Fatehabad/Sirsa, September 15
Protesters demanding reservation for Jats smashed the windowpanes of a bus belonging to the Karnal depot of the Haryana Roadways near Jandli village in Fatehabad today. District Magistrate Vijay Singh Dahiya has promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC in Fatehabad district in view of the violence.

The protesters, who were holding bottles of kerosene, tried to torch the bus, but the driver exhibited presence of mind and managed to take away the vehicle to safety.

The bus was packed to capacity with passengers and the protesters tried to drag out the driver, but he sped away. No commuter was injured.

Elsewhere in the two districts, the protesters stopped traffic by cutting trees near Ramsaran on Mehrana Road, Banmandori and Pilimandori on Chopta Road and at Dehman and Lahoria on the Bhuna-Hisar road in Fatehabad and at Nathusari Chopta village in Sirsa.

Bus and rail traffic remained paralysed in Sirsa and Fatehabad districts for the second day today.“Only two trains - Fazilka to Rewari and Rewari to Bathinda - ran on this section today,” said JP Pathak, station master of the Sirsa railway station.

Lajpat Rai, GM, Haryana Roadways, Sirsa, said only a few buses left for Rajasthan, Punjab, Rania and Dabwali from Sirsa this morning.

In Fatehabad, two buses, almost empty, left for Sirsa in the morning. The Haryana Roadways has suffered a loss of Rs 17 lakh in Sirsa and Rs 14 lakh in Fatehabad in the past two days.

Two buses belonging to the Fatehabad depot of the Haryana Roadways were torched at Uklana while two others were damaged on the way to Delhi yesterday, said Lajpat Rai.

Kaithal: Jats blocked traffic on NH-65 near here for over three hours and later set a Haryana Roadways bus on fire near Peoda. The bus plying on the Assandh-Kaithal route was caught in a jam and was without passengers.

SDM Hawa Singh reached the spot and persuaded the villagers to lift the blockade at 4 pm. Some protesters also blocked traffic near Kalayat. Amneet P Kumar, DC, said action would be taken against arsonists. — OC

Bhiwani: Jats of Loharu blocked the roads leading to Delhi, Pilani, Hisar and Bikaner at Obra, Gignau and Behal.

They held a condolence meeting to pay homage to the youth killed in police firing at Hisar.

The Jats alleged that the Chief Minister’s announcement on an accord was meant to quell the agitation and the “government does not need to forward any resolution on the matter since there are Congress governments at the Centre and in the state.”

They demanded the Jats should be given reservation immediately by issuing a notification. — OC

Hisar, September 15
Peace returned to the district today after two days of arson following the death of a youth in police firing at Mayyar village, near here, on Monday.

Barring the burning of a vehicle of a leader of the Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti, Sat Pal Chaudhry, by some youths blocking the highway near Sorkhi village this morning, peace prevailed in the rest of the district. The blockade was cleared by the police which rushed to the spot from Hansi, 25 km from here. The youths were peeved at the samiti for calling off the Mayyar stir.

In Barwala, a bandh was observed in protest against the looting of shops yesterday. Tension prevailed as rival groups confronted each other. However, RAF personnel managed to prevent any violence. The administration has promulgated prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC, banning the assembly of four or more persons as a precautionary measure.Traffic on the Delhi-Hisar highway was resumed this morning.

Burnt vehicles dotting the stretch of the highway passing through the village caused some problems. The police towed away the vehicles and cleared the road by noon. Confusion prevailed on the lifting of the curfew. No official announcement on the matter was made. This led to harassment of residents.There was confusion on whether the educational institutions were closed. As a result, hundreds of students were seen waiting for their school buses early in the morning. Likewise, college teachers and students went to their institutions only to be sent back.

Hisar, September 15
Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti chief Yashpal Malik today denied that the samiti had suspended its agitation in support of its demand for reservation under the OBC quota following an agreement with Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda yesterday.

