Chandigarh, October 21
Discipline, it seems, is the last thing on any Congressman’s mind or so it seemed at the party office of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC). Party workers from Hisar created ruckus over being denied entry to the venue of the meeting held to deliberate on the Hisar debacle.

At a completely “fortified” Congress office to keep the media at bay, senior leaders had to jostle and elbow their way through the crowd of Congress candidate Jai Prakash’s supporters who indulged in hooliganism, demanding that they be let in.

While his supporters from Hisar had started pouring in well before the meeting, unrest among them began to brew after JP’s arrival.

Some of them surrounded him, complaining that they were being denied entry. “We have come to expose the Congressmen who worked against the party and against you. Hold the meeting in the open so that they can be taught a lesson,” they shouted even as JP tried to explain to them that he would do the needful.

As soon as he went in and the doors were shut, the workers started banging on the door, demanding entry even as senior leaders, including Cabinet minister Mahender Pratap, former MLA Meena Mandal and others had to wait for some time before they could enter.

Later, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, in a press conference, said that infighting in the Congress or any other party was no big deal but for the first time, he had witnessed such blatant sabotage.

He said a number of factors, including price rise and the Anna effect, as also the incidents between the last Lok Sabha election and the bypoll, including Mirchpur and the Mayyar incident, and the seat being a Bhajan Lal stronghold had cost them the election.

“Hisar was a weak seat and JP was the best candidate from among those available. My only regret is that we could have been a close second if everybody had fought the election unitedly. We will try our best in Adampur and Ratia, though both these seats have not voted for the Congress,” he said.

Jhajjar, October 21
Taking a strong note of frequent complaints about illegal liquor vends being run in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat districts, V Kamaraja, IG of Rohtak Range Police, plans to take stern action against officials of the Excise and Taxation Department and other departments by lodging a criminal case under the Prevention of Corruption Act and under relevant sections of the IPC .

Kamaraja has recently shot off a communique to the officials concerned wherein they have been warned to get all these illegal liquor vends shut within a week or be ready to face action.

In the communique, the IGP has said the officials found guilty of promoting this illegal activity would not be spared .

“I have received many complaints about illegal liquor vends located in Rohtak, Jhajjar, Sonepat and Panipat districts of the Rohtak Range. Astonishingly, most of the complaints are indicating that excise and taxation officials are hand in glove with liquor barons for letting them run their vends at unauthorised places in areas of their jurisdiction,” said Kamaraja.

Kamaraja maintained that illegal liquor trade was the root cause of not only criminal activities but also social evils that hit social harmony and brotherhood.

After the expiry of the deadline , the police would start arresting the guilty officials after registering cases against them under the Prevention of Corruption Act , the IGP said.

Hisar, October 21
A local court has framed charges against five doctors of the local General Hospital and the Red Cross Society secretary for violating various provisions of the PNDT Act.

A local resident, Lt Col Baljit Singh, had secured information from the authorities regarding the maintenance of record under the Act. He then filed a case in a local court alleging that no records pertaining to ultrasound tests done in the hospital were available.

He alleged that certain records had been burnt and the ultrasound machine of the Red Cross Society was used without proper registration.

The court has fixed January 12,2012, as the next date of hearing.

Panipat, October 21
The use of a blind hippo at Jumbo Circus here has invited a sharp reaction from representatives of the International Organisation for Animal Protection (OPIA), an NGO associated with the UN Department of Information and the Haryana People for Animals, who have demanded action against owners of the circus.

Naresh Kadyan, Indian representative of the OPIA, said a criminal case should be registered against the owners of the circus for violating various laws enacted to save animals.

Kadyan, who submitted a written complaint to the district police, stated that an FIR be registered against managing partners of the circus, Ajay Shankar and Ashok Shankar, for violating Sections 3, 11 and 38 of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, read with the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and Sections 428 and 429, IPC.

He said showing no sensitive towards the blind hippo, the owners were using it to entertain public and earn money. He claimed that the hippo was being subjected to cruelty along with the elephants owned by the circus as the mahouts used force to make the elephants perform unusual stunts even it was banned by the Rajasthan High Court. Kadyan also sought that the authorities should immediately initiate measures to rescue the animals, which were being tormented for money. He said they had even got in touch with the authorities in Rohtak, where this circus had put up its base before shifting to Panipat, for registration of a case against the owners.

Jind, October 21
The driver, conductor and a mechanic of the Haryana Roadways were beaten up by youths near Sheelakheri village last night.

One of the victims has been referred to the the PGIMS. A dispute over carriage of passengers on the route reportedly led to the assault.

According the police, the accused also took away the cash bag and tickets worth Rs 5,000. — TNS

Hisar, October 21
Tributes were paid to 636 police and para-military personnel who sacrificed their lives in the course of duty during the past one year at a ceremony held here on the occasion of Police Martyrs’ Day.

The names of all these martyrs were read out before a parade where jawans reversed the arms and gave a salute to the martyrs.

Senior police and civil administration officers were present during the commemoration ceremony.

The day has been observed throughout the country since October 21, 1959, when a police party led by DSP Karam Singh and comprising 20 other men was attacked by the Chinese Army at Hot Springs in the Ladakh area. Ten policemen had lost their lives in the attack.

Sirsa: Tributes were paid to police and the paramilitary forces personnel, who lost their lives serving the country, on the occasion of the Police Commemoration Day here at the Police Lines on Friday. Jawans of the local police reversed their arms to pay respect to their departed colleagues.

Karnal, October 21
The district police last night arrested five persons —Sukhvinder Singh, Mohit, Yogesh Malik, Karan and Satish Kumar — for alleged betting on the India-England ODI series.

The five persons were arrested from a house in new Moti Nagar rented by the accused to run the whole operations. The police also seized 13 mobiles, one laptop and a TV set from their possession, besides documents pertaining to monetary transactions.

Hisar, October 21
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam(DHBVN) has suspended four officials on charges of violation of procurement manual and delegation of power.

They were: A K Bhanot, DGM(Operation), Sub-Urban division, Bhiwani; Tej Pal, AGM (Operation), Jui Subdivision; Harnek Singh, section officer, and Niranjan Lal, divisional accountant (operation), Suburban division, Bhiwani.

A DHBVN spokesman said here today that all four officials were members of a committee which made purchases during 2010-11 in the operation suburban division, Bhiwani, for renovation of distribution transformers, pump houses and substations. The irregularity was found in an audit of expenditure account of the operation division.

After suspension, the headquarters of all four officials has been shifted to Hisar and they will report to the Chief General Manager (Operations).