Rohtak, May 27
Balbir Singh, alias Bali Pehalwan, a former INLD MLA from Meham, surrendered before Rohtak range IGP V.Kamaraja here today. Bali, along with 21 others, is an accused in a firing incident at Kalanaur Mandi on May 5 in which one person was killed.

Before surrendering, the former MLA, who reached Rohtak along with thousands of his supporters in a long cavalcade of vehicles from his Mokhra village , put up a massive show of strength by addressing a meeting near the IGP’s office.

The former MLA had been evading arrest for the past 22 days. The police could not dare touch Bali, who was lodged in his house at Mokhra village amidst tight security by his supporters and fellow villagers, including women. The villagers, armed with lathis, sickles, firearms, petrol bombs and other weapons, had been guarding his house round the clock in a bid to protect him from the police. They alleged that Bali was innocent and was being framed in the murder case.

Top officers of the Haryana Police, including DGP RS Dalal, had been camping at Rohtak to ensure that Bali joined investigations in the murder case.

Finally, after several rounds of negotiations, Bali decided to surrender. He took the blessings of the village elders before leaving for Rohtak in a cavalcade of vehicles.

Claiming innocence, the former MLA expressed hope that he would get justice and appealed to his supporters to maintain peace and order. Following this, he entered the IGP’s office along with his brothers, lawyer and supporters to surrender.

A youth, identified as Vishnu, was shot dead in a shooting incident after some altercation between the former MLA and a commission agent in the grain market of Kalanaur town in the district.

A heavy police force had been stationed around the IGP’s office and other points in the town since morning. Several senior IPS officers were present to ensure foolproof security in view of the sensitivity of the matter.

However, the police seemed helpless before Bali’s massive support and stood like mute spectators even as the former MLA addressed his supporters at the Delhi bypass near the IGP’s office. The Rohtak SP’s vehicle escorted Bali’s cavalcade from the Hisar bypass to the IGP’s office.

An onlooker of the high-voltage drama preceding the surrender remarked that it seemed that it was not Bali but the police who had surrendered.

As if endorsing his views, IGP Kamraja candidly admitted the failure of the police in the case.

“It's a failure of the police that we could not arrest a murder accused for so many days. We avoided a confrontation with the villagers apprehending violence. Now that he has surrendered and expressed his willingness to join investigation, we have started the interrogation and will produce him at the local court in the next 24 hours,” Kamaraja maintained. 

Panchkula, May 27
If the proceedings of the Haryana Congress Mahasammelan held here today on the occasion of the death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru are an indication, one can safely say that the brief for party leaders is clear - attack the BJP and don’t bother about regional parties.

Opening the attack on the BJP, AICC general secretary in charge of Haryana affairs BK Hari Prasad said while each and every Congress family had been associated with the freedom struggle, what to talk of BJP leaders, even their “ghar ka kuta” was nowhere near the country’s struggle for independence.

During its five-year rule, BJP leaders broke all records of corruption and even its national president was caught on camera while accepting bribe. It was for this reason that the people had started calling the BJP as the “Bhrashtachar Janata Party”. Even Anna Hazare had kept BJP men out of his team on the committee for drafting the Lokpal Bill.

The BJP Government set up a “Neelami Mantralya (Disinvestment Ministry)” under Arun Shourie to “fritter away assets created by Nehru under the public sector”. The ministry, he alleged, was nothing but an agency to get commissions.

Hari Prasad claimed that Congress President Sonia Gandhi was tough on corrupt leaders and did not hesitate in taking strong action against them. Former Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan was removed though he was not indicted by any court for corrupt practices. Similarly, action was taken against Suresh Kalmadi, Chairman of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee. Against this, the BJP did not act even when there was overwhelming evidence of corruption against its leaders.

He also alleged that while the UPA Government pumped huge money in the states for the welfare of people, the BJP-ruled states were not spending it on the stated purpose but were siphoning off the funds for personal benefits.

Warning his party men against airing their differences in the press, Hari Prasad said everything came to the knowledge of Sonia Gandhi within five minutes of occurrence.

Continuing the refrain set by the Central leader, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the BJP had been left without a leader after Atal Behari Vajpayee . He claimed that if the country was to be strengthened, the Congress must be strengthened first. He said his government had worked meticulously to ensure inclusive growth of the state.

However, he had a dig at Om Prakash Chautala, leader of the main opposition party in Haryana. Hooda said Chautala was in the habit of claiming that his party would oppose the UPA Government, forgetting that the INLD did not have even a single MP in the Lok Sabha.

Earlier, the mahasammelan adopted a political resolution moved by Ambala MLA Venod Sharma, highlighting various achievements of the UPA and Hooda Governments.

It also adopted an economic resolution moved by PWD Minister Randeep Surjewala, acknowledging that economic policies of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh had saved the country from economic meltdown. 

Sirsa, May 27
The district authorities will get tough with quacks,who have been playing with human and cattle life in the rural areas.

Chief Parliamentary Secretary Prahlad Singh Gillankhera ordered officials of the Health and Animal Husbandry Departments to take suitable action against quacks while acting upon a complaint received in the District Grievances and Public Relation Committee today.

