Jind, September 29
The district court has sentenced 12 persons to life imprisonment and a penalty of Rs 6,500 each in the Vedpal murder case. Punishment to one of the woman accused has been kept pending. The convicts include a father-son duo. They had been held guilty in the infamous honour killing case of Singhwal village in Narwana subdivision of this district in July, 2009. One of the accused has been acquitted. Vedpal was beaten to death at Singhwal village on July 22, 2009.

Vedpal was beaten to death at Singhwal village on July 22, 2009, when he went there to take his wife on the directions of the high court, escorted by a police team and a warrant officer appointed by the court.  Sonia’s parents were among those booked in this case, besides some local residents, who were members of a caste panchayat that declared their marriage unacceptable before the unsavoury incident.

Additional District and Sessions Judge RN Bharti today sentenced 12 of the 14 accused in the case to life term. The convict include Dhanraj, father of Sonia, whom victim Vedpal had married before he was murdered in full public view at the village when he had come to get his wife. Others who have been sentenced include Ramdiya, , Dharam Pal, Ranbir , a former panch, Miya Singh, Shamsher, Mahender, Rajesh, Ram Kumar, Ram Mehar and Krishan.

One of the accused, Pawanjit Bhanwala, chief of the All-India Adarsh Jat Mahasabha, has, however, been acquitted due to lack of evidence. The case was registered on the complaint of Vedpal’s brother against the accused.

Vedpal married Sonia, a resident of Singhwal village, against the wishes of her parents and the local panchayat. He had come to the village to get his wife on the directions of the high court, escorted by a police team and a warrant officer appointed by the court.

Sonia’s parents were among those booked in this case, besides some local residents, who were members of a caste panchayat that declared their marriage unacceptable before the unsavoury incident in which Vedpal was lynched to death.

Vedpal got friendly with Sonia while working as private medical practitioner in Singhwal village but this was opposed by the girl’s kin. A panchayat held in the village declared the marriage unacceptable as the couple hailed from villages in the neighbourhood.

Dhanpati, Sonia's mother, who was arrested on September 17 after being declared as a proclaimed offender, would be prosecuted as per the law, said state counsel for the state. On other hand, counsel for the convicts said the verdict would be challenged. 

Faridabad, September 29
Three BTech final year students of the local BS Anangpuria College were drowned last evening in an abyss-like structure full of water in Khori Jamalpur village, about 10 km from here.

According to the police, bodies of two of the deceased, Abhey Kundalia, hailing from Ballabgarh (Faridabad), and Vishal Yadav, hailing from Dwarka in the national capital, were recovered this morning. Search operations was called off at about 6 pm on account of darkness. The third student who drowned was Deepak Rawat.

A huge abyss-like structure, about 1 km from the college, located on the Palli-Sohna road, had been created on account of mining in the area. It was at places more than 20 ft deep.

According to the police, it got the information that some clothes were lying near the abyss in the evening. Half a dozen divers were pressed into service, without avail. A team of divers from the ITBP, Noida, were also requisitioned who arrived this morning.

Chandigarh, September 29
Coming to the rescue of 116 guest teachers who were issued show-cause notices for the termination of their appointments, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has asked Haryana’s Director, School Education, to pass an order in accordance with law after giving them an opportunity of hearing.

The directions came on a bunch of nearly 100 petitions filed by Naresh Kumar and other petitioners.

Disposing of the matter, Justice Ranjit Singh directed the petitioner-guest teachers “to appear before the respective authorities which have issued show-cause notice in each case”.

Justice Ranjit Singh added: The authorities, after obtaining replies of the respective petitioners to the show-cause notice, shall forward the case to the Director, Education School, by fixing a date of hearing before the Director in consultation with the Director.

“The Director, School, thereafter, would afford due opportunity of hearing to the petitioners and pass an order in accordance with law. The petitioners shall be at liberty to raise all the pleas that they may wish to urge against the proposed action…. The petitioners would be at liberty to impugn any order passed by the Director in accordance with law.

“If any of the petitioner makes a request for being represented by a counsel, the same shall be considered by the Director and appropriate order made thereon”. The interim order passed in favour of the petitioners against their termination shall continue till the date of decision by the Director.

Sirsa, September 29
Inordinate delay in the declaration of results by Chaudhary Devi Lal University (CDLU) has left students worried and colleges affiliated to the university from this academic session apprehensive.

The examinations were held in May and the results should have been declared by July to enable students become eligible for jobs or admission to next courses. However, the university has not been able to declare the results of almost half of the courses till date. Most of results announced so far have been declared in the last seven days.

