Chandigarh, April 28
A cinema hall, a police post, a nursery school, 36 shop-cum-offices and 15 kiosks are among the properties falling within 900 meters of the ammunition depot in Gurgaon.

The details of these properties were furnished to the Punjab and Haryana High Court by Gurgaon’s HUDA Administrator Nitin Kumar Yadav.

The details come just about two months after the High Court asked the municipal corporation concerned, development authority and the state of Haryana “to file their affidavits informing the court of all other colonies falling in the prohibited area around the ammunition depot that have been regularised and the reasons thereof”.

Yadav has asserted: “The area of the sectors which falls in the prohibited area around the ammunition depot was earlier maintained by the Urban Estate Department and from 1997 the same is being maintained and controlled by HUDA”.

The sectors within 1,000 yards of the restricted belt are 5, 12-A, 14, 17, 18, 22, 23 and 23-A. Out of these, Sectors 14 and 18 have built-up structures while other have open spaces.

Yadav also gave details of “HUDA properties/plots falling within 900 meters of the restricted belt of ammunition depot, excluding the green belt”.

The properties include: DAV Nursery School; a police post, DAV Senior Secondary School; HUDA office; Payal Cinema; HUDA waterworks; playgrounds of ITM Engineering College, part of Tau Devi Lal park, part of a hospital site, cremation ground; and Maruti Industry Area.

The High Court has already pulled up the state government for the mushrooming of 15,000 illegal constructions within the 900-metre restricted area from the IAF ammunition depot.

Justice Rajive Bhalla has also directed the government to file a comprehensive affidavit as to under what law, why and when the existing structures were allowed to be raised.

Justice Bhalla has also directed the state to inform the court about action taken against district town planners posted in Gurgaon during the previous 10 years and other officers found to be negligent in carrying out their duties.

The court has also observed that illegal construction could not have been possible without the connivance of district town planners.

Karnal, April 28
The fear of a leopard attack haunts farmers of at least six villages near the Badagaon area here as a villager, who was working in the fields adjoining a forest, had a close encounter with a leopard last night.

Phool Singh, who was using a tractor in the fields of Fateh Singh last night, spotted a boar lying dead near the forest. When he entered the forest, he was shocked to see a leopard sitting near its catch.

The leopard tried to attack Phool Singh. However, he managed to save himself and called villagers from his mobile phone. The leopard had by then disappeared into the forest.

The police reached the spot in the wee hours today. Wildlife officials Navdeep Hooda (DFO) and Range Officer Satish Bharadwaj and forest officers from Panchakula, Rohtak, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat and Ambala also reached the forest area in the morning and arranged for tranquliser guns and traps.

Two tranquiliser guns were brought from Kurukshetra and one from Panchakula. Two traps with goats as catch were kept at vulnerable places.

Wildlife officer, Azad Singh, who entered the deep forest, found two dead neelgais near a lake and also claimed to have seen the prints of paws of the leopard.

The reserved forest, adjoining Badagaon and spread over 210 acres, is surrounded by Mugal Majari, Nanmati, Badagaon, Kunjpura and Gher villages, and is about 12 km from Karnal.

DFO Navdeep Hooda said, “We are ready with tranquliser guns and traps and are hopeful that the leopard will come to eat its prey, but it may take even three to four days.”

Chief Conservator, Panchkula, Jagdish Chandra also inspected the spot and gave necessary guidelines to the officials concerned to trap the wild animal. As a precautionary measure, women and kids have been asked to stay away from the forest.

Incidents of leopards straying into villages are not a new phenomenon as during the summer, they come out of forests in search of water and food and attack animals and human beings.

Last year, a leopard had entered a colony in Karnal on April 19. It was killed by policemen after ascertaining that it was man-eater. The killing had invited the wrath of animal activists following which an inquiry was ordered in which the police got a clean chit.

Two more leopards were also killed in Jind and Yamunagar districts last year.

