Rohtak,June 15
Thousands of commuters of the Haryana Roadways faced a tough time today as no bus entered the National Capital Region (NCR) following a protest against the alleged ‘highhandedness’ of the Delhi Police to issue challans of the buses in an indiscriminate manner.

While around 1,000 buses cut short their route till borders or bypassed Delhi, the Transport Department is reported to have suffered a loss of around Rs 50 lakh due to this move.

"We had stationed our employees at all four main entrances with Delhi and none of the bus emanating from the state reached the national capital today in a view of the protest lodged by the staff on a call given by the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Haryana Roadways Workers Union," claimed Jagmohan Antil, a senior leader of the committee.

He said while a majority of drivers and conductors of the Haryana Roadways had voluntarily halted the buses at the border, the passengers were informed in advance about the plan. He said passengers cooperated with the department in this protest.

Antil said the Transport Department had failed to resolve the issue that was lingering on for the past many years in which drivers and conductors of the Haryana Roadways had to pay the challan fee from their pocket for no fault on their part. Some of the staff plying on the Delhi route had to bear a financial loss of Rs 10,000-12,000 every month on the account of challans issued by the Delhi Police and it was sometimes higher than their monthly wages, claimed Dharambir Hooda, president, Haryana Roadways Workers Union.

He said the challans were mainly issued after the staff disallowed the Delhi Police from travelling free on their buses while commuting in Delhi.

Blaming the officials concerned for the inconvenience caused to the commuters, he said the JAC would lay a siege to the Haryana Roadways Director General's office at Chandigarh on June 28, if the issue was not resolved by then. "I took the private bus to reach Rohtak from Delhi as no bus was available today," said Rajiv, a local resident. "The local depot has a total of about 190 buses at present and all odd 12 buses engaged on the Rohtak- Delhi route plied till Bahadurgarh bus stand only," said Sumer Singh, Duty Inspector at the local bus depot.

He said the buses coming from other depots, including Jind, Hisar, Sirsa, Bhiwani and Kaithal, also boycotted the Delhi territory today. 

Sonepat, June 15
On the call given by the Haryana Roadways Karamchari Union, none of the Haryana Roadways bus today entered Delhi from the Kundli border causing a lot of inconvenience to commuters.

Buses coming from different stations were stopped around one km before the Delhi border and were parked in open areas, including the vacant industrial plots. There was no report of any untoward incident during the day.

Passengers had no other option except to use the services of autorickshaws for going up to the border and then board other vehicles, including DTC and private buses for going to the Inter-State Bus Terminal in Delhi.

Many students appearing for undergraduate examinations of the Delhi University could not reach the examination centres on time.

Around 200 police personnel, DSPs Balbir Singh and Ajit Singh were present on the site to ensure that there was no untoward incident. The police provided help to the passengers for hiring taxis, autorickshaws as well as ensured that there was a smooth flow of vehicular traffic on the National Highway No-1.

State general secretary of the Union Jagmohan said the union's protest was against the highhandedness of the Delhi Traffic Police for unnecessarily challaning the Haryana Roadways buses as a revenge for not allowing them free travel in the roadways buses.

Chandigarh, June 15
Ganaur of Sonepat, Haryana, has recorded a maximum of 55 mm of rainfall up to 8 am today. An official spokesman said 45 mm of rainfall was recorded in Jatusana of Rewari district and 35 mm in Kosli since yesterday.

He said 9 mm of rainfall was recorded in Naraingarh of Ambala district, two mm in Dadri of Bhiwani district, 25 mm in Loharu, four mm in Bawani Khera and 15 mm of rainfall in Tosham. Also, 3.5 mm of rainfall was recorded in Hisar district, eight mm in Adampur and one mm in Jind district. He said one mm of rainfall was recorded in Karnal district, two mm in Nilokheri, four mm in Panipat district, eight mm in Israna, four mm each in Samalkha and Bapoli.

Gurgaon, June 15
Groping in the dark without any major lead in the alleged of abduction the two Dalit girls who went missing last month, the district police has launched a nationwide search.

SP Pankaj Nain said special teams were set up and sent to Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Bihar and Haryana cities.

“We have taken our investigation to the national level. We have got in touch with national agencies and local non-government agencies dealing with child trafficking have been roped in as well,” he said.

Seven-year-old Parul, daughter of Rajesh Kumar of Cheemnawas village, and five-year-old Divya, daughter of Sonu Balmiki of Bhiwani district, were allegedly abducted. Parul went missing on May 4 and Divya on May 20. While both cases were registered by the Railway Police, Parul’s case had been transferred to the local police. The police had not got any clue to establish the motive of the abduction.

“Both girls belong to poor families and there is no reason to believe that rivalry is behind the abduction. Around 60 cases of abduction have been registered in the district, but there has been no fixed pattern,” he said.

“It may be trafficking or abandonment by family. We are doing our best and making collaborative efforts with all agencies and the Railway Police. We will have leads on this soon,” he added.

The cases were highlighted by the Apharan Virodhi Jan Sangharsh Samiti which organised a bandh wherein shopkeepers and traders at Rewari participated.

The samiti has been protesting against the failure of the police. A mahapanchayat has been scheduled for June 19.