Chandigarh, March 5
Haryana Chief Electoral Officer Shrikant Walgad today said the run-up to the entire election process would be closely monitored and polling in all 16,129 booths would be “watched” by micro-observers or videographed or web-cast.

Walgad, who was addressing a press conference after the announcement of elections by the Election Commission of India, said all arrangements had been made for conducting elections in the state. He said the model code of conduct had been enforced with immediate effect after the announcement of the election schedule by the Election Commission of India.

Declaring the schedule for the elections, he said the notification for elections in Haryana would be issued on March 15 and the last date of filing nominations would be March 22. He said scrutiny of nominations would be carried out on March 24 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature would be March 26. The counting of votes would be held on May 16, he added.

For the first time, candidates would have to get each content certified before posting it on the social media and have to give expenditure details, if any, incurred on posting such content, which would be added to the expenditure limit prescribed for contesting elections. “The idea is to keep tabs on posts to ensure those do not inflame passions,” he said.

Walgad said a monitoring committee had been formed to keep a watch on paid news during elections and expenses of any news proved “paid news” as verified by the committee would be added to the total expenditure limit of contesting candidate. “The expenditure limit of parliamentary elections is Rs 70 lakh,” he added.

Stating that three flying squads in each constituency would supervise the entire process during elections, Walgad added that these teams would conduct videography of political functions and rallies and teams would put up surprise 'nakas' based on information received in this regard. An assistant expenditure observer would be deputed in each of the 90 Assembly constituencies of the state and a general observer would be deputed for each parliamentary constituency, he said.

While Haryana had asked for 140 companies of the CRPF, the Chief Electoral Officer said this would be supplemented by Home Guards and the Haryana Police. He said 54 CRPF companies had been pressed into service during last general election held in the year 2009. Apart from this Haryana Police and Home Guards would also deputed during upcoming election, he added.

Walgad said that about 1.5 crore voters would excise their franchise in the poll and updation of electoral rolls would continue till March 12. “A special camp will be organised at the booth level on March 9, where booth-level officers will be available with the list of voters to facilitate them. New voters will be able to get themselves registered on the spot on this day while existing voters can get any error rectified,” he added.

The Chief Electoral Officer said for the first time in Haryana, the option “none of the above” would be provided in electronic voting machines. He said hyper-sensitive and sensitive booths were still being examined and two awareness observers were appointed for six parliamentary constituencies, Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rohtak, Sonepat, Karnal and Ambala, as the voting percentage was less in these constituencies in the last elections.

He said they would observe the awareness campaign launched in these areas to ensure the maximum participation. He said more than 70,000 polling personnel and about 1,300 supervisors would be pressed into service for the fair conduct of elections.

Panipat, March 5
As the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced voting date as April 10 for Haryana today, DC-cum-District Election Officer (DEO) Ajit Balaji Joshi set up as many as 19 nodal teams for conducting free and fair elections, including strict implementation of model election code of conduct.

The nodal teams are headed by different officials who would work to ensure smooth elections.

Joshi said eligible electors would be provided another chance to enroll as voters or rectify name in the voter list till the date for withdrawal of names.

The DEO said various programmes would also be held in the city to spread awareness among electors, especially young voters, and to inform them about the importance of exercising their franchise.

Meanwhile, according to information, about 40 per cent of total polling stations in four Assembly segments Panipat Urban, Rural, Israna (SC reserved) and Samalkha of Panipat district, falling under Karnal parliamentary seat, are sensitive.

DC-cum-DEO Joshi and SP B Satheesh Balan said all arrangements would be in place for free, fair and peaceful elections.

Joshi said “As many as 275 out of total 673 polling stations are sensitive in the district. Out of the 275, 189 polling stations are hypersensitive.” To a query, Joshi said “Past history, including law and order situation, re-poll and 75 per cent polling in favour of a single candidate are among the main criteria for recognising a polling station as sensitive.”

“Videography of each polling station will be done to avoid any untoward incident,” Joshi added.

SP B Satheesh Balan said “Extra police personnel will be deployed at hypersensitive and sensitive polling stations to ensure peaceful voting.”

Sirsa, March 5
In a virtual race against time, Agriculture Minister Paramvir Singh inaugurated a mini-secretariat building at Tohana, launched the functioning of sub-tehsil at Kulan and laid the foundation stone of the work on increasing depth of Rangoi nullah at Shakarpura in Tohana Assembly segment, represented by him, all in a span of less than an hour before the model code of conduct came into force today.