Subhash, a resident of Keharwala village, had alleged that two persons were running medical halls without valid drug licences in the village.

Another complaint said substandard material was being used in the construction of waterworks in Kutiana village.

Acting upon another complaint, Gillankhera directed engineers of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam to issue power connections to tubewells strictly in accordance with the priority list or be ready to face action.

Gillankhera asked officials to hear public grievances between 11 am to 12 noon as per orders of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda .

Later, addressing mediapersons in the PWD Rest House here, Gillankhera said Rs 2410.95 crore would be spent on the construction and repair of new roads in the district in the current year.

Of this amount, Rs 1589.59 crore would be spent on planned projects and Rs 821.36 crores on non-planned works.

The CPS said the government would soon four-lane several prominent roads of Haryana under a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. As many as 10 overbridges would be constructed in the current year. 

Chandigarh, May 27
The fledgling State Police Complaint Authority, Haryana, is still trying to find its feet though its existence was conceptualised when the state legislature amended the Police Act in 2007 in accordance with the Supreme Court directions.

However, the authority was constituted only in August last when a former IAS officer HS Rana was appointed as the one-man authority.

The authority has so far received only a handful of complaints against the police despite large-scale dissatisfaction against the state police as alleged by opposition parties. The complaints primarily allege inaction by the police even after registering an FIR. Rana claims that in most of the complaints, grievances were redressed after he sought a report from the SP concerned.

The apex court had issued a number of directions to the states in a PIL filed by UP former DGP Prakash Singh against the Union of India in 2006. The directions included separation of the investigation and law and order wings of the police, fixed terms for the DGP and SP-level officers, setting up of a security commission, an independent police board for transfers and other service-related matters and setting up of a police complaint authority to investigate misconduct of a police officer.

The authority can investigate custodial deaths, attempt to rape or rape in police stations, grievous hurt in police stations and illegal detention by the police.

The authority can initiate action if a victim or his or her relative files an affidavit before it or if the National or State Human Rights Commission refers a matter to it or if the DGP or the state government refers a complaint to it. However, the authority has the power to act suo motu also. It enjoys the powers of a civil court for summoning evidence or witnesses.

In last year’s state budget no funds were allocated to the authority. However, this year about Rs 73 lakh have been earmarked for it. Rana says it takes time for any organisation to find its feet. Now the authority has drafted its rules, which would be sent to the state government for approval.

Ambala, May 27
The police has arrested three persons in the rape-cum-murder case of Kurukshetra girl Sweety.

Inspector General of Police KK Sindhu said here today that three persons travelling in a black Scorpio were arrested by a special investigation team of the 
Ambala range from Nalvi village this morning.

They have been identified as Ranjodh Singh and Gurvinder Singh, both from Nagla village in Karnal, and Virender Singh from UP.

Addressing a press conference, Sindhu said Sweety, a student of Class XII, was kidnapped and raped on May 4 and her body was found in a drain near Ramba village in Karnal district.

On preliminary interrogation, the accused had confessed to have committed the crime. They were produced in a court in Kurukshetra, which sent them to five-day police custody.

Sindhu said the vehicle used in committing the crime was purchased from a car bazaar in Patiala district in Punjab. The criminals, he said, did not seem to have planned their crime. They were under the effect of some intoxicants and picked up Sweety on spotting her.

The IG said a stick with a metallic handle usually available in village fairs in Punjab was also recovered from the crime spot and it was believed that the victim was clubbed to death with that stick.

Two days ago, representatives of various social, religious and political organisations staged a demonstration and sat on dharna in front of the mini-secretariat on the failure of the police to arrest the accused.

Karnal, May 27
A minor girl, who was allegedly lured by some miscreants involved in “sale and purchase” of girls and brought to Gharaunda, was saved from being sold due to the timely intervention of the police, which arrested three persons including a woman.

Following a tip-off, the police last night raided a place and arrested Aruna, alias Babli, Suresh, a resident of Raipur Jatan, and Suresh of Kheri Mansingh while they were allegedly planning to sell a 13-year-old girl.

The police also recovered Rs 50,000 from their possession.

The victim, a resident of Delhi, said she was lured by Babli, who took her along and kept her in her house at Ambala for four days. She was later brought to Gharaunda for allegedly selling her to some person.

The police has claimed to have busted an interstate racket active in the region for the past sometime and said Babli was already wanted in similar cases in Nissing, Madhuban, Safido and Ambala.

In another incident, a married woman in Gagsina village allegedly committed suicide by consuming some poisonous substance.

The family members of the deceased identified as Kiran alleged that she was harassed by her in-laws, who had been demanding dowry ever since she got married. The matter was reported to the panchayat also.

They suspected some foul play in the death of their daughter. The police has registered a case under Section 304 of the IPC against the accused and sent the body for a postmortem.

Faridabad, May 27
Old-age pensioners today blocked Nangla Chowk, Saharan Chowk and BK Chowk in protest against the delay in payment of pension money by the government. They alleged the government had not paid pension for the past two months.

The blockade was in the form of dharnas at the chowks.

