Karnal, June 29
It was the call of conscience and patriotism that drove 62-year-old Col Sohan Rai (retd), suffering from a knee problem, to ride to Rezang La to pay homage to 114 martyrs of 13 Kamaon who sacrificed their lives while defending the country during the war with China in 1962.

In the war, of the 123 soldiers, 114 were killed while nine were seriously injured on November 18, 1962. While Major Shaitan Singh, who led the company, was honoured posthumously with the Param Vir Chakra, Naik Hukum Chand, Naik Gulab Singh Yadav, Lance Naik Ram Singh, Subedar Ram Kumar and Ram Chander, all hailing from Rewari district in Haryana, were awarded the Vir Chakra posthumously.

Recalling his meeting with three brave soldiers of his regiment, who were held prisoners during the 1962 war, at Rani Khet in 1976 on “regal day” when he was the Captain of the regiment, Colonel Rai said the heroic war stories narrated by the three Army men, whose ears and noses were cut by the Chinese during interrogation, had inspired him to pay tributes to them.

“The finger was still on the trigger of the gun and eyes focused on the enemy when the bodies were removed from the battle ground; an Army person was shot while throwing a hand grenade and the grenade was still in his hand.

“Four jawans were lying on the ground with their hats on their guns and even the Chinese admitted that they were very brave and difficult to tackle,” Colonel Rai said.

Even Maj-Gen Ian Cardozo, in his book “Param Vir, Our Heroes In Battle” recalled, “When Rezang La was re-visited, dead jawans were found in trenches still holding on to their weapons; every single man of this company was found dead in his trench with several bullet or splinter wounds.

“The 2-inch mortar man died with a bomb still in his hand. The medical orderly had a syringe and bandage in his hands when the Chinese bullet hit him. Of the 1,000 mortar bombs with the defenders all but seven had been fired and the rest were ready to be fired when the (mortar) section was overrun.”

Colonel Rai said, “Each word spoken by the trio strengthened my decision to go to Rezang La on a 500 cc Royal Enfield motorcycle and I decided to traverse 2,700 km from Delhi which was difficult and risky for me because of the knee problem.”

Colonel Rai, along with four members, including Chandershekhar Jhakka, a passout of the IIT, Mumbai, and the fastest motorcylist on the golden quadrilateral, started the journey from Delhi with halts at Udhampur, Kargil and Batalik.

After crossing Leh and Khardunga Pass, the other members deviated for Mismikela from Tangtse to explore a semi-motorable road on bikes while Colonel Rai went alone to pay homage to the heroes at Rezang La and fulfil his long-cherished dream.

“At one place I lost all my hopes as the bike got stuck in water and my knees were not strong enough to drag me out. Luckily, Chandershekhar came to my rescue.”

Chandigarh, June 29
Another runaway couple today approached the Women’s Commission with the same story of threat to life for daring to fall in love and marrying.

While the boy’s family has accepted this inter-caste marriage, the couple, Manmohan Mehta and Shakti from Sirsa, maintains that the girl’s relatives are baying for their blood.

Speaking to The Tribune over phone from Delhi, Mehta said they had known each other for nearly a year before they fell in love. Following an affair that lasted four-odd months, the couple approached their respective families for marriage.

While the boy’s family readily agreed to the alliance, Shakti, who is from a Brahmin family, was given a hard time by her family members. “My father is paralysed and my aunt runs the house. I told her I wanted to get married to Manmohan and she rejected my request outright. She would wake me up in the middle of the night and beat me black and blue for falling in love and daring to even think that I could marry outside my caste,” Shakti said.

Mehta maintained that following this the couple decided to marry at a local temple. The marriage was solemnised on May 29 after which the couple has been on the run to escape the wrath of the girl’s family.

“We have been on the run since then, almost like criminals. In this last month, we have slept at bus stands and at railway stations, been to Jaipur and Mussorie before arriving in Delhi to seek police protection. My family is being given a harrowing time by Shakti’s family for supporting us. Her relatives have repeatedly sent messages saying that they will lay their hands on us eventually, take her back and kill me,” Mehta claims.

On at least two occasions, the couple went to Sirsa to appear before the local court to ask for police protection, but was forced to leave the premises after information that Shakti’s family has got wind of their presence. Later, their application for police protection was withdrawn by their lawyer.

Meanwhile, in Sirsa, two of Mehta’s relatives were admitted to a hospital yesterday after goons, allegedly sent by the girl’s family, attacked them. Following this attack, Mehta and Shakti today met Girja Vyas, chairperson of the Women’s Commission in Delhi and narrated their story.