Paramvir Singh inaugurated the mini-secretariat building at Tohana at 9.35am, travelled 20-km to reach Kulan where he launched the functioning the sub-tehsil announced by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda during his visit a year ago and then went to Shakarpura village, about 12-km from there to lay foundation stone of the project to increase depth of Rangoi nullah.

The minister hardly spent three to four minutes at each of the three functions and completed all functions before the Election Commission of India could impose the model code of conduct for the parliamentary elections.

Flaying the minister’s action, Indian National Lok Dal district president Nishan Singh alleged that the Congress leaders had read the writing on the wall and were in a hurry now.

He said people of Tohana were hoping that Hooda himself would inaugurate the building and announce some new projects, but the minister launched the projects in an unusual hurry.

As per programme given by the authorities yesterday, the minister was to inaugurate the mini-secretariat at 12 noon and go to other functions after that.

However, the programme was rescheduled for 9 am and the minister reached the venue by 9.35 am.

Kaithal, March 5
Deputy Commissioner-cum-District Electoral Officer NK Solanki said out of the total 668 booths in the district, as many as 259 had been identified as hypersensitive and 107 as sensitive.

“The four Assembly segments of the district are part of the Kurukshetra parliamentary constituency,” he said.

He said in the Guhla Assembly segment, out of 169 booths, 55 had been identified as hypersensitive and 22 as sensitive. In Kaithal, out of 158 booths, 41 had been identified as hypersensitive and 15 as sensitive. In Kalayat, out of 180 booths, 65 had been identified as hypersensitive and 44 as sensitive. In Pundri, out of 161 booths, 98 had been identified as hypersensitive and 26 as sensitive.

He said special teams would ensure that there was no defacement of public and private property.

SP Kuldeep Singh Yadav said steps would be taken to check smuggling of liquor. 

Karnal, March 5
HJC activists today held a protest march against inflation, corruption and deteriorating law and order
situation in the state. Protesters also burnt the effigy of the Chief Minister at Sector 12 here and handed over a memorandum to Girish Arora, Additional Deputy Commissioner, for the Governor.

Led by the Pawan Sahpur, district president of the HJC, protesters said the Congress had ruled the country for most of the time after Independence, but had failed to offer anything to the people in return. Haryana had become unsafe for the common people and women because of a total breakdown in law and order.

A large number of activists assembled at the Committee Chowk and started their protest for mini secretariat. They also raised slogans against the Congress government.

Take out protest march

Kaithal: Raising slogans against the government, activists of the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) took out a protest march here today.

The activists submitted a memorandum addressed to the Governor to Tehsildar Roshan Lal.

The protesters led by Rao Surinder, state convener, Kisan Cell, HJC, demanded immediate dissolution of the Vidhan Sabha and holding of elections along with the Lok Sabha. Anti-people policies of the state government resulted in unrest among various sections of society, said the protesters.

Kuruskhetra, March 5
The Haryana Jan Shakti Party (HJSP), led by Didar Singh Nalwi, has geared up for the Lok Sabha elections. The party will fill its candidates in Kurukshetra and Sirsa while extending its support to some other party in Karnal and Ambala.

Talking to The Tribune, Nalwi said, “The HJSP is open to everyone who wants to fight for the rights of the minority communities. The party will go to the elections with the agendas of corruption, unemployment, discrimination with minorities, and literacy.”

About the preparations, Nalwi said the party had started its campaign and two candidates each for the Kurukshetra and Sirsa constituency had been shortlisted. The names of the final candidates will be announced within 10 days. Our party is in talks with a couple of other political parties and we will help them in Ambala and Karnal.”

On the HSGPC issue, Nalwai said, “The Centre and the state government have always discriminated against the Sikh community and we will not bear this discriminatory attitude anymore. The Congress party has always sought our support in the name of the HSGPC during elections but never fulfiled its promises.”

The Sikh community had a good vote bank in Kurukshetra, Ambala, Karnal and Sirsa. There are about 2.5 lakh community voters in Sirsa, 2 lakhs in Kurukshetra, 1.25 laks in Ambala and 1.5 lakhs in Karnal, said Nalwi.

Having a dig at Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Nalwi said, “He has never been a CM but only a representative of the Jat community..”

Karnal, March 5
As it came to know that the Karnal parliamentary seat could go to the HJC, a sound of revolt was heard in the BJP. The HJC is the alliance party of the BJP. Party workers raised their voice against this expected decision and claimed this as the traditional seat of the BJP.

