Chandigarh, October 30
On the directions of the Punjab and Haryana High Court, the state government has appointed nodal officers to keep a check on illegal constructions along the national and state highways.

The Senior Town Planner (Enforcement and Vigilance) will be the nodal officer and Senior Town Planners of the respective circles of the Department of Town and Country Planning would be the sub-nodal officers, sources said here today.

The district-wise subcommittees of the department would submit a quarterly report to the nodal officer. The nodal officer, in turn, would submit a quarterly report to the Director-General, Town and Country Planning (DGTCP).

A senior official said the high court had directed the state government to appoint nodal officers to check unauthorised constructions along the state and national highways which had assumed alarming proportions in recent years.

A survey conducted by the government had revealed that there were 56,796 unauthorised constructions in the state. Bhiwani district with 4,689 such constructions topped the list followed by Sonepat (4,665) and Rewari(4,229), Faridabad( 1,620), Panchkula (1,617) and Fatehabad (632).

Last year, succumbing to pressure from different quarters, the Hooda Government gave a six-month “golden period” to the owners of unauthorised buildings that came up before January 3, 2009, to avail the benefits of an amendment to the Punjab Scheduled Roads and Controlled Areas Restriction of Unregulated Development Act, 1963. It was decided to regularise the buildings on the payment of Rs 600 per square metre for a building on a national highway and Rs 350 per square metre on a scheduled road.

Acting on the directions of the high court, the enforcement authorities started demotion drives across the state recently. The appointment of nodal officers has to be seen as an endeavour by the state government institute a proper mechanism to check illegal constructions.

Gurgaon, October 30
The police today registered the second FIR against former Union Minister Arun Nehru’s daughter Avantika Nehru Madan and her husband Gulbir Singh Madan for fraudulently grabbing 151 acres of land from farmers and later selling it to investors.

Amit Katyal, a director in one of their companies, has also been booked in this regard. Despite repeated attempts, the Madans could not be contacted.

The case was registered under Sections 420, 406, 120-B/34 of the IPC at the Sector 57 police station.

The first FIR was registered on October 3 at the Sadar police station on the order of a local court. Mewa Singh and Ravish Kapoor had filed a complaint against them in the court. The police had then asked them to join investigations by October 28 but they failed to appear before it.

Both the FIRs accused Avantika, Gulbir and others of fraudulently taking 151 acres of land from farmers of Ulhawas and nearby villages. They obtained a licence from the Town and Country Planning Department to develop residential colonies in the name of M/s Krrish Buildtech Pvt Ltd in 2010. Later, their another company M/s Brahma City Pvt Ltd sold the land to more than 1,000 buyers.

The complainants alleged that the duo had floated various companies under different names and after more than a year, there was no sign of launch of the projects announced by them. They alleged that the duo had cheated the investors and farmers to the tune of more than Rs 70,000 crore.

Meanwhile, kin of the accused have filed a bail petition in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which would be taken up tomorrow.

Chandigarh, October 30
The government has issued the transfer and posting orders of 19 IAS officers. Additional Chief Secretary SC Choudhry has been posted as such in Home, Jails, Criminal Investigation and Administration of Justice Department.

Dhanpat Singh has been posted as Principal Secretary, Technical Education, in place of RR Jowel, who goes as Principal Secretary, Transport and Civil Aviation Departments. Devender Singh has been posted as Principal Secretary, Power Department, while Amit Jha goes as Principal Secretary, Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes Department.

SN Roy has been posted as Principal Secretary, Renewable Energy Department.

TVSN Prasad has been posted as Principal Secretary, Food and Supplies Department while Mahavir Singh has been transferred as Principal Secretary, Environment Department; and Arun Kumar as Principal Secretary, Medical Education and Research Department. Shiv Raman Gaur, Additional Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister will also look after the work of Principal Secretary, Sports and Youth Affairs Department.

Anand Mohan Sharan will also look after the work of the Chief Administrator, Haryana State Agricultural Marketing Board and Adviser and the Secretary, Civil Aviation Department.