The blockades at Saharan Chowk and Nangla Chowks were called off following intervention by a representative of Haryana Minister for Labour Shiv Charan Sharma while that at BK Chowk was lifted after an assurance from Pradeep Godara, SDM, Faridabad.

The vehicular movement on inner roads was disrupted as the three chowks are located in the heart of the city.

Officials of the Social Justice and Empowerment said the delay was on account of the department’s decision to pay pension through Axix Bank. The dalay was due to the fact that a large number of pensioners were yet to be photographed for identification. However, a wayout would be found in tomorrow’s meeting convened by the ADC,Faridabad, to complete the process of photography and database compilation by Fino Company and Axis Bank.

Chandigarh, May 27
A selection committee, constituted by Maharshi Dayanand University for a reader’s selection in the Department of Pharmacognosy, has virtually been reprimanded by the Punjab and Haryana High Court for not following the prescribed procedure.

Setting aside the reader’s selection and appointment, the varsity has now been directed by a single Judge of the high court to carry out the selection afresh after reconstituting the selection committee.

Acting on the petition challenging Munish Garg’s selection and appointment as reader, Justice Permod Kohli minced no words while asserting that “admittedly, no marks were allocated for interview, qualification, experience, research work, participation in conferences etc. Without fixing any marks for each component of the selection criteria, how the selection committee has arrived at the final decision that one candidate is better than the other is not known”.

The directions came on a petition filed by Barnala-based assistant professor Suresh Kumar against the varsity and another respondent. Working at SD College of Pharmacy, Barnala, the professor had earlier challenged the selection made on the basis of the advertisement issued by the varsity in January, 2008.

After hearing the arguments and going through the documentary evidence, Justice Permod Kohli asserted: “The selection committee has not adjudged the candidate on the basis of the laid down criteria. The selection of the respondent is vitiated and is, thus, declared invalid.

Rewari, May 27
Governor Jagannath Pahadia paid tributes to the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the inaugural ceremony of a mega multi- speciality health camp held to mark the death anniversary of Pt Nehru as well as Rao Abhay Singh, father of Finance Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav and Rewari’s first legislator, in the Civil Hospital here today.

He recalled Pt Nehru’s contribution to India’s freedom movement under the stewardship of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.

Simultaneously applauding Rao Abhay Singh’s adherence to the noble traits of simplicity and selfless service of the masses, he said provision of medical facilities to the poor through such health camps held in remembrance of these noble souls was nothing short of genuine service to the Lord himself.

The Governor said it was a matter of satisfaction that medical institutions like AIMS Phase-II in Jhajjar district, Kalpana Chawla Medical Institute in Karnal and several such other institutes were coming up in Faridabad, Khanpur Kalan and Nalhar.

The Governor also honoured specialists of the region, who will be providing services at the above camp.

He also paid floral tributes at the statues of Pt Nehru and Rao Abhay Singh. Finance, Irrigation, Forest and Environment Minister Capt Ajay Singh Yadav, Dr ML Ranga, Vice-Chancellor of GJU, Hisar, and several other dignitaries also paid homage to Pt Nehru.

Hisar, May 27
In view of persistent demand of farmers, the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has decided to launch a voluntary disclosure scheme (VDS) for the owners of agricultural tubewells in rural areas to declare their unauthorised load without paying any penalty. The scheme will be availablefrom June 1 to August 31.

Mohammed Shayin, Managing Director, DHBVN, said here today that a simple procedure had been laid down for declaring the load under the VDS. The farmers could declare the extended load of motors of their tubewell connections by submitting an “application and agreement” form along with an advance consumption deposit. They need not submit any terms and conditions forms or affidavits. The consumers were not required to submit any fresh test report also. They might submit a self-declaration form. Their load would be regularised without any penalty charges.

Shayin said the extension of load would be deemed to have been regularised from the date of submission of the A&A form. As such, the consumers need not go to the office after completing the formalities in the beginning.

The extension of load will be regularised within the existing system and in case the existing system cannot take up the additional load declared by the consumer, the existing transformers would be augmented by the at the cost of the nigam.

In case the owner of a tubewell was not alive then the user of the connection could extend the load after furnishing an affidavit. The flat rate consumers were also allowed to take the benefit of declaring unauthorised load voluntarily without paying any penalty under this scheme even if they do not opt for meters.

However, the benefit of the scheme shall be permitted only to the consumers who were not defaulters or who have made the entire payment of their outstanding dues.

Fatehabad, May 27
The police yesterday arrested Jagdish Chander, a resident of Dhabi Kalan, and his nephew Sunil for throwing the former’s teenaged daughter into Fatehabad branch canal in the name of family honour.

The two had thrown 17-year-old Rajni (name changed) into the canal around 9.30 pm on Tuesday while the three were coming towards Fatehabad on a motorcycle.

Nirmal Singh, SHO of the Bhattu Kalan police station, said the two accused had been booked on the complaint of the hapless girl, who was rescued by people.

Confessing the crime Rajni’s father said he tried to counsel his daughter to agree to marry the boy of his choice but she insisted on marrying a village youth, Kapil.

The SHO said the girl had been sent to Nari Niketan, Karnal. — TNS