The workers put their demands in front of district body at a district meeting held at Sector-14 today.

Sources said some workers claimed that Karnal was the traditional hub of the BJP and demanded not to impose this kind of decision. The party workers also contributed their views in favour of the HJC for any another seat instead of Karnal.

They said the district body should put their demand in front of the central leadership.

Sources said the HJC was keen on contesting from the Hisar parliamentary seat as Kuldeep was the MP there and the party was believed to be lobbying for the Karnal Lok Sahba as Bhajan Lal had represented the segment in 1998.

The Karnal parliamentary seat comprises nine assembly seats, five from Karnal, including Karnal, Indri, Nilokehri, Assandh and Gharaunda and four assembly seats from Panipat, including Panipat urban, Panipat rural, Samalkha and Ishrana.

Kaithal, March 5
Dozens of boards installed by the Public Works Department (PWD) (B&R) on state highways and National Highway passing through Kaithal in the recent past carry photographs of Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and Kaithal MLA and PWD (B&R) Minister Randeep Singh Surjewala.

In the next few days when the code of conduct comes into force, the photographs will have to be covered and the department concerned would have to cough up at least a few thousand rupees to do the task.

Interestingly, there is no photograph of the local MP on these boards.

Earlier, photographs of the Prime Minister and other senior leaders of the ruling party adorned such boards but they are missing this time.

No doubt, these two leaders are the persons instrumental in sanctioning funds for the execution of road projects.

However, it could not be ascertained whether the photographs of the leaders were printed as desired by the leaders themselves or was it the work of enthusiastic officers of the department concerned.

Sirsa, March 5
Chaudhary Devi Lal University managed to beat the model code of conduct deadline by inviting application for posts of professor, associate professor and assistant professor just a few hours before the announcement of poll dates today.

Through an advertisement published today, the university invited applications for nine posts of professor and 19 each of associate professor and assistant professor till April 4.

Though talks of a plan to advertise posts for teaching faculty was in the air for several days, the university showed remarkable speed after the Election Commission of India hinted yesterday that the schedule for polls could be announced today.

It was done to ensure that the recruitment notice was published before the announcement of the election schedule. Eyebrows were raised over the undue haste shown by the university in the advertisement of posts hours before the announcement of election dates.

Though Chaudhary Devi Lal University had been facing an acute crunch of teaching staff, no regular teacher had been recruited in the university since 2007. The university has made recruitments only twice since its inception, in July 2004 and October 2007.

The university had invited applications for recruitment to certain posts in 2010, but the process was abandoned midway without assigning any reason. Now, when the university advertised 47 posts of faculty at various positions, only a few people on the campus believed that the process would be completed.

Registrar Manoj Siwach said the model code of conduct was not enforced when the university sent its advertisement for publication. He said the advertisement had already been published this morning when the code was announced.

Siwach said there was no bar in continuing the process of selection during the enforcement of the model code of conduct.

He said the university would not announce the results till the election process was over.

Repeated efforts to contact Vice-Chancellor Radhe Sham Sharma were futile.

Faridabad, March 5
The slow pace of road construction and the ‘failure’ of the agencies concerned to lay sewage pipes have caused inconvenience to residents and commuters. A brief spell of rain recently inundated several parts of the town.

“The slow progress of work has caused inconvenience to commuters, who despite being the tax payer, were at the receiving end,” said KL Gera, a social activist.

He had had moved an RTI application in this regard. He said several roads in the city , including the road separating Sectors 12 and 15, Main Surajkund Road, and Master Road in Greater Faridabad, were in a pathetic condition.

The High Court in its order, two years ago, had directed the authorities concerned to ensure laying of a drainage system along the roads. However, the High Court guidelines were overlooked.

The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA), which had allotted the contracts of reconstruction of the road separating Sectors 12 and 15 and connecting the national highway with Greater Faridabad, had fined agencies concerned (firms) for the delay in the completion of the work.

The Rs 5.87-crore project was started on October 1, 2013, but was not completed on time, said Bhupender Singh, Executive Engineer of the HUDA.

He said work on the 8.5-km Surajkund road would be completed by May, but the ongoing work had been causing traffic snarls on the road connecting the town to Delhi via Surajkund.

“Even a brief spell of rain leads to water-logging of the newly laid roads here in the absence of a drainage system,’’ said Ram Kumar, a resident of Sector 7.

