Sonepat, June 18
A group of armed men, allegedly hired by neighbours, gunned down a widow and her married daughter, and injured the widow’s son and his wife in the Vikas Nagar locality on the Murthal road here late last night. Old animosity between the two families over tying of animals in the street is said to be behind the incident.

The deceased have been identified as Santosh and her daughter Seema. Santosh’s son Sunil and his wife Reena sustained injuries and were rushed to the local Civil Hospital, from where Reena was discharged after administering first aid to her.

While Santosh was declared dead at the local Civil Hospital, Seema succumbed to her injuries on the way to the PGIMS, Rohtak. Sunil’s condition, who was referred to the PGI, Rohtak, is said to be stable.

A criminal case under Sections 302, 307, 148 and 149 of the IPC has been registered against Santosh’s neighbour Jagbir, his wife Guddi, Monu, Sheelu and some unidentified persons.

Later, the police arrested Jagbir and his wife Guddi from their residence, while three teams were constituted to trace those who had carried out the killings.

According to the complaint lodged with the police, the dispute over tying of animals between the two families took place a month ago.

The police said from preliminary investigations, it appeared to be a handiwork of a professional killer, who was allegedly hired by Jagbir and his wife Guddi.

According to neighbours, the armed men reached the victims’ house in three separate vehicles and started beating up Sunil outside the house. As Seema rushed to save her brother, the armed men opened fire at her. On hearing the gunshot, Santosh also rushed outside and was gunned down by the armed men. The assailants also attacked Sunil’s wife Reena. After committing the crime, the assailants sped away from the spot.

Sadar SHO Kanwal Singh said Jagbir and his wife Guddi had been arrested and were being interrogated. He claimed that all assailants would be arrested soon.

DSP Randhir Singh Saini said three police teams, constituted to nab the accused, had raided some places in the state. The victims originally belonged to Pakasma village in Rohtak district and had settled in Vikas Nagar a few years ago.

Fatehabad, June 18
A woman gave birth to Siamese twins at a nursing home here today. Siamese twins are identical twins whose bodies are joined together.

Sukhwinder (22), wife of Angrez Singh, a resident of Sanga village of Punjab, gave birth to the conjoined twins in the local Patiala Children and Maternity Home, where gynaecologist Dr Anjana Dawra facilitated her delivery through a caesarian section today. The twins, both males, are born in the 32nd week of their mother’s pregnancy and their condition is stated to be critical.

Pediatrician Dr Ravi Dawra, who is trying to save the twins through resuscitation, said the survival of the twins would depend on the extent to which they were conjoined together.

“The twins are conjoined together at the chest and abdomen and in medical terminology such twins are known as thoracopagus - the conjoined twins united at the thorax,” said radiologist Dr Sanjeev Kaushal, who first detected the deformity in his City Diagnostic Centre at Sirsa on Wednesday.

Dr Dawra said the twins have a common heart and in all possibilities they have common lungs, as chest of both twins are inflated the moment he gives pressure to one through an ambubag for artificial respiration.

He said the twins neither cried nor did they could breathe themselves after their birth necessitating resuscitation through artificial respiration. He said since several vital organs of the twins are united, the survival of the twins would not be easy, though he was trying his best.

Dr Dawra said Sukhwinder’s family members came to know of the deformity only two days ago when they went for an ultrasound test in Sirsa. However, by then it was too late as it was unsafe to go for abortion at this stage.

A Siamese twin is a very rare phenomenon. The occurrence is estimated at 1:100,000 cases. Approximately half are stillborn and smaller fractions of pair born alive have abnormalities incompatible with life. The overall survival rate in conjoined twins, according to doctors, is 25 per cent depending upon the parts of the bodies joined together - those with superficial union have better chances of survival. The phenomenon occurs due to incomplete separation of the twins in the mother’s womb.

Jind, June 18
As many as 12,614 families in the district have been allotted a 100 sq yard residential plot each in their respective villages under the Mahatma Gandhi Gramin Basti Yojana so far. A total of 19,143 families have been identified which are to be given free plots under the scheme.

According to the authorities, areas where these plots are being given would be provided all basic amenities.

There are 307 villages in the district. Of these, 225 villages have been identified which have adequate common land, which will be used for carving out the 100 sq yard plots.

According to officials, beneficiaries in 156 villages have already been given the possession of the plots, while the process of identification of land for plots is under way in another 187 villages in the district.

Of the plots allotted so far, 5,385 beneficiary families belong to the Scheduled Caste BPL category, 1,914 families belong to the Scheduled Caste non-BPL category, 2,254 to the Backward Classes (A) category and 1,136 to the Backward Classes (non-BPL category).

Around 1,925 families who have got the benefit under the scheme belong to other BPL categories.

