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CHANDIGARH

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THE TRIBUNE SPECIALS
50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

TERCENTENARY CELEBRATIONS
H A R Y A N A   E D I T I O N

Cancellation of Vadra-DLF land mutation
Khemka to be chargesheeted
Chandigarh,September 27
Cancelling the mutation of land between AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law and realty major DLF in Gurgaon is set to cost whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka dear with the Haryana Government deciding to chargesheet him for alleged administrative misconduct.

Congress issues notice to Rao Inderjit, seeks reply by Oct 7
New Delhi, September 27
The Congress high command today issued notice to its Gurgaon MP, Rao Inderjit, asking him to make his position clear on the claims to quit the party.

CM grants relief to rice millers
Karnal, September 27
In a partial relief to rice millers of the state, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has agreed to reduce the enhanced security amount from Rs 20 lakh to 5 lakh.

Procurement of paddy, bajra from Oct 1
Chandigarh September 27
The Haryana Government has made all arrangements for the smooth procurement of paddy during the current kharif season.

Hooda orders special cotton crop ‘girdawari' 
Chandigarh, September 27
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today ordered a special 'girdawari' to assess the damage to cotton crop by white fly and leaf curl viral .



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Chandigarh


EARLIER STORIES



Power utilities to fix feeder-wise targets for loss reduction
Chandigarh, September 27
Under the loss reduction plan, the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam have decided to fix feeder-wise loss reduction targets to minimise the aggregated technical and commercial (AT&C) losses in the state. The targets will be fixed considering category of consumers being fed from a feeder.

Breach damages paddy, cotton crops in Bhiwani
A breach in the Bhiwani distributary near Chang village of Bhiwani.Bhiwani, September 27
Nearly 500 acres of agriculture land submerged in canal water last night. Sources said breaches in the Mitathal feeder canal and Bhiwani distributary flooded cotton and paddy crops in Badesara, Dhanana, Chang, Sai and Mitathal villages of the district.


A breach in the Bhiwani distributary near Chang village of Bhiwani. Tribune photo

Excise revenue up 7.71 per cent
Chandigarh, September 27
The Haryana Excise and Taxation Department has collected a revenue of Rs 9156.76 crore up to August as against Rs 8501.20 crore during the same period in the last financial year.

60 confirmed dengue cases in Karnal
Karnal, September 27
As many as 60 dengue cases have been confirmed and around 250 dengue cases are suspected in Karnal. These are the official figures and a large number of patients have also been admitted to private hospitals. 

Villagers refuse to pay ‘inflated’ power bills
Hisar, September 27
Irked over “inflated” power bills, residents of Pabra village in the district have decided not to pay the bills until the authorities resolve their grievances. They have also announced to impose a fine of Rs 11,000 on anybody who deposits the bill.

Miss Universe Olivia Culpo promotes ‘Celebrate the girl child’ campaign in Gurgaon on Friday.
Miss Universe Olivia Culpo promotes ‘Celebrate the girl child’ campaign in Gurgaon on Friday. Tribune photo: Sayeed Ahmed 

Former Rewari Zila Parishad vice-chief duped
Rewari, September 27
Kailash Bai, a former vice-president of the Rewari Zila Parishad and a resident of Kosli town, about 35 km from Rewari, was duped of Rs 6 lakh in June, 2010, allegedly by Tarun Mathur, a resident of the Indian Airlines Colony, Basant Vihar, Delhi, on the promise of getting her son Jitender Yadav recruited as a pilot in Indian Airlines.

Doctor arrested accepting bribe
Fatehabad, September 27
The State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) today arrested Dr OP Dahmiwal, a Senior Medical Officer (SMO) at the General Hospital here, while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 for issuing an emergency certificate (EC) to a woman constable, presently getting treatment in a Gurgaon hospital for a gunshot injury.

