Jind, January 27
Normalcy has returned to Jind after the 12-day-long agitation by the Sarvajatiya Sarvakhap Mahapanchayat was called off yesterday following talks between the protesters and the Chief Minister in Kaithal town on Tuesday.

Activists of the Mahapanchayat activists had laid siege to the railway tracks and roads in the district, demanding that the trial of the accused in the Mirchpur case be shifted back to Haryana and a fresh probe be held into the case.

All bus and train services have been restored with the protesters having returned to their villages and all blockades cleared, said a senior official. The first train left the local station last evening. All educational institutions functioned as usual today.

The 41-member committee announced at about 1 pm that the agitation had been called off.

However, a committee spokesperson warned that they would reverse the decision if the government failed to provide relief to the ‘victims’ soon.

The committee had a tough time persuading thousands of protesters, squatting on the railway tracks since January 15, to end the stir.

“The Chief Minister has convinced us that none of the innocent youths facing trial in the Mirchpur case would be harassed,” claimed Bhag Chand, head of the committee.

“We are satisfied with the government’s assurances on our demands,” said Suresh Koth, convener of the Mahapanchayat.

“The government will have to keep its promise or we will be forced to come out again onn the streets with a greater force,” he warned. Meanwhile, the GRP has booked cases against over 1,000 persons for blocking the rail track at three different spots- at Julani village on the Jind-Narwana section, the Jind-Rohtak section and the Jind-Panipat section. All the accused have been unidentified. The police has booked a case in connection with torching of a Roadways bus near Singhvikhera village on January 24. 

Chandigarh, January 27
The realisation by organisers of the Jat agitation that the government’s hands were tied in view of the Supreme Court’s intervention in the Mirchpur case led to the withdrawal of the agitation, which had cut off Jind and parts of adjoining districts from the rest of the country.

The protesters were convinced of the futility of their demand after several rounds of talks with the district administration and the political leadership.

The district administration led by DC Abhey Singh Yadav and SP Ram Singh Bishnoi continued to hold talks with different sections and drill into their mind that the government had no option. A committee set up by the protesters earlier had agreed to withdraw the agitation at a meeting with minister Randeep Singh Surjewala and former MP Jai Prakash, but the next day hardcore activists disowned the committee.

Following this setback, another committee was formed which was led by Bhag Singh Jalabh. The Jalabh committee met Hooda and Surjewala at Kaithal on the eve of the Republic Day following which the stir was called off the following day.

Both sides are hesitant to come out with the details of what transpired at the three-hour-long meeting. Hooda told mediapersons after the meeting that he had appealed to the protesters to maintain harmony. Jalabh did not go beyond what Hooda said. The committee did not say if there had been a pact with the government while addressing the protesters the next day.

Sources say the committee members were feeling fatigued and had begun to lose hope after spearheading the protest for more than 10 days. The meeting with the Chief Minister and his appeal provided them a face saver and a chance to withdraw the agitation. 

Chandigarh, January 27
Apparently still not satisfied with the probe carried out into the alleged gang rape, torture and sexual harassment of Rajasthani workers in police custody, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked the Ambala Superintendent of Police to investigate the matter with a human touch.

The directions came after the allegations were described as baseless by the police. The Division Bench headed by acting Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, in fact, asked the Ambala SP to look into the matter personally with a human touch and furnish a detailed report on the issue to the court within three days.

The officer was also asked to remain present before the High Court on January 31 with the findings.

Earlier during the hearing, Ambala SP Shashank Anand, in a detail report on the issue, claimed that the allegations of gang rape and torture in police custody were baseless.

He claimed that a special investigation team under his personal supervision conducted the probe and found that the complainants were arrested after following the due procedure and were not harassed in custody.

He added that after their arrest, the complainants were provided free legal aid. At that time, they did not level any allegations of rape and torture. The complainants were not cooperating with the inquiry officer, the SP said, adding that the medical examination of the complainants had confirmed that they were not pregnant. Moreover, there was no sign of medical termination of pregnancy.

Ruling out the possibility of torture in custody for 10 to15 days, he said the case was registered on September 6, 2010. They were arrested on September 14 and on September 15 they were sent to judicial custody.

“The allegations levelled by the complainants could not be established during the probe and all these allegations are a result of an afterthought,” the SP claimed.

In a letter dated January 4 to the High Court, it was alleged that policemen had taken five men, three women and a child into their custody one morning. Hailing from Rajasthan, they were into the business of selling incense sticks and balloons at the Ambala railway station.

The letter, written by one of the women victims, said they were picked up, as the police suspected them to be members of the notorious Bawaria gang.

At the police station, the cops forced them to shed clothes before beating them up, the letter alleged. It was also alleged that the cops raped two of the three women for more than 12 days, leaving the third one, who was pregnant. The letter claimed that one of the women got pregnant and a DNA test should be conducted on the police officers to find out the facts. 