Vyas called up Sirsa Deputy Commissioner CG Rajini Kaanthan and asked him to provide security to the boy’s family and the couple.

Confirming this, Rajini Kaanthan said he had directed the police to provide sufficient security to Mehta’s family. Vyas assured the couple that she would take up the matter with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and send a letter to the DGP as well.

Chandigarh, June 29
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today held the state of Haryana at fault for autocratic exercise of powers of resumption. Quashing the orders for resuming DCM Limited’s land in Hisar, Justice K Kannan of the high court also imposed a cost of Rs 25,000 on the state. The orders came 21 years after the petition against the state of Haryana and another respondent was filed.

In the petition, Delhi-based DCM Limited had challenged the action of the respondents to resume its land. Justice Kannan asserted: “It all started with the petitioner making a plea for approval of the government to sell a portion of the vacant land, which it had not utilised.

“The Financial Commissioner and Secretary to the government rejected the plea on April 27, 1988. On April 11, 1989, the government found that the action of the mill management in applying to the government for sale showed that the work-sheds and the residential quarters or portion of the both had become a liability for the management and the intended action for the sale of land and building amounted to an expression to commit breach of covenants of the original deed of assignment”.

Justice Kannan ruled: An application for permission to sell a portion of property, which had been kept vacant, ought not to have been understood as violating the terms of covenant in not establishing a factory….

“A notice of breach and an order of resumption cannot be set in motion on the same day. If there was satisfaction for the authority that there had been a breach, such a decision could not be taken without an opportunity to the petitioner to explain his stand.

“In this case I find that the notice, which had been issued on April 11, 1989, refers the petitioner’s request for permission to sell a portion as a conclusive proof that the petitioner had no intention to rectify an alleged breach. Therefore, it has gone on to pass an order of resumption on the same day.

“The exercise of power of resumption has been done autocratically, when the petitioner has clearly expressed that it is not intending to put it to any other use…. The impugned notice and order of the state are clearly wrong and untenable and they are required to be quashed”. 

Gurgaon, June 29
The district administration today sealed six borewells being illegally operated for selling water in Delhi and Gurgaon.

These borewells were located near Bajghera village on the Gurgaon-Najafgarh road and in Sector 5 of Gurgaon.

Taking cognisance of illegal extraction of underground water, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner Rajender Kataria today formed a committee under the chairmanship of local hydrologist RS Sehrawat and directed the committee members to check the illegal borewells.

The other members of the committee include Assistant Town Planner Karamvir, SDO of the Pollution Control Board Naveen Gulia and Executive Engineer of the Municipal Corporation Rajesh Bansal.

The committee today checked borewells on the Gurgaon-Najafgarh road and found five borewells illegally operating near Bajghera village.

Of these five borewells, two were on land belonging to one Umed Singh, two at Rana Filling Station and one at Gupta Nursery.

It was found that water tankers were being filled from these illegal borewells and the water was sold in Dwarka and Najafgarh areas of Delhi.

The team found another illegal borewell operating at Ekta Service Station in Sector 5 of Gurgaon, which was also sealed. The water being illegally extracted from this borewell was reportedly being sold in nearby areas through water tankers.

To check the depletion of water table and regulate the use of underground water in Gurgaon, an advisory committee is functional in the district.

On the advise of this committee, the Deputy Commissioner had already imposed a ban on the operation of illegal borewells on June 17, 2009. It was also ordered that no borewell could be dug without the permission of the committee.

According to the Deputy Commissioner, such permission is given in cases where the water supply lines have not been laid.

In August 2008, the Central Ground Water Authority issued a notification, which stated that a person could dig borewells in water-starved areas and put a 4-inch-wide pipe, provided he adopts rainwater-harvesting system on his premises.

Jhajjar, June 29
A middle-aged man was allegedly hacked to death by his elder brother and nephew at his house in Bithla village here last night. The deceased has been identified as Ajeet Singh and was a farmer by profession.

Monetary dispute is said to be behind the incident. The police has registered a murder case under Section 302 and 120-B of the IPC against the duo identified as Bijender Singh and his son Monu on the complaint of deceased’s wife Chawali.

The incident took place when Ajeet Singh was sleeping outside his house. Bijender and Monu armed with sharp-edged weapons reportedly came there late in the night and allegedly attacked him. They managed to flee from the spot. Ajeet reportedly succumbed to his injuries on the spot. Kin of the deceased were sleeping inside the house at the time of incident.

The incident came to light in the morning when the kin found his body lying in a pool of blood. The body bore multiple injury marks inflicted by a sharp-edged weapon.