Arun Kumar Gupta has been given additional charge as DG and Secretary, Food and Supplies Department and MD, Confed. Suprabha Dahiya has been given additional charge as Commissioner, Municipal Corporation, Faridabad, in place of Abhe Singh Yadav, who has been shifted as Director and Special Secretary, State Transport. Rajeev Ranjan has been given additional charge as Director and Special Secretary Environment Department.

Ashok Sangwan has been given additional charge as Chief Executive, Haryana Khadi and Village Industries Board. Tarun Bajaj, MD, HSIIDC, has been posted as Chief Coordinator, Investment Promotion Centre, New Delhi, in addition to his present duties.

Gurgaon, October 30
A 19-year-old call centre employee was allegedly gang-raped by three persons here late last night.

In her complaint to the police, the victim stated that when she was walking down to her home last night after attending a friend's birthday party, Dinesh, who was known to her, offered to drop her home on his motorcycle.

The victim said she accepted the offer and the accused then allegedly took her to a flat in Sector 46 where he was joined by Navin and Satyadev. They offered her a cold drink laced with sedatives and when she fell unconscious, the three allegedly raped her. After committing the crime, the accused fled the spot.

She called the police and a case was registered against the trio after medical examination of the victim.

The police arrested Dinesh and Navin, both residents of Jharsa village, and Satyadev, a resident of Faridabad.

Jind, October 30
A young couple committed suicide at Uchana town of the district early this morning. The police handed over the bodies to their kin after post-mortem examinations.

Sources said victims, Surender (21), who was running a barber shop in the town, and Reena (18), who was residing in the nieghbourhood, were in love. They were found hanging from the ceiling of the shop this morning.

The bodies were found after the kin of the boy forced their entry into the shop after he failed to open his shop in the morning. The shop was locked from inside. — TNS

Sirsa, October 30
In a hit-and-run case, a vehicle knocked down a 12-year-old girl on the Dabwali road in the town last night. In a blatant display of insensitivity, the police left the body on the road for over two hours due to allege confusion over jurisdiction between two police posts.

The victim Pinki (12), a resident of Azadpur in Delhi, had come to meet her maternal aunt Ladiya, who lives in slum area on the Dabwali road.

Sources said she had gone to a roadside eatery with her mother for their meals last night. While the mother returned, she was left behind.

The family members noticed her missing in the morning and upon search found her lying dead by the roadside with injuries.

The family informed the police, but the body kept lying on the road for over two hours as the policemen, who arrived there, were allegedly confused over the issue of jurisdiction.

The family members alleged that after two hours of confusion and arguments, the police finally decided that the area came under JJ Colony police post.

The body was finally taken to the General Hospital, Sirsa, for post-mortem.

Additional Superintendent of Police Rajender Kumar Meena said the matter was brought to his notice, but upon inquiry it was found that the delay was for a few minutes only.

“Some of our policemen had gone to Ellenabad to sort out an issue in the grain market there and hence there was shortage of men,” Meena explained.

Ambala, October 30
Despite tall claims made by top leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) about the stability of their alliance, fissures come to the fore as leader of the BJP’s legislative party Anil Vij decided to stay away from Kuldeep Bishnoi’s Vijay Rath Yatra, which reached Ambala today.

The yatra received an overwhelming response from the HJC supporters when it reached Ambala.

Anil Vij said no formal invitation was extended to him to participate in the yatra, otherwise he would have gone to receive Bishnoi. He said in the absence of a formal invite, he chose to attend an important meeting in Chandigarh.

Talking to mediapersons, Kuldeep said the alliance stood firm even as some vested interests were trying to spread rumours. He said the failure of the Hooda government would enable the HJC-BJP alliance win all Lok Sabha seats in the next elections.

At Saha, Bishnoi said the Congress and INLD had misled the farmers and after coming to power, their government would ensure progress of all sections of society.

He said the Selja-Hooda feud was a political gimmick and should not be taken seriously by the people.

Rohtak, October 30
Three more have been booked for acquiring HUDA plots reserved for ex-servicemen by submitting false documents. The applicants were to submit an affidavit that they do not own a house or plot in any sector carved by HUDA As many as 53 plot holders have been identified by the authorities who had allegedly acquired plots by furnishing false documents in a sector here.