IndusInd Bank employee arrested
Kurukshetra, September 27
Sunil Sharma, a resident of Braham Nagar, Agra district, UP, has been arrested for allegedly duping vehicle loan borrowers of Rs 50 lakh. He was working as a field officer at an IndusInd Bank branch here.

Man kills wife in Hisar
Hisar, September 27
A man killed his 45-year-old wife after a domestic strife at their residence in Dhandi Sadak locality in Hisar today.

Man booked for raping partner’s wife
Sirsa, September 27
A married woman was allegedly raped by her husband’s partner in the Khairpur area of Sirsa, while another woman from Mangala village, who had lodged an FIR of rape against a villager, has alleged that the police is soft towards the accused.

Five convicted of murder
Sirsa, September 27
A local court has convicted five persons for the murder of a fruit vender at Ellenabad in Sirsa, two years back and acquitted five others for lack of evidence against them.

Man consumes pesticide in custody
Kaithal, September 27
An accused who was charged with alluring a girl to run away with him consumed poison while in police custody here on Thursday.





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Cancellation of Vadra-DLF land mutation
Khemka to be chargesheeted 
Tribune News Service

Ashok Khemka
Ashok Khemka

Chandigarh,September 27
Cancelling the mutation of land between AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law and realty major DLF in Gurgaon is set to cost whistleblower IAS officer Ashok Khemka dear with the Haryana Government deciding to chargesheet him for alleged administrative misconduct.

With Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda giving approval for chargesheeting Khemka, the stage is set for the issue of a chargesheet to the officer by next week, sources said here today.

Earlier, Chief Secretary PK Chaudhery had compiled comments from the administrative branch and sent them to Hooda, who, in turn, approved the action against Khemka. The officer is to be chargesheeted for penalty under Rule 8 of the All-India Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules.

However, Khemka told reporters that as he was yet to receive the chargesheet, he could not comment upon it.

The sources said the IAS officer had been held liable for alleged administrative misconduct for overstepping his jurisdiction in passing orders to cancel the mutation of 3.5 acre land in Gurgaon's Shikohpur village. The land was sold by Vadra to DLF.

After being transferred on October 11, 2012, from the post of Director-General, Consolidation of Holdings (DGH) and Inspector-General, Registration, Khemka had on October 12 and 15 last year ordered an inquiry into the alleged undervaluation of land owned by Vadra or his companies in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Palwal and Mewat and set aside the mutation of the 3.5 acre land in Shikohpur.

Besides, Khemka has also been held liable for public criticism of actions and policies of the state government.

The Haryana Government's committee of three senior officers, set up to probe Khemka's orders, had later found Khemka’s order to be inappropriate and without jurisdiction.

The penalties include reduction to a lower stage in the time scale of pay for a specific period, reduction to a lower grade or post which shall ordinarily be a bar to promotion, compulsory retirement and removal from service which shall not be a disqualification for future employment under government, sources said.

Fate of cancelled mutation

While the Hooda Government is allegedly putting pressure on Khemka by ordering a vigilance probe and approving the issue of a chargesheet, the mutation of the Shikohpur land deal continues to be cancelled nearly one year after Khemka’s order. Since Khemka’s order as the Director-General Consolidation of Holdings (DGH) and Inspector-General, Registration, was quasi-judicial in nature, only the Punjab and Haryana High Court was competent to adjudicate on the order. Neither Vadra nor DLF has so far moved the court to set aside Khemka’s order. 

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Congress issues notice to Rao Inderjit, seeks reply by Oct 7
Aditi Tandon
Tribune News Service

Rao Inderjit Singh
Rao Inderjit Singh

New Delhi, September 27
The Congress high command today issued notice to its Gurgaon MP, Rao Inderjit, asking him to make his position clear on the claims to quit the party.

“You made certain remarks at a public rally in Rewari. You are hereby required to please clarify your position on those remarks,” the notice signed by AICC general secretary in charge of Haryana Shakeel Ahmed says. The notice, Ahmed said, was in the manner of a letter as the party wanted to bring on record the exact position of Rao Inderjit Singh on the issue of his resignation from the party.

