocks. Twenty inspectors, 246 ASIs, 347 head constables, 1410 constables and 110 women cops have been put on duty.

They will be assisted by 999 Home Guards. The “hypersensitive” vilages are include Lijwanakalan, Polli, Hathwala, Kila Zafargarh, Lijwana Khurd, Nandgarh, Padana, Anupgarh, Shamlo Khurd and Deskhera in the Julana block.

Pega, Thua, Sandil, Dahola, Alewa, Durrana, Khanda and Bidhana in the Alewa Block have been declared “ultra sensitive.”

Another nine villages declared “hypersensitive” are in the Pillukhera block.

In the whole of the state, there are 675 “hypersensitive and 741 sensitive” villages with 1,885 and 1,260 polling stations, respectively, said highly placed sources in the capital.

Sirsa, June 11
Voters with dual residency have become a bone of contention between candidates when villages bordering Rajasthan go to the polls for Panchayati Raj institutions tomorrow. There have been several complaints of villagers having votes in Haryana as well as Rajasthan. Candidates have been coming out with such complaints against their rivals. In the second round of polling in the district tomorrow, villagers from the three administrative blocks of Rania, Ellenabad and Nathusari Chopta from the district would cast their vote. Geographically, Ellenabad and Nathusari Chopta administrative blocks are unevenly spread and stretched longitudinally east-west and thinly north-south.

A long stretch of these blocks has villages sharing boundaries with Rajasthan. Kasikabas, Talwara, Berwal, Neemla and Kishanpura are located on the Rajasthan border. Prahlad Singh from Mangolia has said in his complaint to the authorities that a family from his village has votes in the village and Jhamber village of Hanumangarh district in Rajasthan. The DC said the complaints would be examined.

Sirsa/Fatehabad, June 11
Paddy farmers from Sirsa, Fatehabad and parts of Hisar have news to cheer.They will get adequate water for their crop this season.

On account of enhanced inflow of water in the catchments areas of the Bhakra Dam, the supply of canal water to the farmers in these areas has already been increased. A further hike is on the cards.

“ There is a marked improvement in the supply of water in canals, distributaries and other water channels getting water from the Bhakra Main Canal (BMC) and the situation is expected to improve further in the coming week,” claimed DC Yudhbir Singh Khyalia.

Nachhattar Singh from Maujukhera village in Sirsa said the Southern Ghaggar Canal (SGC) that supplied irrigation water to his own and surrounding villages, had been receiving eight days of supply after every 40 days till now.

However, this time the supply would be after every 16 days.

Farmer Barjinder Singh, whose Kirpal Patti village also gets irrigation water from this canal, said farmers were getting abundant water.

However, because of the lackadaisical attitude of the irrigation authorities, the canal passing through their village suffered breaches, whenever water flowed in it. “This time too, we will fail to get the full benefit from the increased supply of water as the canal has breached again at some places,” Barjinder Singh added.

The Southern Ghaggar Canal gets water from the seasonal Ghaggar when it is flooded during the rains.

The canals water requirements are met by the Bhakra Main Canal during the rest of the year.

Om Parkash, XEN, Water Services Division, Tohana (Fatehabad) said the daily inflow of water in the catchments areas of the Bhakra Dam was around 30,000 cusecs today against around 6,000 to 7,000 cusecs in March. “Earlier, we had four groups of eight days each and the water flowed to particular areas for eight days and was closed for the next 24 days. Now, we have three groups, meaning the water flows for eight days and remains closed for the next 16 day. “If the present situation continues, we will soon have two groups with alternative supply and closure for 16 days each,” maintained the XEN.

Yamunanagar, June 11
Arvinder Kaur, on whose complaint a sexual harassment case has been registered against ex-IG MS Ahlawat, returned home in Bridgepuri today, saying she had gone to meet the CM in Rohtak to demand attempt to rape case against the former IG.

