Naraingarh, June 2
Irate residents of Gadhauli village near Naraingarh today went on the rampage and burnt two police vehicles in protest against an incident in which two youths belonging to the village died. They also blocked the Naraingarh-Sadhaura highway for several hours.

The violence was triggered by an incident which took place in the morning. Neeraj, along with Mohit, was riding a motorcycle when they were signalled to stop by a police party at a naka near the village. They panicked and sped away, and in the process met with an accident with a Scorpio, in which Neeraj died.

Mohit, who was riding pillion, got seriously injured and was rushed to the PGI, Chandigarh. He too died on the way to the PGI.

As the news of Neeraj’s death reached the village, residents started converging on the spot and blocked the highway after placing the body on the road. They raised slogans against the police. The villagers demanded an inquiry into the incident and said the policemen on naka duty should be booked.

The villagers then went on the rampage. While policemen on naka duty managed to flee, the villagers set their Gypsy on fire.

An additional police force was rushed to the spot. Soon another police Gypsy arrived there, which was gheraoed by the villagers. Sensing trouble, the policemen escaped. The villagers set the police vehicle on fire.

The villagers refused to lift the blockade till the policemen on naka duty were arrested.

The district police authorities have ordered the suspension of four policemen on naka duty and a case has been registered against them. According to the villagers, one of the cops hit Neeraj and Mohit with a stick, following which they panicked fled away on their motorcycle. In the process, they lost control over the bike, which hit a Scorpio.

The Additional Superintendent of Police has been directed to conduct an inquiry into the matter.

Talking to The Tribune, Naraingarh SDM OP Sharma said the villagers were later pacified follwing which they agreed to lift the blockade around 5 pm. 

Ambala, June 2
Hundreds of trees were uprooted by a devastating thunderstorm late last night in various parts of Ambala. A majority of the urban and rural areas plunged into darkness as trees fell on power lines, resulting in uprooting of electricity poles. The power supply to the urban areas was restored around noon today, while some villages continued to remain without power till the filing of this report.

According to the Power Department, Ambala City division, around 100 electricity poles were uprooted, which disrupted the power supply. A transformer was also damaged in the Panjokhra area.

VK Khurana, XEN (Operations), said the supply in entire Ambala City division would be normalised soon. He claimed that the storm had caused a huge financial loss to the department.

Traffic got blocked on various roads, including the Ambala-Hisar highway, as hundreds of trees were uprooted and fell on the roads. District forest officer Jagmohan Sharma said employees of the department were removing the trees from the roads.

Meanwhile, following the heavy rainfall last night, the mercury dipped, providing relief from heat to the people.

Chandigarh, June 2
MLA Kuldeep Bishnoi’s plea against the defection of five MLAs is heading for expeditious disposal as the Haryana Speaker will now hear the matter on a weekly basis. The development is significant as Bishnoi’s counsel, Satya Pal Jain and Dheeraj Jain,told the Punjab and Haryana High Court today that only one date of hearing was fixed in May.

Jain also told the Bench of Justice M.M. Kumar and Justice Gurdev Singh that the matter was fixed for further hearing on June 8; and added Bishnoi would be available for cross-examination for the entire day on June 6.

Appearing on behalf of the Speaker, senior advocate Rajiv Atma Ram told the Bench that the Speaker would comply with the statement made on his behalf on April 29 by the Solicitor-General of India, Gopal Subramanium, on “drawing a timetable after conferring with the parties and in order to dispose of the petition expeditiously”. Subramanium, on that day, had also asserted that the Speaker has made every endeavour to dispose of the petition as expeditiously as possible. Subramanium’s declaration echoed the assertion of Additional Solicitor-General Mohan Jain. He too had made a similar assertion while appearing for the Speaker.

The Bench also took on record assurance on the Speaker’s behalf that at least four dates of hearing would be fixed in a month. The hearing before the Speaker also stands advanced to June 6.

The “defecting” MLAs -Satpal Sangwan, Vinod Bhyana, Narender Singh, Zileram and Dharam Singh - had joined the Congress in November, 2009.