“The thing is Rao Inderjit Singh has not sent us any resignation. And till he clarifies his remarks, we cannot form a view. We have asked him to furnish his reply to the high command by October 7 after which we will decide whether to let the matter rest or take it further to the party’s disciplinary committee,” Ahmed said today.

The Congress does not want to give Rao Inderjit the privilege of expulsion from the party because when an MP is expelled, he gets to keep his Lok Sabha seat as per the existing laws.

The Congress’ notice to Inderjt is a political ploy to force his formal statement on the issue. It is, however, common knowledge that his daughter has applied for an election symbol to float a party. The Election Commission is seized of that matter.

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CM grants relief to rice millers
Agrees to reduce security deposit from Rs 20 lakh to 5 lakh
Tribune News Service

Karnal, September 27
In a partial relief to rice millers of the state, Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has agreed to reduce the enhanced security amount from Rs 20 lakh to 5 lakh.

The Chief Minister also assured to look into the issue of Rs 52 crore bonus paid by the millers to growers in 2007-08.

A delegation of the Rice Millers Association led by CONFED Chairman Bajrang Dass Garg today met the Chief Minister and apprised him about the problems being faced by the rice millers.

Association president Rajender Aggarwal said the Chief Minister immediately agreed to reduce the enhanced security amount from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 5 lakh.

Spokesperson for the association Ashish Mehta said the issue of payment of bonus to the growers in 2007-08 was also discussed and the Chief Minister gave an assurance to probe the matter and issue indemnity bonds.

Officials of the department said the bonus issue did not affect Ambala, Sirsa and Yamunanagar districts and the problem would be investigated in other districts. Aggarwal said details of talks would be shared with the district presidents and further action would be planned after seeking their views.

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Procurement of paddy, bajra from Oct 1

Chandigarh September 27
The Haryana Government has made all arrangements for the smooth procurement of paddy during the current kharif season.

The commencement of the procurement of paddy and bajra will start from October 1 and the state government has arranged Rs 5,108.8 crore from the Reserve Bank of India for making payment to farmers for the purchase of produce.

This was disclosed by Food and Supplies Minister Mahender Pratap Singh here. He said the minimum support price for procurement of common variety of paddy this season has been fixed at Rs 1,310 per quintal while it was Rs 1,345 per quintal for grade 'A' paddy.

He said about 52 lakh metric tonnes of paddy was expected to arrive in mandis during the current season and out of this about 16 lakh metric tonnes of paddy would be basmati and superior varieties while the remaining 36 lakh tonnes would be leviable. – TNS

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Hooda orders special cotton crop ‘girdawari' 
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 27
Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda today ordered a special 'girdawari' to assess the damage to cotton crop by white fly and leaf curl viral .

An official spokesman said a survey was conducted to know the extent of damage to cotton crops in Hisar district and during survey, it was found that cotton crop in about 1,23,096 hectares in about 270 villages of the district has got damaged including 25,759 hectares below ETL, 68,792 above ETL and 28,545 hectares were severely attacked by the viral.

He said as per norms of State Disaster Relief Fund input subsidy is given for agricultural, horticulture and annual plantation crops where the crop loss is 50 per cent and above.

He said subsidy at the rate of Rs 4,500 per hectare is given in rainfed and restricted to sown areas, Rs 9,000 per hectare in assured irrigated areas subject to minimum assistance not less than Rs 750 and restricted to sown areas.

He said as per the survey report of white fly infestation in cotton crop during kharif 2013 in Hisar district, 17,330 hectares of land had been damaged in Hisar-I block, 11,650 hectares in Hisar-II block, 13,681 hectares in Agroha, 8,760 hectares in Adampur, 20,520 hectares in Barwala, 12,170 hectares in Uklana, 17,545 hectares in Hansi and 7,660 and 13,780 hectares in Bass and NND block of the district respectively.

