Chandigarh, March 21
The issuing of firearms licences in Haryana in the last seven years is a story of contradictions and contrasts. While Hisar,the pocketborough of Haryana Janhit Congress MP Kuldip Bishnoi and Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda’s bete noire, is the “most armed” district, Palwal is the “least armed” district in the state.

Surprisingly, Haryana’s millennium city Guragon, which emerged as the state’s crime capital in 2011 with the highest number of heinous crime cases, had comparatively lesser number of firearms licences (1,047). Chief Minister Hooda’s home district, which had the dubious distinction of reporting the second highest number of crime incidents was also way behind the top three districts with 1,932 firearms licences.

In fact, data on the number of firearms licences issued by the authorities concerned in the last seven years shows that the highest number of 2,709 firearms licences was issued in Hisar followed by Jhajjar (2,551) and Jind (2,425).

Besides Palwal, where only 270 firearms licences were issued since January 1,2005, Mahendragarh district administration issued 295 arms licences followed by Mewat (329).

In the last seven years, the state government issued 28,521 arms licences - 28,487 non-prohibited bore (NPB) and 34 prohibited bore (PB) licences. The PB licences are cleared by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) for persons who are prime targets by the terrorists. Rohtak alone has 11 PB licences followed by Ambala which has nine such licences.

Meanwhile, the number of arms licences issued in other district are: Bhiwani (1,461), Faridabad(686), Fatehabad (1,322), Kurukshetra (2,094), Kaithal (1,368), Karnal (2,145), Panchkula(367), Panipat (1,855), Rewari (547), Sonepat (1,850), Sirsa (1,666) and Yamunanagar (541).

Panipat, March 21
Despite having been granted a visa to visit the country, Pakistani girl Rahila has been denied permission to visit her father’s grave in Mehrana village of this district.

Rahila had spent four long years to find her father Mohammad Vakil, who lies buried in grave number 38 at Mehrana village.

After the national investigating agency confirmed that Mohammad had boarded the Samjhauta Express on February 17, 2007, and that he was killed in the twin blasts, Rahila and her family applied for a visa to visit his grave and perform his last rites.

But the Indian High Commission in Islamabad denied them the visa as the family did not have adequate bank balance.

Following this, Indian lawyer for the kin of Samjhauta blast victims, Momin Malik wrote several letters to the Indian High Commission and the Union Ministry for External Affairs. As his efforts proved futile, he filed a petition in the Punjab and High Court seeking directions to the High Commission in Islamabad to grant Rahila a visa to visit India. Following this the commission wrote to Rahila and she and her brother Mohammad Rizwan were granted visas.

However, when she arrived in the country about 12 days back, the authorities told her that she had only been allowed to visit Bhasani village in Muzaffarnagar district in Uttar Pradesh, where her father had come to visit his relatives on February 14, 2007.

Speaking to he Tribune over phone from Bhasani village, Rahila said that the purpose was to visit the grave of her father. Momin Malik, who accompanied the girl, said that the villagers had now pleaded with the Indian authorities to allow the girl visit her father’s grave. He said a delegation had also gone to New Delhi to take up her case with the authorities concerned.

Mohammad Vakil had boarded the fateful train on February 17, but reportedly went missing. Unmindful of the fact that her father could have been killed in the Samjhauta blasts, Rahila continued to believe that he had been arrested by the Indian security agencies and put behind the bars.

She wrote letters to the authorities of more than 60 jails across the country, seeking information about her father, but finally she found that he had been killed in the blasts and now lay buried in grave number 38 at Mehrana village of Panipat district, a fact confirmed by the NIA.

Gharaunda, March 21
Panic gripped Pundri village, near here, following the mysterious death of a nine-year old boy and disappearance of his five-year-old brother in the wee hours today.

The incident occurred in the family of Mahabir of Pundri village, who found that his nine-year-old son, Nitish, was lying unconscious in the bed while his five-year-old brother, Rahul, was missing.

He immediately took Nitish to a village doctor, who declared him brought dead while search was launced to locate Rahul.

The police reached the village and forensic experts were also called in to solve the mystery.

Mahabir said he had gone to sleep after dinner yesterday while his wife and two sons were already sleeping in the same room.

When he got up at around 6 am, he found Rahul missing and Nitish lying unconscious.

Rajbir, an uncle of the deceased, said the incident was unbelievable as his family had no enmity with any person. There was no injury mark on the body of Nitish.

A pall of gloom descended on the village after the tragedy and the wailing relatives of Nitish and Rahul were inconsolable.

DSP Madan Lal said the police was investigating the case and efforts were on to trace Rahul.

The villagers are apprehensive that Rahul might also have been done to death by the culprits.

Sonepat, March 21
With the arrest of four criminals, the police claims to have busted a gang of vehicle looters. The police has also recovered seven vehicles valued at Rs 70 lakh, including a heavy dumper costing around Rs 25 lakh.