Addressing a press conference here, he said the samiti would continue its countrywide stir “peacefully ” till the demand was met by the Centre. Blaming anti-social elements for the violence at Mayyar, he said the samiti had directed its activists to clear road blockades and shun violence. Samiti office-bearers had been sent to various places to ensure that there was no violence. Malik said the samiti’s target was the Commonwealth Games scheduled to begin in Delhi next month.

“We have directed our activists to buy tickets for the games and protest inside the stadia. But, we will remain peaceful,” he said. He accused Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi of turning a blind eye to the demand of the Jat community. Malik denied that his organisation had anything to do with Om Parkash Chautala and his INLD. — TNS

Hisar, September 15
The announcement of the accord between the government and the Jat Aarakshan Sangharsh Samiti was delayed by several crucial hours due to political bickering among Congressmen. This delay led to large-scale arson during the day.

It is learnt that senior Congress leaders, including former Home Minister Sampat Singh, former MP Jai Parkash, legislator Ram Niwas Ghorela and former minister Chhattarpal Singh, had brokered an accord with the Samiti chief Yashpal Malik yesterday morning after night-long talks.

The accord was to be announced before noon yesterday. However, one of these negotiators, fearing that his opponents would take all credit for the accord, telephonically contacted senior party leaders in Chandigarh and suggested that the Chief Minister sent an emissary here to announce the deal.

It was then decided that Hooda’s political adviser Prof Virendra Singh be sent to Hisar for the announcement. Virendra Singh, however, was stuck at Barwala, 30 km from here, with angry mobs on the road.

The negotiators then sent Yashpal Malik to Barwala to escort Virendra Singh safely to Hisar.

While the duo was still in Barwala, their cavalcade encountered a mob. Malik mistook the crowd to be Jats and alighted from his vehicle to request them to let them proceed.

However, the mob assaulted Malik and Virendra Singh and set the former’s vehicle afire. Both had a narrow escape,

They took shelter in a house for several hours. Later, ASP Pankaj Nain was sent to Barwala with a posse of police to bring them to Hisar. The leaders arrived here well past 6 pm and Malik reached Mayyar at 7 pm to announce the accord.

The Congress leader who had caused the delay was roughed up at Mayyar during the announcement of the agreement.

Karnal, September 15
Diarrhoea has gripped Kutel village in Gharaunda area in the district with over 100 persons, complaining of loose motion, admitted to the trauma centre at the Civil Hospital here and the Primary Health Centre, Kutel.

Three persons, including an expectant woman, had died of diarrhoea here yesterday.

The village wore a deserted look as almost every family has one or more member down with the disease and admitted to the hospital.

"Half of the family members are in hospital while the remaining members are attending them," said villager Karam Singh, whose wife has been admitted to the trauma centre.

Karnal ADC RS Kharab visited the village along with a team of the Health Department and took samples of water for testing.

Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner Neelam Pradeep Kasni visited the trauma centre and met the patients. On being informed that extra money was being charged for beds from the patients, she said nothing extra would be charged and in case any money had been paid, it would be refunded.

The villagers alleged that contaminated water led to the outbreak of the disease and complained that in spite of repeated requests, no action was taken even as 10 water samples collected from the village two weeks ago failed.

She assured villagers of stern action if any laxity was found on the part of the Irrigation and the Public Health Department.

Civil Surgeon Vandana Bhatia confirmed that a large number of diarrhoea patients had been admitted to the hospital and added that a team of doctors was rushed to the village yesterday.

Fatehabad, September 15
After Gorakhpur, farmers from Bhodia Khera village have also come out against the acquisition of their agriculture lands by the state government.

The government proposes to acquire 102 acres for the additional grain market, 67 acres for the waterworks and 17 acres for the wastewater disposal in Bhodia Khera.

The farmers have announced that they would not allow the acquisition of their lands at any cost.

A meeting of the farmers was held here today after which they marched towards the mini-secretariat in protest.

The farmers alleged that their fertile land of high commercial value was being acquired by the government for the projects, without listening to them.

“We have filed our objections to the notification of the government in this regard, but the government is not listening to us,” alleged Ram Lal, Bhagwan Dass and Surja Ram.

