Dehradun, November 10
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) today slammed the Central government and the Congress for associating it with terrorism. National general secretary of the Sanskrit Bharti Shreesh Pujari said: “Those who are linking the saffron colour with extremism are misleading the country and doing so under a well-designed conspiracy. Saffron has been a symbol of sacrifice, service, dedication and patriotism from ancient times. The RSS too takes inspiration from it”.

He said unlike Naxalites who picked up guns against the government and the Constitution, the Sangh always believed in service.

Senior leader of the RSS Shashi Kant Dixit said the Sangh had always participated in national service, even quite actively in the freedom struggle. If the Sangh was cooperating with the investigative agencies, it should not be considered its weakness, he added.

Akhtar Hussain of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh supported Sangh’s role in providing a platform to the Muslim community and added that Muslims never had any problems with the Sangh.

Ramesh Gadiya, a leader of the Vidyarthi Parishad, asked the accusers to first set their houses in order before raising fingers at the RSS. Luxmi Prasad Jaiswal, called the Congress naïve in drawing parallel between the RSS and SIMI.

The others present on the occasion included Roshanlal, former Chief Minister Bhuvan Chander Khanduri, city president of the Sangh Gopal Krishan Mitta, Sudhir Kumar and Rajender Pant.

Haridwar, November 10
With respective comments of Congress leaders of linking the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) with terror outfits and using the term “Hindu terrorism”, the RSS today termed these statements as uncalled for and a blow to the sentiments of billions of Indians living worldwide.

To register their protest, BJP and RSS activists staged a mega protest rally-cum-meeting here. Leaders of both bodies accused the Congress of liking Hinduism with terrorism to gain political mileage.

The rally saw an unexpected crowd with city roads witnessing heavy jams wherever the rally passed. Hundreds of women cadres too participated in the rally.

Addressing the gathering, state Cabinet minister and local legislator Madan Kaushik blamed the Congress for using religion for vote bank politics and fuelling communal tension in the country. “The Congress has always used its secular image as a shield while in reality it’s this party (Congress) which has been mostly responsible for fuelling communal tension and using the Muslim community as a mere vote bank”.

While the BJP government in Gujarat led by Narendra Modi was labelled as communal by the Congress the real picture there was for all to see with Gujarat becoming the most developed state in the past decade.

Veteran RSS leader Ganga Sharan said: “It’s you (RSS activists) who are among the first ones to take the responsibility whenever the nation is faced with a crisis or natural disaster while Congress ministers refrain from inspecting the spot immediately and misuse public relief fund too. Their linking of Hinduism with terrorism or the RSS with SIMI has acted positively for us as we are more united than ever which can be seen in the overwhelming support we are getting,” he said.

Roorkee MLA Suresh Jain criticised Home Minister P Chidambaram for not taking up Mumbai attacks strongly with US President Barack Obama.

Dehradun, November 10
An alert and courageous neighbour Anil prevented a theft at Roorkee city today.Three robbers made an attempt to enter a house at the Civil Lines, posh area near Jeevan Mukth Prem Mandir, in Roorkee in the afternoon.

According to the police, the robbers intruded into the premises of Romil Arora who was away to Ambala with his family. Taking advantage of their absence, they succeeded in cutting the grill of the drawing room. The robbers were three in number and well equipped.

Anil, the neighbour, saw these suspicious-looking characters and on noticing the damaged grill called his father Surinder and son Tarun, who together tried to catch the robbers. In the process Tarun was injured by the robbers when they hit him with a brick leaving his head bleeding said SP, Rural, RL Sharma.

The police immediately rushed to the spot, cordoned off the area and searched the house. The police was successful in catching one of the robbers who was taken for interrogation. The search is on for the two absconding robbers. The robbers were armed with country-made revolver, police officials said.

The SP complimented Anil and his family members who had bravely fought with the robbers and assisted the police in catching one of the robbers. He also said such an act of bravery was an example of alertness and presence of mind.

The general public in Roorkee are worried as robberies are taking place in broad daylight. “We are afraid of leaving our young children at home as there is no security at any time of the day,” said, Amina Khan. 

Dehradun, November 10
District Magistrate (DM) Sachin Kurve today asked the Chief Development Officer (CDO) to make provisions for services of a doctor in six special schools run for children freed from child labour.

These schools set up in the district have been without the services of a doctor for a while now. These schools are being run by three NGOs by the District National Child Labour Project Society, Dehradun. The provisions entail setting up of a master trainer and doctor for these schools.

While chairing the meeting of the project, Kurve asked the CDO to ensure that a master trainer and a doctor were immediately appointed at these schools.

Assistant Labour Commissioner Madhu Negi also attended the meeting.

Haridwar November 10
In a sensational incident, the body of a 40-year-old man was found in his room here today.The deceased named Amardeep Singh, son of Kuldeep Singh, was found dead in his room which was locked from inside.

According to neighbours, Amardeep had been living at the Shravannath Nagar-situated Mata Atma Ram house for the past four decades. He seemed to be frustrated for quite sometime due to financial problems. “Amardeep used to have a drycleaner’s shop in the area named Khalsa Drycleaners, which he sold off owing to loss in the trade. And without work his financial condition worsened and probably this may be the reason for his death,” said a neighbour.

On prima facie the death appeared to be a murder, but on investigating, a 3.15-bore local pistol was found at an angle pointing towards the victim, indicating that he had shot himself.

SSP Sanjay Gunjiyal visited the spot and pointing to circumstantial evidence stated it to be case of suicide. However, family members suspect it to be a case of murder.

Mussoorie, November 10
Eminent author from Mussoorie Sudhir Thapliyal’s latest fiction “Mussoorie Macabre”, inspired by the cold-blooded double murder of his two friends hit the stores today. The cold-blooded murder of Dua sisters had rocked the town several years ago and still remains an unsolved case. The book was released by MLA Jot Singh Gunsola at a simple ceremony here today.

According to the author, the book, although a fiction, is based on the murder of his friends Dua sister who were killed in a rainy night several years ago. The story is set in Barrackpore, near Calcutta, now Kolkata, where three men with good reason to escape their pasts come together and decide to disappear into the convenient world of godmen. The supposedly holy city of Allahabad, where such artful charlatans converge to prey upon the insecurities of the religious and not so religious, are their next natural choice of destination. But, their journey doesn’t stop there. After a whirlwind tour of the country dispensing their peculiar wisdom to the richest in the land, and opening a grand money laundering ashram, it is Mussoorie that eventually attracts their attention.

The book further tries to expose so-called sadhus behind the murder of the secretive, housebound sisters. In this grisly tale of deception, cruelty, sexual deviance and greed, popular storyteller Sudhir once again displayed his skill at dramatic presentation.

Speaking to The Tribune, he said his fifth book and was inspired by the sordid double murder of the two women that occurred in the town and remained unsolved till date. The curiosity to know the reason behind the murder of the Dua sisters urged him to write the book which contains an illogical solution which is answer to the murder. The book took him one and a half years to write and is published by Westland Books, he added.

Sudhir is working on another crime thriller, a story of serial murders, based on the true story of a serial killer based in Kolkata around 1840. Speaking on the shift towards murder mysteries, Sudhir candidly says as these sell, the authors are inclined towards crime stories.

Meanwhile, Gunsola hoped that book would sensitise the law-enforcement agencies in using the investigative acumen of the author in solving the murder cases in the town.

Sudhir was born and schooled in Mussoorie. A graduate of the University of Allahabad, he did his Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Kolkata. Many of his short stories and features have been published in leading magazines and newspapers. He has written the screenplay of a tele film based on Ruskin Bond’s novel “Room on the Roof”.