Sirsa, June 2
Cotton crop on several acres of land was submerged after a breach in the Sheranwali canal near Modia village in Chopta block of this district today.

It took the irrigation authorities more than seven hours to plug the 20-foot-wide chasm in the canal bank.

The villagers said a small breach occurred in the canal bank around 11 pm last night. The breach gradually increased to 20-feet by the morning.

SP Parihar, executive engineer, Nehrana Water Services division, Irrigation Department, said the authorities received information about the breach at 6am today and the chasm had been plugged by the afternoon.

Parihar said the breach occurred due to the overflow of water from one bank of the canal and it increased due to strong currents of water.

He said as the demand for water had decreased due to the current inclement weather in the area, farmers had started closing their outlets, resulting in excessive flow of water in various canals.

Moreover, strong winds blowing in the area uprooted trees along the canals, resulting in overflowing of water at certain points.

As a precautionary measure, the authorities yesterday decreased the flow of water in the canal from 225 cusecs to 175 cusecs. 

Rohtak, June 2
The third foundation day function of Pt BD Sharma Health University was marred by a protest held by Class III and IV employees, who made an attempt to wave black flags during the function in which Governor Jagannath Pahadia was the chief guest. The police arrested 40 protesting employees as a preventive step. They were later released after a warning. As soon as the function began, a group of Class III and IV employees assembled to register their protest in support of their demand for a revision of the patient care allowance, which, they said, had not been revised for the past several years.

They alleged that the authorities concerned had failed to take cognisance of their demand despite several appeals and reminders and they had been left with no option but to show black flags.

“Around 40 protesters were arrested while they were trying to create disturbance at the function,” said SSP Satish Balan.

The authorities described the incident as minor which, they said, did not require any publicity. Meanwhile, the Governor said in his address that the health university was committed to disseminating advance knowledge in health sciences and providing accessible, affordable and quality healthcare to the people.

Chandigarh, June 2
The government has issued the transfer and posting orders of one IAS officer, 12 HCS officers and one District Revenue Officer with immediate effect.

Rajiv Rattan has been posted as SDO(Civil), Narwana, while Jaibir Singh becomes SDO(Civil)-cum-Additional Collector, Samalkha, against a vacant post.

Jagdish Sharma is the new SDO(Civil)-cum-Additional Collector, Rohtak; Anju Chaudhry is the new SDO (Civil)-cum-Additional Collector, Kosli, against a vacant post.

Kuldhir Singh goes as City Magistrate, Palwal; while Satpal Sharma has been posted as City Magistrate, Sirsa. Satbir Singh Lohchab will be the new SDO (Civil), Loharu.

Umed Singh Mohan becomes SDO(Civil), Safidon, while Parvesh Kumar will be the new City Magistrate, Panchkula. Jaideep Kumar has been posted as City Magistrate, Jhajjar.

Samwartak Singh Khangwal is the new Secretary, HUDA, Panchkula; while Mange Ram Dhull becomes SDO (Civil), Siwani. Prithvi Singh has been posted as City Magistrate, Fatehabad.

Besides, GS Virk has been given additional charge as Land Acquisition Officer, Urban Estate, Panchkula, against a vacant post.

Hisar, June 2
The Federation of Haryana Universities Teachers’ Associations (FEDHUTA) has decided to end its boycott of evaluation work.

FEDHUTA chief Somvir Rathee and general secretary Sandeep Rana said here today that the decision had been taken as the government had agreed to issue a notification regarding their pay scales which would be applicable to all universities in Haryana. Earlier, the government had issued four notifications which failed to meet the teachers’ demands. They termed this as a shoddy attempt to divide the teaching community.

They said since the government would now issue a common notification, the teachers had ended their boycott of evaluation work keeping in mind the interests of students.

However, the teachers would go ahead with their plan to stage a dharna at Chandigarh on June 6 as the government had still not accepted several demands pertaining to promotions, pay fixation and the age of superannuation.