Missing since last night, her father had alleged that she had been kidnapped. “I was not able to meet the CM as he changed his scheduled visit to Rohtak,” Arvinder Kaur, told the media on her returning home. “I left home without informing anyone as I want to fight the case till the end and not kill myself like Ruchika, she said. “I was threatened to withdraw the case over the phone on March 29. I lodged a complaint with the Civil Lines police in Rohtak the next day. However. no action was taken on the complaint,” she alleged.

“I will try to meet the CM again to get justice,” she added.

Arvinder Kaur alleged that former CM OM Prakash Chautala had protected the former IG and despite serious allegations, had been promoted because of his proximity to the former Chief Minister.

SP Sibas Kabiraj said they had begun investigations. “We will record the statement of the complainant again..”

Panipat, June 11
Almost two months after registering a case against eight cops, including an ASP, who had been accused of extorting Rs 6 lakh from a local share broker and making an unsuccessful attempt to extort another Rs 10 lakh from a local jeweller on March 10, the district police today filed a 744-page challan in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate against the cops and 10 others.

The challan was presented before the court by the SHO of the city police station, Naresh Ahlawat. The move came after Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda gave the go-ahead to the police to proceed against the accused cops. The police had registered a case under Sections 394, 397, 398 and 120-B against the eight cops and seized six pistols, 68 bullets and two vehicles. In the challan, the police has presented mobile call details of the accused, their service record and other related documents. As per the challan, the police will produce 60 witnesses in the case. The police had arrested ASP Ashok Sheoran, ASI Vijay Pal, head constables Jagbir, Raj Kapoor and Iswar Singh and constables Vinod Kumar, Dharam Singh and Mahinder Singh.

Though the police was earlier told that the extorted money had been stashed at Jodhpur, later the accused changed their statement and told the police that the money had been sent to Guwahati. However, the money extorted by the cops could not be recovered.

The police said the 10 other persons against whom the challan had been presented in the court had come under investigation as their names had been revealed by the accused cops.

Chandigarh, June 11
Mohit Singh won’t have to fend for himself anymore. Left with grandparents after his mother remarried following the death of his father, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has injected compassion to the rigid legal framework for coming to his rescue.

Without bending rules, Justice Ranjit Singh has persuaded his mother and grandmother to hand over their share of benefits to the now 10-year-old boy.

In an order of its kind, Justice Ranjit Singh observed: “The death of Bijender Singh of Hisar district, who was serving in the Army medical corps, has left a bitter battle between his legal representatives for getting benefits on account of his death. What a tragedy! People are mainly concerned with the money, forgetting the loss of their dear one.

“The sufferer in the process is the young son of the late Bijender Singh. He is now aged 10. At the time of his father’s death, he was aged two. His mother received various benefits accruing on account of the Army Group Insurance Fund and Army Provident Fund, totalling Rs 5, 07, 720.

“The appellant-mother, Sunita Devi, has since remarried on February 1, 2004.

Remarriage may not be a reason enough to view her with prejudice. Being young, she has every right to start afresh in life and seek rehabilitation, but the interest of this young child left without parental care cannot be lost sight of….” In his detailed order, Justice Ranjit Singh ruled: “The prime concern of the court is to ensure the welfare of this young child, who is left alone in his journey of life. It is a bit heartening to notice that the child is being looked after by his grandparents. Interaction with the parties, has revealed that the child has been put in a central school at Pune, where his uncle is serving in the Army. Arrangements have been put in place so that the benefit and rightful dues of this young child are protected

“Persuasion has made the parties see reason. The grandmother as well as the mother of this young child has agreed to leave their share in favour of the child.

“Since the appellant has willingly agreed to transfer the amount in her name to her son , a direction is hereby issued to the Union of India to transfer the amount in the name of Mohit Singh”.

Ambala, June 11
The Ministry of Tourism has sanctioned eco-tourism projects for Morni, Pinjore and Yamunanagar to be completed at a cost of Rs 3.29 crore.

A mega project for Yamunanagar, Panchkula and Paonta Sahib, and the construction of a heliport at Kurukshetra are among the projects identified for consideration in the coming year.