Farmers submitted a memorandum, addressed to the President, the Prime Minister, the UPA chairperson and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, to the DC.

Meanwhile, the dharna of Gorakhpur farmers entered its 30th day and the relay fast reached the 10th day today.

Two farmers from Bhodia Khera also sat on fast with three from Gorakhpur today.

Farmers observed a two-minute silence in memory of Sunil Lamba, who was killed in police firing at Mayyar village on Monday. 

Gurgaon, September 15
Be ready for a pleasant surprise on road. With a view to preparing the local policemen for the Commonwealth Games, a rather ambitious training programme to teach them good manners and soft skills started here today.

Interestingly, the 21-day training course began when less than 20 days are left for the Commonwealth Games.

According to sources, the police authorities will pay nearly Rs 4 lakh for the training course to Hero Mind Mine, a company engaged for the purpose.

The training programme, meant primarily for the police personnel posted along the Commonwealth Games route, probationer inspectors and traffic constables, will be conducted from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm daily.

“The training will be imparted in batches of 25-30 policemen and aim at improving their soft skills, general attitude, interpersonal behaviour and communication style,” said Alok Mittal, Joint Commissioner of Police.

The underlying idea behind the move was to make the police personnel sound friendly, cooperative and happy-to-help to the visitors to the city during the Commonwealth Games, he added.

Rewari, September 15
The registration of a case of murder against Subhash Yadav, SP, Hisar, has evoked sharp criticism in the Ahirwal region.

Alleging that Yadav had been booked only to placate the protesters who belonged to the Jat community, Naresh Yadav, former MLA of Ateli and president of the Haryana Yuva Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, today demanded withdrawal of the case at a press conference here today.

He said DC Yudhvir Singh and ASP Pankaj Nain, both Jats, were present at Mayyar but only SP Yadav had been singled out for stringent penal action.

He demanded a probe by a High Court judge into the violence in Mayyar.

The Dakshin Haryana Vikas Lok Manch today also sent a communication to the Chief Minister, seeking revocation of the murder case against SP Yadav.

Copies of the communication have been sent to Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, the Governor and chairman of the National Human Rights Commission.

Stating that the Jat community in Hisar nursed a grudge against SP Yadav as the Hisar police had arrested 60 members of the community for their alleged involvement in the Mirchpur arson.

The government had booked the SP under pressure, he alleged.

Describing the registration of a case of murder against the SP as unjustified and unconstitutional, Prof Ranbir Singh Yadav, general secretary of the manch, said the severe penal action taken Against SP Yadav had sent the wrong signals to other 

Fatehabad, September 15
Upset at the loss of their agricultural land in a judicial decision, a couple reportedly consumed some poisonous substance in the open court at the district courts here today.

The couple struggled for life on the court’s floor for over 15 minutes before the police shifted them to the local general hospital. The condition of the couple continues to be serious.

Mohinder Singh (42) and his wife Kulwant Kaur (40) were present in court number 6, where Judicial Magistrate Amit Sharma ordered the transfer deed of 19 kanals 12 marlas of their land to one Amar Chand in an execution suit filed by the latter.

The orders were passed on September 10 and the registered deed was to be presented before the court today, according to sources.

The moment Amar Chand presented the deed executed in his favour upon the court orders, Mohinder took out two small bottles from his pocket an gave one to his wife standing nearby.

The couple consumed the contents of the bottles in the court. Both fell on the ground after consuming the poison.

Later, the police shifted the two to the local general hospital.

The doctors attending on them said the couple had consumed pesticide. Mohinder and Amar Chand, both residents of Haripura village in Fatehabad, were involved in a long drawn legal battle regarding some property.

A local court in 2008 had decreed a suit filed by Amar Chand, who alleged that Mohinder had executed an agreement to sell in favour in 2004.

However, the case was decided in Mohinder’s favour in the court of Additional District and Sessions Judge, where the victim filed an appeal.

The fortunes, however, again swung in Amar Chand’s favour in the higher courts and he filed an execution petition in the local court.