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Power utilities to fix feeder-wise targets for loss reduction
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 27
Under the loss reduction plan, the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam have decided to fix feeder-wise loss reduction targets to minimise the aggregated technical and commercial (AT&C) losses in the state. The targets will be fixed considering category of consumers being fed from a feeder.

Chairman and Managing Director Devender Singh said the targets of loss reduction for independent industrial, urban, mixed urban, rural domestic and industrial feeders would be different and fixed on the basis of consumer-base.

“The discoms have been directed to complete 100 per cent consumer indexing in the state by September 30. This will help in identification of consumers on all the feeders,” he said.

He said the loss reduction was the top priority of the discoms for which two separate programmes would be started in the urban and rural areas. It had been decided to relocate all electricity meters outside premises in urban areas by January 2014, he said, adding that most of the three-phase meters and more than 50 per cent of the single-phase meters had already been shifted outside the premises.

He said the discoms had also intensified the power theft checking programme under which as many as 8,951 FIRs had been lodged by the irrigation and power police stations from January to September this year.

In order to regularise kundi (illegal) connections, the discoms would hold open darbars in the villages from October 3. It had been decided to give on the spot connections to domestic category applicants. However, the new connection would not be given to the defaulting consumer, he added.

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Breach damages paddy, cotton crops in Bhiwani
Tribune News Service

Bhiwani, September 27
Nearly 500 acres of agriculture land submerged in canal water last night. Sources said breaches in the Mitathal feeder canal and Bhiwani distributary flooded cotton and paddy crops in Badesara, Dhanana, Chang, Sai and Mitathal villages of the district. Farmers demanded adequate compensation for the crop loss.

DP Punia, SDO, Irrigation Department, however, said breaches in both the canals had almost been plugged. He said there was negligible damage to the crop 

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Excise revenue up 7.71 per cent
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 27
The Haryana Excise and Taxation Department has collected a revenue of Rs 9156.76 crore up to August as against Rs 8501.20 crore during the same period in the last financial year.

Excise and Taxation Minister Kiran Choudhry said here today that collection of VAT up to August was Rs 6506.21 crore, which was 6.13 per cent more as compared to that in the corresponding period last year. She said Rs 702.89 crore was collected as Central Sales Tax up to August during the current financial year showing an increase of 7.64 per cent over the collection made in the corresponding period last financial year.

The minister said excise collection was Rs1678.61 crore till August which was 14.44 per cent higher as compared to that in the last financial year.

Choudhry said the department had recorded an increase of 9.41 per cent in collection of entertainment tax up to August by collecting more than Rs 25.17 crore as compared to over Rs 23 crore during the same period last year.

The passenger and goods tax collection was over Rs 206.19 crore up by 6.71 per cent as compared to the corresponding period of last financial year.

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60 confirmed dengue cases in Karnal
Bhanu P Lohumi
Tribune News Service

Karnal, September 27
As many as 60 dengue cases have been confirmed and around 250 dengue cases are suspected in Karnal. These are the official figures and a large number of patients have also been admitted to private hospitals. The health authorities have failed to cope up with the situation due to acute staff crunch. However, the homeopaths have come out as saviours, suggesting effective remedies for the patients.

Under the Urban Malaria Scheme (UMS), only 24 posts are filled out of the total 41 posts. The posts of insect collector, deputy superintendent, clerks and head-clerk are lying vacant.

In Malaria Department, 82 posts are filled out of the total 143 posts. The vacant posts include insect collectors, senior lab assistant, malaria inspector, clerks and field officers.

Dr Vimal Dhawan, a homeopath, said he was treating more than 50 dengue infested patients and the medication differed on the basis of symptoms with every case.

"Homeopathic treatment is the safest. The disease is curable with the help of proper and timely treatment," he added.