This was stated by Union Tourism Minister Selja, who was here to lay the foundation stone of a complex for the construction of chambers for over 300 lawyers at Ambala City. — TNS

Hisar, June 11
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said here today that good policing was a prerequisite for making the state crime-free.

Addressing the passing-out parade of recruits of batch No. 73 at the Recruit Training Centre of 3rd Battalion of the Haryana Armed Police, he said he was making efforts to modernise the Haryana police to reduce crime to the lowest levels. The Gurgaon and Faridabad police was being equipped with the latest gadgets for the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. The process to recruit 170 men and 33 women players to the state police was on. — TNS

Bhiwani, June 11
“As I claim to cure chronic disease like cancer, I, with the cooperation of the public, claim to change the democratic system of the country which has several shortcomings and vow to help the poor and remove corruption.”

This was said by Swami Ramdev while addressing a press conference here today, just a day before the beginning of a 4-day yoga camp to be held at Bhim Stadium here.

Swami Ramdev is out to “clean” the world’s largest democracy of 1.2 billion people of greed and foreign influences, drawing on the support of a television audience of millions and his claim to have a follower in every Indian household.

Dressed in his traditional orange robe, wooden sandals, Ramdev said his party would contest all 543 seats in the next election due by 2014. Ramdev said: “I had personally met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to bring the Indian money deposited in foreign banks.”

Dr Singh had promised to do the same within the next 100 days.

“However, 300 days have passed, but the PM has failed to fulfil his promise and now it is our duty to accomplish this task”, said Ramdev.

Criticising the prevailing administrative and education system of the country, which India inherited from Britishers, he said:

“The policies which were formed by the British were not to run the country ... they were formulated to loot the country.”

Rohtak, June 11
The state unit of the CPM has expressed concern and anguish over “unabated” crime rate in the state. In a statement here today, party state secretary Inderjit Singh said an alarming increase in the incidents of abduction, rape and murders had led to a sense of fear and insecurity among residents, especially women.

“The way the women were targeted was shameful and a cause of concern for many,” he said.

The CPM leader, who visited PGIMS hospital here to see a girl victim who was undergoing a treatment after being badly burnt in a suicide bid following alleged harassment by anti-social elements and policemen, alleged that the police machinery had failed to protect the common man and its ineptness had led to a kind of resurgence of the anti-social elements in the state.

He asked the Chief Minister to pull up the machinery and take to task the cops who had been accountable to provide safety and security to the people.

Hisar, June 11
The police today claimed to have busted a gang of criminals involved in the recent spate of crimes, including murders, at Hansi, a subdivisional town near here, which had led to a public uproar in the town.

A police spokesman said here that three members of the gang, including its head, Sonu, alias Satish, had been arrested. The other two members of the gang were Sunil, son of Abhey Ram, and his namesake Sunil, son of Naurang.

The police seized three weapons from them: two .32-bore pistols, one .315-bore countrymade pistol and 15 live cartridges. This gang was active in the Hansi area in the recent past and also in Gurgaon. The spokesman said the gang had confessed to several murders and robberies in Hansi and Gurgaon in the recent months. The gang had shot dead Suresh Chhabra at Hansi on March 17.

The murder was committed to create terror in Hansi so that the gang could extract money from businessmen. — TNS

Karnal, June 11
The death of Rakesh, a labourer from Dachar village who reportedly died in an accident yesterday, took a new turn today with family members suspecting foul play and refusing to take the body home from the trauma centre. The family members blamed Buta Singh, employer of the deceased, for his death and demanded action against him.

Rakesh’s sister Kismati alleged that Buta Singh took her brother on the pretext of driving a tractor on Wednesday evening and informed them the next day that he had met with an accident and was admitted to the trauma centre. “When we reached the trauma centre, my brother had died and Buta Singh left the place immediately after seeing us,” she said, adding that the family members suspected that Rakesh had been murdered. Relatives accepted the body only after Assandh DSP Madan Lal said a case had been registered and assured them that Buta Singh would be arrested soon.