“I have already cleared the preliminary examination for the Haryana Civil Service (Judicial) and
have to apply for the main examination. However, the university is yet to announce the results. I am worried whether I will be able to apply in time,” said a student, who appeared
in the LLB final-year examination.

Interestingly, the university has been giving confidential results for the last more than a month, meaning that the awards have already been received.

The delay in the declaration of results has caused apprehension in the minds of heads of colleges affiliated with the university from this academic session. “When the university is not able to prepare results
for its 2,000 students, how will it handle the situation when thousands of students from two districts will appear in examinations conducted by the university this year,” said the principal of a college. The state government recently affiliated colleges of Sirsa and Fatehabad districts with Devi Lal University.

Earlier, the university had earned a bad name for its failure to conduct examinations and declare results in time when the state government affiliated some colleges from five districts with it in 2004.

Prof Praveen Agamkar, who holds charge as the Controller of Examination along with his duties as chairperson of the Physics Department and Dean (Physical Sciences), said the university would declare the remaining results soon.

Karnal, September 29
The newly created Karnal police range became functional today with Anant Kumar Dhul taking over as its first IG.

The new range with headquarters at Karnal included the police districts of Yamunanagar, Kaithal, Kurukshetra and Karnal district.

The new range would go a long way in early detection and investigation of crime with focus being on scientific investigation, using latest cyber technology and knowhow, Dhul said after taking charge.

The criminal tracking network system (CCNS) was already in place in all four districts and Karnal being centrally located and the Haryana Police Academy close by, steps taken to curb crime would yield results, the IG added.

Dhul disclosed that a "directory" of criminals would be maintained at the headquarters of each district and also in the range and strict vigil would be maintained over criminal gangs.

Karnal and Kurukshetra districts reported 100 and 78 rape cases, respectively, in 2009 and 2010 while the number of dowry deaths stood at 38 and 18. As many as 76 murder cases were reported in Karnal while the figure was 63 for Kurukshetra during 2009 and 2010. The number of rape cases was 52 and 60 in Kaithal and Yamunanagar districts.

Panipat, September 29
With more than 70 persons falling ill after consuming adulterated buckwheat flour (kuttu atta) in the district, the administration has sounded an alert and ordered sampling of the buckwheat flour across the district.

The Civil Surgeon, Dr HS Randhawa, while speaking to The Tribune said that so far they had received 49 cases at the Civil Hospital. Out of these, 19 persons were admitted to the hospital in view of their condition while the rest were discharged after administering oral medication to them.

As many as 20 other cases were reported at the private nursing homes across the district and only 10 of these were admitted. There could be more cases which had so far not been reported at the hospitals, he said. The Civil Surgeon said that all patients were out of danger.

Deputy Commissioner JS Ahlawat said a special team of health officials had been constituted, which had started conducting raids at the shops from where the patients had bought the buckwheat flour last night. He said the health teams had raided the city markets twice today but had to return empty handed as the shop owners had shut their shops and disappeared on seeing the officials.

He said four samples of buckwheat flour had been collected and were sent for examination. If the flour was found to be adulterated, strict action would be initiated against those responsible, the Deputy Commissioner said.

Meanwhile, the health authorities are undertaking an intensive sampling of the buckwheat flour in the district and teams have been asked to remain stationed in the market to put a complete stop on the sale of adulterated buckwheat flour. 

Ambala, September 29
The state government has decided to regularise contractual employees in the Transport Department. Stating this here yesterday, Babu Lal Yadav, state
president of the Roadways Employees Union, said
a decision to this effect
had been taken by Arun Kumar, Director General (Transport).

He said a deputation of the union had met Arun Kumar at Chandigarh on September 20 and submitted a memorandum listing their pending demands. He said the Director General had assured them that the vacant posts in all 21 depots of the Haryana Roadways would be filled up on priority basis. The union leader said the deputation stretched upon the Director General not to proceed further with the work of grant of over 2,700 routes permits to the private operators.

The privatisation would cause a loss of revenue to the Haryana Roadways, memorandum parted out. “We are totally against the privatisation of the Haryana Roadways”, Babu Lal Yadav and Manoj Kundu, senior members of the Roadways Employees Union, Haryana, said. The union leaders demanded that instead of privatisation, the government should fill the vacant posts in the Haryana Roadways.

Babu Lal Yadav and Manoj Kundu pointed out to the Director General that about 400 buses of the Haryana Roadways were not in operation because of shortage of the operational staff, including drivers and conductors. Out of the total fleet of 3,200 buses only 2,800 were operational, they claimed.