Kurukshetra, March 5
The day Aam Aadmi Party’s Lok Sabha candidate Balwinder Kaur would file her nomination papers, party activists, who are opposing her candidature, would field an independent candidate against her, said district AAP general secretary Sutender Gaur.

“The local body will field its own candidate under the banner of ‘Asli Aam Aadmi Party’ if the party high command fails to replace the candidate . We will not support Balwinder at any cost,” said Gaur.

Local workers have been protesting since the name of Balwinder Kaur was announced for the Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat.

State AAP working committee member Balbir Singh, who reached Kurukshetra to resolve the impasse, said the demand of the protesters was genuine but it was not the right time to revolt.

Addressing the protesters, Balbir said: “The party is like a family. I agree with you, but the decision has been taken by the party high command and we must respect it.”

Local activists also submitted a memorandum and asked Balbir to take them to the party high command.

On the other hand, Kaur’s supporters have started door-to-door campaign in the district.

Sirsa, March 5
The Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) today staged a demonstration demanding dismissal of the state government in view of the allegations of bigamy levelled against Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda by party leader Abhay Singh Chautala and submitted a memorandum to the SDM addressed to the Governor in this regard.

Abhay Singh’s son Karan Singh Chautala led the demonstration.

Addressing party workers, Karan Singh alleged that Hooda had lost moral authority to remain in power.

Karan Singh said despite specific orders of the Lokayukta, the state government did not lodge an FIR against Chief Parliamentary Secretary Ram Kishan Fauji.

INLD’s district president Padam Jain, MLA Charanjit Singh, former MLAs Sita Ram and Bhagi Ram, women wing president Krishna Fogat and Amir Chawla were among those who addressed the agitators.

Kosli (Rewari), March 5
The ongoing row between residents of Kosli and Bhakli villages over naming a railway overbridge and the farmer rest house here took a violent turn when a group of armed men assaulted the protesting residents of Kosli village near the railway station here today.

An elderly man, identified as Mahavir Singh of Sadar Gali in Kosli, was killed and 10 others injured in the assault. The injured have been admitted to various hospitals in Kosli and Rewari, wherein the condition of one of them is stated to be critical. The incident occurred in the presence of the police, who remained a mute spectator instead of controlling the situation.

After the incident, a large number of residents of Kosli blocked the main road in front of the tehsil complex in protest against the incident. They sat on the road and the situation remained tense in Kosli.

The district authorities had constructed the rest house and the overbridge in Kosli some months ago, but these could not be inaugurated, as both the villages were demanding their names on the inauguration stone.

The authorities inscribed the name of Bhakli village on the stone of these projects, which was inaugurated by Rewari Deputy Commissioner CG Rajinikaanthan two days ago. The development sparked anger among the residents of Kosli, who decided to oppose the move and took out a protest march in the village today.

“We were staging a peaceful protest march when over 40 residents of Bhakli village assaulted us. We have identified the assailants and have given their names to the police,” said Vijay Azad, vice-president, Kosli Naam Bachao Sangharsh Samiti.

The Rewari DC said the matter was being probed by the police.

Karnal, March 5
The activists of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), today held a protest march against co-operative banks and alleged that these banks were not cooperating with farmers.

Hundreds of farmers assembled at Karan Park and led by Babu Ram Barthal, district president of BKU, said if banks continued the same behaviour they should be ready to face dire consequence.

Chandigarh, March 5
The nod given to field trials of more than 200 genetically modified (GM) seeds by the Union Agriculture Ministry smacks of vested interests of the Congress-led government, claimed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Kisan Morcha president Om Prakash Dhankar here today.

The decision had been taken hurriedly without any research conducted or without drawing any inferences, he alleged. To move ahead without taking any of these steps would be prove disastrous, he added. Morcha national spokesman Vineet Joshi accompanied him.

Dhankar said the manner in which the government had hastily allowed GM field trials showed the way it wanted to favour multi-national seed companies and grind its own axe. “This hasty decision taken has raised several questions,” he said.

Faridabad, March 5
The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) has decided to penalise meter readers for submitting wrong readings. The DHBVN office receives hundreds of complaints of wrong meter reading and billing in each circle each billing cycle. The Faridabad circle has about 5.75 lakh connections.

"The department will fine the meter reader Rs 5,000 if wrong reading is submitted," said an official. He admitted that the problem had not been addressed despite several warnings to the meter reading staff.