Chandigarh, January 27
The much-awaited Cabinet expansion in Haryana will take place tomorrow.Governor Jagannath Pahadia will administer the oath of office and secrecy to the new ministers at 5 pm at the Haryana Raj Bhawan here.

According to sources, two former Haryana Janhit Congress legislators - Rao Narinder Singh and Satpal Sangwan - will occupy two of the four vacant berths in the Cabinet.

Former Tourism Minister Kiran Choudhry will also find a place in the Cabinet and so will Speaker Harmohinder Singh Chatha.

He was a member of the previous Hooda Cabinet too.Besides this, three Chief Parliamentary Secretaries will also be appointed.They are Zile Ram Sharma, Vinod Bhyana and Ram Kishen Gujjar.The Chief Minister will also reshuffle the portfolios of his ministers. 

Sirsa, January 27
Dera Sacha Sauda chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh today appeared before the CBI court through videoconferencing from here.

The dera chief arrived in the local district court complex at about 1.45 pm and remained there till 5 in the evening.

The CBI court, holding its hearing in Ambala, took up the case of the murder of scribe Ram Chander Chhatarpati today.

The CBI court today recorded the evidence of head constable Dharam Chand, who was posted in the Khairpur police post located near the house of Chhatarpati, where the alleged incident of shooting took place on October 24, 2002. A large number of dera followers had assembled outside the court complex as usual today.

However, they were peaceful and did not raise any slogans, as they had been doing ever since the court decided to hear the cases against the dera chief on a daily basis from January 5.

Angry protests by the dera followers had forced the district authorities to promulgate prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC on January 10 and the case was later adjourned till January 19 on January 12.

The CBI court on January 20 granted the dera chief exemption from personal appearance till January 25.

Incidentally, the dera’s biggest ceremonies of the year are held on January 25 every year to observe the birth anniversary of Shah Satnam Singh, the predecessor of the dera chief.

Meanwhile, elaborate security arrangements were made by the police for the hearing.

Sirsa, January 27
Four persons were killed and 16 others injured when the Tata Ace vehicle they were travelling in collided with a canter near Patlidabur village on the national highway between Sirsa and Fatehabad.

All the victims were followers of Dera Sacha Sauda and had come to Sirsa from Shimla village in Kaithal district to participate in the function organised on the birth anniversary of Shah Satnam Singh, the predecessor of dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh.

The accident occurred when the victims were returning to their home after participating in the “bhandara” held in the dera and their vehicle collided head-on with a canter coming from the opposite direction.

Four victims - Bimla, Bebo, Roshni and Baldev Singh - died on the spot.

The driver of the canter fled from the spot after the accident. The police has registered a case against the driver in this regard.

The injured were shifted to the general hospital, Sirsa, where they were treated for their injuries. 

Sirsa, January 27
In a mass marriage function held in Dera Sacha Sauda, 154 adivasi young couples tied the nuptial knot today. The adivasis, hailing from Jharol and Kotra tehsils of Rajasthan, were also administered an oath to shun alcohol, non-vegetarian food and hunting.

The Dera chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, also gave gifts to the couples, said a Dera spokesperson. He said a contingent of 1,200 adivasis from Rajasthan had arrived in the Dera on January 25 to partake in the annual ‘bhandara’.

He said couples exchanged garlands in the presence of a congregation, and it took the Dera 54 seconds to perform 154 marriages.

Meanwhile, addressing the gathering, the Dera chief urged his followers to opt for single-child families and give up the yearning for a male child.

New Delhi, January 27
The Supreme Court today reserved its verdict on the petitions filed by the Chautala brothers - Abhey and Ajay - challenging the CBI’s move to prosecute them for alleged corruption without taking permission from the Speaker of the Haryana Assembly.

A Bench comprising Justices VS Sirpurkar and TS Thakur passed an order, reserving the judgment, on the conclusion of arguments by the CBI and the accused.

While Solicitor-General Gopal Subramanium, appearing for the CBI, defended the agency’s move, senior counsel Mukul Rohatgi and UU Lalit said their clients were sitting members of the Assembly and could not be prosecuted unless the Speaker gave his go-ahead.

It was strange that the CBI had taken sanction from the Speaker to book their father, former Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala, on corruption charges, but had chosen to give the go-by to the procedure in the case of Abhey and Ajay, the counsel contended.

Abhey is accused of amassing unaccounted wealth to the extent of Rs 127 crore by misusing his official position.

Karnal: Enraged over the arrest of the Superintending Engineer (SE) of the Haryana Vidyut Prasaran Nigam, for allegedly accepting a bribe of Rs 15,000, the power engineers in the state have decided to observe February 2 as protest day.

The president of the Haryana Power Engineers Association, R S Dahiya, said that the protest was against the moves of the vigilance department to “falsely implicate” power engineers in corruption cases at the behest of the contractor of Shree Sham Enterprises. — TNS