Meanwhile, a Utility Court has taken serious view of the spread of dengue on the complaint of an RTI activist Rajesh Sharma, Advocate Rahul Mohan and two other lawyers. It issued notices to the civil surgeon and the Improvement Trust to file reply by September 30.

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Villagers refuse to pay ‘inflated’ power bills
Tribune News Service

Hisar, September 27
Irked over “inflated” power bills, residents of Pabra village in the district have decided not to pay the bills until the authorities resolve their grievances. They have also announced to impose a fine of Rs 11,000 on anybody who deposits the bill.

Officials of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), who went to the village to collect the bill amount, today returned empty-handed as no one paid the bills. Villagers said they would not deposit the bills until the power utility resolved their grievances.

Naresh Sharma, a resident of the village, said nearly 1,500 families of the village had been affected by the inflated power bills. They had received bills with almost double the amount in the recent months, he said. “We are not in a position to deposit bills amounting Rs 4,000 to 5,000. We met officials of the power utility but they refused to listen to our demands,” he said.

Finally, the villagers had decided not to deposit the bill payment, he said.

“We will pay the bills but only after our grievances are addressed,” Sharma said.

The villagers took the decision yesterday in a meeting which was also attended by the village sarpanch.

A power department spokesperson said due to hike in the electricity charges and imposition of fuel surcharge, the amount had gone up in the recent months.

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Former Rewari Zila Parishad vice-chief duped
Our Correspondent

Rewari, September 27
Kailash Bai, a former vice-president of the Rewari Zila Parishad and a resident of Kosli town, about 35 km from Rewari, was duped of Rs 6 lakh in June, 2010, allegedly by Tarun Mathur, a resident of the Indian Airlines Colony, Basant Vihar, Delhi, on the promise of getting her son Jitender Yadav recruited as a pilot in Indian Airlines.

She repeatedly requested Tarun Mathur either to get her son employed as a pilot or return her money.

However, when nothing concrete emerged, she filed a complaint following which the Kosli police booked Tarun Mathur. 

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Doctor arrested accepting bribe
Tribune News Service

Fatehabad, September 27
The State Vigilance Bureau (SVB) today arrested Dr OP Dahmiwal, a Senior Medical Officer (SMO) at the General Hospital here, while accepting a bribe of Rs 5,000 for issuing an emergency certificate (EC) to a woman constable, presently getting treatment in a Gurgaon hospital for a gunshot injury.

Azad Singh’s wife Raj Bala, a police constable who lived in Fatehabad Police Lines, was seriously injured by a self-inflicted gunshot on July 27. She was shifted to Hisar for treatment and from there she had to be taken to Gurgaon in view of the seriousness of her injury.

Azad Singh alleged that he needed an EC from the Civil Surgeon, Fatehabad, for having shifted his wife to Gurgaon for treatment for reimbursement of medical bills.

Civil Surgeon Dr Suraj Bhan Kamboj, in turn, sought a report from Dahmiwal, a general surgeon, whether the gravity of injury warranted shifting Raj Bala to Gurgaon. In his complaint to the SVB, Azad Singh alleged that Dr Dahmiwal was demanding a sum of Rs 5,000 for issuing a favourable report. The SVB laid a trap to arrest Dahmiwal.

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IndusInd Bank employee arrested
Our Correspondent

Kurukshetra, September 27
Sunil Sharma, a resident of Braham Nagar, Agra district, UP, has been arrested for allegedly duping vehicle loan borrowers of Rs 50 lakh. He was working as a field officer at an IndusInd Bank branch here.

The police said he was produced in a local court, which remanded him in police custody for three days.

Virender Handa of Mohan Nagar had alleged in a complaint to the police that Sunil Sharma, with the connivance of Tej Singh and Punit, duped the complainant and other vehicle loan borrowers on the pretext of granting vehicle loans to them.

The police said Sunil Sharma used to grant loans after getting margin money from customers.