Sirsa, April 28
A Dera Sacha Sauda follower allegedly committed suicide by shooting himself dead with his licensed gun outside the court complex minutes after the dera chief, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh, left the court complex after his appearance before the CBI court in the Ranjit Singh murder case through video-conferencing today.

The victim, according to the police, has left a suicide note in which he said that he was peeved at dera chief’s repeated appearances before the CBI court in the criminal cases pending against him.

The victim has been identified as Suraj Bhan (42), a resident of Sujwan village in Jind district. The police has found 10 cartridges from the victim’s possession.

After court hearing, Gurmeet Ram Rahim Singh left for the dera headquarters around 3.30 pm.

A gunshot sound was heard immediately thereafter. Suraj Bhan was lying on the floor with a bullet piercing his stomach. The victim wore a locket of Dera Sacha Sauda and a suicide note was allegedly found near his body. DSP (Headquarters) Puran Chand Panwar said the body had been sent for a postmortem

This is the second such incident in over one month. Earlier, local resident Vinod Kumar had allegedly shot himself on his temple inside a Maruti car in the court complex shortly after the dera chief had left the court after his appearance in a criminal case on March 23.

Sirsa, April 28
Javed Khan (25) of Khidwali in Rohtak district, a constable of the 4th Battalion of the Haryana Armed Police, shot himself dead in the Police Lines here this morning.

According to police sources, the cop was issued a service rifle in the morning as he was to leave for duty in the local district courts complex.

Around 8 am, cops heard gunshot sounds from Javed’s room in the Police Lines. When they rushed to his room, they found Javed’s body lying in a pool of blood.

The bullet had pierced his head. The police has found two bullet shells from the spot.

“It is learnt that the victim was under depression. Some anti-depressant tablets have also been recovered from his belongings,” said SP Satinder Kumar Gupta, who rushed to the site after the incident.

Sources said that Javed Khan, who had got married last year, had been under depression. Meanwhile, the victim’s brother, Feroze Khan, reached here after the incident.

He told the police as well as mediapersons that Javed’s salary for December and January had been stopped by the department for some reasons.

Though he succeeded in getting the withheld salary after pleading his case, the emoluments for February and March were stopped again, sending his brother into deep depression.

DSP (Headquarters) Puran Chand Panwar said the police trying to find out as to what made Javed take this extreme step. — TNS

Jind, April 28
Cases pertaining to ATM frauds are on the rise in the district. At least three cases of bank customers being duped in this manner have surfaced in the district in the past seven days. At least six such cases have been reported in the past few months.

In one such case, an amount of Rs 28,000 was allegedly withdrawn through an ATM from the account of a resident of the Urban Estate here. The money was withdrawn from an ATM located at the mini-secretariat building here on Wednesday.

An amount of Rs 55,000 was allegedly withdrawn in a similar fashion at Julana town a few days ago.

The modus operandi adopted by the accused in nearly all cases appears to be the same as the victims had reportedly been helped by other persons present inside ATM cabins while operating the machine.

According to two complainants, Chander Singh and Khusi Ram, the fraud took place after they faced a difficulty in withdrawing cash using the ATM cards given by the bank concerned. A youth present inside the booth offered help in using the cards, but they failed to get the money. However, the customers were shocked after they were told by bank officials that money had been withdrawn from their account the same day.

A similar case was reported recently when a resident lodged a complaint with the police that an amount of Rs 75,000 had been withdrawn through an ATM from his account fraudulently.

Though the police has registered cases regarding these frauds, no arrests have been made so far. “Several cases of cheating in this manner have surfaced in the district in the recent past.

These are either due to ignorance on the part of customers or violation of safety norms laid down by banks,” said a bank official.

While rules permit only one customer at a time inside an ATM booth, it is common to see more than one customers. “This violation often leads to leak of security information and password of customers.

