Rohtak, May 23
Despite funding by both the state and the Union governments, the activities of the Bharat Vikas Sangh, an NGO running the Apna Ghar shelter home here, have gone nearly unchecked, thanks to total carelessness on the part of the authorities concerned.

Having received “unaccounted” funds so far since it came into existence in 1994, the NGO not only failed to maintain accounts, it also allegedly resorted to torture and harassment of the inmates. It also exploited some of the inmates to the limits unacceptable to any civil society.

The activities of the Bharat Vikas Sangh, running several government-funded schemes for the destitute, have been going on for over 17 years. The NGO, which was registered way back in 1994 with the Social Welfare Department, had started work on July 1 the same year. The number of inmates, which were less than a dozen in the first year, swelled to 103 this year and the funds received by the NGO for operating as many as six projects also went up to several lakhs a year.

“It has received funds to the tune of around Rs 2 crore during the past few years, though no official records have been found so far,” claimed an official on condition of anonymity.

The NGO used to receive an amount of at least Rs 1,000 per child per month, but there were no proper records about the use of such funds. The authorities had also been providing funds separately for the lodging of the runaway couples for the past couple of years, but it was alleged that the couples were asked to arrange food for themselves.

A district child helpline was also started by the NGO last year for which funds to the tune of Rs 4.5 lakh were released. “The NGO has been running at least four projects funded by the government, but it has not been maintaining proper records, claimed a member of the NCPCR team that raided the shelter home.

The projects being run by the NGO at present include a Nari Sadan, a children’s home, a child helpline and a shelter for runaway couples. “All of these schemes were funded and it was perhaps the only NGO here which was hyperactive and was obliging the district administration by accepting any orphan or destitute woman who was rescued or found abandoned in several districts of Haryana, claimed an official.

This obliging attitude of the NGO made it popular among the district authorities who referred several cases to this shelter home over the past couple of years. Instead of constructing any building or providing any infrastructure at the police lines, the district police also turned to the NGO for providing shelter to runaway couples, but the money received for providing food to such couples was allegedly siphoned off, it is reported.

Though the NGO was blacklisted in 2007 after complaints of irregularities, it again earned the confidence of the authorities and its caretaker was awarded with at least two prizes. The main accused, Jaswanti, was also nominated as a member of the District Juvenile Justice Board in 2010. Her NGO emerged so strong in the district that a complaint by 16 girl inmates before the Deputy Commissioner in 2010 regarding alleged abuse and exploitation at the hands of the caretaker were ignored and the NGO was awarded by the district authorities for doing “excellent” work.

Though an official communication regarding her removal from the board is yet to be received, some of the political and non-political bodies have sought a judicial probe to unravel the facts and the role of the officials concerned in the case.

The main accused, Jaswanti, who has been arrested could not be contacted. She is facing charges of immoral trafficking, rape, molestation, cheating, forgery, torture and labour bonding.

Kaithal,May 23
A team of senior Congress leaders, including Deepender Singh Hooda, Naveen Jindal and Ashok Tanwar, all MPs, PWD Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala and Prof Virender, political adviser to the Chief Minister, reached here and successfully persuaded Bhartiya Kisan Union leader Ghasi Ram Nain to end his 34-day-old fast by offering him a glass of juice on the mini-secretariat premises here today.

Nain had started an indefinite fast on April 20 to press the government to pay a remunerative price to farmers for their agricultural produce brought to mandis for sale.

Deepender Hooda assured Nain and BKU activists present in large numbers that soon he along with MPs would meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and press him to ensure payment of a reasonable price of agricultural produce to farmers so that they can live with dignity.

Deepender said the Chief Minister had always fought for the cause of farmers hence the Prime Minister constituted a committee of Chief Ministers which was headed by Bhupinder Singh Hooda.

This committee had recommended that the price of agricultural be fixed by adding at least 50 per cent profit to the basic cost of production.

