New Delhi, August 10
Former Haryana Minister and Sirsa MLA Gopal Goyal Kanda, who has been evading arrest since Wednesday, will move an application for anticipatory bail in the Delhi High Court on Monday in connection with the alleged suicide of MDLR group’s former employee, Geetika Sharma.

A Delhi court had yesterday dismissed his anticipatory bail plea. However, the Delhi Police has received Geetika’s post-mortem report. While refusing to share details of the report, Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-West), Dr P Karunakarn said, “Geetika committed suicide and the cause of her death was hanging.”

About the investigations in the case, he said a police team was sent to Goa to look for Ankita, whose name figured in the two-page suicide note that was found at Geetika’s residence in Northwest Delhi’s Ashok Vihar on August 5.

Kanda, chairman of the MDLR group, and the company’s HR manager Aruna Chadha were charged on Sunday for abetting the alleged suicide. Two days later, the police added a fresh charge of criminal intimidation against the former minister. Chadha was arrested on Wednesday.

Fatehabad, August 10
Even as the Indian National Lok Dal is mobilising support for its proposed rally against the Gorakhpur nuclear power project on August 17, the agitation of farmers opposed to the acquisition of their lands is dying due to the differences that have crept among them.

The developments of the past two days suggest that the farmers’ agitation against the acquisition could wind up any moment, as nearly half the farmers have already accepted their compensation and a section of the remaining is keen to take its cheques.

At a meeting held in Kajalheri Head, where the farmers have been sitting on dharna since July 18, some farmers said they should meet Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and seek better compensation besides a job for each affected family.

The farmers, in fact, are worried that they may not be able to buy suitable land in the surrounding areas in case they delayed the acceptance of compensation for long and further, they were suffering financial loss by way of interest not received with each passing day.

However, the farmers could not reach any conclusion on the quantum of compensation they should demand from Hooda.

Hans Raj Siwach, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, admitted that some farmers were keen to accept their cheques and it was due to this that the organisation was thinking of ending the agitation if the government agreed to their demand of increased compensation.

Siwach said after the meeting that there was still no unanimity and their dharna at Fatehabad and Gorakhpur would continue as usual.

Ram Singh Bishnoi, district revenue officer-cum- land acquisition collector, said that owners of almost half of the farmers of 1,503-odd acres acquired for the project had accepted their compensation.

Meanwhile, Nishan Singh, INLD district president of the party, Kuljeet Singh Kuleria, state executive committee member, Swatantar Bala Chaudhary and Ran Singh Beniwal, both former MLAs, and others have launched a mass contact drive for the success of the rally.

“Our rally will continue as usual, as besides opposing the upcoming nuclear power project, it is part of the party’s campaign to hold public meetings in all assembly constituencies of Haryana,” said Kuljeet Singh Kuleria.

The INLD has announced a rally to be addressed by former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala in Gorakhpur on August 17 to mark the completion of two years of farmers’ agitation.

The party had announced this rally after the farmers led by Kisan Sangharsh Samiti president Hans Raj Siwach met Chuatala and his son Ajay Singh on two separate occasions, requesting them to support their cause.

Hisar, August 10
One-sided love allegedly led to the murder of a girl student of Guru Jambheshwar University of Science and Technology on the university campus here today.

Varsha Yadav (18), a student of the first year class of the B.Pharmacy course, was about to board an autorickshaw in front of her hostel to go home when a youth identified as Chetan Sheoran (21) accosted her and slit her throat with a knife. He was nabbed by the university security personnel after the girl raised an alarm.

Superintendent of Police Satish Balan said the accused had been stalking the girl for quite some time. The boy was frustrated because the girl had not been responding to his overtures. He allegedly killed her in desperation.

Balan said the accused told the police after his arrest, “This girl has ruined my life.”

It is learnt that both Varsha and Chetan were studying together at a coaching centre in Kota (Rajasthan) last year. While Chetan had a crush on Varsha, she kept avoiding him. The girl joined the pharmacy course here while the boy joined an engineering college in Pune last month.

On coming to know that Varsha had been admitted to GJU, Chetan arrived here on August 6 and tried to talk to her, but she refused. He again made an attempt to speak to her on August 8, but Varsha escaped to her hostel.

The girl’s father is a havaldar in the Border Security Force and is posted at the BSF camp on the Sirsa Road here. He was away to Delhi in connection with the Independence Day parade today.

Varsha had informed her mother about Chetan stalking him. That is why her parents had got her admitted to a hostel instead of letting her travel from the BSF camp daily. The victim was going home today as the university is closed for the next two days due to holidays.

Chetan hails from Rohtak. His father is an ex-serviceman.

Vice-Chancellor M L Ranga said the victim had just left the hostel after making an out-entry in the register. She walked towards the market in front of the hostel to board an autorickshaw when the boy allegedly accosted her and slit her throat.

The body of the deceased was handed over to the family members after a post-mortem. Dr SK Sharma, head of the Pharmacy Department, accompanied the body to the girl’s native Pali Guravada village near Rewari. 

Chandigarh, August 10
The Haryana State Legal Services Authority has done what it has never done before. It has brought potable water to a village in the state by filing a public interest litigation.