The authorities have prepared a detailed report based on the blockwise allocation of such plots in the district.

However, according to sources, the list of such beneficiaries could be much bigger as there are many claimants whose applications are pending in the survey conducted to identify the beneficiaries.

Tohana (Fatehabad), June 18
Alleging police inaction in a murder case, villagers and the victim’s kin blocked the Tohana-Hisar road near Samain village for over three hours here today.

Demanding immediate arrest of eight persons, who had allegedly beaten Jasbir Singh to death following an altercation over irrigation water, the villagers sat on the road and brought traffic to a standstill.

The victim’s cousin, Satpal, had lodged a complaint that Joginder, whose land fell near the victim’s fields, and his accomplices Bannu, Sunil, Tasha, Bahadur, Kashmir, Mahabir and Baghi had allegedly beaten up Jasbir on June 13. Later, the victim died in a Hisar hospital.

The police had initially booked the eight accused under Sections 148, 149 and 506 of the IPC and later added Section 302 to the FIR after Jasbir’s death.

The protesters alleged that the police was not arresting the accused, though they were roaming free. Long queues of vehicles were seen on both sides of the road as the villagers refused to lift the blockade till the accused were arrested.

DSP Suresh Kaushik had a tough time convincing the protesters that the accused would be arrested soon.

The police later arrested six accused and Kaushik told mediapersons that the other two would also be arrested soon.

Rohtak, June 18
Two motorcycle-borne youths allegedly threw acid on three teenaged girl students in Sector 3 here this evening.

The victims have been admitted to the PGIMS. The culprits managed to flee from the spot after committing the crime.

The incident took place when the victims, all residents of Sector 3, were on the way to their homes after their tuition classes.

Two boys, in their early twenties, who were waiting for them, took out the acid and threw it on the girls, who were on two scooters.

While two girls are students of Class X, the third is a student of Class XI.

The victims have suffered burn injuries ranging from 20 to 35 per cent, said a doctor attending to the girls at the emergency ward of the hospital.

The victims have suffered burn injuries on their face, arms and thigh.

The girls were yet to give a statement to the police, though it had reached the hospital and was in the process of registering a case when reports last came in.

Sirsa, June 18
In the eye of a storm for its functioning, the district police today acted against its “errant” men and suspended two cops for dereliction of duty and misbehaviour with people.

Satinder Kumar Gupta, SP, confirmed that Balbir Singh, an assistant sub-inspector, who was in charge of the police post in the Kirti Nagar area of Sirsa, had been suspended for his misconduct and misbehaviour during routine checking of vehicles a few days ago.

Balbir Singh stopped a motorcyclist for some traffic violation and allegedly misbehaved with him.

When the motorcyclist failed to produce his driving licence or the registration certificate of the vehicle, the cop allegedly snatched his wallet and kept it as security for ensuring that the violator produced his papers.

Later, the motorcyclist and some local people brought the matter to the notice of the SP and complained about the “corrupt” ways of the ASI.

The other cop suspended by the SP is Raja Ram, a sub-inspector posted as in charge of the police post situated in the local bus stand.

Gupta said Raja Ram had been suspended on the basis of an inquiry conducted by DSP (Headquarters) Puran Singh Panwar.

In his inquiry, the DSP had found Raja Ram guilty of dereliction of duty, added the SP.

Only last week, the police post had committed a faux pas, when the police claimed to have arrested Vinod Kumar, a resident of Kanhewala (Punjab), from Sardulgarh in Punjab after he allegedly snatched a gold chain from a woman near the old tehsil area on June 14.

While producing the accused before the court, the police claimed that it had to recover the chain from the accused and interrogate him for some other such incidents.

However, local residents claimed that Vinod was nabbed by residents immediately after he snatched the chain from the woman, Shakuntala Devi, and the accused as well as the chain was handed over to the police by those who caught him running with the chain.

Both cops were asked to report in the Police Lines.

Kaithal, June 18
The police is yet to get any clue to Kashmir Singh of Bahnpura village, who was allegedly kidnapped on June 13 by employees of liquor contractors of the area.

On a complaint of Kashmir’s wife, Bharpai Devi, the police had registered a case and arrested seven persons, including Mohinder, Rajinder, Shamsher, Balwinder and Suresh.

Meanwhile, a large number of villagers met Amneet P Kumar, DC, and SP Simardeep Singh and expressed concern over the delay in tracing Kashmir Singh. — OC

Rewari, June 18
Santosh Devi (46) died of snakebite at Nahar village, near Kosli, today.

The incident took place when Santosh Devi was rearranging the dung cakes lying in her plot. The snake was hiding in the dung cakes. She was admitted to the Community Health Centre at Nahar, where she died.