Sonepat, April 28
The Sonepat police claims to have arrested Rajbir Badwasnia, a notorious criminal carrying a reward of Rs 50,000 on his head, from Nirjan village in Jind district. He was an accused in several cases of murder and loot and had also allegedly attacked a police party.

According to a police spokesman, Rajbir, along with his accomplices, had allegedly murdered Ajit of Badwasni village and had thrown his body in the Delhi branch of West Yamuna Canal near the village. On a complaint of Ajit’s brother, Virender, a case of murder was registered against Rajbir, Sanjay Chitana, Baljit and others. The police had arrested Sanjay Chitana and others earlier.

The spokesman said on July 4 last year, Rajbir, along with Arun of HUDA Sector 23 and Sanjiv of Baghru village, looted a car, laptop and other articles at gunpoint from Paramjit of Sector 15 here.

Similarly, on August 17 last year, Rajbir, along with Arun and Sanjiv, allegedly attacked a salesman, Balwan, at the Suraj petrol pump on the Murthal road and looted Rs 15,000 from him.

During interrogation, Rajbir reportedly confessed to having been involved in a double murder case at Julana and the murder of a person in Uttar Pradesh recently.

Panipat, April 28
Making certain that all districts in the state take effective measures to curb foeticide, the state government has asked the authorities here to step up the campaign against this menace.

Instructions in this regard were issued by Chief Parliamentary secretary Sharda Rathore during the monthly grievance redressal meeting here today. She said foeticide was one area which needed more attention.

She asked the authorities concerned to enforce the PNDT Act strictly and ensure that no ultrasound centre or doctor indulged in illegal practices. She also asked officials to implement the state’s women welfare polices so that the intended benefits reached the targeted segment.

Later, while listening to public grievances, Rathore asked the ADC to conduct a probe into the complaints against the local tehsil office and submit a report soon.

She heard 12 complaints and immediately directed the officials concerned to resolve the matter.

Kurukshetra, April 28
Breaking the age-old tradition, a woman officer today performed the last rites of her mother, Shanta Kataria. ADC, Kurukshetra, Sumedha Kataria lit the pyre at the cremation ground, scripting a new history amid the chanting of mantras. She fulfilled the wishes of her 81-year-old mother by performing the latter’s last rites, defying the social norms. The bold step was more significant in the Jat land of Haryana, dominated by khaps and notorious for bias against women.

Sumedha, one of the seven sisters, has no brother and was not permitted to perform the last rites of her father in 1981. At that time the sisters were even stopped from entering the cremation ground. Acharya Balram Gautam said there was no mention of debarring women from performing the last rites in the shastras.

Gurgaon, April 28
With a view to curbing female foeticide, the state government is pursuing a proposal to offer cash incentives to the persons who provide specific information about pre-natal sex-determination tests, Rao Narender Singh, Minister for Health, Medical Education and Elections, told The Tribune here today.

The minister said the government planned to rope in NGOs, social and religious organisations, besides grassroots-level functionaries like local health and panchayat workers and cultural troupes, in a bid to change the age-old mindset in this regard.

District task forces were also being formed to ensure effective implementation of the PNDT Act throughout the state.

On being asked about the badly skewed sex ratio in Narnaul, his own hometown, Rao Narender said his district touched three districts of Rajasthan, which made it easy for local residents to get the sex of the foetus determined there.

"I have conveyed our concerns to the Rajasthan Health Minister and asked him to take effective steps to check the practice," he maintained.

In response to another query, the minister asserted that the doctors selected for government service would now be required to undergo a two-month training programme before joining duty.

"The training schedule will be divided into four sessions of 15 days each," he pointed out, adding that the newly appointed doctors would undergo training at the state health facility 
in Panchkula; PGIMER, Chandigarh; PGIMS, Rohtak; and multi-specialty private hospitals as well.

The underlying objective behind the training programme was to provide proper practical exposure and orientation to the newly appointed doctors, the minister observed.