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Man kills wife in Hisar
Tribune News Service

Hisar, September 27
A man killed his 45-year-old wife after a domestic strife at their residence in Dhandi Sadak locality in Hisar today.

Vidya Devi was hacked to death by her husband Hoshiyar Singh.

Pushpa Devi, daughter of the deceased, lodged a complaint with the police that her father first shot at her mother and then attacked her with an axe which led to her death.

Bhagwan Dass, SHO (City), said the police had registered a murder case against Hoshiyar Singh.

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Man booked for raping partner’s wife
Tribune Reporters

Sirsa, September 27
A married woman was allegedly raped by her husband’s partner in the Khairpur area of Sirsa, while another woman from Mangala village, who had lodged an FIR of rape against a villager, has alleged that the police is soft towards the accused.

In her complaint to the police, the married woman alleged that Sudesh Kumar, who was partner in her husband’s business of sale and purchase of used cars, came to her house when her husband was away and allegedly raped her by using force.

The police has registered a case after recording the woman’s statement in the presence of a woman counsel of the District Legal Services Authority.

A woman from Mangala village had accused Harpinder Singh, a youth from her village, of raping her on September 12.

The police had lodged an FIR against the accused on September 17.

A day later, Harpinder was found lying with his hands tied under mysterious circumstances by the roadside.

Senior Superintendent of Police Saurabh Singh said the police would arrest the accused as soon as doctors discharge him from the hospital.

‘Rape’ victim now alleges molestation

Gurgaon: The 25-year-old woman, who alleged that she was gang-raped last night, today changed her statement and said she was molested and not gang-raped.

The police received a call at 10 pm that a woman was lying naked and unconscious near the Sushant Lok area with injury marks on her body.

The woman, at that time, said she was married and was returning home from work at 8 pm when a car stopped near her and four to five men pulled her inside the car.

She allegedly that she was forced to drink alcohol and after taking her to an isolated spot, they took turn to rape her. They finally dumped her by the roadside.

She reportedly refused to go for a medical examination yesterday, but a case of gang rape was registered.

However, the woman changed her statement before a magistrate where she said she had taken an auto from Sadar Bazar with two men inside it. The duo allegedly offered her a drink laced with intoxicant. As she started loosing consciousness, they allegedly molested her. She said she got down near Artemis Hospital and when she was walking on the road, a vehicle hit her and she sustained injuries in the mishap.

Youth booked

Rewari: The police has booked Sandeep of Bhiwani district for luring away a teenaged girl (16) from Rampura village on September 20.

A senior police official said efforts were on to trace the girl and her abductor. 

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Five convicted of murder
Tribune News Service

Sirsa, September 27
A local court has convicted five persons for the murder of a fruit vender at Ellenabad in Sirsa, two years back and acquitted five others for lack of evidence against them.

The court has reserved its decision on the quantum of sentence to the five convicts.

On August 3, 2011, some persons had attacked a fruit vendor, Sunil, at Tibbi bus stop of Ellenabad town in Sirsa. The assailants first beat up the deceased mercilessly and then shot him.

He had died on the spot and three others, who tried to save him, sustained injuries.

The police had booked 10 persons in connection with the attack.

The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Sirsa, convicted Gurdev Singh, Sunny, Krishan Kumar, Rajesh and Daljit Singh of murder and acquitted the other five for lack of sufficient evidence. 

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Man consumes pesticide in custody
Our Correspondent

Kaithal, September 27
An accused who was charged with alluring a girl to run away with him consumed poison while in police custody here on Thursday.

The accused was admitted to a private hospital where his condition was stated to be serious. His family members alleged that he had been falsely implicated in the case.

Jaswinder (19), a resident of Shishgaran village, Kurukshetra district, was booked by the police as he had allured a girl of Keorak area to flee with him. He was arrested by the police after the girl was recovered. He was later produced in a court that sent him in police custody on Thursday. 

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