The arrested persons were identified as Suraj Bhan and Surender of Nangal Kalan village, Anil of Gohana and Ajit of Haldana village in Panipat district. The police also recovered a pistol and six live cartridges from their possession.

Talking to mediapersons here yesterday, DSP City Surender Malik said on February 21, Suraj Bhan and Surender allegedly looted a Hyva dumper at pistolpoint from Deep Chand of Jagdishpur village when he was returning to Nangal Kalan village after unloading the sand in the TDI city area under Kundli police station.

After registering a case against unidentified youths, the DSP said investigation led to the arrest of Suraj Bhan and Surender who confessed their involvement in the looting of Hyva and other vehicles. Their confession also led to the arrest of their two accomplices Anil and Ajit and recovery of seven looted vehicles, including cars, he added.

Jhajjar, March 21
With the arrest of 19-year-old Anil, alias Banti of Mandhothi village here, the police today claimed to have solved the mystery of a triple murder case of Mandhothi village located in Bahadurgarh subdivision here.

Talking to mediapersons in Bahadurgarh, Jhajjar SP Patram Singh said Ajay, a co-villager of the deceased, had murdered the three youths, as two of them used to pass vulgar remarks against his sister.

Sonu (20), his cousin Narender (15) and nephew Manjeet (12) were hacked to death when they were asleep at their cattle house on the intervening night of Sunday and Monday last.

“During the interrogation, Ajay revealed that he had threatened Sonu and Narender with dire consequences if they did not stop their mischievous activities. But the duo continued passing vulgar remarks against his sister. This prompted Ajay to hatch a conspiracy to eliminate them,” the SP said.

On the fateful day, Ajay, armed with a sharp-edged weapon, sneaked into the cattle house under the cover of darkness and assaulted Sonu first. Then he targeted Narender, who was sleeping on another cot beside Sonu. The duo died on the spot, said Patram Singh.

“Ajay also disclosed that he had no plan to kill Manjeet but he had to do so because Manjeet had spotted him while committing the crime,” the SP said.

The SP maintained that the police suspected Ajay when he went underground after coming to know that Randhir, father of Sonu, had suspected his involvement in the crime. Later, Ajay was nabbed by the Bahadurgarh police and during the interrogation confessed to committing the crime. The SP said Ajay would be produced in a court in Bahadurgarh tomorrow. The weapon used in the crime was yet to be recovered, he added.

Gurgaon, March 21
The residents of Gurgaon will not have to make rounds of government offices to collect their driving licences (DLs) and vehicle registration certificates (RCs).

With effect from April 1, the district administration will start home delivery of the DLs and RCs through Speed Post in the Gurgaon subdivision area.

A spokesman for the district administration said for starting this new service, the District IT Society would soon sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Postal Department.

Under the proposed arrangement, a special counter manned by an official of the Postal Department will be set up within the E-Disha centre at the mini-secretariat.

The consumers will have to pay an additional amount of Rs 20 for availing themselves of this service. Initially, the areas falling in Gurgaon and Manesar tehsils would be covered under the scheme.

At the time of dispatch of the document, intimation will be sent to the applicant through SMS, mentioning that his/her RC or DL has been prepared and sent through Speed Post.

Jagdish Chander, Superintendent of Post Offices (Gurgaon division), said the department would ensure timely delivery of the documents and in case of any laxity on the part of any postman in delivery of these documents, he would be suspended. As of now, 250 to 300 SMSes are being sent daily regarding the preparation of RCs and DLs and the applicants are being informed to collect the same.

Chandigarh, March 21
The Haryana State Warehousing Corporation earned a net profit of Rs 31.94 crore during 2010-11 and expects to earn a profit of Rs 34 crore, before tax, during 2011-12.

This was stated by Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh while presenting a cheque of Rs 58.40 lakh as dividend to Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda here today.

The minister said the corporation had declared a dividend of 20 per cent for 2010-11. He said the corporation had taken up construction of godowns of capacity of 58,800 metric tonnes at eight different locations in the state under the Rashtriya Krishi Vikas Yojana and additional storage capacity of over 1.65 lakh metric tonnes at 20 locations under the Gramin Bhandaran Yojana was administered by NABARD during 2010-11.

Kaithal, March 21
The police has arrested an accused who allegedly duped two youths looking for green pastures abroad of Rs 8.60 lakh promising them to send them to Italy. But they were sent to Thailand instead and threatened of dire consequences when they demanded their money back.

SP Simardeep Singh said Ranjit of Kakrala Anayat village complained to him in writing in November that Paramjeet Singh of Ambala met him in March 2009 and promised to send his son, Karnail, and his brother-in-law’s son, Lakha Singh, to Italy and settle them there. The deal was settled for Rs 15 lakh.

The accused took passports of the victims and Rs 8 lakh on different dates and agreed to take Rs 7 lakh balance when the two would reach Italy. The accused sent both to Thailand in June 2010 and told their family members that soon they would be sent to Italy. Later, Ranjit took Rs 60,000 from family members of youths on the pretext of calling the youths back to India from Thailand and send them to Italy.