A demand was also made to the Centre to implement the Swaminathan committee report. Deepender said he had raised issues concerning the farmers in the ongoing Parliament session.

The young MP thanked the BKU leader Nain for ending his 34-day-old fast on their request.

Naveen Jindal, MP, said the present UPA government at the Centre had waived the Rs 70,000-crore loan of farmers and Haryana Government had waived Rs 1,600 crore power bills of farmers.

Ghasi Ram Nain said that despite a long struggle, farmers were yet to get a remunerative price for their produce.

He said despite government policies, the plight of farmers had not improved. The shortage of power, a high rate of interest, lack of proper living conditions in rural areas and increase in the cost of agricultural inputs had made farming a losing profession. If the government failed to address the problems of farmers, he would again start an agitation.

Bhiwani, May 23
As many as 37 inmates of the controversial Rohtak-based shelter home for children and women, “Apna Ghar”, have been shifted to two childcare homes in Bhiwani. Out of these, 30 inmates have been sent to the Hanumante Sewa Ashram at the Bank Colony whereas seven have been sent to the Bal Sewa Ashram at the Tosham Road.

Most of the inmates, including children and adolescents, described their stay at the Rohtak shelter home as no less than a traumatic experience. One of the inmates, Chanchal, said she lost her parents when she was just nine-year old. After that the police left her at ‘Apna Ghar’. She said the inmates were made to work in the fields as labourers and whenever any of them refused, they were beaten up badly.

Meenu, who is originally from Delhi, has her own tragic story. After the death of her parents in a road accident, she was adopted by a family of Mathura. But she was just used as a domestic help there and was beaten up for trivial mistakes. One day she escaped from there but ultimately destiny brought her to ‘Apna Ghar’. Each of these inmates has his or her own heart-rending story but all have a common wish - a wish to see Jaswanti punished.

Yamunanagar, May 23
Seven year-old Deepa (name changed), an orphan, is one of the 12 girls from “Apna Ghar” in Rohtak where Jaswanti Narwal ruled with complete control before the lid flew off her misdeeds. Chat up Deepa and her “friends” from Rohtak, now housed at Bal Kunj here, and you realise they have horrific tales to tell.

“Baddi mummy (big mother) would hold us upside down from the balcony of the home if she found us making a noise. It was very scary. I was always afraid what would happen if I slipped out of her hands,” Deepa says as the others nod in unison.

Though the children giggle and laugh about it now, they recall the fear that gripped them when a rod-wielding Jaswanti came to their room to discipline them . “We would all try to hide in some corner, even wish the earth would open up for us to sink in. Nothing ever happened. She pulled us out one by one and beat us up. There was no escape,” recalls Sonia (name changed).

“We know she would make the elder girls do really bad things. They would cry but she paid no heed. They were forced to bare in front of the boys and we all usually slept with nothing in the name of clothes,” they said.

Ask them if they were ever tortured enough to consider hurting Jaswanti, both older and younger girls would sit together to ponder what they could do. “We would make a plan but never had the nerve to go ahead with it, ” says 10-year-old Renu, the eldest in the group.

Although they were enrolled in school, they were allowed to attend only occasionally and warned against uttering a word in the presence of any visitors. “We would have to go without food for the slightest mistake and we never even got to see anything donated for us. Jaswanti’s room was a bottomless well. Things just went in. They never came out,” Shweta, another six-year-old recounts.

With every child given two dresses only, they were forced to wash one and wear the other. Like the youngest one, all of five years, sums up: “Living there was very scary, like being lost in the dark. Sometimes when I slept at night, I would even dream of Jaswanti holding me upside down.”

Rohtak, May 23
With the police still to recover several missing children and women inmates, the authorities have started the process of identifying the children who had allegedly been sold by the caretaker of the Apna Ghar, the shelter home run by the Bharat Vikas Sangh, an NGO, here. At least four women, who had got the custody of some newborn babies from the NGO here during the past couple of years, have been referred for a DNA test to find out if the allegations regarding the alleged sale of children were true.