It was alleged that many meter readers submitted reading of a large number of meters on their own each month, resulting in irregularities. The problem was aggravated when the bill handed over to the consumer was inflated and the consumer had no option but to lodge a complaint and apply for bill correction, said an employee.

There was no transparent method to provide relief to victims. The department had outsourced the work of meter reading and bill preparation to the Haryana Ex-Servicemen League on contract a few years ago. The department paid Rs 12 per connection for meter reading, billing and cash collection.

Describing the contract as illegal, a spokesperson of the All-Haryana Power Corporations Workers Union said wrong meter reading and billing was mainly due to outsourcing the work. He said the department was facing an acute staff crunch, but wrong billing had exposed the policy of privatisation.

Demanding cancellation of the contract, he said it was illegal as no tender was called to allot the work. Citing an example, he said the staff of a private company left the job after it was found that the penalty for wrong billing was more than the salary of workers hired.

A spokesperson of the DHBVN admitted that there was a move to penalise those found guilty of wrong meter reading. He said it was aimed at bringing down complaints of wrong billing.

Ambala, February 5
A five-day Design Awareness Workshop for the Woodware Cluster, hosted by the PHD Chamber of Industries, concluded here last evening.

The workshops were conducted as part of the design clinic scheme of the Ministry of MSME in collaboration with NID, Ahmedabad. Initially, one-day design awareness seminars were held for the clusters to apprise them what design could do for them and how it could revive their business prospects.

Upon initial encouraging feedback, five-day workshops were planned and conducted for each of the clusters for the interested units. During the workshops, the designers visited units and updated them on various elements of design, aesthetics, functionality and the methods to reduce costs.

The local manufactures said the seminars and workshops provided an excellent platform to discuss in detail the significance of design intervention and application for enhancing the competitive advantage of MSMEs in the domestic and international arena.

Vivek Seigell, senior secretary of PHD Chamber, said the encouragement shown by the industry had led to some 15 new products being designed under the scheme wherein the government would chip in 60 per cent and the unit would be paying only 40 per cent of the fees.

The design projects could cost up to Rs 15 lakh per project. 

Rohtak, March 5
Hundreds of MBBS and BDS interns and students of local PGIMS staged a protest demonstration here today and blocked the road at the medical turn to press for hike in their stipend amount.

The protesting medicos assembled near the medical turn around 11 am and blocked the road leading to the PGIMS. They raised slogans against the PGIMS administration and state government and burnt effigies of the authorities concerned.

Local administrative and police officials as well as senior PGIMS functionaries, including SDM Amardeep Jain and PGIMS director Dr Chand Singh Dhull, tried to persuade the protesters to lift the blockade, but they remained adamant.

After about three hours, the medicos moved towards the Delhi road. After some scuffle, nearly 200 medical students and interns were taken into police custody.

They were taken away in five police buses to the Urban Estate police station and released later in the day.

After the release of the protesters, the medical students and interns assembled on the PGIMS premises to decide the future course of action. While the meeting continued till the time of filing this report, the postgraduate and resident doctors at the PGIMS have also extended support to the demand of the interns. It may be pertinent to mention here that the MBBS and BDS interns at the PGIMS are on strike since Saturday against the non-fulfillment of their demand for a hike in their stipend from Rs 7,800 to Rs 12,800.

On the other hand, the PGIMS administration maintained that the proposal to hike the stipend had already been sent to the state authorities for approval.

Faridabad, March 5
Five girls, who were sold as brides in the state, have been rescued with the help of an NGO recently. The victims were brought here from North-eastern states.

“The state has emerged as a favourite destination for sale of innocent girls and women from poor families due to dwindling gender ratio,” said Rishikant of Shakti Vahini, an NGO engaged in rescue and rehabilitation of women and children in the region.

He said more than hundred such victims had been rescued during the past few years. A majority of the girls were brought and sold without their consent, he said. Rishkant said still more than 10,000 such victims had been living in various parts of the state.

He said a few days ago, a 30-year-old woman was rescued from a village in Jhajjar district. The victim, hailing from Tezpur district of Assam, was already married when she was kidnapped and brought here to be sold as bride. The groom, aged around 40 years, was unmarried due to some mental sickness. The family bought the woman for Rs 65,000 from a trafficker, he added.

The woman has been lodged at Nari Niketan in Karnal awaiting repatriation to her native place.

At least four other girls, who had been sold in Rohtak, Karnal, Panipat and Jind districts, had been rescued by the NGO recently. A woman and a 10-year-old girl were rescued from Rohtak and Faridabad districts, respectively in December last year.