Going beyond the perceived function of simply providing legal services to people, the State Legal Services Authority moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court earlier this year. In its petition, the authority sought the issuance of directions to the state and other respondents to provide drinking water to the residents of Jamalgarh village in Punhana tehsil of Mewat district.

As the petition filed through counsel Rajbir Sehrawat came up for hearing before the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Jasbir Singh and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain, a copy of a certificate issued by Sub-Divisional Engineer, Public Health, Engineering Sub-Division of Ferozepur Jhirka, was placed on record.

The certificate made it clear that regular water supply has been started in the village. The assertion in the affidavit was corroborated by the village panchayat. It too issued a certificate to the same effect. After taking the certificate on record, the Bench disposed of the writ petition as having been rendered infructuous.

The matter was taken up by the Legal Services Authority as a part of its responsibility to initiate social litigation for public welfare. It was brought to the notice of the authority by villagers.

Available information suggests they had shot off letters even to the Prime Minister for ensuring the supply of water. The villagers had even sought information under the Right to Information Act, and were told that the water supply system was in order.

Dissatisfied with the reply, the villagers mailed a complaint to the Legal Services Authority, with Justice SK Mittal as its executive chairman.

A sub-divisional magistrate was then asked to look into the matter. He, in turn, reported that the system was defunct, following which the authority decided to initiate the litigation.

Fatehabad, August 10
Even as the Indian National Lok Dal is mobilising support for its proposed rally against the Gorakhpur nuclear power project on August 17, the agitation of farmers opposed to the acquisition of their lands is dying due to the differences that have crept among them.

The developments of the past two days suggest that the farmers’ agitation against the acquisition could wind up any moment, as nearly half the farmers have already accepted their compensation and a section of the remaining is keen to take its cheques.

At a meeting held in Kajalheri Head, where the farmers have been sitting on dharna since July 18, some farmers said they should meet Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and seek better compensation besides a job for each affected family.

The farmers, in fact, are worried that they may not be able to buy suitable land in the surrounding areas in case they delayed the acceptance of compensation for long and further, they were suffering financial loss by way of interest not received with each passing day.

However, the farmers could not reach any conclusion on the quantum of compensation they should demand from Hooda.

Hans Raj Siwach, president of the Kisan Sangharsh Samiti, admitted that some farmers were keen to accept their cheques and it was due to this that the organisation was thinking of ending the agitation if the government agreed to their demand of increased compensation.

Siwach said after the meeting that there was still no unanimity and their dharna at Fatehabad and Gorakhpur would continue as usual.

Ram Singh Bishnoi, district revenue officer-cum- land acquisition collector, said that owners of almost half of the farmers of 1,503-odd acres acquired for the project had accepted their compensation.

Meanwhile, Nishan Singh, INLD district president of the party, Kuljeet Singh Kuleria, state executive committee member, Swatantar Bala Chaudhary and Ran Singh Beniwal, both former MLAs, and others have launched a mass contact drive for the success of the rally.

“Our rally will continue as usual, as besides opposing the upcoming nuclear power project, it is part of the party’s campaign to hold public meetings in all assembly constituencies of Haryana,” said Kuljeet Singh Kuleria.

The INLD has announced a rally to be addressed by former Chief Minister Om Parkash Chautala in Gorakhpur on August 17 to mark the completion of two years of farmers’ agitation.

The party had announced this rally after the farmers led by Kisan Sangharsh Samiti president Hans Raj Siwach met Chuatala and his son Ajay Singh on two separate occasions, requesting them to support their cause.

Faridabad, August 10
As many as 10 youths raped a girl (21) in the fields of Jharsetly village, about 10 km from here, last night after forcibly making her consume liquor. Later, they dumped her on a road. The police came to her rescue after she made a distress call to the police control room this morning.

Five of the 10 culprits have been identified and named in the FIR. All of them are alleged to be residents of Jharsetly village. Those named in the FIR are Inderjeet, the main accused, Luka, Naveen, Santu and Bharti.

The victim, who at present lives at Molband Tajpur, works at a call centre of the Delhi Jal Board. She once resided at Subash Colony in Ballabgarh, near here.

The girl claimed that Inderjeet had called her on cellphone yesterday while she was in Delhi requesting her to come to Faridabad to help him out to reach a compromise between him and his estranged girlfriend. The girl was a friend of his girlfriend, who stays in NIT here.

She came from Delhi on a bus. She was received by the culprits near Britannica Company near Jharsetly along the Agra-Mathura National Highway at about 10 pm.

Recounting her horror to the police, the victim said the culprits were driving a Skoda, Santro and Nano. They took her to a nearby field and forced her to consume liquor. Subsequently, they raped her. The culprits later bundled her in a Nano and dumped her on a road near Ballabhgarh. They also threatened her of dire consequences if she reported the incident to the police.

Meanwhile, the police said one of culprits, Bharti, was arrested near Jharsetly this morning. The Nano used by them has also been taken into custody. A medical examination of the victim confirmed rape. The police has handed over the victim to her family members. The police has confirmed a report that a sticker of the INLD was pasted on the Nano. The area SHO, Devender Singh, played down the political angle saying anyone could misuse the name of a political party. Meanwhile, the INLD has dissociated itself with the controversy.