The medical examination of some girl inmates who had alleged sexual abuse was yet to take place. The police had launched a probe into the matter after a raid by a team of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) here on May 9.

Though the police has arrested seven persons, including the caretaker of the shelter home, Jaswanti, and her daughter in this connection, the investigating officials appears to be in a fix about the process of identifying and recovering the missing children and women inmates getting delayed and the police officials failing to brief the media about the progress made at regular interval.

As the police had earlier claimed to have traced as many as six children who had gone missing during the past couple of years, it had been announced that DNA test would be done to find if the children, who had been missing, had been sold or given away by the shelter home to various families in an illegal manner.

It was alleged that several newborn babies had been given away for donation or payment that could range between Rs 11,000 and Rs 51,000. The police claims the number of babies could be at least 10. “But the process of recovery was not easy as the authorities will have to establish the identity of the victims and confirm the charges that they had been sold or given away,’’ claimed an official.

The process of medical examination of the girl inmates of the shelter home also appears to be going slow going by the fact that only one of the victims had been examined by now. 

Hisar, May 23
With both sides sticking to their guns, the Dalit-Jat imbroglio in Bhagana village of Hisar continued for the third consecutive day today.

The 80-odd families camping outside the mini-secretariat here have refused to return to their homes until their grievances are addressed while Jats maintained that only a handful of Dalit families had been trying to vitiate harmony in the village by enacting the exodus drama.

Arshinder Singh Chawla, IG, Hisar Range, who, along with Deputy Commissioner Amit Kumar Agarwal, SP Anil Dhawan and other senior district officials visited the village today, said there was complete peace in the village.

Addressing mediapersons here after his return from the village, Chawla maintained that the ground situation at the village did not demand invoking of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the present case.

“There are 150 Dalit families in the village of which 100 were peacefully living there. Only 40 to 50 Dalit families have left their village,” the IG maintained.

The distribution of 100 square yard plots among poor under the Haryana government’s scheme is said to be the bone of contention in this case.

Jats, who dominate village politics, are alleged to have distributed a major portion of the village common land among themselves leaving little land for distribution among the beneficiaries of the scheme.

Annoyed at his action, the Hisar DC suspended village sarpanch Rakesh Kumar some time back. However, the sarpanch was reinstated on orders from “above”, leading to more heartburning among Dalits.

The latest action of erecting a wall in front of Dalits’ houses closing their entry and exit worked as the trigger, forcing them to lock their houses and come to the mini-secretariat with their belongings. 

Hisar, May 23
A youth was beaten up and then poisoned to death at Landhri village in the district yesterday. Angry kin of the victim blocked National Highway 10 by placing his body on the road today for a few hours after.

The kin left with the victim Dheeraj’s body when the police assured them that the culprits would be arrested soon. The kin allege that Dheeraj (22), an insurance agent, was forcibly taken away from outside his house by former sarpanch Raj Kumar, his son Ajit and other members of his family yesterday and was beaten up severely.

Dheeraj’s mother, Sumitra, tried to rescue his son, but she was also attacked.

The accused allegedly poisoned Dheeraj after thrashing him badly.

The victim’s kin informed the police, who rescued him and shifted him to Agroha Medical College.

However, he died on way to the PGIMS, Rohtak, where he was being shifted in view of his serious condition.

Meanwhile, Rekha, wife of an accused Ajit, was also rushed to Maharaja Agarsen Medical College, Agroha, with symptoms of poisoning almost at the same time.

Her condition is stated to be precarious in a private hospital in Hisar. The police said a case of murder had been registered against Raj Kumar, his son Ajit and five others on the complaint of the victim’s mother, Sumitra.

The police views it as an honour crime and said Dheeraj’s murder as well as Rekha’s poisoning appeared interlinked. 

Sirsa, May 23
Coming to the rescue of a harassed wife today, the day she filed an application, a Dabwali court ordered the husband to provide her a part of his house and restrained him from touching her without her consent.