Faridabad, March 5
The temporary power connections in the district have emerged as a cause of major financial loss to many consumers due the huge difference in the rates charged from them in comparison to the regular domestic electricity connections. Hundreds of such consumers are required to pay over 80 per cent more than the regular charges.

Though the authorities concerned have no official record of such (temporary) connections in the operation area of the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam, it is reported that around 5,000 such connections exist in the operation circle covering Faridabad and Palwal districts.

Seeking regularisation of connections, a delegation of consumers had recently staged a demonstration at the district headquarters. A spokesperson of the protesters claimed that while a majority of such connections existed in slums and unauthorised residential colonies, the consumers were asked to pay Rs 11.40 per unit against Rs 6 per unit applicable for domestic connections.

Sources claimed the department had stalled the process of releasing such connections around six years ago, but had resumed the process again after a few months. Admitting that both supply charges and the security deposit sought from the applicant were higher than the regular connection, a department official said the bills recovered were on the monthly basis. It was a two monthly billing system for the normal consumers. 

Jind, March 5
For laying wide roads in Jind, the authorities will have to axe 45,500 trees and 39,000 poles, plants below 3 meters of height, in the district. Though the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) will spend a huge amount on the plantation of new saplings, there is a lack of space in Jind.

According to sources, for laying a four-lane road from Rohtak to Jind, 13,124 trees and 1,250 small plants will have to be axed. To compensate this loss, the NHAI have already deposited Rs 5 crores for the plantation of 54,180 trees in Jind. To widen the Jind bypass between Anupgarh to Narwana, 3,023 trees and 5,183 poles will be cut and the NHAI authorities have planned to spend Rs 1.75 crore on plantation of saplings. A road from Jind to the Punjab border through Narwana, Uchana and other villages will gobble 28,878 trees and 32,477 poles. For this, the NHAI will pay Rs 21 crore.

“The saplings will take years to grow. The government must introduce a policy through which the loss of greenery could be compensated immediately,” said Sampat singh, a farmer.

In total, greenery over 96 hectares will be lost in the district. To compensate the loss of trees from Jind to the Punjab border, the authorities have decided to plant saplings in a forest area of Hisar as they don’t have required space in Jind.

“ We will spent Rs 7.35 crores to plant saplings in Jind. But, we will have to spent Rs 21 crore to plant saplings in Hisar as we don’t have space in Jind, “ said divisional forest officer (DFO) Shamsher Singh.

Karnal, March 5
Bhushan Goel, MD, Prabhat Fertiliser and Chemical Works, and Chairman of Haryana Chamber of Commerce (HCC), was awarded by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for outstanding performance in ‘quality bio-technology product’ category. The award carried a memento and Rs 1 lakh. To honour Goel a programme was organised by different NGOs here today.

Chairman of CGC APS Chopra and state vice-president of HCC Amit Gupta said it was a great honour for Karnal. 

Rohtak, March 5
A group of local youths allegedly barged into the Makdauli toll plaza office on the outskirts of the town, damaged property and injured general  manager Col (retd) Surender Pawar after an altercation with the toll  staff today.

Toll company officials maintained that several transport vehicles of a local youth used to pass through the plaza and refused to pay the tax, which led to altercations between the drivers and toll plaza staff.

Today, the transporter Raju Makdauli came to the toll management office along with several other youths.

They allegedly barged into the office and damaged furniture, computer etc. The youths also allegedly attacked and injured Pawar and another toll staffer.

The youths then fled the scene. The injured were later hospitalised.

On being informed, a police party reached the scene of crime and recorded the statement of the toll staffers.

The CCTV footage  was also scanned.

Investigation was on till the filing of this report.

Sonepat, March 5
The Additional District and Sessions Judge, Manisha Batra, today sentenced Sanjay Kumar Gupta, a resident of Patel Nagar here, to life imprisonment for raping a minor.

A fine of Rs 25,000 has also been imposed on him.

The victim’s mother, originally a resident of Nepal, lodged a complaint with the local police on June 14 last year, stating that her 14-year-old daughter was working 
as a maid at a house in Model Town.

In 2011, the accused raped her daughter and threatened her of dire consequences if she reported the matter to anyone.

She further said her daughter narrated the entire incident to her and a complaint was lodged.

On the basis of confirmation of rape and other evidences, the court pronounced the judgement.