When the police started investigating the incident, it found Bijender and Monu missing from their house since last night. Kin of the deceased informed the police that Ajeet Singh had a monetary dispute with Bijender and he had allegedly threatened Ajeet Singh of dire consequences.

“The police nabbed the duo after conducting simultaneous raids at various places,” said Jhajjar SSP Sourabh Singh.

Chandigarh, June 29
Renowned wrestler Chandgi Ram, who belonged to Haryana, died in Delhi today.

Popularly known as Master Chandgi Ram, he was born on November 9, 1937, at Sisai village in Hisar district. He served as Additional Director of Sports in Haryana and titles like “Hind Kesari”, “Bharat Kesari”, “Bharat Bhim”, “Rustom-e-Hind” and “Maha Bharat Kesari” were conferred upon him. He had also set up an akhara to train budding wrestlers.

The most impressive feat of his international career was the 1970 Asian Games in Bangkok. Competing in the 100-kg class, he defeated World champion Amvani Abuifazi of Iran to claim a Gold medal for the country. Two years later he represented India in the 1972 Olympics at Munich in Germany.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has condoled his death.

He said the recipient of the Arjuna and Padma Shri awards Chandgi Ram was a great wrestler who always kept the flag of Indian wrestling flying high at international championships.

He would be long remembered for his contribution to wrestling.

Sonepat, June 29
A head constable with the Haryana police posted at Sampla police station was allegedly shot dead at his residence in Jharonth village here today. The deceased has been identified as Krishan.

A murder case has been registered against the unidentified assailants on the complaint of victim’s brother Surender. He stated that he heard the sound of firing at 1.30 am from the house of Krishan. When he entered the house, he found Krishan lying dead in a pool of blood.

After receiving information, the police reached the spot and brought his body to the local Civil Hospital for a postmortem.

In another incident, 70-year-old Vedo Devi and 22-year-old youth Pradeep of Hullaheri village allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance.

Rohtak, June 29
The police seized Rs 4 lakh fake currency from a house in Dairy Mohalla last night. The raid was conducted by cops from Hisar on the information provided by two youths, who were arrested a few days ago with Rs 37,000 fake currency notes.

This is the second seizure of fake notes in the past three months in the district.

Two of the accused identified as Manjeet and Rahul, who were nabbed by the police from Hisar, told the police that the currency notes were being allegedly printed at a rented accommodation in Dairy Mohalla here for past some time and were supplied for circulation at various places through a network of agents. The police recovered a computer, printer and a scanner from the house.

While four persons involved in the racket have been nabbed, some more arrests could be made in the near future. The use of a rented accommodation for the purpose indicated that the racketeers had been changing the place and hideouts from time to time to avoid arrest by the police, said an official. 

Karnal, June 29
In a major breakthrough, the Karnal police today arrested Munna Malik, alias Monu, owner of a shop dealing in printing and graphics, for allegedly preparing fake certificates of educational institutions in Haryana, Punjab and Delhi and supplying these to people for getting jobs.

The arrest was made following a raid conducted by the in charge of the CIA, Jaspal Singh Dillon, on a tip-off that Monu was preparing fake certificates, driving licences and photo ID-cards and a large number of people had benefited from fake certificates provided by him.

He allegedly tried to give a fake BA certificate of Kurukshetra University to Saranjit Singh of Karnal and was nabbed.

During the raid, the police seized a large number of fake certificates.

He was arrested under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 473 of the IPC and produced in court, which remanded him in four days’ police custody.

Dillon said it appeared to be a big racket and a large number of people had been able to get jobs, mostly in the private sector, by producing fake certificate supplied by him and only a thorough investigation would reveal the facts. 

Chandigarh, June 29
The Indian National Lok Dal candidate for the Rajya Sabha seat, Ranbir Singh Gangua, filed his nomination for the seat from Haryana here today. He was accompanied by senior leaders, including INLD secretary-general Ajay Chautala and state unit chief Ashok Arora.

Gangua submitted nomination papers and took oath of allegiance to the Constitution before Vidhan Sabha secretary Sumit Kumar, also the election officer for the Rajya Sabha poll.

Speaking to mediapersons, Gangua expressed his thanks to party chief Om Prakash Chautala for giving priority to a candidate from the Backward Class, adding that it was an “honour” for the Kumhar community.

Maintaining that it would perhaps be the first time that a member from his community would make it to the Rajya Sabha if he was elected, Gangua said the INLD alone was pro-poor unlike the Congress which only claimed to be so.

Meanwhile, Ajay Chautala said the INLD had decided to be a part of the 12-hour countrywide bandh on July 5 called by the opposition parties to demand a rollback of petrol prices.