The court also restrained the husband from selling his house or alienating it in any manner before the final decision of the court and directed the local SHO to implement the court orders by visiting the husband’s house.

The victim (name withheld) had field a petition under the Protection of Women under Domestic Violence Act, 2005, in the court of Judicial Magistrate Atul Marya, alleging that her husband, whom she married in 1987 and had two children from him, had thrown her out of his house.

The woman alleged that her husband had relations withother woman and he had stopped maintaining her and his own parents, who too were living with the victim and her children.

Rather than following the normal practice of hearing the victim’s husband before passing an interim order, the judge passed orders for the victim’s rehabilitation in her husband’s home today, the day of institution of the plea.

“The husband will not enter the room allotted to the victim or touch any of her belongings,” the orders further said.

Meanwhile, the husband has been asked to appear before the court on May 28 for answering his wife’s allegations.

The court has also asked the Protection Officer under the Domestic Violence Act to file her report by then. 

Hisar, May 23
The police today arrested Ram Mehar, a patwari posted at Rajli village of the district, and siezed fake currency worth Rs 1.90 lakh from his possession.

The patwari has been arrested on the basis of interrogation of three persons, who were arrested with fake currency notes worth Rs 12.95 lakh a few days ago, said a police spokesperson here today.

The police said Ram Mehar, who hailed from fake currency racket kingpin Rajesh Fauji’s Putthi Samain village, had brought fake currency worth Rs 3.50 lakh from him a few days ago. — TNS

Chandigarh, May 23
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today took suo motu cognizance of a complaint, alleging multi-crore embezzlement by a Haryana Commissioner in awarding high compensation for land in Sirsa.

Converting a complaint into a PIL, the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice MM Kumar and Justice Alok Singh today issued notice to HUDA.

The complainant, Bhagwan Dass, has alleged a former Commissioner, Hisar, awarded a compensation of Rs 96 lakh per acre as against the standard rate of Rs 36 lakh for land acquired in Sirsa.

The award was announced for acquisition of more than 300 acres by HUDA for developing Sector 21-22 in Sirsa. 

Karnal, May 23
An Army man allegedly shot himself dead with his revolver near the Bhakra canal early this morning.

The deceased, Kuldeep Narval, who was posted 
as a havaldar in 22 Grenadiers at Imphal in Manipur , had come home on one-month leave.

Sources said Kuldeep, who was due to return today, came for a morning walk near the Bhakra Canal and shot himself dead .

Passersby who spotted Kuldeep’s body informed the police. The deceased did not leave any suicide note.

The body has been sent for a postmortem examination. 

Rohtak, May 23
The police has busted a gang betting on IPL matches. While three youths have been arrested, around 191 mobile phones have been recovered from their possession after a raid conducted here last night. The accused who were produced in the court today were remanded to five days’ police custody. This is first incident of betting that has surfaced in the district for the championship that would conclude on May 27.

Police officials said the raid was conducted after receiving a tip-off that some persons were involved in betting that could have national and international links. They were stationed in a house in Uttam Vihar Colony here. A police team led by the SSP, Vivek Sharma, found as many as 187 mobile phones which had been put online for continuous chatting with the parties located at other places, including Mumbai and Delhi, at a time when the semi-final match between the Delhi Daredevils (DD) and the Kolkatta Knight Riders (KKR) was in progress in Pune.

At least four mobile sets were also lying at the table where all the equipment had been placed. The youths caught red-handed by the police during the raid have been identified as Pawan, Sunil and Parveen Kumar. While the police was still to disclose the amount of the money for which the betting was being done, it is claimed that it could be in several crores of rupees in view of a large cache of mobile phones recovered. The accused had rented the premises about one-and-half-month back, it is claimed.

“The accused could have links with the betting racket that was likely have national and international links. We have been investigating into the details and the network of the accused,” said a police spokesperson. A case has been registered.