Both victims arrived in India on September 23, 2010, but they were never sent to Italy by the accused.

Gurgaon, March 21
Congress MP Rao Inderjit Singh’s protégé and former spokesperson of the Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee (HPCC) Ved Parkash Vidrohi has sought a White Paper on the region-wise selection of candidates for government jobs in the state.

Vidrohi has urged Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda to issue a White Paper clarifying the pattern of employment in the government jobs in Haryana during his tenure. “The state government should mention the educational qualifications, place of matriculation and native areas of the candidates who have been selected for the group A, B, and C services in Haryana,” he maintained.

He pointed out that there was widespread resentment among the people who believed that persons of a particular community and region in the state had been given undue preference in the allotment of government jobs.

“The government can easily end this apprehension by bringing a White Paper regarding the matter,” Vidrohi said. He added that the claims by the Chief Minister that the government jobs had been given on merit and eligibility of candidates was not sufficient to remove the doubts from the people’s mind in this regard.

Rohtak, March 21
A state-level dharna of members of the Haryana Guest Teachers Association entered the third day today.

Demanding extension of the services of such teachers, the association has announced to continue its stir on the issue. Though the state government has reported to have initiated a move to recruit teachers on permanent basis in the next 10 months but 16,000 guest teachers stand to face the axe of retrenchment — TNS

Rohtak, March 21
The affect of mystery disease among the cattle in the district seems to have spread to the other parts also with reports of death of several cattle heads from Gudaan village pouring in since the past 48 hours. As many as 45 cattle have already died due to the disease in Sundana village in the past 4-6 weeks. The milk supply from Sundana village remained suspended for over 24 hours as part of the 'bandh' and special ‘puja’ performed by the residents to get rid of the menace.

While both Sundana and Gudaan villages belong to Kalanaur assembly constituency, distance between them has been more than 10 km. According to reports, the residents of Gudaan village have claimed that their cattle had died of some mysterious disease recently and about 40 other animals were in the grip of the disease.

“The animals who had died showed symptoms of foot and mouth disease (FMD) and galgontu (haemorrhagic septicimia), sarrah and infection in lung”, says a report.

“Though presence of veterinary doctors and a team of officials combing the area could not be denied, the impact of official campaign appeared to be thin in view of the growing number of cattle falling prey to the disease and the number of deaths crossing 60 so far,” said Ranbir, a resident of Sundana. He said the villagers had resorted to religious ceremonies and all cattle owners had suspended the sale of milk for 24 hours besides banning the entry and exit of the residents in the village for about 12 hours that ended this morning.

“The death of a Murrah buffalo, having a daily yield of 17 kg of milk, at Sundana village has caused panic among the cattle owners and they are left with no option but to try all means to get rid of the problem,” observed Mahabir, another resident of the village.

The Veterinary Department claims to have launched an extensive drive to immunise all cattle in the region and have sought the cooperation of villagers.

Gurgaon, March 21
After the Gurgaon district administration has asked mall managements and pub owners not to retain women employees after 8 pm, the local police authorities have told them not to employ bouncers, but recruit trained security personnel from authorised agencies.

The ban on bouncers follows a series of serious complaints of misbehaviour and physical assaults by bouncers at the slightest pretext, coupled with increasing cases of crime against women. It seems that the top police officials, who now seem to have awakened from their slumber after the recent hue and cry over these issues, have suddenly realised that the bouncers are not well-trained for the job they are supposed to do.

Now, though mall managements and pub owners can obviously not afford to disagree with the police administration, well-meaning city residents, especially women, feel that the measures being imposed by the authorities concerned are neither adequate nor appropriate.

“It is simply unbelievable that the police officials are unaware of the decadent activities going on with impunity in the malls and pubs at the late night hours… such things cannot survive without connivance and protection of the police,” asserts Shweta, an MNC executive based in Gurgaon. Her views are backed by many residents, who allege that certain malls and pubs like Sahara Mall on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon road and joints located therein have become sleaze stations, PCR vans almost permanently stationed right in front notwithstanding.

“It is quite embarrassing for respectable people, especially if accompanied by family members to go at such places at the late hours. First and foremost, there should be a considerable presence of the police around the susceptible areas… they can deploy women cops in plain clothes, who can call more personnel on being targeted, if they actually want to check the occurrence of untoward incidents of crime against women,” maintains Parul Kumar, a BPO employee.

Shikha, a young schoolteacher, asserts that the government and the police authorities can organise self-defence training sessions for women and apprise them of the techniques and devices to be used in the event of such a situation.

Residents also feel that certain sections of the media blowing certain isolated incidents out of proportion and the police administration being forced to take knee-jerk measures in desperation do not prove to be of much help in providing an effective and sustainable solution to the issues of grave general concern.